BE A BALLER -"Building a lifelong legacy"

Pastor Jerry Revish: Weaving a Legacy of News, Service, and Faith in Broadcasting and Beyond

• Coach Tim Brown, Uncommon Life • Season 3 • Episode 7

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When Jerry Revish, an Emmy Award-winning news anchor, graced the studio with his presence, it wasn't just another interview; it was a masterclass in life, legacy, and the unwavering spirit of community service. Raised in the heartland of Youngstown, Ohio, Jerry's narrative is a tapestry woven from his multicultural upbringing and the determination it took to climb the broadcasting ladder, one hard-earned rung at a time. His journey from toting a demo reel door-to-door to capturing the essence of epic events like President Obama's inauguration, lays bare the tenacity required to leave one's mark on the world.

As Jerry unveils the chapters of his life, it's clear that his story transcends the glitz of the camera lights, anchoring itself in the service of others through his ministry and mentorship programs. His 'Top Dog' initiative stands as a testament to the power of positive influence on young black men. And now, pivoting to a future of faith-led guidance, Pastor Jerry Revish is not slowing down.  Pastor Revish is Senior Pastor at Unity Temple Church of God in Christ where he and his wife Danielle is Co-Pastor.  There vision is for a life well-lived involves shepherding families towards an enriched life. This episode is not just an insight into a remarkable career; it's an invitation to witness the blueprint of a legacy built on patience, faith, and the determined will to make a difference.

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Speaker 1:

Suck it up. What I'm trying to say with that is you're gonna knock on a lot of doors that aren't gonna open for you because it's a very small business. There are opportunities there, but you got to be willing to take your demo real to a lot of different people. Got to knock on a lot of doors, put a lot of resumes out there to get even a bite for somebody to even take a look at you. If you're willing to do that, if you're willing to be patient enough, you'll find yourself employed in the business.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Be A Baller Podcast where we discuss how to build a life-long legacy. I'm your host, coach Tim Brown. I'm excited to have you with me, emmy Award-winning news anchor Jerry Rebich, as we talk about building a legacy in ball and broadcasting. Jerry started his broadcasting career in 1972 as a reporter at WBBW Radio in his hometown of Youngstown Ohio. Yes, sir, yeah, I see where the 49ers are back at the Super Bowl.

Speaker 1:

You're saying that at the Bartlett family's happy I?

Speaker 2:

know they are. Two years later, he began a we're turning to a 45-year tenure with Dispatch Broadcasting Group in Columbus, first at WBNS Radio and later at WBNS 10 TV. He anchored the 5, 6 and 11 o'clock editions of news TV news from 2005 until his retirement in 2019. Today on the show, jerry will share his experience of over 40 years covering stories all over the world, including Saudi Arabia to cover the Persian Gulf War, haiti, barbados, south Africa, cuba, japan. Boy, you've been all over the world, I've been the last. Jerry has been committed to helping prepare the next generation for success in broadcast journalism. Jerry, welcome to the show, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Glad to be here.

Speaker 2:

You know, as I was doing a little research, I saw you grew up in Youngstown Ohio, youngstown, youngstown, ohio, and I know you guys are Pittsburgh fans there.

Speaker 1:

You know I'm from Cleveland, so I'm a Browns fan, so we don't do that. Well, I was a Cleveland Browns fan too. Oh, come on man, here we go.

Speaker 2:

Now we can continue the interview. Okay, we can just get it ended. We can continue. You know what were some of the life lessons you learned from your parents? I know your dad worked at Youngstown a sheet and tube yeah there. What were some of those life lessons that you got going up?

Speaker 1:

You know, I lived in a working class neighborhood where everybody on the block worked. We would see the men get up early in the morning with their black lunch pails heading to Youngstown sheet and tube or Bethlehem Steel or whatever it was, because Youngstown was Steel, was Youngstown the heart of the city. We call it the Steel.

Speaker 3:

City.

Speaker 1:

One of the big lessons I learned coming up around all of that was being responsible, being respectful, working hard. Don't be afraid to put in the work to get something that you want and to keep yourself out of trouble. Those were big lessons for me. A lot of the guys, a lot of the men on my street were fathers and they were raising their kids and they just wanted their kids to do better than they did when they were adults, and so I learned those things from them. Youngstown was a very multicultural city. All sorts of people migrated to Youngstown. You had Eastern Europeans, you had Puerto Ricans, you had Black Americans, you had folks from everywhere, and they brought so much flavor into our city. So I was familiar with a lot of different cuisines by eating at some of the kids' homes that I went to school with.

