About

Background

A little bit of everything: radio, restaurants, road trips, and reprograming for the age of AI.

Born at the end of the ’70s, raised in the ’80s, grew up in the ’90s, and I’ve been chasing interesting work ever since.

I was born at the end of the ’70s, raised in the ’80s, and grew up in the ’90s. I dropped out of high school and enrolled at East Carolina University for what would have been my senior year. I majored in Broadcasting Communications with a concentration in Radio and Television performance. I also had the good fortune of being appointed Program Director at 9.13 WZMB “Zombie Radio.”

During these years, I got to become good friends with a lot of individuals in the night scene. Paul Edwards was one such person. He owned a great live music venue called Peasant’s Café. For two and a half years, I enjoyed some of the best touring bands around. I remember seeing Keller Williams many times, usually playing to crowds of less than thirty. I got to see him several years later in Los Angeles at the House of Blues, and he sold the place out! I have great memories of my friends and experiences in college. More than likely, this started my career path in the hospitality industry.

After college, I moved around a lot as a computer consultant, Denver, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and all over North Carolina. I have driven cross country several times, and have had the good fortune of meeting a ton of great people. After hopping back to North Carolina in hot pursuit of a woman I had been dating off and on through the years, I settled back into my hometown, not by choice, however.

In December of 2005, I was able to fulfill a dream… opening and owning a restaurant. I owned and operated the Fifty Fifty Lounge and Grill for five years. It was an amazing run, and without it, I would have never met my wife, Dena. By the summer of 2010 I had sold my house and moved up to Indianapolis to be with Dena. I got a job at RealMed as a System Administrator. After they were bought out by Availity, I hopped over to Sarcom for a short bit before finally landing at RCI.

How I was Made

For those with an appetite for more J Powell, a gripping tale of my birth, as told by my Mom… BEWARE!

My husband Russ and I decided it would be great to have a “water birth”, having Jonathan at home in the bathtub. We planned to have our midwives and my mother and sister present for the birth. On Friday, March 30 at 4pm I woke up with cramps, I timed them and they were definitely rhythmic but not painful, just like menstrual cramps. At 5:30pm our families journeyed to our house after work. Russ had been cooking all day to keep busy.

The midwives called soon after and told us to kick everyone out. They felt it would be a while yet and didn’t want me to get “performance anxiety.” Russ lit some candles and put on Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book. The midwives dropped by at about 9pm, found me only a little over one centimeter dilated but 90% effaced, and recommended a bath, a glass of wine and some sleep. Years later, doctors told me that the glass of wine could be the cause of Jonathan’s goofy personality.

All of a sudden at 6pm, the contractions were coming 3 minutes apart and I had to BREATHE through them. The midwives were banging on the door. They checked me on the bed, fully dilated, and Jonathan was ready to get out. The tub was too hot, so Russ dragged the hose in from the backyard to cool it down. I was allowed into the pool at 7pm, what a relief. I started to push at 7:25pm. I’ve never made so much noise in my life! Russ called me a little tiger.

After an hour of pushing, out came our beautiful baby boy, Jonathan Windom Powell, at 8:47pm on March 31. We let him float in the water. We imagine this is where his watered-down sense of humor came from. Russ, Jonathan and I lay in bed together and basked in the glory of it all. It was a truly amazing experience to have my child at home in such a relaxed environment.

, J’s Mom