Bentleigh East mum of two Sarah Morrissey (Jackson, 9 and Grace, 7) is the clever mama behind Little Rockers Radio. Sarah’s radio station is more than just children’s music. It aims to entertain and educate kids as well as support families and communities.
Where did the idea for Little Rockers Radio come from?
The idea came quite a few years ago when I was driving along with my two children. I was flicking through the stations trying to find something suitable for them, as I was sick of listening to the same old CDs, and couldn’t find anything! I went home that night and told my husband I was going to start a radio station.
He loved the idea, possibly secretly thought
I was nuts, but here we are.
Tell us a bit about LRR and what we can expect from tuning in?
Little Rockers Radio is a 24/7 online radio station that’s completely dedicated to kids from birth up to prep age. When mums switch us on they can trust the content will be perfect for little ones! There’s songs, nursery rhymes, story time, yoga (yes yoga on radio) and more throughout the day and lullabies to soothe right through the night – all with no ads.
How did the business evolve from an idea to a successful station with loyal listeners?
It took time… lots of it! I don’t have a background in radio, music or IT so had absolutely no idea what to do. I had some CDs and an idea, that’s about it. It took a year of ‘Google University’ and reaching out to people for help. When I look back now at how I launched it seems pretty insane, so archaic. I had to schedule each and every 1-3 minute song for the full 12-hours. It took FOREVER! Thank goodness I now know better and can playlist a whole month of 24 hour daily content in a matter of minutes!
I did have a background in marketing so I knew from the start exactly what I wanted Little Rockers Radio to look and feel like. I knew my core values and what I wanted to stand for – which is no general ads and pure content for children, good quality content that helps to educate children and learn the skills to grow into happy and healthy grown-ups!
The loyal listeners grew as the trust in our quality content grew! In 2015 we ended the year with a ‘tribe of little listeners’ hitting over 110,000 monthly listener sessions.
I also wanted to align with charity, mainly SIDS & Kids after losing my nephew to SIDS at 16-months of age. We launched the Little Rockers RED NOSE Disco in 2015 (a disco run in child care centres on Red Nose Day) and had over 20,000 children take part nationally. We will be running it again this year in June.
I now also work with PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia). With a growing audience of mums it’s important for them to know that it’s OK to reach out for help.
What has surprised you on the business journey?
So many things… The amount of amazing musicians out there making great music for children has really surprised me. We have such great talent right here on our doorstep!
I have met so many amazing mums in business too and it’s great to have that extra layer of support. To be able to talk to people who know the ‘juggling’ act of raising children, working part-time and starting up your own business
is invaluable.
Any advice for mums who have an idea but are yet to take the next step?
Have faith and courage in yourself. Don’t let the opinions of others sway you. If you are genuine and passionate then I believe you are generally on the right path. Do your research, then take the step. The first step is the most difficult as you are putting yourself ‘out there’ but it gets easier after that.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love to dream! My husband, Luke and I are constantly talking about how we can take Little Rockers to such great lengths and really help children and families throughout the world.
I also LOVE hearing from mums about how Little Rockers Radio has helped them in their lives in some small way. I have received thousands of messages and I get such a buzz from it every time.
What can we expect next from LRR? Any exciting plans this year that you can share?
I have just launched music from around the world, a 10-minute daily program at 3pm of children’s music in Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, French and German.
There’s some really exciting stuff happening this year and I am tempted to tell all, but I have learnt to wait… so I guess you will just have to watch this space!
Here at MamaMag we love everything local, tell us about how you also connect with and support your local community?
We have supported a lot of community events and fundraisers through prizes and giveaways and I’m really keen on building up to a point where we can help more.
It’s not launched yet however there is a program coming soon that aims to give back to the local community – specifically child care centres and kindergartens.
Has there been a favourite interview you’ve done? Any funny stories that you can share?
I interviewed Cameron Williams (Channel 9 presenter) after he launched his first children’s book. That was fun. I have always thought he was a bit of a spunk (can I say that?) so it was nice to chat to him!
Interviewing people was not something I thought I would be doing so it’s been a learning curve however I have now also interviewed Natalie Bassingthwaighte,
Shelley Craft, Justine Clarke, Jimmy Rees (aka Giggle), Pat Davern (from Grinspoon) and more. We met The Wiggles backstage at their Melbourne show too. I took the kids along and that was pretty cool!
And finally, how can we tune in?