January 10, 2025 • 20 mins
What are some of the best decisions you've made in your life? Martha talks about getting off a bus for MTV, Christie talks about saying YES to something she never thought she would do, and Karena ended an 8-year relationship that hurt like hell!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
When the on air Mike goes off, the talk talk begins.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's Talk Talk with Martha Quinn.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
It's my I'm gonna live forever.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
I'm sorry impressed that you busted out those bon Jovi lyrics.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
That was very good.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You know, I'm great with the song.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
You're great with lyrics.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Welcome, by the way, to this this little round table
discussion that you might think, what did you just stumble on?
These people are just chit chatting. It is actually a
professional show, well somewhat somewhat, we try. It is a
podcast called Talk Talk with Martha Quinn. I am Marth Quinn,
(00:49):
your friend from the MTV days, and I am here
with the morning show team of what I consider to
be the greatest morning show not just in the Bay
Area but on planet Earth. And this duo here that
I'm lucky enough to be working with is producer Kreeana
of Alaskaz.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeay, never seen anybody.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Else, Christy us in Morning Drive with Christy Live.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thank you so much, Martha Quinn.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Christy, you came up with a very fascinating topic for
today that first I was completely intimidated by, but then
I did complete the task. So why don't you explain
it and tell us what gave you the idea for
this episode, which is episode number what of Talk Talk
with Martha Quinn Krene of Alaskas.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Two hundred and twenty nine.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Y'all, So I saw this question online actually, and I
thought it was pretty interesting. What are the three best
decisions you've made in your life? And I know it
might be hard to narrow it down, but what are
three amazing decisions? So it doesn't have to be the best,
but three amazing decisions that you have made in your lifetime.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Okay, so I'll tell you my first favorite decision I
ever made. Number one, get off the bus. I will
try to make this short. I had graduated NYU, I
was still working at my dorm. I was taking the
bus home to my fifth floor walk up on the
Upper East Side, was stuck in traffic. I was like, Oh,
(02:23):
I've got to get off the bus, and I went
and visited WNBC, where I had been a college intern
my senior year of college. I was just hanging around
the office and somebody said, Hey, what's Bob Pittman doing?
And somebody else said, oh, he is starting this wacky
new cable channel called MTV. And Buzzbrindle shout out who
(02:45):
I'd been an intern under. He was the assistant program director.
He said, Martha, that's what you should do. You should
audition to be a VJ on MTV. He called Bob Pittman,
who is our boss, here today and said, I've got
this girl was my intern. She should audition. Bob said,
it's the last day. Tell her to come down. Bob
was thinking, oh my god, I gotta do this as
(03:06):
a favorite to Buzz. The next day Bob saw my
tape and then two days later I was hired. So
shout out Bob Pittman, and I am Buzzbrindle, and I
am so happy I decided to get off the bus.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
This is another reason why I wanted to do this
topic because that story right there shows how little tiny decisions,
you know, saying yes instead of no, can really help
shape a lifetime. So that is another reason, especially as
we're starting this brand new year, to kind of give
people like some inspiration and also just to show you
(03:42):
like you just never know life is to choose your
own adventure kind of book, and we're writing it every
single day. So Producer Karina, what is a decision that
you've made.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Going to school for me, choosing to continue my education
outside of high school. My dad went to school, my
mom went too. But my parents all gave us a
choice to.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Go to school or fend for yourself.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
And I said, you know what, I'm going to take
advantage of his offer because he said, if you go
to school, I'll take care of it for you and.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Pay pay it.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
So I went to DVC. I'm the first in my
family to go to college. I graduated from Diablo Valley
College and then I went to San Francisco State and
then look at where I am now. And my dad
always says, the one thing that people can't take away
from me is my education.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
As much as I was like, oh god, I don't want.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
To go to school because you know you're going to
school your whole life all the way up to high school. Well,
most people, unless you're like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, but yeah,
I would say one of the best decisions.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Is Neil sean guitar player for Journey. Really he didn't
go to school.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
He did not finish high school because I'm sorry, he
was off joining Santana.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
That's that's crazy. That's crazy. Now, if you think about it,
but yeah, he would.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Have joined Eric Clapton's band, but he was a teenager
and his parents didn't want him to so with Santana
because it was closer to home. Did your DVC education
help you or your college education in general? Did it
help you come here to the station?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:12):
So when I went to I didn't know what I
wanted to do leaving DVC. So when I got to
San Francisco State, I transferred from DVC to San Francisco State.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Once I did my two years.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Got my AA there, then they were like, okay, you
got to pick something that you want to do because
this is going to be now what your career is
going to be. And I was like, well, I like
to talk, I like music, I love music, I love entertainment,
and I just don't want to sit behind a desk
all day, you know.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I want to do something fun.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
I was like, I guess I'll do broadcasts and electronic communications.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
And then that was it. Awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeay, lucky for us, Lucky for us. Thank you, Christy James.
