We set out once more ‘On the Road’ with a pretty fascinating character. Here’s a man who voluntarily self describes as ‘tall, tries to be funny & talks good on tv’. So you get the sense right off the bat that this is going to be fun.
Jerrid Sebesta is a well known meteorologist – having spent time at television stations in Sioux Falls, Phoenix and the Twin Cities. He’s a motivational speaker, social media star, a myfaithradio.com contributor on the topic of financial wisdom, and a man of deep faith in God.
He takes us along his journey from Montevideo, Minnesota to having people excitedly flag him down in grocery store aisles for an autograph or a picture. Find our full interview at the bottom of the post, or start with these great highlights…
The story of his recent departure from Twin Cities’ television powerhouse was KARE 11 was much in the news this year, and he takes us behind his decision to leave – which, as you’ll soon discover – was unconventional in some very cool ways.
One of Jerrid’s claims to fame is the national Twitter.com bedlam that was created when one of his co-workers started blaming him for the weather conditions with the twitter hashtag #blamejerrid. The man himself takes us back to that afternoon, and explains how it came to pass.
“It would be the worst thing for me if our weather was really great, and no one ever blamed me again for the horrible weather. But as you know… that’s never going to happen.”
With all the new technology available for forecasting the weather, many meteorologists present their forecasts as something close to infallible. Jerrid was known for a more candid (and amusing) approach. He explains why he never felt comfortable telling his viewers things that he himself didn’t know for certain.
Highlight – Accurate forecasting
When just about any of us find something we’re good at, we tend to start struggling with an inflated opinion of ourselves. In Jerrid’s situation, his talent had him on screens in thousands of homes every night and being stopped on the street for pictures and autographs. He explains how he dealt with the intersection of his faith and those unique aspects of his career.
Then, in one of the most profound moments of our chat, Jerrid reflects on his recent career decision in light of his trust in God. He says that when you feel God’s call in a certain direction, sometimes you have to give up your pride and some of the things which have come to constitute your identity.
Highlight – Following God when it might not make sense
There’s much more in our full chat with Jerrid below. We talk a great deal more about the story behind his financial ministry, his journey from a small town to a weather studio & why he’s still scared of storms!
