Candy O’Terry
Stories are Gifts
I wish my mother had lived longer. I wish I knew more of her story.
Marjorie died of breast cancer when I was a teenager, and that loss defined me for a long time. She had big brown eyes and chestnut hair. A real New York City girl, she had been a buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue and Bonwit Teller. Her fingers were long and her hands were soft when she turned her palm to check my forehead for a fever. My mother was different from all the other moms on my street because she worked full time and she didn’t apologize for it. I remember her saying: “Stand on your own two feet, Candace. It’s wonderful to fall in love and get married, but never lose yourself to someone else.” I wonder if Marjorie was also psychic because I was married at 21, had two small children by 25, and was a single mom, singing in smoky bars on weekends, with no heat in the house by the time I was 32. Clearly, I had not listened to my mother.
But during that dark time in my life, I learned a valuable lesson: you can sit in the corner and feel sorry for yourself, or you can just put one foot in front of the other. Before you know it, you’ll be in a whole new place, (say it with me) standing on your own two feet!
Many people in Boston and throughout New England know me as Candy O on Magic 106.7 (WMJX) or as the center judge on the legendary TV show, “Community Auditions, Star of the Day”. I spent 25 years on the air at Magic 106.7, but my rise through the ranks required equal parts of energy and courage. As a lifelong singer with a degree in English from Boston College, I strategized that getting a job at a radio station would be the perfect use of my skills, so I applied for a job that got my foot in the door and was hired as the secretary to the program director. There was little hope of ever getting on the air, but I decided to soak up everything I could about the business of radio and waited for my moment to shine.
About a year into the job, one of our overnight disc jockeys started falling asleep on the radio. My boss told me to call him and say, “If you fall asleep one more time, we’re going to have to let you go.” The next night, the poor guy fell asleep again and got fired. With no one to fill the shift, my boss said three words that changed my life, “You’re on tonight.”
Believe me when I tell you, I sucked. I was horrible. My voice was high-pitched; I pressed all the wrong buttons and stepped on all the songs, but I was brave; my heart was in it and I was determined. In the early days of my radio career, I learned that the only time we grow is when we step out on that ledge and jump. I did the overnight shift for a year while my children slept in sleeping bags on the newsroom floor. Little by little, I improved. Listeners started to like me because I talked to them, sharing stories of my life as a single mom. I laughed at my own mistakes on the air, and listeners started rooting for me to succeed.
When you lose your mother at an early age, you spend the rest of your life searching for role models. One day, I had an epiphany: what if I create a public affairs program featuring women doing great things with their lives and ask them how they got to where they are today? I pitched the idea for a weekly show called “Exceptional Women” to my program director and he loved it. Having no idea how to conduct an interview, I asked our news director, Gay Vernon, to be the co-host and she agreed to teach me the art of the interview. “Exceptional Women” would go on to become a national success story. Awards filled our shelves, but the greatest gift was the wisdom these women shared. Their stories filled the holes in my heart, the ones my mother didn’t get the chance to fill herself. And a little miracle happened. Buoyed by my love and their stories, my daughter Colleen had tons of powerful role models and grew up to become a strong, confident and generous woman.
When I decided to leave Magic 106.7 after decades on the air, I knew I had to find a way to continue to interview women with inspiring stories to tell, so I migrated to podcasting and launched a weekly show called “The Story Behind Her Success” and then created the Candy O Radio Network to monetize my content on Boston radio. Thirty years into my role as an interviewer, I’ve featured 800 women (and counting). There is no shortage of women doing great things with their lives. They are your mother, your sister, your colleague, your best friend. A couple of years ago, I sat down to recall the lessons these brilliant women have shared.
At the very core of storytelling is wisdom–the priceless lessons we learn from one another. When we share our stories, we provide a road map for someone else to follow. Our mindset changes to if she can do it, I can do it. Storytelling can heal your heart and expand your mind. It is one of life’s greatest gifts.
Marjorie was right. I am standing on my own two feet, but in this chapter of my life, my arms are open wide to receive your stories.
So, what’s your story? I can’t wait to hear it!