Speaker 2:

Sounds like that experience prepared you for traveling the world.

Speaker 1:

You know, I guess. So At the time I didn't see myself traveling the world. But then when I started traveling, a lot of the things that I grew up around I saw in the world.

Speaker 4:

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Speaker 2:

You know it's growing up. What were some of your favorite pastimes growing up? Focus on some of those things.

Speaker 1:

Well, I like to play tennis. I like to play softball, cycling. I love to read. We had a neighborhood library on the east side of town that I love to just go into on an afternoon after school and sit in the library. It's a small library but they had a lot of stuff in there and I'd sit in there and read books. I'd even read them on the way home. I'd have to watch the traffic to make sure.

Speaker 1:

I didn't walk out in the traffic because I'd be reading a book on the way home. I picked it up from my mom. She was a lifelong learner, she loved. She had a subscription to the Book of the Month Club and when the Book of the Month arrived at the house I could see mom sitting in the kitchen or on the front porch just turning those pages, savoring, learning, savoring going to another place through a book.

Speaker 2:

Wow, I know you're a strong man of faith. You're a pastor now Can you talk about the role of faith played in your life, growing up and now?

Speaker 1:

Well, I grew up a Baptist. My dad was Baptist, my mom was Pentecostal, so they didn't go to the same church. So I went to the Baptist Church on one Sunday and I went to the Pentecostal Church on another. You know, it was something how he was very much into Third Baptist Church there in Youngstown. Morris W Lee was a pastor for like 51 years. My dad was a usher at that church and I learned how to shine shoes, I learned how to iron a shirt, learned how to press a suit, from watching my father be an usher at that church. That was a big job for him and he had a little usher bad. John, you couldn't tell him you were clean on Sunday morning, you know it was great.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's also. You know. I always tell guys that a lot of things that young men learn is not necessarily taught. It's called, that's it. It's watching, it's watching man, and you know. You watch men go to work, you know, and you watch men on Sunday, right, and them guys boy, them deacons on that front row, come on now, right.

Speaker 1:

And they were great role models, great role models. We had a Boy Scout troop at my father's church and that was the first time I was exposed to sleeping out under the stars at night and making a wood fire out of nothing but tinder and some sticks and just being able to learn survival skills. Those things stay with you. They do.

Speaker 2:

You know, during our era growing up, it seemed like everything had balled around the church. Everything we did, all the activities. You know we're at the church.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2:

We really had to go anywhere else. We could do whatever sports, whatever that was, whatever you interested in, and we always in the choir, always in the choir.

Speaker 1:

Always in the plays, all of that, you know, junior ushers, all of those things.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, All of that was right there. You know, growing up did you always want to be a broadcaster?

Speaker 1:

No, I wanted to be an astronaut, oh why I really did in the beginning Back in what 56, somewhere in there, american Center, a man into space, and I was just enthralled by all of that. I was just amazed to see all of those things and I wanted to pursue that. But you know, I wasn't that great in math and I think back in those days you had to really have some really serious math skills to think about a career in math and science. So I didn't, I wasn't involved in broadcasting or anything like that at that time. But I enjoyed writing, I enjoyed doing essays, I enjoyed just painting pictures for people.

Speaker 1:

So when I was going to college there, youngstown State University, they had an experimental broadcast training program for young blacks because they wanted to see more blacks get into the business.

Speaker 1:

And this was in the days of affirmative action, when it really meant something, when we were really trying to get something done. So I took that class and there was a one of the DJs that was a teacher there, boots Bell at WHOT radio, hot radio in Youngstown took a shine to me and took me under his wing and helped me get my first job in broadcasting at WBBW. And that station was so small it was like the size of a three car garage, just a small place but they had opportunities there for me to learn how to craft my skills, to sharpen my skills in broadcasting. And some of the guys were working in the newsroom, older guys that had been around for a long time. They were like curmudgeons, they were very kind of crusty but they believed in what they were doing and they didn't mind helping somebody come along and that's how I got to start in the business.

Speaker 2:

As you reflect back on that, what were some of the best advice that those guys gave you?

