At breakfast, Terri loves to serve locals
Terri Cowley has been a journalist for most of her working life, telling the stories of other people’s lives in photographs and words. Five years ago she discovered the intimate world of community radio and gained a Friday morning spot at ONE FM 98.5 in Shepparton. Now she has dived even deeper into the magic of radio as ONE FM’s breakfast show host with a daily gig from 6 am to 9 am. John Lewis spoke to the busy mother of two and CrossFit fanatic about how and why she fits it all in.
When your day starts in the middle of the night it pays to be prepared. Terri Cowley knows all about preparation.
For her 6 am start on ONE FM 98.5’s breakfast show she gets up at 4.30 am.
‘‘Everything has to be completely organised the night before. Computers and tablets have to be charged and ready to go so I can literally throw on clothes and grab my breakfast that’s been made the night before.’’
Terri has been running the breakfast slot five days a week for a few months now, so her routines are locked in.
‘‘I’m at the other end of town to the station, and I’ve got to call in at McDonald’s for coffee on the way.
‘‘Then there’s school lunches and clothes. You don’t want to be ferreting around for a shoe at that time in the morning when everyone’s asleep,’’ she said.
But Terri’s radio job is not her only commitment. She also works part-time from home as senior associate editor for the RM Williams Outback magazine.
With two school-age children, including one in Year 12, a husband who works normal hours, a dog that needs feeding and walking, and her passion for a daily fitness session of CrossFit, you could say her days are full to the brim.
Why take on breakfast radio? ‘‘Well, jobs in local media are getting fewer and fewer. We’re lucky enough to still have a local daily paper, but in terms of radio I don’t believe there is really a lot of local content. It’s all about local content for me,’’ she said.
Since occupying the ONE FM broadcast chair, Terri has interviewed countless members of Shepparton district community groups, from Fairley Leadership Program participants to service club supporters, emergency service volunteers and local police members in her SheppLife segment.
Sometimes she has help from guest presenters such as News reporter James Bennett, but it’s usually a solo gig.
She recently interviewed Jack O’Sullivan from the Greater Shepparton Winter Night Shelter, which helps the homeless during the colder months.
She is also in the process of conducting 25 interviews with Shepparton Festival supporters to celebrate the festival’s 25th anniversary.
‘‘The bottom line agenda is all about trying to give voices to people who have got something good to say, and who are doing really worthwhile work,’’ she said.
Most of Terri’s interviews are available in podcast format, either on SoundCloud or on the Shepparton News website.
Of course, live radio depends upon technology, which can sometimes present problems. But Terri has developed a philosophical attitude to signal drop-outs, lost phone connections and other glitches.
‘‘I reckon radio is a bit of an analogy for life. When you first start out, you’re just so worried about little things going wrong. I’ve had to learn to really roll with it, and to expect things to go wrong and not to panic,’’ she said.
However, her calm, soft radio voice is not exactly the real Terri.
‘‘In normal life I’m the first person to f ly off the handle. I don’t hold grudges, but I do go BLAAH,’’ she said, screaming.
‘‘But on radio that doesn’t work too well. You have to stay calm, work it out and carry on,’’ she said.
THE BOTTOM LINE AGENDA IS ALL ABOUT TRYING TO GIVE VOICES TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE GOT SOMETHING GOOD TO SAY, AND WHO ARE DOING REALLY WORTHWHILE WORK. — TERRI COWLEY