Stacy and Kid Rock
by Deb Seminary
Growing up in Glendive, Montana, Stacy Sturm knew she wanted to go into radio. “It seemed like such a preposterous thing,” said Sturm. “Kids don’t normally grow up dreaming THAT, but when I was four my parents gave me a record player and my first records were ‘Snoopy and the Red Baron’ and ‘Lucille’ by Kenny Rogers. I loved music and my dad played in a band on the weekends. I would hear radio stations around town and think, ‘how great is that – they get to be around music all day, how much fun would that be!’ I didn’t realize that was only about 10% of what a DJ actually does.”
When Sturm was eleven, her dad, who worked for MDU, was transferred to Bismarck. She has lived here ever since. She went to Bismarck High, then University of Mary, where she met her husband, Greg. Since she was still thinking about going into radio, she majored in English and Communications. “The nice thing about the program out there is, you can figure out your niche,” explained Sturm. “I got to do radio, newspaper, television and public relations. By my junior year I knew I wanted to do radio. I didn’t end up doing that at first, but that is what I wanted to do.”
During her senior year she worked part time at a radio station in Bismarck and continued on weekends after she graduated. Her first ‘real’ job was as a newspaper editor and she realized quickly she was not a ‘newspaper girl’. “My heart was in radio,” she said. “So I bought time until I got a full time job in radio and that was when ‘Brady and Stacy in the Morning’ started on Y93 in 1998.”
After doing the morning show for awhile Sturm realized this was what she wanted to do forever! “That was my niche, I really loved it,” she said. “I think there is something really special when you get into a job and you can be your authentic self. Once you find that, it is so rewarding. In radio, you’re so vulnerable, because people know so much about you. So, when people like you, you think, ‘they really like me, not just my job, but me!’ which is really nice to know. But I also understood that not everybody does like me and they are very vocal about it. You learn to take the good with the bad.
When she left Y93 in 2005, Sturm worked in public relations for the state. “I realized I didn’t miss the radio so much, it had changed so much from the radio I had fallen in love with, I really missed the community involvement and helping organizations,” she said. “I did volunteer work, but even that just wasn’t the same.” So besides public relations, she got back into radio part-time doing mornings with Bob Beck on Cool 98.7.
URL
In 2009, her friend, Nicole Morrison Mathern, began pestering her with business ideas. “Finally when she came to me with the idea of starting a radio station, I was interested,” said Sturm. “But I knew, if there is one thing tougher than working in radio, it’s running a station, especially going up against corporate radio.”
Stacy and Nicole in Sturgis with Joey Kramer of Aerosmith
What really appealed to Sturm was, not only was it internet radio, but it would be local. They could have local talent and focus on the community. “I felt like local radio was getting pushed aside for national talent and national topics. When we started (the station) we knew we wanted to have some key shows that would be on every day that people would build a rapport with and grow to love,” explained Sturm. “We knew we wanted a morning show, and I wanted to bring back Brady and Stacy, we knew we wanted a show for men and women (which became Woman Power Hour and Man Power Hour) and we developed One-Hit-Wonders-at One, just because it’s fun to say!”
They went on the air with URL Radio on April 1st, 2009. “Bob (Brady of Brady and Stacy) and I were notorious for April Fools Day pranks, so we thought it would be good publicity and just fun to start up as a morning team on a new station on April Fools Day,” said Sturm. “People will tune in to see if it is a hoax or if it is real. We had a huge first day! Brady and Stacy were on in the morning again.”
The morning show has changed since Bob got a different job. Sturm now has several different hosts; Kevin Kyes, Brian Matthews, Kameran Ali, even her mother! “People have their favorite days, they tune in every morning, but they just really identify with specific people for some reason,” she said. “We have added a lot of other shows – a teen show, a blues show, local music show. I have someone pitch me a new show at least once a week. I love that, because I am willing to try anything. You never know what is going to work. The main reason most shows come and go is because people don’t realize how much work it is to put together. It’s not just talking on the radio. That is only about ten percent of it. The rest is prep, organizing, educating yourself and dedicating the time to make it good.”
