Lynn Hoffman-Media Personality and Host of The Music Saved Me Podcast

 You’ve arrived at the Takin a walk podcast a podcast that follows the journey of musicians authors producers and media insiders and their love of music on this episode Join host Buzz Knight as he’s joined by Lynn Hoffman Lynn is an accomplished TV and radio host with work in major markets A&E and VH1 And she’s also the host of a new podcast produced by Buzz Knight Media called Music Saved Me.

Join Buzz Knight and Lynn Hoffman next on takin a walk

Buzz Knight:

00:00:35.299 – 00:00:40.2

 We’re in beautiful Litchfield County taking a walk What do you call this place

Lynn Hoffman:

00:00:40.209 – 00:00:41.779

 here Buggy

That’s a good thing though I didn’t have breakfast So now I’ve eaten a few

Buzz Knight:

00:00:47.84 – 00:00:48.83

It’s so great to be with you

Lynn Hoffman:

00:00:48.84 – 00:00:53.889

You too Buzz This is called I think it’s called Three Rivers Park

Buzz Knight:

00:00:54.9 – 00:01:14.839

 It’s beautiful We got somebody walking a dog up here and I do want to caution everybody who listens to this podcast We do virtual editions from time to time but we like doing them in person and many people will remark they’ll go you were taking a walk with somebody and it sounded like you were winded because we’re walking

Lynn Hoffman:

00:01:16.62 – 00:01:19.769

Were entitled that they were not biking Then there would be some

Buzz Knight:

00:01:19.779 – 00:01:28.05

 issues but you can take at whatever pace you want Lynn It’s so great It’s your it’s your episode here and I’m so grateful to be with

Lynn Hoffman:

00:01:28.059 – 00:01:34.419

 you Well it’s so great to see you Buzz It’s always awesome to see you You are like family to me You are my cousin Buzz

Buzz Knight:

00:01:34.91 – 00:01:53.41

 So let’s not bury the main headline which we could come back to you are hosting this podcast called Music Saved Me And I’m so grateful that you are and so excited and I want everybody to check it out And uh the first episode is out with Wyonna

Lynn Hoffman:

00:01:54.059 – 00:01:55.5

 She’s amazing

Buzz Knight:

00:01:58.699 – 00:02:03.73

What if anything surprised you because I know you had encountered Wynonna previously Yes

Lynn Hoffman:

00:02:03.739 – 00:02:22.38

 we did uh work together uh a few years back and I just she’s the kind of woman The minute you meet her you just want to throw your arms around her and she will give you a big old hug you know and um just lovely and completely open and honest there are no walls with uh with her

Buzz Knight:

00:02:22.86 – 00:02:42.039

 and get an artist to be able to open up about what the music means to them and their lives and being able to pass that on to listeners is uh a really cool connection that I think we’re gonna be able to make uh upcoming episode with Jelly Roll as well

Lynn Hoffman:

00:02:48.445 – 00:03:04.13

 He is busy giving back and being so grateful for everything that has come his way that I I just can’t tell you what a shining light this guy is I mean he’s larger than life figuratively and

spiritually Yeah And he um and he gives back so much Um that’s I think that’s mostly what he does Not only when you talk to him um he wants to you to take something away from it but he also he just it’s his mission in life to give back to those and try to teach them how to live their best life and how they can turn everything around really I mean you can turn your life around

Buzz Knight:

00:03:34.559 – 00:03:46.82

 He’s evidence of that really And uh he’s out on a big tour and I think this guy um the fact that he crosses all genres I think is super interesting as well

Lynn Hoffman:

00:03:47.309 – 00:03:48.24

 Definitely

Buzz Knight:

00:03:48.789 – 00:03:57.529

 And I think the fact that jelly roll takes the struggles that he had in his life and he sort of brings it forward deepens his connection with his

Lynn Hoffman:

00:03:57.539 – 00:04:17.329

 audience Yes it does And his audience is everyone including those who are currently incarcerated which I find incredibly interesting because he travels specifically to talk to those people who are locked up that they can change their life and they can use music

to help

Buzz Knight:

00:04:19.699 – 00:04:39.89

 Yeah Which is just the you know the therapeutic nature of music so well We’ll come back and throw out overt plugs for the Music Saved Me Podcast later on But uh um I want to trace your illustrious path to success in your career

Was that Ok I just think that you’ve accomplished so much and you’re still working and accomplishing even greater things and you’re just beginning

Lynn Hoffman:

00:04:53.26 – 00:05:22.149

 Well it does feel that way but my body doesn’t feel that way but my brain yes it does always seem like I’m still just starting out I guess you have to stay hungry right Um and always be you know forging ahead I I like to push boundaries I don’t really like to um settle So if I’m doing something I it’s I don’t know where it comes from but I have to do it at the best level possible

and that’s

how my mind works with everything I do

Buzz Knight:

00:05:27.85 – 00:05:33.38

 So when did you first think that you were gonna have a career on media

Lynn Hoffman:

00:05:35.85 – 00:05:42.2

 very early on doing impersonations of commercials

when I was very little um probably in the seventies and I would do impressions of the actors on the commercials for like sores or other interesting products that were out in its day and then I would start doing impressions of people and accents and

and my favorite show was Saturday Night Live and Carol Burnett and Cher and Sonny And I wanted to be all of them but I wanted to work with a team and I never just wanted to shine by myself I I wanted to work with a creative team and just make something special so that it made people feel good Um and then I think it was fourth grade

Jeez I walk all the time and I feel like I’m winded

Um uh it was fourth grade and I had a big role in the uh Peter Pan play and

and I got up there and I said something silly and the audience laughed It wasn’t part of the script because something went wrong on the set and everybody laughed And at that moment when I felt them all laugh I was like did I make them all feel good like that I have to do that for the rest of my life And that was it

Buzz Knight:

so you were it was cemented at that point

Lynn Hoffman:

00:06:54.94 – 00:07:05.85

 Yeah morning radio though specific because it was a team of people that worked together that you know made it all happen and that’s really why I kind of focused on that

Buzz Knight:

00:07:06.269 – 00:07:22.29

 Right So what was the first beginning of that And we are gonna get to the point in time when I was jilted by the fact that I tried to hire you So we’ll get to that uh maybe sooner than later But what was next that brought you closer to at least radio first

Lynn Hoffman:

00:07:23.72 – 00:07:34.85

 It was really the love of voice work I mean I I was so like I said want to achieve the highest heights The first demo tape I sent was Disney You know I sent Disney my demo

and said I would love to be a voice of cartoon characters if you would hire me And of course I said no because you know I I wasn’t even I didn’t even have a job at the time But um voiceovers I started working for a company that was messages on hold and I was the thank you for calling the Cinemas Tonight showings at 7-Eleven You know and it started there and um when I felt really comfortable that I could do that I guess then I felt like I could work with other people and

I mean I was scared you know what buzz I I was just scared to do anything alone Uh I don’t know why So I needed a team like I wanted to work with other people here what they thought And so I thought you know what morning radio has to be that place for me All right Wait we’re at a crossroads here at a crossroads Uh

Buzz Knight:

00:08:25.97 – 00:08:30.809

 I say go to the ears of corn It’s like the fields of dreams It

Lynn Hoffman:

00:08:30.82 – 00:08:53.349

 is isn’t it I’ve never been out here with the corn all like this It’s amazing I love it Do you know they do enactments out here anyway I digress Um I I really don’t find myself my life so interesting So I think it’s I’m so honored that you wanna talk to me about me I’ll get everything but enough about me that’s more about me That’s right Talk more about me

Lynn Hoffman:

00:08:53.77 – 00:09:18.559

 I started interning for a station Smooth Jazz 96 9 And I was I was there on the night of my graduation from college when everyone else was partying and I was actually getting paid $6 an hour to run the board while the company was having their Christmas party or something or their some holiday party or something

