Kim Dooley – Aircheck

By Derek Waring

Kim Dooley Allison (Allison is her married name) has always gone by Kim Dooley throughout her radio career, with one exception.  We’ll tell you about that later.

Kim’s story begins here in Modesto where she was born.   She grew up on a peach farm behind what is now Johansen High School.   She graduated from Downey High School and continued on to Modesto Junior College (MJC) majoring in speech and radio broadcasting.    Kim envisioned a career in TV, but as often happens, she was drawn in another direction.   That direction led to forty years in radio!  Most of those years were behind the mic, but her career included marketing, management, and programming.   It should be noted that Kim’s quest for higher education did not end with MJC; she received her BA Degree from Pepperdine University.

Kim’s first job was at KTRB/KHOP in Modesto.  She started as the receptionist.   The lure was strong, though, and it was not long before she was on the air as the “morning news gal” on KHOP-FM.   Her next stop, K102/KFIV, where she shared the air waves with Radio Rick Myers and Ryn Stephens.   Other Modesto radio stations on her resume include KBEE and KOSO.

In 1985, Kim set out on the road headed to Las Vegas where she toggled the microphone switches at KITT and KLASSY-100 KMZQ.   In 1988 she moved her show from Las Vegas to the City by the Bay, San Francisco, where she went to work for K-101.  At that time, Terry McGovern and John Mac Flanagan were also working at K-101.  The Program Director shared with Kim that he thought the station was sounding too “Irish Heavy” (note: name exception we alluded to at the start) so Kim through the magic of show business became Lisa Marino, but just for this one time.  Kim found that San Francisco was a nice fit for her so she spent the next twenty years there, entertaining audiences from the studios of Double-99 KDBK, KABL, BIG 98, KSOL, KISS-FM, and KKSF.

Kim shared with me that the on-air part of her job was “spectacularly fun” but there was also great joy that came from the people she met and worked with along the way, including Don Bleu, Rick Shaw, Carter B. Smith, Jim Lange, John Mac Flanagan, Renel Brooks-Moon, and her favorite Program Director—aside from Radio Rick Myers—Michael Erickson.

Kim Dooley leaves no doubt that she loves the experiences and the people that came into her life as a result of the career path she chose.   But wait!  There’s more!  She continues to do voice-over work.  Following her love affair with San Francisco, she moved back to Las Vegas where she went to work for the Journalism Department at UNLV which hosts a public radio station on campus, 91.5 KUNV.  KIM did the morning drive show, some of which was broadcast from her home during COVID times.  Students at UNLV were also treated to Professor Dooley’s course on Audio Announcing.  Kim has since retired from this position but is still affiliated with UNLV, providing voice-over work for e-scripts.

Kim wants to share the following message with all of us: “It’s been a glorious adventure.  I remain extremely appreciative of the opportunities that came my way.”