A decision that you made that you look back on
and are psyched about.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Going to my friend Janine's house and being nosy and
reading her mail.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
We had graduated high school.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
We both worked at dentist offices, sat up on our
kitchen counter and looked over and there was a stack
of mail. On top of the stack of mail, there
is a direct mail piece for the Navy. And I
picked it up and I was like, hmm, and you know,
it's just basically an advertisement call the Navy, blah blah blah.
You know, yeah, and I was like, oh, that sounds
(06:25):
like fun. I'm going to give them a call. And
and I gave them a call, and long story short,
I ended up enlisting in the United States Navy. But yeah,
so that was a decision that changed my life, joining
the United States Navy.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
But I do want to go back to Jeanine. Did
you say something in that moment. Did you say, Jeanine,
I think I'm going to call this number, or did
you like what happened in that moment?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
No, I just kind of grabbed the paper and I
was like, oh, you know, I think I'll give them
a call, kind of like okay, onto the next thing.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
And then I went down to the office and they smoothed.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Talked to me, and you know, and a friend of
mine at the time had joined the military. No, he
hadn't join the military. He had bought a house. And
I knew that I wanted to buy a house. We
were both the same age, and I'm like, how did
your Maine buy a house? I want to buy a house.
They used that as a selling point. You know, you
(07:18):
have the VA home benefit. You can actually buy a house,
no money down. You know, you can pay for college
if you want to go to school, and you know
you have the opportunity.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
They cover Christy the college, right, yes, yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
With the GI bill.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So there were all these benefits and I was like, okay,
and I get to travel. And there was a Navy
base in Alameda in the Bay Area, and so you
meet people around who've been in the military. And I
had met a friend and he had been on an
aircraft carrier and traveled the world and told me stories.
So yeah, so there was a lot of different things.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Martha Quin, what would be your second blessing?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And how are we calling your decision?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You're a decision and best decision that you can.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Give us your second and your third, Karna, let me think, Christy,
thank you for your service, thank you for the continue Okay,
my two I'll just do them real quick. I had
a similar kind of idly looking at something experience that
changed my life. I was on a it was either
the Santa Monica Pier or the Malibu Pier, I can't remember.
I had been living in the valley and I had
(08:20):
gone there with a friend. I'd never been to that
area before and was just sitting there talking with this guy,
looking with the end of the pier and there was
somebody fishing and they pulled up a fish and the
fish was gasping and you know, flopping around. It was
kind of a big fish, and it was really struggling,
and I'd never seen that before. I'd never seen an
(08:42):
animal in agony before, you know, really struggling, and I
just watched that kind of like you. Didn't say a word,
wasn't planning anything about it, kind of just watched that
and just thought to myself, didn't say anything, just thought,
I'm going to take a break from that for a while,
and I never ate another animal again.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
That is crazy because a lot of people don't know. Well,
I think most people do, but if you don't know,
Martha Quinn is a vegan, like straight up, you.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Know, I always had pets. I always had birds, and
I look back on it now and think, like I
once bought a fur coat at a used clothing story.
I look back on it now and I go, wow,
it's funny that I wasn't putting the pieces together. It
took that fish, you know, when I really saw a
fellow Earthlang suffer. It just changed something in my brain,
(09:32):
just like you Christy. It just I don't know, the
tumblers tumbled in such a way that something unlocked in
my brain that wouldn't have, like had you not seen
that flyer, or had I not seen that fish. The
other one was second MTV Video Music Awards happened in La.
