If you grew up in Richmond or the surrounding areas, chances are you've heard of Melissa Chase. She has been one of the top Virginia radio personalities for 10 years. Her ever present enthusiasm in the face of the ungodly wee hours of the morning have accompanied many school and work commutes.
Chase grew up wanting to be an actress, but her dad was not in favor of that. When it was time for her to go to college, she had to pick a major that met her father’s approval. This set her on her way to finding her true calling.
"Well, my dad always said he wasn’t going to pay for me to go to college to become an actress," said Chase. "So I picked something safer. I originally chose Kent State University because I wanted to teach deaf children, and they had the best program in the country. About a year in, my classes started focusing on the politics of teaching and it made me lose interest. I switched to Public Relations and got an internship at a radio station in Richmond. I was supposed to work in their promotions department but after meeting
the morning show team, they thought I should come be their intern instead. It was the best, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do forever."
When Chase talks about her career, you can tell it's something she is passionate about. To anyone else out there hoping to work in radio, she has some advice. "I think my secret was to get experience in college, beyond the books. Classes are important, but so is what you do outside the lecture hall." She said.
"In radio, if you want to become a ‘Radio Personality’ versus just being a liner-reading DJ, you have to be an interesting person and have cool things to talk about." Chase continued. "So in college, I did wild stuff like taking time to build houses in Miami with Habitat for Humanity, signed [myself] up for the school Broomball Team, took a Harry Potter class for my English requirement, interned at MTV, volunteered at our local PBS station … I just tried to go out and meet crazy people and have a good story to tell." Chase also says it's important for anyone in any career field to not get too hung up on one specific job. She said, "I would also say don’t get too focused on the job you want, which sounds crazy. But the people who
get so eagle-eye focused on ‘THIS is where I want to work and have THIS job title and THIS salary’ … they close themselves off to so much!" You can see Chase on billboards in Richmond Va., advertising her radio show with Co-host Jack Lauterback. Chase is a local celebrity with a very impressive resume, but what may be most impressive is her charity work. When it came to Chase's attention that many girls in the area could not afford prom dresses, keeping them from attending prom, Chase went to work co-founding the Cinderella Dreams Project.
"We immediately went to work at the station to organize this – and actually found out that [that] same year a group of women from the Midlothian Junior Women’s Club were starting the same project. So we merged our efforts and have been teaming up ever since. They do the heavy lifting and have been amazing partners!" You can listen to Chase's radio show “Mornings with Melissa & Jack” on 103.7 The River, weekday mornings from 6-9 a.m. Learn more about the Cinderella Dreams Project and volunteer opportunities at www. cinderelladreams.net.
