What is your life verse and why?
Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” This is the verse that keeps me focused on the fact that “it ain’t about me!” I am not the reason I am here, Jesus is. I am not the one that can make things happen, Jesus is. I am not the one who saved me, Jesus is. And it helps keep me grounded in the power of what Christ did for me on the Cross.
Have you ever had a side hustle or considered having one?
I have actually had a little side hustle for more than 20 years. I buy things at thrift stores, yard sales, or online, and resell them on eBay. It started with personal items back in 2000, and then sports cards and memorabilia. Before long, I was buying and selling vinyl LPs, and now pretty much anything… In January, I started really pouring it on, to see if I could make enough to pay for our family vacation to Hawaii in June. It was quite the challenge, but in less than 6 months I earned more than enough profit to pay for everything! It is all about the hustle for me, way more than what I sell. I will sell anything that makes money… stuffed animals, shoes, clothes, books, hats, electronics, pots and pans… anything! In just over 20 years, I have sold 2182 items on ebay, with a total gross sales to date of over $37,000. It is so much fun, even my wife and kids get in on the action now!
What’s your favorite part of the workday?
Team meetings! I absolutely LOVE my team and I am an Enneagram 7, so I thrive on the team being together. Especially in the past 18 months, with everything being virtual, I have loved the fact our team connects together at least for a little while every single day to celebrate the day’s wins, connect, and share info. I truly think it has helped our team stay connected personally in a way that has helped us be so successful.
What’s the most unusual place you’ve fallen asleep?
I was a weekend jock for the Top40 station in Birmingham (I-95) and worked overnight every Saturday night/Sunday morning from like Midnight to 6am. One week, on Sunday after work, I went to a family function with my then girlfriend, and then headed back to the station around 8pm to run “American Top40 with Casey Casem” which was still on LPs back then… I made the mistake of laying my head down on the counter by the board while I waited for the 15 minute segment to play before my next break… and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. I woke about 20 mins later to the PD calling the hotline to wake me up and tell me we had dead air! He was mad, and the next day chewed me out for it… then proceeded to tell me about the time he too had fallen asleep on the air… and then all day the DJs all told me their stories. (seems it was a right of passage of sorts…) And to this day, I can never ever even hardly close my eyes in a radio studio for fear of that happening!
What TV family most reminds you of your own?
For sure the Simpsons. I am built like Homer, have a great job I love, and my family is awesome like them too. My wife Tina is super caring, thoughtful and kind just like Marge. Eli is precocious, energetic and creative like Bart. And Naomi is smart, together and talented like Lisa.
Is there any product that you couldn’t live without?
iPhone. I mean it does everything. It is a phone, still and video camera, encyclopedia, map, email, internet. Everything! I can do virtually everything for work, my eBay side hustle and more on it… I am pretty sure I could ditch my laptop before I could get rid of my iPhone.
Who do you admire most in the world?
wow. That is a big tall order right there. Most in the entire world… hmmm. If I am completely honest, I would have to say my wife Tina. She is beautiful, she cares for everything so well, from our family, our animals, her garden and our home. She is incredibly talented (photographer/artist), and she has an amazing spirit about her all the time. I do not know where I would be without her.
(and she puts up with me, so you know she is a saint!!)
Which of your personality traits are you most proud of?
As an Enneagram 7, I would say that I am most proud of the fact I love to meet and talk to people. I tend to never meet a stranger, so if we haven’t met… say hello next time you see me! ?
What’s on your bucket list?
I have thought about this one a lot. I do not think I have a bucket list. I would love to travel and see places and am always looking for the next fun adventure (like Hawaii was last month) but there is nothing I have to do… I just want to make sure I am doing with my awesome family and great friends… then no matter what we do it will be fantastic!
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Believe it or not, Nashville is the place I have always wanted to live. I grew up in Birmingham and had family here and loved visiting… plus the music business is here. I think this is it. We can just visit all the other fun cities.
Jeff Cruz
VP of National Promotion / Provident Label Group
CMB Member Since 2013
Jeff.Cruz@pmgsonymusic.com
The team at 94.9 KLTY has served the Dallas/Fort Worth community for over 35 years. In 2020, the need was never greater. Through their local campaigns, Christmas Wish and Speak Love, they were able to assist many families who were impacted by not only the pandemic, but by hard times in general. The Speak Lovecampaign helped first responders, teachers, servers, food service staff, and many more within the community throughout the year. In 2020 94.9 KLTY’s Christmas Wish campaign brought Christmas joy to hundreds of families in the DFW area. They provided vehicles, food, toys, and other forms of relief to families in their community. They could not have reached any of these needs if not for their listeners and their generous donations to 94.9 KLTY’s nonprofit programs. In total, Speak Love and Christmas Wish raised more than $160,000 for those in need in Dallas/Fort Worth. They also recognized those sacrificial front-line workers and first responders who keep our community safe. Each week, 94.9 KLTY honored them, raised funds throughout the summer, and then presented each first responder with a check as a token of their gratitude. With countless families in need because of the pandemic, 94.9 KLTY also helped the Tarrant Area Food Bank distribute food essentials on multiple occasions in September, October, November. It is 94.9 KLTY’s sincere honor to serve our listeners in Dallas/Fort Worth.
