Tess Taylor, of Breezy Point, is part of the morning show at BL BroadcastingÕs WJJY Radio in Baxter.

"I made radio tapes when I was young. This is exactly what I said: 'I'm Tess Taylor and I'll be back with the news,'" said Tess, a Breezy Point resident since accepting her job at BL Broadcasting in Baxter in 2004.

Tess grew up in Duluth, graduating from Duluth East High School and the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a degree in human communication.

About a month before graduating from college, a DJ she had listened to for as long as she could reach a radio spoke to her public relations class. He invited the students to a live broadcast at a local establishment during a Monday Night Football game.

Tess and her friends went to the broadcast. Tess introduced herself to the DJ, and asked how she could get a job at the radio station.

"He said, 'Apply,'" Tess said.

So she applied, and got a job at a country station, which is the type of music she likes best. Eventually she was on the air from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. through her final month of college.

From 1996-2000, Tess worked for various media in Duluth. What she most enjoyed was being on the air.

Ken Thomas and Tess Taylor banter back and forth during the WJJY Radio morning show.

In 2000, after returning from a spring break trip with girlfriends to Cozumel, Mexico, Tess and a girlfriend dared each other to quit their jobs and move to Mexico for three months. It's a dare they carried out.

Before that big adventure, Tess moved to the Twin Cities and called an affiliate of Radio Disney, whom she'd done promotions for in Duluth. Not only did Radio Disney create a position for her, the company said she'd have her job if she promised to return from Cozumel in three months. That had been the plan anyway, so Tess agreed.

In the meantime, Radio Disney's promotions manager quit and Tess was offered that job, provided she stay in Cozumel for just two months.

Tess returned to the Twin Cities in December 2000 and worked for Radio Disney for the next four years.

"It was a really fun job but it was so much work," Tess said, noting she burned out.

So she quit without first lining up another job.

"I'm a true believer everything happens for a reason," she said.

Wanting to return to "the 218 lifestyle" (referring to the area code), Tess searched the National Association of Broadcasters Web site and found a job opening for a morning show at a Brainerd radio station.

She and her husband-to-be, Derrick, knew nothing about the area, the people or the radio station, but Tess applied anyway and got the job.

"That was the scariest thing I've ever done. I thought moving to Mexico would be scary," Tess said.

She and Derrick found a home in Breezy Point, and Derrick formed Getter Dunn Construction LLC.

"I'm attached to my homeland here," Tess said of Breezy Point. "I like Breezy Point. We're very close with our neighbors. There are three kids up the hill and one on the way down the hill. I have the biggest kid in the neighborhood living in my house.

"We look out for each other," she said of her neighbors.

A typical day for Tess starts at 3 a.m. She is on the road by 4:30 a.m. at the latest to arrive at work by 5 a.m. She prepares the studio for the wakeup show she does with Ken Thomas, and she prepares the news for all the BL Broadcasting stations - WJJY 106.7, KUAL 103.5, B93.3 and KLIZ FM the Power Loon.

She and Ken go on the air at 6:05 a.m., and have a lot of fun doing "The Morning Mess with Ken and Tess" until 9 a.m.

Tess is on the air alone from 9 to 10 a.m., then jumps over to cover mid-days on B93.3. She pre-records a portion of that, as well as the Community Focus program that airs at noon on WJJY.

She also emcees lakes area events, including this weekend's Polar Plunge for Special Olympics at Breezy Point Resort, Kinship Partners' annual banquet at Breezy Point Resort, the Nisswa Women's Club's spring luncheon and fashion show, and Hoofin' It for HART in Nisswa.

Tess and Ken appreciate each other's sense of humor.

"What's it like working with Tess? It's a joy. You couldn't ask for a better co-worker," Ken said. "She has a great attitude, a wonderful sense of humor. Every morning I look forward to going to work because Tess is a lot of fun."

Tess talks about Ken in similar terms.

"I am so lucky. He is a patient saint," she said. "And he is so funny. The guy has a sense of humor. We have so much fun between 6 and 9."

While she dislikes working weekends, only because she likes to spend that time with family and friends in Duluth and the Twin Cities, Tess enjoys her job immensely.

"The personalities that I get to go hang out with every day," she said in answering what she likes best about her job. "I work with some fun, crazy people, which does make it fun every day. We laugh a lot.

"I've never woken up and said, 'I hate my job.' I like what I do," Tess said. "I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be jobwise. I feel this is what I was meant to do."