One advantage of internet radio is they can be heard around the world. Although most of their listeners are from North Dakota, they now have listeners from all 50 states and 90 different countries. They can also go anywhere and broadcast. They have broadcast from Sturgis, the North Dakota State Fair, and GOD’S CHILD Project in Guatemala. “The possibilities are endless – we did our morning and afternoon shows live in Guatemala,” said Sturm. “Some of the things we got to bring to the people that were listening was some of the best radio I’ve ever done. There were so many times when it was so raw and real. It definitely changes you as a person.”
URL Radio helps many organizations and non profits throughout the year. “The nice part about the radio station is that I have been able to help out a lot of community groups and work with so many people on projects,” said Sturm. “I have been so lucky, met so many people and been a part of so many great events.”
One of their successful fundraisers, ‘Playing With Food’ is an edible style show scheduled for Sunday, October 21st at the Amvets and it benefits the Missouri Valley Optimist Club. “We are looking for people that want to put together outfits, edible art pieces, or just come and watch,” said Sturm. “I was blown away by the outfits people put together last year.”
Sturm is also putting together a ghost hunt. “We are doing a haunted Bismarck Mandan tour,” she explained. “Some paranormal investigators are going to come and do tours with their equipment, then we will do a little party after. Tour locations so far will be Dakota Stage, Peacock Alley and Fort Lincoln. It will be ghost hunting 101!!”
The Radio Life
When Sturm began her radio career, she quickly learned her life was no longer her own. “When you are on the radio, your whole life is literally lived out for everybody to watch,” she said. “People still bring up things (from Y93 days) and I think, ‘I can’t believe I really talked about that on the air.’ ”
Her daughter, Summer was born two years after ‘Brady and Stacy in the Morning’ started. “I went into labor on the air with Summer,” said Sturm. “I even told Greg that morning, ‘I think today might be it’, but I had never had contractions, so I wasn’t sure. As the morning progressed my contractions were getting stronger and closer together. Finally around 9:00, Bob asked me to run upstairs and I said, ‘I don’t think I can. I’m in a lot of pain and I think I’m going to have my baby today!’ He thought that was super, so he had to announce it on the air. We decided to call the hospital and my doctor on the air, but my doctor already knew because a listener was a patient of his and had told him at their appointment!”
Her husband has had to get used to this very public life. “It was very hard for him at first, because Greg is a very private person,” she explained. “He worries about what people think and I rarely do. We had a lot of talks about, ‘I can’t believe you said that on the air.’ After awhile he saw that is what people liked about our show, so he got used to it.”
Her children have had to ‘get used to it’, also. “When we go out people always want to talk to me about the station, they have a very public mommy,” said Sturm. “They have had to learn to share me. I have always tried to make sure they come first and I can tell when they are starting to get a little frustrated, like when we were going through the flood. Everywhere we went people wanted to talk about the flood, so they had to relive it over and over and over. But it’s like everything I get involved in, they get sucked into it, too. We make private family times at home really great and Greg balances me out with that.”
Sturm wears many hats at URL Radio. She is the morning person, station manager, program director and for the majority of the last three years was the primary advertising salesperson. She now has a full time and a part time salesperson and is always looking for more. “I would like to get off the street and do more long term planning instead of short term troubleshooting,” she said. “I want to focus more on the future of the station. I have some great ideas and want to get to the next level. I’m proud of where we’ve been; we’ve brought real internet marketing to the area. But I know with our creative minds we’re capable of so much more.”
She went on to explain her vision for the station, and herself: “This will probably be my last career. I am hoping someday that this is running really well and I can back off and turn the reins over to someone who really has a passion for this. There are so many people who would love to get into radio. Then I can dedicate myself to other projects. That is the way of the entrepreneur – you start up a business you love with their whole heart, you make it a success, and then you start up a totally different business. I’m already thinking how much I would love to open a restaurant or food truck, make jewelry with gps devices so people can track their kids… I have a new business idea every week! I would also love to bring a roller rink back to Bismarck. I think we need a place where teens and families can hang out, have birthday parties, just a fun place for all ages!”
Wherever her ideas lead her, Stacy Sturm will stay committed to helping her community in any way she can.
For more information on the haunted Bismarck Mandan tour, visit urlradio.net.