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Kim Komando

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Kim Komando
Born
Kimberly Ann Komando

1967
Watchung, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materArizona State (B.S. 1985)[1][2]
Occupation(s)National radio host, TV Host, author, syndicated columnist, business owner
Known forDigital lifestyle national radio show
SpouseBarry Young
ChildrenIan
Websitewww.komando.com

Kimberly Ann "Kim" Komando (born 1967)[3][1][4] is the host of a radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websites, smartphone apps, and internet security.

The Kim Komando Show is broadcast and syndicated on over 435 radio stations in the United States and two stations in Ontario, Canada to an estimated 3.5+ million listeners. Her Consumer Tech Update airs on more than 390 stations five days a week. Her radio shows are also heard internationally on the Armed Forces Radio Network, covering 177 different countries. She hosts podcasts served to over 300,000 listeners per week. The Kim Komando Television Show premiered globally on Bloomberg TV January 5, 2019.

Komando refers to herself on her web page as "America's Digital Goddess".[5][6] As of May 2018, her website, Komando.com, serves 2.7 million unique visitors each month and she sends 500 million newsletters per year to subscribers.[7]

Komando and her husband, Barry Young, own Phoenix-based WestStar TalkRadio Network, which distributes the Komando radio program.

Komando has appeared on CNN, CBS, MSNBC, ABC, BBC and Fox News, and her syndicated columns appear in USA Today and other newspapers. She has been a columnist for USA Today since February 2002. She won the Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media for Outstanding Program Host in 2007[8] and in April 2016 was the keynote speaker at the NAB Show Radio Luncheon to an audience of industry leaders.[9][10] In January 2017, she was appointed to Forbes Magazine Tech Council. On October 9, 2019, Kim presented a keynote speech about cybersecurity at the John Glenn NASA Research Center in Cleveland that was broadcast to all 60,000 NASA employees.[11] In 2020, she was nominated to the National Radio Hall of Fame.[12]

Early life

Kimberly Ann Komando was born and raised in New Jersey.[citation needed]

Her father, Richard Paul "Dick" Komando served in the Army during the Korean War and was a management employee for United Airlines.[citation needed] Her mother, Virginia Komando was a Senior Systems Analyst with Bell Laboratories.[13][citation needed] Kim is the youngest of four, a brother Richard and two sisters, Christine and Kathleen.[citation needed]

Kim says in her profile that she first used a computer at nine years of age.[14] She graduated eighth grade from Watchung's Valley View School in 1978.[15] She attended the nearby Catholic private high school for girls, Mount St. Mary Academy, where she was elected to the McAuley Chapter of the National Honor Society in 1981.[16][17] After graduating from high school in 1981, one year ahead of schedule as a Junior, and having skipped a grade, she attended Arizona State University. While in school, she started her own business to train people how to use their computers. Kim graduated from Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business in 1985, at the age of 19, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems.[1][4][2]

She is frequently asked if "Kim Komando" is her real name, which it is.[3] The name "Komando" is Russian-Ukrainian.[18]

Career

Kim Komando started out in sales, working for IBM, AT&T and Unisys. At Unisys, she sold mainframe systems. She sold Honeywell a Unisys system valued at $11 million. Kim Komando wrote a column about computers for the Arizona Business Gazette while she was hosting a call-in talk show on computers. It aired late at night on KFYI in Phoenix, Arizona.

In 1992, she formed "The Komando Corporation" with her as President/CEO and her mother as Secretary.[19][citation needed] She quit sales at Unisys to focus on her syndicated newspaper column and radio show, though she was only earning $60 a week from the column and show combined. Komando developed computer training tapes that she wrote, hosted, and called Komputer Tutor, which she sold via an infomercial.[20][21][22] Over 150,000 tapes were sold for $80 to $120 each.[citation needed] The second generation of tapes included Prodigy. America Online was included with the third generation of tapes. Kim Komando negotiated a role running the computer section on AOL's site. The domain Komando.com hosted "Kim Komando's Komputer Klinic" for several years.[23]

Komando was the Technology Editor of Popular Mechanics Magazine from 1995 to 1998. She has been a weekly columnist for USA Today since February 2002. She has written 12 books on computers and technology.[24][citation needed]

Through her charitable trust, she sponsors a scholarship for students on her path, female CIS students at her alma mater, W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU.[4]

Radio broadcasting

In the mid-1990s, Komando started the WestStar TalkRadio Network (now WestStar Multimedia) with her husband Barry Young. They built their first studio in 1994. In 1994, ABC and CBS Radio passed on the show, saying a national radio show on the subject would be unsuccessful, as computers and the Internet were a fad.[25]

In 2015, the staff of WestStar moved into a $7.5 million, 24,000 square-foot multimedia facility with radio studios and production facilities for TV shows and podcasts.[citation needed]

In 2016, Komando was the Keynote Speaker at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas.

