Episode 63: KFAN’s The Power Trip Chris Hawkey + Cory Cove

[00:00:00] Mall of America for more than 30 years and has been a retail leader in an international destination, and it remains the largest mall in the US.

[00:00:09] Not to mention it, welcome millions of guests from around the world. It's huge!

[00:00:13] But it's also so much more. In this podcast you're going to hear the real stories of how it started and why it continues to thrive.

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[00:00:46] Hello, MOVAMERICA fans! I am Jill Renzlow and I am joined by Kohos Chris Grop for our episode of So Much More.

[00:00:54] And we have an exciting show for you today. We are joined by the one, the only Chris hockey and Kory Kohos, who co-hosts the morning show on the Power Trip caveman,

[00:01:05] 100.3 here in the Minneapolis Saint Paul Market. And let me tell you, it not only is the best in this market but it is one of the best in the country.

[00:01:14] And I am a true fan of the show I listen almost every morning and what I love most is just the chemistry that the team has on the Power Trip show and the fact that you make me laugh and smile.

[00:01:24] And who doesn't want to start their day with a smile every day?

[00:01:27] But we're going to learn from these guys about their background and how they got started in a radio.

[00:01:32] So let's kick this off and Chris and Kory welcome.

[00:01:35] Thank you very much.

[00:01:36] Thank you very much.

[00:01:36] Have you guys on the podcast and Chris, kick us off and explain to us you've been with K-Fan for over 20 years now.

[00:01:43] So why radio, how did you get started?

[00:01:46] I started in radio because I've been a singer my whole life as well. And I wanted to not have to work while I pursued my rock and roll dreams.

[00:01:54] And so I went to a broadcasting school in Dayton, Ohio. I graduated from high school in 89, went to a broadcasting school.

[00:02:00] Got an internship at the Big Wazoo Dayton's Dangerous Rock and Roll Station. My favorite radio station was a hair band station. I loved it.

[00:02:07] And I just realized that, well first of all, my whole life, I love my dad and I listened to talk radio. I've loved radio and my whole last but my whole life.

[00:02:15] But I realized how great it could be to be involved in this business to bring music to people, to bring, as you were saying, smiles and joy to people and communicate with people.

[00:02:26] I am an extroverted introvert. So I love talking to people but I like having some space between myself and them too.

[00:02:33] So radio is kind of perfect. It's been a dream job and getting to KFA in a little more than 25 years ago and starting the power trip 24 years ago, I feel like the lucky sky ever.

[00:02:44] That's fantastic.

[00:02:45] And Corey, we have something in common. We both started our jobs as interns and our left. So tell us about that. You started and you're still there.

[00:02:53] Yeah, it sounds like you made it a little bit further than I did.

[00:02:56] I got a couple of years on you. So I think we're good.

[00:02:58] No, so my we've made fun of this over the years on the power trip. But I started I was at the University of Minnesota and my college girlfriend was going to Australia for five months. So I was trying to find something to do while she was gone. Chris is already smiling.

[00:03:12] So I'm like, I loved being Dubai. I was falling in love with the station. So like maybe I'll just try and turning while she's gone.

[00:03:18] So I got the gig just as a time killer immediately fell in love with it and realized it was going to be way more fun than being a writer, which was what I was going to the University of Minnesota for.

[00:03:27] And then she broke up with me the weekend. She got back from Australia.

[00:03:32] And so then I actually used that as like a coping mechanism, right? I worked my ass off as an intern because I had nothing else to do and I didn't want to go home and be depressed. So I would just work all day. So she was the reason I started and then she was who is in my work yard. So thanks. It worked out.

[00:03:48] Huge thanks. Huge thanks to my gosh.

[00:03:49] And I'm really enjoying it and dumping me. Yeah, worked out for both of us. Well, what's great about your show is that I mentioned the chemistry between all of the personalities and you guys talk about everything from sports to entertainment to current events music.

[00:04:03] Of course, you have fun games that you guys play on with it and it's just you're so engaging for the audience. So what is this secret to the sauce? How do you guys how have you connected so well with the audience?

