You might say Shruti Marathe was destined to be General Manager of WJPZ. She followed other alumni in working at her high school radio station in New Jersey. And when she got to Syracuse, her peer mentor was none other than Sam Kandell.
Shruti, or "Loops," was, like so many of us, taken by the culture and family environment of Z89. She quickly became an AP on the Z Morning Zoo and learned just as much about WJPZ culture as she did about performing on the radio. (And yes, she tells the story of how she ended up with the nickname that she still goes by now, in Los Angeles).
She talks about how the dynamic duo of Sam Kandell and Matt Gehring were referred to as "Mom and Dad" at the station. The latter is still "Dad" in her phone, which has led to some awkward moments!
Shruti wanted to continue the family atmosphere she witnessed at the station from day one. She became legal director, and eventually general manager, where she continued the tradition of making WJPZ the world's greatest media classroom.
Following graduation, Loops went out to LA. She spent a lot of time under the mentorship of the late Larry Barron. While most of us know what a legacy Larry left to the station in the 80's and 90's, he was still helping and connecting even our more recent grads, all the way up until his passing.
Shruti really has embraced her Los Angeles Orange community, to the point where she's been asked if she has any local friends that didn't go to Syracuse. And in her time there, Loops has worked for Ace Entertainment, The Cartel, and now Lilly Singh's company, Unicorn Island.
We wrap with a laugh, and how the Rednex cover of Cotton Eyed Joe played into her college experience.
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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JAG: Welcome to WJPZ at 50. I am Jon Jag Gay. I'm joined today by another former general manager of the radio station from the class of 2019, Shruti Marathe. Welcome to the show.
Shruti: Thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure.
JAG: I'm also told I could call you Loops, but we'll get into that later on.
Shruti: I still go by Loops out here in LA.
JAG: Thank you for joining us from Sunny LA. Take me back to the beginning. How did you find out about Syracuse when you got there? How'd you find out about the radio station?
Shruti: Yeah, great question. I was lucky enough that when I was in high school, our high school had its own radio station. It was a tiny radio station where You could barely hear it even if you were in the parking lot of the school, but it was still a learning experience.
I got to learn radio and learn how fun and enjoyable it is, and a lot of people who graduated from my high school went on to Syracuse and I was lucky enough to know that like Syracuse is a great program. And then when I got to Syracuse, I was matched up with a peer mentor named Sam Kandell, who is the GM before me.
And my peer mentor, Sam, told me, you will be joining Z89. All of your friends will be joining Z89 and trust me, you're gonna love it. And she was correct, and I'm so lucky that I was told that I would be joining Z89 because it made my college career so much more fun and gave me all of the friends that I still talk to today.
JAG: That's so true for so many of us. And it's funny, we're recording this full disclosure on June 13th. Not sure when it's gonna air, but I actually just edited the episode with Matt Gehring and Sam Kandell yesterday.
Shruti: Oh, amazing.
JAG: So her episode is fresh in my mind right now, so that is not surprising to me at all to hear about what a rockstar Sam was. . And what a rockstar you became. Tell me what you did at the radio station once Sam got her claws in you and said, you're coming this way.
Shruti: Yeah, the first thing. All of me and like my fellow people in my class so like Hannah Butler and then Ankita Varman we were all told the Z Morning Zoo is where it's at.
So we were clamoring to get on the zoo. Obviously, it was super competitive, but we started on our own individual shows, AP's on different days of the week on the Z Morning Zoo, but that's how we met the upperclassmen who were like pros on the board and pros on the mic and really learned how to, get a casual, fun conversation that people would enjoy listening to at six o'clock in the morning.
And then from there second semester I ran for the legal director of the station. I'm pretty sure I ran unopposed, but I got that position, so that was awesome. And then was inspired as throughout my time on the exec staff at Z89 to be like, oh, this is really awesome to be in a leadership position and kind of not just speak on the mic, but enact change and create an environment that everyone else wants to join the station.
So I was inspired to run for GM that year. And was GM the following year. And yeah, the rest is history.
