Bozell employee, Bryan Mohr, and his radio show c0-host, Michael Shearer, were highlighted in Shout!, an Omaha arts & entertainment newsweekly, focused on Omaha’s young professionals and creative class. If you would like to find out more about Shout!, please visit their site.

The Weekly Grind has a Whole New Meaning
By Meghan D’Arcy

Many outlandish yet intriguing creations have been conceptualized while bellying up to the bar, though most of them are quickly forgotten, and those that aren’t are laughed at the next day over a Tylenol and water breakfast. Koozies, the tuxedo t-shirt, Baileys in Guinness, but a talk-radio show for young professionals?

Well that’s exactly where The Weekly Grind was born. After a few too many Scotches and a chance encounter with local radio host Tom Becka at Dundee Dell, Bryan Mohr, a 29-year-old copywriter for Bozell, and his future co-host Michael Shearer, the 30-year-old sales director of Ameripride Services, decided they were tired of listening to “some gray-haired old dude who’s 60” talking about issues they didn’t care about. Armed with liquid confidence and not much else, the pair charged ahead, gaining sponsors and a radio spot before they’d even overcome their hangovers.

That was February 2009, back when Mohr admits, “We were horrible.” A lot has changed since then. They still provide an off-the-cuff radio show, only loosely planned the day before at a coffee shop, which discusses local young professionals and the issues that affect them. They keep things relevant by looking at what is going on in Omaha, and trying to talk to all the right people. But now they don’t have to chase down their guests and plead with them to go on-air, the guests come to them. Like recent guest Wendy Townley, whose new book, Nerdy Thirty, is about turning 30 and all the lessons she has learned. In fact, they’re all for promoting young professionals and their business endeavors, focusing on events, charities and young people doing great things in Omaha, like upcoming guest Ben Cohoon, race director for the Market to Market Relay.

At 10 a.m. every Saturday on Omaha’s KOIL 1180 AM, they go on-air and “just let it rip.” Their natural and unpolished style is part of the appeal of the show for young people. They’re not over-researched or biased; as the show goes on, they “grow with the really organic conversation.” Quite the opposite from other talk-radio shows, ahem Rush Limbaugh (not that we’re mentioning any names), which don’t consider young people’s perspective.

Mohr, who met with me this week, says that one of his top guests has been Mayor Jim Suttle during his campaign in 2009. Although, he had to admit that his favorite guests have been the guys from Lucky Bucket who shared their Brew of the Gods on-air in the studio room. Tough day at the office.

Other recent guests include United Way of the Midlands, Mustaches for Kids, local musicians and an author who criticized Omaha for building two stadiums. Hey Mister, leave the city alone!

What gets these guys out of bed at an unnatural hour on a Saturday to sit in a studio and talk for two hours? Their love for the city of Omaha and all it has to offer. Mohr admits that he’s “not going to say it’s 100% there yet.” But he does say that Omaha is becoming a professional hot spot. He contends that the art community is growing and thriving, bringing hoards of creative young people here, along with their fresh perspective and innovative ideas, in fact, this is a common thread on The Weekly Grind.

“I think what young professionals want when they get out of college is a place where they can have a billion options to choose from to go have drinks and dinner, as well as good career opportunities,” Mohr said. With several Fortune 500 companies and increasing entertainment options, Omaha is quickly joining the ranks of other young professional Meccas, such as Portland, Seattle, Chicago and Austin, whose tech boom made a tiny college town explode into one of the top American cities for young people. And just like Austin, Mohr believes that the growing creative community in our fair city is what’s going to get us there. “We’re not big now, but if we keep building this creative community with great minds, maybe some day Omaha will become a bigger city,” Mohr said. Hear, hear!

To hear more from Mohr and Shearer, tune into The Weekly Grind Saturdays at 10 a.m. on Omaha’s KOIL 1180 AM, or visit theweeklygrindradio.com.