“Never did I think when I got the HR position that I would be Station Manager. It’s just an opportunity that came and I grabbed it,” says 32 -year old Veronique Smal, Station Manager of Stellenbosch based campus and community radio station MFM 92.6.
She took time from her busy schedule to sit down with MatieMedia to share her colourful radio journey from presenter to Station manager.
Smal says working in the industry hasn’t always been a dream. She recalls how confused she was in her youth of which career path to take.
She thinks for a moment, takes a deep breath and smiles. “When they asked us what we wanted to become in pre-primary school I said a petrol attendant. Unable to control her laughter she adds, “because I liked the smell of petrol”.
Veronique Smal (32) laughs about what she wanted to become as a child PHOTO: Lucian van Wyk
According to Smal she decided on pursuing a career in music when she was in grade 11.
“My mom said no because there’s no money in music and then I wanted to pursue a career in advertising. We went to AAA school of advertising, checked it out and I said to my mom “you know, if you don’t feel it then it’s not gonna happen”. So I eventually got to study music.”
Smal recalls making the big move from Johannesburg to Cape Town after receiving her diploma in music at Copa (Campus of performance arts).
“Having studied music and moving to Cape Town with my drums and my clothes and no idea what was gonna be next, I just knew I wanted to be in Cape Town.”
She adds “A friend who I had met here said why don’t you go work for the radio station MFM 92.6.”
Smal eagerly shares, “That’s exactly what I did! I applied at the station to become a presenter and I think it’s just by chance and by luck that I ended up being in the industry for eight years.”
Smal remembers the day she did her first show, her face lights up with the same excitement she had on that first day.
“My first show was on the 15th of May 2012. I started doing the ‘Morning Glory’ show three to six in the morning. I was very nervous, although no one was listening except my family.” She nervously plays with her fingers.
“I did Morning Glory for about three months, but I was also the ‘yes’ girl to the programme manager for stand-ins even if it was last minute.”
“I’d be at a braai and then come through immediately to help out. If he needed a stand-in during the weekend I would raise my hand. I was doing this whilst working full-time as an au pair. So I spent many late nights at MFM.”
She explains how, after three months she got promoted to the Top 40 chart show on the weekends, followed by another promotion into her second year of working at the station.
“I got promoted to join the full time line up. So I did the ‘Breakfast’ show, but I wasn’t anchoring it. I was the news girl and did a couple of features here and there. I did that for a year, along with the Top 40.”
She’s quick to add, “Then I did my own full-time show ‘Hitlist’ for two months before getting the opportunity to become HR manager at the station.
She clears her throat ready to explain what really happened.
“It was quite weird because during the time I was doing ‘Hitlist’ in 2014, I was approached by KFM 94.5 and started training with them. While I was busy finishing my training, MFM had said that they wanted me to be HR manager, and that I had to choose between the two.”
Veronique Smal (32) explaining how she had to make a difficult decision between working at KFM and being HR manager at MFM 92.6 PHOTO: Lucian van Wyk
Smal adds that this was one of the most difficult decisions she has had to make in her career.
“Here you’re just making a breakthrough in commercial radio, and who knows what could’ve happened, versus a management position which was really good as well.
“So I could’ve been at KFM.” She moves forward in her chair, “I don’t regret my decision for one second, but you always do wonder what if I had chosen the other path.”
Smal excitedly mentions that she was a DJ too, “becoming a DJ goes hand in hand with being an on-air personality at MFM. It’s something that just ties in with the job.”
She starts smiling, remembering a funny story that happened to her once while DJing at an event
“One time there was this girl who I think was a bit intrigued by the idea of a female DJ. She came up to me and asked me if I was gay, and I awkwardly said “yes”.
She giggles, “I mean I tried to not look it. I had long hair and I wasn’t dressing like a man or anything.”
Smal continues, “This girl went back to the dance floor and danced in front of me the whole night. I didn’t really take much note of it. I didn’t know how to flirt and didn’t want to make it awkward. I happened to play the song ‘I kissed a girl’ by Katy Perry.”
She moves back in her chair and acts out the whole scene.
“The next moment she came up to me, pushed me against the wall and kissed me for like 30 seconds.”
She clearly remembers how flustered she was in that moment, saying “First thing I did was look at the crowd, and all the guys were cheering us on. Trying to hold back her laughter she says “I told her that I was working and couldn’t do this then and there.”
Smal adds that she stopped DJing as to spend more time at MFM, and adds that the 2016 Gay Pride in Cape Town was the last big event she DJ’d.
She says that the transition from HR manager to Station manager in 2017 was something she never imagined. Stressing that this transition was not an easy one.
“I couldn’t be ‘that’ friend anymore to the presenters. I now had to be the mom. Sometimes the mom has to be strict, and there are many times when I got it completely wrong.”
She looks in the distance, “I think still to this day, there are times when I read back on an email and ask myself if I did the right thing.”
This being said she eagerly shares her proudest moment of being Station manager.
“Like I said earlier, being the mom, you’re so proud of your kids moving on and growing and taking the big leap into the big commercial world.”
She clears her throat trying to fight away the emotions and reveals that her eight year long journey at MFM will be coming to an end soon.
“There’s a lot that I still wanted to do at MFM, but the opportunity came knocking and you cannot say no. So I will be moving to Tanzania in the beginning of June.”
Smal will be working for a company called ‘Singita’ in the Serengeti and will be running their sustainability department.
“So sadly, I think I’m hanging up the radio industry for now.”