JAG: You mentioned Sam earlier, who were some of the other upperclassmen that were there at the station that sort of set the tone when you were learning to be on the zoo and all the other stuff? Some of the other names that come to mind?
Shruti: Sam's best friend, Matt Gehring. We literally called them Mom and Dad, like they were our parents. To this day. Matt Gehring's contact name in my phone is Dad, Matt Gehring, because I will instinctively type Dad instead of Matt if I'm going to text him, so I won't find him.
JAG: I would imagine you would wanna text different things to different people in your phone named dad. So you wanna differentiate that.
Shruti: I'm lucky enough that I don't call my parents mom and dad. I call my parents Aai and Baba, which is the Marathi word for mom and dad.
JAG: Oh, okay.
Shruti: Which is why I think even to this day as a 25 year old, I still call Sam and Matt Mom and dad, which is like a little weird when we're like, getting dinner in New York, I'm meeting up with Matt and I'm like, Hey dad, how's it going? And people are like, what is going on? That is not his daughter. He's a year older than you. I have accidentally even called Matt dad on air and then had to be like, thanks Dad... Matt, and had to correct myself because that would be weird for listeners to hear, but.
JAG: So you never explained that part of it on the air?
Shruti: No. I guess we could have, but being an on-air personality where we weren't college students, we were, professionals was probably weird to be like, yeah, I call my colleague Dad.
JAG: So Sam and Matt, who else?
Shruti: My first Zoo AP experience, I was AP'ing a Zoo with Paul Mancano, Nate White, Allie Wahl, and Anna. I wanna say, I can't remember Anna's last name, but they were all fantastic. That was my second semester of freshman year. I remember one of our Zoos was actually the morning after Syracuse made the Final Four and we were all running on adrenaline cuz nobody had slept that nigh. Nobody had. I think I went to sleep at a round. 2:30, 3 o'clock that morning and woke up at 5:30 to Paul picking me up to go to the zoo. That was another great thing about upperclassmen where if they had a car and you lived really far from the radio station for zoos, they would pick you up from your dorm.
JAG: Where were you living?
Shruti: I was living in Brewster Hall. So the BBB's?
JAG: Yeah. That's, you didn't wanna do that walk at three in the morning?
Shruti: No. Yeah. Exactly. But I was lucky to have Paul pick me up and no, they were all great. I'm going to Ali's wedding this September. So definitely a friendship that has lasted through the years.
JAG: Very cool. Very cool. So you talked about wanting to impact the culture and impact the station more than just air, and you went through becoming legal director and working your way up to GM. What are some of those things that were going on at the station that were your top priorities when you were gm?
Shruti: The reason that I was attracted to the station was when I went to my first training session. It was like a party. Yeah. You know what I mean? Everyone was hanging out, but it was the kind of party where because it's radio and you can't talk over each other, everyone had a voice. Nobody was ever pushing anyone down or trying to overshadow anyone. And so that was just the culture and the mentality that I wanted to keep going forward. Again, I was so lucky that so many GMs and HR directors before me had really set the tone of what the station would be like, which is a family and a place to hang out.
And keeping that as a key component of Z 89 was really important to me. I was also at Z when we had our, I was GM when we had our antenna installation upgrade, so that was a pretty huge and fun, big deal. Technologically, most of that went over my head. I was lucky enough to have Alex Silverman and Tex to guide me through that and explain to me what was going on while I observed, but as a, sophomore in college to observe, something so professional and technologically advanced happening was a huge learning experience just for myself to see all of that happen.
JAG: That was the upgrade to a thousand watts a couple years ago. It's awesome to hear you talk about that vibe at the station and that family atmosphere and how welcoming it was because we've had alumni on who graduated in the seventies, talk about that. We've had alumni from the eighties, nineties, two thousands, 2010s, talk about that. It's really one of the things I think that's endured throughout 50 plus years now of this radio station is it was that warm, welcoming, small family group on, what was otherwise a pretty big campus.
Shruti: Yeah, and it's not even just the people that you go to school with, which is, I think the coolest thing is that like Eileen Spath, who, we were never at Syracuse the same year, but I still consider her a really good friend.
