Sept. 19, 2023

Storytelling is her Super Power - meet Amy Chodroff | RR224

Storytelling is her Super Power -  meet Amy Chodroff | RR224

Amy Chodroff has one of the most recognizable laughs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Makes sense as she’s been an award-winning radio host in North Texas for 20 years.

Storytelling is her superpower and she shares with me the art of storytelling and its impact on today’s dynamic media landscape.

When she’s not telling stories on the radio, she helps business owners and corporations develop and write their stories. She specializes in copywriting, radio ads, and content creation. 


Note: At this episode’s air time Amy has started her new chapter off the radio … ready to help you tell you story. You can visit her on LinkedIn or at her website below.


https://www.youhatetowrite.com/

linkedin.com/in/amy-chodroff

In this episode you will learn:

Amy’s experience working with a co anchor

How Amy helps business owners and other clients get their stories out

The difference between radio and television, and why a podcast is so different from radio in terms of storytelling

How to tell stories as part of social media content

Advice on how to use stories for business

Amy’s most exciting experience or life changing experience she had on radio

Amy’s experience of interviewing the best interviewers in the world

Learn more about Amy: https://www.klif.com/amy-chodroff/


A little about me:

I began my career as a teacher, was a corporate trainer for many years, and then found my niche training & supporting business owners, entrepreneurs & sales professionals to network at a world-class level. My passion is working with motivated people, who are coachable and who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking (online & offline). I help my clients create retention strategies, grow through referrals, and create loyal customers by staying connected.


In appreciation for being here, I have a couple of gifts for you.

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile: https://www.janiceporter.com/linkedin-training.html

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by sending a FREE greeting card (on me): www.sendacardeverytime.com


Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/JanicePorterBiz

https://twitter.com/janiceporter


Join our Relationships Rule community on FB here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/relationshipsrule/


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Transcript
Janice Porter:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's

Janice Porter:

edition of relationships rule. My guest this week is Amy Shaw

Janice Porter:

drauf. Welcome to the show, Amy.

Amy Chodoff:

Thank you, Janice for having me.

Janice Porter:

My pleasure. Amy is one of from what I

Janice Porter:

understand, because I don't live there, but one of the most

Janice Porter:

recognizable on air personalities and has the most

Janice Porter:

recognizable laugh in the Dallas Fort Worth area, one of

Amy Chodoff:

them at least

Janice Porter:

been an award winning radio host in North

Janice Porter:

Texas for 20 years. Wow. That's amazing. First, you were in

Janice Porter:

news, correct.

Amy Chodoff:

I was in news for a very long time. And then I made

Amy Chodoff:

the switch to being a show host to be a morning show host.

Janice Porter:

So you're the morning show host with your

Janice Porter:

partner, Dave, Dave, and Amy on 570, K, Li F

Amy Chodoff:

crime 70k. Ally up and down

Janice Porter:

in Dallas, okay. And I'm going to stop there for

Janice Porter:

a minute because I was thinking when I was going to be talking

Janice Porter:

to you, I'm going to interview a radio talk show host who does

Janice Porter:

nothing but ask questions of people that Oh, my goodness, how

Janice Porter:

am I going to do this? Because it's, it's like, I started to

Janice Porter:

have this vision of you on the radio show that you have a I

Janice Porter:

don't know what they call it in your business. But I know

Janice Porter:

there's like I picture a, a binder that the producer has,

Janice Porter:

and they're all segmented and into what you're doing any

Janice Porter:

segment of the show. And that you have, you have to keep a

Janice Porter:

strict timeframe on what you do. But you have some leeway as to

Janice Porter:

how you do it. Am I right or wrong?

Amy Chodoff:

Well, you're partly right, we do have strict time

Amy Chodoff:

restraints, some of our segments are shorter than others, they

Amy Chodoff:

can range from the new segment, which is four and a half to five

Amy Chodoff:

minutes to a talk segment, that may be three to eight minutes,

Amy Chodoff:

depending on where we are in the hour, we don't have a binder

Amy Chodoff:

from our producer, we do have, we do have a rundown from our

Amy Chodoff:

producer, which kind of has each segment listed out in which

Amy Chodoff:

stories we're going to do in each segment. But we really keep

Amy Chodoff:

everything in our computer in the program that we use in the

Amy Chodoff:

news program that we use. And that's what we follow as we move

Amy Chodoff:

through the morning. And that's all stuff that my co host and I

Amy Chodoff:

have found the night before, because we do a lot of research

Amy Chodoff:

the night before. And then we call it working it up for that

Amy Chodoff:

morning. So we can discuss it, we highlight the interesting

Amy Chodoff:

parts, we talked about it off the air. So we know maybe how to

Amy Chodoff:

start and how to get out of it segment, because that's very

Amy Chodoff:

important is how to start it. Because you want to make it

Amy Chodoff:

interesting for the listener. And then also you need to know

Amy Chodoff:

where you're going to get out of it as well. So you can move on

Amy Chodoff:

to the next segment.

Janice Porter:

So you know that I'm a LinkedIn trainer and I

Janice Porter:

talk about when I'm crafting a LinkedIn summary or about

Janice Porter:

section for a client, I always say you want to start with a

Janice Porter:

hook, and then write exactly what you're talking about. It is

Amy Chodoff:

exactly what we're talking about.

