How I Became - a radio presenter w/ Sharyn Casey

Welcome to the ‘How I Became’ series where Billie talks to girls across New Zealand who are killing it in their chosen career and see how they got there!

Trying to decide what you ‘want to be when you grow up’ is hard enough as it is and your careers counsellor probably won’t have all the answers you need.

HIB aims to give you a bit of insight into different career paths and what it takes to get there.

Name: Sharyn Casey

Age: 36

Job title: Mum/Radio/TV Presenter

Current job: The Edge Afternoons, Dancing with the Stars host and Mum of 2

Firstly, what drew you to radio?

I always loved listening to the radio, I’d sleep with it on at night, I loved the idea of being surrounded by music, making people feel something and everyday being different.

What subjects did you take in high school that you think helped?

I left school when I was 15, so I’m not a good person to ask but I would say English, Media Studies, Life Skills if your school has it and possibly drama - but not vital.

What did your pathway towards starting your career look like?

I started working full time when I was 16 at a supermarket which I really enjoyed. My dream was to work in a music store because radio just seemed like one of those jobs that was unattainable - like being a rockstar. When I had been working at a clothes store in Porirua I got to know Shane who managed the Porirua Sounds and pestered him until he gave me a job, he really took me under his wing and when he moved to the city store, he took me with him and got me to work at The Edgefest signing tent as he knew I was obsessed with The Edge. When I was there I met the Sounds marketing manager Shaun Joyce who when seeing JJ, Mike and Dom onstage came up to me and said “You’d be good at that”. I went home and looked up radio schools - I got my acceptance letter a few days later. 

What did you study/where/how long did it take?

I did a diploma in radio at the NZ Radio Training School in Porirua (it’s now in town). Our tutors were some of the industry greats (James Irwin, Debbie Baker, Rowland Burns, Jason Pine, Jimmy Stewart) and they pushed me to be my best. Jimmy even failed me on my announcer exam three times cause I could do a better job in his opinion but after six months I graduated. They were such incredible people, James had also given me driving lessons at lunch time so I could get closer to getting a promo job (I only had my learners at the time).

What’s the best thing about your job?

I love the music, pop culture, the radio whānau, the fact it introduced me to my husband. But the best thing of all is making people feel something, whether it’s making them laugh on a crappy day, help people in a hard situation, catching a cheater - The list goes on. 

What’s the hardest part?

The hardest thing for me has definitely been when shows have ended, it feels like a break up, I go through the same emotions of heartbreak I reckon, it’s so weird to explain. Then it becomes kind of a joke but emotionally I find it really hard because I have been close to all of my co-hosts and we’ve been such big parts of each other's lives, to then not see them everyday or see them with other people or move on without you, it's really tough. But I’m also super lucky that I’ve always been paired with really awesome people that soon enough you’ve got someone just as awesome to hang out with everyday and make cool radio with. I am such an emo as you can tell.

What surprised you most about your job once you started working?

How much work goes into it. People think we just rock up and wing it but we put in a lot of work and effort to get the shows ready for our listener whānau everyday.

Also how I would learn my greatest life lessons doing my job, especially from my now big boss Leon. He really helped me find my voice and to be proud of who I was, which was always a struggle for me as a bullied kid.

What does an average day look like for you?

I’m on maternity leave at the moment but normally it would be:

Get up, Get my son Tyson ready for Kindy and drop him off, get my caffeine fix from Tosca in Remuera, it’ll now mean having Reuben my baby with me too, work out, clear emails, write scandal for the radio show and look for ideas.

1pm - Show meeting to plan
2pm - Record any interviews or social things we want to do
3pm - 7pm - do the show
Home, scoff dinner, get the boys sorted and in bed and finally - Eat an ice cream watch TV with my husband, read a chapter of my book before going to bed at 10pm. 

What advice would you give to those looking to follow a similar career path?

Attitude is EVERYTHING. Go in with 2 ears and one mouth in any job that you do and work hard, take every opportunity but most of all enjoy it!

What are the biggest challenges in your opinion to getting into radio?

Social media can be hard or the text machine because people love to give you their opinion whether it’s right or wrong - accusing you of things you’ve been paid to say when you haven’t coming up with ideas through lockdown when we couldn’t do anything but the rest of the country could was really tough.

What kind of skills does your job require?

Going to a radio school is a great start or studying communications. A good attitude, being willing to learn and work hard, creativity, good with people and being a good communicator.

What part of your job gives you the most satisfaction?

When people tell me that something we talked about helped them or something that made them laugh on a crappy day. I’d take that over awards and ratings any day of the week.

What has been an absolute highlight of your career?

Jayden, Dan and I made a song with a bunch of celebrities to raise money for Youthline which was a cover of Stan Walker’s ‘Take it Easy’. It was such a journey, people would say yes then pull out and we didn’t know if we’d get it together in time. Ee worked with an incredible kapahaka group to incorporate some Te Reo which is super important to us and when it all came together, it was so perfect and I cried because it meant to much to us but also that people got behind it to help Youthline.

What’s an unexpected element to your job that people don’t realise you have to do?

We have air-checks, where basically your on air coach listens to your show and then critiques it on how it could be improved and what you do well etc. I love it because I love constructive criticism - But it is the weirdest part to get used to and not take personally.

Describe your job in three words

Dream come true!