July 11, 2011
Sheila Kirby is Senior Vice President for Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau and one of Radio's Most Influential Women. When you run into Kirby at an industry event she's the poster woman for happy and positive. Her enthusiasm for the radio industry is contagious and is really perfect when working for an organization always trying to motivate people to succeed. Kirby says it comes from her willingness to commit her time and energy to excel. "I always try to pay it forward by offering coaching and support to others starting out in our business. My driving force continues to be the knowledge that anything is possible and with hard work, coupled with insatiable curiosity, comes opportunity!"
Kirby says she was able to find great role models and coaches early on in her career. "People who invested in my education and development. Lisa Morrison, Weezie Kramer, Jake Karger, along with many others, showed me that anything is possible. Radio is an extraordinary business that changes from moment to moment. The technological advancement and adoption of new channels of distribution offers endless connection points for consumers and clients. I am motivated by the unknown, what?s next and the ability our industry has to make meaningful connections that resonate.
Kirby says her career path to radio always followed the sales promotion and marketing side of advertising. "I started working for an independent television company out of college. My job included signing Chicago-area hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues with weekly highlights and consumer specials (deals). This led to an opportunity to start the first on-air deals program for Westinghouse Broadcasting. We built and offered the ?Deal of the Day? to increase time spent listening and engaging with listeners and advertisers across Westinghouse Markets. It?s interesting that the ?DEAL SPACE? is all the rage and conversation today and we began this program from Westinghouse in 1982."
"The opportunity to build out the Non-Traditional Revenue Department for Westinghouse became available when Dick Harris hired Lisa Morrison (founder of Morrison and Abraham) to consult with Westinghouse stations across the U.S. I eventually went to work for Lisa and purchased the company in 1994. Our largest client at the time was Infinity Radio, owned and operated by Mel Karmizan. Mel asked Michael Weiss, President of his national rep firm, to meet with me and discuss the business model. This then led to a wonderful meeting with Ralph Guild, Founder and Chairman of Interep. Although I was not looking to sell Morrison and Abraham, Ralph was like-minded, believed in new business development and my partners and I agreed that back-end infrastructure would allow for accelerated growth. I eventually became President of Strategic Sales for Interep and moved into the national space working on behalf of Interep clients and rep firms to create integrated solutions for advertisers and agencies."
"Through Interep, I joined the Board of Directors of the Radio Advertising Bureau and was able to work closely with Jeff Haley and the amazing RAB staff on projects and directives for the radio industry including chairing the RAB Radio Show. I was then approached by Randy Michaels, CEO of Tribune, to join the company and build-out out a national cross platform Strategic Sales Department for Tribune. Becoming SVP of Strategic Sales for Tribune allowed for depth of product ? TV, Newspaper, Radio and Digital Sales. The path to the RAB was an easy decision as a Board member. I joined the RAB in February as SVP of Professional Development when given the opportunity to work with Jeff Haley and team to elevate training and partnerships with broadcasters."
Kirby is very upbeat about radio's chances to grow revenue share. "Heck Yeah! Audio and interactive channels are robust. Audio interactive and integration are the one -two punch for advertisers and agencies to build engagement, loyalty and revenue. There is no better time than now for radio to capture a larger share of the marketing spend. We are building out amazing online, in-person and on-demand training for radio sellers and managers and it is exciting to see the growth and launch of our products like CDMC2.0 ? the next generation of interactive training."
One of Kirby's goals is to help sales manager's in radio become more successful. "The hardest job in a radio station is that of the Sales Manager. Managers are time starved and have to be 1,000 steps ahead of their staffs, technology and client needs and solutions. Our goal, and my personal mission for the RAB Professional Development Team, is to implement training and certification for all sellers and MANAGERS working in radio. The RAB offers robust training and certification as do many great training companies?get trained by the RAB or others; get certified from the RAB and GET RESULTS. We can and will be the only industry where all sellers and managers are certified to represent our mediums. Powerful and exciting."
Reach out to Sheila Kirby at and congratulate her as one of Radio's most influential women of 2011.
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