Speaker 1:

Some of the best advice. I was thinking how am I going to do this? This was way back in the day. Okay, this was back in 19,. Let's see, I came to B&S in 74. I started at BBW in 72, somewhere in there.

Speaker 1:

Cds weren't around, computers weren't around, it was pen and paper. You didn't have really recorders too much A shorthand. I thought I had to learn shorthand to learn how to dictate or to take down notes from all of the people I was interviewing and I said no, that's not what you have to worry about. Think about the most important thing that you're hearing, that they're saying to you, and write that down and you'll find out. Of all of those things you'll find a kernel of truth that you want to build a story around, and so that was a great piece of advice that I got. Also, elocution being able to get your mouth around the words and every word standing on its own. It was very important to be able to clearly enunciate what you were talking about so everybody could understand what you were saying. So those are just two of the things that kind of undergirded my career.

Speaker 2:

What was that moment when you knew that, hey, this is it, this is what I want to do?

Speaker 1:

When I got my first job, I wasn't even on air. I was spinning records for a jewelry store owner who bought time on the radio station to do a big band show. He loved big band music and I was on the other side of the glass spinning his records for him. And just the fact that I was in this studio spinning records and being on the air with this music, I thought man, this is great this is.

Speaker 1:

I would have done that for nothing if I didn't have to make a living. I just enjoyed the whole experience of it, Because broadcasting it opens you up to a lot of different things about yourself and about the world in which you live and being able to interpret those things to other people. Every day was different, Every day was a challenge and I really enjoyed it.

Speaker 2:

You know you made your way down here to Columbus. We're glad you're here. You know, in 1974, wbns. How did you end up here in Columbus?

Speaker 1:

Well, I was on the air. I finally got an on-air spot at BBW radio, there as a morning radio news anchor, and somebody that was in my life called the news director at WBBW WBNS in Columbus and said I know a guy here that you might want to interview. He's pretty sharp. You know, all of this happened without me knowing anything at all. So I get a call one day from a BNS radio. The news director, dave Marcette was his name. He said we're looking for a guy to come down here and do news. Would you be interested in doing an interview? And it kind of blew me away that. You know he called me just a cold call. But isn't that how life happens sometimes? Just things happen all of a sudden, you don't know where, where, once they come from. But that's what happened for me.

Speaker 1:

So I came down to BNS radio, I did the interview with him. We were sitting in, I was sitting on the floor in his living room and he tossed a pen and paper to me. He says all right, I'm going to give you some elements of a story. I want you to write a story for me. And it was a story about a robbery, some such. And he dictated the story to me and I started writing what I what I heard. He looked at it and he said hey, that's pretty good, let's go downtown. I'm going to get you on on on the microphone. I want to hear what you sound like, so I did a demo reel with him there and then I didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1:

I went back home. He called me and said Are you still interested in coming to work for us? That we have a job for you. And I had just gotten married and, really not too long before that, gotten saved, and my young wife, who had never been out of Youngstown, decided that she was willing to take that Risk. I guess you take risks in life to follow me down here to Columbus and get and take this job. So that's our story, wow.

Speaker 2:

And then, in 1980, you flipped over to television. Can you talk about your first time on the air?

Speaker 1:

Oh boy, the first story I did on the air was a Live shot at At a fire, flames behind me going, you know, and sirens and firefighters and hoses and all of that stuff going on there, and so I finally had to get all my notes together and get ready to do a Live shot at six o'clock so I thought the live shot went really well back then. This was in the early days of Electronic news gathering ENG is what they call that the live shots, live cameras. So Our, our camera was called. Our brand was rapid cam 10 TV rapid cam. So I tagged out this is Jerry rubbish Rive with the lapid cam in North Columbus. That was on the air live like that. And I said, oh my god, so you know they cut away. I go back to the station and I see some guys huddling around a TV.

Speaker 1:

Screen and they're laughing their butts off. And they're laughing at me because they're replaying my my tag. You know, rive with the lapid cam. That was my first story on air at Channel 10.

Speaker 2:

Look at you now. Look at me now. Look at you now. You know, as we, as we transition a little bit, what are some of your favorite stories that you covered, oh.

Speaker 1:

This, there's, there's so many, there's so many. Sometimes it was just a little guy story, somebody in the neighborhood who was doing something special, helping people out that nobody knew about. I enjoyed those stories. And then there were the big stories.

