Today we’d like to introduce you to Devon O’Day.
Hi Devon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I believe that doors open when it’s divinely planned for you to walk through them. Growing up in Louisiana and being on a winning speech team in high school, something that used my speaking voice was a logical career path. At sixteen I applied for a job at the top country radio station in my hometown and got the job because I could type.
Lesson one: Anything in your knowledge bank can be useful. The door opened for a reason I didn’t plan on (typing) and then I was on the air that night.
Lesson two: Plan B could lead to Plan A
Moving to New York after college (ULM) to be an actress, I was told by my successful actress sister’s agent, “You are too fat to play pretty roles and too pretty to play character roles.” So I left floating on air…because he told me I was pretty. I knocked on the door of Ford Models because I had seen on 60 Minutes they were starting a new plus size division. They loved my look and sent me to get an expensive haircut at Nardi Salon seated between Jackie O and Gloria Steinem. I was sure grateful I wasn’t paying for that haircut. I was hired for my first job from those first test pictures and worked for JC Penney, Montgomery Ward, Catherine’s, and more. I also tried out for an all-black theater troupe in Harlem. When I heard the other singers, though I was a singer who’d gone to school on vocal scholarships, I knew I wasn’t like THESE singers. They made the windows in the studio rattle. So, I went funny. I sang my song to a monkey puppet and it cracked everyone up. I made the troupe.
Lesson three: Make the most of your worst qualities. On the best side your confidence will get you hired. On the worst side…you will make someone laugh. So really there are no bad sides.
After two years and a photographer who had me in high heels and a fur coat take a picture on a ledge on top of a ten story building, I asked, “What happens if I fall?”
He replied dryly, “We have insurance.”
Immediately I asked to be assisted down, and kept walking. He asked where I was going. I replied, “Nashville.”
And I have never looked back.
Lesson 4: Know your no. Don’t take crap from anyone or continue working where they don’t respect you. Life is too long to be treated badly or to do something you don’t respect yourself for doing.
I mailed what I could to an address I found in the classifieds of a Nashville newspaper and rented sight unseen, leaving anything I couldn’t mail on the streets of New York for someone who needed them to find. I worked temp jobs as a secretary because…I could type. I also worked at DeMith Hair Salon which I loved! And I applied five times at WSIX. I never got a call back. So I changed my legal name on the demo tape and resume to an air name combining the real estate development I was typing contracts for and the contractor on the project. Devon O’Day…as my new name became, left the same demo tape at the desk at WSIX with only a name change on the outside of the cassette. I was hired that day, as the program director smiled and said…yes, I have heard of you! I had only had the name for ten minutes, but what the heck, I started that week.
Lesson 5:: Never be afraid of change. Change is just an un-cool way of saying Roll with it Baby. Steve Winwood would never have had a hit with Change Yourself Baby. But Roll with it, makes you seem above the fray.
Shortly upon being hired there was an ownership change that brought Gerry House back to town. He was a true legend and rock star of radio and he requested a producer. When approached about the job, I asked if I had a job if I said no. Then their answer was no. So Devon O’Day became a producer for Gerry House. I was scared to death because I, nor anyone else knew what a producer was. But I said yes, because I needed a job and I could learn anything.
Lesson 6: Always be teachable.
It was the best move I could have made. Gerry House was an incredible teacher and taught me that show prep was paramount to a show that sounded impromptu. He was right. He opened doors for me in broadcasting, songwriting, and literally my “place” in Nashville. I owe him so much. He and I had a song we wrote for George Strait that went to number one…a single for Hank Williams, Jr…then I went on to write for Neal McCoy, Pam Tillis, Lee Ann Womack…truly none of these would have happened without Gerry’s guidance.
Lesson 7: Always learn from the best.
Eighteen years and astounding ratings never before or since achieved in radio, 1 in 4 Nashvillians were listening to us. When another door opened, I went through it. Leaving is not easy when it’s family. But as wonderful as home is, there is always a time to spread your wings and grow. Growing pains are over when you land where you are supposed to be. When my heart horse died, I wrote the pain out in a story. From that came several other stories, and I dropped them off with my friend, Bryan Curtis at Thomas Nelson to see if there was any merit. Seven days later he offered me a book deal…a lifelong dream. That first book, My Angels Wear Fur was the sixth best seller at the company that year. I have written several books since and narrated over 100 audio books, including Jessi Colter’s “An Outlaw and A Lady” which was one of the true honors of my life.
Lesson 8: Don’t be afraid to leave a place of comfort.
I worked at several other radio stations, WLAC, Mix929, SiriusXM, and several voice tracked networks. I have been a part of several nationally syndicated shows and loved every second. But perhaps the most incredible moment was being offered the first female hosting chance at afternoon drive at WSM, the home of the Grand Ole Opry. For five years we made a mark, and when they decided to go in another direction. I was devastated. I had done nothing wrong. I had tons of advertising endorsements. Why? Well the reason was simple. God had more doors for me. I had my five years in the “majors’ so I can add to the resume and move on. If you played for the Braves for five years, and they went in another direction, you wouldn’t hate the Braves. You would be glad for the five years you had. So that’s how I feel about WSM. It’s still my favorite station. I am grateful for every moment there.