We listen to the same podcast. I text her about it when there's like a change in the lineup. She's so fun and I really cherish her friendship and we never went to Syracuse at the same time. And that's the coolest thing about Z89 is that it really builds these bonds through people, even if they weren't in college together.
JAG: There has been over the last decade or so, such a run of amazing women who had leadership roles at this radio station. You go back to Allie Gold. You mentioned Eileen, Sam, yourself. So many amazing folks have come to the radio station in the last 10 years, and it's so great to hear that tradition continuing.
Any other alumni that you didn't go to school with that you've, you formed connections with? Either it's through banquets or just networking?
Shruti: Yeah. When I moved out here I was, connected to LA or even before I moved out to LA. I was connected to Larry Barron being told like, he will be the best resource he's so great.
He was a former GM and we talked on the phone so much before I moved out to Los Angeles and he was so helpful giving my resume edits, putting me up for internships. Like I had never met him before and he was still being so helpful. He sadly passed away a couple years ago, but like the fact that he was such a mentor and somebody I could really rely on no matter like what I needed. Like I remember two or three years ago I was up for another job post-grad and I was considering taking it, but I hadn't been at my previous job for a year. So I was like, I don't know if this is a good luck if I leave a job in less than a year. And my sisters were like, oh, what does Larry say? Like this guy that had graduated so many years before me and owed me nothing. But again, he just always went above and beyond to help people. And that was really nice cuz I didn't know actually that many Z89 alumni out in LA. So like even though it was a small presence, Larry really made like the 89 presences in Los Angeles known.
And it wasn't just me. Everyone I know that has moved out to LA from Z that Larry got to meet, but he was there to help them, which was awesome.
JAG: I am really thrilled that you mentioned Larry Barron's name because obviously, we can't have him as a guest in the podcast because he passed away recently.
But there were so many alumni from the late eighties and early nineties that have talked about what an amazing influence he was and his huge role in the history of the radio station. And to hear that, all the way up until his passing, some 20 years later, 30 years later almost, he was still working with as many alumni as he could and helping as many of you out as possible.
I'm really glad you brought his name up.
Shruti: Yeah, no, he was really the best and his PD was, Weinstein, what's his first name? Carl Weinstein. Carl's son. Cole Weinstein was a year younger than me at Syracuse, and so like the connections still continue, and Cole is also always talking so highly about Larry.
Everyone knows everyone and everyone always wants to help and support each other, which is such a great thing about Z.
JAG: So you mentioned moving out to LA. Take me through your career since graduation.
Shruti: Yeah, so I graduated in 2019. I moved out to Los Angeles in August of 2019. I would've moved out sooner, but I had tickets to go to the Con of Thrones, Game of Thrones convention in July. And so I didn't wanna..
JAG: Priorities!
Shruti: Exactly, I didn't wanna like move to LA get a job and be like, by the way, I need a week off to go to Con of Thrones. And actually that was another thing that Larry told me is move out when you're ready to move out, because once you start working, you'll be working for the rest of your life.
Whatever you wanna do in this weird in between period of post-grad, pre-work, do it and like really capitalize all of that. And I'm so happy it got to to Con of Thrones and I got that advice from Larry. But when I moved out here, my first job in the industry was working at a production company called Ace Entertainment.
And I was the second assistant to the head of the company there. So I was more of a personal assistant, like a big component of my job was taking care of his dog, who I love dearly and I miss all the time. But eventually I did need to move on from that job and then got a job working in representation at a management company called Cartel, which my family would love to make jokes about cuz it was called The Cartel.
JAG: Oh, geez.
Shruti: But they repped writers and it was honestly a great experience, I feel like in Newhouse, through the TRF program, people are constantly telling you, like when you graduate, go to an agency, go to a management company, work in representation, cuz you'll learn so much. And it'll be like grad school.
And I heard it, and let it go in one ear and out the other because I didn't wanna go into representation. And when I got my first job and at production company I was like, great. Didn't have to go into representation. I made it. But then I ended up, going back into a representation job and it was probably the best thing I could have done for myself.
