"Goofy" Bette Kestin, Class of 1993, and currently Old Navy's Director of Media Strategy and Investment, is today's guest. This New Jersey native did not join WJPZ until her junior year, but quickly made up for last time, doing everything from commercial traffic to public service. She jokes that she did jobs "that nobody else wanted." She was also part of a very small skeleton crew that kept WJPZ on the air during a blizzard at the end of spring break 1993.
We've celebrated so many of our collective successes on this podcast, but Bette wanted to spend some time on lessons learned when things didn't go her way. She talked about having a job offer in Las Cruces, New Mexico rescinded just before she drove out there, and a sales job that made her realize just how challenging that field can be. However, that led her to the agency side, where she spent most of her career.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, a number of Western companies saw an opportunity to expand their global footprint. And after her agency opened a Moscow office, Bette soon had an opportunity to go to Kiev, Ukraine. If you haven't seen her social media posts over the last 18 months about the amazing people of that country, she spends a few minutes on her experience there, and why Ukraine remains so close to her heart.
After reacclimating to the West, she headed to San Francisco, before being tapped for a 3 month stint in China. Upon her return, the dot.com bubble burst, and she came back to New York. But when an opportunity came to return to the Bay Area, she took it, and has been there since.
Five years ago, a former client reached out, and Bette found herself working for Old Navy, which eventually led her to her current position. We spend some time on the current media landscape, and what she sees in her current media strategy role, including radio's piece of the advertising pie. Also, how has Covid impacted Old Navy's business - as work from home started, then evolved?
And we wrap up with classic WJPZ story - the Crazy Morning Crew drinking on the air, with MADD and police officers present. And there's a twist. (Disclaimer: The host on the board was sober, so incompliance with FCC regulations.)
We asked Bette to recommend some resources to make donations to the people of Ukraine. She gave us three, below.
https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate-en/
https://prytulafoundation.org/en
https://donate.wck.org/give/398293#!/donation/checkout
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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