Janice Porter:

Although you would have a lot more experience

Janice Porter:

at it than I do. So I'm just fascinated because, you know,

Janice Porter:

I've listened to I listened to talk radio, I have open ears.

Janice Porter:

And now I listen to podcasts a lot of the time. And similar but

Janice Porter:

not the live feature, obviously. So before I get into your new

Janice Porter:

world, I just wanted to ask a few questions about are the

Janice Porter:

radio work world? So is it less stressful or more stressful

Janice Porter:

dealing with a partner and doing, you know, human interest

Janice Porter:

in as well as some news than doing all that news that you

Janice Porter:

did? You are a news anchor, right?

Amy Chodoff:

Yes, I like it better because we cover a lot

Amy Chodoff:

more topics and my co anchor and I get along really well. He's,

Amy Chodoff:

gosh, he's almost 20 years older than I am. And yet we have so

Amy Chodoff:

much fun and a lot in common. And we learn a lot from each

Amy Chodoff:

other. We don't always agree. Different perspectives, right?

Amy Chodoff:

Yeah, a lot of times we do agree, but sometimes we don't.

Amy Chodoff:

And other times, we listen to each other's perspective. And

Amy Chodoff:

then I may change my mind and say you know what, Dave, you

Amy Chodoff:

were right. I was wrong at the beginning. And then I have a you

Amy Chodoff:

know, a new, a new way of thinking about something that

Amy Chodoff:

we've been talking about. We have a lot of fun. We have a lot

Amy Chodoff:

of laughs We do a lot of, you know, horrible stories, because

Amy Chodoff:

there's just a lot of horrible news that's going on right now.

Amy Chodoff:

We do a lot of tough stories. But we do a lot of talkers. And

Amy Chodoff:

that stuff that people would be interested in and finding out

Amy Chodoff:

more information about and that's what we really love to do

Amy Chodoff:

because we get to sort of get into the the weeds so to speak

Amy Chodoff:

of some of those stories.

Janice Porter:

Can you give me an example of one of those

Janice Porter:

Stories. That was

Amy Chodoff:

an example of one of those stories I'm trying to

Amy Chodoff:

think from this morning. Unfortunately, a lot of times we

Amy Chodoff:

do so much stuff that when I get off the air, I don't even

Amy Chodoff:

remember what we did. Isn't that weird?

Janice Porter:

No. So that was tough to ask me that I

Janice Porter:

understood as

Amy Chodoff:

we do so many things. Let's just like I could

Amy Chodoff:

read the weather all day long. And then I asked my husband,

Amy Chodoff:

it's gonna rain today.

Janice Porter:

Brilliant. So Oh, my next question went out of my

Janice Porter:

head because Okay, so, Joe, do you have callers call in on your

Janice Porter:

show? No, we don't know. Okay. So you're on air the whole time.

Janice Porter:

Okay, so I do know, I read somewhere that your daughter

Janice Porter:

went into the family business?

Amy Chodoff:

Yes, yes. Reporter as well. Right. All right. Yes.

Amy Chodoff:

He's a political reporter for the CBS affiliate in Dallas. And

Amy Chodoff:

our younger daughter is now a sports anchor reporter in

Amy Chodoff:

Tucson, Arizona. This is her second job. So yes, she went in

Amy Chodoff:

the family business and our younger daughter wanted nothing

Amy Chodoff:

to do with it. And is a sophomore going to be a junior

Amy Chodoff:

at the University of Arizona and she's studying education. So she

Amy Chodoff:

doesn't want any part of the family business. But we need the

Amy Chodoff:

teacher. So it's Oh, yeah. And she is so good with the kids.

Amy Chodoff:

It's unbelievable. She's gonna be an awesome teacher.

Janice Porter:

That was my first life. I was a teacher. Oh, yeah.

Janice Porter:

Yeah, yeah. But I think it's important that we still have

Janice Porter:

good people going into teaching, but I love that your daughter is

Janice Porter:

and she she wanted sports, right? She was Oh,

Amy Chodoff:

yeah. No, yeah, she wanted sports. She went to

Amy Chodoff:

Syracuse to went to Newhouse School, just like my husband and

Amy Chodoff:

I did. And just has a passion for everything football. I mean,

Amy Chodoff:

all sports, but she loves football, both college and

Amy Chodoff:

professional.

Janice Porter:

Well, there's big space out there. I just saw Erin

Janice Porter:

Andrews just had a baby. Oh, yeah, I saw. Yeah. Okay, so you

Janice Porter:

are embarking or have just embarked on a new side gig, new

Janice Porter:

career, whatever you want to call it? I know that the radio

Janice Porter:

show probably takes up a lot of your time. I know. It's early

Janice Porter:

morning. But you said that you do research it as well, later in

Janice Porter:

the day? Correct. So yeah, we

Amy Chodoff:

do, I do. Usually around four or five o'clock, we

Amy Chodoff:

do our research, because that's when most of the stories that

Amy Chodoff:

would be pertinent for the next morning have cleared. I mean,

Amy Chodoff:

sometimes there's breaking news overnight. But usually by for

Amy Chodoff:

Friday, five o'clock, we can kind of figure out what we want

Amy Chodoff:

to do for the next morning. So that's the time that I spend

Amy Chodoff:

there. But both my kids are out of the house. So I really have

Amy Chodoff:

between 10am and four or 5pm, to do whatever I want. So I started

Amy Chodoff:

helping business owners and other clients get their stories

Amy Chodoff:

out and tell their stories, because I am a storyteller. And

Amy Chodoff:

that's what I've done on the radio for 35 years. And I'm

Amy Chodoff:

really a quick study at learning someone's business, and be able

Amy Chodoff:

to digest that information and then come up with their story,

Amy Chodoff:

the business owners story. There are so many stories, there are

Amy Chodoff:

customer stories, there are employees stories, and a lot of

Amy Chodoff:

people have trouble nailing that down. And that's what that's one

Amy Chodoff:

of the things that I'm here to do in addition to writing and

Amy Chodoff:

content creation.

