Technically, talkback and overnight broadcaster for the Super Radio Network Cheralyn Darcey’s journey to radio began when she walked into her local community station Coast FM 963 six years ago. But having spoken to Cheralyn, or ‘experienced’ her is perhaps a better choice of words, her role as a rudder to the thoughts, issues and feelings of her Australia wide audience began long before that.
She and another fellow from the Central Coast, Nic Kelly, doing quite different radio jobs but with the same community and industry spirit, give me such hope for radio’s future. There’s something special in those Brisbane Waters.
I’d had Cheralyn’s name mentioned to me a few times over the last year. Through AFTRS, where she is slowly completing her Post Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting while still getting high distinctions for a podcast concept that may see fruition on her show. Through Guy Ashford, her 2HD employer, who she loves so much (best boss I’ve ever had!) that I’ve deliberately left in her effusive admiration to make him blush, and through the Super Radio Network itself.
It was the possum and earthquake incident that made me reach out. What I encountered shook my world a little bit too.
Cheralyn said:
“You don’t need to pick a destination. You just need to choose a direction.”
That is what she has done, and recommends to anyone who comes to her for guidance, advice or support. I wonder if you reading this can also relate. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. It is only later that you realise how that twisted ball of yarn has unfurled.
In preparing to speak with Cheralyn I did my background checks. Below is an incomplete bullet point list of some of her skills and achievements (so far):
- Butcher
- Florist
- Garden designer
- Lifeline counsellor
- Botanical alchemist and historian
- Author of 21 internationally published books related to the above
- Girl guide and Scouts leader
- Arts Corp teacher in America
- Artist and illustrator
- Gardening journalist and writer
- Social media marketing
- Audio engineer and commercial producer
I was in awe. My first question was going to be why she has so many strings to her bow but Cheralyn inadvertently answered that straight away.
For nearly five years, from when I was 18 until I got my first radio job at 23, I worked at a before and after school care centre run by a woman called Annette. Annette’s husband was in the navy and away 6-8 months of every year. Annette was the most energetic and positive force of nature, able to manage full time work, extracurricular volunteering and her household that included two then primary school aged daughters and an exuberant dog. She told me one day, when it was just the two of us, that keeping busy and connected to community meant that she was distracted from where her husband was working, and if he was okay.
Cheralyn’s husband too was a naval officer, posted everywhere. He tells people now:
‘I had my turn. It’s hers.’
One day, when visiting her folks in Cairns she went into ABC FNQ related to one of her new books. They were impressed with her and so she would come in with gardening tips each time she visited. Charlie McKillop there suggested community radio.
“I went into Coast FM and fell in love with everything, EVERYTHING, about it.”
Cheralyn ended up being involved in most areas of the station, under the wing of Peter Little, formerly of 2GO and now part of the management team of the Coast’s EasyFM.
Peter encouraged Cheralyn to build her interview skills and so she went and did a Diploma of Screen and Media – Radio and Podcasting at TAFE. Her tutor there was Mike Etheridge (Mike E) who gave her the compliment of:
“There are people in radio and radio people. You are a radio person.”
He encouraged Cheralyn to now explore commercial radio opportunities. Cheralyn decided that she would, with some internal self-doubt about her age. She enrolled at AFTRS and knocked on the door of 2HD in Newcastle.
Cheralyn literally turned up at the station and told Guy Ashford what she hoped to become. Guy asked her if she’d consider talkback and Cheralyn replied that she’d give it a go.
Guy gave her a once-a-fortnight on-air shift around her roles with Coast FM and studies. She was guided and supported by Dave Sutherland (now breakfast host at Cruze FM), Group General Manager Graham Miles , owners Despina Priala and George Caralis, and Guy, saying:
“I don’t ever feel lost and they always have my back. I love what the network is building and being a part of that. Talkback as it turns out is my style, as a community minded people person.”
Cheralyn knows herself, what she brings to the table (with listeners consistently surprised at just how full that table is). She is no doormat, seeing herself as a rudder to guide overnight conversation, not control it.
On the day we spoke the topic of graffiti had come up in the night before’s show. The great nephew of Norman Lindsay had rung in talking about personal expression in the artform. Indigenous art and cultural resonance were then discussed around those that rang to simply say they hate it. Cheralyn’s empathy, life experience and zest are building an audience seeking connection while many of us sleep.
Plus she’s a go-getter, as should be self-evident from all the above. Guy came and asked what she needed to become a full-time part of the Super Radio Network and she has grabbed and run with that opportunity.
As we wrapped up I asked Cheralyn what AFTRS was giving her that she didn’t already have? Alongside mentioning the new techniques and technology that she wouldn’t otherwise have experience of or can bring to her show, her first response was confidence.
“Confidence?’’ I repeated.
“Yes, confidence that I’m in the right room of people.”
Not just a room now for Cheralyn Darcey. It’s a home, a garden, and she’s growing a community.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email: [email protected]