Quoting Jay - Z - "I'm Not A Businessman. I'm A Business Man !"

For years, I've heard from those much smarter than me, that the only way to truly realize the so - called "American Dream" is ownership. Owning a home or your own business gives you the kind of freedom you can't have any other way. You take all of the risk. You reap all of the rewards.

As I continue my evolution from "good employee/manager/asset to the company" to "Owner/Operator/President" of my own, I continue to be energized by all of the work being put into growing my business. I look back at what's been done and look ahead to what needs to be and I know that it's an ongoing process.

The latest item crossed off the checklist is the company website. This has been a truly collaborative effort, taking a lot of patience on the part of those doing most of the heavy lifting, the web designers.

My wife has always said that I was a perfectionist and it can be a pain in the ass for the people I deal with. I realized that for the first time in dealing with myself. It's one thing when you're that way for someone else's benefit, but it's a totally different can of worms when you're putting everything on the line.

My expectations are realistic and I'm prepared for the long haul ahead. At the end of the day, the goal for Mark Gunn Media Inc. is simple. Do a really great job that speaks for itself. Hence, my company slogan - "No Hype ! No Hoopla ! Just Damn Good Work !"

The Greatest Gift... Just Being There.

To paraphrase my father, Art, we haven't had the traditional relationship. That was because of things beyond our control. However, being there when it matters most is more important than most people will never know.

Those moments are very profound especially as you get older. My dad was there as I got my high school diploma. He was there when I moved to Cincinnati for the first time. He was there for the birth of my son and he is there right now as I go through a very difficult transition from one career to becoming my own boss.

My wife called him a little over a week ago and asked him to check on me. He called and gave his support and encouragement. I broke down a little because I really didn't expect it. However, it was very welcomed especially from a man who'd done so much for me already.

What he did next was also totally unexpected when he flew my wife and I to his home here in Florida. The weeks of stress I've endured are a distant memory and more importantly, I'm learning that we are a lot more alike than I ever knew. We're both damned good at our chosen profession. We're both very laid back and we both got it right in our current marriages and our wives spoil us rotten.

This visit has given us time to bond more and his home is full of images that give me more Insight as to who I am. We spent Sunday afternoon watching the Masters, which was fun for me because he is an avoid golfer and I sat there soaking up any knowledge he shared like a sponge. By the way, my golf game really sucks.

There's an unspoken thing between fathers and sons that deals with wanting to work together at some point. One of my proudest moments came from being able to voice a commercial for his business. I've won a few awards for my work, but this was far more satisfying. As I write this, he's using his expertise to help my business in getting off the ground. More importantly, his willingness to share his knowledge and encouragement give me more confidence to continue with my dream. I also take pride in the fact that his imprint will be part of the foundation of Mark Gunn Media.

Like I said before, being there when it really counts is important, but in the case of my dad and I, just being there is priceless. I'll always love him for that.

Now What ? How I'm Handling My Middle - Aged Job Crisis

You’re a fifty - something professional who’s worked hard all of your adult life to become one of the best at what you do and to provide for your family. You have a very specialized skill set that has enabled you to be successful in your chosen field and you’ve tried to develop a reputation that speaks well of how you conduct business. This description could fit anyone reading this.

Like so many in this economy, you suddenly find yourself no longer employed. After the initial shock wears off, the question becomes “Now What ?” This is the position I now find myself in.

Oddly enough, it’s given me a clarity that I didn’t have before now because I can compare this experience with the last time I actually lost a job some 18 years ago.

I know not to do some of things I did back then. The first was to take it personally. This is still kind of difficult because media is an egocentric business and while you have develop a thick skin, there are still some layers that aren’t as thick as others. I’ve chosen not to internalize this because it gets in the way of my objective.

The second is to realize that you’re just as expendable as anyone else. No matter how valuable you make yourself to any operation, you can be replaced. The only satisfaction you can take from that is knowing that your replacement will never be as good. That egocentric thing again.

The third is knowing that while experience is timeless, time is not. This is where a lot of middle - aged people like me find themselves.  While there are some some professions where your age tends to be an asset,  Media, historically, hasn’t really been one of them. Words like “seasoned” are wonderful for a lot of positions in the corporate world. There’s a steadiness that’s implied with older executives. In my case, “seasoned” implies “old” and supposedly, positions like on - air talent for radio and television “belong to the young”.

