Kristin Klingshirn Part 1: Fourteen Years on The Burt Show and Starting Over as The Kristin Show
Kristin Klingshirn has been in radio for 23 years. She spent the first stretch of that career behind the scenes, setting up sound equipment at station appearances in Cincinnati for pay that barely covered gas. She loved the work anyway. A program director once told her she did not have what it takes to be on air. She has said since that there is nothing she loves more than proving someone wrong.
The Slow Climb
Kristin's first on air shift was overnight on a rock station in Lexington, Kentucky, her hometown. From there it was weekends, then afternoons, then a call from a mentor asking if she had ever considered mornings. She had not, mostly because she is not a morning person. But she took the audition in Raleigh anyway, and the chemistry in the studio was immediate. That show ran for five years.
When the co-host seat on The Burt Show in Atlanta opened up, Kristin went after it directly. She emailed the host every single day with clips: funny moments, storytelling bits, parody songs, anything that showed who she was. He wrote back every time. She stayed on that show for fourteen years.
Going All In on Someone Else's Show
For all fourteen of those years, Kristin turned down every side hustle, every extra podcast, every outside opportunity. She gave everything to The Burt Show. Looking back now, as she builds her own brand under her own name, she admits she has spent time second guessing that choice. But she also stands by it. Spreading herself thin would have shortchanged the show and everyone around her.
Her advice for anyone currently building a brand inside someone else's platform: be kind to yourself, and do not expect fast results. This is a long game. She still struggles with the gap between how quickly she wants things to move and how long good things actually take.
A New Team, The Same Standards
When longtime host Burt retired last October, Kristin's show became her own. The staff went from eleven people to two, herself and her co-host Ethan. That meant learning to manage her expectations without lowering her standards, two things she has come to see as very different. The show produces less now. What it does produce, it does at full effort.
The Easter Bunny That Broke the Internet
One late night scrolling, Kristin came across a photo of a lonely Easter Bunny at a nearly empty mall outside Atlanta. She checked her schedule, found an opening the next morning, and texted Ethan. They drove out, found the corniest matching shirts they could, and shot a full set of old school mall photos with the Bunny before racing back for the show. The video went viral, landing around 1.5 million views. She credits the moment less to strategy than to instinct, knowing what would resonate and moving fast enough to catch it.
Managing Expectations Without Lowering Standards
Kristin's approach going forward is the same one that built The Burt Show: know your strengths, hand off your weaknesses to people who are better at them, and stay in your lane long enough for it to compound. Her closing advice applies well beyond radio. Be patient with the timeline. The trust is what takes years to build, and it is also what makes people stick around.
This is part one of a two part conversation. Part two goes deeper on vulnerability, authenticity, and how Kristin has used both to build her audience.
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Justin Landis is the founder of Justin Landis Group and Bolst, two of Atlanta's leading real estate companies. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and three daughters and has been selling Atlanta real estate since 2008.