[00:04:14] Because you are truly a fabric of our community. People love and look forward to listening to every morning. We don't take that for granted. That's such a great honor.

[00:04:22] You know, when we first started doing the morning show actually when superstar and I before core even joined.

[00:04:28] We were doing a one hour show in the middle of the day and they asked us, we actually went and asked, can we do the morning show? Because it was an opening.

[00:04:35] And they asked me to write a manifesto like an idea what's the morning show going to be about it. I'll never forget I still have a copy of it. My number one idea was to do a feel good morning show.

[00:04:45] Because a lot of the popular morning shows in the market in my opinion were pretty negative, you know.

[00:04:50] And I just thought if you come in and you give people a way to feel a little better on their way to work in my work. And so that was the the very beginning of the entire idea was just to do something where you're having fun and making people laugh and make it a little bit better about their life.

[00:05:05] Building the show though and let's Corey take this part. We did it wrong for a long time and the great thing about taking over the morning show when we did.

[00:05:14] And Corey came in what five months after we took over.

[00:05:17] The expectations were so low that we were allowed to fail for a very long time and that is a major important part of the success of the show is we learned what not to do before we learn what to do.

[00:05:29] I love that you say that because we look at that all the time here at Malva, America is the fact that you have to let people fail because you push yourselves to learn.

[00:05:38] And if you're not feeling you're not trying hard enough and you don't learn from it so I love hearing that.

[00:05:41] And honestly I think that's a really important message these days because I think it's a generation that's grown up with seeing everything put in front of them that looks like it's perfect right away and it's not.

[00:05:50] And they don't realize the work that goes into it to get it where it is. Failure is important and having people that are around you that allow you that space so you can be your best enough antics self and succeed is huge.

[00:06:03] And it goes both ways right not only did we not do a great job at the beginning, but they wouldn't give us that same chance today because the the leashes in as long as it used to be so they gave us a really long ramp so luckily we've had a small degree of growth just constantly for 22 years.

[00:06:20] Now they expect overnight success so I think our window would be a few days out in about a year.

[00:06:26] Yeah, you're in trouble. So we had a really long chance to figure out how to do good radio and I would say the secret sauce in Chris and I are both giant disciples of Howard Stern.

[00:06:37] We knew pretty early that we didn't want to be a standard two or three person just talking to the microphone about sports radio show. That's why we have 93 people on our show.

[00:06:47] Yeah, because even if you look at the main three of us with Chris and sauce and I if you hate one of us you probably like the other two right but you at least relate to one of the three of us.

[00:06:58] So much easier to win when you can relate to at least one person that is a constant member of the show that helps.

[00:07:03] Yeah, one of the other things we found out early too is obviously we have to cover sports, we like sports some of us more than others, but one of the things we hate is when somebody's talking about a sport as if they're an expert and they're obviously not.

[00:07:16] So we bring in experts. We've got Ben Lieber for football, we got Mark Perry's for hockey, we got Marny Gellner and more for basketball.

[00:07:23] And we got Mark Rosennull knows everything so you bring in people who are true experts and you don't have to lie and pretend you're an expert when you're not and I think that's been an important thing and you combine that their expert knowledge with the fact that each one of those people I mentioned and every one of our

[00:07:41] Friendship feeling that we have and I love that because as a listener you don't have to be an expert but because of the dynamic that you have and that you're inclusive in that conversation.

[00:07:51] You can feel like you're part of it because you don't have to know all the details, all the stats, all the players, but you can be a fan and support and learn from you guys and it's a fun entertaining conversation.

[00:08:01] And as you guys know because it sounds like you both listen, it doesn't matter if we're talking about music or movies or sports. We're really just waiting for one of us to screw up so the other members of the show can just destroy that.

[00:08:13] Just pile up and just improv waiting for somebody to screw up. It's really what it is.

[00:08:17] I love that.

[00:08:18] Yeah it is improv radio. It's it's super fun because and people actually when they come up to me sometimes they apologize because they're like, I know I'm talking to you like I know you but I feel like I do and I'm like, that's exactly the point.

