“He lives and breathes radio.” Kal chases his dream

Kal Krzyzanoswki has the kind of passion for radio that isn’t matched by too many others.

Just ask Mat Cummins, ACE Radio’s Group Content Director.

“He lives and breathes radio,” says Mat. “Kal has the kind of passion that we all wish was more prevalent but is sadly lacking nowadays. Put simply, I don’t hear from people with the kind of passion that Kal has for radio anymore.”

Cummins is regularly in touch with Kal, a young man with autism, and they chat about his radio journey to date.

Cummins says Kal asks thoughtful questions with a real purpose.

Kal dreams of being a presenter on the radio station he loved as a child, TR FM in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

For now, as he continues to work on his craft, Kal is forging ahead in the podcast world, both with his own show and through his work with Perth-based disability service provider Verity Group Australia, where he is both Ambassador and Chief Podcaster.

Podcasting has taught Kal that it doesn’t matter how old you are or where you live – everybody’s got a story to tell, himself included.

“I didn’t speak until I was three years old,” he says. “I like to joke that that’s the reason why my voice is preserved!”

Kal has dealt with anxiety his whole life. There have been dark times, and he experienced many social difficulties during the school years.

“I was often the last to get picked and I struggled to ‘pair up’ with another student for group projects.”

Kal grew up in the Victorian regional city of Sale. When he was 12, his family moved to Perth.

“I was devastated,” says Kal. “I didn’t want to leave my country town behind and permanently move to the big smoke.”

But he’s rallied on in the years since, throwing himself into volunteer roles and completing Sean Craig Murphy’s Australian Radio School course, an experience he loved.

Cummins believes doing that course – and then making himself available for as much volunteering as possible – has really helped grow Kal’s presentation skills, as well as his confidence.

Last year, on the advice of his job coach, Kal started his own podcast called It’s In Our Name, which was a finalist in the Best Interview category of the 2024 Radio Today Podcast Awards.

In this podcast, Kal interviews his friends about their lives and how they got to where they are now.

This led to the job at Verity Group Australia and last November, a series called The Verity Podcasts was launched, in which Kal chats with all sorts of people in the disability industry, shining a light on the many contributing roles that people play in bettering participants’ lives.

That was certainly the case last weekend, during WA’s biggest disability expo at the  Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“If you have a disability but can speak well and clearly, why shouldn’t you be included on radio or podcast episodes?” asks Kal.

Kal conducted interviews from Verity’s booth, which was set up with a round table and  RØDE podcast gear.

“Our plan for the expo was to interview as many people as we could. Our original target was 10 but we ended up with 21 interviews!”

In addition, Kal interviewed guests including Monique Jeremiah, model and founder of Diversity Models who was on the 2023 season of Farmer Wants a Wife, as well as Gwen Kelly, journalist for The Philippine Times.

“I interviewed a lot of adults with disability who play sport, including Caitlin Hannen-Williams who represents WA and Australia in the Paralympic sport of goalball and Geoff Stewart from the Kelmscott Bulldogs Football Club.”

Kal also caught up with Ryan Honschooten, an incredible all-rounder from Blind Sports WA, who is also the chairman of Gosnells community radio station 107.3 Heritage FM, and presenter of heavy metal show ROCKARIA.

“I get a buzz whenever someone from the expo posts on their social media about me podcasting at the expo,” Kal says.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my relatively short professional career from an exposure point of view.”

This week, The Verity Podcasts eclipsed 500 plays, with listenership in Russia and Germany, as well as 15 new followers.

“This was partly due to the resounding success of the expo but a lot of credit goes to those who have listened since the very first episode,” says Kal.

He hopes more people will support the podcast and share episodes with their friends.

Kal’s life today includes putting together podcast episodes and weekly trips to Vision Australia Radio in Perth, where he made his on-air debut earlier this year on The National News Hour.

“You never forget your first time on air,” he smiles.

For the past couple of years, he’s been actively looking for radio or podcast jobs interstate.

“A YouTube guitar teacher by the name of Brandon D’Eon once said ‘I’m absolutely f***ing relentless in the pursuit of my goals,'” Kal remembers.

“I felt like I could relate to that mantra and feel motivated by it. That mantra is definitely me!”

And the final summation goes to Mat Cummins, who feels Kal would make a great staff member anywhere in the country.

“I look at what he is achieving and his passion and I hope it’s not long before an opportunity is given to him to prove himself.”