Lesson 9: Find a way to be grateful. Look for gratitude in every moment, even the ones that break your heart. It eases the pain and reminds you to look forward to what the experience was preparing you for.
So on to Main Street Media where Chris Kulick and I helped launch new media (podcasts, live events, and streaming media) to a syndicate of local newspapers with Dave Gould. During that time I was honored to be named an inductee to The Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame and hit my 60’s.
For my entire adult life, animal rescue – dogs, horses, cats, birds, really everything except snakes I hate snakes. When an opportunity to become the Director of Marketing for the Mustang Heritage Foundation, an organization that facilitates rehoming displaced mustangs from government lands into forever adoptive homes and therapy programs. What most people didn’t know when I took the job, that when I was a little girl I would watch those late night public service announcements about wild horses needing adoption and for information you would write a letter to an address in Pueblo, CO. My little self dreamed of owning a wild horse one day. So years later, to join a program that helped the government place wild horses is just an example of how God saves some doors until you are truly ready to walk through them. At 63, I have just adopted my own mustang. Her name is Petunia and she is just the cutest thing ever. It is my honor and joy to spend my days promoting the work of this incredible organization and share the amazing qualities of these animals. Which brings me to my final lesson.
Lesson 10: Be brave. If you make a mistake or even fail miserably, the critics will forget in six months. At the end of everything, they only remember your successes. No one remembers the light bulbs that failed Edison…the baseballs that were OUTS for Babe Ruth…or the songs that didn’t hit number one. So be brave, what have you got to lose?
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Well that’s pretty much covered in the first question. However there is a song I wrote with Gary Burr that is on my YouTube channel. It’s called “My Road”. Basically an autobiographical ode to how our imperfect roads are perfect for us.
“Sometimes paved with gravel
Sometimes smooth like satin
Sometimes washed away
I was meant to travel
Beyond the straight and narrow
And I’m thankful for every rock, every fall, every sight, every. single. day.”
That’s my life in a nutshell. Life isn’t easy, but why would we want it that way? The challenge makes everything more interesting. It’s not the journey’s end…it’s getting there.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In my last quarter of life, getting to share the great qualities of America’s iconic horse, the mustang running free on government lands across the west is just a nod to a little girl’s dream. To tell someone adopting a mustang for $125 and getting them to a good trainer can bless your life forever. They are medicine for the American veteran. They are healers for the hurting. They are redemption for the inmate. And they are an affordable ticket to forever joy for a kid who wants to ride and have a horse as his or her best friend.
My years of media, radio and tv give me a unique gift for sharing the non-profit message in an accessible, emotional way. And years of hosting non-profit events have given me a ton of contacts and experience in fund raising. I like to say my job is putting the FUN in FUNdraising. I really love getting to inform people that 60,000 mustangs need our help and that you don’t have to own a mustang to save one. A monthly gift or an annual membership or even clicking like on oiur social media pages at Mustang Heritage Foundation would help immensely. Every post and every moment I spend with my own little mustang, Petunia remind me that we are never too old for a little girl…or little boy dream to come true. So ask your soul to remember the dream you have tucked away or forgotten and ask how it might come true. Your soul will answer, I promise. I live in the hope…always. I think that’s what sets me apart from a lot of realists out there. And I am most proud that I learned early to ask forgiveness rather than permission. If you wait for someone’s permission, you might miss the open door to something that’s waiting, prepared just for you. If you miss the door, it doesn’t mean someone else will walk through and get what was meant for you. It means…the world will miss the opportunity to be blessed with what your gift could bring through that open door. It leaves a ‘YOU shaped hole” in the universe.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
My voice is my chameleon quality. It has touted brands like KFC, Hilton Hotels, been on all networks like Bravo, Lifetime, Fox, TNN, GAC and more. it went on tour with Women of Faith and raised money for Fellowship of Christians and Jews. It has welcomed people to airports and told people to keep their hands and feet inside the tram at all times. It has been the booth announcer at the Dove Awards, Symphony concerts, and corporate conventions. But most joyous for me is the museum voices I have been asked to do. I am the voice behind the historic film at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and my favorite, the voice of the Loggerhead Turtle’s journey around the world at the Kiawah Conservancy’s Museum.
I also host a weekly Songwriter matinee show at Third and Lindsley each Saturday. It’s emceeing, it’s promoting songwriters, it’s standup comedy – so much fun. The show is called Backstage Nashville and it’s the most fun I have all week. Noon-2:30p
Pricing:
- Voice Work Pricing Available on Demand
- Freelance Writing/Marketing Plans Pricing on Demand
- Live Event Emceeing Pricing Upon Demand
- Freelance Work for Mustang Heritage Contributions Contact for more info.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.DevonODay.com
- Instagram: @devonoday
- Facebook: @devonoday
- LinkedIn: @devonoday
- Twitter: @devonoday
- Youtube: @DevonODayNetwork
- Soundcloud: @devonoday
- Other: https://www.MustangHeritageFoundation.org
