Finding Strength in Vulnerability: Charlee Morgan's Story

Announcer Intro/Extro: 00:00:00

Your voice is your superpower. Use it. Welcome to Ignite My Voice Becoming unstoppable. Powered by Ignite Voice, Inc.

The podcast where voice meets purpose and stories ignite change. Deep conversations with amazing guests, storytellers, speakers and change makers.

Charlee Morgan: 00:00:20

No looking back. And yesterday was 19 years sober.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:00:24

Hi, I'm Kat. Today's conversation is one of the rawest and most powerful we've had.

It's about courage, the kind that comes from being willing to look your past in the eye and still choose to stand in the light.

Hey, I'm Kevin. Our guest is Charlie Morgan.

You know, for decades, her voice has been a familiar presence in homes, cars, offices across the country, from top rated radio shows in Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary.

Announcer Intro/Extro: 00:00:49

And today, she shares the story behind the voice, the battles, the breakthroughs, and the journey to finding her authentic self. 19 years sober, Charlie doesn't look back with regret.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:01:01

She reflects with insight. From the fear of showing up without a script to panic attacks, to perfectionism and imposter syndrome, she's walked through it all.

And she's turned every so called weakness.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:01:14

Adhd, insecurity, even addiction into strength, humility, and connection. She's learned to sound natural not by pretending, but by being self reflective and deeply real.

She says, radio is not who I am. It's what I do.

And that distinction matters because Charlie's story reminds us that even when life knocks you down, your voice can rise and help others do the same.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:01:39

Here it is, a conversation about redemption, reclaiming your voice, and making peace with the past. This is Charlie Morgan. And this vulnerable chat will resonate.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:01:51

I remember you and I were introing one of those big hair bands at the Coliseum or something, Motley Crue. And it was a big show and you and I had been backstage and we said, okay, okay, we got this little skit down.

You say that, I'll say this, and then I'll do that, and you do that and you go, okay. So we had it all down. Now I was line number one. And so Charlie, I know, is really good at this stuff. She's awesome.

At one to one, she is gonna kill it on Mike. So I just. We get. We walk in the dark. Remember the flashlights? We walk in the dark up to the front mics and then they turn the house lights on, right?

And there's a lot of people there. Oh, shit, there's a lot of people here. Anyway, I say my first line. I'm looking at the crowd and I don't hear anything. I'm waiting.

I'm waiting for the Second line, nothing. I look over and here's Charlie, mouth.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:02:41

Wide open, staring with large saucer eyes.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:02:45

So I go back and I ad libbed your line, which led to my line. I did my line and then boom, you kicked in and you did your line and we finished it and it went fine.

But that second of, I have to tell you, I wrote about you in. My book, you're famous.

I put that little story in there in a good way. Because my point was you were a classic example of a media performer who does one to one really, really well.

You know, and you put you in a studio, you're brilliant at it, but you forget there's actually, you know, maybe tens of thousands listening. Right. But you put yourself in that live atmosphere when you're reminded that, oh shit, there's tens of thousands listening.

And normally you never think about it, right? Normally. Normally you're just talking to your best.

Charlee Morgan: 00:03:34

Well, back in the early days, didn't the program director have a picture, an actual picture of a woman that was the perfect target audience and we had to look at her? I remember exactly.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:03:47

I remember that. Yep.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:03:48

And you were really good at it from an early age.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:03:50

I idolized you. I wanted to be Charlie Morgan.

Yes, because your sense of one to one was so beautiful, so direct, so conversational, and you made the listener feel like they were. They were the only person in the room. So Kevin tells this story. And by the way, you are famous because he tells this quite a bit.

Charlee Morgan: 00:04:15

And I didn't even know I was in it.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:04:17

Well, now, you know, I think the funny thing is we laugh because. And Kevin's right, you know, when you're behind a microphone, the one to one is so strong.

And what happens with, what we recognize with students and other people is once they're put in front of that audience and they see all those eyeballs, they start to have that fear response. And that's the other thing.

When you start to accept yourself and you embrace your characteristics, then you can fully step into who you are, be authentic. And that just increases the capacity to talk to someone in that one to one conversation that we love to have.

And that can be done in any medium, on a microphone, on a YouTube performance, or when you step out on stage as you did with Kevin, or if you're a boss in a meeting. Right. We love the people that are real.

Charlee Morgan: 00:05:18

And interestingly enough, after a while, you know that story that Kevin started with, that how I froze and in front of the Motley Crue crowd, after a while I was better at in My room all by myself, one on one. And the thousands of people. Because then I went on to emcee galas and concerts, and I was great because I didn't have to be intimate.

