Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindy Lehto.
Hi Lindy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a radio presenter, voice artist, wife and mom to a 1-year-old. I live in cape Town, South Africa.
My radio career started on the University of Cape Town’s campus radio station, UCT Radio in 2004 while I was studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in radio broadcasting. After graduating, I hosted radio shows on various platforms such as Online radio (Mutha FM) and Retail Radio (Brights Radio & Sound of Ackermans).
I joined my first commercial radio station (Smile 90.4FM) in 2014 and currently co-present Smile Breakfast with Bobby Brown on weekdays from 6am to 9am.
Earlier this year, we formed a partnership with Delta Airlines to promote their soon-to-be launched direct flight from Cape Town to Atlanta. Delta kindly flew the Smile Breakfast team to Atlanta to spend a week in the city, do some sightseeing and then broadcast our show live to our Cape Town audience, sharing our experience of this incredible city.
The schedule was crazy, as we had to pack our day with activities and tourist attractions to talk about on air, then do our live broadcast at night from 00:00 – 03:00 USA time. We had the absolute time of our lives!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I was starting out in radio the one thing I did notice was my male colleagues constantly asking me if I needed help. I found it frustrating at first but it gave me more of an incentive to prove that I was able to do the job just as well as them, if not better. Thankfully, I’m at a place where I have very respectful co-workers who always have my back and are a lot of fun to work with.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Smile 90.4FM is a bilingual, adult contemporary radio station, broadcasting to the Cape Town metropolitan area on 90.4 FM and digitally on the Smile 90.4FM App and www.smilefm.co.za.
We ensure companionship, comfort and delight; and provide moments of escapism through our daily on-air offerings.
Smile 90.4FM delivers on its music positioning of Better Music & More of It by playing familiar, bright, and sing-a-long hits from the eighties to now. Artists include Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and John Legend – all your favourite songs are on Smile 90.4FM. The R10 000 No Repeat Workday Guarantee ensures we play the widest variety and the best soundtrack to your workday.
News that Cape Town Needs to Know Now, every hour on-the-hour from 6am to 7pm, keeps Cape Town in touch with the news of the day that impacts them.
Promotions and competitions on Smile 90.4FM are driven by innovation and creativity – like our award-winning R2 Million Campaign (SA Radio Award Winner 2020 ~ Multi-channel Promotion category), Live Inside & Win the Ride; and our various ‘Smile-In-Action’ initiatives, which play an important role in assisting and helping our audience through community-based projects.
I’m proud to co-host Smile FM’s flagship show, Smile Breakfast with its signature competition, Smile Secret Sound. I pride myself on initiating engaging conversations, sharing relevant information and making Cape Town laugh (even if it’s at my expense). I like to keep my on-air content warm and relatable.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I didn’t have one particular person but I did have a few people along the way who were happy to share their wisdom, their learnings from past experiences and their mistakes. The biggest learnings come from the biggest mistakes! I think it’s important to find someone who you can trust, who is genuinely interested in helping you, not just having their ego massaged.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @LindyLehto
- Facebook: Lindy Lehto
- Twitter: @LindyLehto