Janice Porter:

So those things make me think of, okay, you're a

Janice Porter:

copywriter a copy for someone's having their website done and

Janice Porter:

grant the copy done. So that's where it fits in. Or maybe

Janice Porter:

they're, they need their, their, their LinkedIn profile written,

Janice Porter:

or they need their

Amy Chodoff:

bio written find website, or the about us section

Amy Chodoff:

for their website, or, you know, I do a lot of ghost writing for

Amy Chodoff:

some medical writing companies, where I would actually write the

Amy Chodoff:

doctors website, and the intense medical information. So I do

Amy Chodoff:

that

Janice Porter:

does not sound sexy to me.

Amy Chodoff:

I do writing for attorneys. So basically,

Amy Chodoff:

anything that has to be written, yeah, I can do.

Janice Porter:

So what's your favorite part of that? How did

Janice Porter:

you see like, because you could love writing and still not

Janice Porter:

wanting to do it as a business. So how did you see that it was

Janice Porter:

something that would excite you to do

Amy Chodoff:

well, I enjoy it. I enjoy the challenge of crafting

Amy Chodoff:

something I enjoy getting something down on I would say on

Amy Chodoff:

the page, but I do it. I type on my computer and moving it

Amy Chodoff:

around. Yeah, it's like a puzzle to me. And it's fun, and I

Amy Chodoff:

especially love the bios, because I get to interview the

Amy Chodoff:

people first. That's a big thing for me. I don't just take your

Amy Chodoff:

resume or your LinkedIn profile and do it from that I actually

Amy Chodoff:

set up an appointment with you and interview you and I'm going

Amy Chodoff:

to ask you questions that you probably have never been asked

Amy Chodoff:

before because That's just me. And I'm very inquisitive. And I

Amy Chodoff:

love asking people things, and I'm gonna draw things out of

Amy Chodoff:

people, and then be able to craft their bio, and they just

Amy Chodoff:

come out wonderful. And I really, really enjoy that part

Amy Chodoff:

of it. I've been having a lot of fun with that.

Janice Porter:

Oh, that's good. That's good. Because I love

Janice Porter:

talking to people and pulling things out of them. And quite

Janice Porter:

often I hear people say to me, that was really intuitive. I,

Janice Porter:

how did you even think that, but see, I couldn't put it in

Janice Porter:

writing, I would just like to talk to them about it. That's

Janice Porter:

why I'd cast and not writing a book.

Amy Chodoff:

I don't know that I have a book in me. You know, I

Amy Chodoff:

really don't, especially a biography. I don't think so. But

Amy Chodoff:

I like I'm really good at writing and other people's

Amy Chodoff:

voices too. Like blogs, I can write in other people's tone of

Amy Chodoff:

voice. And that's hard to do.

Janice Porter:

It is very hard to do. Very hard to do, I have

Janice Porter:

to say. So wait, what was I gonna say?

Janice Porter:

Something you said made me go off. And then I have a voice. So

Janice Porter:

Amy, you talked about you didn't think you had a book in you. But

Janice Porter:

I bet with all the stories that you've heard over the years and

Janice Porter:

the the experiences that you've had being on the radio that was

Janice Porter:

and you and you have probably a great sense of humor. That's

Janice Porter:

what I'm sensing already from you that I bet you've got to

Janice Porter:

Virginia that even though

Amy Chodoff:

I have a few stories, my favorite story, can

Amy Chodoff:

I tell you my favorite story was when I was working in Orlando,

Amy Chodoff:

Florida, and I was the midday anchor for the am station. But I

Amy Chodoff:

did Morning News. And I was sort of the co host of the Country

Amy Chodoff:

Music Station. Before I went to do my midday news on the am

Amy Chodoff:

station. And there was a time we didn't have a permanent host. So

Amy Chodoff:

we would bring in all these country music stars. So I met

Amy Chodoff:

you name it. I've met them. I've done a show with them. I mean

Amy Chodoff:

from Brad Paisley to I don't even I can't even remember the

Amy Chodoff:

mall that I've co hosted with. So one of the big co hosts who

Amy Chodoff:

came in was Kenny Rogers. Yes. And he has since passed away,

Amy Chodoff:

obviously. But this was 20. I want to say it was 20 years ago.

Amy Chodoff:

And he came in and he's such a he was such a short man, because

Amy Chodoff:

I expected he was going to be much taller than he was. And it

Amy Chodoff:

was after he had had his plastic surgery. So of course, he looked

Amy Chodoff:

a lot different than he did before that time. And so we

Amy Chodoff:

hosted the show with him. And for some reason I asked him to

Amy Chodoff:

sing I'll Island in the Sky, you know, in the stream islands,

Amy Chodoff:

Islands in the Stream. Thank you that he sang with Dolly Parton.

