#RFBatHome (Part 3) features Kay Edwards of “What Would Kay Say?” as we continue our series featuring our hosts who continue to do their shows from home. Now wear your frickin’ mask whydoncha!
Your friendly redheaded Editorial Director,
MicheleC
Hello! I’m Kenya Edwards, but most people know me as Kay, host of the bright-and-early, Sundays at 8:00 a.m. talk show, “What Would Kay Say?” If you asked me to sum up in a nutshell what my show was about, I’d say it’s a mixture of personal empowerment / life coaching by way of spiritual enlightenment. I help individuals navigate their lives so they can live more productively and with purpose. I know that sounds like a mouthful, but it is all those things, dusted with just the right amount of powdered sugar — like the perfect jelly donut! I’ve always had a calling to get a message out. Engaging in deep discussions with random strangers, whether at a bus stop or hair salon, helped confirm this purpose. On many occasions, I found myself answering questions people had relating to life and its many obstacles.
I came across Radio Free Brooklyn while surfing the internet. Being a Brooklyn native, I was surprised to discover that Brooklyn had its very own radio station and had to check it out. I clicked on the link and was immediately intrigued. While perusing the website, I stumbled across an invitation for newcomers to attend a monthly mixer, so I decided to go. It was at that very mixer I became a member, starting out as a volunteer. I soon noticed there weren’t any shows on RFB that emphasized wellness. There were many talk shows, but none that specifically addressed personal empowerment and spiritual enlightenment. When deciding to host a show (and knowing my platform would involve public speaking), I believe this was divinely orchestrated. Nothing happens in life by chance; everything is for a reason. It is up to us, as individuals, to define the relevance of an occurrence and then determine how it will affect our lives. So in October 2019, I nervously hosted the very first episode of “What Would Kay Say?” Who could have imagined I would be hosting a talk show or using radio as my starting platform? From that day on, the rest was history.
I had been broadcasting live from the Bogart Street Studio, but now that RFB is shut down due to COVID-19, I have been prerecording from two folding tables in front of the window seat in the dressing room of my Bedford-Stuyvesant home [I can’t do live at home because I don’t own a Mac — I’m a PC gal, what can Kay say, *wink*], using a Xenyx Q802USB mixer Tom let me borrow from the studio (thank you Tom!), and Hindenburg, a very user-friendly audio program for editing. I miss doing my shows live, mainly because it allowed me to engage with my listeners via live telephone calls. Prerecording places a limit to my “on the spot” reactions, something that my listeners looked forward to and appreciated. But there is an upside to prerecording at home — I now get to sleep in on Sunday mornings (hahaha)! And this pandemic has also provided an opportunity for new content. In a time where social distancing, social isolation and self-quarantine have become the norm, people are looking for solutions on how to handle what they are currently feeling and experiencing. I aim to provide that needed level of understanding on how to cope with anxiety and boredom — and how to prepare for what will happen when this isolation is finally over.
What we are doing at Radio Free Brooklyn is probably more important now than ever. RFB provides an outlet for hosts to express what they genuinely believe in without restrictions. That is what listeners are looking for: music, talk and information that are uncompromised. RFB has given me the opportunity to perfect my craft and I am profoundly grateful for everything I have learned — and for this great network of people I am now part of.
Tune in to “What Would Kay Say?” Sundays, at 8am.
