What is it like to be Ryan Seacrest?

For those of you who do not know ... Ryan Seacrest is an Atlanta native.  Yep!  If you're around your mid 30's and have grown up around town,  then you could have very well been sitting next to Mr. American Idol and had no idea.  Ryan is a graduate of Dunwoody Highschool.  His parents still live in Dunwoody and have always been very community-friendly.  And here's something else I bet you didn't know .... every morning at the highschool,  someone would come over the loud speaker to give all the annoucements to the school.   That would be Ryan.  Also,  a certain young student just happened to land a job on-air at Star 94 while in highschool.  That would also be Ryan.  -- His dream?  To be a famous radio host.

Everyone has a dream!  And everyone has to start somewhere.   Ryan got his start in highschool ... being the voice of entertainment.  I got MY start quite a bit later of course,  but I have a dream nonetheless!  If gawky Ryan Seacrest from Dunwoody, Georgia can rise to global stardom  --- then shoot,  why can't any of us do the same thing!?!?!?!  Everyone has different dreams,  but for me - my dream mirrors that of Ryan Seacrest.  He just got to it before me!  (little bugger!)
Hosting a radio show is not easy.   It looks like fun on the outside,  but there's so much more that goes into it than what the outside world perceives.   (-- which I'm sure is true for most any job).    The preparation is so time consuming, and post production can last for ungodly hours on end.   For example,  I was couped up in a tiny studio all by myself for 9 hours . . . . NINE HOURS STRAIGHT . . . . just to edit/produce 15 minutes worth of sample footage for the Food Network.   9 hours!

And there is definitely 'study time' too.   For example,  I hosted the Taste of Marietta recently, and if you saw me on stage --- it looked like I was just having a good ole time chatting away and having fun with the audience.  -- But that's what over-preparing does .... it makes your job look effortless.   I spent hours studying the Bio's of every person I had to introduce and talk about all throughout the day.  I had to know their personal information as well as their business information forwards and backwards.  I had to study their recipes for the day and know those backwards and forwards  (21 recipes to be exact) - and I have to be able to talk about them just as naturally as if they were my own recipes.   I had to study the sponsors and know their businesses and specific information.  I was handed lists of last minute information only moments before going on stage and be expected to talk about that stuff from memory too.  I had to study 5 pages of food trivia and memorize most of those.  I'm expected to stay energetic, happy, and entertaining ... even when I'm exhausted, hot, and miserable.  

--- Not that I'm complaining!!!!  I love what I do and I am so very blessed.   Luckily,  I'm living my dream.   This IS my passion.  This IS what I want to do with my life.  And all of the extra work is exactly what I signed up to do.  So the last thing you will hear from me is complaining.

But working my way up the ladder right now just makes me wonder .... I wonder how many of these type of events did Ryan Seacrest do???  How many hours did he spend editing his tapes to send out to networks???   How much useless momentary information did he have to cram and memorize right before walking onto a stage???  -- And don't even get me started on the whole other aspect of embracing your own confidence and personality in order to truly entertain hundreds or thousands of people with nothing but ..... YOURSELF.
Uh,  hello pressure!  

So Ryan Seacrest ... if you're reading .... ;-) .... can I get an AMEN!!

- I recently had someone ask me what is like to be on the radio.  I thought I would use my blog to answer that question and say that there's much more than what meets the eye.  (- or should I say ear)   Just like any other career,  it takes work.  Hard work and dedication.   Period.
I think my new dream is to someday have someone write a blog and title it,  "WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE DONNA RODRIGUEZ?"

Move over Dunwoody ....  cuz Roswell is comin' to beat ya!
Hornets can sting a Wildcat any day!




www.dishingwithdonnashow.com