At an early age, Cameron had a speech impediment. As part of a program similar to Hooked on Phonics to improve his speech, instructors recorded before and after success commercials.
“My first time hearing myself on the radio was in my grandfather’s den. He had it on the speakers on WCLK. I heard myself on the radio, and I was like that’s it. I’ve been doing what I wanted to do since I was a baby,” says Cameron.
In 1990, Cameron was a store manager at Blockbuster, and performing comedy shows at night. At a Labor Day comedy show, he connects with Mike Roberts, at the time the top-rated morning host at V-103.
Roberts offers Cameron an opportunity to interview as an intern. Ryan arrives three hours late to the interview. Cameron almost lost his Cardale Jones opportunity, but persuades Roberts to give him the intern gig. Cameron quits Blockbuster, and works the entire year for free as an intern.
“This generation now has a sense of entitlement. You think just because you go to college you are supposed to get this job, and it’s really about who you know. When you encounter people, you have to be ready. I always tell people you have to be ready for your Jeremy Lin or Cardale Jones moment,” says Cameron.
Cameron does not immediately win a Championship like Cardale Jones, and start hosting a morning show. However, Cameron’s career begins to slowly roll. He begins as a fill-in host on weekends, and leads to a full time night jock position.
In 1995, Mary Catherine Sneed, who hired Cameron at V-103 starts a new radio station, Hot, Atlanta’s first hip-hop station. Cameron was the first jock to play hip hop on V-103, a primarily R&B station. So, Cameron was well-suited to kick start the hip hop station with Sneed as the morning host.
Cameron dominates mornings amongst the younger demographic, and becomes a strong competitor to his former employer V-103. In 2005, CBS offers him an opportunity to host the afternoon drive for V-103.
Then, the Jeremy Lin moment happens. Frank Ski's 14 year morning show run comes to an end. Cameron not as far down on depth chart as Lin, but Cameron hungry and ready to dish dimes becomes the new 6th man to host mornings on V-103.
Although having been inducted into Georgia’s Radio Hall of Fame, Cameron feels his biggest accomplishment is his Foundation. In 2002, Cameron and his wife Kysha Cameron founded the Ryan Cameron Foundation to empower the youth of Atlanta to become future leaders.
Cameron had humble beginnings in the Bankhead area of Atlanta. As a kid, he often go to the soup kitchen with his grandmother to feed the homeless. Through the process of handing out sandwiches, he learned everyone deserved a chance.
“Everybody deserves a hand up not a handout, and the foundation has done that with the number of kids that we have that are in college right now. We have Gates scholars that started in the foundation. They would not have had the opportunity if it hadn't been for the foundation. It all started with my grandma taking me somewhere, and having me give back. I'm very proud of that,” says Cameron.