CORI JENSEN

GETS REAL about work, family and the little moments that keep her going

IT’S 5:20 IN THE MORNING

and Cori Jensen is already well into her workout. The voice of middays on Big 98.7 FM is just as vivacious in person as she is on the radio, with a ready smile and an easy laugh — even on an elliptical before dawn. Jensen’s easygoing charm and relatability are integral to her thriving career in radio, where she’s logged 18 years and counting. And her South Dakota farm girl work ethic and healthy dose of self-deprecating humor help her balance work, play, friendships, charitable work, a busy family of six and her own health and wellness.

Words by ALICIA UNDERLEE NELSON Photography by BEN NASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Actually, maybe balance isn’t exactly the right word. “We all strive for that — we want balance. ‘The struggle is real’ is so overused,” she says. “I was scrolling Instagram a couple weeks ago and someone said, ‘The juggle is real.’ And I’m like, That’s my life! — that juggle,” Jensen giggles. “The juggle is real. We’re doing the best we can every day. We have to cut ourselves a little bit of slack, don’t you think?”

Jensen’s juggling act involves a 4 a.m. wake-up call. She’s at Anytime Fitness in Fargo almost every weekday before dawn. She works out with a trainer three days a week, pops into a cycling class and gets a good run or a few reps in before the sun rises. “The working out in the morning is ‘me time,’” she says. “It’s hard to get up at 4:00, but I get to move my body. And that’s a privilege.”

“Me time” is hard to come by with four kids at home, so Jensen takes it where she can get it. “My nickname around the office is Mother Lotus, because I have so many kids,” Jensen laughs. For the record, the kids include “The Bigs,” Genevieve, 11, and Isaiah, 9, and “The Littles,” Beckett, 3, and baby Wren, who just turned 1.

The youngest is familiar to Big 98.7 listeners, since Wren spent time with her mama in studio last year. Jensen’s maternity leave was coming to an end and she was struggling with the idea of the transition. “My COO [chief operating officer] Nancy Odney said to me, ‘You should just bring her into the studio,’” Jensen says, her voice still incredulous months later. “And I was busy picking my jaw up off the floor. She was dead serious. So it worked out perfect.”

Jensen’s husband of 12 years, Jeremy Nelson, would bring baby Wren to the station right before Jensen’s midday shift, and Jensen’s littlest little one spent time on air with her mom. “I got to nurse her and change her and hold her and do all those things for a good