MTV was new. We weren't a finely oiled machine. We
(09:55):
didn't know people to be production assistants. I had met
a guy at a recording studio a couple of months earlier,
and I thought, oh, maybe that guy would like to
be a PA. And I called this guy and I say, said, hey,
do you want to come be a PA for the
Video Music Awards? And he said how much do I get?
And I said fifty bucks? And he came down and
(10:15):
he's now my husband.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
All that is really cool. I thought that you met
him at a recording studio.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
He too, I did, But then you know, I went
back to New York. At that time, I had a boyfriend.
I went back to New York a couple of months past,
and you know, we came back out for the Video
Music Awards. Then that transpired, and you know, things can
happen fast when you're in your twenties.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Okay, right, So yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And now he's my husband and I have two great kids.
And so that was my third favorite decision.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Make that phone call.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Speaking of twenties, one of the best decisions I made
in my life because I was in my twenties, was
ending an eight year relationship that I knew it wasn't
to go anymore anywhere.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Afterwards, and we just fell out of love.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
And I think a lot of people would rather stick
it out because they feel that they invested so much
time into someone. But I think, in the end, like
you just have to be happy in life. And he
joined the army and married and is now like a
captain or something. And I think that's one of the
best decisions and as much as it hurts, but it passed.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
And what was the another decision?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Oh yeah, the third was moving back with my parents.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I'm about to get emotional.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Oh please tell us, Well, you know, my dad's a
cancer survivor, so moving back with my parents, I know
I won't get this time backing over and all the arguing,
hiding food, tiding food from each other, hiding Topo Chica
drinks from each other, but moving back with them, and
(11:51):
my dad's more older, so my mom's still a spring chicken.
But with my dad, you know, I'm forty three years old,
and I'm like, oh, God, like I'd love to be
out of this, out of the house. At the same time,
it's a blessing because my dad needs me. So for
me is moving back when my dad had cancer to
be able to take care of him and then help
my mom.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And you moved back before then too, I did, so
he did there for quite some time.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Kind of worked out the way it's supposed to work out.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Even though it may not seem like it in the moment.
Once again, things are always working out for us. And
I think that's a good message to all of these stories,
because you just never ever know what might happen, and
now something happens, you're probably going to be first in
line to get that house.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, I'm just kidding, or.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Even here right like even here when we all like
they put the station together. They put you and Christy
together first, and then I and then you know, I
came in, and then Martha was in the morning, and
they started saying they were going to move things around,
and we're still all here together.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yes, that is the best. That is no, no, no,
that is the best.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
So Chris, we are now waiting on your third awesome decision.
We had a little bit of a cliffhanger there, so Christy.
When we last left off, Christy had joined the Navy
because she saw a flyer sitting on the kitchen country
of her friend Janine's house. So now and I had asked,
(13:20):
how did that lead you here today? And now we're
going to find out because of Christie's third awesome decision
and now here, well, actually it was my episode, Christy
kind of second second.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
I'm going to say, wait a minute, we miss your
second and third so really, oh sorry over.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Here, I want to be a cry baby. Now go ahead, Christy.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
So I joined the military. That was one big decision.
The second big decision, I would say, we need three from.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
You because we want me and Karna have shared three,
so you got to come up with two.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Saying yes to something I did not want to do.
When I was in the military, I was at my
second duty station and I was working for the American
Forces Network, and it's all He's been a dream of
mine to be on television. I was doing the TV
news for the Navy in La Madelena, Italy, and the
woman who was doing radio went on vacation basically, and
(14:11):
they were like, we need someone to fill in for
Melzer in the morning because she was doing the morning show.
