Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruce Wawrzyniak.
Hi Bruce, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In college, I majored in Media Communications and had a focus on broadcasting. Ironically, while I did get some jobs in radio, it appeared as though it would all end up in my rearview mirror because my professional career got started in public relations instead. I worked for ten years for a National Hockey League team, yet as I transitioned into a job as VP/Public Relations at the league office for North America’s premier pro indoor lacrosse league, I was seeing broadcasting coming back into some of my duties. By the time I moved on, I had done radio and TV broadcasts for three different teams for games on – among other carriers – regional sports networks and an ESPN Radio affiliate.
In my next full-time job, there ended up being more broadcasting too. I was the Director of Communications for the International Softball Federation, which was the world governing body for the sport, including at the Olympic Games. I was with them for ten-and-a-half years, including serving as the Chief Press Officer at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Along the way, I traveled to 17 different countries, some of them more than once, and can still picture sitting in a press box in Venezuela, broadcasting games from the women’s world championship.
Nowadays, I still do some broadcasting for the University of Tampa (men’s and women’s lacrosse games, and sometimes the women’s softball games too), although I have my own business, Now Hear This, managing and promoting recording artists, authors, other creatives, and the occasional entrepreneur/small business client too. It should come as no surprise, though, that I’m extremely active behind the mic, hosting my own podcast, “Now Hear This Entertainment,” which I’ve done every week since February 2014, interviewing guests who are having success in entertainment (primarily music).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Everyone encounters adversity along the road, some more than others, but either way, it’s how you handle it that better prepares you for other challenges that will come. In the hockey job, I got a crash course in crisis communications with no fewer than three incidents that immediately come to mind.
When I moved to Florida in September 2000, it was to find a new job and the search lasted much longer than I anticipated. The job with international softball had a crater-sized pothole – not just a bump in the road – when the sport was dropped from the Olympic programme. But, there are great lessons to be learned from all of these occurrences and they better equip me to run my business and serve my clients.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In February 2014, when I launched my podcast, I thought it was simply going to be a marketing tool for my business. I thought that maybe someone would be listening in insert-city-here and say, “Wow, this Bruce guy seems like he really knows his stuff. I should get in touch and see if he can manage and promote ME from across the miles.” Little did I know what podcasting would grow to become.
Fast forward to the second half of 2021 and I’m closing in on my 400th episode of “Now Hear This Entertainment,” and the show has gotten listeners from 155 countries around the world. If you would’ve told me when I first started doing the show that one day I would be a featured speaker on stages around the country (talking about podcasting), I would’ve looked at you strange. Sure, I speak at music industry events, but again, podcasting in early 2014 was nowhere near what it is now.
I started off doing my podcast at a recording studio, where I was told that the biggest compliment for my show was guests telling me week after week, “Wow, that’s a good question,” or “Thanks for having me on, Bruce. You ask really good questions!” Of course, keep in mind that as a publicist at my core, I’m all about promoting, and you have to stand out by being different. That was why I designed the show to be a full-length, feature interview so that (a) the guest wouldn’t be getting the same predictable questions in the standard 5-7-minute format, and (b) there could be a balance of promotion (the guest’s newest song, album, music video, etc.), but also some education so that the listeners who are up-and-comers could learn how they too could attain similar success.
I’ve been blessed to watch my network of contacts increase – which then benefits the clients I serve – as I’ve interviewed guests on “Now Hear This Entertainment,” ranging from Roy Orbison, Jr. to the keyboard player for Aerosmith to the lead guitar player for Garth Brooks to the drummer for Cheap Trick to the bass player for P!NK to the trumpet player for Billy Joel, plus, four GRAMMY Award winners, a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, a Las Vegas headliner, three Emmy Award winners, and even participants from “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent,” and “The X Factor” (including one singer who won “The Voice”).
As I travel for business to Nashville and Los Angeles and other locations and events, I have a whole list of people I can connect with – all because of my podcast. At one point, I did transition away from the recording studio I’d been going to. I was fortunate to land a deal with TASCAM that not only outfitted me with all the recording gear I would need to do it on my own, but even remotely for when I’m on the road, doing interviews on-location. They even contracted me to do an official podcast for their company, which we did every other week for a year-and-a-half. I know that my dedication and consistency are a big part of what helps keep “Now Hear This Entertainment” growing.
How do you think about happiness?
As much as I have been told that I light up when I talk about my podcast, I’d much rather talk about my wife and our two kids than “Now Hear This Entertainment” or any facet of my business for that matter.
While the pandemic is said to have helped scores of people shift their focus to what’s really important in life as well as how precious life itself is, it didn’t take the world shutting down and everyone being forced to shelter in place for me to see the great joy right under my nose. While it’s tough to beat a day at one of our beautiful beaches, I’m even happier being with Wendy, Tom, and Samantha, regardless of the location.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, though, what a huge fan I am of the Buccaneers, Lightning, and Rays. I have loved my city for years, and the transformation to “Champa Bay” has only made me speak with even greater pride for our region.
Contact Info:
- Email: bruce@NowHearThis.net
- Website: www.NowHearThis.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowhearthisentertainment/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NowHearThisInc
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NHT_tweets
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/watchNHT
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nowhearthisinc?refid=stpr
- Other: http://bit.ly/spotifyNHTE
Image Credits
Top photo (headphones, blue shirt) – Rick Tauceda
iHeartMedia sign photo – Rick Tauceda
Black and white headshot – Jeff Fay/Hollowtree Images
