Even if you don’t know Jody Utt, you have probably seen her face or heard her voice.
A fixture in southern Oklahoma radio for nearly 28 years, Utt has been named Favorite Radio Personality in The Ardmoreite’s Best of the Best in both 2023 and 2025. She is also active in numerous community organizations such as the Carter County Prevention Coalition (CCPC), the Ardmore Chamber Ambassadors, the United Way of South Central Oklahoma, the Food and Resource Center of South Central Oklahoma, and the Ardmore Elks Lodge.
It was all her work in community service and volunteerism that earned Utt the honor of receiving the Community Leader Award for 2025 at the recent Heartland Conference attended by the CCPC.
CCPC Chair Lisa Jackson said Utt is always ready to lend a hand.
“Jody is a dedicated volunteer, giving her time to support local events and important causes,” Jackson said. “She has been an active and vital member of the Carter County Prevention Coalition since 2017, and she is unwavering in her convictions and deeply passionate about education, awareness and substance misuse.
“She utilizes her strong networking relationships to connect local organizations, community leaders and resources, ensuring that prevention efforts are collaborative, far-reaching and effective.”
While the award was supposed to be a complete surprise, Utt had figured out something was up before the ceremony, but she said it was an honor, nonetheless.
“I don’t do any of this for recognition, but it was pretty cool to be noticed,” Utt said.
An Ardmore native and graduate of Ardmore High School, Utt said her interest in helping out her community began at a young age.
“I’ve always been active in the community, even when I was in school.” Utt said. “My dad was a leader in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, so that was a big influence. I was also active with my church, helping out with the younger kids and volunteering with their Loaves and Fishes collection.”
She was also encouraged by former State Representative Pat Ownby.
“Pat Ownby told me once, ‘you know when you’re fortunate and you’re blessed, you can be a blessing to others,’” Utt said. “So when you give yourself and your time to help other people, you can benefit the entire community.”
Stepping into the business world only increased her desire to help out in the community.
“I think working in media also got me involved, if for no other reason than all different organizations contact us about their work and upcoming events,” Utt said. “When I learn about what it is different nonprofits do, I want to help them as much as I can.”
Her job also allows her to work with a wide range of different businesses and learn a bit about what they do and how they operate. She is then able to use this knowledge to help nonprofit organizations in the community.
“When you work with nonprofits, they are all founded with a mission and a vision from somebody,” Utt said. “But that doesn’t mean they know how to run a business.
“I’m the kind of person who wants to know as much as I can about the businesses I work with, and you can’t help but learn from that,” Utt said. “So I try to lend my knowledge from the business sector to the nonprofit sector. When they do that, your entire community befefits.”
