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Salwa Khan:
Tim Kiesling is the general manager of KWVH and host of the Wimberley Wake-Up Club on Tuesday morning from seven to nine AM. Give us a little background on yourself.

Tim Kiesling: 
The funny thing is back in 2011, I had exited radio after 25 years in the industry. During COVID, I found myself with a fifty percent pay cut from my job at the time, and so I was looking for other work. I thought I'd fill the gap by working at Target or HEB or somewhere, and instead found KWVH was looking for a general manager. I applied and went through a lot of interviews, and it was decided to give me a shot at the job.

Four years later, it's been one of the greatest adventures of my career. I started my career as a teenager reading news on Sunday mornings on WSAL-AM and FM in Logansport, Indiana, my hometown. I worked at the station all through high school and then was named their operations manager and morning show host. I worked through college, and I took college classes at my high school at night while I worked my dream job in radio all day.
From there I moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana to work for an oldies station, which then led me to be program director for an oldies station in Lansing, Michigan less than 6 months later. Then, I ended up taking their adult contemporary station as well. Both stations had been number one in the ratings while I managed them. My specialty turned out to be driving time spent listening and building massive audiences to achieve top ratings and sales success. The products were household names, the air personalities were celebrities, and we owned the listening in Lansing/East Lansing, Michigan.
Shortly after that in February of 2001, I got the call for a new, challenging opportunity, to be in charge of marketing for the radio stations in San Antonio that were owned by Clear Channel (now IHeart Radio). At the time, Clear Channel purchased KMOL-TV and put its original call letters back on the air, WOAI-TV. Clear Channel also had the outdoor music venue, the Verizon Wireless Music Center, the outdoor advertising spaces and they also had, their Broadway series, Broadway San Antonio. So it was a quick immersion and six years of learning every facet and aspect of every division of their company. I even was able to land a weekend fill-in job doing sports anchor duties at WOAI-TV. That was a dream come true. Then Clear Channel gave me an opportunity to go back to the programming and branding side back in Michigan, in Grand Rapids at WOOD-FM, the second most powerful station in America at 265,000 watts. The station had been a mid-pack ratings station and I was able to make it tops with women in the coveted 25-54 demographic for 7 consecutive ratings periods. I was making money and loved where I worked and who I worked with every day.
Then I moved to Las Vegas for a couple of years doing radio there. The formats included alternative rock and smooth jazz, and then had an opportunity to come back here to Austin. which was back where I wanted to be, in central Texas.

Salwa Khan: 
How did you first become interested in radio as a youngster?

Tim Kiesling: 
That's a fun question. As a preteen and an early teenager, my whole goal was to fly airplanes. I grew up about thirty miles away from Purdue University, which has one of the best aeronautical engineering programs in the country.
That was the track I was on until I went to a high school speech meet and did a radio event and ended up getting an opportunity to work for two dollars and 90 cents an hour reading the news on Sunday mornings at WSAL. I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. And they always say that when it gets in your blood, it's hard to get out. It has been a difficult passion to let go of a couple of times in my career, but I still love it every day and it allows me to give KWVH what I feel is a distinct advantage over the majority of the low power and non-profit radio stations out there. We have a very professional crisp sound to the radio station and our formatting, and I think a lot of that comes from the almost thirty years I've spent in the industry, working for some of the best brands and best radio minds and consultants that one could ever assemble.

Salwa Khan:
Now KWVH is a community radio station How is that different from a commercial or a public radio station?

Tim Kiesling: 
Community radio is really what led me to radio in the first place, even though the stations I worked for in Logansport were not nonprofits. They were for-profit operations.
But the station truly understood its place and purpose in the community from running high school sports for four high schools in my county, to being very actively involved in local events, politics, news coverage. It gave me a real broad sense of what a radio station should be in terms of service to its community.
When I first was given this opportunity with KWVH, I already had that in the back of my mind, and everywhere I've worked, I've made sure that the radio station is deeply connected in the community, serving non-profits and community groups. I used to have all my salespeople have a kit in their car that had free CDs and koozies and tee shirts and banners so they could take it and donate it at their kid's swim meet or their church bake sale or whatever they were doing.
To me, KWVH is what every low power station in America should sound like. Sound that fits its community, with information and entertainment that is custom-built for the community it serves. Our programming is locally-generated and each song and program is curated to fit the audience in our community. We don’t do politics and we don’t do controversy. It sometimes finds its way on the station, but the goal is to remain neutral and fair for all.
I think that's been the biggest advantage here at KWVH is we're in so many community events, beyond just market day and the regular things we cover. We get quite deep into supporting the community and the events that they care about. When I attend meetings with non-profits, my mission is to give them the marketing solution of a radio station that can do things that radio stations just don’t do much anymore—airtime, interviews, radio remotes, and whatever we can do to align with their mission in service to the community.

