hayley st. john

I can't tell you the exact age I caught the radio bug. All I know is, I took an interest in radio before I was old enough to know what the bad FCC words even meant.

My mom has been in radio for nearly 40 years, longer than I've been alive. Some of my fondest childhood memories were in a radio station. My mom worked the night shift. Most nights she would dress me and my big sister up in our pajamas, and we would go into work with her. We would watch her work until we fell asleep, woke up at home, and did it all over again the next night. Back then, there were tape decks and cassettes she played music off of, so she was constantly slinging tapes around, and there wasn't a lot of down time. I remember watching her through the window of the studio and thinking she has the coolest job in the world. Maybe one day I can become a radio DJ like my mom.

And I did.

When I turned 16, I got a job at my hometown radio station, KQDJ FM, in Jamestown, ND in August 2007. During the first couple months on the job, I was a Board Op for local football, basketball, and hockey games on the Sports/News station, KQDJ AM. Three months in, November, they asked me to be on the air on Big Dog Country 95.5, the FM Country station. I was a part-time and fill-in jock for the Country station, which later turned into part-time weekend shifts on Big Dog Country, Q101 (Top 40), and 103.1 The Raven (Rock) while still maintaining Board-Op duties and attending college. I attended Bismarck State College in 2011, majoring in Web Page Development & Design with their online degree program, where I graduated with an Associate's Degree in 2013.

In October 2011, I decided it was time for a change. I fell in love with the city of Nashville, and it only took a few visits to decide that it was worthy of being called home. I loaded up my Ford F150 with trash bags full of clothes and a stack of resumes and hoped for the best. Nashville is considered the "ten-year town," because it can take up to ten years to get where you want to be in your career. Although it didn't take me ten, fortunately, it took over a year to get back onto the airwaves.

After spending a year going door-to-door with a stack of resumes and a CD of airchecks, I finally got my break in October 2012. I found a very outdated job posting on Craigslist looking for part-time staff at 102.9 The Buzz. After a quick interview and desperately spending the next several weeks keeping in touch with the Program Director, convincing him that I still exist, I was hired, and I was on the air in January 2013 and happy as can be.

I spent the next nine months doing one overnight on-air shift per week, Sundays from Midnight until 6am. During that time, I began doing voiceover for The Buzz's sister stations, 102.5 The Game and 94.9 The Fan (Sports Talk). Shortly after, I moved up to Friday and Saturday nights from 7pm to Midnight, and a year later I became the new full-time host for "Buzz After Dark" every weeknight Monday through Friday. Years later in July 2019, I became the afternoon host Monday through Friday 3-7pm, while still performing Voice Over duties for The Fan. I am currently afternoon host on 102.9 The Buzz and main imaging voice over artist for 94.9 The Fan.

After showing interest in Web Design and proving my effort towards The Buzz website, I became Digital Content Coordinator in August 2015, maintaining the website, managing social media, and creating graphics for upcoming concerts and events, still holding those responsibilities today.

I have a passion for Rock music, maintaining websites, and being the female voice of The Buzz during the weekdays. The last 15 years of my radio career have been a dream come true. Here's to the next 15 and then some. Cheers!