No. 14 - THE MORNING VOICES

For more than 11 years this radio trio has continued to give back to their community. Collectively they have raised money for numerous causes in addition to entertaining their fan base almost every single day on their hit morning radio program. We have the great pleasure of adding the radio personalities of The Q Morning Show (WJBQ-97.9) to our 52in52 family!

Whether it is their amazing contributions to the community or just the constant sharing of their lives and personal challenges, Lori Voornas, Meredith Manning and Jeff Parsons always seem to deliver. Below find our very humble interview with the three of them.       

WJBQ Morning Show

DNA: How long have the three of you been working on the morning show together?

Q Morning Show: “This is our 12^th year together.”  

DNA: A lot of morning shows help the community by giving back - that said your morning show seems to do more than most - tell us why the three of you have decided to get so involved in fundraisers and social events?

Q Morning Show: “It’s the best and quickest way to let people know that we care, we are their friends and we’ll put our money where our mouth is….or our mouth where the money is needed. It’s also a great way to bond with listeners about what they are passionate about.”

DNA: Can you name a few fundraisers or events that are near and dear to your heart?

Q Morning Show: “Of course Cans for a Cure for the Maine Cancer Foundation and Cancer Community Center. We also love the March of DimesWalk (in May), we have gotten involved individually with charities. Meredith with Autism, Jeff with the American Cancer Society and Lori with the Robbie Foundation.”

DNA: We know that one of your bigger events is Cans for a Cure. How long has your crew been involved in this project, what are the principal goals of this project and how much would you say you helped raise with help from the community?

Q Morning Show: “We did this the very first year we all worked together, so this is 12 years old too! The goals have changed since our first one. Our initial goal was to make this an awareness campaign and to get women to do self-breast exams to be their best protector against breast cancer.

“Over the years however, we have really cranked into the fundraising aspect. There is so much research, education and resources here in Maine, but it’s expensive. We try our best to help the Maine Cancer Foundation and Cancer Community Center defray those costs. Over the 12 years we have raised nearly 200,000 dollars!”

DNA: We know that Jeff has been battling cancer - and he has always been frank with your audience - keeping them informed along his journey. We think this is a brave and somewhat uncharacteristic of radio personalities for most usually prefer to keep their private lives out of the spotlight. Why did he (or your crew) decide that it was important to air his cancer progress over the air? And what kind of feedback have you received?

JEFF: “I thought it was important to share because all of us have been very open about big events in our personal lives and this was just another one of those moments. The response was very supportive and really showed me just how much listeners really think of you as a friend.”

DNA: On another personal note - Lori we know that you also shared very personal information with your audience. You decided to come out on the air. What made you decide to do that and what type of positive and possibly negative feedback did you receive from the public?

LORI: “I was getting married and to a woman…and all I could think was, wow…I’m getting married to a woman who has 3 kids…how in God’s name am I gonna talk about anything unless I come out. I was truly scared to death.

I think I had built up a big giant monster in my own mind over the 20 years I had been in radio and had convinced myself that I would be hated. I am still amazed to this day, but I have received NO negative feedback. None. It was the nicest thing our listeners have ever done for me.”

 

DNA: Mornings are tough for most people - how do the three of you muster the energy and wit to entertain people on a regular basis? What are some of the challenges the three of you face on a day to day basis?

Q MORNING SHOW: “Getting to work is the hardest, but once here – this job is the greatest job ever and it’s truly hard NOT to have fun when you start chatting it up. We all have such different personalities and for some weird strange awesome reason, it translates on the radio to a fun morning. When it stops being fun, is when we probably will stop doing it. Unless any of us win the lottery, then I’m pretty sure it would be ‘see ya suckers!’”

 

DNA: You may downplay the importance of your morning show but there is an audience out there that truly needs your crew to help them get off on the right foot - do you enjoy that pressure and what do the three of you do to help bring that little extra something to the airwaves every weekday?

Q MORNING SHOW: “We all try to bring a little of our lives to the show every day. It doesn’t take much to relate to the audience. We have kids, we have boyfriends, we have girlfriends, we have divorces, and money issues and funny things happen. We try to share those with the audience, because they can relate. Plus, if you can goof around it’s a way better way to start your day than depressed that it’s another day in the grind that life can sometimes be.”

DNA: Lastly what do the three of you enjoy most about your jobs and how can people find out more about your pet projects?

LORI: “I think for me, the thing I love most about my job is making people laugh. When I can get Meredith giggling or Jeff to do his double laugh – then I know there is someone out there doing the same thing. We all have blogs that we update daily on the website and that’s a great way to keep up with our madness and anything we are currently involved in.” 

Lori Voornas

MEREDITH: “I really like meeting our listeners and hearing their thoughts on the air. I love the psychology behind it. Everyone has their own views and triggers and I'm intrigued with reactions and insight.” 

 

Meredith Manning

JEFF: “I like the fact that the job is different every day and I get to come to work and just be myself. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt to work ain't half bad either. I don't exactly have pet projects but people can follow me at facebook.com/jeffparsons, twitter.com/jeffparsons, and instagram.com/jeffparsons71.”

Jeff Parsons

NOTE:
To hear more adventures of this amazing trio, listeners can tune their radio to 97.9 (in Maine) from 5:30am-10:00am (Monday-Thursday) and 6:00am-10:00am on Saturdays. DNA thanks these three for their public service. We were very grateful to be welcomed into their studio to do this fun shoot.