We have had a request to cover a Wimberley youth sports association championship baseball game, a little league game, and I don't think you could do that anywhere in America, except at a station like ours. So even folks who don't live here can hear the station and hear their grandkids or nieces and nephews, whether it's on high school football on Friday nights, or a varsity high school baseball or softball game, or even a kid's baseball game.
When I talk to parents and, and folks who've attended those types of events they are just shocked that the local radio station would spend the time covering and caring for their kids in that event. It's one of the one of the things I love most, like our relationship with Jared Robinson, who is our play-by-play man, who also manages the Wimberley Youth Sports Association program. 

We are always looking for new and innovative ways to connect those kids and their families back to the radio station, while actively supporting them. I love the fact that we're doing that and so much more.

Salwa Khan: 
You are the general manager of the station. Give us a picture of a day in your life. What is it you do?

Tim Kiesling: 
Today, Tuesday, started with a 4:30AM wake-up call, to step into my home office, and do research into things happening news-wise, community wise, to make sure we were prepared for the guests that were coming in (for the Tuesday Wake-Up Club show). I had a wonderful conversation this morning with Rodney Bursiel, who is a local photographer and, supporter of nature. The reason I had him come in was to talk about African safaris.
There had been a story in the news a week ago about an American woman who was tragically killed by a bull elephant who chased the safari vehicle that she was riding in with others. She ended up dying, and I wanted the perspective for the local community about, what it's like when an animal is charging or chasing your safari vehicle in Africa.
And Rodney did not disappoint. He had so much to share about being chased in water by hippos and by elephants and other animals, where he's gone to observe and take his stunning photographs. He's preparing to be in cold water at the South Pole in Antarctica at the beginning of 2025, with orcas and gray whales.
It’s remarkable that this man can come to our radio station and tell his story, especially when moms and kids are in their car, headed to their school. It may spark some kid’s interest in Africa. Those are the kinds of things that we can do here that you don't necessarily get to do in larger cities, where there is tighter control on format and content.
I’m proud of the diversity in programming we have, that can touch on so many important topics and do so in a way that's informative and educational for our audience and then get them right back to music.

Salwa Khan: 
Right, but getting back to the general manager job?

Tim Kiesling: 
Oh yeah, the general manager job. Those duties include scheduling music and writing show prep for all our volunteers who come in to do shows. It's maintaining and ensuring transmitter logs are executed and signed, little day to day things that keep us legal. Attending local meetings with non-profits, underwriters, donors, and community members. Its supporting the work done by my amazing partner in crime, Brach Thomas and Tanya Tyler, Yvonne Thompson, and Susan Sisson. My team is amazing and they truly support what I do. And when you see the efforts of Coach Smith and our morning show hosts and on-air volunteers, you can see my work in the work they do. It’s monitoring weather and news events and even inserting weather bulletins 24 hours a day. The list is long and would take me two more pages to list it out. I think some people think I have an easy job or one that anyone could do. I think it takes a rare breed to manage the station the way I do. I’m not perfect, but I think KWVH is in the best hands with me managing the day to day.
The cool thing about the technology that I manage for the radio station, is that I can get on the air from anywhere at any given time, which is a tremendous asset from the olden days where the only way you get on the air was if somebody was in the studio, and could punch up the telephone. We certainly have come a long way with technology.
It truly is a job that, a long time ago, would have been done by eight or ten different department heads. But, in this day and age, especially in a nonprofit radio environment, we don't have the funds for a bunch of jobs. So we do it by paying small stipends from time to time or a very small commission on items that are sold.
Right now, we're in the throes of our Kentucky Derby fundraising. So there are meetings scheduled this week and every week up through the Kentucky Derby, and that's requiring, check-ins with video providers, sound providers, approving napkin designs. I mean, you name it, it all comes across my desk, and all has to be handled.

