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Doreen
Pendgracs |
Profiles & Essays Samples: BE
TRUE TO YOURSELF© You've probably heard her friendly voice on the radio, weekday mornings between 5:30 and 9:00 a.m. on Q-94 FM. Frazier co-hosts the successful morning show with Beau and Tom, the two cajolers who have been bringing smiles to the faces of Winnipeggers for the past 10 years. Frazier joined the pair five years ago and the show's ratings have continued to rise. "It was supposed to be a one-year gig," Frazier said, reflecting back on the offer she received to join Q-94 while still working out in Alberta. "I was working in Edmonton at the time. It had been a hectic seven years of working in Salmon Arm, B.C., Moosejaw, SK, Calgary and then Edmonton, but I've always been adventurous." Frazier's 36 years have seen her call many communities home, but the return to Manitoba has brought her full circle. "I was born in Churchill," she says. "My father was in the airforce so we moved a lot. We lived in Flin Flon until I was about eight and then moved to Alberta, but I have very fond memories of Flin Flon. It was the safe kind of place you could really feel free." Feeling free has always been important to Frazier. "I'm one of those people who feels the grass is always greener on the other side. When I was 13, I told my parents I wanted to live on my own. I had to stick it out a few more years, but left home two weeks after graduating from high school, and moved to Australia for a year when I was 19 -- with just $500 in my pocket." Still independent as ever, Frazier says she's single and in absolutely no rush. "I'm not going to compromise myself in order to get into a relationship," she says. "I think as women, we tend to take love too literally. We almost want to create a Martha Stewart concept of life where everything is perfect. Maybe we read too many fairy tales as kids and it's affected our reality." Frazier believes her strong commitment to independence stems from the experience she had during a longtime relationship. "I lost my identity during a relationship that spanned several years. Looking back, those were dark years for me when I truly lost myself." But a rebirthing process has put Frazier back in control of her life. "I remember watching the old version of Mame. In it, Rosalind Russell says, 'Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.' That was a real epiphany for me," says Frazier, who encourages us all to take a good look at our lives. "All women have the right to change their lives. I think it's important to claim those rights -- to feel happy, angry -- whatever. This is the first step in empowering yourself and taking control of your life." Some of her strength, Frazier says, comes from her spiritual side. "I have a strong spiritual belief system. I pray, I meditate, and I read a lot -- generally four or five books at a time." Right now, Frazier is reading Dr. Christian Northrup's book, Women's Bodies, Women's Souls, which centres around holistic healing."Every woman should buy this book," says Frazier. One wonders when she finds the time to do all that reading. Frazier rises each weekday morning at 4:00 a.m. to walk her dogs, and then heads into Q-94 to help 'make our days'. "I try to listen to my soul -- and my body," she says, indicating that she rejuvenates with mid-afternoon naps whenever her energy level is running low. "I believe I'm here to live life to the fullest," she reflects, pointing out that when she received the offer to join the Q-94 morning team, she made it clear she wasn't about to take a back seat to her male counterparts. "I took the offer to come out here with the guarantee that I would not be a giggle chick," she said. Frazier says radio is still a very male dominated industry. "There is a glass ceiling in this industry. The ratio of women to men is incredibly uneven and women are not taught to be fearless and stand naked. So they end up becoming the type of announcers their bosses want them to be. I wasn't about to be salad dressing to any show." Her opinionated nature, coupled with a self-proclaimed stubborn streak tell Frazier she's not the easiest gal to work with. "But Beau and Tom are resigned to the fact that I am who I am and I love them for that." The show's continued success has earned them a 22 per cent share of the listening audience, and the stats -- according to the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement - are even more impressive when tied to women listeners. Q-94's Morning Show is listened to by one out of every four working women in the Winnipeg marketplace. "If somebody likes me on the radio, they're being exposed to the real me, and probably will like me as a person," says Frazier. "I feel very honoured that people feel they can relate to me. I'm proud of my accomplishments and that people can relate to them." Frazier is well know throughout the city as an advocate for the rights of animals, inner city kids and the institutionalized elderly. "My heart goes out to any creature -- be it human or animal -- who doesn't have choices." Frazier says she's always just a phone call away for the Human Society. "It's fallen upon us to take care of all God's creatures, but instead we've chosen to destroy." ... page 2.
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