Meltzer and I did not want to do it, and
everyone's like Christy, Christy, pointing at Christy, and I was like, no,
uh huh, you guys, I am not a morning person,
never have been. Everyone's pointing at Christy. So eventually I
was like, fine, as long as I can keep doing
the news, I will do this morning radio show. And
(14:33):
I ended up doing the morning radio show, ended up
being fairly good at it and got a lot of
good feedback. And when Melser got back from vacation, she
was gone for like two weeks. They were like, Melser,
we're going to have you do this over here now,
and we're going to keep Christy doing this.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
No, how did you feel about that? When that went down?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
She was happy because Melser was not like a in
front of the camera, in front of the facing type
of thing. She was happy. She was in traffic with
not traffic like reporting, but traffic like commercial traffic and
continuity scheduling commercials. And she was so happy about it
because she didn't have to wake up early number one
and she didn't have to be kind of front and center,
(15:14):
which wasn't her vibe. So she was happy it worked
out for her, And eventually it worked out for me
because I would never have tried radio.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
I love music.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I was a DJ at the time, but a club dj.
You said yes, and I said yes, But I had
never thought about doing radio. And then eventually I said, oh, well,
maybe when I get out of the military, I'll try
this thing for real.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
And I will.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
There's a woman named Renelle I used to listen to
growing up in the Bay. Maybe I'll try and go
be an intern and learn radio from her. And fast
forward like years and years down the line, I did
get an internship. I did end up interning for her.
I did eventually end up hosting a morning show and
it was Renelle and Christy in the morning, So it
was like show just it all worked out. If I
(16:00):
had never said yes, I would have never ever ever today.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Have you never kicked Meltzer on it?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I didn't do that was my decision.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
You're like.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Your third one.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
My third decision, I think, is going to knock on
a stranger's door who just started at the radio station
in San Francisco and asked him to listen to an
air check. And that is our boss right now. Little Ricky,
he had just started in San Francisco, and he's just
kind of like this guy in the corner.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
They kept moving his desk in.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Cubicle around, so he's kind of new in the station.
But me, I'm bouncing around I noticed someone new. I'm
always like, Hi, what's your name? I'm Christy. So I
had said hello. But I had done a classic hit
station and I was doing like another radio station, and
I wanted some feedback, and he was doing the classic
hit station here, and so I had asked him, Hey,
(16:58):
do you mind listening to an air check for me
and like giving me some feedback?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
And I went in and talked to him and got
to know.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
So was at which point when you were doing the
Renault and Christy show, at which no.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
This was when I was still doing I believe, Wild
ninety four nine.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
And for those that don't know, and Arachek is basically
either like your audition tape, your audition tape, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Your audition tape for radio. And so at this point
I was doing Wild ninety four nine, I was doing
middays there, and then I did Mornings with JV and
talked to Ricky, got to know him, and he got
to know me, and eventually when I left Wild ninety
four nine, he was running the station, brought back Renel
and then ended up bringing me on as part of
(17:47):
the station. And he's definitely been a mentor for me
and has really really really helped me a lot in
my career. Made the decision to put me with you,
Martha Quinn and supported that, and so once again talking
to a stranger, asking a stranger for help, being nice
(18:08):
to someone you don't know, not because of what you
think they can do for you, but just being nice
to someone just you just never know. So that was
another big, big decision that just eventually led me down
another path.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
So when you're listening to Disco Saturday Night every Saturday
from seven to midnight, and you hear the begs Stay
Alive and all of the disco classics, and you hear
that show hosted by Little Ricky, you know, a little
bit of background about who he is as a person.
I love that because I think we all feel that
(18:46):
he has been so instrumental in supporting all of us
in each of our stages.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
And that's such.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
A great look into how a person can move forward,
which is saying.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Hey, can you get me feedback?
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Because that can be the hardest thing in the world to.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Do, especially for someone you really don't know, but like
trusting that he knows what he's doing. He's here, you know,
let me ask for some help. And then ever since then,
he's been really helping me and has gotten me to
really the personality kind of on air that I am
today for sure. So yeah, it's just been a great
(19:26):
journey and you just never know where this thing called.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Life can take you.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
So say yes.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Also acknowledge that no is a complete sentence and it's
okay to say that too, and be open to any
new opportunities as this brand new year starts. And thank
you so much for checking out this episode of Talk
Talk with Martha Quinn.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Y'all, it's been fun. We need a close till next week.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Knocking on someone's doll.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Maybe that's not okay, Maybe that's not the closing song. Well,
I'm kreative, I'm Christie James.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
I'm worth the Quinn. It's almost a professional show. Almos
until next week. I'm worth the Quinn, I'm Christie, I'm
Queen of Alaska's Miss Your Ready,
When the on air Mike goes off, the talk talk begins.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's Talk Talk with Martha Quinn.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
It's my I'm gonna live forever.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
I'm sorry impressed that you busted out those bon Jovi lyrics.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
That was very good.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You know, I'm great with the song.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
You're great with lyrics.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Welcome, by the way, to this this little round table
discussion that you might think, what did you just stumble on?
