By: Maya Perry
Like most of us, Kat started out doing a job that wasn’t what she wanted to do, but she recognized her talents. “I started off in the promotions department then slowly started to gain more responsibilities when it was clear I was passionate about radio. At my first radio job, I ended up being the Music Director for three formats (Hot-AC, Country and Classic Rock) plus doing the mid-day shift on the Hot-AC station, I was in my early 20s at the time. When I initially started in radio, I went by my real name ‘Emily Carter’ but after my second radio job in Vancouver, I went by Kat Carter instead. At the time, we had two Emily C’s at the station and since I was the new girl in town, my PD asked if I could change my name. It took a while to choose a name until a co-worker asked what my middle name was...I responded “Kathleen” and he said to go with “Kat Carter.” She has been Kat Carter ever since.
“I found my purpose in radio after trying out almost every job at the station to see what I enjoyed most. I tried production, news, copy, promo, on-air and music. I quickly realized that my goal was not to be on-air, but in the music department, programming the station. You’ve got to have a certain focus and attention to detail to program music and I knew that was one of my strong suits. I also made sure to continue to be on-air, that way I became more valuable to the station. It’s harder to let go of someone who is doing multiple jobs. If I had just been on-air, I probably would have been canned numerous times.”
Concluding our interview, Kat left some sound advice for future women in radio, “If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell her that you’re more talented than you think. Stop doubting your abilities and don’t compare yourself to others. Have more confidence in yourself. Don’t be afraid to take chances, it will help you grow personally and professionally. Take that job in another market, try out a different position at the station, network as much as possible and don’t be afraid to fail. We all fail but the successful ones get back up and try again.”