Liz Brown (KOEL-AM, Oelwein, IA) was raised in northeast Iowa in a small farming town by a single mom and three older brothers. “Stepping up and doing what you should is not a suggestion, it’s the unwritten rule. That’s how my journey began,” she says. “I was raised in Sumner, IA, a town surrounded by corn and bean fields, livestock of every size, shape, and color and tractors in red, blue, yellow and, of course, green. Liz admits, “I was born with agriculture in my blood and always at my door. My mother first introduced me to the farming world when she worked at John Deere in Waterloo, IA, as a machinist, taking our family on tours of the facility, talking about the parts she was working on each day and showing me what hard work looked like.” In the 1980s, Liz quickly learned how the farm world is linked to the rest of the world as the farm crisis took hold. “Mom and many others lost their jobs at John Deere. Families left our small town in search of work in other states, taking my friends and school mates with them. Our family fought to hang on and stay where we were. As we grew we would work on neighboring and family farms picking up rocks, walking beans, detasseling, bailing hay, gathering eggs, processing chickens and the list goes on.” When college came calling, she was sure a degree in the legal world would take her far away from the small towns. She studied and became a paralegal, only to never work in that field a day in her life, but her education has suited her well. As a young adult, Liz tried her hand at jobs mostly in retail sales.

When she moved to Oelwein, IA, and worked in a jewelry store, she was often asked to voice radio commercials. Initially, she declined. “I was afraid to be on the radio,” she admitted. Years passed and when the local radio station was searching for a receptionist, she applied. “I didn’t get the job. Instead I was offered a job writing and producing commercials. In the middle of my interview my head was screaming ‘don’t do it’ yet my mouth said ‘yes, I can do that.’  After all, I needed a full-time job with benefits and this door was opened for me.” In January 2002, Liz accepted the position of Assistant Production Manager at KOEL AM 950. Most of her work focused on writing and producing commercials for clients, but she was told there may be on-air duties from time to time. She learned that she would be expected to do an on-air shift, every third Saturday that would include local news, funeral announcements and a two-hour call in show. “I still remember the first time I read obituaries live on-air. My co-worker Roger King sat me down at the control panel, handed me a stack of papers, turned on the microphone and motioned for me to start. I got through them without adding my name to the list. When I was done, Roger looked at me and said ‘Radio is sink or swim. Glad you figured out how to swim.’”

KOEL AM 950 has been in Oelwein and on-air since July 23, 1950, providing national, local, and farm news, Rock, Country and Polka music, but it’s the personalities of KOEL that have made the station so historic. The genetics of KOEL include Dave Sylvester, Dick Petrik, Arnie Zaruba, Ray Leafstedt, Pam Ohrt, Tom Parsley, Gary Rima, Phil Pannier, and Von Ketelsen, just to name a few. In life and in work, things evolve, people move on and people step up. “By 2007, nearly a dozen personalities had come and gone.  News Director Roger King and I had been the constant voices for our listeners. Each stepping up to fill in until the next personality arrived and eventually left. That’s when I leapt forward and applied for the Farm Director position at KOEL.” She acknowledges, “It’s no hidden secret that I do not have formal schooling in radio broadcasting. I also do not have formal education in ag science. I have never lived on a farm and until this year, I have never been in a show ring with a steer.”  She adds, “My education has come from my experiences. I am thankful to the listeners who willingly call to tell me, usually politely, that I am wrong and this is how to fix what I did.  I am thankful for my co-workers who believed in me and pushed me to take the next step in my career and continue to push me out of my comfort zone today. I am mostly thankful that my family who understands ‘mom has to go to work’ is a natural part of our middle of the night and weekend life.” Since March 2007, Liz has been the Farm Director and Brand Manager at KOEL AM 950.  “The inspirational people I have interviewed, the places I have gone, the experiences I have had are at times overwhelming and rewarding.” She remembers the first time she went to Kansas City to attend NAFB Convention.

“I was so overwhelmed and under prepared. I vowed next year will be better, and it was, until my equipment broke and I had to borrow a recorder before Trade Talk.” She concludes, “As I reflect on my years at KOEL, I smile when I remember my first time in a milking contest where I lost to an 8-year-old who had to tell me listens to our radio station every morning to hear birthdays before he goes to school. I rejoice in the memories and friends made during several of our Great Autumn Tractor Rides, the KOEL Farm Expos and a bus trip to Branson, things our listeners ask us to bring back again and again. And now in 2017, I will add to my experiences a celebrity livestock show at the Fayette County Fair in West Union, IA, where my partner in crime was an all-black steer who enjoyed rolling his eyes at me when I refused to scratch his belly for the judges. Stepping up and doing what you should is not a suggestion, it’s the unwritten rule. I live that every day while reflecting on the words of a friend gone too fast, the late Lindsay Hill, who said, ‘Life is too short to wake up with regrets.’”