Sardia ‘Scad’ Kakoschke’s career in radio began at the age of 15 and is now a General Manager. Here is her story
Always a music lover, Scad was inspired by listening to the hosts of a local commercial station. This led her to seek out a volunteer position with community radio station 5tcb, located in regional Bordertown (population of less than 3,000) in South Australia.
Scad, while still at school, would take the 1 hour bus ride to and from 5tcb, so she could learn the ropes and immediately began hosting several of the station’s programs.
Having left school, Scad found any work she could to support herself while volunteering all her free time at 5tcb, learning everything from sales, audio production, promotions, program development, and announcing.
Owing to financial difficulties, 5tcb was forced into administration and closed its doors.
Scad lobbied hard with a small band of passionate people and encouraged the community to see the value in the station and what it provided the region.
She set up a broadcasting van, using her own DJ equipment for transmission – pirate radio at its most grass roots level. In between announcements, Scad would walk the streets, seeking promissory donations from members of the public, to get the station up and running again. The station was saved, but it wasn’t all plain-sailing for 5tcb.
Twelve months on and the station suffered a fire that caused significant damage, claiming thousands of dollars’ worth of Scad’s own resources, that she’d lent and donated, including her vast collection of CD’s and memorabilia.
Scad is now in the role of General Manager – the youngest manager in the station’s 32 year history.
While Scad was mentored largely through her vast network of contacts in the industry, most of her management skills are self-taught, drawing on her experience with 5tcb and Melomania. As a result, 5tcb continues to go from strength to strength, and Melomania is a testament to her immense energy and resourcefulness.
Due to Scad’s rocky upbringing and the challenges she had to overcome at a young age, she is passionate about helping young people find their place in the world. Scad understands the difficulties for kids in rural areas, where options are limited.
Scad believes that radio offers many benefits to youth through personal development, increasing self-confidence and creating viable career options. In fact Melomania’s co-host, Hollie Wearne, got involved with the show during her last years at high school.
But 15 years in radio isn’t the only milestone for Scad this year – Melomania turns 10 on August 23rd, and to celebrate, Scad & Hollie will host a 72 hour Lockdown on August 21st – 24th.
On top of everything, Scad even manages to squeeze in volunteering with the Community Broadcasting Foundation, as a Grant Assessor. And as well as her management, audio engineering, music director, volunteer training, sales and marketing duties at 5tcb, she volunteers a huge number of hours per week at the station, keeping her presenter skills sharp by hosting the station’s ‘Brekky’ show.
On 7th February 2018, Scad will have spent half her life in radio.