Welcome to JJ-365 Salutes. Over 2018, we pay tribute daily to one of “The Good Ones”. Today we are shining the light on Brian West.

My first introduction to Brian was when he worked with my son Geordan Johnston at CORUS in Kingston. Geordie was the Promotion Manager and Brian was on-air as morning show co-host, middays and worked as music director. He was keen, friendly and intent on doing well in the business. He was not afraid to ask for help and a really good student of the business. I had him in my talent bank and so did CORUS. His name came up in numerous succession planning meetings as someone to keep an eye on and promote to bigger markets.

Brian was first introduced to radio in high school when he interned with 365’er Stuntman Stu Schwartz at 106.9 The BEAR in Ottawa. He thought interning would be a great way to get his band's music on the radio (“I was wrong!” he said.) Stu was a great mentor and suggested he check out the radio program at Algonquin College, which he did. He says he was lucky that Gordman (Gord Taylor) gave him his first shot by hiring him to do overnights on air at The Bear near the end of his first year. He went from overnights to weekend swing by the time he graduated in 2003. He worked with a lot of great people at The Bear who gave him invaluable career advice like Eric Stafford, 365’er Brad Dryden, Wicked Wendy Daniels and Kath Thompson. Kath and Brian had many great talks and she was the one who recommended he move in order to advance his career more quickly. When HOT 89.9 came to Ottawa he worked there for a year while still on air at the BEAR. He would do weekend mornings 6am-noon on HOT before heading across the hall to The BEAR for the noon-6pm show. He was on the air for 12 hours in a row every weekend. A funny story he remembers from the BEAR days: “A gas station threatened to sue the radio station after The BEAR's Breakfast got me to walk through a car wash as a stunt for the first day of summer. Who knew people have lost limbs doing that? Who knew anyone else had ever attempted it?! Let me tell you those things really whip you while turning though.”

In 2004 he moved to Kingston to start his career with CORUS. Working in Kingston gave him a chance to do it all. He left Kingston for the GTA in 2007, getting promoted with CORUS now working on the air in Hamilton and Toronto. He was doing shows on Y108, Country 95.3 and 102.1 The Edge (Sometimes all in the same weekend). One of the goals was to never mess up the call letters/station ID’s, which he doesn't think he ever did. After meeting Scot Turner and Lars Wunsche at CMW, he was hired in 2009 in Kitchener to host the morning show on 107.5 Dave FM. He was there for 4 years before heading to Hamilton to host the drive show where he’s been since 2013. In 2016 he started voice tracking the midday show on Magic 106.1 in Guelph as well. One minute he’s backselling Metallica, the next minute it's Drake. 

In 2007 he also started his own voice over business. 365’er Jamie Watsonhas been his voice over mentor and instrumental in helping him along the way: “I can't thank Jamie enough for his guidance and advice. I have since signed with AMI Talent agency in Toronto, William Morris Endeavor in LA, and CESD in NYC for radio imaging. I've narrated TV shows in the US on HGTV and CNBC, I was the station voice of CMT for a few years, and I'm the image voice of radio stations on Long Island, in Nashville, and Indiana to name a few.”

Back to Kingston where he said he learned a lot and met some great people including his now wife: “When I was doing the morning show there a new intern started named Emily who then became the weekend host. She would help out on the morning show when we were on location and eventually started doing weather at CKWS TV. We would hang out and eventually and started dating but kept it a secret. Emily had reservations about dating a co-worker, so they secretly dated for about 7 months until the Corus Christmas party that year. The shocked looks on people’s faces when we made out on the dance floor was priceless. We eventually got married and here we are 2 kids and a dog later living in the suburbs. Things are good!”

Here's a smart guy who has worked on his craft in many different ways. He is entreprenurial at heart and has worked this business to render a rewarding living for him and his family, and he is still pretty young! Lots of good things still to come for Brian. Nice work and straight ahead!

Thank you, Brian West, for being on of the “The Good Ones”. Feel free to like and share Brian’s positive story. Who is the subject of tomorrow’s JJ-365 Salutes? As they say, stay tuned.

Jim JJ Johnston is the CEO, President and Chief Talent Coach for JJIMS INC. and works with talent in many different industries worldwide. He can be reached at JJ-IMS.COM.