Lachy Perry: From AFTRS to Workday Announcer at 94.9 PowerFM

2020. We’ll forever remember it as the year that COVID-19 knocked the world for six.

It also happened to be the year Lachy Perry completed his Graduate Diploma in Radio at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

Lachy tells Radio Today that with all the changes and uncertainty in the job world at that time, finding work in the industry was challenging.

“It was really a matter of putting the feelers out and seeing who was willing to take someone onboard after many months of lockdowns.”

Then came the breakthrough.

“In April 2021, I managed to secure my first full time job in Nowra as the Workday Announcer and Production Manager at 94.9 PowerFM. Through another long lockdown, floods and plenty other obstacles, I’ve been here ever since!”

The job’s a great fit for Lachy, who’s been obsessed with music ever since he bought his first iPod at the age of ten.

Lachy says AFTRS has been an integral part of his radio journey.

“For me the biggest benefit of AFTRS was the super wide variety of classes, types of radio and job roles learnt. It enabled me and my colleagues to not only essentially choose any kind of role we wanted to pursue and hone in on perfecting the craft, but also allowed us to keep our options open and be versatile within industry.”

That versality and passion shone through, with Lachy having picked up a Radio Today 30 Under 30 Award along the way.

As for the future, the sky’s the limit.

“I have enjoyed my time developing further in regional radio, and looking for the next part of the adventure hopefully on the near horizon.”