Elizabeth Nelsen Kennon ’19 Finding Purpose in Radio Production
“Do the best you can do at whatever you do, and whatever you do, do to the glory of God.”
This is a familiar phrase for students who tuned in to NGU’s radio station, formerly known as ‘The Vibe,’ around 2015-19. Elizabeth Nelsen Kennon, 2019 broadcast media alum, would sign off each show she did with this phrase to encourage students. Five years later, Kennon is continuing to encourage her listeners on local Christian radio station His Radio, where she works as a morning show producer.
Although she has been working at His Radio since September 2021, Kennon’s journey to the station began during her time as a student at NGU. She served off and on as an intern for two years at His Radio, which ultimately opened the door for the full-time position she is currently in.
“There was a guy, who has since retired, who worked there, and his name is Gary Miller. He worked for His Radio Talk, which is now classic His Radio, but it used to be the talk station so they would play pastors and Tony Beam did a show there, but they didn’t play as much music,” Kennon said.
Miller needed someone to fill in occasionally, because he was having some medical procedures done, so he reached out to Kennon to see if she would be interested in the position to help run the board for different shows. During the conversation about the position, Miller also brought in His Radio morning show host Rob Dempsey to talk about making an even bigger “jack of all trades” position, as Kennon describes it, to fill in where needed. Shortly after that conversation, Kennon received a phone call from Dempsey telling her a video position had become available at the station if she was interested. After much prayer and consideration, Kennon accepted the position and found her God- given calling in audio production.
“I’m getting purpose and fulfillment, which is interesting because I wasn’t at first. I have since moved around positions, so I did a lot of video stuff at first and found out that wasn’t what I was good at or called to,” she said. “I was able to switch positions with somebody else and found out we really like each other’s jobs. I’m doing more audio work now, which is what I was more passionate about to begin with and that’s brought a lot of purpose and fulfillment.”
For those who are faithful listeners to His Radio in the morning, they may recognize Kennon by her nickname, Ninja. The nickname many listeners know her by today on His Radio derived from when she was on the media team at NGU.
“I was working on the media team in chapel and I put on my resume that I taught kids jiu-jitsu, thinking it would help me in some way get a job on campus,” she said. “My boss, who works
in media, saw it and thought it was funny. He asked me about it and jokingly called me Ninja one time and it stuck and followed me around campus. Everyone knew me as Ninja.” “It followed me to His Radio because there was someone else who went to NGU who was interning there, who also called me Ninja and it just kind of caught on,” Kennon said. Kennon explained that hands-on learning experience at NGU and internship opportunities have equipped her for the career she has today.
“[Professors were] encouraging me to get internships, make connections, and network,” she said. “[NGU] had the radio station, where I worked a lot. I worked there as a freshman helping with the music and the programming and eventually was station manager.” For current students who are seeking a similar career path, Kennon encourages them to seek out internship opportunities and not to do it for credit only, but to gain experience for future employment.
“Intern and volunteer, be willing to do things for free,” she said. “It definitely helped me because I interned with His Radio for two years during school, then there were no positions available when I was graduating so I worked at a church for two years. They randomly reached out to me because of the connection I made during that time so definitely make those connections and intern, for sure.”
As Kennon continues to make a positive impact on her listeners on His Radio, she recalls how much of an impact the station has made on her life and her initial desire to pursue a career in Christian broadcasting.
“Radio, specifically His Radio, had an impact on my life around middle school, early high school,” she said. “I began having questions about faith and salvation and so listening to Christian radio helped me through that and I was like, ‘You know, I want to do that one day,’ and it’s kind of just stuck with me the whole time.” Just as Kennon used to sign off on ‘The Vibe’ radio show, her goal to this day is to do everything to the best of her ability and give the glory to God, on-air and beyond. ◆
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