Mazie Jones Eaton, a 2016 ABA Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee, discovered she had a talent for sales in 1979, the year she answered a “helped wanted” ad placed by WSLV AM. Mazie’s broadcast sales career may have started out small in that local, Ardmore, Alabama radio station, but the journey took her to the big time. Today, as Senior Marketing Consultant for iHeartMedia , Eaton is known and respected within Alabama’s broadcasting community as one of the industry’s major sales professionals.

“I started out at $100 per week. No gas trade. No commission. Just $100,” says Eaton. “On my first day out when asked what our format was, I had to think to even know what they were talking about! But I made a sale on that first day,” she laughs.

Eaton worked at WSLV for seven years quickly rising from her beginning “temp” job to Sales Manager. Thanks to a great account list and her knack for making relationships with clients, Eaton’s $100-per-week days were over.

In addition to her demanding job at the station, Eaton opened a ladies’ boutique in Ardmore called Mazie’s Golden Slipper. Her mother managed the store, but Eaton was the buyer, making sure the store’s merchandise matched her vision for the enterprise. Somehow she also found time to work at the boutique in the evenings and on weekends.

Eaton saw that radio was changing; FM stations were becoming more popular while AM radio was losing listeners. In 1986, she decided to close her store and leave WSLV for greener airwaves. WDRM FM in Huntsville hired her within a month, but it wasn’t an easy transition. Her new salary was based on straight commission instead of salary plus commission.

“I’m a relationship seller,” says Eaton. “So going from selling $1 commercials to spots that cost $20 … later over $30 … took some convincing. “ Eaton put her sales talents to the test and, as usual, succeeded. Her first big accomplishment at WDRM was in getting Landmark Chevrolet (now Landers McLarty Chevrolet) on the station for the first time. “Their first contract was for $2,300 a month – wow,” she laughs.

Eaton says her career has been full of challenges, but that’s the way she likes it. When asked for advice concerning a successful broadcast sales career, she says to practice the “three p’s”: prayer, persistence and patience.

“It has worked for me. God has richly blessed my efforts,” says Eaton. “I have been surrounded with lots of good people and I enjoy every minute I can spend with my family and friends. “

Word of her induction into the ABA Broadcast Hall of Fame has brought on a common question. “Some folks ask when I plan to retire,” she smiles. “But after thirty years with WDRM, I’m having way too much fun to quit now!”