So again, “now what” ? In my case, I’m attacking the problem on a couple of fronts as so many of us have had to do. Learning new skills has become a necessity for a lot older job seekers and they find themselves in occupations they would’ve never dreamed of doing. The first law of nature is self - preservation, so you do what you have to in order to survive. For me, it’s about adaption. Something I’ve been all too familiar with for the last 35 years. In order to thrive in any business, you must continue to make yourself relevant through technological changes, business trends and the like. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve outlasted so many of my peers in radio.

I’ve told so many young and aspiring radio personalities that you have to learn as much as you can about what you do, including those areas not directly related to what you’re doing. I’ve done that . You break down every skill you have and you figure out how it applies to the job you’re looking for. The deeper the skill set, the more options you will have.

Radio has afforded me the opportunity to pursue interests that can and will generate additional income, especially if others recognize those talents. Lots of love and gratitude to Angie Fenton for seeing the writer in me. Because of her eye for talent, I’m able to be a contributor to the Voice - Tribune. This opportunity has led to one of my past articles being published in a book scheduled for release later this year.

Public speaking, television appearances, voice over work, producing music, marketing, management, consulting and even photography are all offshoots of what I’ve done in radio. Those talents could go to the highest bidder and they can serve me as I go into business for myself.

Remember the two fronts I mentioned earlier ? Another one of the mistakes I made as a younger man was in thinking that I couldn’t do anything else. It took a really long, hard look at my resume, a few minutes standing in my trophy room and most importantly, a common theme that ran through the conversations I’ve had with quite a few people that love and support me to give me the courage to really go for it.

One of the biggest questions that media personalities grapple with is “how much of an impact have I really had ?”. Your ego says that you want to be remembered as one of the best that ever did it even if reality dictates that your memory will fade from the minds of listeners and it’s on to the next one.  

Another gift of being older is that you know when it’s time to turn off the microphone and as I continue my job search and taking baby steps with my company, Mark Gunn Media, I take great pride in knowing what kind of impact I’ve had here. I take some satisfaction in knowing that the name “Mark Gunn” can always mean something even if I’m not of the air or in front of a camera.

The most important lesson I’ve learned from all of this is patience. There are days when I’ve submitted a gang of voice over auditions, submitted a lot of resumes and done of lot leg work and feel like I’ve done nothing at all. You can’t give in to that. Keep telling yourself to BELIEVE.

Your professional life is as much about branding yourself as it is how well you do your job. You want your name to be the very next thought of the person thinking about a particular business. I’d like to think that I was successful in doing that with B-96.5 and Mainline Broadcasting. I have the confidence to know that I’ll be just as successful in my next professional life with a company that could use my talents and with my own.

Lost In The Gun Control Debate... Control.

By means of full disclosure, I have to state that I am trained in the use of firearms. I’ve used everything from .45 caliber pistols, automatic weapons like the M-16, M-60 and others in between. I’ve also taken the time to get a Concealed Carry Permit. I don’t like guns, but I do respect them.

While I have a great deal of respect for the majority of gun owners, there are some that just don’t get it. These are the ones that use the 2nd Amendment in some sick and twisted context and are stupid enough to think that they can hoard enough firepower to actually take on the Government.

Throughout this whole debate, I haven’t been able to shake the image of 20 little kids being slaughtered. I also haven’t been able to shake my own experience with gun violence. Being caught in the crossfire of someone who could care less about human life, much less his own, shapes your perspective in a way that you never fully realize until something like the Sandy Hook Massacre happens.

It’s safe to say that, other than the military and law enforcement, a majority of gun owners have never had to fire their weapon at anyone. They’ve probably never seen the results of someone being shot either. The sight of a human lying on the ground with blood flowing like lava leaves you shaken to your very core. No amount of movie or video game violence can even come close, and yes, they are a part of the problem. Our kids are becoming desensitized to the kind of violence at Sandy Hook and parents along with the entertainment industry must be held accountable.

People, for the most part, are in favor of some measure of gun control. Mandatory background checks for every weapon purchase, closing the loophole for gun shows and private sales, mental health screenings, a limit to the size of magazines and a return to the 1994 assault weapons ban all make sense in limiting the access to weapons that are only designed to one thing... KILL.

I would require that all weapons to be registered and fitted with a GPS microchip. They would then be entered into a national database which would be able to track them should be stolen since a majority of so - called “illegal” guns are stolen from “legal” gun owners. Mandatory testing would be required every 6 months and owners would have to qualify to keep their weapons. Trigger guards and Safety classes would also be mandatory and would be subject to periodic testing. The bottom line being that greater responsibility must be placed on the part of the gun owner.