Amy Chodoff:

And he wrote, yeah, and he's like, come sing with me. So I

Amy Chodoff:

start singing with him and forget the words. Okay, and I

Amy Chodoff:

was so bad.

Janice Porter:

That was putting you on the spot,

Amy Chodoff:

though. Wow. And then and then he signed, he was

Amy Chodoff:

promoting a book that he had at the time. And I still have the

Amy Chodoff:

book. And he signed it. And he said, Dear Amy always remember

Amy Chodoff:

our song, Kenny Rogers. And he signed it. And it was funny

Amy Chodoff:

because I was looking through some stuff a few weeks ago. And

Amy Chodoff:

I found it and it just reminded me of that memory. But that was

Amy Chodoff:

one of the fun stories of someone really famous that I met

Amy Chodoff:

and had a great interaction with.

Janice Porter:

So you've been around the country in different

Janice Porter:

markets, correct? Yeah. So how long have you been in Dallas?

Amy Chodoff:

20 years,

Janice Porter:

you've been there 20 years. Because I know here

Janice Porter:

there was, in fact, he just died actually was there was this disc

Janice Porter:

jockey who kind of was when I was a kid. And he you know,

Janice Porter:

we're moved his way all the way up. To set through all the ages,

Janice Porter:

I think he was the young DJ that introduced the Beatles when they

Janice Porter:

came to Vancouver. And that goes all the way through. And he was

Janice Porter:

a legend in his time, basically here. And there's not that many

Janice Porter:

that have a long career in one place and different stations and

Janice Porter:

whatever, as the markets have changed, but it's pretty special

Janice Porter:

to to 20 years in one one mark and I was

Amy Chodoff:

Yeah, that's really unusual these days. Yeah, there

Amy Chodoff:

are a lot of people on the other am station where I work at who

Amy Chodoff:

have been there 30 years 40 years. Time. Yeah, yeah. But

Amy Chodoff:

people move around a lot, especially in TV. And my husband

Amy Chodoff:

has been in TV here 20 years too. So that's rare.

Janice Porter:

Yeah. And well, they're not the kind of jobs

Janice Porter:

where you get like a month's notice either do you you're like

Janice Porter:

you're Here today gone tomorrow,

Amy Chodoff:

ultimately depends on your contract situation and

Amy Chodoff:

things like that.

Janice Porter:

So I'm being bit naive around that. So with your

Janice Porter:

storytelling, gift which, which is evident? What's your who's

Janice Porter:

your most wanted client? Who do you love to work with? What?

Janice Porter:

Like, is it an industry? Is it a? Is it male versus female? Is

Janice Porter:

it young versus old? Is it the lawyers and the doctors? Or is

Janice Porter:

it the creative people? Or do you, you know, do you have a

Janice Porter:

favorite?

Amy Chodoff:

It's, it's really I love working one on one with

Amy Chodoff:

people. And I love that moment that someone says to me, oh, my

Amy Chodoff:

gosh, how do you do that? How do you fit pull my story out of me

Amy Chodoff:

and figure that out, I'm too close to it. A lot of times,

Amy Chodoff:

you're just too close to your own story. So you can't see it.

Amy Chodoff:

It's staring you in the face. And you're just too close to it.

Amy Chodoff:

And it takes an outsider, someone like me to be able to

Amy Chodoff:

come in and talk to you and discuss with you and figure out

Amy Chodoff:

what your story should be. And then figure out what your

Amy Chodoff:

talking point should be, and how you should organize it all and

Amy Chodoff:

how you should put it on your website, how you should put it

Amy Chodoff:

on social media. And if you you know, are invited to do a radio

Amy Chodoff:

show or a TV show how you should sell yourself in that medium?

Janice Porter:

That's a good one. That's a really good one.

Janice Porter:

Because how is it different? So is it different on radio than

Janice Porter:

something that's in print, obviously, but it is, it is very

Janice Porter:

different meetings I talked about earlier, and said I'm

Janice Porter:

sorry, was it about not burying the lede as

Amy Chodoff:

well, it's that too. But in in radio, you may

Amy Chodoff:

have a three or four minute interview, and there's no video,

Amy Chodoff:

it's all audio. A lot of times when you call in to a radio

Amy Chodoff:

show, it's a different experience, because you have to

Amy Chodoff:

listen over the phone. And that's, that's hard for some

Amy Chodoff:

people to concentrate. versus being in studio, that's a

Amy Chodoff:

different experience to also being on television is a

Amy Chodoff:

different experience, you know, you need to know where to look

Amy Chodoff:

and, and you need to dress correctly. And you may have a

Amy Chodoff:

longer time to discuss topics on TV than you do on the radio. And

Amy Chodoff:

then in a podcast, something like this is so different than

Amy Chodoff:

radio, because it's so much more long form. And you can go into

Amy Chodoff:

much more detail than you can on the radio where you have to be

Amy Chodoff:

very brief and make your points quickly.

Janice Porter:

Mm hmm. So I've actually had a few people on my

Janice Porter:

podcast who talk about story in different ways. The thing today

Janice Porter:

seems to be not just so much telling your own stories, but

Janice Porter:

being able to tell stories as part of your content on social

Janice Porter:

media. Have you come across that? Do you work with people on

Janice Porter:

that at all?

