Rising Star Award
2024: Brandon Napier, Hannah King
Brandon Napier – Ad Astra Radio, Hutchinson
Brandon Napier is the Vice President & Chief Operations Officer for Ad Astra Radio, and an invaluable asset to the team, helping to integrate all of Ad Astra’s new stations over the past few years and upgrade and update all the technology associated with it. Known to be the ultimate team player and jack of all trades, Brandon is relentless in trying to improve operations.
Before working with Ad Astra, Brandon worked for 14 years at Verizon. In early 2022, he decided to leave the corporate world behind and work for a family business and was eager to get back into local broadcasting.
Two important people in Brandon’s life that have heavily influenced him in the radio industry have been his father, Vernon Napier, who passed away in 2014 and his brother Aaron Napier, who is Ad Astra’s Vice President & Chief Programming Officer.
Vernon was at KLEY KWME for around 25 years. Brandon helped with a lot there, including running the board for KU, Royals, and Wichita Wranglers and did traffic for the stations for many years. At the age of 14, Brandon often covered for his dad with news and operations when he was on vacation. Brandon credits Aaron with getting him back into broadcasting.
Brandon met his wife Danielle at Campus High School in 2005 and later married in 2008. They have a son and a daughter together.
2023: Samuel Stueve, Annette Lawless
Sam Stueve – KMBZ, Kansas City
Sam Stueve – just a guy with a voice. Once a math loving engineering student, he turned into a college radio talk show host & newsman when he saw the writing on the wall. A failed calculus test in his hand, Sam knew engineering wasn’t for him – but he was determined to find his niche. Open-minded and up for anything, the sign that would change the course of his career forever simply read, “Do you want to be a DJ?” Sam didn’t give a definite “yes,” but his “why not?” is what led him to become a Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB) 2023 Radio Rising Star honoree and is a philosophy he lives by daily at KMBZ radio.
Starting at Johnson County Community College with ECAV radio, then moving on to UMKC to volunteer with KKFI, Sam acquired countless radio hours while working a full-time job at QuikTrip and paying for his schooling outright. As anyone who starts in the business knows, the long work and school hours had to balance Monday morning talk show, co-hosting from 2-5am. Sam started at Audacy in the promotions department via referral from a good college friend. From there, everything moved quickly once Sam was called up to help out in the KMBZ studio. MU basketball broadcasts turned into Saturday morning producing, then Saturday morning news, plus writing and recording news during the week.
After a few short months of which Sam claims “I had no idea what I was doing,” a huge opportunity opened up – being the producer of Dana & Parks – and Sam wanted it. After jumping around, producing different shows, and training people to do the job he wanted, the job became his! And there aren’t too many of those where you not only get to laugh, but also have fun and inform others while you do it.
Annette Lawless – KAKE, Wichita
Anchor and investigative reporter Annette Lawless enjoys waking up with KAKEland on its celebrated weekday morning shows. She’s been a part of the KAKE News family for the past 10 years. Before, she held a camera and microphone at Fox 8 News in Cleveland. Yet, Kansas is where her storytelling heart is, graduating from K-State and having worked at KTKA and KWCH.
In Wichita, she’s crafted the nationally recognized daily series Missing in Kansas, helping bring a voice to runaway children and victims of cold cases. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering, baking and spending time with her fellow photojournalist husband and their three kids.
2022: Matt Althouse, Lily Wu
Matt Althouse – Eagle Communications, Great Bend
Matt started his radio career at KJCK-FM in Junction City in 2003 as on air talent and later, music director. He spent one year with Rocking M Radio in Great Bend in 2008 at KZRS working the mid-day shift.
In 2009 Matt joined Hull Broadcasting in Great Bend where he had the opportunity to be exposed to every facet of the business. From traffic logs and programming, to engineering, and later Operations Manager and Digital Sales Manager for Eagle Communications.
He was also Program Director for KBGL-FM from 2012 until 2021 when he accepted the position of General Manager for Eagle Communications in Great Bend. In his first year of station management, Matt and his sales team have hit all but one of their monthly quotas. He’s successfully navigated the replacement of an operations manager and news director and orchestrated the successful and profitable giveaway of a brand-new car for Great Bend radio’s summer promotion.
Matt sees himself as a problem solver. He enjoys helping clients and staff members solve their problems, and says, “There is no shortage of problems out there.” He looks back with pride on some successful cases, such as the plumber who showed up at the office as a one-man operation with a single truck who now runs a large fleet with storefronts in multiple communities–proof of the power of radio and a strategic advertising campaign.
Matt is also passionate about enriching the next generation of media professionals. He works hard to enable young people with opportunities to grow and succeed in the broadcast industry.
Away from the office, Matt has successfully navigated some challenges as well. As a single dad with two young children (Lucas and Emma) work/life balance is a top priority and a challenge that he has conquered.
Lily Wu – KWCH, Wichita
Lily Wu has been a television journalist for nearly 12 years and began telling stories in her hometown of Wichita as a teenager with the Wichita East High School newspaper
and KTQW TV, where she won a KAB 1st place award in Public Affairs in 2003.
In June 2020, she joined the Eyewitness News team as a co-anchor for the 4 p.m. newscast and multimedia journalist for KWCH. Lily also produces a weekly business and employment story for the “Building You” franchise and informs viewers of daily “Job of the Day” opportunities on KWCH at 4 p.m.
Lily earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Hong Kong, while serving as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. She also earned the distinction of Summa Cum Laude, graduating with two bachelor’s degrees in international business and integrated marketing communication from Wichita State University. She is dedicated to serving her community as an active volunteer for various organizations. She is a board member of the Steve Clark YMCA and the WSU Barton School of Business Advisory Council, director of the Miss Wichita Asian Festival Scholarship Pageant, and past president of the Wichita Asian Association. She has previously served on the boards of the WSU Alumni Association, Orpheum Theatre of Wichita, Botanica Chinese Garden of Friendship, Susan G Komen Wichita chapter, WSU SIFE, Visioneering Wichita, and Diversity Kansas.
Lily was involved in pageantry and placed 4th Runner-Up at the Miss Global 2017 pageant held in Cambodia. She won the titles of Miss Kansas United States 2012 and Miss Kansas Teen International 2003, and represented the USA at Miss World University and Miss Chinese World. She was named the “2020 Exceptional Young Leader” by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce and a “2015 Leader in Diversity” by the Wichita Business Journal.