Kate Archer Kent starts her job at 4 a.m. on the air for Red River Radio. Kent is essentially a one-person shop gathering news from around the Ark-La-Tex as a news producer for the nonprofit affiliated with National Public Radio. In her spare time, Kent practices yoga and spends time with her family. She is a wife and a mother of four.

Q. Why did you want to do radio? Kent: It was a happy accident. We moved to Ruston in August 2002, when I became marketing and public relations director for Louisiana Tech [University]. A few years later, my husband, Alex, landed a job at The Times. I was a white-knuckle commuter on Interstate 20 between Ruston and Shreveport. When the job opened up at Red River Radio, I applied. Now, my commute is three minutes – a bit longer by bike – and I love that.

Q. Where are you from? Kent: I grew up in Minneapolis.

Q. Do you have a radio voice unique to your at home voice? If so, explain. Kent: I don’t know. I don’t think about my voice. What’s nice about public radio news is that people with diverse voices make it on air. They must be a journalist first – tell a thoughtful story – and the delivery is secondary. Although, it seems that people with unique names land in public radio, like the Sylvia Poggiolis of the world.

Q. As a listener what is your favorite nPR program? Kent: ‘Morning Edition.’ I catch bits and pieces of the entire show as I anchor our local broadcast.

Q. What is the best part of your job? Kent: Meeting people who tell me their story and earning their trust to allow me into their lives for a brief moment.

Q. What is the best part of working for a nonprofit? Kent: You’re always hanging on by a thread! No, actually, it’s a difficult time for nonprofits everywhere. I think you realize that every day the work you do is making a valuable contribution to your organization’s solvency. In our case, that means finding the budget to stay on the air and offering superb public radio programming.

Q. Do you find it challenging being a mother and working full time? Kent: Heck ya. I’ve got four kids – age 5 and under. I just returned to work after having twins. When I’m at work, it’s nose to the grindstone. I’m on a mission to get my job done well and on time. I can get a lot accomplished without a baby on my hip. At home, I set down my phone so I can focus on watching my kids grow up before me. I don’t want to miss a thing.

Q. What is the most challenging aspect of your job? How do you make it fun? Kent: The tedious part – transcribing interviews. But I think about how good the story will sound once I extract the most compelling minute of something a person said during a 15-minute interview.

Q. In working with the media, you get a good sense of the community. Who in the community has been influential to you as a journalist? Kent: I do a lot of business stories, locally and nationally. I appreciate going into factories and meeting CEOs who have built a family-owned business from the ground up. Sometimes, I can look at their hands and see the sacrifice, survival and true grit involved in keeping a sawmill running in today’s global marketplace.

Q. Your profile on the RRR site, says you practice yoga. How does this help with your job? Kent: I discovered yoga when I moved to Louisiana, thanks to triathlete-turnedyogi Julie Smith and her studio, The Yoga Room, in Ruston. When I moved to Shreveport, I found out about Sadhu Vaswani Hindu Temple and its community yoga practices. It is such a peaceful setting for yoga. I feel transported. I’ve met so many lovely people from all walks of life. Together, we practice yoga on Tuesdays and Saturdays. As anyone will tell you, yoga helps clear your mind. It’s good.

Q. Do you have any career advice for young women looking to work in broadcast journalism? Kent: Be flexible about what you’re willing to do, but don’t sell yourself short.

Have a lot of skills in your toolbox. Double major in college so you have a specialty other than a journalism degree. Be prepared to move to a new place to find a job that will help your career blossom. You’ll find your way, even far from home. Read a lot and find a journalist whom you admire.

Q. What is one thing that the public might not know about you? Kent: I am a list-maker. I carry multiple lists with me – adding and editing as I go each day. I write everything down on paper so I can reduce the clutter in my head.

Q. What’s on your nightstand?

Kent: Brigid Schulte’s ‘Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time.’ I’m going to self-help my way to achieving a healthy work/life balance! Margaret Wise Brown’s ‘Goodnight Moon.’ Her words are safe and eternal: ‘Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere.’