Amy Chodoff:

Yeah, because you have customer stories, people

Amy Chodoff:

that interact with your product, your product, tells a story to

Amy Chodoff:

write, in many ways. And so you can develop a story around your

Amy Chodoff:

product, you have employees stories, and those are wonderful

Amy Chodoff:

stories of you know, why does someone work for you. A lot of

Amy Chodoff:

times, there's a backstory, on why someone works for you, or

Amy Chodoff:

how long they they've been there. The stories are really

Amy Chodoff:

endless that people can use. And once you create those stories,

Amy Chodoff:

maybe through the written or word or audio or video, then you

Amy Chodoff:

can cut those up and use them endlessly on your social media

Amy Chodoff:

and your various platforms.

Janice Porter:

Okay, so I'm just starting, I'm actually just

Janice Porter:

getting that because I finally have a rhythm with my email news

Janice Porter:

letter that I'm sending out to my list. And I'm trying very

Janice Porter:

hard to think of a story to put in each week. But it doesn't

Janice Porter:

come naturally to me. And so what advice would you have. So,

Janice Porter:

for example, I was so proud of myself because I was able to, to

Janice Porter:

take a story a couple of weeks ago, of an experience that I had

Janice Porter:

with my little granddaughter, where we took her down to the

Janice Porter:

park and she wanted to go to the swings in the slides. But on the

Janice Porter:

way there was this huge mound of sand in the parking lot while

Janice Porter:

she couldn't resist that because she loves to climb and play in

Janice Porter:

dirt and whatever and so beeline for the pile of sand off she was

Janice Porter:

for another 20 minutes playing there. And I liked and that

Janice Porter:

finally told that story and then likened it to a business piece

Janice Porter:

around being in the moment and going with the flow kind of

Janice Porter:

thing rather than just having to do what you set out to perfect,

Janice Porter:

but I don't do that often enough and like what what kind of

Janice Porter:

things do you have to open up in your mind to be able to do those

Janice Porter:

things? You know what I'm saying?

Amy Chodoff:

I think you need to To be open up to the fact that

Amy Chodoff:

and I always like to say that life for me is show prep. Okay,

Amy Chodoff:

I go about my everyday life. Yeah. And every, every

Amy Chodoff:

experience that I have, in the back of my mind, I think to

Amy Chodoff:

myself, is this a usable moment for me on the air? And you can

Amy Chodoff:

do a similar thing and say, Is this a usable moment for me? And

Amy Chodoff:

how can I connect it to something in my business and

Amy Chodoff:

turn it into a story? For my newsletter? Yeah, as we pass so

Amy Chodoff:

many stories, hundreds of stories every single day, and

Amy Chodoff:

you don't even know it, because you're intuitively not aware to

Amy Chodoff:

it. And once you start developing awareness to that,

Janice Porter:

I should write them down. When they write them

Janice Porter:

down, keep

Amy Chodoff:

a notebook with you write them down, like the

Amy Chodoff:

experience that you had with your granddaughter. I mean, that

Janice Porter:

is perfect. Yeah, that was probably I was pretty

Janice Porter:

proud of myself, because I need it. You know, it worked. And in

Janice Porter:

fact, I've had young man on my show, who saw it, who, that's

Janice Porter:

what he teaches people. And he and he critiqued me on it. And

Janice Porter:

it was great, because it was, it was a good example. And now I

Janice Porter:

just have to do those more often. But I use examples

Amy Chodoff:

all the time on our on our radio show of things that

Amy Chodoff:

happened to me throughout the day, and so does my co host,

Amy Chodoff:

whether it's at the grocery store, or picking up the kids or

Amy Chodoff:

whatever has happened over the years. And they turn out to be

Amy Chodoff:

the best bits, because a lot of people can relate to them

Amy Chodoff:

because they've had similar experiences.

Janice Porter:

Yeah. And it's but when they come to you

Janice Porter:

naturally, when you're on the air, that's, that's brilliant to

Janice Porter:

like, be able to draw from those things. And I suppose, is it

Janice Porter:

easier when you're working with a partner, or a harder because I

Janice Porter:

would imagine that would feed you would feed each other? I

Janice Porter:

think

Amy Chodoff:

it's easier because we feed off of each other. And

Amy Chodoff:

my partner and I have been working together for 11 years.

Amy Chodoff:

So we can kind of we know each other's cadences. And we know

Amy Chodoff:

when one of us can start talking. And the other one needs

Amy Chodoff:

to stop talking. And sometimes we talk over each other. But

Amy Chodoff:

that's a normal conversation. A lot of times people talk over

Amy Chodoff:

each other, right. So it's okay, I used to have we used to have

Amy Chodoff:

some people that would critique us and say, well, you're talking

Amy Chodoff:

over each other. But that's part of that's part of life and part

Amy Chodoff:

of our conversation. So I think that's natural. And I think it

Amy Chodoff:

makes us more real. And that's what we're all about is being

Amy Chodoff:

authentic.

Janice Porter:

I love that word. I'm totally that way. Exactly.

Janice Porter:

So speaking of being authentic, actually, I wanted to ask this

Janice Porter:

question, which I don't know if I have, I don't know if you can

Janice Porter:

answer this question or whether you would answer this question.

Janice Porter:

It's not even about you. It's about I thought about your

Janice Porter:

husband, you said is a political reporter. Correct? On a TV

Janice Porter:

channel, CBS, when you are reporting on a certain station,

Janice Porter:

whether it's radio or television, do you have to have

Janice Porter:

the same views as that station?

Amy Chodoff:

No, I mean, he went, he's a political reporter.

