LesleyAnn Ang

I'm a first-generation Asian American, and both my parents immigrated from the Philippines, so they brought over their work ethic. The only thing they ever asked of me was to get a college degree and get a job, which left things open for me in terms of what I could do. The mindset I've had from high school until now is that nothing I achieve is completely mine until I feel like I've given it back to them in kind, like the effort that they put into raising me. All of everything I've achieved up until now is paying them back, and there's no ceiling on that goal. When I was in high school, I actually enlisted for the Air Force Reserve to help ease the burden from them to pay for my college degree. Everything that I do is to pay them back, and that helps drive me because I just don't want them to worry about anything that I've done. I told my mom, if having tattoos is the only thing I've ever done to disappoint you, I'll take it.

My market manager, who is a great mentor, told me something when I was going through some bumps with this position. He said, the only person you have to worry about impressing is me. That completely changed my mindset, because he's right - there's only one person I am trying to impress, and it's not other people who think they know my job, it's the person who hired me for this job. I also learned something from my orchestra teacher in high school that has stuck with me: to not complain about something until you can do it perfectly. That advice has shaped how I approach challenges and opportunities throughout my career.

You have to be willing to do the dirty work that in the moment does not seem like it's rewarding, but taking those unpaid moments simply because you know you want to be involved will pay off in the end. I learned from my orchestra teacher to not complain about something until you can do it perfectly. So just constantly take on any single opportunity and sacrifice sleep and a full day of energy just to do something because you know that you want to be in this space. You just have to keep taking any opportunity that you can, and it'll pay off. I worked with someone who had a very similar career trajectory as me, and we were both willing to do that work, and it made all the difference.

There are shakeups in the industry right now, and a lot of people are still trying to reassess the value of radio as a boots-on-the-ground version of connecting the community with each other. It's a time of transition and uncertainty, but I would like to stay in this industry because I believe in what we do and the connections we make with our 1.5 million listeners each week.