Cool Cat: Natalie Meléndez

Q&A and photos by Orion Phillips

Natalie Meléndez was a 2019 Central Washington University graduate as a public relations major and advertising minor. After graduating, she went into radio at KUOW and then iHeartRadio, and then KNKX, and now works as the station manager for 102.1 KXSU at Seattle University for the last year and a half. 

Q: What was the favorite class you took?

A:  Hmm, that's a really good question. I loved all my classes, but I think the one that will always stick out to me was —  he doesn't teach here anymore, he retired — his name was Kevin Brett. He taught intro to public relations, and I think that class was just cool. It was just a really cool class. I mean, he's, he had, like, a lot of experience. The way he taught was amazing too. And I think that class just got me really excited about the communications and advertising field. And he would use real life experiences and use PR scandals that have happened within our lifetime and would teach that way. And I think the mix of him bringing his real world experiences and incorporating it into his teaching just made it very impactful and meaningful. 

Q: Did you always know you were going to go into like, PR and radio, or did that kind of sneak up on you at any point?

A: I mean, growing up like, it's such like communications, right? Like, what does that even mean, you know? But I saw, I think I was a transfer student, so I came from Bellevue College, which is right by here, and just saw, like, the jobs that you could get with a communications degree. And I was super interested in that. I had a really hard time choosing. I wanted to honestly get all the three majors at the time that the comms department had, which was like public relations, comm studies, and broadcast journalism, but then I'd be in school for like, a very long time, and just couldn't afford that. So I landed on public relations specifically, just because I felt like there was a little bit more job stability in that. I wanted to just make sure I had that, but I got a bird in my ear before I transferred to central about, like, you know, I love music. I've always been a huge music lover. And I had a co-worker at my job at the time, like, asked me, like, have you thought about radio? Because, like, you like music and you want to do communications. And I just had never thought of it. And so I saw that Central had a radio station, 88.1 The Burg. So I figured, you know, it would be a great place to just get connections, meet friends, and meet other people that are interested in the same things as me. And I definitely got that experience.

Q: What does a typical day in your current job look like?

A: It's really hard because there's no no days, no days, the same like, yeah. I mean, there's typical things I have to do, right? Like, obviously, check my emails, make sure that the station is still running. We have about like, four different computers that I go through and do a check with every day. Make sure that the music's playing on time, make sure that our stream didn't go off when I was not at work. We log every hour at the station too, so got to make sure that's working. Once I get to doing that, you know, I just help students with what they want to do. We have a paid staff of about nine students, so smaller than the Bergs paid staff. We do have volunteer DJs as well, and so I meet with each student pretty much every day during the week with a different student, to just go over kind of their job duties and just kind of help them, give them stuff to do. A lot of it is a big part of my job is – I don't know what to say, but it's just – Like teaching students the skills here to prepare them for when they graduate here, so kind of guiding that light and letting them run the ship while also making sure, you know, we're not breaking any rules, making sure that we're representing the station the right way. I also have meetings with other departments too, just to see ways that we can help other departments as well and collaborate, and we've been asserting to work more closely with the student newspaper on campus, which is a really cool thing. So hopefully that answers your question. It's just a lot of like the main stuff that I said earlier, about maintaining the equipment, making sure everything's running okay, and if not troubleshooting that, and then just lots of meetings and just other back end stuff.

Q: What's your favorite part about radio?

A: The people, I think everybody, everybody says that. The people. It's just, it's a really cool thing to be a part of, and a lot of people have a hard time getting into it. So I don't take it for granted. I love it's a music station too. So that's just like an awesome part in working with students that love music as much as I do, is awesome. And just feeling like you're making an impact on other people's lives, and it's just, it's super fun.

Q: What advice would you give to students at Central?

A: Get involved. There's so many great clubs, at least when I graduated in 2019 so I'm sure a lot's changed, but there's so many great ways to get involved. It's such a cool community, and I love that it's a small community too. What's different about working here is that we're in a city, so there's a lot happening around. And I think what was so nice about Central was it was such a tight knit small community, and you could really make a big impact with a small community. My professors were amazing. Networking is a really great thing, too. So if there's any like career fairs or job fairs, pull up to every single one of them, I think networking is like a massive thing, especially just in my field, is just networking and just getting your credentials, building a portfolio of your work too, like they recommend that for public relations to have a portfolio of all your writings and all that stuff I made like a website, and just take your coursework seriously too, if you're going to use that as a showcase for jobs that you're applying for after college, like, you know, be intentional with your work. Be and just keep track of everything. I hope that answered your question a little bit.

Q: What was the most useful resource you received at Central?

A: A useful resource? I got really close with my professors, and they're just a great resource, because a lot of them, at least the professors I had, a lot of them, had already worked in the public relations field, and so being able to talk to them about their experience and to also just, they're like, just like, great friends. I think professors are really cool. These are the ones that I had. I think professors are a lot more helpful and understanding than people believe. So I would say the professors outside of all the other stuff, I said,

Q: If you could go back and change one thing about your experience at Central what would it be? 

A: I really can't think of anything, because I just was, it was just, it truly was the best time of my life. I mean, I grew up and I changed so much, I felt like I got more of an identity of myself, I came in at Central and left a completely different person, and I think a lot of that was the work I put into, but then also just the personal development too. Like making those close friends, it got me the courage to leave a relationship that no longer served me because of the community I had built and the identity that I had built. I really can't think of anything. It was just, it was I got everything I wanted out of it.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share?

A: We're in such a critical time, you know, in public education, where a lot less people are going to school now, and I think if you are at Central, you know, take advantage of all the resources you can, and don't be afraid to ask for help. You know, I had some mental health struggles when I was in college, at times too, and professors, I mean, maybe you shouldn't be open with them, but I was pretty open with them, and they were really understanding. And I just think, if you need the help, like, ask for it. And college is awesome. Central is awesome. It was the best time ever. I really, I can't say enough good things about my time.

Interview has been edited for clarity and length