.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Eric Boatwright is now running 99.5 KZZQ, a Christian radio station based in Waukee – something he never dreamed he would do. He built a career in the financial services industry, working for companies like Principal Financial Group Inc. But when the opportunity arose to turn his Christian faith into a new career path as executive director of KZZQ, he quickly realized it was a perfect fit.

What did you do before you joined the station?

I worked for Principal Financial for about four years. My last year I was in new product development. So a lot of that entailed product research, a lot of project management and things of that nature. Basically taking what doesn’t exist in the retirement and financial services world and creating it and rolling it out for our clientele. Before that, I spent five years as a financial adviser with another company. My background has really been financially focused.

How did you get into running a radio station?

I had a lot of background in listening to radio. I say that jokingly, but that really was my experience before this job. But we’re a nonprofit radio station, and I’m not sure a lot of people know that. So some of my background of working on nonprofit boards is very valuable. I have seen how other nonprofits have accomplished their goals. But my financial background is also very beneficial because of the balance we have to maintain. We have to make sure that 41 percent of everything that comes through that door is from somebody who wants to make a donation. We run on a budget right now of about $500,000 a year. So, realistically, what that means is that a little under $200,000, at bare-bones minimum, has to be through fund raising. So with my professional background, I was told the radio business was something I could learn.

Will there be a day when people hear you on the air?

Sporadically, I’m on there. When I’m on, it’s typically to talk about different community points of interest or to talk about what’s happening at the station. You won’t hear me in a DJ capacity unless for some reason all my on-air staff leaves. I’ve got a great staff right now and I certainly can’t do the things that they do. So, I hope you don’t hear me on the air too frequently; that would be a bad thing for me, for the staff and really for the listeners of the station.

What is your No. 1 goal for the station?

To the best of our knowledge, we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 listeners. In a city the size of Des Moines, that sounds like a relatively small number, but we do have competition. We have to figure out a way to differentiate ourselves so that we can take that 20,000 number to around 50,000 or 100,000. Granted, I’d like to see everyone in Central Iowa listen, but I guess that’s unrealistic. But with our live Internet stream, we have the possibility of going worldwide. We have listeners in Pennsylvania, we’ve got listeners in Hawaii, and we’ve got a missionary over in Africa that listens to us. That’s where we want to place some focus. My goal is to expand our local listeners and use the Internet to reach 1 million listeners in 10 years.

What do you do outside of work?

I’ve been involved in numerous volunteer activities. I’ve helped Althea Holcomb over at Big Brothers Big Sisters (of Central Iowa) with some of her events, like their fishing derby. It’s a great organization and I do what I can to help out. I’ve been a vice chair of the Bondurant library for five or six years now. We’ve got huge population growth, and for that reason, we’re looking at a new library. We’ve just had a referendum, which passed, and we’re almost to the bid phase. We will be moving from a 1,200-square-foot building into a roughly 7,500-square-foot building.

Why do you get so involved in these activities?

That’s just how I was raised. The career paths I’ve chosen were always picked so I could do something for somebody besides myself and still make a living doing it. I saw an opportunity in financial services to help people give themselves a better life. That’s why I’m doing what I do now with the music ministry of KZZQ. I’ve always had a passion for music. The artists we play are Christian artists. You’ll find that if you listen to what we’re playing that no matter where you’re at in your day, you’ll find a message within the music that will soothe your mind. It will settle your heart. It will be that invisible hug.