We recently connected with Andrea Pasquale and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The two risks I took are somewhat linked together. The first risk was leaving my job as an on-air announcer. I had worked in radio since my teenage years and was working at a single station for over 12 years. I was bored, there was no upward mobility and I was barely making enough money to get by after a divorce. After looking around for another job for about a year I was hired to run a non profit radio reading service where I had been volunteering for 8 years. I knew radio, had volunteered at the reading service and had a little experience in fundraising, but it was a big leap to suddenly start running this organization, managing some difficult people and being responsible for fundraising events, grant writing and raising money to keep it open. After almost 5 stressful but successful years, I needed a change to warmer weather. A job opened up at Sun Sounds of Arizona for a Volunteer Coordinator/Programming Manager, so the second big risk was, that at age 45, I quit my job, sold my house, and left my friends and family for Arizona. I still don’t know how I did it, but it all worked out. That was 15 years ago.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Sun Sounds is a reading and information service as part of the Division of Public Service or Rio Salado College. We provide the broadcast readings of local and national newspapers, current magazines and books to people who cannot read or hold print due to a disability. Prior to Covid we had over 400 volunteers statewide reading over 200 print publications. We broadcast 24/7/365, on special radio frequencies, streaming online audio, and through telephone. It is a free service, and we even provide special radios or smart home devices to receive our services. When covid hit, we had to move all of our broadcast operations, from running the day-to-day operations to volunteers recording and sending in programs, from our homes. We are still running the station from home most days. We are back at the office just 2 days a week.

We have affiliate stations in Flagstaff and Tucson.. They carry the broadcast feed from Tempe and then cut away to run their own local programming.

Our listeners appreciate our service. Most of them are older adults who have lost their ability to read due to macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, Parkinson’s, arthritis, etc… They are able to stay connected to the news and information from their local papers., and hear the articles from national newspapers and magazines. They can also make up a grocery list after hearing the weekly grocery ads, exercise with our morning exercise program or enjoy an audio-described DVS movie, where a narrator describes the action in a movie between bits of dialogue. We also have programs for kids and some Spanish language programs.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The two big pivots were 1) realizing that I wasn’t making enough money in radio to afford my house and needed to change careers to pay the mortgage. My ex-husband helped me for a year until I could get something that paid more. I am forever grateful for that.

2) The covid pivot. I was on vacation when I found out things were shutting down and had to make a plan. When I got back I had two days back in the office to gather what I needed and to figure out how to run the station from home. We had some great volunteers, and staff to make this all happen. Things weren’t alway perfect, but it worked. We literally had to flip-flop the programs in our broadcast day from morning to afternoon. The beautiful thing was there were no rules at that point, we were in survival mode and did what we needed to do. Running the station from home started out as 2 weeks and has turned into 2 years and is still going on. This big change has enabled me to add many new shows to fill some of the time slots and also pushed me to make some changes I had been thinking about but wasn’t sure how to execute. I made changes without overthinking them.. It also gave us an opportunity to really reevaluate the way we do things, and not be afraid to make changes.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

At my last job a friend gave me a book on how to ask for things. I wish I could remember the exact title. The essence of the book was not to be afraid to ask for something. People by nature want to help, but you have to tell them what you need, and let them help. If you don’t ask, you can’t get it. It has helped me tremendously over the years especially when raising money, asking for something in-kind, or needing a mentor’s advice. Learn how to ask.

The other book is one my dad gave me when I started this job, titled, It’s Okay toBe the Boss by Bruce Tulgan. First it is special because my dad gave it to me to help me succeed, but the concept of the book is how to handle employees and their special management needs. I try to give my employees leeway to do their jobs the way that works for them, but always letting them know I am there for them for support, ideas, conflicts, or sounding board. I don’t micromanage but I do try to get the best out of folks.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sunsounds.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunsounds
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/andrea-pasquale-8388a69