Speaker 1:

When I went to DC for Barack Obama's first inauguration, I remember being in the, in the, on the set, the night of his election and Seeing this black man win Election to the highest office in America. Sitting there watching that on TV and his family Comp coming out, it was just the most Amazing moment. And then to be there in DC a few weeks later for his inaugural. We were out on the, the National Mall there, that's that big space in front of the Capitol where you they always set up every four years for for the inauguration, and there was like a million people there, at least a million people out on this lawn. Some had spent the night there, some were mothers, grandmothers and wheelchairs that had blankets around it because it was a very cold January day. I'll never forget all of us just Feeling how great America is for this opportunity for this black man Standing in front of a building that was built by slaves, being the president of the United States and then hearing Aretha Franklin sing the Star-Spangled.

Speaker 2:

Banner was a good man. Quite something to. Yeah, that's awesome, you and your wife Danielle. I was found a unity temple, church of God in Christ, on the south side of Columbus. Can you talk about the ministry in your transition into ministry?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Um, after I got saved, I got involved in church life. I wanted to. I mean, I was go, I was both feet in on this. You know, I wasn't just tiptoeing around the edges of salvation. I really wanted the Lord in my life because he had brought me out of so many different things.

Speaker 1:

So we spent 35 years under the Toodle-edge, the covering of earnest and Ruth Jordan. They were our pastors and then he passed away. She retired and we were had been with that church for all that time doing all the jobs, everything you can imagine doing in a church. We did. We were also leaders in the church. She was teaching the young women and I was teaching the young men, sunday school teachers and all of that. Well, when the pastor retired, we felt our work was done there. So we just sat on the beach for like six months.

Speaker 1:

I just think we we decided let's take a break here. What is our next move? What are we going to do next? My kids were still in in school and I wanted them to have a church home. I wanted there to continue their their walk with Christ.

Speaker 1:

So we started up a Bible study in our house. On Sunday mornings at 11 am we would come together with other friends and have Bible study. Well, it grew to the point where we had like 25 cars out there on the neighborhood street having a Bible study at my house. So we decided we need to find a place to open up a ministry. I had watched their sacrifice and I was reluctant at first, because I know what it takes. You can't be a pastor, I think, unless you're a 24-7 pastor. You've got to be in that all the time. It's got to be a part of your life and it is a sacrifice, but it's one that I've been really willing to pay, and my wife has too. So fast forward to today, we moved into a new building at 161 North Hamilton Road, unity Temple Ministries. It opened up in November and we have just been having a wonderful time Continuing ministering to people.

Speaker 2:

You know, I know one of your hot buttons is teaching young people, especially young men. I know that's important to you. Start initiative at the church called top dog top dog to teach youngsters from 10 18 year old 18 year old life lessons about manhood. Can you talk about that and really why? Why is that so important?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, you know, I think the Genesis. For that was a Sunday after church meal at MCL. We had I had like eight of the young men with me and we were going through the the, the dinner line there to get our food and I was watching them. Most of them Didn't speak very loud, it didn't speak very Elequently, they. When the server asked what do you want, what did you say? Can you say that again?

Speaker 1:

I watched that and I said these kids are better than that, they just need some help. Mm-hmm. So top dog. The tenets of that were public speaking, etiquette and grooming. I wanted those to be the the tongs for all of that, because I wanted these young black men to know their worth, because they've been so stereotyped in life as being losers, unable to do anything. I didn't want that for them. So, top dog, the whole notion of a top dog. You want to be a top dog. You want to be somebody who achieves, somebody who can handle it, somebody who can take the ball and run with it. So that was the whole genesis for that and it's worked out really well.

Speaker 2:

You know, I was reading a story about some guys who looked at you as a father figure, some older man you know who didn't have that in their life and probably this top dog program or just just teaching them, and a lot of what they said was not so much the conversation, just the modeling. You know, seeing you, seeing your family, you know and all like can you speak a little bit about your family? I can't let this go without you talking about your family, your wife and your children.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you know to be a man, you got to see a man and I wanted them to see a man my son my daughter.

Speaker 1:

Our family is a close-knit family. We love each other. We love the Lord. Now we're all different and we have different opinions about different things.

