We recently connected with Chris Gunther and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

I’ve been blessed to have a few hero’s in my life:

I’ll start with my Dad, James A. Gunther III. As a kid, he made being a Dad look like it was the easiest thing in the world but as I got older I realized it’s a huge responsibility. I saw him work extremely hard yet no matter how tired he was after work he always made sure to spend time with his sons. The work ethic I saw him have is something I’ve always strived to have. He always told me “Son, nothing comes from hard wishing, only hard work and if you’re going to do something you better do it the right way.” That’s something I’ve always believed in and put into use on a daily basis.

My next hero would be my grandfather, the late Pastor Glenn. There was nothing better than hanging out with him. It always amazed me how no matter where we would go throughout the city someone always knew him. Whenever we would go out to eat somewhere, literally the entire staff including the managers, would come out and say “Hey Rev!” He had the ability to make people feel better through encouragement and laughter, it was just a gift he had. I called him everyday just to check on him and no matter what time it was he always answered. The amount of time we spent together was special. One of the things he used to always tell me “Son, people are going to remember how you treat them. Make sure you treat them right.” As God as my witness that’s something I’ve always tried to do.

My next hero would be my Pastor, Bishop C. Shawn Tyson. Since I was 18, I’ve been able to work assist him at our church. Since I grew up in church my entire life I knew what church was like on the outside looking in however it’s completely different when you begin working behind the scenes. The amount of things I’ve seen my Pastor deal with, the average person would walk away and give up. However he’s always handled things with a tailor made grace that I’ve always been fascinated with. The amount of times he’s helped people privately, prayed for others, given to others and simply been a light in a crazy world is incredible. One of the things he’s always told me “Son, people don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” He’s by far one of the greatest men I know.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a reporter, host, on-air personality, producer and celebrity interviewer. When I was a kid, I loved watching ESPN and seeing people like Stuart Scott, Chris Broussard and Stephen A. Smith provided a sense of encouragement to me that I could do what they do. My journey started out in 2013 on Rookery Radio Real College Radio at Youngstown State University. Kenny Reyes, who was the advisor of Rookery at the time, told me and my co-host at the time, Katherine Thompson, that if we can create an outline for a show that we could be on the air. The show was called “The KT & CG Show” and it was one of the most popular shows on the station which consisted of playing Hip Hop and R&B music along with interviewing local artists and other well known figures on campus and in the city,

In 2014, Katherine and I received our own shows and I started “The Chris Gunther Show!” which was more Christian-faith/inspirational based. On that show, I began interviewing some of the biggest names in Gospel music like Kirk Franklin, Deitrick Haddon, Fred Hammond and more. I also was able to cover YSU Football along with Men and Women’s basketball for a few seasons. The show on Rookery ran from 2014 to 2017. After graduating, I received an invitation to come to Las Vegas to cover The Stellar Awards in 2018 in which is one of the biggest events in Gospel music. When I returned home, I continued doing “The Chris Gunther Show!” however not on Rookery Radio, now as a freelancer reporter.

One of the main reasons I started doing interviews on my own was to give people a voice that may not have been able to get featured on local news or radio. Being able to allow people to come on my show and share their story the way they want or talk about what they have going on is special. After my third interview, I noticed it reached a thousand views and once that happened I knew I had something special. In 2019, I reached 100 interviews and currently, I’m over 500 interviews, including interviews with celebrities such as Michael Vick, Tim Hardaway, Stephen A. Smith, Chris Broussard, Mo’Nique, Sinbad, Jess Hilarious, Morris Chestnut and a lot more.

In 2020, I started covering local high school basketball doing play-by-play announcing, interviews with the players and coaches along with editing highlights of each game. In 2021, I became the in-game host for the Cleveland Charge, the Cleveland Cavaliers affiliate, of the NBA G League and in 2022 became the official sideline reporter for the Charge.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is when someone says to me “You’ve inspired me.” Coming from an extremely small town where everyone knows each other, it can sometimes be hard to find success. While some can be successful in their field, there’s a huge majority of others who aren’t consistent. I’ve been blessed not only to have a great work ethic, I’ve been consistent. There have been times when I’m out in the community and random people will approach me or others will find me on social media and inbox me saying “You don’t know me but I’ve been following your journey. You’ve inspired me and you’re truly inspirational.” Hearing things like that push me to continue.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There were two big pivots I had to make in my life.

The first pivot came in 2015 when I lost my grandfather. This was by far the biggest pain I encountered simply because of close we were and at that time I wanted to give up on everything. A best friend of mine, more like a brother, told me something I’ll never forget. He said “You can’t let the devil win now. Everything your grandfather taught you, you’ve got to use now more than ever, keep going.” While it was hard, I still managed to graduate from college and I also graduated on Deans List and debt free.

The second pivot came on July 31st 2021 when I married my wife, Shanell. Don’t get me wrong, asking a woman to marry you is already a big step but being married is a bigger one. I knew once I became a husband things weren’t always about me anymore and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Marriage is what separates the men from the boys and on that day I truly feel I crossed over into manhood.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @chrisgunther
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChrisGuntherShow?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: Chris Gunther
• Twitter: @ChrisLGunther
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@chrisgunther6730?si=MPDaRYVrAA2T-4Wv

Image Credits
Jessica Morales (Vieras Vision) Mark Horning (misterh215.wixsite.com)