William Mabula’s story of rising to become a radio presenter is nowhere near being a fairy-tale but instead he had to fight to keep his dream alive.
William (25) was in grade 10 when his dream of becoming a radio presenter got stuck in his brain, it was cast in stone, he knew what he wanted and there was no going back. William would pretend that he was on radio while doing presentations in school. William did not receive much support, his classmates discouraged him and his parents did not think that radio presenting is a valid career. “Even my teacher wanted me to become a teacher, I was a vibrant student, I was always answering questions in class and very confident”, said William. Fortunately his uncle and aunt encouraged him to keep going.
It was also in grade 10 when William’s life took a negative turn when his parents separated. This meant a huge emotional and financial strain on his family. “Despite all these challenges, I remembered my dream, I kept my dream alive. It was so hard that I sometimes couldn’t focus at school, fortunately I had teachers who were encouraging me. I had to keep my head held up high”, added William. The dream of being a radio presenter was once again sparked when William was employed at Jet, he listened to Jet FM and this reminded him that his calling is in radio. While in his hometown Marble Hall, he kept sending his CVs and his first demo was rejected.
William also decided to send his CV to one of the biggest radio stations in Limpopo and he was told that he needed to have two years’ experience in radio before they can employ him. He then started researching on what was needed. “I got a learner ship online with GoodHope FM, because of lack of funds I didn’t complete. Then I started doing demos and sent them to various radio stations”, said William. After all the trial and error, William sent his demo to local radio station Lephalale FM were he presented the 12:00 to 15:00 show Madireng Current Affairs and Boshigo show.
“My whole family was listening to all my shows and even calling me before I go on air. I realised that we need to be disciplined for our dreams to get what we want. All those in school should not lose hope, it all depends on how you handle the situation. You cannot change your yesterday but you can change your tomorrow”, added William.
With Lephalale FM temporarily off air, William is currently doing voice overs for radio advertisements. He is also working on a few things that are still in the pipelines which cannot be revealed at this point.