Hannah Witherbee turns down the microphone level when she speaks. She capitalizes certain words on the pre-written speech she’s delivering. She gives the cap letters the loudness they deserve, even after seven hours of sitting in the 101.3 The Bounce studio.
“I find when my voice is louder,” the Dalhousie student and radio host said, “I sound more excited.”
Like Drake’s eponymous song, Witherbee started from the bottom. She worked for The Bounce as a promoter and cruiser the summer she was 18. She was tasked to run and dance along to music in a blue morph suit on Halifax street corners, handing out stickers for The Bounce.
From the hourly on-location cut-ins on The Bounce from the promoters, the studio got a sense of Witherbee’s voice and liked it. So, she was offered a job as a radio host. The only problem was that she wasn’t 19, the mandatory age to work at the station. The day before her 19th birthday, she called The Bounce with the happy news, and they hired her.
“I harassed them, basically,” Witherbee said.
She began working full-time this past August, recording fake shows for The Bounce so that they could be sure that she was a good fit for the station. By October, she was pre-recording content to be added in to live shows. By December, her position became permanent and she began recording live shows.
“I wanted to throw up because I was so nervous,” she said of the first time she spoke into the microphone on a live show.
Somehow, Witherbee manages to find time to work a weekly five hour shift on The Bounce, as well as occasionally covering for evening and weekend hosts. The third-year political science and journalism minor student couldn’t even stay away from Greek life. Along with weekly meetings and as many social events as she can fit into her schedule, she’s also Alpha Gamma Delta’s social chair.
“If I have one weakness, it’s trying to be too much,” she said. “I’m walking the line right now, but we’ll see.”
Most of the hosts at The Bounce attended radio school, but Witherbee never even considered a radio career until the summer. She emulates her father, a TV host, and originally set out to follow in his shadow. But with the positive feedback she’s gotten from radio, she’s since changed her mind.
Witherbee loves the social aspect of The Bounce. She must post something on Twitter and Facebook every hour, as well as write one blog post per shift. She loves when the switchboard lights up after she’s asked a question on air, which means that listeners have called in to express their opinions. When Witherbee mentioned on-air that she saw a state in the USA will only allow apple pie to be served with cheese, six listeners called in to tell her that the cheese is apple pie’s necessary side dish.
“Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself,” Witherbee said, “especially in radio, everybody’s crazy.”
Tune in to Witherbee’s show on 101.3 The Bounce on Saturdays from 3 to 8 p.m.
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