Speaker 1:

My wife had a career in fashion here in Columbus. She did really well. She helped open up a couple of modeling schools. She did that work. She also did stylist work and brought it before a lot of great people Madeleine Albright and George Bush, the Elder and President Biden when he was a senator, and just a lot of different people. She was exposed to those things. My son is the Chief Technology Officer at Cardinal Health and that was something that he didn't start out that way. He started in just a general assignment with that company and he stayed with it. He's been with them for, I think, 20 some years now and he's done really well. My daughter took a vocational track. She owns a salon and she's on her way back from California four days of training out there with this group that she's with and she's very successful. She's a sole proprietor. She kind of does all this stuff herself, but she loves that work and being able to see your kids do well in life that's such a big payoff.

Speaker 3:

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Speaker 2:

You know you've been a pioneer in this industry. What advice would you give to young people who are interested in broadcasting?

Speaker 1:

Suck it up. What I'm trying to say with that is you're gonna knock on a lot of doors that aren't gonna open for you because it's a very small business. There are opportunities there, but you got to be willing to take your demo tape we don't even do tape anymore, but your demo real to a lot of different people. Gotta knock on a lot of doors, put a lot of resumes out there to get even a bite for somebody to even take a look at you. If you're willing to do that, if you're willing to be patient enough, you'll find yourself employed in the business. To stay employed, you got to produce. You've got to be a individual that they feel we cannot do without. You bring something to the table that is important for us. To have Imagination, your own point of view in life. All of those things go into making a great broadcaster. And be willing to start at the bottom, because you will. You're not gonna start on the anchor chair.

Speaker 1:

Very few, if any people that I know in this business have started there. You're not gonna make a lot of money when you start. I started out in radio and the pay was peanuts and then even was low. In starting out in TV. People think because you're on TV every night, you're rolling in the cash. No, not necessarily. I think over time, if you stay in the business long enough and you're good, you will make some money, but you're not gonna. Don't think that you're gonna automatically become a millionaire three days after you got into the newsroom.

Speaker 2:

Well, you said a mouthful, they did a being asked to doa farewell, jerry, and have a few comments from some things that people said about you. Some said that your name is synonymous with central Ohio, the Jerry Rebis is synonymous with trust, the Jerry is Columbus television, as I think, as you think about those things that people have said about you, what would you say about Jerry?

Speaker 1:

I Would say Jerry loved people. Jerry's humble I. Yeah, tv has a lot of notoriety to it. You know I've been away from it for four years but people still recognize me and recognize the name and I'm so honored about all of that. Jerry cares about folks. The transition from TV to Pastoring Was a great move of God for me because the skills that I learned on the street in news, helping people out, pointing him to the right direction, doing stories about folks I Used that at the pulpit to. I use that teaching and preaching and talking about the goodness of God and how he's put gifts in everybody. Everybody's got a gift and you want you want that gift to get full blossom in your life. Don't be afraid. God didn't make a mistake when he made you. You're somebody special. There's nobody else like you in the whole world. So make sure that you understand all of that as you go through your walk in life. So those are the things that have been important to me and will continue to be.

Speaker 2:

You know this is a legacy podcast. We talk about building a lifelong legacy. What is the legacy of Jerry past the Jerry brothers?

Speaker 1:

That he had time for people, he wasn't too busy to talk to anybody, that I saw ways that young men and women and families Could do better in their life if they gave it to Christ, and how, even though you get knocked down in life, you can get back up and you can make a success. My whole desire for the people that come into the church is one To live so that you can make it in the heaven and to, while you're down here, to make a difference in somebody's life.

Speaker 2:

Man, you truly have done that through the years, made a difference in so many, so many persons lives. So, speaking of that, as we've kind of come around the corner, what's next? Man, 45 years of broadcast you've done just about been all over the world. What is next? What's God? You?

Speaker 1:

know I'm leaving it up to him, Just like I left being a pastor up to him. He put that down in me. That was something I ran from.

Speaker 3:

I wasn't.

Speaker 1:

Really I was reluctant about it, but the he knew what he wanted me to do and all I had to do was say yes. As far as what's down the road in my life, I'm off of that fast track, of that intense life of working 12 hour days, six days a week. I don't have to do that anymore and I feel a great piece in my life. I'm enjoying my wife. We're empty nesters now. We're we travel and plan to do some more travel. We're coming up on our 50th wedding anniversary this year. I got to find a place to take it. That's special for 50 years.

Speaker 1:

So, that's what's next for me. I just want to just live, so that I can still make a difference in somebody's life.

Speaker 2:

Would y'all want to thank you for your commitment to.