​Audacy’s 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore has undergone significant change over the past two years. Joe LaCroix has been there for all ot them. The lone FM sports radio outlet in the market has experienced shifts in staff, talent, and leadership. Following the departure of Chuck Sapienza in November 2024, the station brought in Scott Jameson as its new brand manager just a few months later. However, a year later, Jameson announced he planned to step away from the position for personal reasons.The station found itself searching for a new leader once again, marking its second search in just over a year. After months of interviewing candidates from around the country, the station decided to look internally. That’s when opportunity was presented and LaCroix was elevated the station’s third brand manager in less than two years.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I was elated, but also was a little surreal,” says LaCroix about when he officially received the news. “I didn’t start getting into radio till about eleven years ago… But if you told me a decade ago when I started here I’d be in this position, I would have trouble believing you.”The 34-year-old programmer, with a decade of experience producing and guiding high-profile talent, now takes on a different challenge. He’s shifting away from the soundboard and phone lines to a leadership role, where he’ll continue developing a broader and more unique skill set.Growing up listening to the station, LaCroix said he was instantly attracted to the content and the personalities behind it. After graduating with a degree in history, teaching wasn’t the right fit for his immediate future. Instead, he pursued a role at the station he had admired as a young listener.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore than a decade later, he now oversees the same brand that inspired his passion for radio years ago.“This position wasn’t something on my radar. If I was making my goals for 2026, it wouldn’t have been on there. But after a while, it became clear to me that I was doing a lot of the things that a brand manager would be doing anyway,” explained LaCroix. “I felt like it was something I was very capable of doing despite my relative lack of experience compared to others who applied.”LaCroix credits his experience working with established producers and talent for helping him find his voice. He chose to remain behind the scenes because of the satisfaction he gets from setting others up for success.Following Sapienza’s departure in 2024, LaCroix said he underwent a crash course in what it takes to run a station. He described the experience as a trial by fire. Managing staff, coaching talent, writing imaging, and reinforcing relationships with market partners. That experience fueled his interest in programming, an interest that resurfaced when news of Jameson’s upcoming departure created another opportunity.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I was somewhat surprised, but