Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a teen who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a friend, and a son or a daughter. Above all, the Teen of the Month is dedicated to making a positive mark on the planet. Rich or poor, famous or not, the Teen of the Month shines as an example of what today's teens have to offer.

August's Teen of the Month is 19-year-old Daniel Anstandig, who already has an impressive career in radio.

Most teenagers aren't really sure of what they want to do when they grow up. Nineteen-year-old Daniel Anstandig doesn't have that problem. Instead, he has to try to fit his schooling and his "normal" teen activities around his longtime career in radio.

Not that he is exactly your average teen. Currently, Anstandig is vice president of new media programming at McVay Media in Cleveland, Ohio. He also serves as a consultant to artists and radio stations around the country. He graduated from high school two years ago at age 17 and is in an accelerated program at John Carroll University working toward his degree in marketing and business management.

Small Boy, Big Ambition
Anstandig doesn't remember any defining moment when he knew he wanted to be in radio simply because he's been interested in it so long that he can't remember back that far. At age 9, he was already contacting radio stations trying to get them to give him a job or just allow him to serve an internship. He didn't understand why they weren't interested.

Since he couldn't get anyone to hire him, he started his own station, WDGA, in the basement of his house. Finally, at age 12, he got his big break when a local station, WELW-AM, hired him to write and host a one-hour weekly show for children. At the same time, Anstandig began taking radio classes at John Carroll University and working at their station, WJCU-FM/88.7.

As much as he enjoyed what he was doing, Anstandig wanted more. "By age 14, I had done a number of different programs but I really wanted to work the big picture," says Anstandig. "I wanted to program a station, be in charge of everything from the music to the personalities. Unfortunately, there are very few people who will allow a 14-year-old to do that kind of work."

However, another youngster was on the scene that seemed to be the answer to Anstandig: the Internet.

Running the Show
Like most teens, Anstandig grew up with the Internet and was already comfortable with the medium when he began hearing talk of Internet-based radio.

"I had been hearing about Internet radio and what an up-and-coming medium it was," says Anstandig. "People were talking about it a lot and speculating whether or not it would become the next mass media – as they still are."

The more he heard, the more interested Anstandig became. After thoroughly researching the field and preparing a market study, he convinced two local investors to start an online radio station. His market study had found a void in the adult contemporary category so he decided to focus on that segment of the market. DAER Radio debuted in May of 1998. Within six months, the station was attracting 180,000 listeners a month. DAER was also chosen by Microsoft as the pilot station for Microsoft Windows Media Player. At its peak, the station employed more than 30 people. One of them was a program director that had good-naturedly turned young Anstandig down for a job because of his age on a number of occasions.

Eventually, DAER was affected by the music licensing controversy that is still a polarizing issue in the entertainment industry and was dissolved in 2002. But Anstandig was still as successful as ever. In 2001, he met Mike McVay, owner of McVay Media, the largest broadcast consulting company in the world. Shortly after their first meeting, McVay hired Anstandig as program director for the Jim Brickman show, which aired on 175 adult contemporary stations in the United States and Australia.

Going Full Time
What's easy to forget while reading Anstandig's story is that in the year 2001, while running a pioneer radio station and working as a program director for a popular weekly show, he was only 17. In addition to those very real adult responsibilities, he still had to finish high school.

"I was very fortunate that my school worked out a special schedule so that I could work in the business yet still meet the requirements for graduation," says Anstandig. "I was also blessed with parents who were willing to work with me and allow me to follow my dreams."

Following those dreams required a schedule that would stagger most adults. On an average day he would get up at 5 a.m. and exercise for an hour and then answer e-mails from his sales staff until school started at 7:30 a.m. When he got out of school four hours later, he worked on Radio DAER and then in the evening did his homework. After that, he would wrap up any business that had come up while he was busy with schoolwork. It, as he put it, became a "24-hour gig."

Anstandig's schedule is no easier now. In addition to his full-time job for McVay Media and his part-time college work, he can be heard in Cleveland as the evening announcer on 95.5 The Fish. At 19, he has a deep, velvety voice that makes it seem as if he were destined for the medium where the important connections are made aurally.

And it's making that connection that Anstandig loves about his job.

"Radio is the only medium that is one on one and intimate," says Anstandig. "When you're listening to the radio, it's as if the person on the air is talking just to you."

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