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

Jen and I met, at where else, a radio and music conference several years ago. I came away thinking she was a very bright young person who had lots of ideas and the smarts, fortitude and work ethic to bring those thoughts to life. She's another one I had in my talent bank that I never got to work with. I hear from many and ask a lot of questions as to who is out there, who's got it going on and what they do. Jen’s name came up a number of times and the word was she was really good with talent and had great content and promotion ideas. 

Just after returning from Vancouver she asked me to be on the Loyalist Advisory Board and I happily accepted. When they were in need of Radio Professor's for various Radio program courses she approached me. It was something I thought I would like to do because I love coaching talent whether up and comers, or veterans. I had too much going on the first time she asked but the second time I agreed and Prof’d for a few years. Jen helped get me started there, along with 365’ers Craig Jackman and Greg Schatzmann. It was a great experience and I remain enthusiastic about those bright and ambition filled youngsters.

Jen was another one born and raised in Windsor Ontario, and of course grew up listening to Detroit (FM) radio. She says she is embarrassed to admit that she was an active caller on some stations, especially WHYT (most of us were Jen-??). Some of the evening jocks knew her by name. She called the station one time to tell her boyfriend she loved him and told the jocks that he thought calling radio stations was dumb. So, what did the jocks do? They called him and put him on the air with Jen. They made him tell her how much he loved her and say the station is great. Little did he know; his older sister was recording the bit (on tape) and aired the recording at his school for the entire school to hear. He dumped her the next day.

Jennifer’s Mom was a big fan Dick the Bruiser on WRFI, so she spent a lot of her childhood listening to him and J.J and the morning crew. As she got to be a little older, she started to discover ‘new’ music and other on-air personalities on Detroit radio such as The Electrifying Mojo and Lisa Lisa. Both were a HUGE influence in her love for radio. She was only 11 but will never forget staying up late to hear the Electrifying Mojo interview Prince after his performance at Cobo Hall. As a young adult, she grew up crossing the border to attend club nights that stations would host, such Club X, which was hosted by CIMX – 89x at the State Theatre (now the Filmore).

Jen says as a young one she also loved dance shows i.e. Solid Gold, The New Dance Show, In living Color’s Fly Girl and Electric Circus. "I really enjoyed dancing and taught myself a lot about urban dance from watching these shows. In college I danced for a company that was hired by clubs to dance on platforms, in booths, windows etc. I scored a PAID spot on the Electric Circus! The day the show was to air, I spent all morning and afternoon looking for the perfect outfit. I found a dress and some space aged silver boots to match it. The show is about to air and I’m getting hair and make-up done at 99 Queen St. I’m getting ready to put my new outfit on, only to discover the store did not remove the GIANT security tag from the dress! And I couldn’t hammer it off, it was one of those tags that was filled with ink. There wasn’t much to the dress, it was tiny, and the tag was large and very noticeable. So, for the first segment of the show they put me on the second-floor window where you just see the shadows of the dancers. For the second half, I was brought down to the dance floor on an elevated box. I had to dance in way that my arm/hand would cover the security tag. It was pretty embarrassing, people probably thought I stole the damn dress.”

Jen ended going to Fanshawe College and graduated, however, she did not study Radio Broadcasting. As a teenager, she had only heard commercials for the Spec Howard School of Broadcasting in Michigan and thought she couldn’t attend because she was Canadian and poor. Their local College did not have a radio program, therefor she thought it was the type of program that was only offered at 'hard to get into' performing arts schools.

Fortunately, in her mid 20’s she spotted an ad (“in a newspaper…lol” she says) for a job in Leamington (about 25 minutes outside of Windsor) for CHYR that wasn’t on the on-air talent side and thought to herself “Ok Jen, this is your chance." In late 2001, she was hired as Promotions and Public Relations Coordinator. While she was at CHYR, she also covered a year of mat leave for the traffic coordinator. Jen says Blackburn Radio was an amazing company to work for. They were big proponents of professional development, and she was lucky enough to be sent to Dallas for a RAB Conference. She would also regularly go to their Sarnia stations to help develop ratings promotions.

