She’s baaaack!

Anji Corley is the host of “The Midday Experience with Anji” heard Mondays-Fridays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on the Sheridan Broadcasting Corp.’s WAMO 106.7 FM. In addition to working as an on-air personality, she has a resume that includes TV, radio, commercials and modeling. After a brief hiatus, Corley is back in your ears.

ANGI CORLEY

“I’m happy to be back,” she said. “I feel so loved and it is nice to be received. The warm welcomes and open hearts from everyone are great. I am here for you and my motto is to celebrate life everyday and invite other people to join in because I think that life is so special.”

She revealed that the hiatus was of a result of a budgetary move. “The main reason is because they eliminated our jobs. They brought in the ‘Steve Harvey Morning Show’ which is a syndicated show, and that left no room for our local morning show. So basically the “Wake Up Morning Show” with Anji and GQ was no more. We had no prior knowledge and there were never any hard feelings. We’ve maintained a great relationship. I have done commercials and worked on other projects with the Sheridan Broadcasting Corp. So it was just a business decision on their part to bring in a different type of show for this market.”

Corley, however, was not twiddling her thumbs during her sabbatical. Sounding like a hardware store, she says she did it all. “You name it—everything from A to Z: industrial training, filming commercials, voice-overs, print work and runway. I traveled extensively from New York to Chicago to Kentucky. I was always on the go doing my thing.”

But now that she’s back in the WAMO studio, don’t expect the same old same old at a new time.

“I think the main thing is that the show is different,” Corley continued. “People are used to me telling jokes, maybe laughing more, doing funny skits, and I think that will be the only thing that changes. I am still going to laugh and be myself and go out and about. The only thing that’s different is that I am not going to be on in the morning.”

While the radio waves are her bread and butter, she’s still working her other skills. “There are a few commercials that I am up for. I just did a lottery spot for a new game called ‘Quinton.’ So yes, there are a lot of spots that I am up for in and outside of the region.”

Part of her on-air job is staying up on current events, especially with the upcoming election. “The energy is high. If I am not on the phone or sleeping, I am talking to someone about what is on CNN or MSNBC concerning the election,” said Corley. “This is so vital and historical with an African-American and a woman. I mean this is like huge. We did a Stop The Music To Start To Vote ([promotion) recently so people can get out there and vote; know how and where to vote and to know what’s really going on because they are too scared to ask. I think we are at a point now where everybody knows how important it is because it is so historical.”

One would think since she has contacts in New York that she would have left the ’Burgh, but there is a rationale for her choice to stay here.

“I think the major difference is that there is more (media) in New York. It is 27-hours-a-day and there are just different opportunities. As a smaller market here in Pittsburgh, there are still tons of opportunities, which is why I am still here,” she said. “I could have left Pittsburgh a long time ago. In addition to the work that is available here, it is the people that make me feel like I can reach out and touch somebody. In New York, they try to cut your hand off because they think you are trying to rob them. When you think about the quality of your life, there are some things about Pittsburgh that you have to give two thumbs to.”

One of the things would be reuniting with her co-workers at WAMO. “It is wonderful and it is like coming home. It is also like going away to college and you come home and all of a sudden you are wondering what has been going on. You have to play catch up and get the cobwebs off and everybody is pretty much the same. It’s lovely.”

One thing, however, Corley want to make clear is she not a replacement for Kee-Kee Brown, a popular announcer who previous held down the midday air shift.

“I never took her job because that is not possible. Kee-Kee is a very good friend of mine. We would go to her son’s birthday parties. We have hung out together on numerous occasions. No one can replace Kee-Kee and no one is replaceable in their own right. I think she was ready and the Sheridan Broadcasting Corp. was ready for a change. She and I still talk, and there are never any hard feelings.”

But now that Corley’s back, don’t expect her to remain a voice you hear in the afternoon. “I am going to be everywhere,” she says. “Sometimes you will see me in the clubs, but I have partied so much in the past, that sometimes I feel like I never need to go out again. I do love socializing, meeting people, hanging out and having great conversation so of course you will see me out an about at every kind of function from A to Z. If it involves eating, I am there because I love to eat.”