Chris Stevenson has never been one to do things traditionally. At 19, with very little experience and no formal schooling in broadcasting, Chris walked into a Detroit radio studio unannounced and told the general manager he wanted to be on the radio. “The manager liked that I had some chutzpah and asked me to come back the next day to make a tape,” he recalls. “It was horrible! But he gave me some pointers and then he gave me a chance.”

During his four hours on the air, Chris strives to use the power of the station’s 50,000 watts to reach others for Christ. “We say our show is about ‘Real People, Real Ministry,’ ” he says. “One of the things we do regularly we call ‘Pay It Forward Detroit.’ ”Pay It Forward Detroit got its start in 2012 when Chris received a BP cash card in the mail along with a handwritten note saying to give it to caller 76 because someone needed it. Chris did just that and the caller’s story was very similar to the handwritten note he had received. “People got inspired and started sending me things to give away,” Chris says. “We bless people in the name of Jesus just because we can.”

When he’s not on air, you can find Chris spending time at one of his daughter Annalise’s chess tournaments, basketball or volleyball games, watching movies with his family or entertaining with wife Silvia at home. “I want to have a strong presence in Annalise’s life and empower her to become the best version of herself,” he says of his daughter. “I hear all these stories about people who say their father never told them they were loved. I don’t want any part of that.”