From Small Town to Big Apple

New York City radio personality Karen Carson stays grounded in ‘the best-kept secret in Northern New Jersey.’

BY DANIELLE CLEMENTS

When the alarm goes off at 3:45 a.m., Pompton Plains’ Karen Carson is up and at ‘em—preparing for the day by scrolling through news and social media, making sure she’s on top of current events by the time her radio show starts at 6 a.m. She’s host of the popular “Karen Carson in the Morning” on the NEW 102.7 FM, where her pleasant voice, personality and on-air antics with co-hosts Johnny Mingione and intern Anthony Malerba help listeners start the day with music and laughter.

Carson never intended to be a radio personality. She majored in speech, theater and communication at Monmouth College (now Monmouth University), hoping to one day work in public relations. Following a weeklong stint as a DJ for the college radio station over winter break, a commercial station out of Long Branch came calling. It was Carson’s first official job in radio, and it became a launching pad for her nowstoried career.

“I took the job, but called in sick a lot so I could go to parties,” Carson says with a laugh. “I was a college student!” This authenticity from Carson is part of what makes her relatable to her listeners.

Life on the Air

“I credit my kids for my success because motherhood also makes me relatable to listeners,” she says. “The audience gets my life. I’m just a mom who’s on the radio.”

While that sentiment rings true, Carson’s workingmom hustle looks a lot different than that of someone in a 9-to-5 role. In addition to the morning show, Carson hosts a podcast called “A Secret Show: Karen Carson in the Morning,” an unfiltered supplement to the morning production. Beyond that, she hosts segments on Sirius XM’s PopRocks seven days a week.

A mother of three, Carson recalls the challenges of managing her unusual work hours and schedule while parenting young children: returning from Manhattan in time for homework, activities and dinner—and trying to get to bed at a reasonable hour. It can be pressure-filled, but Carson is grateful for the opportunities to be engaged both at home and in her career.

Having recently lost her mother, Carson now has her 81-year-old father living with her—yet another relatable situation that she describes to listeners. Carson’s love for her family is palpable—her funny stories about Dad, how proud she is of her kids—but it’s not always easy.

“Some days I wake up and just miss my mother and I don’t want to get on the air and be light and funny,” she says. “But the second I get onto Route 3 and see that New York City skyline, I think I am the luckiest girl in the world, and I just go in and do the best I can.”

While the show is entertainment for audiences, it is Carson’s reality. For the first time in her career, she was able to hand-select her co-hosts. “I get to create for the first four hours of the day, and we genuinely laugh our butts off,” Carson says of her chemistry and friendships with Mingione and Malerba. Not only do they laugh, but they also lift each other up.

The Real Deal

Although she has interviewed hundreds of musician celebrities, it is Carson’s easygoing realness that makes her unique. She grew up in a big family with four siblings, so she knows how to grab someone’s attention. There are no pretenses about her, and she works hard to find the human in each star, putting them at ease and making them laugh.

Cases in point: She has asked Gaga if she ever just sits around in sweatpants; poked fun at U2 front man Bono for crashing a bicycle in New York City; and jokingly gifted Ed Sheeran with “one of the worst beers in America.” It’s these types of interactions that people love about Carson.

Listening to Carson is like having a comfortable conversation with an old friend—and she might agree. “My girlfriends are my best material,” Carson comments. “The show is just like talking to my friends; the moms get it, they’re real.”

Having spent much of her life in Pequannock, Carson praises the small town. “You really become close with the people you raise your kids with,” she says.

In fact, for all the time she spends in Manhattan, Carson wouldn’t trade suburbia for the city life. “Pequannock is the best-kept secret in Northern New Jersey,” she says. “You can live at the feet of mountains that surround us, yet it’s flat, and people watch out for each other. You don’t realize how the concrete affects you. I want to come home to blue skies and mountains—it’s the best of both worlds.”

Pequannock resident Danielle Clements is a wife and mom with two awesome boys and a full-time career in communications. She loves family, friends, dogs (especially her beloved Bowie), concerts and writing.