And then I got nervous when it was a smaller group of people. And right now, just looking at you two at a screen, it just. I don't know why it brings up.

Probably because I don't have any direction of where it's going. I'm not in control of this show.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:06:00

It's a risk. You gotta let go.

Charlee Morgan: 00:06:01

Leather. We.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:06:01

You gotta let go. Yeah. No, we don't have control. Who knows where it's going?

Charlee Morgan: 00:06:05

I don't know who your audience is. They might not like my charm and quirkiness.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:06:08

They'll love you just like we do.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:06:10

I was thinking that there's a lot of people listening that aren't media people. Right.

We're not directing this at media people who want to present themselves to the world a little better, a little more confident, like a media person does. A little more put together, a little more impact, things like that. But what you're saying is powerful because it's making them.

It's making that person feel, you know what? It's okay to be human. It's okay to make mistakes. Matter of fact, they're talking about it being an advantage, so that's useful.

The other thing I was thinking was we talk a lot about personal narratives. And so, you know, part of what we're about is helping people get better, you know, present themselves better to the world.

And we've learned it's often how you look at yourself first and, you know, the voice in your head and what you tell yourself, it sounds like you've grown a ton, you know, so that means your story you tell to yourself. Your personal narrative must have changed over time. And, hey, you and I go. You and I go way back. Way, way back. And I haven't seen you in a while.

I haven't talked to you much in a while, and I can see you've changed so much. That's really cool.

Charlee Morgan: 00:07:20

From this conversation?

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:07:21

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:07:23

Do you detect that change and how have you worked at it?

Charlee Morgan: 00:07:26

You guys are very perceptive. Because I do not have a negative word about myself anymore, even when I screw up on the radio. Well, first of all, I'm not live any longer.

Sometimes I don't even redo it. I don't even redo it because then it's the element of being human. And my goal is not to come across perfect as I felt I Needed to.

Back in the day, in the 80s when Kevin and I were at the same station, we had 10 seconds. If you talked over 10 seconds, you were pulled in. That's too long. Yeah, that was part of me having that hyper energy and things like that.

But I don't think I connected as well. I did beat up on myself for most of my career constantly.

If I made a mistake when I was live on the radio up until even 10 years ago, I would dwell on it while I'm on the air. I would. It would hold me back. That energy, you're focusing on a mistake. Say I tripped up a word or I would worry about it the whole shift.

And I ruined the whole shift with that energy. Now I move through it, probably being older and life knocking you down a little bit and showing you that you can't get left behind.

Well, you can if you let yourself. There was a documentary on Centagenarians. Some of the secrets to living to 100. Let it roll everything stress roll off.

You're back like water off a duck. Back.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:09:01

Let it go. And perfectionism is something no one can attain. And what it does is it breeds that negativity in your head that you're talking about.

That's something that's self torture. You're stabbing yourself and no one else is doing it for you. Getting that out of that mindset is so powerful. Did that just occur to you one day?

Was there something that happened?

Charlee Morgan: 00:09:26

No. Oh, it's like we're reading each other's minds. I was going to say. And I'm not going to be ashamed. At one time I would have been ashamed.

It's like I have to. This is who I am on the radio. Not now.

In the formative years when I was beating myself up, this is the Persona still I was lucky to come across naturally. Thank you very much for all those kind words.

But if they find out who I am and if they find out my insecurities, they're not going to like me anymore. My career's over.

So over the years that spilled over in my personal life, I wasn't just really insecure on the radio and that I was so confident in my personal life that everything was going my way. It was, it was connected. So it was when I was diagnosed with adhd. Later in life I learned that I'm different, but this is a strength.

I learned how to use it. I had trouble in school. I failed grade 12, had to do it again.

And when I took the night school course, one of the instructors there, he said, he saw something in my eyes when I put the needle on the record. He said, you're gonna be a star. He said, you just have to stop wearing black clothing and clean up your potty mouth.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:10:42

Good advice.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:10:44

I still work on that potty mouth.

Charlee Morgan: 00:10:45

Thing, but, yeah, I'm not gonna work on it anymore. But I. We all are sworn on the radio. I don't know.

But I would attribute it to years of counseling, some challenges I overcame, getting caught up in the drinking and partying and free booze and backstage for people in radio. People ask me, why did you want to be on the radio?

Well, I actually wanted to be a rock star, but because I couldn't sing, I thought, this is the closest thing. And then because I knew music so well, I used it, as in my room to be mad at my parents. I'd crank up Judas Priest or Motley Crue.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:11:23

There we are again.