And I know it seems weird graduation in December So it must have been some other holiday But they said this is how you do it And then they left me there And of course that’s when I started queuing up the reel to reel while the mic was potted up And they called me from the party and said they could hear

of it going on But I got I kept my job I met a gentleman named Rob Schuller who sadly not with us anymore He was the voice of the Patriots and he knew that I wanted to voice commercials because I went in his office and I said Rob my parents don’t think I can make any money in this industry I have to prove them wrong

I need to start doing commercials Can you help me And he put me on the uh radio doing commercials And next thing you know he walked me into metro traffic and said hey this girl wants to talk for a living and I became a traffic and news reporter in in Boston And I got to work with all of the morning shows

Lynn Hoffman:

00:10:19.27 – 00:10:28.859

 yeah like the guy this is the craziest thing The guy that broke me in on the air live with my mom listening Eddie Endelman Oh my God Yeah

In the very first broadcast he talked about my gynecologist appointment

but it wasn’t that descriptive However I had to you know wiggle my way around all that get the traffic out and out and I’m thinking my mom’s listening Oh my God this is crazy Um but yeah so I I worked with him I worked with Ken Johnson over at Wild I did traffic for him in the morning

I don’t know if you remember Wild They were like what The only AM music station

Buzz Knight:

00:11:00.94 – 00:11:02.82

 And it was an urban format

Lynn Hoffman:

00:11:02.83 – 00:11:12.53

 Yeah And I worked with Loren and Wally doing their track no I interned for Loren and Wally Oh my gosh I interned for them

I did And then they actually ended up offering me a job to be on the show

 And Len another guy who we lost recently who was their news guy He told me don’t do it really Yeah And I said why and he said because there’s 11 people on this morning show

and you’re you’re gonna get lost and you’re you’re meant for other things I said ok like what next thing you know Matt Siegel is calling and he wants to hire me And Mike Butts in Rhode Island wanted me to be his co hosts because of all the traffic And I was able to sort of hold my own with these legendary guys mainly because I was clueless I just wanted to do the traffic and get out but they all wanted to hire me and I ended up

working with John Lander by chance because he came into town He liked my reporting and brought me in and then I I never left

Buzz Knight:

00:12:06.53 – 00:12:14.38

 I want to go back to John Lander of course But what was it about my pitch to get you to work that that I failed

Lynn Hoffman:

00:12:14.419 – 00:12:22.19

 at That’s right Ok So I’m doing traffic I think I was like 22 21 22 years old

Lynn Hoffman:

00:12:41.609 – 00:12:48.7

 you wanted me to do afternoon drive on WZLX Boston’s classic rock

 And I was like what

And you said yeah I want you to come in and do afternoons and I said

ok and I hung up the phone and then I was like shocked and then I was just scared and I didn’t think that I

Lynn Hoffman:

00:13:04.609 – 00:13:07.609

 I didn’t feel like I could do it

Buzz Knight:

00:13:07.619 – 00:13:08.729

I feel like I tried to hire you twice

Lynn Hoffman:

00:13:08.76 – 00:13:09.25

 Did you

Buzz Knight:

00:13:10.32 – 00:13:20.57

 successfully I feel like there was a ZLX play and there was also an ROR play as well I see you did

Lynn Hoffman:

00:13:20.78 – 00:13:24.77

 when I moved to New York you wanted me to come back to work with Loren and Wally

Buzz Knight:

00:13:24.78 – 00:13:27.919

 There was two attempts that were successful Yeah

Lynn Hoffman:

00:13:27.989 – 00:13:32.88

 But then you guys had amazing ratings So I didn’t have to come hang out So

Buzz Knight:

00:13:32.89 – 00:13:51.729

 but then of course the John Lander period Uh what was the beginning of that like because the show certainly evolved into being one of the most successful shows uh you know in the market But uh how did it start And what was that process like Thanks

Lynn Hoffman:

00:13:52.2 – 00:14:21.57

 It was scary as hell But like I said it was a team So I didn’t feel so stressed that it was all on my shoulders And Lander man he was already a huge radio name Everyone was talking about it He was so good to me He uh he never made me feel like he never said don’t say that like in New York when I did mornings in New York for that short while the PD who remain nameless who was a lovely man