Some would say “You’re just punishing law - abiding citizens”. Gun owners are putting the rest of us at risk. “Criminals don’t care about gun laws”. No they don’t. However, if this society is to finally get serious about gun crime, much harsher penalties would be handed out for possession of unregistered weapons and mandatory life or death sentences for crimes in which a gun was used.

Legal gun owners must face sanctions for their carelessness as well. Had Adam Lanza’s mother been more responsible in the way she locked up her firearms, he wouldn’t have had access and Sandy Hook might not have happened. You are more likely to get shot by someone in your own home or due to a gun owner’s negligence than you would by a criminal. Just this past week, there were 6 accidental shooting incidents at gun shows throughout the country.

There are RABID gun owners that somehow see gun control as “taking my guns away”. They also see the 2nd Amendment as a means to having unfettered access to any kind of weapon made. Somehow, they miss the fact that you can’t legally own a rocket launcher. They also ignore the fact that the Supreme Court has stated that there are limitations to the Amendment. They rant and rave like spoiled little brats when you press them on the need for military style - assault weapons. It’s these people that scare me and enforce the need for mandatory mental health screenings.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the NRA and politicians who’ve prostituted themselves for them are playing paranoid gun owners like chumps. Runs on guns and ammo have them laughing all the way to the bank while we continue to pay the price in blood.

You know what the bitter irony of all this is ? If “We The People” don’t get our act together when it comes to guns, that “big, bad, tyrannical, Communist, Socialist” President and the Government that these deluded paranoids swear is out to get them just might be forced into existence. Then what ? How will your weapons and serious lack of skill fare against those black helicopters you keep imagining ?  Some would say “There’s no way the military would fire upon American citizens.” Are you willing to take that chance ?

In order to stem the tide of gun violence, it’s going to take a collection of initiatives and more importantly, people of good will and courage to carry them out. Those that do not own guns far outnumber those that do. The majority of gun owners are reasonable and see the need to finally tackle this problem. Ask yourself, what’s more important. Is it the life of an innocent child or the need for some yahoo to carry an assault weapon because he’s overcompensating for some other shortcomings ?

Who I Am And How Mark Gunn Media Came To Be.

"Birth Of A Writer" Or "Are You Crazy ? You Can't Print That !"

"I'm not exactly sure when my passion for writing really began." Mark says. "I feel like it's something I've always done." To a degree, he has. Before getting into radio, he was the lead singer of a cover band in Columbus, Georgia called "Cargo". 

It was toward the end of the band's run that Mark began writing as a lyricist. "Guitarist, Donald Johnson and I were putting songs together for a very rough demo." He recalls. "Don had a few songs that he had rough drafts for and I started writing words and melodies for them." They actually managed to get a few of them recorded, but as Mark laughingly admits, "While they were actually pretty good songs, I wouldn't want anyone to hear them today."

He also credits his career in radio for giving him his second push to put pen to paper. "I remember writing all kinds of commercials and promos and never giving thought that I was actually WRITING anything. It was about trying to be creative and getting the job done."

If Mark had to pinpoint the one "A-HA moment" that put him on the path to doing editorials, it would be a lecture he was giving at UCLA in the early 90's. "I was working for what was KACE - FM at the time and was responsible for starting a movement that saw us eliminating a lot negative music from our radio station." The move generated national and international press coverage. "That's how I ended up doing the lecture" Mark recalls.

The professor approached him afterwards and encouraged him to write a book because in his words, "...you would write like you speak." Mark says "I took those words to heart and they're with me every time I touch a keyboard."

In addition to the writing he's already done, he's in the middle of completing his first novel. "It's an autobiographical piece about my very unusual upbringing and my the ride through my career." It's called "Everything I Know About Radio I Learned In Kindergarten" and he hopes to have it finished by the third quarter of this year.

Mark Gunn Media Sports Montage

If you have an athlete in your family, putting together a Highlight Reel

is a great way to remember every spectacular play

and it's also great to submit to perspective colleges.

Mark Gunn Media

No Hype ! No Hoopla ! Just Damn Good Work !

Mark Gunn Media Wedding Montage

Getting Married ? 

Mark Gunn Media 

"No Hype ! No Hoopla ! Just Damn Good Work !"

Seasons Change

"Season's Change"

We all experience major changes in our lives. Some of them good. Some bad. No matter what, they are changes that must happen. 

After 35 years of being blessed enough to be in a business that I've loved since the beginning, the time for change has come.