Charlee Morgan: 00:11:25

And so when I found out there was this contest to be on the radio, they said, what would you do? Everyone else just said, oh, I'd do this. I'd play this song. I came up with a theme songs.

So it was like Green Man, Alicia, Judas Priest, Yellow Submarine, White Room. You know, it was really cool. And then that radio host, Rita Woodman, she and I are still friends to this day. She said, you have a chance.

Go to night school BCIT&C. And from there, it's like everything opened up. She helped me get a volunteer job at the radio station.

I ended up going to be a host with the people I grew up listening to. It's like those young rock stars that get to go on stage when they do the Grammy Awards.

You know, they've got the OG and then they've got the new one saying, oh, I looked up to you. Now I'm on stage with you. Am I sounding really giddy? Because you're just bringing back the love. And the passion that I. Oh, it's a great story.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:12:22

It is.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:12:23

Well, it's a lifetime history in some ways. Right.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:12:25

And to hear that you changed your personal narrative, you took a risk, you stepped out of your comfort zone, and you had a mentor.

Those are two really powerful things, because mentors really help guide us and give us that support and show you and shine a light on something that you may not have even recognized yourself. And it's so fascinating for me because your personal narrative is so different than how I have pictured you over the years.

Charlee Morgan: 00:12:53

Exactly. Nobody would know. Or the time that I thought. I thought I was going to get fired.

This was a huge turning Point in my career that took me to the next level. I was already successful by the time I was in Calgary. Mind you, that's what I was married to. My brother was dying of cancer.

I was a well known media personality where all the bars just let me come in. Backstage had free booze. So basically I started self medicating. Big party girl, drink, drink, drink.

One night we're partying after Cirque du Soleil and we're backstage with Cirque du Soleil where they have free shots, free drinks, free everything. I'm not proud of this, but I drove home and I don't know how I drove home. I don't remember driving home.

I had to be on the radio the next day because this party was Thursday night. I had to be middays, 10am in Calgary the next morning. I wake up at around 11 with the phone ringing.

Apparently my boss was trying to call me for a couple of hours and I was still drunk. I answered the phone and he just asked, are you coming into work today? I said yeah, yep, I'm there, I'm almost there.

I'm just, I'm on my way, driving, still under the influence. I get in, my show's half over. It runs itself, right? It's all computer. So basically it was just music for two hours.

I walk in, my co workers are all looking at me, they can smell the booze.

I somehow finish the show, I do the walk of shame after it's done, go into the program director's office, sat down, oh gosh, you guys, I think I'm gonna cry. He said, I know you've had a lot going on, the divorce, your brother. And we know you ran out of counseling.

So instead of firing me, they doubled my counseling and they let me take a month off to take care of myself. I came back, no looking back. And Yesterday it was 19 years sober. I don't know. He wouldn't let me be me. I felt I couldn't be me.

He wanted to put me in a box. Do you remember? I'm not gonna mention names, but.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:15:16

Well, I will. Is that Brad you talking about?

Charlee Morgan: 00:15:18

Yes.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:15:21

You know what's funny? Kat and I have talked about this in that we don't do inside stuff right now.

But I mean we all worked for, for that station and him and we all have really crappy memories of when he started. He was a younger guy, he was making lots of mistakes and I didn't like him at all. I almost quit the business because of him.

So he was a terrible manager.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:15:44

But there Is a. But same with me. I didn't go work over at one of the radio stations that he moved. Over to that won't be named.

Years later, I met him at a conference, and I went up to him and I said, brad, do you still hate me? And he stopped in his tracks, and he said, pardon? And I said, Brad, it's quite clear that you always hated me in industry.

And he stopped and he apologized. He said, kat, I'm really sorry. I wasn't really performing at my optimum. I didn't understand how to work with people at that time.

And we had a really great healing conversation. And now I have so much respect for Brad because he was able to own his behavior. He took accountability for it.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:16:38

Oh, he's the. He's the reason that I ended up not moving to management and moving off air. He destroyed my career in terms of on air. So he did enormous damage.

I remember him telling me, I need to be bigger than life. Kevin, Kevin, you're just not good enough in this business. You gotta be bigger than life to make it. And I quit soon after.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:17:02

That's so counter to authenticity, isn't it?

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:17:06

Yep. So you can get people in this business that do a lot of damage that misinterpret what we're trying to do.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:17:13

Maybe you need to tell him that he hated you and you need to. You need to have that conversation.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:17:18

I've had conversations with him since then, and we get along fine.