Salwa Khan:
 What's the best part of your job as general manager?

Tim Kiesling: 
It's been watching the growth of volunteers; volunteers who have always wanted to be in radio or they feel like they have something that they can contribute to KWVH. What we're doing to see them succeed and thrive and have fun doing it means the world to me.
For example, we have a show on Monday nights at ten PM, that is more like the old Art Bell show. It's called Open the Eye, and it's hosted by a new volunteer, Tanya Tyler. Her listenership at 10 o'clock on a Monday night, when you just wouldn't think there'd be a lot of listeners, is four or five times higher than the blues show that was on before it. To see that type of acceptance and enthusiasm and to see her thrive and be excited about what she's doing and how the community has responded to her show just brings a lot of joy. 

The other place I really enjoy is when I'm on remote, at a location. We show up with our van and our tent and our skirted table, and we've got t-shirts and hats and bumper stickers. We have a better set up than many commercial radio stations have these days because we've chosen to invest in how we look and what we do on the street.
I love to see the community react when the radio station rolls in and sets up. I've actually had that feedback from people who've come to the community. It's like, this is a small town, but you've got a radio station that looks and sounds like something I would expect to hear in a much larger city. I take great pride in that kind of feedback.

Salwa Khan: 
And what are the greatest challenges or difficulties?

Tim Kiesling: 
The greatest challenge is fundraising. We are in an environment where there is a lot of demand for funding, and a lot of nonprofits just like us are out there asking the same people for the same dollars.
We have done a pretty remarkable job with not only our community service, but also finding other ways to raise money like our Kentucky Derby party, our casino parties. We've got some other fundraising activities that we're looking into, something that folks would want to attend and participate and support financially. 

We have a grant writing team that’s been just a godsend. Now that our signal upgrade has been completed, that makes us eligible for national grant money that we've never had access to before.
We submitted our first grant and now we're in grant season for 2024. And the dollars that are available to support stations like ours can truly make a difference in terms of not only the cash on hand, but the money for us to do more, to get more staff in place.
We are a true nonprofit 501c3 organization. So every day I come to work, I have to figure out where the 875-dollars is coming from to keep the station on the air. That's our average cost between salaries, electricity, music licensing, and all the other fees that we have to pay.
That's about what it works out to, to keep this station going. An average household that brings in $350,000 a year, that's what we're managing. That doesn't seem like a lot. Compared to my history where I've had marketing budgets in millions of dollars, we're managing a very small budget, but we're in a very small tight knit community.
It's very important that each time I'm out, whether I'm at HEB shopping for groceries, or out at a community event, that I'm engaging with every person I can and doing what I can to share the excitement of what my team is doing at KWVH. That’s part of this job—always being available and always available to speak with and connect with our community. “Always on”.

Salwa Khan:
I wanted to get back to your show on Tuesdays. What can people expect to hear when they tune in?

