Mike Snyder

Mike was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Arlis and Mary Snyder in 1953. His dad was a skating coach and English professor and moved the family to California, then Colorado and eventually to Springfield, Missouri, where Mike attended school from elementary through college. Mike was blessed early on with a deep baritone voice. At age 16, while a junior at Hillcrest High School, he landed a job as a disc jockey at KTTS radio. While at Missouri State University, Mike wanted to take an opening in the KTTS news department, but was rejected. Mike took that as a challenge and shortly thereafter landed a job as a news reporter at KELI radio in Tulsa. Mike was driven to learn, spent 12 hours or more a day developing and reporting stories. Mike's coverage of the American Indiana takeover of Tulsa City Hall and the burning of the Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester caught the attention of KOCO in Oklahoma city, which hired Mike away. After 9 months in Oklahoma City, Mike's aggressive reporting landed him a job at KOA in Denver and a year later the morning drive news slot at legendary Dallas radio station KLIF. Mike was not satisfied with his success in radio, and in 1978, with the help of Dallas news legend Burt Shipp, Mike landed a reporting and anchoring job at KHOU TV in Houston, Texas. In 1980, after covering the Russian grain embargo, Mike caught the attention of KXAS TV in Dallas, where he became an investigative reporter and moved to the anchor desk. In 1990, Mike teamed with co-anchor Jane McGarry, sharing the evening news desk with her for 20 years, making them the longest running anchor pair in Texas television history. Mike was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle for Life Time Achievement in 2006, and has won numerous industry awards for his investigative and documentary reporting as well as for his philanthropy work. During his 30 years at NBC, Mike was deeply involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, co-anchoring the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon for 25 years. He was one of the founders of the Salvation Army Angel Tree project and served as chairman of the Airpower Foundation, which raises millions of dollars to assist the families of deployed troops and wounded warriors. Mike is also a Master Mason and a Shriner, helping raise money to support 22 Shrine Hospitals for Children. Mike finished a 30 year run at NBC in 2010, and launched a new chapter in his professional career. He partnered with long time radio and television producer David Yates to form Ropewalkers, a strategic communications and digital marketing company. Mike now uses his unique set of skills as an actor, story teller and producer, leveraging the credibility of his award winning broadcast and philanthropic career as a powerhouse in strategic communications, problem solving and message management. Mike is a sough after voice and camera talent, and his performance skills blended with his journalistic acuity to assess public relations, crisis and marking challenges keeps him in demand by corporates, non-profit foundations, private individuals and political candidates. Mike, his wife Lyn and their children live in north Texas.