Born in New York City, I grew up in the Cincinnati area from the age of 2. I knew I wanted to be a radio DJ at the age of 5, when I received my first turntable and some records for Christmas. I spent my Junior and Senior year of high school at Scarlet Oaks Vocational, in Sharonville, OH, enrolled in the Radio & TV Production class. At the time, they had a non commercial radio station, WJVS.

I have worked at a few stations over the years...WRBI(Batesville, IN), WNOP(Newport, KY), WCLU(Covington, KY), WJRZ(Manahawkin, NJ), WRQN(Toledo, OH), WKRC(Cincinnati, OH), WGRR(Hamilton, OH). While working at WGRR doing overnights, I started using 'Wally J' on the air as there was already a Hughes on the the station.