2007 Most Influential Women Honoree: Julie Vanvig Burnell

Julie Vanvig Burnell holds two positions at KTTS-FM, and she takes both job titles very seriously.

She’s co-host of the “Andy and Julie in the Morning” show, which is the No. 1 Arbitron-rated morning show in Springfield for eight years running. Her work has helped KTTS earn five Station of the Year nominations from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Awards.

Her success as a radio show host has led her to mentor younger people in the industry. “It is not enough to simply succeed,” she said. “If you do not work to share that success, you leave no legacy.”

Burnell’s role as a radio personality plays into her other position at KTTS: community outreach director. Burnell – who has donated more than 4,000 hours of volunteer service – uses her on-air influence to spark community involvement.

“By using my professional platform as a broadcaster, I am able to help match people in need with those who can help,” she said.

Perhaps her biggest community undertaking has been the KTTS Christmas Crusade, which she created in 2001 to provide gifts, clothing and food to families through the Holiday Center, a project of Council of Churches of the Ozarks. In its first year, Christmas Crusade helped 41 families. By 2006, the program had grown tenfold.

Her work with Christmas Crusade led to Burnell’s 2005 recognition as a Gift of Time recipient. Council of Churches of the Ozarks presents the award each year to local volunteers.

“It gave me the chance to recognize the work of all of the hundreds of volunteers who have given to the project over the years, and acknowledge what an amazing community we live in,” Burnell said of the award, her proudest accomplishment to date.

Christmas Crusade, along with the St. Jude Radiothon, raised a combined total of more than $800,000 in 2006 under Burnell’s leadership.

Burnell also has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters as a mentor and reading buddy and has been tapped as a guest lecturer on a number of topics, including civic journalism, media relations and volunteer motivation and recruitment.

“I hope that my direct work with these individuals as well as the example I set in my personal life inspires people to achieve their fullest potential,” she said.

Burnell is a 2003 Springfield Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and was Associate Member of the Year for the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield in 2005.

One-on-one with Julie Vanvig Burnell

When you were young, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be Dolly Parton. Seriously. We had one television station in the rural part of North Dakota where I was raised. I watched her variety show and thought she was the fanciest person I had ever seen.

What’s something about you that most people don’t know?

I’m very “Betty Crocker.” I won the home economics departmental award in school and placed in cooking and sewing competitions and made all of the curtains in our home.

What are your stress relievers?

Exercise, time with friends, spending time with my family, woodworking and home improvement projects, and also engaging in a little “retail therapy.”

Please tell us about your family.

Husband Mike Burnell, sons Dylan, 11, and Jared, 7, and the “babies” – three dogs, a cat, a fish, a chameleon and a guinea pig, at last count.

Information accurate at the time of the honor.[[In-content Ad]]