Jenn Hobby leaving 94.1 full-time to work for nonprofit: ‘I’m pursuing a passion’

Credit: Facebook

Credit: Facebook

In 2016, her younger daughter, Reese, was diagnosed with cancer in her spine at age one and survived. Reese is now nine and cancer free and healthy.

“We go back to the doctor once a year for a survivorship appointment,” Hobby said. “They monitor kids for long-term effects of chemo treatment.”

Kristin Connor, chief executive officer of CURE Childhood Cancer, said she has a strong marketing team but was seeking someone who could convey a message in a clear, authentic way. Hobby, she said, fit the bill. And with cuts in federal funding for cancer research, more of the burden is falling on private philanthropic sources like her group.

“Jenn is a communications expert,” Connor said. “She brings valuable skills to us. The timing could not have been better. Jenn is going to help us get the right stories out there in the right way on the right channels.”

For the past nine years, Hobby has worked at Star 94 as a morning host. The station’s local staff was gutted in March, leaving only Hobby as morning host.

Hobby began her radio career in 2000 at now-defunct hip-hop station 95.5/The Beat before moving to Q100 in 2002 and joining the successful Bert Show. She stayed there for about a decade before moving to sister station Kicks 101.5 as a midday host.

In 2016, she joined fellow former Bert Show host Jeff Dauler at Star, but Dauler was ousted in 2019, leaving Hobby as the solo host for the next six years, even when Star changed to a more dance-oriented pop format in 2020.

CURE Childhood Cancer, which is 50 years old, provides education and counseling for families with children with cancer and funding to research cures for childhood cancer.

Hobby said she eased her way into becoming active as a volunteer for the group, eventually emceeing several of its fundraisers.

“At first, it was too fresh and too emotional,” she said. “But now with a little bit of distance, I felt it was time for a real big life shift. I was previously committing 10, 20% of my time to fundraising. Now I can focus 100% of my time.”

In CURE Childhood Cancer’s most recent 990 form submitted to the government, the nonprofit organization generated more than $10 million in revenue in fiscal year 2023.

Hobby will remain as the morning host at Star until July 11. The station has not yet named a replacement.

She said she has talked with Star management about staying on in a part-time capacity, though the details have not been hammered out. “It’s a fluid situation,” she said.