After being in a long-distance relationship for over a year (Windsor/Kingston) with her boyfriend (now husband), she decided it was time to start looking for a radio gig in Kingston. She was rejected by Darcy Magee as the Promo & Marketing Director (Erin Loney got it) at CHUM Kingston, but he was impressed enough to offer her some part-time on-air and promotions work. It was a step back from what she was currently doing and earning with Blackburn, but she no longer wanted to be living long distance from the man she hoped to marry one day. She knew if she stayed hungry and humble and patient, she would land a full-time gig. Three months later the late and great Greg Hinton hired her as the Promotions Coordinator at CHUM Brockville. After a year in Brockville, Darcy and Greg hired her as the Promotions and Marketing Director at CHUM Kingston. Six years later, David Corey, then VP of Radio Programming at Bell Media and Greg (again), hired her, this time as Program Director at Bell Media Kingston. Those stations have always been consistent ratings winners with fun and relevant content and exciting promotions. Jen drove that bus on to even bigger things. 

One of the big highlights of her career was being a member of team for the CKLC frequency and format flip. And oh she says, "going on all-inclusive trips to the Mayan Riviera and the Bahamas for ratings promos."

Jen has always wanted to play a role in shaping the future of the radio industry and help those about to enter the workforce learn the skills they need to be resilient and successful professionals.

Throughout her radio career, she had the chance to help and mentor many radio interns and new talent.

Be it promotions, or on-air, her role as Promotions and Marketing Director and Program Director allowed her to work with others and help them advance their career. She says this has not only come naturally to her, but she truly enjoys helping others succeed, which is what led her to become a Professor in the Radio Broadcasting Program at Loyalist College. “During my radio career, I was lucky to have worked with, networked with, and learn from very talented and successful radio talent, programmers and managers. These relationships have helped me to define my personal approach to program management and become one of, if not the first female Program Director within Bell Media."

Jen’s built her radio career by doing, discovering, growing and helping. Because of this, she’s thrilled to share and teach her experiences and knowledge to future generations of radio broadcasters. That being said she says there is no end to her learning about the industry she fell in love with. She believes people should remain to be two things throughout their lifetimes: Curious and teachable. She continues to train and expand her knowledge in both radio broadcasting and adult education. One of her favorite quotes that inspires her to be a lifelong learner is “Be humble, be teachable and always keep learning”.

Jen sums up: “My mentor and radio Dad was Greg Hinton. As an employee he made me feel valued and important. He helped me to understand that stumbling is part of the learning, and that life is a never-ending learning process. Because of him, I actively practice Lifelong Learning. He taught me how to set meaningful, focused goals, which took me out of auto-pilot. Instead of waiting for things to happen, I proactively take charge and makes things happen. Greg’s passion for radio was well known and infectious to all around him. He would regularly encourage radio colleagues/competitors to work together to better support our industry. His dedication to developing and nurturing young emerging broadcasters is his legacy, one that I hope to carry on as radio professor. I’m sorry, I’m a big sap.”

Jen’s been married 12 years to her husband Chad Beaulieu. She met him in 8th grade while touring her future high school. He was a big 10th grader and hockey star. They remained friends throughout high school and post-secondary, but never dated. After not seeing each other for quite some time (he never moved back to the area after University) they bumped into each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. Even though they both brought dates, they spent the night catching up and he gave her his number. 15 years later they are in Kingston together with two amazing kids, Emerson who is 10 and daughter Eloise who is 5.”

Jen continues on as Professor and Coordinator of the Radio Broadcasting Program at Loyalist. She stays connected to and learning about the radio world (like her mates there do as well), keeps her contacts up, and genuinely has her heart in the right place. She works closely with the students, guiding them, teaching them, and is not afraid to have the difficult conversations that are needed with students who in many cases are teenagers. 

Smart, hard working, talented, creative and quite the character. Loyalist students are in good hands with Jen and her teammates. Atta be!

Thank you, Jennifer Yascheshyn-Beaulieu for being one of “The Good Ones”. Feel free to like and share Jen’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/Content Coach for JJIMS INC. and works with talent in many different industries. He can be reached at JJ-IMS.COM.