Lynn Hoffman:

00:14:22.239 – 00:14:24.469

 Um Only nameless because I can’t remember his name

He’s gonna kill me

Lynn Hoffman:

00:14:30.849 – 00:14:45.7

 If he ever hears that he’s gonna kill me He was so nice Oh Smokey Rivers Oh yeah What a great guy Um but he would say things like Lynn don’t say I love it don’t say this don’t say that And he would he would sort of try to help mold me

Lynn Hoffman:

00:14:46.38 – 00:15:01.619

 Um but Lander never did that and he sort of let me sort of find my own level And um it was just the most fun I think I’ve ever had at any job almost um in radio just most fun

Buzz Knight:

00:15:02.07 – 00:15:08.33

 And that radio station competing against it as I did at that time was

Buzz Knight:

00:15:08.5 – 00:15:24.359

 you know constantly innovating doing cool promotions big personalities uh great energy and it had pretty damn strong competition in terms of certainly you know Kiss 108 Yeah

Lynn Hoffman:

00:15:24.369 – 00:15:30.869

 Heritage I’ll tell you what When I left Boston we had a little party at the rack

Lynn Hoffman:

00:15:31.219 – 00:15:46.369

 Paul Barkley’s place was like the hottest place in town when I was living there And do you know Matt Siegal showed up and he came over to me and he said I need to shake your hand and tell you I’ll never forget this He said I’m glad you’re leaving

Lynn Hoffman:

00:15:46.89 – 00:15:50.83

 And I said why he said because you made me work too hard

Lynn Hoffman:

00:15:52.51 – 00:16:06.359

 I couldn’t believe it I couldn’t even believe it Um yeah but I was so taken aback by that and I could have worked with him because they were prepping me to work with him I I saved the voice mail and everything I was so excited

Buzz Knight:

00:16:07.109 – 00:16:10.5

 but there was such great leadership there as well at

Lynn Hoffman:

0

 gosh you got the Greg who is like the king and and it was the flagship station for CBS when they when they bought it Mark

Buzz Knight:

00:16:20.419 – 00:16:24.76

 Hannon of course as well Really good people

Lynn Hoffman:

00:16:25.14 – 00:16:32.08

 Yeah I had the best of the best of the best with the exception of you of course because you were at the other company Well

Buzz Knight:

00:16:32.09 – 00:16:40.219

 no eventually it was the same company We were we were all ultimately CB after the

Buzz Knight:

00:16:40.369 – 00:16:44.309

 the sale from American radio systems

Lynn Hoffman:

00:16:44.32 – 00:17:03.419

 Yeah I remember we were there at the dawn of the monopoly getting thrown away that rule of ownership You know like I had a taste of what it was like when radio stations were privately owned and it was mom and pop across the street and you would have like a classic battle of who’s gonna win the ratings and

 and it was all done creatively and good camaraderie And then all of a sudden we were in a building with every single station on one floor with every personality you’ve ever listened to growing up It was crazy

Buzz Knight:

00:17:16.29 – 00:17:20.969

 Well and the personality level in in the Boston market then

00:17:21.198 – 00:17:50.369

 uh you know you just mentioned it was you know certainly Matty and Lander Charles Laquidara was still kicking around as well Um this was the beginning of the uh really before the sports format really kind of took off even though it kind of existed in some regards but it was really a a pretty electric market in terms of the competition So some markets are really

Buzz Knight:

00:17:50.64 – 00:18:03.939

 fiercely competitive and you know kind of it gets unfriendly and other markets are fiercely competitive but it’s friendly competition How would you characterize Boston was a friendly competition

Lynn Hoffman:

00:18:04.25 – 00:18:07.515

 It was friendly competition 100%

Lynn Hoffman:

00:18:07.525 – 00:18:35.53

 because I wouldn’t stand for it any other way I mean there was no I wanted to be friends with everybody because I felt we were all in the same business So why did we have to be enemies personally You know just come if we’re going to be fighting against each other you know Coke Pepsi you know who’s better who’s got the better campaign Who’s got the better music who’s got the better formats or whatever That’s fine But that people as a whole I felt that it was extremely friendly However

 there was always the problem that I had with other women

because I was so approachable and they wouldn’t even give me the chance I didn’t you know no there was a a couple of times where there was some

 not so friendly women just because they felt threatened and I understand that But when I was young I didn’t you know um and I all I was trying to do was achieve goals for myself and I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody Um but overall

well once you know the career got up and running I didn’t find that at all except when I left every single woman in the building was lined up I said what’s going on They’re all lined up to go see Lander in his office Oh yeah they’re all going to apply for your job I said all thanks I didn’t know you guys all wanted the job That’s funny

Buzz Knight:

00:19:26.829 – 00:19:30.599

 Oh yeah Had you always set your sights on New York City as a

Lynn Hoffman:

00:19:30.609 – 00:19:35.15

 goal No I was petrified of New York City Are you kidding me

I didn’t want to go at all The only reason why I went is because I convinced the production director now my husband to go with me I said come on you want to sit in this production studio all day You want to go to New York And of course I was totally bullshitting I didn’t think he would say yes because you know who’s gonna just up and leave their job both of us and take off like that with six months disposable income And if we didn’t make it we have to hang our heads and come back

So he went he did and uh the rest yeah just sort of fell into place from there But that says a lot about you know I wrote down my goals I lived my life as if I had those goals already accomplished even though I didn’t um it was just sort of in me But who are the people that instilled that in you My parents Yeah

especially my dad and well both my mom and my dad but my dad what he went through and um you know in the military and you know he was a green gray and Vietnam and he saw a lot and he put up with a lot with me because I was a lot to handle I had a lot of energy They always used to say that I was going to grow up and they were not surprised I ended up in radio because I love to talk

Buzz Knight:

00:20:53.17 – 00:20:54.81

 But they were supportive and

Lynn Hoffman:

00:20:55.18 – 00:21:03.859

 oh yeah they were just happy I picked something but they were a little concerned how I was going to make a living And I think that in and of itself

Lynn Hoffman:

00:21:04.199 – 00:21:28.78

 was the reason because they didn’t think I was going to be able to do it was like a fire lit under my ass I swear anyone who told me don’t get in it that that business is horrible It’s competitive People are going to eat your lunch every time someone said that it made me want to achieve it more And it started with my parents Um so I had to prove to them that I could do it and make a living at it

Buzz Knight:

 did you always see TV in your sights

Lynn Hoffman:

00:21:32.339 – 00:21:34.51

 Yeah I always wanted to do TV

but I didn’t want to tell anyone because I was too shy because I didn’t want people to think I was full of myself I didn’t want to do TV Alone Mind you I wanted to do it with a team

Um but um one day I think it was Joyce Kulhawik on

uh BZ She was she I think she’s still doing something I I I’ve heard her name recently even She was like my favorite entertainment reporter of all times and she was going on vacation and we happened to be in the parking lot of BZ We moved to our new location and I sort of let it be known that I would love to fill in

and Mark Hannon walked me across that parking lot and put me in front of a teleprompter at channel four and said here’s your chance Is that right Yeah And I said yeah and I did it and he I believe Mark Cannon said to me it was

Lynn Hoffman:

00:22:25.814 – 00:22:51.579

 him somebody there I want to give him the credit if it was him He said you know why don’t you want to tell people that you want to be on TV And I said because I don’t want them to hate me or think that I’m full of myself And he said if you know what you want to do with your life you scream it from the highest rooftop If I had known that you wanted to do this earlier I would have made this connection sooner You know And of course it worked out great because I was the ambassador for the radio station on TV So I could help them

 promote the show and the station and vice versa Wasn’t it the birthday

Buzz Knight:

00:22:55.699 – 00:23:00.729

 game Uh the the TV spots for the birthday game am I Oh

Lynn Hoffman:

