Editor's note: Visit our
Faces of South Metro page, where YourHub.com staff and readers can introduce you to more people who make this part of the metro area what it is. Rocking head-to-toe tattoos, fiery red locks, black Converse tennis shoes and an Ed Hardy hoodie,
Susan Phelan, 39, is not your typical reporter. "With these tats, I'll never report on local TV news," says Phelan, who's been delivering morning and afternoon radio traffic reports for Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network for almost seven years. While Phelan delivers crucial traffic updates to early-morning KBCO and KHOW listeners from the Denver Tech Center, 4695 S. Monaco St., few of these morning rush hour drivers know the real story. The woman behind the chipper, cheery voice is ironically sleep-deprived from rocking her upright bass at last night's show.
Phelan not only plays the upright bass. She stands on it. While plucking away in The Angie Stevens Band, a local folk rock group, she adds a seemingly impossible balancing act to the live shows. On a typical day, Phelan will end her first reporting shift at 9 a.m. with plenty of time to go home to Lakewood and sleep before her afternoon shift starts at 3 p.m. After delivering traffic reports to listeners of KHOW, KBPI and The Fox, she'll race from work at 7 p.m. to play a show, get home late-night, sleep, awake at dawn and do it all over again. "I can seriously roll out of bed -- just as long as I brush my teeth -- and come down here because it doesn't matter what I look like," she laughs. Despite the sleep deprivation, Phelan somehow manages to nail her demanding, tedious weekday tasks -- free from error. "I might have sneezed once," she laughs. "But I've never cussed on air or made any big mistakes." Phelan makes her job look easy, but it's no cakewalk. The at-ease tone of her voice gives the impression that she's simply handed a script, but that's not the case. She monitors numerous traffic cameras, maps, diagrams and accident updates on their traffic software. From there, she pinpoints the most crucial accidents and delays that will affect the most people and mentally compiles a 30-second report. For most of the day, she's busting out these 30-second reports - not reading from anything - every 15 minutes. Perhaps the photos adorning her workstation are what keep her revved up. Tacked on the wall in front of her is a picture of
Elvis, her father
Jack Phelan, who was a jazz bassist, and her favorite band Juliette Lewis and the Licks. Taped below her monitor is a picture of her two cats,
Stoney and
Dominga, and a sticker that reads, "BassSurfer." Perhaps it's Phelan's passion for music and life that keeps her revved.
"Each day I feel lucky," she says. "I love what I do and I'm living my dreams."