These people are just chit chatting. It is actually a
professional show, well somewhat somewhat, we try. It is a
podcast called Talk Talk with Martha Quinn. I am Marth Quinn,
(00:49):
your friend from the MTV days, and I am here
with the morning show team of what I consider to
be the greatest morning show not just in the Bay
Area but on planet Earth. And this duo here that
I'm lucky enough to be working with is producer Kreeana
of Alaskaz.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeay, never seen anybody.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Else, Christy us in Morning Drive with Christy Live.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thank you so much, Martha Quinn.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Christy, you came up with a very fascinating topic for
today that first I was completely intimidated by, but then
I did complete the task. So why don't you explain
it and tell us what gave you the idea for
this episode, which is episode number what of Talk Talk
with Martha Quinn Krene of Alaskas.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Two hundred and twenty nine.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Y'all, So I saw this question online actually, and I
thought it was pretty interesting. What are the three best
decisions you've made in your life? And I know it
might be hard to narrow it down, but what are
three amazing decisions? So it doesn't have to be the best,
but three amazing decisions that you have made in your lifetime.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Okay, so I'll tell you my first favorite decision I
ever made. Number one, get off the bus. I will
try to make this short. I had graduated NYU, I
was still working at my dorm. I was taking the
bus home to my fifth floor walk up on the
Upper East Side, was stuck in traffic. I was like, Oh,
(02:23):
I've got to get off the bus, and I went
and visited WNBC, where I had been a college intern
my senior year of college. I was just hanging around
the office and somebody said, Hey, what's Bob Pittman doing?
And somebody else said, oh, he is starting this wacky
new cable channel called MTV. And Buzzbrindle shout out who
(02:45):
I'd been an intern under. He was the assistant program director.
He said, Martha, that's what you should do. You should
audition to be a VJ on MTV. He called Bob Pittman,
who is our boss, here today and said, I've got
this girl was my intern. She should audition. Bob said,
it's the last day. Tell her to come down. Bob
was thinking, oh my god, I gotta do this as
(03:06):
a favorite to Buzz. The next day Bob saw my
tape and then two days later I was hired. So
shout out Bob Pittman, and I am Buzzbrindle, and I
am so happy I decided to get off the bus.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
This is another reason why I wanted to do this
topic because that story right there shows how little tiny decisions,
you know, saying yes instead of no, can really help
shape a lifetime. So that is another reason, especially as
we're starting this brand new year, to kind of give
people like some inspiration and also just to show you
(03:42):
like you just never know life is to choose your
own adventure kind of book, and we're writing it every
single day. So Producer Karina, what is a decision that
you've made.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Going to school for me, choosing to continue my education
outside of high school. My dad went to school, my
mom went too. But my parents all gave us a
choice to.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Go to school or fend for yourself.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
And I said, you know what, I'm going to take
advantage of his offer because he said, if you go
to school, I'll take care of it for you and.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Pay pay it.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
So I went to DVC. I'm the first in my
family to go to college. I graduated from Diablo Valley
College and then I went to San Francisco State and
then look at where I am now. And my dad
always says, the one thing that people can't take away
from me is my education.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
As much as I was like, oh god, I don't want.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
To go to school because you know you're going to
school your whole life all the way up to high school. Well,
most people, unless you're like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, but yeah,
I would say one of the best decisions.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Is Neil sean guitar player for Journey. Really he didn't
go to school.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
He did not finish high school because I'm sorry, he
was off joining Santana.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
That's that's crazy. That's crazy. Now, if you think about it,
but yeah, he would.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Have joined Eric Clapton's band, but he was a teenager
and his parents didn't want him to so with Santana
because it was closer to home. Did your DVC education
help you or your college education in general? Did it
help you come here to the station?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (05:12):
So when I went to I didn't know what I
wanted to do leaving DVC. So when I got to
San Francisco State, I transferred from DVC to San Francisco State.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Once I did my two years.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Got my AA there, then they were like, okay, you
got to pick something that you want to do because
this is going to be now what your career is
going to be. And I was like, well, I like
to talk, I like music, I love music, I love entertainment,
and I just don't want to sit behind a desk
all day, you know.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I want to do something fun.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
I was like, I guess I'll do broadcasts and electronic communications.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
And then that was it. Awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeay, lucky for us, Lucky for us. Thank you, Christy James.