[00:08:30] Thank you for that. That's exactly what we want. We wanted to feel like you're sitting in a room maybe at a poker table with your friends and you're in there with us and I think that's been again the secret sauce for the success of the morning shows we've been able to communicate that.

[00:08:44] Well, Chris and his team lead all the experiential here at Malva, America. So we have.

[00:08:49] So we're going to start with the first two in with a couple different ideas over the years. I would love Chris to talk a little bit about that and our excitement and working with you.

[00:08:55] So I was unfamiliar with the charge challenge and the way it was explained to me, it sounds like you are always expected to lose.

[00:09:06] That has been the case that kind of likely.

[00:09:09] Yeah, yeah, it's just going to be.

[00:09:09] 8 of 13 years.

[00:09:11] I could say that 13 years.

[00:09:12] And not last year. I don't think you did.

[00:09:15] But in this was my introduction to this idea about the humiliation or the challenge that was going to happen and you wanted to do this walk at Malva, America and I said,

[00:09:27] would he dress up like for us come?

[00:09:29] And our team pitched it to your team and loan behold, you did it.

[00:09:32] Bam.

[00:09:33] You did it.

[00:09:34] And I understand there was great.

[00:09:35] Chafing.

[00:09:36] Oh, man.

[00:09:36] And the beard was uncomfortable.

[00:09:38] Chafing the beard.

[00:09:39] You're sure.

[00:09:40] No, but I mean, that was really fun and engaging and people came out and did it with you.

[00:09:45] But that was really fun.

[00:09:47] Like what? What is that for you?

[00:09:49] Well, it's awesome.

[00:09:51] And we were talking about as a matter of fact, looking at the charge challenge punishments for this year.

[00:09:56] You guys have been so great to us in such a great opportunity to do things and to try things.

[00:10:02] I mean, nobody else would have let us do that.

[00:10:04] And nobody else had the facility for us to do that.

[00:10:07] Even though I had blisters that I still, I swear they're still healing.

[00:10:11] It turned out to be a great big because as you said, people came out and followed me around.

[00:10:14] And there's a hotel.

[00:10:16] You know, multiple hotels right now.

[00:10:17] The premises.

[00:10:17] So I didn't have to leave the hotel.

[00:10:20] Yeah, that was strangely one of the toughest punishments I've had to do.

[00:10:24] And I've had to do a lot.

[00:10:26] But that was your fault.

[00:10:27] Hang on.

[00:10:27] I don't know.

[00:10:28] I just don't know.

[00:10:29] So the punishment was he had to walk 50 miles in the mall.

[00:10:33] And he couldn't leave the mall until he did.

[00:10:37] He had a comped room and no time limit.

[00:10:40] So you could have turned this into a week-long vacation.

[00:10:42] You guys would have hooked him up with a room.

[00:10:44] You could have walked six, seven, eight miles a day and taken his time.

[00:10:47] But he didn't about two and a half days with new shoes.

[00:10:50] Yeah, that was the problem.

[00:10:51] So destroyed his feet.

[00:10:52] He was in a rush to get out of here.

[00:10:54] I'm like, I would've spent the week away from my wife and kids and enjoyed the free room.

[00:10:58] And watching the office in my room.

[00:11:00] I have this issue.

[00:11:01] I have to get things done.

[00:11:03] I have to get them done now.

[00:11:03] I can't help it.

[00:11:04] But you know, we don't talk about that.

[00:11:06] We don't necessarily like the idea of the loser has to come to the mall.

[00:11:10] Yeah, we're going to get the whole of the mirror.

[00:11:12] We're going to get the whole of the mirror.

[00:11:13] We love that.

[00:11:15] And I think you're a brilliant marketer because I mean to be able to put yourself out there,

[00:11:20] have fun with your fans and be able to capture content for social media.

[00:11:25] And for people to really develop that relationship with you,

[00:11:27] and understand your personality.

[00:11:28] And just I love it.

