SHINE’ing the Spotlight on…
Caroline Hutchinson

Caroline Hutchinson is a wife, mother, part time home re-arranger and full time food and beverage enthusiast.

She has been part of MIX FM for 22 years.

When she is not on the air Caroline likes cooking, eating, lying on the beach, lying on the couch, watching TV and lying in bed reading.

Caroline, you’ve worked in radio and media for many years now… tell us about the highlights and why you gravitated into this area? 

There are so many highlights – but I guess the things I remember most are the Give Me Five stunts, when the coast really came out to support us.  When I was stuck up a crane, or we did the Mexican Wave on the beach or the Full Monty.  I gravitated to radio because I like people.  I used to be a television journo – and radio just seemed like a better more friendly version of the craft.

You light up so many people’s lives with your morning breakfast show, but I particularly love how you talk about and achieve so much for the greater good of our community and raising funds for charity. Why is this important to you and can you share a couple of stories of instances that have impacted on you personally in a great way? 

I come from a small town, and in my head the Coast is a small town too.  We all rely on each other and one small kindness can change a person’s life.  The things that impact me the most are the stories of families in hospital.  One mum, Jos, talks about sitting in hospital for weeks at a time with her beautiful Isabella, and as it gets dark, she  watches the traffic out the window on Kawana Way and thinks about everyone in their cars going home from work or sport to dinner, homework and TV ….and her nights just feel so long.  The stuff GM5 buys can’t fix everything, but it means the world for people like Jos to know the coast cares and is doing all it can to help.

You would spend a lot of time working to deadlines and being on the run or on the fly… what systems or skills do you use to manage this and keep focused and on track?  

I am deadline driven.  I will ignore something for days and then do it in a hurry.  I like to think it’s because I am percolating the perfect plan of action in the back of my brain, but really I think it’s just because I can’t fit everything in my head at the same time, so I just get to things when I can.  (Probably not the response of a highly effective CEO!)

Who are some of the most memorable people you’ve worked with over the years and why?

John Williams, my current CEO, is my favourite boss of all time.  He listens, he is really supportive of his team and he cares about the Coast.  I adore the Chairman of our board too who is a passionate capitalist with a left wing heart, my favourite type of human. At Mix FM we are a family, from the on-air staff to the people who make the money, and the connections in between, we all care deeply about each other and it is fun to be at work.  I love them all.

And what’s next on the agenda for Caroline Hutchinson? 

Hmmm…my mind is entirely on my daughter Jemima who is in the UK.  I get my second vax next week and the minute they open the gate Johnny and I will be on the next plane.  Before that happens, we are taking a tour group back to my home town of Margaret River in WA.  That is going to be fun. I don’t know if I have any career goals.  Will try to think of one before the lunch at Bella!

Favourite book and why? 

So hard because I love to read – but my favourite book lately is Dictionary of Lost Words.  Because I love what it said quietly about women and people not considered to be important.

What do you do in your spare time?  

I am a home re-arranger.  I love to cook, buy homewares and have people over.

Who do you look up to and admire?

I admire ordinary people.  I love people who run sporting clubs for no money, people who remain calm when things go wrong, people who work really hard in their job and  butchers who flirt with EVERYONE who comes into their shop.  You get the gist, I just like people who make the world a better place.

To find out more about Caroline and 92.7 Mix FM head to:

Website
http://www.mixfm.com.au/shows/mark-caroline/

Facebook
@927mixfm