Best known as the “Dancing Weatherman”, Nick Kosir has made his name known worldwide for his viral dancing videos on the set of Fox 46 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since posting his original “Slide Like This” Challenge video to Instagram in 2019, both his fanbase and social media presence as has increased immensely.
As a freshman in college, Kosir walked onto the University of Akron football team, where he played for a year before pursuing his interests in radio and broadcasting. When making the transition from playing sports to being a regular student, he asked himself 1) what were his interests and 2) what do I want to get into. This was where radio came into play. In college, he worked for WZIP-FM, a highly ranked college-run radio station. He was awarded “DJ of the Year” while working with WZIP. He also worked for Akron’s TV station, where he was awarded “Best Low Budget Production” and “Best Entertainment Show” as co-host of the station’s entertainment news show.
After building experience through his first job at WMFD in Mansfield, Ohio, Kosir learned that meteorology was his love and went on to pursue his certificate in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University. Following his certificate were jobs in Beaumont, Texas, and Twin Falls, Idaho. Following this, he and his family made the move to Charlotte, North Carolina where he currently resides.
Before being known as the “Dancing Weatherman”, Kosir was less widely, but still known, as the “Rapping Weatherman” in 2009. With his job at Fox 4 in Texas, Kosir brought some personality into his forecasts by rapping the weather. See his first video below.
While at Fox46 in 2019, the channel’s bosses sat down with the broadcasters and told them that they needed to be posting more and personalizing their social media accounts. The idea was that if people fell in love with them as a person, then the views would follow. Kosir was told to post once on Instagram, once on Facebook, and 10x on Twitter every day.
After 6 weeks of posting what he thought was interesting, he was running out of ideas. On a quiet weather day, he saw a video of 2 guys doing the “Slide Like This” Challenge and figured he could mimic their moves. He had someone in the studio record him dancing and posted it to Instagram, not thinking much would come of it. After working the morning show that day, he went home and took a nap shortly after posting the video.
“I woke up from that nap and life hasn’t been the same! I woke up to thousands of comments and views, mostly positive. So I’ve kept doing the dancing videos ever since that one took off.”
Between working the demanding hours of a meteorologist and maintaining a social media presence, Kosir often jokes that it’s like having two full-time jobs. When he leaves work, his next task is to prepare for what’s next. Whether that’s replying to emails, shooting videos, or posting to social accounts, he keeps himself busy. On top of it all, he has a family to come home to!
“My wife is so cool. She understands that this is what I need to do to feel satisfied. It’s a grind, but I love doing things like this. If all of my followers went away today, I’d still make time to entertain through my social media. You make time for the things you love.”
Kosir has recently collaborated with Tiktok influencers such as Charlie D’amelio, Monty Lopez, Joey Reed, and many others.
“When you get some form of clout on the internet, the world starts to open up. If you have a higher number of followers, you have a better chance of hearing back from influencers that you DM. On the reverse, if you have a high number of followers, people will reach out to you as well. Social media’s so cool though because now we’re all more connected than ever.”
Without a doubt, there is some risk when bringing original content to the public eye. But with no risk, comes no reward.
“While it can be risky, I’ve just never thought twice about it. If you were to ask anyone who’s ever known me, they know that I’ve always just been one to do something. I have a desire to be entertaining.”
Transparency is a concept that is becoming more of a demand now than ever through the increased use of social media. Luckily, that is what Kosir aims to do through his platforms.
“The thing is: What I post portrays how I want to be. I want people to know me as being fun and goofy. I love having a job where I can do the weather, but also scratch the itch of wanting to be entertaining.”
When it comes to doing what you love and implementing it into a career or brand, Kosir’s first piece of advice is to pinpoint exactly what it is that you want to do or are interested in and put a lot of effort into it on your own time. That could be creating a YouTube channel or an Instagram account. That could also be putting all of your best work somewhere on the internet. Whatever it may be, the internet is a powerful tool, so use it to your advantage. Come out of the gate strong, now’s the time.
“Don’t tailor your work to your first job. Tailor it to the job you want to see yourself in.”
From work ethic and habits to learned skills transferring into the workplace, any job can be attributed back to sports. Bosses are like coaches, and co-workers are like teammates. On top of it all, companies are all working towards a goal, like teams are working to win.
“Sports have definitely shaped and played a role in where I’m at today. Any job can equate back to sports. Everyone you work with is buying into a common goal, and to achieve that, you’re all working together. Factor in competitors, it’s all like a game.”
Be sure to stay up to date with Nick’s social media accounts here:
Instagram: @fox46nick
Twitter: @fox46nick
Tiktok: @official46nick
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