[00:11:30] And so you can always count on us to support your challenges because we love doing crazy fun things.

[00:11:35] I've got a long list of ideas for you and I think that's great.

[00:11:37] And thanks to you guys for last year, hosting us on Black Friday too.

[00:11:40] Yeah, that's our anniversary show.

[00:11:42] We started on Black Friday and 01.

[00:11:45] So we've always when the rest of the market is off on Black Friday.

[00:11:47] We've always just done a show because it's our anniversary.

[00:11:50] But last year we came out here, played initials.

[00:11:52] And it was awesome because Marny won in the crowd.

[00:11:54] We say we're always loving Marny, going to win anyway.

[00:11:57] So to have it at the Rotunda and a giant crowd of people going crazy for that was an awesome moment.

[00:12:02] So that was super fun of you here.

[00:12:03] It was really interesting on Black Friday too because over in the Atrium,

[00:12:06] we're doing all the giveaways and everything.

[00:12:08] And then we go over and your audience is locked in.

[00:12:12] Yeah, we're dialed in and they were engaged.

[00:12:14] It was just an interesting juxtaposition about the energy over here.

[00:12:19] And the energy over there was so different but it was so much fun.

[00:12:22] So much fun.

[00:12:23] You guys are welcome back for that any time.

[00:12:25] I mean, it was such a great compliment to our Black Friday festivities and we loved it.

[00:12:30] So community is also another piece that you guys really lean into.

[00:12:34] You've done a lot out here, not only with your music but also just supporting community organizations,

[00:12:40] nonprofits, charities, really big piece of our heart here because we loved to connect with a lot of different organizations

[00:12:46] and be able to provide our space for them to do fundraisers and different awareness campaigns.

[00:12:50] So talk a little bit about not only what you've done here at Malph America but just in general for the community and what's important to you.

[00:12:56] You know, without being weird, it seems like you can always do more.

[00:13:02] You know, like I don't, and maybe this goes back to what we were saying about getting everything done in two and a half days and when I could have taken a week.

[00:13:09] But there's there always seems to be more people who need help but it's so gratifying to be able to take this little

[00:13:17] radio show and the thing that we built and help people with it and even going back to the former go for that we helped raise some money for it and

[00:13:25] his go fund me page last week and you know, doing the choice for tides thing here which we've done so many times.

[00:13:31] And I've even been a charity events down when it was still camp Snoopy.

[00:13:36] There was this little offside room and I did a futurity events in there.

[00:13:42] I forget what it was called, but it was right off a camp Snoopy back in the early days.

[00:13:46] Maybe something like that was like the first one of the first charity events I ever did for the power trip morning show so it kind of started here.

[00:13:52] But we have this this platform where we can we can take our modicum of fame and our our listeners are so passionate about our show that if we ask them to help normally they are willing and happy to do it.

[00:14:06] And so we just try to find as many ways to do that as we possibly can and again at the end of the day you wish you could help everybody.

[00:14:13] It just try to be as selective as you can and help as many people as you can while not taking too much time away from your own family.

[00:14:20] We appreciate your support because what you do is really important for the community and you've made a huge difference so we're going to for that.

[00:14:26] Thank you.

[00:14:26] I would wager that there's probably a ripple effect from that too that people that are going to donate or participate in your charity understand how that feels when they do that.

[00:14:36] And it carries beyond what you've done so using your platform for that probably has an effect you don't see.

[00:14:42] Yeah, and we probably have to just from a carmestam point where all the soft morica nonsense we spit out five certain lines of trade.

[00:14:50] You don't do charity work.

[00:14:51] We're probably pretty terrible.

[00:14:54] In Cori you have a platform that you support your huge advocate about mental wellness and I think that's a really important topic in this world today.

[00:15:02] And so yeah, Chris is way more into that than I am.

[00:15:05] I mean obviously it's super important.

[00:15:06] I have a couple of girls that deal with anxiety and my youngest has ADHD because you've been screaming mental health for years obviously with your path as well.

[00:15:14] Sure.

