My name is Olivia Bradley-Skill.
I work as Music Director at freeform station WFMU.
It's an honor and a privilege to do what I do because radio and music have been driving forces in my life.

As Music Director, I am constantly researching new music, radio, and books, as well as maintaining WFMU's incredible library of CDs, LPs, tapes, and singles that date back to the 70s.
The best part about WFMU is that it feels like the opportunities are limitless, even with our super tiny budget.
If we can do it for cheap (or better: free), you can really try anything.
It's a community I feel grateful to be part of, and it's the type of place I couldn't have even imagined existed when I was a kid growing up in the Valley in Los Angeles.

When I started doing radio in college, I was completely afraid to be myself.
Through the community of people there, I got closer to finding my voice.
Graduating college was super scary because I wasn't sure if I would find the same outlet and feeling of community again.
Immediately after graduation, I interned at a public radio podcast, but I found myself in the wrong department, away from the sounds and further into development, with grants paperwork, fundraising, and database management.
I started doing internet radio for a station in London, but it didn't feel real because I did it all on my computer and nobody I knew ever listened. It was a fun little secret I had for myself, but the tangibility and communal aspect of radio felt lost.

I started volunteering at WFMU and luckily stumbled into a radio show (this sounds like humility, but really: about a week after I submitted a demo tape to the station, someone overslept for their 3-6am shift and was a no-show, so I took over their slot).
Having access to a studio and the WFMU community was the only thing that kept me going during this time, when I was cobbling together rent money with part time gigs and really struggling to afford all the fun things you're supposed to do when you live in New York.

I am biracial -- my dad is black, and my mom is white -- which has been a painful journey for me figuring out how to relate to the world.
I grew up with a lot of chaos and trauma in my family, but throughout it all, music was always a healing force with my parents, my siblings, and myself.
Even if I couldn't express whatever pain I was in, we always had music to share with one another.
I guess that's another big reason I ended up in radio.