Back On Air: Juan Conde’s Triumphant Return to Richmond Radio
Juan Conde knows what it feels like to be in the right place at the right time, and to recognize when it is time to come home.
For Richmonders who remember the energy of the station formerly known as Power 93, Juan’s voice is not new. Long before he became a familiar face on local television, he spent a decade in radio alongside his cohost and childhood friend, Katie P. Together, they helped shape a memorable era of local airwaves built on personality, pacing, and the kind of connection that only radio can create when a host truly understands the community on the other side of the dial.
What makes Juan’s story especially Richmond is that radio was never the original plan.
Before the studios, the playlists, and the on air rhythm, Juan’s ambition leaned in a different direction, real estate. He imagined himself building a career as a residential Realtor. But as life often does, it redirected him through an unexpected door. While working in a bar, Juan would grab the microphone and speak to customers, keeping the room engaged, reading the crowd, and projecting a confidence that could not be taught. Someone noticed. That moment turned into an offer, and that offer turned into a decade of radio work that would become foundational to his public career.
After ten years on the air, Juan made a pivot that would define the next chapter of his professional identity, television news. He transitioned into a role as a TV news anchor on local Channel 8 News, where he stayed for 20 years. In an industry where longevity is rare, two decades speaks to consistency, trust, and a relationship with viewers that deepens over time. He became a steady presence, someone audiences invited into their homes during the stories that mattered most.
And yet, even with a successful run in television, something was missing.
Radio, for Juan, was not simply a stop on the way to something else. It was a format he loved, fast, human, immediate. It is the medium where you can talk with a city, not just at it. Over the years, the idea of returning to radio never fully left him, and it eventually moved from nostalgia to possibility.
Juan credits the return to a few encouraging nudges from fellow local radio personality Barry Farmer of The Barry Farmer Morning Show with Sharon Lizzy. But the biggest reason was more personal and more powerful, Juan missed radio. He missed the intimacy of it. The pace. The room to be present in real time. The ability to speak directly to the community without a script and without a countdown clock.
That return became official on January 3, when Juan rejoined Richmond’s radio landscape with Here, Now! on K101.2 Pop Richmond. The title fits. It signals a host who is focused on the moment, tuned into the city, and ready to bring conversation back to where it started, on the air, voice first, relationship driven.
Juan’s return is also a reminder that his career has never been one dimensional. Alongside his media work, he is a commercial real estate broker with Titan Property Advisors, continuing his connection to the business world and the growth of the region from a different vantage point. It is a dual path that makes sense for someone whose professional life has always blended communication, credibility, and community knowledge.
After 27 years away from Richmond radio, Juan Conde is back, not as a throwback, but as a proven communicator stepping into a familiar medium with a deeper toolkit. More experience. More perspective. And a renewed appreciation for what radio does best, bringing people together through voice, conversation, and shared local identity.
Listeners can catch Here, Now! Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. on K101.2 Pop Richmond.