A garage band musician in upstate New York came to the conclusion that if he wanted to make money, he was going to have to change careers. If he couldn’t become a successful musician, then being a DJ playing other people’s music was the next best thing. This kid’s vision didn’t go much further than that. But as his career progressed, Ray Quinn’s passion for radio and for the people with whom he worked grew to make him one of the most esteemed and respected executives in the business. The Alabama Broadcasters Association recognizes his contributions to the industry with an induction into the ABA Hall of Fame.

“I saw an ad on a matchbook cover for a DJ school and I called the phone number,” smiles Quinn. “A guy came to the house with a microphone, honest to God, and recorded me.
He told my mother how ‘gifted’ I was. So, I took a 14-hour bus ride and went to a three-month DJ school in New York City – and that’s how I got into this business!”

It wasn’t an especially prestigious start, but it wasn’t long before Quinn parlayed his training into various DJ jobs. From there he became a program director in Wilmington then Baltimore then Philadelphia. “You know, Philadelphia was a top five market in the country and I found myself working at a very legendary radio station,” says Quinn. “I must have been 30ish … it was pretty remarkable.”

“Then I set my sights on becoming a manager and lo and behold I got hired to go to Louisville, Kentucky,” says Quinn. It’s at about this time that his career connects with Alabama. “I was handed the keys to what was the last beautiful music station in Birmingham.” Quinn quickly changed the format and within a year, it became one of the top-rated stations.

Quinn’s next move was to San Antonio where he started his own radio company.  From there he went through Madison, Milwaukee, and Denver. It was in Denver that a friend who worked for iHeart (ClearChannel at the time) invited Quinn to take on the management of their stations in Birmingham.

“The farthest thing from my mind was to backtrack to Birmingham, but when I looked at the opportunity, it just seemed like I was the right fit,” says Quinn. “I thought I’d spend a couple of years there and move back to a bigger city, but Birmingham was a wonderful place and iHeart promoted me and kept giving me more stations to run and more responsibility. So, I was very fulfilled and spent the last 17 years of my career there.”

Quinn credits his success to the many people with whom he worked. “I learned early onthat my success is nothing more than the success of other people added up. And so, if I could hire the right people and inspire and groom them and help them become successful, that could make me successful,” says Quinn. “So, I think one of the things I’m the proudest of is, is just the track record of having developed so many other people who are in the industry that have become successful, for having spent some time with me.”

“He’s really good at figuring out how to put the puzzle together of assembling a really great programming, sales, promotional, engineering staff, et cetera,” says Tom Hanrahan who worked with Quinn for 14 years and is currently VP of Country and Talent Development at Summit Media in Birmingham. “He’s the kind of guy that when he walks into a room, he can suck the oxygen out of it because he just brings in an energy and command and knowledge of the business from all sides.”

Bill “Dollar Bill” Lawson also has high praise for Quinn. “I just retired and after 50 years in the business, Ray is by far, is the greatest general manager and boss I’ve ever had,” says Lawson. “Some bosses think that no one can look better than them. He’s one that believes the better everybody around him looks, the better he looks. He wants everybody to do well and be happy in their jobs. He’s amazing. He really is.”

Quinn’s advice to young people in the business is to embrace change. “It’s going to change even faster in the next 50 years, and so be always a student, be always looking for the next big thing, and be always reinventing yourself,” says Quinn.  “Don’t rely too much on any one thing or any one person or any one company. You know the phrase: if it’s to be, it’s up to me.”