[00:15:14] Yeah, and again, I would say every member of the show and that goes to our insulating characters.

[00:15:18] You know, I'm talking about Mr. Mark Parrish and what has been through and I think it's interesting because every person that I speak to has some sort of experience or somebody in their family who is dealing with.

[00:15:32] anxiety or depression or something that hasn't been defined in them yet.

[00:15:37] So I had an opportunity a while back I wrote a song and Janne Shortal brought me on Carol 11 to talk to me about that song and ended up being like a 20 minute interview about my issues with depression and anxiety my whole life.

[00:15:49] And it was like a light bulb moment for me where I got so many people coming up to me, so it makes me text and I mean emails saying me too.

[00:15:57] You know me too.

[00:15:58] And I thought wow, if we can maybe take away that whisper and talk about it all out, maybe we can help people and these guys, man, we I think all of us in one way or another whether it be a lot of times individually with a person who just reaches out and needs to talk to you.

[00:16:14] But even some bigger events I think the need is there and I think we've all been more than willing to help.

[00:16:27] If you if you go across the whole spectrum of the show we have obviously women, we have old we have young we have essentially a lot of different points of our lives in play which means somebody has dealt with breast cancer like marney or like we you know Rosie had his losses wife a couple years.

[00:16:42] We've just seen the spectrum of different charities to get our hands on in the last 20 plus years just because so many of us have different pieces are parts of our lives that have been affected by different things so it's hard not to at least.

[00:16:54] Try to help out in those areas when those things pop up and it feels good right.

[00:16:58] It does.

[00:16:59] I mean it's the best we appreciate your your courage your boldness your authentic and genuine direction with that because I think it really people appreciate that the fans do support that.

[00:17:09] That's great so shifting gears a little bit.

[00:17:11] I would love to hear I'm sure Chris will as well the funniest bits that we don't hear about the behind the scenes those those live radio moments that.

[00:17:21] Stick in your minds that are memories that you just remember that you could share with audience.

[00:17:27] Most of the stuff behind the scenes ends up we end up with all those stories on the year anyway I'm trying to think of something.

[00:17:33] You know it's funny as you think and that's the truth I mean the one line the one thing that is a true is on.

[00:17:41] Is that life is show prep so part of the thing that that we have learned is we don't even talk to each other in the morning before the show never.

[00:17:48] We never speak the first time we've talked each morning is when the microphones come on because I don't want to tell him a story and make him laugh at my story before we actually do it on air.

[00:17:57] That's why we should always be recording.

[00:18:00] We have to be like it's music.

[00:18:02] It's music.

[00:18:03] It's music.

[00:18:04] Because those first introductory conversations are sometimes the best starters for the podcast.

[00:18:10] But we learn that lesson the hard way though when we we worked in Bloomington when the show first started.

[00:18:16] We used to do that star and hawk and I would sit in the bullpen area at the time.

[00:18:21] And for an hour and a half or something just rip jokes and all of our best sports takes and then by the time the show started we had to fake laugh because we'd already heard the joke it's like well now we're.

[00:18:33] We're all terrible actors.

[00:18:34] Yeah, okay.

[00:18:35] So let's just let's just prep separately and then just see what happened so sometimes it's like we have no idea where the show is supposed to start because we haven't discussed.

[00:18:42] Well, what we talking about first we just see what happens and sometimes the first segment sputters because we have no bearings and other times we come out of the game.

[00:18:51] We have something immediately and it's in its organic and then it's genuine and it's ten times better that way.

[00:18:57] Yeah, it always always makes it to air sometimes that's cleaned up but it always makes it to air you know I you know and you know even the charged challenge stuff like that we talk about we have our own power trip chat a text chain that we're all on every single one of us and.

[00:19:13] She's it's it's very funny and and a lot of it little too blue for the air, but you find the way to bring it there the Tommy Olson stuff is always the best you just never know what he's going to say Tommy Olson.

[00:19:24] Is one of ourcillary characters on every Thursday, former golden go for football player who has just become he's liquid caffeine he's human caffeine you know I mean he is he's the energy that comes into the show so.