Amy Chodoff:

So to him, when people don't know, where he stands on an

Amy Chodoff:

issue, then he's done his job repairing. Okay, so he's middle

Amy Chodoff:

of the road, and he talks to both sides on it. Okay. And, you

Amy Chodoff:

know, he is very old school that way. And when I was doing news,

Amy Chodoff:

I'm old school that way to a little different now where I'm

Amy Chodoff:

more of a host, and I can give more of my opinions. But, you

Amy Chodoff:

know, it's sometimes they're, they they lean more

Amy Chodoff:

conservative, and sometimes they leave more democratic. You know,

Amy Chodoff:

it's just like anything else.

Janice Porter:

I was just curious, because, you know, we

Janice Porter:

know with the big, the big cable networks, like, you

Amy Chodoff:

know, with Fox and CNN and you know, where MSNBC

Amy Chodoff:

are coming from, but I think it's different at the local

Amy Chodoff:

level, due to local level isn't really like that.

Janice Porter:

Okay. Okay. Very cool. So what would you say? Is

Janice Porter:

your Can you think of the most exciting experience or life

Janice Porter:

changing experience you had on radio? Life changing?

Amy Chodoff:

Wow.

Janice Porter:

For someone you really had always wanted to

Janice Porter:

meet, and it happened or

Amy Chodoff:

see, I'm not a big, like, I don't stars don't.

Janice Porter:

I don't know. You're not starstruck.

Amy Chodoff:

I'm not starstruck. And I've interviewed so many

Amy Chodoff:

people. That's

Janice Porter:

why you're not starstruck. I like that.

Amy Chodoff:

I'm like Barbara Walters, and Diane Sawyer and

Amy Chodoff:

Dan Rather, and I make all those people I've interviewed and then

Amy Chodoff:

presidents I've interviewed Jimmy Carter, and

Janice Porter:

I'm trying to think so when you're doing those

Janice Porter:

interviews, you're going to tell me there was no sense of or a

Janice Porter:

Um,

Amy Chodoff:

maybe with maybe with Barbara Walters and Diane

Amy Chodoff:

Sawyer. Yes, they were new people. Yeah, exactly a little

Amy Chodoff:

bit of that. And maybe I'm a little nervous, you know, but I

Amy Chodoff:

always tried to have fun with it and do my research ahead of

Amy Chodoff:

time. So I know what I'm talking about.

Janice Porter:

Yeah, I remember back in, when my parents lived

Janice Porter:

in California, and they lived right in the heart of Beverly

Janice Porter:

Hills, and you couldn't go out on the street without somebody

Janice Porter:

that you recognize walking by. And I remember back in those

Janice Porter:

days being very cool about it and not being starstruck because

Janice Porter:

they're just people. They're just people just like, you know,

Janice Porter:

and, and to respect that of people. But there were the odd

Janice Porter:

there was the odd time when I go, Oh, my God, oh, my God,

Janice Porter:

there's John Travolta like, you know, back in the day when I was

Janice Porter:

very heart throbbing, or whatever. But you know what, I

Janice Porter:

get it. So that's wonderful that but to have interviewed some of

Janice Porter:

those people, though, that's pretty cool. Like, when you're

Janice Porter:

interviewing one of the best interviewers in the world, what

Janice Porter:

do you say to them? How do you why do you ask them?

Amy Chodoff:

Right? It's a little nerve wracking sometimes,

Amy Chodoff:

a lot of times they come on and they're promoting something.

Amy Chodoff:

They're promoting a show or they're promoting a book. I've

Amy Chodoff:

talked to Katie Couric, she was promoting her book, trying to

Amy Chodoff:

think of some of the other people that I've talked to who

Amy Chodoff:

are promoting books. One of the judge not Wynonna Judd. But

Amy Chodoff:

who's the who's the daughter? Isn't why No, nine?

Janice Porter:

Ashley? We're known as the older daughter.

Janice Porter:

Yeah.

Amy Chodoff:

Why? No, no. Yeah, I talked to her. I think I've

Amy Chodoff:

talked to Ashley too. And and a whole bunch of country stars. I

Amy Chodoff:

mean, yeah,

Janice Porter:

of course, from what you said, so fun. So if

Janice Porter:

someone's coming to work with you on their story. What would

Janice Porter:

you say? Like, do they need to bring it usually for their for

Janice Porter:

their, their website, or their book, the writing the beginning

Janice Porter:

of their book or something like that,

Amy Chodoff:

can be for the beginning of a book, it could be

Amy Chodoff:

they need, they need the pitch for their book, because they

Amy Chodoff:

don't know how to pitch it. It could be the story for your

Amy Chodoff:

website, because a lot of a lot of websites have the about us

Amy Chodoff:

section. And if you look through companies about us sections, a

Amy Chodoff:

lot of times their stories of how the company was created the

Amy Chodoff:

story of the founders, and almost picture essays, you know,

Amy Chodoff:

with pictures or maybe video and, you know, there's there's

Amy Chodoff:

so many different ways that you can do it.

