Introducing Aisha Hardimon
Aisha Hardimon’s first radio station experience was at WRFG as an incoming student at Georgia State University. Undecided about a career path after completing general education courses, A fellow classmate simply suggested she “look into radio.”
Famous last words, it seems.
Around 2000, she enrolled in the WRFG broadcast training class. This experience would heavily influence her decision to pursue a degree in Journalism and eventually join WRAS as a student DJ.
After hosting overnight shifts for a semester, she was invited to join the Weekend Wrecking Crew, a collective of GSU student DJs who hosted the station’s hip-hop, hip-hop instrumental and neo-soul music shows. She remained a host with the WWC until she graduated in the spring of 2003.
Then her professional career in radio began as a Marketing and Promotions Manager for CBS Radio Atlanta’s ratings leader, V-103 and its heritage news & talk station, WAOK. In that role, she became involved in the station’s community outreach efforts, partnering with various community organizations to increase awareness around health disparities, food insecurity and resources for low-income, homeless and displaced families.
Next, to learn more about the business side of radio and to rise higher in the decision-making ranks, she enrolled in the MBA program at Holy Names University in Oakland; attending full-time while working as an Account Executive for Cumulus Media, and eventually, Entercom Communications.
Ultimately, it was a love for music that led her to radio, but along that journey she became inspired by its power to inform and influence. It has been a labor of love, but she is thoroughly committed because of the good it can do in the community.
Here’s a little more about this radio aficionado:
Q: As incoming Station Manager for WRFG, what is your vision for the station moving forward?
A: My plan is that the board, the staff, the volunteers, and I will arrive at that vision collectively. After we define that vision, my goal is to design the strategy to achieve it and to be a resource to the volunteers and staff who have worked to keep the station going over the years. With that, one of our most important goals is to increase our revenue to keep those things in place that allow us to function optimally.
Q: What is the professional accomplishment you are most proud of?
A: Being able to return to WRFG as the Station Manager. This is my dream job and I have spent the last 15 years – 20 really – training for it. I have the experience of working for the big radio networks, and It was necessary, because I would have always wondered what it would have been like had I not. But in this chapter of my life, I feel like I am being called to do something much more meaningful, especially after a year like 2020. I now have a leadership role in an organization whose mission is progress. How many people get to say that?
Q: What are the most important lessons you learned in 2020?
A: I would have to say that the most important lessons I learned in 2020 are to prioritize the essentials in life. To constantly prepare for the changes that life may bring. (If you stay ready, you do not have to get ready). To continue to speak out against injustice in the world and to show love to yourself, family, friends and community every chance you get.
