Interns Bring a Youthful Vibe (and sometimes Great Legs!)

Since it is Memorial Day week and there are a lot of people off from work.  We thought we’d take a break from our Hubspot Reviews Analysis and go back to Stern Rules! for some lighter reading.  At the Howard Stern Show, the trend of hiring self-motivated, enthusiastic staff, with little regard for experience, started with Gary Dell’Abate Baba Booey and has continued as a hiring practice at The Howard Stern Show. It’s possible that because Baba Booey worked his way up the Stern ranks and was responsible for many of the show’s hiring decisions, that he felt compelled to give unqualified but energetic candidates the benefit of the doubt, based on his own experience.

(Photo credit: Renato @ Mainland China)

You don’t need to look far back into the annals of the show’s history to see that many of the interns and staffers were enthusiastic if not all that experienced (and in some cases, not all that intelligent). Many of the show’s interns and assistants were at one time or another big parts of the on-air show.

Unfortunately for many of them, the entertainment often stemmed from Howard’s systematic breakdown of their personalities and making fun of their intelligence. What they lacked in experience, they made up for in dedication.

Fans of the show will remember interns and staffers like K. C. Armstrong, Mike Gange, and Steve Grillo. The names aren’t all that important, but they all became dedicated “Stern guys.” Staffers that fit this mold were one hundred percent dedicated to Howard and the show’s success, and in return, he was dedicated to them. Howard went out of his was to dedicate his second book, Miss America, to his personal intern, Steve Grillo. Steve was famously responsible for preparing a baked potato each morning to Howard’s discerning tastes.

Howard seems to want a team that will bring a certain passion to the show and to the halls of The Howard Stern Show offices. The interns’ youthfulness brings a contagious energy that seems to spread like a virus throughout the staff.

Jamie Troia is President of Greystack Digital Marketing and author of Stern Rules!