Janice Porter:

So you like to play pickleball? I do. I wish

Janice Porter:

that it started before I wreck my knee because I think I would

Janice Porter:

love playing pickleball I

Amy Chodoff:

haven't played in a few weeks because it's been hot

Amy Chodoff:

and over 100 degrees here. And there's an inside court, but I

Amy Chodoff:

haven't gone yet. And we have an outside court in our

Amy Chodoff:

development. And also in their summer they play at like seven

Amy Chodoff:

in the morning and I'm on the radio so I can't play. Although

Amy Chodoff:

I did get the email today that they were it was raining this

Amy Chodoff:

morning. So the ladies, we have this group me chat. And the

Amy Chodoff:

ladies, we're going to play it at like four o'clock. So maybe I

Amy Chodoff:

can get out there at four and play a little but it's fun. And

Amy Chodoff:

I'm not are truly athletic person. And I honestly I do not

Amy Chodoff:

like to play tennis. But I'm a good ping pong player. And it's

Amy Chodoff:

a cross between ping pong, tennis and badminton. And so

Amy Chodoff:

I've just I've taken a liking to it. And it's a great social

Amy Chodoff:

activity. And I've met a non a lot of nice ladies and gents

Amy Chodoff:

playing. And it's been fun.

Janice Porter:

That's great. That's awesome. So I like to ask

Janice Porter:

my guests a couple of questions off the off of the topic. And

Janice Porter:

one of them is Do you mostly now? Are you a reader, a

Janice Porter:

listener? Or a viewer? So do you read books like real books? Do

Janice Porter:

you listen to books? Or podcasts? Or do you watch videos

Janice Porter:

mostly,

Amy Chodoff:

or to my I'm part of a book club in my

Amy Chodoff:

neighborhood. So I don't read as much as I used to read but I'm

Amy Chodoff:

part of the book club now. So I'm reading a book a month. So I

Amy Chodoff:

feel like I'm getting back into that. So that's good. I watch a

Amy Chodoff:

lot of Netflix. I don't watch regular TV. I only watch Netflix

Amy Chodoff:

or Amazon Prime or something like that. And I do not consume

Amy Chodoff:

podcasts. I'm really sort of quirky that way and I don't know

Amy Chodoff:

why. But I've never gotten into it and maybe it's because I'm on

Amy Chodoff:

the radio. You know when you've talked for four hours a day and

Amy Chodoff:

then you come home and a lot of times don't feel like talking

Amy Chodoff:

and that's hard for people to understand. But By talking and

Amy Chodoff:

listening on the radio, no, I don't right now, but I'm just

Amy Chodoff:

talking in general even, you know. Yeah, but I feel like it

Amy Chodoff:

takes too long to get to the point. And I'm so used to

Amy Chodoff:

getting to the point faster. Okay, that I think that's why

Amy Chodoff:

it's it bores me a little bit. Well, I

Janice Porter:

guess, you know, it's quite a fascinating field

Janice Porter:

because it's growing so quickly. I mean, it is it is, right. But

Janice Porter:

there's, there's real crime, there's stories, there's

Janice Porter:

interviews, there's so many different types of podcasts,

Janice Porter:

there's business, there's pleasure. And I've started

Janice Porter:

branching out a little bit and I'd been listening to while I

Janice Porter:

listened to a story on cereal, I think it was called One time a

Janice Porter:

couple years ago, that was fascinating was like an old

Janice Porter:

radio show with the sound effects. And

Amy Chodoff:

there are a lot of good show podcasts like that.

Amy Chodoff:

Yes, there are.

Janice Porter:

This was called S town. It was about a murder in

Janice Porter:

Alabama or Arkansas or somewhere. Border from New York,

Janice Porter:

had been found to come down and help solve this. And it was a

Janice Porter:

true story. But it was fascinating because the way it

Janice Porter:

was told it was really good. But then I've been listening to a

Janice Porter:

lot of celebrities doing podcasts now because I'm finding

Janice Porter:

that they are naturals at it. And there's a lot of them doing

Janice Porter:

them and the ones that listen to it some Julia Louie Dreyfus, Oh,

Janice Porter:

I

Amy Chodoff:

love her. Yeah, or you love her

Janice Porter:

podcast is called

Amy Chodoff:

wiser than me. I really need to start listening

Amy Chodoff:

to more

Janice Porter:

Clarion and she interviews women who are all

Janice Porter:

older and wiser than her. Oh, yeah. Pearl brunette Jane Fonda.

Janice Porter:

Oh, wow. Interesting people. Isabel Allende, Amy Tan, who

Janice Porter:

wrote the joy love all of these people. And her format's really

Janice Porter:

interesting, too. So if you ever want to Yeah, she's funny. So

Janice Porter:

fun, but she's got a potty mouth too. And then I've been

Janice Porter:

listening to one now called smartlace. Jason Bateman will

Janice Porter:

Oh, I love him. And Sean Hayes, and they I'm laughing in the

Janice Porter:

car. I'm laughing the entire time. So those are the kind I've

Janice Porter:

been listening to. And then, you know, there's just so many

Janice Porter:

options out there. So I just, I was curious. So being curious.

Janice Porter:

That's the other thing. And the last thing I want to ask you of

Janice Porter:

my curiosity, that's my favorite word, curiosity. So I like to

Janice Porter:

ask my, my guests. Do you think that curiosity is innate, or

Janice Porter:

learned? And then part two? What are you most curious about

Janice Porter:

today? I think that

Amy Chodoff:

there are some people that are more curious

Amy Chodoff:

than other people. But I think you probably can learn to be

Amy Chodoff:

more curious, just like you could learn to do anything. You

Amy Chodoff:

just have to be more open in your mind, to the experiences

Amy Chodoff:

that you have. I just have a natural curiosity. I'm I'm

Amy Chodoff:

fascinated by people's lives, I always have been fascinated by

Amy Chodoff:

people's lives, which is why I like to interview people. And

Amy Chodoff:

I'm weird. And I read obituaries to Aries too, because I love to

Amy Chodoff:

find out about people's lives. So I'll just read the

Amy Chodoff:

obituaries. I mean, it's it seems a little odd, but I enjoy

Amy Chodoff:

that. I enjoy reading about people's lives. And I love

Amy Chodoff:

biographies and autobiographies,

Janice Porter:

biographies. Yeah.