Just cuz everyone is right. Everything that Syracuse TRF was telling me about, learning a lot in representation, I guess I should have listened to them because I learned so much in those two years.
JAG: What did you learn there?
Shruti: Just being in the center of everything. You know what I mean? I feel like when you're at a production company, you're talking to writers and you're talking to networks and studios, but then you just interface with yourself. You don't, unless you're co-producing something with someone, you don't really meet with that many other production companies. When you're in representation, you're talking networks and studios and production companies and writers and other agencies.
You know what I mean? So you're just in the middle of all of everything and really learning every facet of how development is happening, how projects are being put together, what is being green lit, all of that. And that was just a great learning experience to know, oh, this buyer wouldn't be interested in making this project if you already have another animation studio attached to it before bringing it.
And random things like that you don't really learn it normally. You have to learn it through the day-to-day of a job. And then at the end of last year, my friend told me about Lilly Singh's production company hiring a junior executive on their team. Lilly Singh, she started her career on YouTube, but has then gone on to do a bunch of other things in the film and TV space.
The company's called Unicorn Island. I just joined this past January, in a couple days. It'll be six months at this new job, but I'm loving it. It's been great ever since I joined.
JAG: Congratulations.
Shruti: Thank you.
JAG: What are some of the things, and before I ask you this, let me ask ‘cause I wasn't sure I hesitated cause I wasn't sure whether I was gonna call you Shruti or Loops. How did the Loops nickname come into play?
Shruti: It was given to me when I first joined Z89. Another friend who was our year, Alyssa Sullivan gave me two different nicknames. Shruti Pebbles and Shrut Loops. And Shrut Loops is the one that stuck more. And there were certain events that happened early on in my freshman year where I got a little bit too intense and people coined the phrase that "Shrut's lost her loops." And so I think that's what really made the nickname stick. And ever since then, people Loops was just such a great radio name that I really loved it. And even out here in LA, people were like should I call you Shruti?
Should I call you Shruthi? And I'm like, you know what? Just call me Loops. It's so much easier. And I love it. It really makes it known how people know me, if they call me Loops.
JAG: It's so funny, again, the stories that repeat over the years. We had a previous episode with Scotty Bergstein, who graduated in the late eighties, and he went by Hot Shot Scott on the air.
And he moved out to Los Angeles after he graduated. And he'd be in a bar or walking down the street and he'd hear "Hey, Hot Shot," because there is such a Syracuse community in Los Angeles. Outside New York. It's gotta be just one of the biggest Syracuse alum communities out there.
Shruti: It is ridiculous how many Syracuse folks are out here. It's great because you have your own network and community and friend group because there's so many Syracuse people out here. But it's to the point where I have a friend out here who didn't go to Syracuse, and she's do you talk to anyone that's not from Syracuse? And I'm like I'm working on it.
I'm trying to expand my non-Syracuse friends out here in LA. Are a couple months ago, our house hosted a party, A Everything Everywhere, All At Once themed party, which I don't know if you're familiar with the movie, but you come to the party dressed as a version of yourself from another universe. So this one friend who gives me all the shit for only talking to Syracuse people came dressed up as a Syracuse grad.
She came with a Syracuse hat and she bought all this stuff on Amazon. I was like, why did you pay? She was like, I'm gonna return it next weekend. I was like, why did you pay for it? All of us could have given you any, like we all have way too much Syracuse gear.
But she said the joke was for us and she wanted to be a surprise. So she didn't spoil the surprise for any of us. But it is again so true that like she was the one non-Syracuse grad in Syracuse gear at this party.
JAG: I love it. That's awesome. What lessons do you feel like you learned at JPZ besides obviously the culture that we talked about earlier, what do you feel that you learned that you took with you into your career so far?
Shruti: At the end of the day, it's a fun and a family environment, but we were dedicated to operating as a professional radio station, so that meant dealing with strict codes and being as professional as possible. And sometimes there was a lot of disagreement. I remember one time, a couple months into my term as GM.
