Don’t Take Your Awesome Co-Workers For Granted…Celebrate Them!
August 7th “marked” a joyful but weird day in my radio career, as I attended the retirement party of my beloved long-term radio brother Mark Davis. Mark is a fixture in bay area radio; he’d been broadcasting to The Bay Area on 101-7 KKIQ since late 1984. Of course I envied his durability, but the main thing I learned from Mark over the years we worked for the same company was the power of compassion and kindness. Radio can be a brutal business; unexpected firings are common, and the live nature of certain radio programs leaves little room for niceties and plenty of room for “act now, apologize later” behavior. Mark was never like that, even when deadlines were imminent and plans were being rewritten on the spot. Mark was the first to compliment his coworkers and the last to judge them; his emails to me after we completed a commercial project together always ended with “great work, man!” or “awesome job as usual!” His positive outlook, genuine interest in other people’s happiness and inclusivity made working with him a real bonus, and as I stood up at his retirement party to ‘say a few words,’ I stumbled to try and convey that feeling. Awesome colleagues are not a given; if you’ve got one (or more, hopefully), let them know how much you appreciate them BEFORE they retire.