In 2017, Komando was nominated for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Marconi Radio Award in the Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year category.[26]

In 2020, Komando was nominated to the National Radio Hall of Fame.[12] She has been previously nominated in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

The Kim Komando radio show airs on more than 435 radio stations in the United States and in 177 different countries on Armed Forces Radio. The Kim Komando Television Show premiered globally on Bloomberg TV January 5, 2019.

WestStar's radio offerings diversified into a number of other radio formats, among them: Your Weekend, an adult contemporary music program hosted by pianist Jim Brickman; Quiet Music, a smooth jazz program hosted by Nick Francis; Goddard's Gold and The '70s, classic hits/oldies programs hosted by Phoenix-area disc jockey Steve Goddard; and The Other Side with Steve Godfrey, a call-in talk show in which the title host attempted to communicate with spirits. As of 2020, WestStar continues to distribute Komando's show and An American Christmas, an annual Christmas special produced by Mannheim Steamroller.

Personal life

She splits her time between her homes in Arizona, California, and Maui, Hawaii. She has full broadcast studios in all locations. She is married to Barry Young, who is her business partner and former host of The Nearly Famous Barry Young Show, a local radio show on KFYI in Phoenix until November 2014.[27] They have a son named Ian.[5]

Awards

  • 2001 Arizona State University College of Business and SRP Spirit of the Enterprise Award [2]
  • 2006 Judy Jarvis Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Woman to Talk Radio, also known as “Woman of the Year” by Talkers Magazine.[28]
  • 2007 Gracie Individual Achievement Award for Outstanding Program Host.[8]
  • 2009 speaker at Fortune Magazine's Most Powerful Women Summit.[29]
  • 2016 Keynote Speaker at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Profile: Kim Komando". SWE.org. Society of Women Engineers, Keynote address, 1999 Annual Conference. June 22, 1999. Archived from the original on October 21, 1999. Retrieved December 30, 2012. Kim Komando ... 34-year-old
  2. ^ a b c Ku, Tony (September 24, 2001). "Radio host's enterprise recognized by ASU, SRP". ASU. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Samantha (February 21, 2000). "Online". People. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018. Komando, 35
  4. ^ a b c "America's Digital Goddess gives back to CIS women". W. P. Carey News and Research. September 12, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2019. After graduating at age 19, Komando (BS Computer Information Systems '85)
  5. ^ a b "About Kim". Komando.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  6. ^ "Kim Komando". FamilyFirst.com. March 9, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  7. ^ "Advertise". Komando.com. August 31, 2017. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "The Gracies: 2007 Gracie Awards Winners". TheGracies.org. Archived from the original on May 18, 2009.
  9. ^ "Kim Komando to Address NAB Show Radio Luncheon | NAB Show". www.nabshow.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016. At the age of 16, Komando started college
  10. ^ a b "Kim Komando offers keynote speech at NAB 2016". YouTube.com. April 28, 2016.
  11. ^ "3 things I taught NASA employees about cybersecurity". Komando.com. December 28, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "2020 Nominees". Radio Hall Of Fame. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  13. ^ "Virginia Komando Profile". LinkedIn.com.
  14. ^ "The Life And Times of Kim Komando (A Professional Profile)". Komando.com. October 18, 1996. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. ^ "Ninety-Two Graduate From Valley View". Echoes-Sentinel. Warren Township, New Jersey. June 29, 1978. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  16. ^ "Campus Corner". Echoes-Sentinel. Warren Township, New Jersey. January 22, 1981. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  17. ^ "Mount Saint Mary Academy Mountain Chimes Yearbook 1981". E-Yearbook.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016.
  18. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions-Is Kim Komando her real name?". Komando.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016.
  19. ^ "The Komando Corporation". ecorp.azcc.gov. Arizona Corporation Commission eCorp. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  20. ^ "How to Avoid the 29 Biggest Computer Mistakes (1993)". youtube.com. January 1, 2013. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  21. ^ "Early '90s Kim Komando Infomercial". youtube.com. April 25, 2013.
  22. ^ "Komputer Tutor Infomercial Part 1". youtube.com. September 12, 2007. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  23. ^ "Kim Komando's Komputer Klinic". Komando.com. October 18, 1996. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  24. ^ "Results for Books : Kim Komando". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  25. ^ "About". Komando.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  26. ^ "2017 NAB Marconi Radio Award Finalists Announced - NAB Newsroom". NAB.org. National Association of Broadcasters. July 10, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  27. ^ "Barry Young Announces Retirement from 550 KFYI & Mike Broomhead to Host Mornings". kfyi.iheart.com (550 KFYI). iHeartMedia Phoenix. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  28. ^ "Talkers Magazine". Talkers.com. May 26, 2007. Archived from the original on April 6, 2008.
  29. ^ "FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit 2009 - Speakers". FortuneConferences.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
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