00:23:00.859 – 00:23:12.63

 that was a million dollars million dollars That was a million dollars They flew Lander and I to Atlanta to shoot the commercial Isn’t that funny Willy does TV commercials all day in our basement But they flew to Atlanta

 I know Isn’t that weird because they don’t really do that Well the weirdest thing is is when I started to work in television when I moved to New York they had no idea how radio worked

You know I said hey you know this would be a great radio show because it would translate because it’s music because I worked at the and I did a music show on A&E and

Lynn Hoffman:

00:23:38.719 – 00:23:51.609

 and they would look at me just sort of befuddled Like how do we do that I said well it’s kind of works the same exact way as television just with pictures you know like I couldn’t figure that out But uh well everything’s caught up Now

Buzz Knight:

00:23:51.869 – 00:23:56.78

 what was first A&E or VH1 was first

Lynn Hoffman:

00:23:56.79 – 00:24:00.28

 you know Mixroke the barenaked ladies

and one year to the day after they broke them we had a big concert and it was like 100,000 people on rooftops trees We never seen so many people And I went back to interview the guys from bare naked ladies and I said do you know these people are all here for you They thought they were there for the monkeys I said no they’re here for you And it was the million dollar song And

 anyway VH One came into Boston and I happened to be working that day and I met the producer and they found out that we were that station that broke them and they wanted to do a little story on them

Her name was Toni and she worked at VH1 And uh she said you know you should do this because they had to put me on camera to talk in front of the board and no one else wanted to do it So of course let’s get perfect And um when I moved to New York that was like one of the first calls I made was that contact I made in Boston because I didn’t have representation from I was with William Morris at the time but I didn’t have any television rep It was all voice

Lynn Hoffman:

00:24:58.959 – 00:25:21.209

 I called up and I said hey I I just moved to New York and I just want to let you know I don’t have representation but I’m willing to come in and audition if you have anything And the next day they said you know we’re launching this new digital platform called VH1 Classic and we’d love for you to come audition for it So I walked in the door with my two best friends buzz because I don’t do anything alone Right

With my two best friends one had a camera one had like an audio recording and I made up the story that they were doing a story on my life and they were following me around just so I didn’t have to go to the audition by myself

And uh I know but I literally I just I when I left I said hello to the camera people I I asked the guy later the producer Dane who also is not with us anymore It’s just amazing how many people Um And he said it was because you were multiple because you said hello to everybody because you came up to me and told me that you didn’t have to look any further I was the one and he said to me you’re gonna have to memorize like 800 pages of script every week I said I don’t care

you know cut to me on every weekend home while everyone else is going out because I’ve got to memorize the lines because they didn’t have the money for a teleprompter Oh boy So for years I had to memorize

 you know five gold records 20 Grammys two rock and roll Hall of Fame Awards three hit singles and the names of the songs and the artists And yeah So I became sort of like a classic music encyclopedia A little bit of a

thing going

Lynn Hoffman:

00:26:32.609 – 00:26:40.3

 on Yeah it was a great education though And I met so many amazing people starting out a career in television working with the greats rather than the new people

you know could have been MTV breaking all the new artists But I was with the classic guys It was awesome It was really cool And then how did A&E happen

 they handed out pink slips at VH1

and about an hour after my agent called and they handed out pink slips because we had become

 financially sound I guess they started making money with the ads on on the H one classic It took about five years And so then the main company took it back and pretty much disbanded everyone because it was you know we we made it lucrative for them And the my agent said well I got some good news and bad news He said uh the bad news is you’re not going to work next week at the one because they’ve fired everyone But the good news is is remember that audition you did last week at A&E I said yeah and he goes well they want to hire you for a new show

So I was like what

So I have not been without a job that or my voice work which I still do to this day Thanks to uh my husband

who set me up with the William Morris thing and created that whole you know will he did that right Yeah of course Like he literally told them they needed to have this They wanted to hire him at all the agencies in New York We went out and bought him suits and he’s like I’m not an agent

Buzz Knight:

00:27:56.17 – 00:28:17.949

 husband is a powerful power broker and he really uh he hides that He tries to be very much in the background but he’s he knows how to find the right people and the right angle and connect them You’re similar you guys that’s why you guys you know it’s worked out with you too

Buzz Knight:

00:28:21.369 – 00:28:23.089

 I think the feeling is mutual

Buzz Knight:

00:28:23.479 – 00:28:28.859

 So A&E yes sessions private sessions and

Lynn Hoffman:

00:28:29.04 – 00:28:31.51

 sounds like a late night show on Cinemax doesn’t

Buzz Knight:

00:28:31.68 – 00:28:37.51

 it So tell me about some of your favorite interviews with that great show Well Wynonna

first of all and that is not I’m not just saying that because of

music saved me Um Literally it was one of the most memorable other than perhaps Ringo Star and Bon Jovi when you’re in a building that has 14 floors and you never see anyone when everybody on every floor shows up on your floor you know somebody significant is there and you know they want to see them

So I mean

The job was fun So it took a number of days to prep because I had to basically know every single thing about these people in their life and their career And I wanted to be educated before I talked to them Remember how Larry King would say I wouldn’t do any research I just wanted to learn like the audience Yeah I did the exact opposite So I should have considered that a time I think so I agree with you because you would have had a

Lynn Hoffman:

00:29:23.255 – 00:29:29.175

 a better time because he would know where they were going and understood their story better I don’t know even though it

Buzz Knight:

00:29:29.185 – 00:29:37.375

 worked for him for quite a while he at a point should have probably thought that a little but I don’t think anybody was going to tell Larry what to do

Lynn Hoffman:

00:29:37.685 – 00:29:45.635

 No I don’t think so You don’t I don’t think many people did obviously because if they did he wouldn’t have been wearing those ridiculous suspenders True

Buzz Knight:

00:29:46.444 – 00:29:47.0

 true

Buzz Knight:

00:29:47.15 – 00:29:51.439

 But so you took the opposite approach and really immersed yourself

Lynn Hoffman:

I took three days to prep and then shoot day the day before And this is why I connected with Wynona so much And even Queen Latifa to be honest with you because after I read her book I felt like we were sisters that were separated at birth We went so many similar things in our lives

The reason why I brought up why Nona was because one of the things that she talked about was visualization and you’ll hear that in the in the Music Save Me Podcast It’s big and it works It’s real is no joke And I used to do it every night before I would go to actually sit and shoot with an artist And I usually it would be like a 16 hour day because they performed all the songs Then we’d strike the set and then go and do the interview after

And usually I would be entertaining them while this was happening in between stuff We would do crazy things you know all sorts of stuff But every night before I go in I would visualize me

with the person I was interviewing with the people I worked with laughing smiling and having a ball And every single time the day ended up that way no matter who came in no matter what eagles walked in the door and there were big egos that walked in the door they were completely disarmed And I would insist on being there even before my call time so that I can make everyone feel comfortable because that’s I think the most important thing is to feel comfortable in your environment

Um when you’re talking with people and if you’re in a place where it’s your living room it’s the most comfortable But that’s

Buzz Knight:

00:31:21.719 – 00:31:27.54

 you too That’s not you being someone that you’re that you’re not you know that’s who you

Lynn Hoffman:

are I guess Yeah it’s selfish It’s so uncomfortable but I want to make everyone else comfortable so I can be comfortable and I guess it’s good for everyone Yeah pretty much also I didn’t find that celebrities

Lynn Hoffman:

00:31:44.489 – 00:31:49.88

 made me nervous or you know I’d watch people treat them sort of almost like from another planet

Lynn Hoffman:

00:31:50.68 – 00:31:51.859

 And I would say

why I mean these they just like Edison invented the light bulb These people invented this incredible music that resonated with so many people um that they’re that it’s amazing and you want to get in there and find out what they’re all about but yet they weren’t more important than you or I

are they No not really They’re people That’s right They get up every day they put on their pants one leg at a time And that really is how I had to look at it too because otherwise I would have pooped my pants

