We Need More Celines. More Rachels. More Stuarts.

A dispatch from CRS 2026, and a real reason to feel hopeful about radio.

I love being behind the scenes. Today at CRS, I got to watch a panel I helped design come to life, moderated by my friend and consultant Kenny Jay, who did a phenomenal job.

Kenny, Celine, Rachel and Stuart

But the real story was on the stage with him: three people who had never been to CRS before, sitting in front of a room full of industry veterans and talking about the future of radio.

Three first-timers, and easily the most exciting thing I saw all week.

Let me tell you about them.

Celine: Social First. Radio Second. That’s the Point.

Celine Tremarchi didn’t come up through radio.

She launched her podcast Country with Celine in 2021, covered major events like the CMA Awards, CCMAs, Boots and Hearts, and CMA Fest, and built an audience by being compelling on camera. That work led to her role at JR Country and as an in-arena host for Canucks Sports & Entertainment.

Radio came second.

And that might be the right order now.

I’m still amazed there are people on radio stations who don’t use social media. Not “don’t use it well.” Don’t use it at all. Meanwhile, being on the air has never been more accessible. You don’t need a broadcasting degree. You need to be compelling. You need to build an audience.

Every market already has people doing that. Building local followings. Creating real communities.

We should be saying: you already know how to do the hard part. We’ll teach you the rest.

That’s the Celine path.

We need more Celines.

Rachel: She Walked Into Her GM’s Office With an Idea

Rachel DeHart is the Digital Marketing Manager at Cumulus Nashville. She started in sales, realized it wasn’t the right lane, and instead of leaving, walked into her GM’s office with a better idea:

Why aren’t we developing our talent as local influencers?And why aren’t we connecting advertisers with the influencers already winning in this market?

So she built it.

Rachel launched Cumulus Nashville’s influencer marketing operation from the ground up, inside a legacy media company. She’s collecting no’s to get to yes’s, and turning that into a real business.

There is real money here. And too many radio sales teams still treat social as a throw-in. A few Facebook posts at the end of a deal.

That’s not a strategy. That’s missed revenue.

Rachel saw it and built something around it.

We need more Rachels.

Stuart: He Built What Radio Used to Own

Stuart Deming is the co-founder and on-camera host of XPLR.NASH, a fast-growing local media platform focused on exploring Tennessee.

Restaurants. Outdoors. Neighborhood culture. Family-friendly finds.

His content reaches more than 450,000 people across platforms. Last year alone, he featured over 450 local restaurants.

Walking the CRS hallways with Stuart was a throwback. People stopped him constantly:

“I follow you.” “I love your content.” “Thanks for that recommendation.”

Twenty years ago, that was radio talent.

Stuart rebuilt that relationship from scratch. No signal. No promos. No sales team. Just consistency, volume, and authenticity.

Up to five videos a day.

His content doesn’t feel like advertising because it isn’t. It’s useful. It’s local. It’s trusted.

And there isn’t just one Stuart. There are dozens in every market right now.

We need more Stuarts.

So What Do We Do With This?

Can we build a Stuart with our existing talent?

Can we partner with the Stuarts already in our markets?

Can we hire a Rachel to build real revenue around it?

Can we find a Celine and give her a microphone?

Yes. To all of it.

But it requires letting new people in. New paths. New thinking.

Today, three first-timers showed up at CRS and showed a room full of veterans exactly what that looks like.

We don’t have a talent problem.We have a recognition problem.

We need more Celines. More Rachels. More Stuarts.

The door isn’t closed.

We just haven’t been opening it.