I got a phone call voicemail from somebody who I won't name, but basically screaming at me over the phone and it was terrifying. And I was a, again, a sophomore in college and I hadn't been yelled at so intensely before over the phone. And I had to schedule a follow-up meeting with this person to talk about why they were so upset about what happened at the station.
JAG: And I won't ask you a name, but can you give me a top level of what they were so upset about?
Shruti: It was like basically the logistics of their position. Because I was told that apparently, we had to hold a new vote for their position and they were just upset that they would have to be voted in again basically.
And it was scary to work in that environment. I don't know if you remember the GM office at Z89, but it's a small little enclosed space. So I was like, oh G-d, this is gonna be so scary to meet with this person. But it really taught me, especially now working in Hollywood where everyone is constantly yelling at people like sometimes who will be mad and you can't scream back at them, that's not gonna be a productive conversation.
You need to make sure people feel heard, but also at the end of the day, make whatever workspace you're working in to be as comfortable for everyone working in it as possible. And if you need to tell people that they can't yell at others, that's something that was my responsibility to do, even though I had been yelled at.
But like I was like, you can't do this to other people. You can't create an inhospitable environment at the station. Cuz my number one goal here is for it to be a family community.
JAG: Got it. Before I let you go, are there any funny stories we haven't covered yet of just, get together with, I know you guys had such a great group in that 18, 19, 20 range of folks.
Are there any stories that, when you get together with folks a couple years later and you still look back and you would laugh over a beer at Faegan's or something like that?
Shruti: Great question. There's definitely us joking about me calling Matt Dad on air. We still laugh about that and I think that, we were also attached to the station. There was a running joke that I was a huge fan of the Cotton Eyed Joe when I was in college. I just found a very catchy song. So whenever there were parties, I was like, guys, we need to play the Cotton Eyed Joe,
JAG: This is the Rednex version?
Shruti: Exactly. Nobody will let me play it until like past midnight, closer to 1:00 AM when people were a little bit looser. And obviously I was never allowed to play it on air because that's not a top party song that would blink, but, and one of our last nights in college, me and Hannah and Keats were on our way back to our apartment and we stopped by Z89 and we played Cotton Eyed Joe on air and we all did it in the studio and it was so much fun to all be doing Cotton Eyed Joe. It's long. You can get winded by the end of that song.
JAG: Oh yeah.
Shruti: It was the workout of the century and we had so much fun. And I still have those videos of us all doing Cotton Eyed Joe together in the radio station.
JAG: So this is circa 2:30 AM I'd be guessing.
Shruti: Yeah, that would've been, yeah, like May, 2019 at 2:30 in the morning. We can go through the logs. Sorry guys. I did end up playing Cotton Eyed, Joe, on air.
JAG: Most alumni, I say we're past the statute of limitations, but with you, I don't know, we might still be within it.
Shruti: Oh, no!
JAG: Loops. You had told me before we started recording that you're really proud of the peer mentorship program you had at the station when you were there. Tell us about that a little bit before I let you go.
Shruti: I was obviously very lucky to have Sam be my new house peer mentor and bring me into Z89 when I was a Newhouse peer mentor.
The year after that I brought the following VP of business, Alessia onto Z89 because it was like, you also need to join Z nine. But our mentor tree was a little bit smaller. The biggest one I know of is Eileen Spath was a mentor to a girl named Natalie who worked at the radio station, was also on the Zoos.
And Natalie was Matt Gehring's peer mentor. And Matt Gehring was my friend Jacob's peer mentor. And I think Jacob mentored one more person who he got to join the station. So we had like a tree of five peer mentors to mentees that were just bringing people into the station and we put a lot of pressure on Jacob and the following mentee like, you can't mess this up.
You need to bring somebody into this station. But again, I just love those little, family trees of mentees that form through Z's community.
JAG: And that is a great place to leave it. Shruti, Loops. Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us today and we'll look forward to seeing you soon.
Shruti: Of course. Thanks for having me. Hope to see you in March.