A decision that you made that you look back on
and are psyched about.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Going to my friend Janine's house and being nosy and
reading her mail.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
We had graduated high school.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
We both worked at dentist offices, sat up on our
kitchen counter and looked over and there was a stack
of mail. On top of the stack of mail, there
is a direct mail piece for the Navy. And I
picked it up and I was like, hmm, and you know,
it's just basically an advertisement call the Navy, blah blah blah.
You know, yeah, and I was like, oh, that sounds
(06:25):
like fun. I'm going to give them a call. And
and I gave them a call, and long story short,
I ended up enlisting in the United States Navy. But yeah,
so that was a decision that changed my life, joining
the United States Navy.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
But I do want to go back to Jeanine. Did
you say something in that moment. Did you say, Jeanine,
I think I'm going to call this number, or did
you like what happened in that moment?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
No, I just kind of grabbed the paper and I
was like, oh, you know, I think I'll give them
a call, kind of like okay, onto the next thing.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
And then I went down to the office and they smoothed.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Talked to me, and you know, and a friend of
mine at the time had joined the military. No, he
hadn't join the military. He had bought a house. And
I knew that I wanted to buy a house. We
were both the same age, and I'm like, how did
your Maine buy a house? I want to buy a house.
They used that as a selling point. You know, you
(07:18):
have the VA home benefit. You can actually buy a house,
no money down. You know, you can pay for college
if you want to go to school, and you know
you have the opportunity.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
They cover Christy the college, right, yes, yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
With the GI bill.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
So there were all these benefits and I was like, okay,
and I get to travel. And there was a Navy
base in Alameda in the Bay Area, and so you
meet people around who've been in the military. And I
had met a friend and he had been on an
aircraft carrier and traveled the world and told me stories.
So yeah, so there was a lot of different things.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Martha Quin, what would be your second blessing?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
And how are we calling your decision?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You're a decision and best decision that you can.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Give us your second and your third, Karna, let me think, Christy,
thank you for your service, thank you for the continue Okay,
my two I'll just do them real quick. I had
a similar kind of idly looking at something experience that
changed my life. I was on a it was either
the Santa Monica Pier or the Malibu Pier, I can't remember.
I had been living in the valley and I had
(08:20):
gone there with a friend. I'd never been to that
area before and was just sitting there talking with this guy,
looking with the end of the pier and there was
somebody fishing and they pulled up a fish and the
fish was gasping and you know, flopping around. It was
kind of a big fish, and it was really struggling,
and I'd never seen that before. I'd never seen an
(08:42):
animal in agony before, you know, really struggling, and I
just watched that kind of like you. Didn't say a word,
wasn't planning anything about it, kind of just watched that
and just thought to myself, didn't say anything, just thought,
I'm going to take a break from that for a while,
and I never ate another animal again.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
That is crazy because a lot of people don't know. Well,
I think most people do, but if you don't know,
Martha Quinn is a vegan, like straight up, you.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Know, I always had pets. I always had birds, and
I look back on it now and think, like I
once bought a fur coat at a used clothing story.
I look back on it now and I go, wow,
it's funny that I wasn't putting the pieces together. It
took that fish, you know, when I really saw a
fellow Earthlang suffer. It just changed something in my brain,
(09:32):
just like you Christy. It just I don't know, the
tumblers tumbled in such a way that something unlocked in
my brain that wouldn't have, like had you not seen
that flyer, or had I not seen that fish. The
other one was second MTV Video Music Awards happened in La.
