MONDAYS 7AM

Salwa Khan
I’m speaking with Matt Mendoza and John Odell about their show, Monday Morning Wake-Up Club, which airs Mondays from 7 to 9 AM. Let’s start with a little background on you, John. How did you get into radio?

John Odell
We moved back to Wimberley in May of 2019, and the first thing we did was get involved with St. Stephen’s Church here in town. That year, St. Stephen’s School was doing a fundraising golf tournament, and I volunteered to help them.

It was a huge collaborative effort, and the golf tournament was very successful, so they asked me in 2020 if I would again get involved. Well, the pandemic hit, and we couldn’t have large group meetings or anything like that, but we still needed to do a fundraiser.

So, we designed a Golf-a-thon, which was very simple. It was three foursomes—12 golfers playing 36 holes of golf—and we got people to donate per hole for each of their favorite golfers. I called the radio station and left a voice message saying, “Hey, I’m John Odell with St. Stephen’s School. Can I get you some information to promote our Golf-a-thon?” That was Tim Kiesling’s first day as General Manager. He called me back and said, “Absolutely. I want you to come in and be on Mike Crusham’s show and talk about it.” Mike’s an avid golfer.

We did an interview, and it was great promotion.

The Friday before the tournament, Tim asked me to come back on and talk about having the tournament, which we did. About a week later, Tim called me again and said, “Would you come back on the radio and talk about how KWVH was beneficial to you having a very successful Golf-a-thon?”

I said, “I’m glad to.” About halfway through, he took an underwriting break, turned around, and said, “You’re having a lot of fun.” I said, “This is great.” And he said, “Want to co-host a show with me?” I said, “What!?” I don’t do anything without asking permission from my wife, so I went home, and I said, “Hey, Melissa, Tim, the General Manager at KWVH, asked me to co-host a morning radio show with him.” She goes, “You said yes, right?” The rest is history.

Salwa Khan
That was your first stint in radio?

John Odell
Absolutely. No background, no experience. It was easy for me because I talk a lot.

Matt Mendoza
Yes, he does! I came on board with KWVH to help them with technology. We were moving to the 100-watt transmitter, and there were a bunch of skill sets that the station was lacking that I seemed to fill. I started working with Brach (Thomas) and Tim (Kiesling). I must have made an okay impression, or maybe they thought I was funny, but Tim asked me to co-host when Carroll Wilson left the Monday morning show, and it’s been great.

I’m loving it! I never planned to get on the air. I thought I’d be more of a back-end kind of guy. I run the board on the Monday Morning Wake-Up Club and have fun with the sound effects, and I’m a co-host.

John Odell
Our new third host is Jeff Rasco, the mayor of Woodcreek. Matt has brought such a fresh approach to our show. The Monday Morning Wake-Up Club is really all about community. It’s about community news, activities that are going on.

We have fun segments. We do the school lunch menu for all four schools every day. We do the WAG Pet of the Week. Matt does Three Things You Need to Know, which is always a lot of fun.

Matt Mendoza
You skipped our biggest thing. The State Farm Good Neighbor is a big one. We do that every second Monday of the month.

John Odell
We honor the State Farm Good Neighbor of the Month, the KWVH Nonprofit of the Month, and the KWVH Volunteer of the Month. We always have a guest from a local nonprofit.

Matt Mendoza
It’s all about community nonprofits. That’s what we feel our show is about. John is a member of the Lions Club, so we do a lot of Lions stuff before Market Day. We have the Woodcreek Update. That’s when Jeff Rasco or somebody else from City Council talks about what’s new with Woodcreek.

Salwa Khan
It sounds like you cover a lot of ground! How do you put the show together every week?

Matt Mendoza
We get together Friday mornings. We meet at the station to hash out who’s coming on the show and what we’re going to talk about. We also review the school lunch menu and make sure the guests are confirmed. Then we prepare our scripts and make sure everything flows.

John Odell
It’s funny. People ask, “How do you get your guests?” A lot of people now call us and say, “Hey, we’d like to be on the show.” The nonprofits, especially. They love to come on the show and talk about their upcoming events.

We do try to keep it lighthearted and have fun. And when we talk to our guests, we’ll ask questions like, “How did you get into this?” “What’s your background?”

Matt Mendoza
It’s a fun, community-focused show.

Salwa Khan
It sounds like a great way to bring the community together. What’s the most rewarding part of hosting the show for each of you?

Matt Mendoza
For me, it’s being able to connect with the community and learn more about what’s going on. Before joining KWVH, I was always kind of disconnected, but now I’m involved. It’s cool to meet people who are doing things to make Wimberley better.

John Odell
For me, it’s all about serving the community. This is our home, and these are our people. It’s very rewarding to give them a voice, promote their events, and celebrate the good things happening here.

Salwa Khan
Is there anything else you’d like to share about the Monday Morning Wake-Up Club?

John Odell
We’d love for more people to tune in. It’s a great way to start your week and find out what’s happening in Wimberley.

Matt Mendoza
Absolutely. And if anyone has ideas for guests or topics, they can always reach out to us. We’re open to suggestions!

Salwa Khan
Thank you, Matt and John, for sharing your story. Monday Morning Wake-Up Club airs every Monday from 7 to 9 AM on KWVH.