Her Town

Wake Up Happy

Main and Mulberry: Her Town is a series that features women in business and leadership positions across the Mid-South. In this episode, Anna Bell spoke to Karen Perrin, iconic Memphis radio host.

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Karen Perrin

MEMPHIS RADIO HOST

Karen Perrin has been waking up Mid-Southerners for decades on morning radio, most notably on WRVR 104.5 The River. A native Memphian, she made the move to Collierville nearly eighteen years ago with her husband. It’s not uncommon to see Perrin serving the Collierville community, such as emceeing the Independence Day Celebration.

Perrin’s radio career came out of her love for music. While attending the University of Alabama, she worked at her college radio station and found her passion for communicating through the air waves.

“IT STARTED WITH A LOVE OF MUSIC... AND THAT WAS JUST SOMETHING THAT I GRAVITATED TOWARD.”

- Karen Perrin

“It started with a love of music... and that was just something that I gravitated toward. It’s very, very fortunate that when I came home from Alabama, I was able to work in radio and do things in the community that I grew up in. That’s a real treat!” she shared. Being active in the community is an aspect of Perrin’s job that might often go unrealized. Even after working on the morning show, there’s still lots to be done. “We might have events at a car dealership or a furniture store. There was a lot more activity going on, other than just being on the air. We do a lot of philanthropic work. We volunteer our time [and] my volunteer time is normally hosting an event or emceeing something,” said Perrin.

Most people automatically assume that if you’re a morning radio host, you must be a morning person, but that’s not always the case! Starting with her first gig at FM 100 to most recently at WRVR 104.5, Perrin has only worked for morning shows. She shared, “You just make yourself become [a morning person]. Now I am [one], simply because if you stay up too late, getting up at 3:45am is not quite as fun.”

When it comes to her career, Perrin said, “The best part of it is the fun that we have, not only on the air, but off the air. I have been fortunate to work with people that I like!” Her enthusiasm for both her career and her coworkers translate into her time on air, as she hopes that, “We help people take their minds off things for a little bit by [playing] a couple of songs that will put them in a good mood. But also, we want to make you laugh. We just want you to have an enjoyable morning! I think we just want to make people happy. And that’s all you can hope to do, because at the end of four hours, you don’t know that you’ve done that or if you’ve done that, but you certainly hope that you have.”

While she’s spending time making her listeners happy, Perrin is passionate about others finding their “why” as well. She said, “I always hope that people can find their happiness… find their passion and get to do what they like. And you’re not going to like it every day. But if you can find it, whether that is getting to go to work at a floral shop every day or being on the radio or working at a restaurant, do whatever makes you happy!”