Radio host hanging up headphones July 12
Radio host Catherine Hanrahan will hang up her headphones next month to pursue a new career after 15 years in local radio.
The Fresh 100.5 FM morning co-host, widely known for her relentless energy and enthusiasm, said it’s time to apply her skills to something different – although she hasn’t announced what it is quite yet.
“It’s time for a change,” said the 39-year-old, whose last day is July 12.
Her radio career has allowed her to work with great people and given her opportunities she said she wouldn’t have experienced elsewhere, Hanrahan said Thursday.
“I’m just really grateful to the city for embracing me.”
She made the announcement on photographer Heather Doughty’s Inspire: The Women’ s Portrait Project atwww. inspire womens portrait project. com
“It’s been a privilege to be invited into the homes, cars, and workplaces of the good people of this city day after day. There’s no other job like it and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything,” she wrote.
Hanrahan takes pride in her community efforts, something she hopes to continue following her departure from the airwaves.
“I find it really rewarding,” she said, explaining how her many involvements began when she moved to Peterborough in 2001 to accept a part-time gig at The Wolf 101.5 FM.
“I’m just trying to keep up with the people I admire.”
The Sudbury native’s first career choice was to be a theatre actress, after taking the performing arts program at Sudbury Secondary School. But she was not immediately accepted into a post-secondary program.
After a year off, she took the two-year radio program at Humber College.
Hanrahan then landed her first radio gig – a part-time weekend off-air role – at popular Toronto FM radio station CHFI, where she befriended and was influenced by long-time morning show personality Erin Davis.
When she left the big city to take the job at The Wolf, she worked 12 hours a week – meaning she had to take on several other positions to make ends meet.
“It’s how I made friends in this city and why I felt so embraced,” Hanrahan said.
It would be eight years before she landed the morning show gig, first with Mike Melnik and in recent years with Pete Dalliday, one of the co-workers she will miss the most.
“It’s going to be really different not starting my day with him,” she said.
Not wanting to sound selfeffacing, Hanrahan said, she hopes people will continue to recognize her – she enjoys their exchanges, she said. Her identity is tied to her occupation; It’s not just how others see her, but how she sees herself.
“That’s the scariest part for me,” she said, pointing out how her involvement in the Inspire project provided a boost at just the right time.
Hanrahan, who recently moved to the Havelock area with her partner, realtor Ben van Veen, wrote about convincing herself to do “the scary thing” when necessary and how she has never regretted bold moves in the past. “It’s invigorating and empowering and it always works out exactly how it’s supposed to, even if it’s not exactly how I planned. That’s why I’m taking another big risk now,” she wrote.
NOTE: For more information on Catherine Hanrahan, visit www.catherinehanrahan.com
Jason.bain@ peterboroughdaily.com