{"id":28724,"date":"2022-01-26T11:24:23","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T17:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/?page_id=28724"},"modified":"2022-01-26T11:24:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T17:24:23","slug":"leigh-simpson-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/leigh-simpson-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Leigh Simpson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"When your mother is one of the most well-known and admired people in town, it can be hard growing up in such a large shadow \u2026 especially if your mother was Agnes Simpson, general manager of WOOF in Dothan, Alabama, and the very first person inducted into the Alabama Broadcasters Association\u2019s Hall of Fame. But not only did daughter Leigh fill Miss Agnes\u2019 very large shoes, she, too, became one of Dothan\u2019s most respected citizens as general manager of the station. Which is why the ABA is honored to also induct Leigh Simpson into the association\u2019s Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I do is because of Mama,\u201d says Simpson. \u201cSo when Sharon Tinsley told me about the award and that it was the very first time a parent and a child would be inducted, that made it worth everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Simpson can\u2019t remember a time when radio wasn\u2019t a part of her life. She said that she and her siblings were regularly at the station from a very young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to pick up the coffee cups, empty the ashtrays, clean the floors and fill the Coke and Pepsi machines \u2026 anything she told us to do,\u201d chuckles Simpson. \u201cThere was even a little table in Mom\u2019s office with a typewriter and that\u2019s where I worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"As her children grew older, Miss Agnes increased their radio knowledge. \u201cWe all had to learn how to work shifts,\u201d she says. \u201cAll of us knew how to run the board in our teens.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in college Simpson made a decision that resulted in her life-long dedication to radio. \u201cMom was having problems at the station during my second semester as a junior,\u201d she explains. \u201cI decided I needed to help so I left school and went home. That\u2019s how I jumped into it and I was there from 1982 until my retirement last October.<\/p>\n

Although Simpson has had many accomplishments throughout the years, she\u2019s most proud of how she changed the work culture of the station. \u201cWhen I first got there, it was a revolving door, but then I was kind of the mother hen,\u201d she smiles. \u201cI tried to take care of everybody like I would like someone to take care of me. And employees started staying, working there 20, sometimes 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWe had a very, very good family atmosphere. We raised our kids together and as we got older we all talked about our extended pains together,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt was a family \u2013 on the air and within the station.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson took care of the community like family, too. \u201cIf you truly believe in radio, it\u2019s a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job. I believe in live and local \u2026 in having a staff there around the clock,\u201d she says. \u201cIf the EMA needed to call to tell us about something that\u2019s going on, there\u2019s got to be somebody there to answer the phone and put it on the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important to me to be a family-centered radio station on the air just like we were in the station. That\u2019s the way radio was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The decision to retire was a hard one.  \u201c I love radio – it’s been my life, but you know, I was tired,\u201d says Simpson.  \u201cMom always said she wanted to go out of the radio station feet first. I did not!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd corporate radio is just not the same. It\u2019s just not me,\u201d she says. \u201cSo retiring was the best thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson says she\u2019s still very much in touch with what\u2019s going on at the station. \u201cI still talk to Michael, (Michael Anderson, current general manager), every day. We can get online and I help fix things,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I kind of participate because you know, I love it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When your mother is one of the most well-known and admired people in town, it can be hard growing up in such a large shadow \u2026 especially if your mother was Agnes Simpson, general manager of WOOF in Dothan, Alabama, and the very first person inducted into the Alabama Broadcasters Association\u2019s Hall of Fame. But … Continue reading Leigh Simpson<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28724","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28731,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28724\/revisions\/28731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}