On the Air with Kim Wier

With 90 seconds to spare, Kim Wier ’85 places headphones atop her head and draws the microphone near. She has done this hundreds of times, but when the recording light turns on, she still feels excited.

For more than a decade, Wier has been a radio host and is currently hosting and producing Sunday Night Live!, a weekly two-hour interactive radio show on KSBJ-FM in Houston — the largest Christian radio station in the country.

Weekly topics include current events, Christian living, cultural trends and expert interviews, all with a biblical worldview. A key part of the show is opening the phone lines for listeners to call in. Wier said the radio show is simply a conversation between her and the listeners.

“I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and happen to be a communicator, so I leverage that to build people up in Christ,” Wier said. “It’s all about how I can invest in other people’s lives so they can experience the fullness of a relationship with Christ. Radio helps me do that.”

KSBJ producer and on-air personality Steven Kay produces Sunday Night Live! and works alongside Wier.

“Kim is a delight to work with. She is both pleasant and professional,” Kay said. “She has a rare talent as a talk show host to create a conversation among her, the guest and the listener, and she always brings great discussions on life and faith.”

Wier’s path to radio was filled with irony and ingenuity. She entered SFA as an undecided major, but by her junior year, she discovered a knack for writing and declared journalism as her major. Ironically, she enrolled in a radio/TV course and later dropped it.

“It’s the irony of ironies because radio fits me better than anything I’ve ever done,” she laughed.

Putting her skills to use, Wier worked for The Pine Log, the university’s student newspaper, as an advertising representative and reporter. She also was an officer in the American Marketing Association organization.

“The Pine Log is where I had my first byline and published article,” Wier said. “Often, there are few opportunities for real-world experience as a college student, but The Pine Log is an exception. Everything I learned there — from design and writing to interview skills — I have put into practice.”

Wier met her husband, Tony ’86, to whom she’s been married 30 years, while she was a senior at SFA. The couple has four children and one granddaughter. Three of their children are SFA graduates.

Before joining KSBJ in 2011, Wier hosted a one-hour radio show at KSWP-FM in Lufkin and Nacogdoches for seven years. A go-getter by nature, she landed her position with KSWP after contacting the station manager and suggesting a biblical feature program.

Her first radio broadcast occurred just days after the 9/11 attacks. Wier recalls discussing how the terrorists’ attacks impacted families and how parents should talk with their children about the events.

A few years later, Wier learned KSBJ was reformatting its only talk program, and the station offered her the opportunity to create a new show.

“It was definitely a God opportunity. It was something you can’t make happen,” Wier said. “God just opened the door, and I walked through it at the right time.”

Wier’s radio shows are archived online, which she said means the show continues to minister long after it is broadcast. Wier added the show has been downloaded thousands of times in more than 100 countries, including Afghanistan, Puerto Rico and Sweden.

“It’s cool to create a message and leave it online where it has a life of its own all around the world,” she said.

In addition to communicating through her weekly radio program, Wier has written four Christian books and is working on a novel. She has written a humorous column for The Daily Sentinel in Nacogdoches for more than 18 years and writes two blogs — one is about her life experiences, and the other is a biblical devotional.

“I think people who are natural communicators are always looking for ways to connect. Today, we have so many options,” Wier said. “My blogs are personal in nature. It’s me sharing my life and things people can relate to in hopes of encouraging others. My goal with my column is to look at life with a certain eye and show how God’s hand is in everything.”

Wier said she is constantly amazed when viewing her blog’s statistics, which detail the countries of origin for the people who read it, including non-Christian countries.

When she isn’t reaching out to people through radio, newspaper or her blog, Wier travels the country providing weekend seminars, retreats and Christmas programs through Engaging Women, a Christian ministry she started with a friend.

“I’ve been blessed in an abundance of ways, but even when things are difficult, my goal is to be grateful. God only lets into my life the things that are ultimately for my good and for his purpose,” Wier said. “We are given a finite amount of time. What is wasted we don’t get back, so in life or ministry, I hope not to waste too much but invest the hours, minutes and days so they produce something meaningful.”