MTV was new. We weren't a finely oiled machine. We
(09:55):
didn't know people to be production assistants. I had met
a guy at a recording studio a couple of months earlier,
and I thought, oh, maybe that guy would like to
be a PA. And I called this guy and I say, said, hey,
do you want to come be a PA for the
Video Music Awards? And he said how much do I get?
And I said fifty bucks? And he came down and
(10:15):
he's now my husband.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
All that is really cool. I thought that you met
him at a recording studio.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
He too, I did, But then you know, I went
back to New York. At that time, I had a boyfriend.
I went back to New York a couple of months past,
and you know, we came back out for the Video
Music Awards. Then that transpired, and you know, things can
happen fast when you're in your twenties.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Okay, right, So yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And now he's my husband and I have two great kids.
And so that was my third favorite decision.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Make that phone call.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Speaking of twenties, one of the best decisions I made
in my life because I was in my twenties, was
ending an eight year relationship that I knew it wasn't
to go anymore anywhere.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Afterwards, and we just fell out of love.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
And I think a lot of people would rather stick
it out because they feel that they invested so much
time into someone. But I think, in the end, like
you just have to be happy in life. And he
joined the army and married and is now like a
captain or something. And I think that's one of the
best decisions and as much as it hurts, but it passed.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
And what was the another decision?
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Oh yeah, the third was moving back with my parents.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I'm about to get emotional.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Oh please tell us, Well, you know, my dad's a
cancer survivor, so moving back with my parents, I know
I won't get this time backing over and all the arguing,
hiding food, tiding food from each other, hiding Topo Chica
drinks from each other, but moving back with them, and
(11:51):
my dad's more older, so my mom's still a spring chicken.
But with my dad, you know, I'm forty three years old,
and I'm like, oh, God, like I'd love to be
out of this, out of the house. At the same time,
it's a blessing because my dad needs me. So for
me is moving back when my dad had cancer to
be able to take care of him and then help
my mom.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And you moved back before then too, I did, so
he did there for quite some time.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Kind of worked out the way it's supposed to work out.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Even though it may not seem like it in the moment.
Once again, things are always working out for us. And
I think that's a good message to all of these stories,
because you just never ever know what might happen, and
now something happens, you're probably going to be first in
line to get that house.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, I'm just kidding, or.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Even here right like even here when we all like
they put the station together. They put you and Christy
together first, and then I and then you know, I
came in, and then Martha was in the morning, and
they started saying they were going to move things around,
and we're still all here together.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yes, that is the best. That is no, no, no,
that is the best.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
So Chris, we are now waiting on your third awesome decision.
We had a little bit of a cliffhanger there, so Christy.
When we last left off, Christy had joined the Navy
because she saw a flyer sitting on the kitchen country
of her friend Janine's house. So now and I had asked,
(13:20):
how did that lead you here today? And now we're
going to find out because of Christie's third awesome decision
and now here, well, actually it was my episode, Christy
kind of second second.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
I'm going to say, wait a minute, we miss your
second and third so really, oh sorry over.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Here, I want to be a cry baby. Now go ahead, Christy.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
So I joined the military. That was one big decision.
The second big decision, I would say, we need three from.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
You because we want me and Karna have shared three,
so you got to come up with two.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Saying yes to something I did not want to do.
When I was in the military, I was at my
second duty station and I was working for the American
Forces Network, and it's all He's been a dream of
mine to be on television. I was doing the TV
news for the Navy in La Madelena, Italy, and the
woman who was doing radio went on vacation basically, and
(14:11):
they were like, we need someone to fill in for
Melzer in the morning because she was doing the morning show.
Meltzer and I did not want to do it, and
everyone's like Christy, Christy, pointing at Christy, and I was like, no,
uh huh, you guys, I am not a morning person,
never have been. Everyone's pointing at Christy. So eventually I
was like, fine, as long as I can keep doing
the news, I will do this morning radio show. And
(14:33):
I ended up doing the morning radio show, ended up
being fairly good at it and got a lot of
good feedback. And when Melser got back from vacation, she
was gone for like two weeks. They were like, Melser,
we're going to have you do this over here now,
and we're going to keep Christy doing this.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
No, how did you feel about that? When that went down?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
She was happy because Melser was not like a in
front of the camera, in front of the facing type
of thing. She was happy. She was in traffic with
not traffic like reporting, but traffic like commercial traffic and
continuity scheduling commercials. And she was so happy about it
because she didn't have to wake up early number one
and she didn't have to be kind of front and center,
(15:14):
which wasn't her vibe. So she was happy it worked
out for her, And eventually it worked out for me
because I would never have tried radio.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
I love music.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I was a DJ at the time, but a club dj.
