Let go by radio station, local ‘hero’ DJ takes job with one of the ‘Boise Boys’

A popular radio personality who lost his job has found a new home.

If you’d like, he’ll help you find yours, too.

Steve “Kekeluv” Kicklighter — let go by Boise station Mix 106 — is going to work for Timber and Love Realty, the company started by the co-stars of the HGTV home-flipping series “Boise Boys.”

Kekeluv will work as a real estate agent, he revealed in a video posted Nov. 19 on social media.

“I found a job,” he said. “It’s kind of emotional, but it came from somebody listening.”

Kekeluv, whose voice filled the Treasure Valley airwaves for nearly 15 years, said that a fan reached out to Luke Caldwell. The co-star of “Boise Boys” and “Outgrown” had never spoken to Kekeluv, but they quickly connected over their passion for the community.

“We’re so excited about having Kekeluv with the team,” Caldwell said in the video.

“And really just more than anything,” he told Kekeluv, “the heart you have for people.”

A morning and afternoon host at 103.5 Kiss FM for 13 years, Kekeluv (sometimes spelled Keke Luv) shifted to afternoon DJ on Mix 106 in 2020. During a decade and a half on Boise radio, he became known as a tireless advocate for the prevention of child abuse and domestic violence.

When Kekeluv revealed that Mix 106 had let him go near the end of summer, comments piled up on Instagram. Maggie O’Mara, morning anchor on KTVB Channel 7, summed up what many radio listeners clearly felt. “You’re my hero,” she wrote.

Even while selling houses at Timber and Love, Kekeluv said, he will continue his work involving child abuse and domestic violence.

Caldwell, the owner of Timber and Love, said a realty firm is about “serving people.” Consequently, hiring Kekeluv made sense.

“Ultimately, I feel it was meant to be,” Caldwell said. “... I think it’s really just an amazing fit.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 1:25 PM.