Tim Kiesling: 
We came up with this idea a number of years ago, because we had one gentleman who hosted the show five days a week, and it just seemed that we were getting the same show and the same content each day. We decided to try something different, and that is to have a different morning show every day of the week with the same overarching title, which is the Wake-Up Club. We have a different group of individuals each day hosting a show that's fun and informative and plays music and is a place for the community to check in and connect every morning. I’m adding new segments to my show, like “Then Again” which features an original hit song and then a modern day, current cover. I recently featured “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, released in 1973 followed by Beyonce’s cover of the song on her new country album. People have really enjoyed this feature and that they can share songs with their kids and then sing with their kids to modern versions of these songs. It is very rewarding to hear that feedback from listeners!
The people who host the morning shows are interchangeable. If I'm off on a Tuesday, there's someone else that can fill in, because I have a travel schedule and things that I need to do in my life. Fortunately, we have great folks who can fill in and that was the whole idea.
For the Tuesday show, I've got a half hour partnership with the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce called Chamber Chat, where the Chamber brings in a couple of guests each week. They're either new members or longtime members of the Chamber who are doing community events.
I've been fortunate to have time with Gina Fulkerson each Tuesday morning where she has an opportunity to talk about things that the city is involved in doing, supporting. One of the big projects that I started championing when I first came to Wimberley was the sidewalks. in big areas of town where there's lots of business and lots of people, we do not have sidewalks.
It was exciting for me last fall when the mayor called me and said “I'm coming in because I've got big news”. I knew exactly what she was coming in to talk about; that grant money was approved for the sidewalk project to go from the square to the east and south along Ranch Road 12 to 3237. That will allow for the businesses along there and all the folks shopping at those wonderful businesses just south and east of the square to be safe on sidewalks and have the right cut-ins for parking areas. While folks are impatient that the sidewalks aren't there already, it is a rather long and tedious project that the city is undertaking to get all the engineering done so they can build those sidewalks. Eventually, they will have sidewalks going all the way from Carney Lane, which is where Wimberley High School is, all the way down to 3237.
You'll be safe, whether on a bike or walking or jogging, on continuous sidewalks from one end of town to the other. Think about kids who are walking from the middle school or the high school back into town after school because they're not riding the bus. They really don't have a safe way to walk except in culverts and across driveways and in weeds and grass. I see it every day and just keeping those kids and future kids safe, I think should be a mission of everyone in this town.
I think being a champion for things like this in our community is a role that I can play because I have a place where I can explain the importance and then get people like the mayor and city council behind it to get these sorts of projects not only underway but funded. Our mayor and council really make this an enjoyable place to live and work.

Salwa Khan: 
I understand you get questions about the music played on KWVH.

Tim Kiesling:
Every song that we put on the air has to meet areas of compatibility. If it's a local song, Coach Smith knows if the artist is current and if they're producing new material and if the material was recorded within a thirty-to-fifty-mile radius of Wimberley. When we say local it's not just people who are recording and living in Wimberley, it’s about a fifty-mile area that we find a lot of artists. The more that we can give those artists a place to get exposure, I think is critically important.
That's what radio used to be. Radio used to be, you'd get 45s in the mail or CDs, and then you'd put it into the playlist on the station if the song “fit”. I'm really fortunate to have Coach Smith and Andy Bertelsen and Tyson Carver who are really focused on that local music community and bring new stuff to the station all the time. The rest of our format is Texas and Americana favorites, and again, each song is handpicked for the playlist. I fidget with songs every day, if I hear something that doesn’t fit or a song elsewhere that does. I’m always keeping the station fresh.
Texas being a kind of a red dirt format, it has artists from Texas and Oklahoma and as far to the east as Georgia. These artists have a particular sound, more of a country rock feel to them and many of them have cut their teeth right here in this area. One artist we play is Parker McCollum He is going to be the opening act for George Strait at Kyle Field up in College Station later this year and he's a guy who just played honky-tonks and bars around this area for a long time.
It's exciting to see these artists, like Sarah Jarosz who's a local artist, explode with multiple Grammy wins. Sarah's on a national tour and doing all the wonderful things that she's doing. We’re proud of the effort to keep local music alive and well on this radio station.

Our specialty shows are designed to cover other formats and genres.

Salwa Khan: 
What would you like to say to the people of Wimberley about KWVH and its future?

Tim Kiesling: 
I think the radio station has a very bright future. We're bringing people back to radio, using radio as utility, using it as a place to hear their kids’ football and volleyball and basketball and softball and baseball games. They come to us because we support local organizations and nonprofits. We are 100% local in all we do. You just can’t get that from Austin or San Antonio media.
We are bringing in new volunteers and growing what we're doing, I hope that this station, ten, twenty years from now is still top of its game, totally relevant and important to the community because that's what will make radio work forever. And that is focusing on the local community.
We've put more Wimberley into what we do not only with our local music shows. We are a place where artists who are up and coming can get that exposure and find their audience and their niche
Our mission, my mission is to make sure that there's a foundation in place. When I do decide to hang it up and move on to something else, that there is a blueprint for success and a commitment to the community that will be unwavering.