[00:19:36] We everything that happens off the air finds his way to the air one way or another just has to be cleaned up a bit.

[00:19:40] So what are some of the new exciting projects that are on the horizon for both of you whether it's for the show or individually I mean Chris you've got music career.

[00:19:49] I don't know if there's another version of initials coming out but I love that love that any other.

[00:19:56] New projects on the horizon well I think that the in you know initials in the bars a huge thing.

[00:20:00] Yeah, it's been super fun we're off to a good start so yeah I partnered with the the trivia mafia guys we we got a location out here.

[00:20:08] At Malva America that's up to the bars themselves though but so the trivia mafia guys were just great they've been running bar trivia and this market for a long time approach me like a year and a half ago and so why don't we partner.

[00:20:19] And I said go for it and they have done an awesome job and it just started about a month ago but there's like 20 bars that have already signed up and they want like 80 more.

[00:20:29] So it's great it's great everybody to go and play on your phone so it's it's kind of anonymous if you're terrible at the game nobody makes one of you for your band answers because you can sit at the bar by yourself and type it in.

[00:20:39] So it's been great so yeah that's uh that's been kind of my new favorite passion to kind of get that blown up as big as possible.

[00:20:46] And that game you know I mean that game is his invention completely out of out of the air he's done all the hard work for it.

[00:20:53] That really changed everything for us we were succeeding at that point we were switching to FM you know we were growing and growing and growing but that game caught fire and gave people an opportunity to come check us out who would probably say I don't listen to support station.

[00:21:09] We don't talk much sports you give us a chance you're probably you're gonna like us and the initials game got people to listen who would never would have given us a chance they got to know us and realized we weren't just sportos.

[00:21:20] And they stuck around and I think that is the biggest octane boost to show ever got specifically women right we've heard that story at thousand times over the years that women just assume we were a dumb sports show and they wanted nothing to do with it but then their their boyfriend or husband or whatever got us.

[00:21:36] And they're gonna have a chance on Friday they heard initials and then they kind of fall in love with the show backwards and then they to Chris's point then they realize alright this shows like.

[00:21:44] 40% sports but the other 60% is pretty funny so we've kind of hooked them backwards over the last ten years but obviously we'll take it and it helps if even if the gal hates the show but can tolerate it now because of initials then the dude in the car has a better chance of at least listening.

[00:22:00] The other four days so yeah Friday has kind of been our portal and it's our job to hook on the other four.

[00:22:06] Well personally love the game it's been one of our family favorites and love tuning in to do myself in the car because then I don't have to be embarrassed amongst friends and family.

[00:22:15] Are you good at it?

[00:22:16] I don't know why.

[00:22:18] That's exactly how they make two.

[00:22:19] I'm good at it once and a while.

[00:22:21] Well it's gotten harder over the years because they got so good at it right like the first 50 or 100 games my clues were terrible.

[00:22:26] But they were honestly pretty terrible at it as well but then they got better and better and better so my writing had to get better.

[00:22:33] So now there are people that say the game's really tough but blame them because they got crazy good at the game.

[00:22:38] Had to make it more of a riddle.

[00:22:40] It is great.

[00:22:40] Well both of you, Corey Chris thank you so much for joining us sharing your stories and for fans of the mall if you want to hear more from these gentlemen.

[00:22:48] And tune in weekdays 539 on KFAN 100.3 you can listen to them every morning trust me you will enjoy it if you're not already a huge fan.

[00:22:58] So tune in next time to mall of America because podcasts follow us wherever you find your podcast and we'll see you next time.

[00:23:18] Go to podcast.mallvamerica.com to leave a review ask a question or give us an idea for the show until next time thanks for listening.

[00:23:29] So much more is presented by the Bloomington Convention in Visitor's Bureau the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington Minnesota.

[00:23:37] Before your next trip to mall of America visit BloomingtonMM.org for answers to all your travel questions deals and packages for hotel stays and so much more.