Q&A with Hannah and Eliza Reilly

No one is more surprised by their new found celebrity status than Hannah and Eliza Reilly themselves.

Ahead of their address at the 2018 CBAA Conference, we caught up with Eliza to go back to their start in radio, working on the graveyard shift at FBi Radio, through to their 2017 ABC television hit Growing Up Gracefully. 

What is your first memory of community radio?

Eliza Reilly (ER): Hoping for the best! Hannah and I were given the coveted spot, the ‘Allnighters’ show on FBi Radio, which covered the graveyard shift. We had no idea what to expect, and roped in our friend Miles Martignoni, who currently works at 2ser and The Guardian, to help us through our first night. It was a crash course on community radio, and was so much fun. It was an environment of learning to adapt quickly and trying to come up with content to engage with your audience. I remember one of my first pieces was giving listeners tips on how to fall asleep!

What is the best lesson that working on community radio has taught you?

ER: Community radio is a creative environment like no other. It really has given Hannah and I the opportunity to hone our content creation skills in a way that I don’t think any other platform could. It also has taught us so much about the wider community and ways to connect. Community radio speaks to pockets of our community that often get overlooked.

We’re looking forward to having you both at the CBAA Conference in November - what part of the conference are you looking forward to most?

ER: Connecting with the industry! There are so many amazing, talented people working in community radio, we can’t wait to take a back seat and learn from everyone. There is so much amazing work happening in the sector at the moment, especially out of Sydney. We love the work coming out of Koori FM in Redfern, and Hannah has a new favourite show coming from community radio that plays old time hits! Overall, we are big fans of community radio as a whole and we can’t wait to dive in, and be part of it all on the Gold Coast!

If you had to give one piece of advice to those considering working at a community radio station, what would it be?

ER: Just keep showing up! I started volunteering at FBi when I was in high school. I kept showing up every day, and it got to the point where I had to be encouraged to go home. Make yourself useful and learn from those who are around you and you’ll have a great head start.

Make sure you check out the line-up to CBAA's 2018 Conference and click here to grab your tickets.