Micle Flora can sing. Not just church choir on Sunday morning sing, but really sing. Of course, she can also really manage a radio station, which is why Inspire recently asked Micle 10 questions that we really wanted to know! Feel free to read them in song!
Inspire: Micle, tell us how you got into radio.
Micle Flora: Looking back, I would have to say that God orchestrated the whole thing. I can remember, as a teenager, thinking how cool it would be to work in radio, but I never thought that I actually would. It just goes to show you that those little dreams - the ones that may just seem like passing thoughts - may be God giving you little hints about your future. "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord..."
I had been laid off from a sales position and the job market was terrible. I went on interviews for some of the craziest jobs you could imagine and couldn't find anything! Finally, my best friend took my resume to her boss, at KAAM AM-770 in Dallas. I really wanted to break out of sales and they didn't even have an opening. But Don Crawford, Jr., agreed to interview me anyway and he created a position for me in sales.
Inspire: How did you end up at KJSL?
MF: Well, as I said - I wanted out of sales; I felt stuck in it! So, after I took the job at KAAM, I kept one eye on the classifieds and Monster.com. After 14 months at the station, I was finally offered a position as Director of Marketing for a wealthy real estate developer. It was my dream job - office in a high rise luxury apartment building in downtown Dallas, overlooking a fountain, a moderate amount of travel, a corporate credit card and an expense account. Six weeks later, I found myself laid off again! (If it seems too good to be true...)
That same day, we got an offer on our house, which we had been trying to sell for over two years. So, I called Don and asked for my job back, but he said it was already filled. I told him that we had just received an offer on our house, so I was open to considering other markets. We discussed several possibilities, and I prayed that if God wanted me to move, Crawford would make me an offer I couldn't refuse. Ultimately, they offered me the position of Station Manager at KJSL, and the rest is history.
Inspire: What do you think of St. Louis so far?
MF: My husband, Ray, and I love it!!! We're country folks from rural East Texas and Ray never liked Dallas. It was much too fast-paced. Here, there are trees, hills, rivers, and lots of deer. So he's in hog heaven! We're just having a hard time finding good Mexican food...
Inspire: What is the direction you see for KJSL?
MF: I am very excited about the future of KJSL. Our company President, Don Crawford, holds the vision that KJSL will be the leading Christian station in St Louis. He is reinvesting in all of his stations nationwide, and has made some changes at our local level to better position us for success. I believe the new KJSL will allow us to appeal to a broader Christian audience and provide more opportunities for ministry to the unsaved. It's a very exciting time!
Inspire: What has been the most rewarding part of station management?
MF: All of the new relationships I've built. I've met so many wonderful people since moving here, and built some great relationships - with staff members, advertisers, Pastors, listeners, etc. I have truly been embraced as part of a family. Being Station Manager doesn't feel like "a job." Most of the time, it’s too much fun to feel like a job!
Inspire: There is a perception that radio station management is a "men's club". What has your experience been?
MF: It may have been a men's club at one time, but that really hasn't been my experience. Growing up, my parents and grandparents encouraged me and told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be. So I've always been independent and confident, and I've never really gotten caught up in the battle of the sexes. I'm who God made me to be and that's good enough.
Inspire: You also have a heart for ministry. Can you tell us about that?
MF: God has placed a call on my life, that's for sure. He hasn't shown me the whole picture yet, because He knows I will mess it up by getting too far ahead of Him. But He has told me over and over again that if I will listen to Him, and obey Him, that He will take me places that I never dreamed of.
I've sung and played piano for most of my life and I can testify that God heals marriages; He directs our paths (if we let Him) and He provides. I just finished my first original full-length CD earlier this year, I have a new website under construction (www.miclerae.com), and it remains to be seen how God will bring all of those pieces together. But I'm willing and just waiting on Him!
Inspire: How does your faith play into both your work and ministry life?
MF: Balance is a very tough thing, but it is absolutely necessary. It definitely helps to work in a Christian environment and I am so blessed to have that luxury. Having come out of secular Corporate America, I have an enormous appreciation for the opportunity and the blessing that God has given me to work for KJSL/Crawford Broadcasting.
The most important thing I try to do is to keep God first. Even working at KJSL, it's easy to get distracted by day-to-day circumstances. But if I can manage to keep my eyes on Him, my path is so much straighter! No matter how crazy things may seem sometimes, God is still in control - no matter where you work.
Inspire: Where do see Micle Flora in five years?
MF: They taught me how to answer this question in school, but I'm not going to give you one of those textbook answers with goals and action steps.
Goals are great. They keep you going. But I've learned that it doesn't matter what you think is going to happen next year, next month, or next week. You never know. Your life can be turned completely upside down in the blink of an eye, and you may never have seen it coming. Jobs come and go, material things come and go, and people come and go. Life is full of unexpected things - some good, and some very painful.
Where God will have me in five years, I have no clue. Honestly, I don't care where He has me, as long as He is using me to the absolute fullest - above and beyond all I could ever ask or think!
Inspire: What would you say to other women breaking into media?
MF: You go, Girl! If God has placed a dream in your heart, don't let anything come between you and that dream (as long as it's scriptural!). Know who you are in Christ, and don't be afraid to stand up for Him. You will never be happier than when you are in His will for you. God bless you in all of your endeavors!