Amanda Lee on admitting her mistakes and moving on

Fox’s content director, Amanda Lee, has said she’s learned to own her mistakes, because nothing she does could be catastrophic enough to break Melbourne’s heritage radio station.

“The Fox is a heritage station, and we are Melbourne’s radio station. And the success of that is because we’ve always lived and breathed this city, and we’ve been inclusive. And I think maybe we lost our way a little bit, which might have been me, I don’t know,” she said on Leroy Brown’s Air Heads podcast.

Lee said in radio it’s okay to fail, make mistakes and move on, particularly as that’s the best way to grow and learn.

“We’re very much about just giving it a go and trying things and it’s okay if we fail. We’re not going to break the radio station, and we’re not going to lose ratings just because it didn’t work,” she said.

“I just think it’s all about learning, and as humans we will learn throughout our lives. So I think it’s about embracing the fails, make mistakes so you can learn and get those successes as well.”

This attitude and philosophy has also been imparted on the on and off-air teams at The Fox, she said.

“I own it. And I’ve reset that with the team this year as well that we embrace the fails, and that’s on and off the air. I think with Fi, Fev and Nick, we said ‘It’s okay if you make a mistake. We make content out of it. We have a laugh. We’re not robots. We’re humans.’ And I agree with that in terms of the team as well. And I think you’ve got to fail to succeed and you’ve got to fail to learn and make mistakes, and that’s okay.”

She noted this approach is imperative now, as she tries new tactics across the station, as well as pushing the new Fifi, Fev & Nick Breakfast show.

“We’re trying new tactics this year that we haven’t done before, and every fibre of my body, because I’m very OCD, I know I am – I need structure and I’m very possibly safe – and I’ll go ‘Gosh, we’re doing this, we haven’t done it before. I don’t know how it’s going to sound. I don’t know if it’s right’, You have all these questions, but you’ve just got to back yourself in, and if it doesn’t work, well you just don’t do it again. There’s nothing lost from it,” she said.

In addition to revitalising the station, and reminding Melbourne what it’s all about, Lee said 2021 – or 2020-fun – is all about having a good time, after the pressures of last year.

“It’s just reminding everyone of what The Fox stands for, and if we’re living and breathing that, we’re being true to our brand and we’re having fun. Our main thing this year after last year was ‘Let’s just have fun’, and you can hear that out of the speakers. We’re having fun behind the scenes, and you can really hear that with this Breakfast show, they’re having so much fun, that you just want to be a part of it – you don’t want to miss a moment.”