Charlee Morgan: 00:17:23

What? You guys. I have not spoken to him at all in all those years, and I won't. I just won't. But thanks, Kat. You did help me.

Now I'm just gonna look at that as therapy and think of. Think of it that way.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:17:38

It was never you.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:17:39

No, it was never you.

Charlee Morgan: 00:17:39

It sure felt like it.

Announcer Intro/Extro: 00:17:40

And it was all due to his own personal narrative about his inadequacy about the self, the imposter syndrome, and about how people viewed him and how he thought he should be. And he wasn't acting in his authentic voice. And I do believe that people can change. I really do.

And I know back if I look back at how I was when I first started teaching here, I'm appalled at some of my behavior and some of the students. I would like to say. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. But I know better now, so I do better now. I believe.

I really do believe that people can change as long as there's self reflection in there.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:18:28

We've lost our voice as a community, and it feels like control over our World. One of the things we want to do is change that. We want to fight that.

We want to give everybody a voice voice and have us all band together and make the world a better place. But that's hard and I don't know where our power is. And so what do you think? What do we do about all this stuff?

Charlee Morgan: 00:18:53

Funny how we know what we're talking about and who without saying it because just saying that person's name is negative energy.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:19:00

Oh, his name is that though the.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:19:04

Unnamed name you can't see the one.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:19:08

Whose name was be said aloud. Yeah. Okay, go ahead.

Charlee Morgan: 00:19:11

I can't even tell you how many times I've turned my CNN subscription on then off because it's like I'm so sensitive. I take in everything and it affects me. So I have to not look at that. Even though to get show prep I have to be online all the time.

But I've just learned to filter that out.

And instead of getting angry, which I do, especially when I feel people are being bullied or unjust actions in the world, I don't want to be in that dark place because then you're just joining that dark movement. So I focus on just being one person in my corner of the world and try to be in the light every day. Whether it's not do road rage, whether it's.

I actually have wind chimes that I put on my rear view mirror. I don't even know if that's allowed. But if I started to get road rage, I just go, you can bring it in to your own voice or do what you're doing.

You have a collective like minded voice. And I really like the way you guys are doing it. About improving, I don't even know it's improving the individual.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:20:29

So the individual takes accountability for themselves. And when you take accountability for yourself and you change your behavior, that ripples out to other people.

And if you leave a positive interaction, that person will leave a positive interaction. Because certainly if you leave a negative interaction, that compounds as well. So why not spread positivity?

You have made a very clear decision, a conscious decision for yourself to change that attitude. And then. And that voice, your voice is now the ripple that changes other people's attitude.

And you have a forum at your fingertips through a microphone, through the work that you're doing.

Charlee Morgan: 00:21:14

Yes. And you know what, a microphone and radio waves are very powerful. So just my going in, I don't talk about negative stuff.

I've had listeners text me because now they can text, now they can reach you a lot they couldn't even reach us back in the day. They'll say, why aren't you talking about certain political party? Why are you just talking about fluff in the world?

Because there's a lot of darkness, a lot of negativity, a lot of harsh things. I just want to play some good tunes and maybe make people laugh and relate to our humanness that we each have.

Because we know where to go if we want the other stuff.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:21:55

You sure do, right?

Charlee Morgan: 00:21:56

Happy all things to all people on the radio. There's times I want to just say, then go listen to something else if you don't like my show.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:05

Reinforcing humanity. We need that.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:22:08

And some people might call that. Is that superficial?

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:11

Well, there's a lot of layers, isn't there? There's a lot of sides to humanity. Yeah, and humor and lightness is one of them.

Charlee Morgan: 00:22:18

You guys are cute. I just have to say you're adorable.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:23

Finding your voice can be messy, scary. It's staring down every voice that's told you you weren't enough and speaking anyway.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:22:31

It's a choice to stand up when it would have been easier to disappear.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:35

Charlie didn't just find her voice. She fought for it. Word by word, breath by breath, day by day.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:22:42

Not polished, not perfect, but real. And somehow stronger because of it.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:47

Because your cracks don't make you weak. They're the places the light gets out.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:22:52

Maybe that's what healing really is. Not erasing the past, but standing taller because of it. Stay messy.

Co-host Kevin Ribble: 00:22:59

Stay honest. Stay human.

Co-host Kat Stewart: 00:23:01

Find your voice and join our movement. Ignitemyvoice.com.

Announcer Intro/Extro: 00:23:08

Ignite my voice. Becoming unstoppable. Your voice is your superpower. Use it.