User:HelenRLittle

From childhood, Helen Little was inspired by a bevy of varied musical tastes that were sprinkled throughout the large family of which she is a member. It was this love of music that drew her to radio and fueled a career that has spanned over 25 years. She started with no experience on the weekend overnight shift at a small AM station in North Carolina and now fills offices, homes and cars across the New York area as the midday host for Clear Channel's WLTW- 106.7 Lite FM, America's most listened to radio station!

Helen can also be heard on Clear Channel’s Soft Rock Channel, which is a part of the iHeartRadio.com application that serves well over one million subscribers via cell phone and internet. Clear Channel has further expanded her broadcast audience by placing her on a number of their stations across the country. She is now heard on over 20 additional stations in markets like Chicago, Detroit, and Las Vegas.

Little began pursuing her career in radio and music while at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been heavily involved in the industry ever since. While in college, Helen joined an all female a capella group that she sang, wrote, and arranged for. But behind the scenes was much more promising than the stage. So she pursued a position in radio, her field of study, and earned a shift as an announcer at WCHL-AM in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Practical experiences in hand, Helen moved back to her hometown, Salisbury, North Carolina, for the opportunity to work full time at a radio station she grew up listening to.

Determined to encompass more knowledge, Helen Little entered record retail. Her time in retail management at Camelot Records broaden her scope of the music business. A natural born multi-tasker, she held down a position at WGIV in Charlotte, North Carolina, hosting and programming a jazz show at the same time. This opened opportunities at stations WFXC, WRAL, and WQOK in Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina. From there she was promoted to her first Music Director job at WPEG in Charlotte where she also hosted the midday shift. Her next move was to WCKZ in Charlotte as an early morning co-host. At this time she enrolled in studio recording technique classes to learn more about making the music she so loved.

It was time to relocate outside of her home state. Ms. Little was hired to host middays in Dallas, Texas at KJMZ. Her hard work and determination again paid off as she went on to become the Music Director and later was promoted to Assistant Program Director. After being observed as a premiere talent in the radio industry, she got the call to go to the #1 market in the country. Little accepted a position in New York to be the voice of the midday at WBLS. Once again, her love for music and pursuit of excellence was noticed and rewarded as she was promoted to Music Director. Later she joined radio legend, the late Frankie Crocker in the afternoon as a co-host. Helen Little had more goals to accomplish, however. She journeyed a short distance to Philadelphia as the midday announcer and Assistant Program Director at WUSL. In less than a year she proved worthy of a promotion to Operations Manager. Through her hard work and diligence the corporate officers recognized her efforts. When they created the Office of Product and Strategy, Little was the one they called to take the position as the Director of Urban Programming. She became involved with some of the country’s leading stations in markets like Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Boston and San Francisco, bringing her influence to their sound. Throughout her radio career she garnered a reputation for introducing new artists, exposing great new music, and nurturing and developing talent. For decades this remained on her daily list of things to do. It was that relentless passion for the music that impacted Little to venture down another career path. She set her sights on the record business and landed the position of President of U.S. operations at RuffNation/Warner Brothers Records. Helen worked in direct relationship to the development, marketing, promotion and production of the label’s artist and music. Her music industry experience also includes music distribution as she served as Vice President of Urban Marketing for Warner Music Group’s distribution company, Warner Elektra Atlantic Corporation as well.

Little then returned to her roots in radio as Operations Manager for Radio One in Philadelphia overseeing the cluster of stations WPHI, WRNB, and WPPZ. All of her efforts led her back to the number one radio market, New York, New York where she served as Program Director for Clear Channel’s WWPR, Power 105.1.

Helen Little has not limited her work in media to just broadcast radio or records. She has been heard on Sirius Satellite Radio and served as an international correspondent for Webb Internet Radio. In addition she has been seen as an occasional guest commentator on the Fox News Network as well as other television programs including The Today Show on NBC and has also been a blog writer for the entertainment section of the Huffington Post and a sports blogger on the Grid Iron Gals site.

Many times Helen has been recognized by the industry for her accomplishments. Among the numerous accolades, she has received awards for her work as a Music Director and on-air personality. In addition, Gavin Magazine, Impact Magazine, the National Black Programmer’s Coalition, Radio & Records, S.I.N. Magazine and Billboard Magazine have all named her Program Director of the Year. She has also won the 40 under 40 Minority Executive Award and NABFEME’s Stiletto Award for Radio Executive of the Year 2007 in addition to other community based honors. In 1999, she was awarded the Salute to Excellence award, given annually to a music industry executive that exudes excellence.

Little has had a high profile in several professional organizations including NABFEME – The National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment, where she served on the board of directors and NARAS – The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, where she has served on the Philadelphia Chapter board of governors.

With a passion for speaking and inspiring others, Little has been a regular guest lecturer on the subject of Radio and Music Marketing at St. Joseph’s University and Drexel University in Philadelphia, as well as a guest speaker at Hampton University in Virginia, Fordham University in New York, and New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, NY. In her spare time she has performed volunteer work with organizations like Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic and recently voiced an audio book Bonding with Baby for Developing Hearts Systems, a non-profit educational publisher.