LIFE 96.5 seeks to empower and serve the Sioux Falls area by reaching out in faith to help make it a better place to live and work. They want to lead their listeners to Jesus and help them grow in their faith through opportunities to love and serve others. In January 2020, LIFE 96.5 listeners donated over 950 brand new baby items during the Sioux Empire’s Largest Baby Shower. The Baby Shower grows every year, demonstrating their community’s love and support of the couples who are choosing life for their unborn children. LIFE 96.5 listeners, in partnership with Dacotah Bank, provided gift cards and cash donations to the Sioux Falls School District social workers to meet the needs of 1,000 homeless students. LIFE 96.5 also invited listeners to participate in a city-wide prayer parade, where they prayed for health care and government officials while driving past hospitals, schools, and city government offices. During the months of September and October 2020, LIFE 96.5 listeners provided over 250 twin sheet sets and 100 mattresses to the Sioux Falls Sleep in Heavenly Peace organization for children who are sleeping on floors. Through LIFE 96.5, listeners also made a difference in the lives of patients spending Christmas at Avera Behavioral Health Hospital. Each patient received a Christmas stocking filled with gifts and a note of encouragement. In addition, each Saturday morning LIFE 96.5 staff host Life Connection, a program featuring community leaders and discussing the needs and concerns of the Sioux Falls Community.
89.5 KVNE exists to glorify God by encouraging people, connecting their community, and pointing people to Jesus Christ. When their community was turned upside down by COVID, they knew they had to jump into action and mobilize their listeners to make a difference for Christ. To best serve their local community, KVNE held multiple drives to support local ministry partners and those most impacted by the pandemic. They collected 1,500 gift cards (totaling more than $15,000) to benefit those in need because of shutdowns, gathered over 12,000 diapers for foster families, and collected 150 care packages for senior citizens. They also collected 1,032 fans for the Salvation Army and over 1,000 pairs of shoes for kids heading back to school. Additionally, listeners donated 1,512 care packages for the homeless in East Texas, and KVNE hosted two blood drives to help those fighting the coronavirus. People across East Texas needed connection during the pandemic, so they organized a social media outreach, called Praise Defeats, a coordinated time where listeners shot videos of themselves singing “Raise A Hallelujah.” The videos were shared thousands of times, as they deepened their community’s connection. In addition, KVNE launched a Hispanic Christian music station (Fuzión), started a worship station (Lift Worship), and began a Bible Teaching Station (The Well) – all to help people grow in their faith. God allowed them to impact His Kingdom in profound ways and serve their local community powerfully during an unprecedented time when people needed hope like never before.
Since 1986, The JOY FM has made community service a hallmark of its ministry to listeners – first in Sarasota, and then expanding to Tampa, other Florida markets, and most recently to Atlanta and Middle Georgia. Even with this growth, community outreach remains hands-on, with legacy events like T-Shirts for Turkeys, which helped feed more than 28,700 families in all markets served last year. 2020 created new challenges for serving, so The JOY FM innovated several service projects to accommodate contactless delivery and social distancing. JOY Drop and Restock, a brand-new outreach, collected 30 tons of food to restock local food banks hit hard by the pandemic. Partnering with Natalie Grant and Hope for Justice, Team Freedom approached a grand total of $1,000,000 in 2020 to fight human trafficking. As listeners faced political rhetoric and serious questions about race and justice, as well as practical challenges like hybrid classrooms, The JOY FM programming (on terrestrial signals, as well as its LF Radio and JOY Worship platforms) responded with a recommitment to our mission of “Helping You Find JOY.” Resources for listeners, such as the Off Air with Carmen podcast, was provided to help listeners wrestle with big questions like Christian citizenship. Possibly The JOY FM’s most relevant community service effort for 2020 was prayer. The JOY FM’s Prayer and Crisis Referral service interacted with 620,936 listeners in need of prayer or help. Of those calls and texts, 4,949 listeners reported praying to place their faith in Jesus Christ.
“Hope Starts Here” is more than The Light FM’s tagline. It’s their mission. In 2020, they were intentional in regularly offering community-needed resources and hope-filled encouragement. They hosted their 5th annual Make a Difference training to encourage listeners to share God’s hope and saw 14 people begin a personal relationship with Jesus. The Light FM also visited eight local Law Enforcement agencies to share words of encouragement and care baskets. They partnered with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and artists of Winter Jam for a private concert and time of prayer with families battling pediatric cancer. The Light FM listeners from five different cities donated 258 wheelchairs, 262 crutches, 259 walkers, 71 transport chairs, and 66 canes to Wheels for the World, which brings mobility and the hope of Christ around the world. During stay-at-home orders, The Light FM began offering free monthly virtual events, including: a graduation ceremony, featuring artists and Bible teachers; a conference with Crown Financial on how to manage finances during the pandemic; Girl Talk LIVE, a women’s event with worship and Bible study; God’s Hope in Crisis training with chaplains of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team; a pastor appreciation event for local churches, featuring Chip Ingram and Matthew West; and a Family Christmas Night with live music, games, and a devotion from The Light FM staff. Even throughout the pandemic, The Light FM also found ways to be out in the public, safely, with six drive-in events featuring movies and live music.