Amy Chodoff:

I really enjoy that. So when you've read that,

Amy Chodoff:

that sticks out. It's been a while since I've reading mostly

Amy Chodoff:

fiction in my reading group now, but oh, just of all the stars

Amy Chodoff:

I've read, you know, all the Dan rather's of the world, I've read

Amy Chodoff:

all those books. Okay. You know,

Janice Porter:

what do you reading in your book?

Amy Chodoff:

Right now we're off for the month, so nothing. So I

Amy Chodoff:

gotta look at the list and see what we're doing next month. I

Amy Chodoff:

haven't looked yet. Okay. But we've actually read a lot of

Amy Chodoff:

interesting things. And I'm, I'm terrible at remembering names,

Amy Chodoff:

names of books. But it's really stretched my my brain because

Amy Chodoff:

there are things that I never would read. And most of them I

Amy Chodoff:

have enjoyed there was one of them. I didn't enjoy, but most

Amy Chodoff:

of them I've really, really enjoyed. That's good.

Janice Porter:

Because otherwise, to me, that would be

Janice Porter:

a waste of time. I haven't been in Book Club for years, but I

Janice Porter:

can't read that fast anymore. I'm trying to scribble at

Amy Chodoff:

names for Pete remembering names of people and

Amy Chodoff:

remembering book names. I don't know why. Well, I'm reading

Janice Porter:

our friends book right now. Allah.

Amy Chodoff:

Oh, yeah. I just read her book. Yeah, I'm

Janice Porter:

just in the middle of it too. And so I'm

Janice Porter:

excited about that. So last words for my audience in terms

Janice Porter:

of storytelling, your one major piece of advice perhaps about

Janice Porter:

helping people write their stories and then also help can

Janice Porter:

they find you?

Amy Chodoff:

Well, everyone has a story. They just need to, you

Amy Chodoff:

know, find it and ask. And if you're trying to find your own

Amy Chodoff:

story. Sometimes it's good to ask a family member or friend

Amy Chodoff:

and say, Well, you know, what do you like about me your what do

Amy Chodoff:

you like about my business? Or what's different? How to why?

Amy Chodoff:

How is my business different than somebody else's business?

Amy Chodoff:

How does it stand out, because you're too close to it. But if

Amy Chodoff:

you have a friend, or a neighbor, or someone who's not

Amy Chodoff:

as close to it, try to figure that out. Oftentimes, you can

Amy Chodoff:

find your story. That's right there.

Janice Porter:

We also write, go ahead. When you see it from that

Janice Porter:

other person's perspective,

Amy Chodoff:

it's like people have trouble writing about

Amy Chodoff:

themselves. Like if someone says, you know, write a bio,

Amy Chodoff:

everyone freezes. I can't write a bio about myself. And that's

Amy Chodoff:

another good tip is talk to you, you know, a spouse or talk to

Amy Chodoff:

her friend and say, Well, how do you see me? And then write down

Amy Chodoff:

some ideas and then go from there?

Janice Porter:

Yeah, definitely. And sometimes I'm afraid to ask

Janice Porter:

somebody what they think. Yes, it's gonna be completely

Janice Porter:

different. But no, I'm just teasing. That's great. So thank

Janice Porter:

you. How can my client you, my audience, find you?

Amy Chodoff:

I'm on LinkedIn. Under my name, Amy, and I'll

Amy Chodoff:

spell it ch o DROF. F as in Frank, that's Shudra. That's how

Amy Chodoff:

it's pronounced. Yeah. That's the best way to reach out to me

Amy Chodoff:

on LinkedIn.

Janice Porter:

Perfect. And if they're in the Dallas Fort Worth

Janice Porter:

area, they're going to tune into radio 570 K, if Correct?

Amy Chodoff:

Yep. Or 96.3 FM HD two, or anyone can listen online

Amy Chodoff:

anywhere in the world at KLA f.com 5am to 9am Central Time.

Janice Porter:

Oh, wow. Yes, of course. The world has changed so

Janice Porter:

much.

Amy Chodoff:

And it's an it's DFW is Morning News with David

Amy Chodoff:

Amy.

Janice Porter:

Awesome. And you want to sign us off. I want to

Amy Chodoff:

sign us off. Well, thank you so much, Janice, for

Amy Chodoff:

having us. It's been such a pleasure. And so much fun. And

Amy Chodoff:

you're a delight and I wish I could interview you can can we

Amy Chodoff:

turn the tables here for a little bit?

Janice Porter:

Maybe next time? Maybe on another podcast. Okay,

Janice Porter:

sounds good. Thank you so much. Thanks for being here. And

Janice Porter:

thanks to my audience for listening as usual, please check

Janice Porter:

Amy's LinkedIn profile out and see if she can help you with

Janice Porter:

your story. Remember to stay connected and be remembered