The Author - With Beard

About

The Basics:

Jerod Schaefer
Billings, MT
(406) 861-2851
jerod {at} jerodschaefer.com

Background:

Most of the early part of my professional career was spent in information technology of some sort in the broadcasting industry.  My first real job was in 1990 with a country music radio station –  KFLN 960 AM “The Hitkicker” broadcasting out of a 50’s era bomb shelter in Baker, MT (no joke – the studio was attached to a bomb shelter from which broadcast could go on while the world around burned) .  I got the job because the Speech and Drama coach, Carol Bettenhausen, knew of an opening and thought I was a good fit for the job.  So I went in and did a quick reading from one of the Associated Press stories. I remember the story I read had to do with the first Gulf War specifically concerning one of Saddam’s generals and for the life of me I couldn’t pronounce the guy’s name.  Despite my failings with the general’s name they gave me a job.  I was so excited to be working in radio even though my musical palette was pretty simple and contained only a handful of artists – none of which wore a cowboy hat. I enjoyed the work and even though I NEVER got a pay raise (thanks, Jay) my time there helped to instill a love for radio and for broadcasting in general.

After four years at KFLN I went off to college to pursue my education. My first year of college was spent in Glendive, MT at Dawson Community College. As with many college freshmen, I was unsure of what I wanted to do “when I grew up” so I spent the my first year in Glendive taking as many of my “general education” classes as I could.  I had a full-ride music scholarship (I played brass instruments and can carry a tune when necessary) so I figured I would get as much of them out of the way as possible before moving on.  After completing a year of study at Dawson my new bride, Sue, completed her associates degree and we moved to Billings, MT where we both attended school at Montana State University – Billings. Throughout the rest of my college career I worked at an office supply store where I sold computers and worked in the copy / design center. After a year there I was promoted to Customer Service Supervisor where I learned the value of treating customers as I wanted to be treated.   In May of 2000 I graduated from MSU-B with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management with a major in Information Systems.  In October of 2000 I started working for a radio station group that owned 26 stations in Montana and Washington.  It was a great gig where I learned a lot about broadcasting and developed my web management, graphic design, and IT skills.  Eventually that company was purchased by a capital investment firm along with numerous other smaller station groups in the western US.  I continued to work for that company until the end of 2008.

In January of 2009 I began working for ABC6 and FOX 4 television in Billings, Montana as the Interactive Media Manager for their website product, www.YourBigSky.com.  This position provided me the opportunity to not only manage content for YourBigSky.com, but I also got to offer it to my clients as a way to effectively market their business.  It was been a bit of an adjustment for me to be on the “other side” as a salesperson, but with my years of customer service experience during college and tagging along on sales calls while in radio, I was able to help my clients’ businesses grow. While the job was certainly not easy, I really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with local business owners and develop long-term growth strategies.  As the Internet continues to grow more and more people are researching online and buy offline so local businesses stand to greatly benefit by creating and maintaining a web presence.

I left Fox / ABC / YourBigSky.com in April of 2012 to work at Computers Unlimited in Billings as an Implementer / Project Manager for their audiology software, TIMS. CU is one of the places I have always wanted to work and I have very much enjoyed the opportunity to learn new skills and it was a real blessing to work with a friend from the church here in Billings. I worked at CU for a little shy of 5 years and during that time I learned much, traveled a lot, greatly increased my business knowledge, grew my skill set, and increased my confidence in the business realm.

After much prayer and consideration, I made the decision to leave Computers Unlimited (a job that I loved) for a local company that was offered an opportunity to become part of the company’s ownership. After nearly three very difficult and stressful years I came to the conclusion that the ownership opportunity was never going to materialize and left the company to work as a contract data analyst in the oil refining industry. The change has been night and day (set schedule, hourly pay so a set number of hours per week, MUCH less stress, etc.) and I have enjoyed the opportunity to advance my technical skills.

I’m still wondering what I want to do when I grow up (even as retirement is much closer than it once was).

Interests:

I am a devout Christian and am dedicated to being a leader to my family. My beautiful wife and I have (almost) raised four kids who have been a wonderful gift and blessing. We do our level best to raise our kids with a deep sense of purpose and a love for people.  I trust that with God’s help they will continue to grow into wonderful adults who will accomplish more than we will.

In what spare time I have, I enjoy spending it with my wife and kids, photography, adventure motorcycling, and studying various aspects of science as it relates to creation. 

More to come…

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