00:32:27.619 – 00:32:53.27

 Joe Jackson really early on And I remember telling my producer I didn’t I didn’t sign on to interview people I just wanted to read a teleprompter and you know sell music and stuff and make everyone happy and now you want me to actually sit with them and talk with them and then who knows that that was gonna be my career You know anything I said I didn’t want to do ended up happening and I had to do it like I didn’t want to do the news on mix and then I had to do it

and I was happy

Buzz Knight:

00:32:55.25 – 00:33:01.75

 So you’re doing tons of voiceover work for radio and TV And other clients Right

Lynn Hoffman:

00:33:01.969 – 00:33:18.469

 Yeah Mostly radio and television And I feel like the only reason why I am fortunate enough to still be doing that is because I started at the beginning of that being very big for female voices because there really wasn’t a lot being used at that time when I got in

and then we talked earlier about my husband who sort of created this whole business model if you will for the agencies to have voices multiple voices on radio and television And um so I built up a nice clientele and then you know 20 years sort of went up and now it’s on its way up because don’t forget I’m up against a I now And that is absolutely I mean we just got a commercial today made by A I that will had to fix

just because you

need a human touch

Lynn Hoffman:

00:33:52.52 – 00:33:59.43

 Yes that’s always going to be needed Right Maybe it will be less work for me But that’s why you got to have other irons in the fire

Buzz Knight:

00:33:59.979 – 00:34:04.17

 What’s the strangest dialect you ever required to do on a voiceover

Lynn Hoffman:

 strangest dialect Well Boston

Lynn Hoffman:

00:34:09.11 – 00:34:26.08

 and don’t laugh I I just recently did some commercials Iron Tree service up in the North Shore Ok Um and it no it wasn’t them I’m sorry it was another client Somebody there’s a it was a restaurant Kelly’s roast beef

And they wanted a Boston sounding person

and I’ve lived out of Boston more than half my life now So and I went to New York So I thought oh I can do this no problem And I did the whole thing and they said can you sound less New York and a little more Boston I didn’t even realize that it happened

Buzz: Did you really have to crank up the

Boston

Lynn Hoffman:

00:34:46.129 – 00:34:48.56

 Like give me an example Like

should I do the normal one like park the car and have it yet Do it really over the top Come on It’s bought oh it’s your cousin from Boston Come on

I mean I don’t know II I don’t have to try too hard No I don’t I don’t And when I get tired I sound like I’m from Boston But my whole life going to school they wanted me to have General American speech which for broadcasting they didn’t want you to be able to tell where the broadcaster was from There you go So that’s what I learned And no one believed me that I was from Boston because I didn’t speak with a Boston accent

and then I turn it on that Dunkin Donuts Come on

I grew up there I had the large Dunkin Donuts with like vanilla and uh like you know half the glass was filled with sugar

You know what’s funny My friends from New Jersey add the R on I have an idea I’m like you got an idea

Yes Wait And I said that’s a Boston thing You add the R and you take off the R

I think they’re messing with you I think so too I think I talk too

Buzz Knight:

00:35:58.03 – 00:36:05.149

 much Lynn You never talk too much Thanks for being out taking a walk Thanks for hosting music Saved me

Lynn Hoffman:

00:36:05.159 – 00:36:15.219

Music Saved me It’s going to be so much fun It’s thank you for choosing me to wait a minute This will be the first time I didn’t turn you down for a job off Oh my God

Buzz Knight:

00:36:15.229 – 00:36:17.199

Can you believe it now We actually have to make some

Lynn Hoffman:

00:36:17.209 – 00:36:19.33

 money All right I’m down for that

I gotta pay for this car

Announcer:

00:36:24.159 – 00:36:32.629

 Taking a walk with Buzz Knight is available on Spotify Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts

Buzz Knight is an established media executive with a long history of content creation and multi-platform distribution.

After a successful career as a Radio Executive, he formed Buzz Knight Media which focuses on strategic guidance and the development of new original content.