Name: Kevin Gossett '81 B.S./Jill Gossett '87 B.A.
Tuned into each other
 
Sometimes the most important people in our lives turn out to be nearer to us than we ever thought. Such was certainly the case for Jill and Kevin Gossett, who discovered a remarkable series of coincidences that linked their lives.

“If there is such a thing as a soulmate, it sure seems like these odd things we have in common are more than a coincidence,” Jill said. “ASU and the Valley of the Sun have played a big part in all that.”

According to Jill, both she and Kevin frequented some of the same watering holes and restaurants while attending and graduating from the university, several years apart. Both worked at different times for Valley radio station KTAR. Both are converted to Catholicism as adults and entered into the faith on the same day and same year, in different states—again, before they had ever met.

It was in cold, icy Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the two ASU graduates finally encountered each other at WGRD AM/FM in 1990. Kevin was an announcer; Jill was on the sales staff.

“We were involved in many of the same projects,” says Kevin. However, while the two executives shared many similar interests in addition to work, it was Kevin's morning show co-host who finally brought the two together.

“It always helpful to have a ‘cupid’ initiate the first date,” advises Jill, who married Kevin in 1994.

Currently, Jill works as account manager and Kevin as program director and afternoon announcer at Phoenix’s 99.9 KESZ-FM. Before returning to Phoenix a few years ago, the alumni couple traveled on individual career paths leading through some of the most important electronic media markets in the nation. What’s their advice for achieving success in radio?

“Get every bit of experience you can—creating web content and learning digital production are especially important,” advises Kevin, who was morning show host at Chicago’s WINDY 100 and enjoyed a similar position at 97.1 WASH-FM in the nation’s capital before returning to Phoenix. “There are so many more ‘hooks’ today that can help you land a job at a radio station.”

Being in the right place at the right time doesn’t hurt. “Starting out in a mid-size market is also a good way to launch a career,” said Jill. “In Grand Rapids, the 55th largest market, I went from sales to general manager of three stations in just eight years.”