As of this week, Mainline Broadcasting and I have ended our wonderful relationship and with that, I close this chapter of my life. 

I want everyone to know that I am fine with the decision and have no ill feelings or anger toward "MLB". It is a truly wonderful company and one of the best I've ever worked for.

I give many thanks to the staff and management there because they've given me the chance to do things in my career that I thought I never would do. I've worked with and groomed some of the best and brightest talent in this industry and I take great pride in their success. 

I've been "adopted" by a family in the truest sense of the word. They've shared in my triumphs and my tragedies. They've applauded my strengths and helped with my weaknesses and most importantly, they believed in my talent and shared in my drive for success and because of all of that and so much more, I leave with no regrets.

Over the last year or so, I've had to really evaluate where I was in my life and I knew in my mind that I wouldn't be doing radio much longer. I think the decision had been made somewhat when I made it known that I wouldn't be applying for the Program Director's position now held by Phillip David March. I'm tremendously thrilled that he's back in the game because the knowledge he brings to a young staff is beyond measure. He's already made a major impact and he's not done yet.

I saw the staff getting younger with a new energy that was sorely needed. I'm blessed to have been a part of that energy, but something was missing. I can admit that part of it was ego - driven. When I was moved to Magic 101.3, I embraced the challenge of trying to take the station to the next level. Although we made strides in the ratings, it wasn't enough for me. I was used to winning as I'd done on B-96.5 and I tended to beat myself up when I didn't see the kinds of results I wanted. I also missed being in a position with a higher profile. I internalized these things more and more and I knew for sure that it would be time for me to leave at some point.

I feel that I must come to the defense of "MLB", because the few people I've told beforehand had very strong reactions to the news. To them and to you I say "there are no bad guys, so don't it twisted". Continue to support my family at Mainline as you always have. They are a very solid company and they get results for anyone they do business with.

Over the last few days, people have been running with a consistent theme. "This is but a season and seasons change". My baby sister, Tonya, put it in a Facebook post. My mother, Barbara, made sure I knew it as well.

I'm very excited about the things that are already happening and the shape of things to come. I'm concentrating more on my family and building my own business, Mark Gunn Media. I'm looking forward to growing a list of clients that have trusted my work in the past, and new ones that will soon discover just how special this company will be.

There are pending opportunities that will, as my wife Tracey says, "will put you exactly where you need to be" and in her opinion, put me in a position to do what I was born to do. More on that as the situation develops.

By no means is this a "goodbye" to Louisville. You'll have to put up with me for a while longer. For me, it's business as usual. I'll still fight the good fight with "Connected Voices". I'll still use my voice to do the most good where I can. Don't be surprised if you see me pop up with an occasional television appearance either. 

So, as this season changes for me, there have been so many people in so many places that have helped me along my 35 year journey. General Managers, Program Directors, Air Talent, Sales and Promotions people and most of all, anyone and everyone that I've been privileged enough to come through your radio speakers, THANK YOU !

...And to my first love, we've been through a whole lot together and you'll always be in my heart. 

Thank you... RADIO.

Mark Gunn
Owner - Mark Gunn Media.

September 11 th, Ten Years Later

 I was on my way to work when the first plane hit. I stopped by mt credit union to make a deposit while in Cincinnati. The security guard got an alert over his pager that a plane crashed into the WTC. 


I got in my car to make the 100 mile trip to Louisville and listened to coverage all the way down. Howard Stern was on and I could feel his anger and remember at that moment how much respect I gained for him as a broadcaster on that day. 


I made phone calls trying to figure out what to do. Once I got in, I stopped the music and went with a network feed for most of that day. When it was time to drive back to Cincinnati, I listened to more coverage and I remember not sleeping that night. 


My ex - wife and I watched the coverage on tv, barely saying anything. My son, William was 2 at the time and I remember thinking how lucky he was not to be affected by all of this. 


We did some form of coverage for almost two weeks. We didn't stop the music per se', but we did go from being the "good times hip - Hop" station to being conduits of information for those who wanted to help but didn't know how. 


One of the hardest things about being in the media at times like this is having to put on a brave face for your audience and I addressed that on the air. I remember saying something to the effect of even though we're passing on all this information, we were feeling what everyone else felt. We just couldn't take the time to give in to those emotions. 


Things came to a point to where we could get back to a sense of normalcy and I remember telling my audience that I was going home, hugging my wife and kids and then going off to a corner by myself and allowing myself, finally, to have a good cry.