Recently while in Miami I had a chance to hang out with South Florida’s Number One Radio Personality and one of voiceovers best known names, Zurek. I’ve known Zurek for many years and he has been a talent that I’ve modeled my own career after.
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It was 1998 when I first heard this bold radio personality on V-103 in Atlanta. I was a college student studying to be a radio personality myself when I tuned in to a fresh voice and fun take on afternoon radio on an otherwise bland station. At the time, metro Atlanta wasn’t known for racy radio or a personality that took chances. And they weren’t ready for Rick Party who brought his brass, in your face, no holds barred style from Chicago to the South. But his time in Atlanta was short and it would be years before I heard of this voice again.
Fast forward to 2006, I was with my mentor “Postman“. We were watching BET in Postmans studio while working on commercials when I heard that voice again. Not realizing that it was the same voice that had breathed life into V-103’s afternoon drive 8 years earlier, I asked Postman “who is that?” He replied “Thats Rick Party. Thats my man. I used to work with him too.” When I found out that Zurek was in Miami, a place that I frequented, I asked Postman to introduce me to him.
Postman Speaks On Encouraging Zurek To Do Voiceover
I met Zurek for the first time that year in Miami over breakfast. He was extremely cool and down to earth, humble but confident. We talked about his journey to perfect his craft. He taught me about the art of using my inner voice and even shared with me some equipment advice which I took. We even talked about some very personal things like family and challenges. The words that he shared with me on his relationship with his oldest son hit home as I battled with having been laid off from my day job and trying to gain a footing in voiceover as a full time profession. I never forgot how he shared with me his never ending support for his children as they found their paths in life. My parents were the same way.
But thats the thing. Whether you know him as Zurek or Rick Party, you know him as a genuine, hard working and inspiring personality. What he says is what he really feels. And those qualities are the same qualities that he uses everyday in both his personal and professional lives to connect with other people. Zurek went on to connect the Voiceover community in 2008 when he founded Voiceover Universe. It was a Facebook for voiceover where talent, from the most seasoned like Don LaFontaine and Joe Cipriano to newbies could network and post demos. Zurek also started groups on Facebook and Linked In for talent to chat and share ideas.
In 2013, after years of solely doing voiceover and imaging, Zurek went back to radio in South Florida and introduced a more conscious version of the Rick Party Show. This time he was out to share his message of family, health and hope while still bringing that same fun feeling that he had when I first heard him back in ’98. Within a year he has been named South Florida’s #1 Radio Personality by the Miami New Times.
I shared with Zurek and his co-hosts some of my past struggles dealing with depression and anxiety. He encouraged me to share with all of South Florida this inspirational message: