Broadcasters fill niche in Fayetteville area

By Monica Kreber, posted Jun 4, 2021 on BizFayetteville.com

Chrisy “Sweet Tea” Andrulonis, left, works in the studio with Jeff Andrulonis. (Photo provided)

Jeff and ‘Sweet Tea’ say long hours bring success in business

In 1995, Jeff Andrulonis had just enough money to buy one AM radio station in Fayetteville.
Jeff is a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, native with a background in broadcast journalism – both radio and television – before he transitioned into sales and marketing. Jeff also has had a military career, and made a move to the military-friendly Fayetteville 26 years ago.
While his newly-purchased radio station was known for being a top talk show, Jeff said he was determined to beat a competitor in the market. Work started at 5 a.m. to do the newscast on the air before he switched to marketing and advertising at 9 a.m. He would be back at the radio station at 5 p.m. to do the books and then get home at 6 or 7 at night, ready to start again the next day.
Despite the long hours, Jeff said the Fayetteville market is one that rewards hard work and dedication.
Now in his role as president and CEO of Andrulonis Media LLC, which owns three FM and two AM stations in Fayetteville, and 29 radio signals across four states.
And Jeff still owns that first AM radio station – except now it features country music.
“We’ve been able to continue to grow and expand everything that we’re doing way beyond anything I could’ve imagined back then,” he said.
Jeff leads Andrulonis Media with his wife, Christy (though local country music listeners might know her as “Sweet Tea”). Christy, originally from Greenville, South Carolina, worked for an ambulance service there before becoming a mortgage broker, which was what she was still doing when she met Jeff.
Christy and Jeff joke that they met online before online dating was a thing, And Christy learned the radio business from her husband, and discovered she is actually a great salesperson.
“We’ve always worked together,” Christy said. “A lot of spouses can’t do that – we worked together from the beginning, so it makes it very easy.”
Andrulonis Media is an integrated marketing organization that specializes in marketing and promotions for local businesses. Andrulonis Media operates multiple stations, numerous websites and social media, in addition to offering event marketing opportunities, and a full ad consulting agency.
One of Andrulonis Media’s mantras is “locals serving locals” – and the company lives up to this sentiment in different ways. While radio serves local listeners with entertainment information, it also serves the local business community.
“From an advertiser’s standpoint, we’re here to ensure the growth and success of the people who are partnering with us,” Jeff said. “So as long as we’re serving the local community, that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Andrulonis Media owns The River, a station that plays “real rock variety,” primarily focusing on rock music from the 1970s and 1980s. It also owns Carolina Country, which plays “today’s new country and yesterday’s throwbacks,” so listeners not only hear current music, but older country music from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
Jeff is the morning DJ for “The River”. Christy is the afternoon DJ for “Carolina Country”, where she dons her “Sweet Tea” persona.
Christy is also the executive director for the Carolina Country Music Association, which consists of country music singers with roots to the Carolinas, and their work is featured on the station.
“It gives them an opportunity to get radio airplay,” Christy said, adding, “We as a company, because we’re a mom-and-pop radio, we really want to be able to support our community, and our community artists as well.”
Jeff added that the experience of hearing one’s song on the radio for the first time can be an emotional experience for musicians – and it is rewarding for him and his wife to be a part of that process.
“That’s just a cool part of what we get to do on a daily basis,” he said.
Carolina Country is in its fifth year. The Carolina Country Music Awards is held every year at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, S.C. – normally the show consists of 21 live performances and 20 awards, with a sold-out crowd of independent singer/songwriters, prior to the pandemic.
“It’s exciting – it shows the power of radio,” Christy said.
Live events in general are a big part of their job; Andrulonis Media has held singer-songwriter festivals in North and South Carolina, and the duo is hopeful to bring them back when things return to normal post-COVID.
Christy and Jeff can offer different bits of advice for budding entrepreneurs in Fayetteville. Jeff advises others to keep in mind their geographical location to help set themselves up for success. In addition to its being a very military-friendly area, Jeff described Fayetteville as a great place to have a business, due to its economic stability, and having a market that supports new business owners.
“Just the fact that the business community and the business owners that are here are so friendly and welcoming…it kind of gives you the ability to still makes some mistakes while you’re getting started in business, and still be able to do well,” he said.
Christy cautions others to be prepared to work hard for what they want – but to also have a passion for it.
“Work shouldn’t be something that you dread doing,” she said.
While “local serving local” might be the company’s outward-leaning motto, it has an inward-leaning motto as well: “make money, do good, have fun” – which is what Andrulonis’s sales and operations team members use as their mission statement.
Andrulonis Media enjoys working with nonprofits and governmental agencies, and donates $250,000 annually in marketing to local community organizations.
“Once the money is there and those needs are taken care of…there needs to be something more, and that’s where capitalism does have a fail area in that it’s just money, it’s a hollow win,” Jeff said. “There has to be something more to it.”
Jeff and Christy attribute their success to working as a team, and having the same goal.
“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Christy said.

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