The new morning show co-host at Y100 (WNCY-FM) is no stranger to country music or getting up early, but the chance to experience a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field will be a first for her.
Natalie “Nat” Gross makes her debut alongside current host and well-known Y100 personality Randy “Shotgun” Shannon on Dec. 2. The Virginia native with Midwest roots slides into the 5-to-9 a.m. weekday slot previously held by co-host Charli McKenzie, who left in August after 20 years on the morning show to be closer to family back home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Gross comes to Green Bay’s Y100 from Life 102.5 (WNWC-FM) in Madison, where she was hired as part of a two-person morning show in April 2024. Her on-air partner, Dave Conour, left in July after 11 years at the contemporary Christian station, as she continued hosting solo.
“Shotgun and I were both looking for partners around the same time, and so it’s just kind of cool how it worked out,” said Gross, who will go by “Nat” to avoid confusion with Natalie Jansen from the “Huggie, Natalie & Corey” morning show on Green Bay Top 40 station WIXX-FM, which is also owned by Midwest Communications Inc. and has its studio in the same building.
“Shotgun & Nat in the Morning” marks a new era at Y100 after Shannon and McKenzie’s popular eight-year run together. Heather Heil had been temporarily filling in with Shannon for the last four months.
“I’m excited about Nat coming to town, because she brings a fresh perspective. She and I get along great, and I’m really excited to see where the show goes,” said Shannon, who was named brand manager at Y100 in November, following Dan Stone’s departure after 34 years at Midwest.
“We did not try to replace Charli, because there is no replacing Charli,” he said. “We just tried to find somebody who we are excited about having as part of the team and excited about having on the show.”
The opportunity to work in country radio feels like a natural fit for Gross, who has always flipped between Christian and country formats as a listener and is partial to team radio shows, where the personalities of the hosts are a big part of the draw.
She looks forward to creating a fun experience for people tuning into Y100 as they are getting their kids ready for school, making the drive to work or whatever they might be doing. She once had someone tell her they were listening while in the delivery room at the hospital.
“It’s just so meaningful to be able to share those moments with people, and I’ve already heard wonderful things about the Y100 fan base, the Y100 listeners. I’m really excited to get to know them,” Gross said.
She’s a mom, a flutist and has Vikings fans in the family
There are all kinds of interesting things they’ll learn about her, too.
She grew up a military kid in Virginia and lived in the Washington, D.C., area from 2014 to 2023 before moving to Madison, where she has a brother. She spent 12 years working in news before transitioning from journalism to radio.
One of the things the mother of a 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter enjoys most about the industry is those moments when someone calls in or comes up at a concert to say how much that silly story she told about one of her kids got them through a tough morning.
“What a privilege that is to be able to tell stories that help other people feel less alone. That’s just one of those things that I just absolutely love. I’ve always been a storyteller at heart, and if I can have a purpose to those stories and help just one person or make a difference in one person’s life, that’s the cool part about radio for me.”
Gross was a competitive flutist growing up. Her dad was a professional musician in the Army band, so it runs in the family. She looks forward to getting involved in the area community band scene. She loves theater and musicals, both as a participant and as an audience member.
She is also bilingual. She speaks Spanish; her mom is from Colombia.
Technically, her arrival at Y100 is a bit of a Green Bay homecoming. She lived in the city for six months in 2012 after attending college in Wisconsin. She worked at New York & Company at Bay Park Square mall in Ashwaubenon before leaving to look for a news job.
The Titletown district hadn’t been built back then, so that will be new territory to explore, and she’s never been to Lambeau Field.
Here’s where Packers fans might need to help her out a little – she grew up in a Minnesota Vikings household. Her dad is from Waseca, Minnesota, and he and her brother are diehard Vikes fans.
“So when I moved to Madison, my dad had a hard enough time with that. Now that I’m moving to Packers land, I don’t even know if he’ll come visit,” she said, laughing.
She’s kidding. Of course, he’ll come visit. But “he’s really struggling with his grandkids growing up as Packers fans.”
(This story was updated to meet our standards.)
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Get to know Natalie ‘Nat’ Gross, Y100’s new morning show co-host
Reporting by Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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