Smooth FM’s Lauren Saylor: The joy of making others shine, on air and off

Lauren Saylor is a firm believer that some things in life are pre-determined. Working in radio is one of them.

Growing up in Melbourne’s bayside in the 90s and living just around the corner from the 3MP studios in Davey Street, Frankston meant that not only was radio on her radar … music would end up playing a massive part in her future.

Fast forward to 2024, and Lauren has now chalked up over 12 years as producer of Smooth 91.5’s More Music Breakfast Show in Melbourne, hosted by Mike Perso.

That’s 12+ years of 4am alarms. But the early starts don’t faze her.

“I honestly love the adrenaline of reflecting and shaping the mood of Melbourne each day with Mike,” Lauren tells Radio Today.

“Melbourne is its own character and its own personality, so working with Mike for as long as we have on Smooth and highlighting the positives and brightening the outlook for our listeners is an absolute privilege.”

Lauren’s journey to Smooth – which this week claimed the title as Melbourne’s #1 FM station – was paved with classic 90s tunes and nostalgia.

“I strangely have core and formative memories around hearing Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf, Roxette’s Joyride and Richard Marx’s Hazard on TT-FM on the giant boombox in our garden shed, around 1993.”

“And then with the Nova 100 launch in 2001, the choice of The Avalanches’ Frontier Psychiatrist as their first song plus the content blew my mind with how creative radio could be.”

Lauren says the individual styles of both stations ignited something within her, and during her high school years, she jumped at the chance to do a short radio course.

“It gave me the confidence to go from being a radio fan to hosting my own show on a local radio station.”

As the school years wrapped up, Lauren changed her VCE preferences to the Diploma of Broadcasting (Radio and TV) at Holmesglen TAFE.

“Big thanks to Mum for not batting an eyelid when I did that and for supporting me in those early years,” she says.

It was a course that Lauren herself would go back and teach.

The legendary Swinburne Commercial Radio post-grad course with Jim Barbour and later Peter Marcato at the helm was also central to Lauren’s career journey.

“Their passion created a whole wave of incredible talent, still seen in the industry today,” she says.

While at Swinburne Lauren landed a casual position at DMG Radio (now NOVA Entertainment), giving her that all-important foot in the door. And the rest, as they say, is history.

“Being picked to be part of the Smooth FM launch team, to help shape a brand-new radio brand across Melbourne and the country is still a true ‘pinch myself’ moment,” says Lauren. “To see the brand evolve and grow is truly one of the best Australian radio stories.”

Being a finalist for Best Radio Show Producer at this year’s ACRAs is the icing on the cake.

“When it’s your job to make others shine on and off air, it’s humbling to be recognised within the industry.”

What Lauren loves about her job at Smooth – and indeed radio as a whole – is that every day brings with it a multitude of possibilities.

“Embracing those things allows shape to what’s mentioned on-air, socials and interactions with listeners. This turns our listeners from fans into making them a part of the ‘Smooth family’.”

Being the show’s sole producer requires a daily balancing act.

“It means being smart where you’re putting in time, energy and resources. I’ve seen the growth of socials in a post-lockdown Melbourne and strength in work from home (WFH) listening.”

“It means that listener interactions have boosted on socials in the last few years, and we’re able to see instant reactions to topics and highlights that Mike shares on-air.”

Lauren is also producing Smooth Nights with Cameron Daddo and Smooth Weekends with Melissa Doyle.

“There’s 24 hours in a day, right?!!” she laughs.

“Factor in Breakfast and that’s means I’m helping to shape around 55 hours of radio a week!”

Lauren says she couldn’t do it, though, without the wider Smooth programming team.

“Hitting those #1FM results keeps you motivated!”

Not many people can lay claim to interviewing Cyndi Lauper, having Taylor Swift scream with excitement over their MAC ‘Candy Yum-Yum’ bright pink lipstick or going viral with Robbie Williams (pictured above).

For Lauren, it’s all in a day’s work … including her unexpected but cherished global moment with Robbie.

“Robbie came to Melbourne before the Covid-cancelled 2020 Formula One Grand Prix,” Lauren explains. “There was an on-track press conference where we were all told not to shake hands, but to do elbow bumps instead – to minimise possible Covid spread.”

“When being introduced, I reached out, then realised, and changed it up for the bump. Paparazzi, of course, snapped away and we featured on the front page of UK tabloid papers!”

“Robbie was all class; we had a laugh and was one of the funniest interviews I’ve ever been a part of.”

There have been many who’ve guided and supported Lauren along the way, including Brian Wise, her radio lecturer at Holmesglen in 2006.

“He said he’d quit his radio show Off The Record which is still running (thankfully) on Triple R, if I didn’t get into commercial radio!”

Lauren also credits Jim Barbour with helping shape her radio journey.

“Jim gave me the confidence to hone my craft as a storyteller, and support others so they could be their best on-air.”

Lauren gives a special shout out to Mike Perso, Karen Prater, Nikole Gunn, Simon Diaz, Peter Clay and the wider Smooth team from the station’s launch back in 2012.

“A big chunk of the team has been here from the beginning, and being able to grow together professionally is a rarity in this industry; I don’t take that for granted.”

As for what the future holds, Lauren’s happy to go with the flow, and embrace everything life has to offer.

“Anything’s possible – bring it on!”