**Nick Holder**
_FM GM_
Venture into the basement of the MU Student Center, past The Maneater’s newsroom, into an office packed with CDs and records spanning a plethora of genres, and you’ll find the world of KCOU/88.1 FM. You’re also likely to run into Nick Holder.
Holder, the student-run station’s general manager, oversees a staff of around 200 students. As GM, Holder serves as the captain of what he calls “an integral part of (his) college experience.” The senior has been involved ever since stopping by the KCOU table at Summer Welcome. Since then, he’s been a disc jockey, recruitment director and programming director before being elected general manager this year.
The O’Fallon native says he enjoys the laid-back nature of the station. He views radio and broadcast as “a really fun hobby,” but not necessarily a career path. He’s studying strategic communication. (Many other KCOUers aren’t broadcast majors. Its staff includes an electrical engineer, a political science major and even a physics major!).
“I love the eclectic nature of the staff,” he says.
**Ella Folkerts**
_Scent magician_
Ella Folkerts has been making olfactory magic for three years.
An employee at Makes Scents on Ninth Street, Folkerts helps customers create their own perfumes.
When she took the job at 16, Folkerts also underwent an extensive training process with owner Christina Kelley.
Folkerts knows the chemistry, distillation and aroma of different oils, manmade and essential.
“You have to have a good memory,” Folkerts says.
Not only does she have to know how each oil smells, she also has to know the customer.
“Scent is personal,” Folkerts says.
So when a new customer walks through Makes Scents’ doors, Folkerts asks plenty of questions. This process can take anywhere from five minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Some customers know what they want, and others don’t have a clue, she says.
Folkerts’ future, though, doesn’t lie in the scent-making business. She wants to become a makeup artist at a high-end salon and stay close to Columbia, where she was born and raised.