You said yes, and I said yes, But I had
never thought about doing radio. And then eventually I said, oh, well,
maybe when I get out of the military, I'll try
this thing for real.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
And I will.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
There's a woman named Renelle I used to listen to
growing up in the Bay. Maybe I'll try and go
be an intern and learn radio from her. And fast
forward like years and years down the line, I did
get an internship. I did end up interning for her.
I did eventually end up hosting a morning show and
it was Renelle and Christy in the morning, So it
was like show just it all worked out. If I
(16:00):
had never said yes, I would have never ever ever today.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Have you never kicked Meltzer on it?
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I didn't do that was my decision.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
You're like.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Your third one.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
My third decision, I think, is going to knock on
a stranger's door who just started at the radio station
in San Francisco and asked him to listen to an
air check. And that is our boss right now. Little Ricky,
he had just started in San Francisco, and he's just
kind of like this guy in the corner.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
They kept moving his desk in.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Cubicle around, so he's kind of new in the station.
But me, I'm bouncing around I noticed someone new. I'm
always like, Hi, what's your name? I'm Christy. So I
had said hello. But I had done a classic hit
station and I was doing like another radio station, and
I wanted some feedback, and he was doing the classic
hit station here, and so I had asked him, Hey,
(16:58):
do you mind listening to an air check for me
and like giving me some feedback?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
And I went in and talked to him and got
to know.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
So was at which point when you were doing the
Renault and Christy show, at which no.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
This was when I was still doing I believe, Wild
ninety four nine.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
And for those that don't know, and Arachek is basically
either like your audition tape, your audition tape, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Your audition tape for radio. And so at this point
I was doing Wild ninety four nine, I was doing
middays there, and then I did Mornings with JV and
talked to Ricky, got to know him, and he got
to know me, and eventually when I left Wild ninety
four nine, he was running the station, brought back Renel
and then ended up bringing me on as part of
(17:47):
the station. And he's definitely been a mentor for me
and has really really really helped me a lot in
my career. Made the decision to put me with you,
Martha Quinn and supported that, and so once again talking
to a stranger, asking a stranger for help, being nice
(18:08):
to someone you don't know, not because of what you
think they can do for you, but just being nice
to someone just you just never know. So that was
another big, big decision that just eventually led me down
another path.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
So when you're listening to Disco Saturday Night every Saturday
from seven to midnight, and you hear the begs Stay
Alive and all of the disco classics, and you hear
that show hosted by Little Ricky, you know, a little
bit of background about who he is as a person.
I love that because I think we all feel that
(18:46):
he has been so instrumental in supporting all of us
in each of our stages.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
And that's such.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
A great look into how a person can move forward,
which is saying.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Hey, can you get me feedback?
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Because that can be the hardest thing in the world to.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Do, especially for someone you really don't know, but like
trusting that he knows what he's doing. He's here, you know,
let me ask for some help. And then ever since then,
he's been really helping me and has gotten me to
really the personality kind of on air that I am
today for sure. So yeah, it's just been a great
(19:26):
journey and you just never know where this thing called.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Life can take you.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
So say yes.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Also acknowledge that no is a complete sentence and it's
okay to say that too, and be open to any
new opportunities as this brand new year starts. And thank
you so much for checking out this episode of Talk
Talk with Martha Quinn.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Y'all, it's been fun. We need a close till next week.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Knocking on someone's doll.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Maybe that's not okay, Maybe that's not the closing song. Well,
I'm kreative, I'm Christie James.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
I'm worth the Quinn. It's almost a professional show. Almos
until next week. I'm worth the Quinn, I'm Christie, I'm
Queen of Alaska's Miss Your Ready,
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