I realized today that I've been working on the Clark Howard Show for a little over 10 years.
When I started on the show, I was 25 and barely out of college. (I had done college on the 6 year plan- waiting tables and working at our school's radio station along the way. It's a good plan and I enjoyed my time at Georgia State. ) After graduation, I spent a few months getting bit by the travel bug while backpacking around Europe. Later that year, I found myself hunting for a radio job and landing on The Clark Howard Show as Clark's board operator. 10 years and 2 promotions later, (I'm now Senior Producer) I find myself thinking about what a difference a decade makes.
At 25, so much of what we talked about on the show was foreign to me. I had never heard of a Roth IRA, had no concept of debt being bad, and I had never, ever, considered picking up a Consumer Reports. Truth be told, during my first month, while in a staff meeting, I (not so discretely) asked a fellow staffer what Costco was! After the laughing subsided, I got an earful of explanation from Clark and it hasn't stopped since. I have learned a LOT.
During my time on the Clark Howard Show, I've passed some big milestones. To some of these milestones I carefully applied the lessons I had learned from the show (getting out of 17 thousand dollars of lifestyle credit card debt, buying my first home, starting my own small business) - but then other milestones, well, the overly spontaneous girl in me took over. (Have I mentioned I own a pick up truck?....which I hate.....which I bought brand new on the spot....after my friend DROPPED me off at the dealership....) I'm definitely a work in progress, but I can truly say I'm enjoying this life and its lessons. :-)
One HUGE thing I've learned from the show is the importance of saving for the future. Like many other Generation X'ers, I've come to believe that there probably won't be any Social Security money left for me and it would be smart if I saved for my own retirement. I started reading a fictitious novel on the subject just this week. It's called "Boomsday" by Christopher Buckley. Christopher Buckley is same guy that wrote "Thank You for Smoking" so as you might imagine, it's pretty snarky. It's set in the not too far future, and all the baby boomers have just started retiring. This mass retirement has caused the economy to collapse and a revolt by the 20 and 30-somethings of the country ensues. So far, the book is pretty funny, but I'll keep you posted here once I get a little further in.
Till next time,
Kimberly
