Cé hí Becki Miller?
Hi Becki, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I'm originally from Dublin and spent my childhood growing up in Knocklyon, then Churchtown, and finally Rathgar. I'm the youngest of three, and had a very happy, carefree childhood filled with WWF wrestling matches with my two older brothers, family hikes in Glendalough at the weekends, and summers spent in Wexford. I'm a radio presenter and voice-over artist, and I spent around 13 years working at SPIN 1038 in Dublin, where I presented six shows a week. Five of those shows were called TRL (Total Request Live), an interactive show where listeners would send in their song requests and I'd play them on air. The sixth was my Saturday night show, The Big Handbag with Becki Miller, where I'd bring my “Big Handbag full of tunes" to get everyone in the mood for their Saturday night out! Both shows were great fun, and I was lucky enough to have some incredibly loyal listeners over the years. I genuinely never felt like I worked a day in my life, which is the dream, right? I always felt so blessed to be doing something I absolutely loved every single day. These days, I'm married to my wonderful husband, Jakub, and we have three amazing children, Lucas (8), Zoe (6), and Zack (4).
How did you end up in Prague?
When I was 24, I was given a weekend trip to Prague as a gift. I brought my friend Aileen along, and it was my first time visiting the city. I remember returning to Dublin and telling everyone, "Prague is so beautiful! I could actually live there!" Little did I know that almost ten years later, I'd be packing my bags and doing exactly that! I suppose having already visited Prague and fallen in love with the city made the eventual move that little bit easier. I lived in Ireland until 2015, when life took an unexpected but wonderful turn. I met a lovely Slovak guy (my now husband, Jakub) on a night out in Dublin, and he completely swept me off my feet. We did the long-distance relationship thing for just over a year before deciding to move to neutral ground - Buenos Aires, Argentina. We spent six months living together there for the first time, with the plan that, if all went well, I'd move to Prague to be with him. Jakub had been based in Prague since his university days, so that's where our next chapter would begin. So I suppose you could say I moved for love! Did I have any doubts before moving? Not one! Do I regret it? Not in the slightest! It was genuinely one of the best decisions I've ever made. Prague is now our home, and it's where we've built our life together and are raising our little family. I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.
And why Becki with an "i" at the end? What's that all about?
Well, believe it or not, I spent my entire primary school life being called Rebecca!
That all changed when I started secondary school at Wesley College in Dublin. During one of my first few days there, a girl in my class called Vicki randomly decided she was going to call me Becki.
She said, "I'm going to call you Becki, and you can spell it with an 'i' at the end, just like me!"
I remember just shrugging my shoulders and saying, "Grand!" Very typical 12-year-old girl stuff!
Vicki went on to become one of my best friends, and the name just stuck. From that moment on, everyone knew me as Becki… with an "i"!
Do you find living here a big change from living in Ireland?
I wouldn't say it was a huge change, as such. I certainly didn't find the transition particularly difficult, but there are definitely differences between the two countries, each with their own pros and cons.
For starters, I absolutely love having proper seasons here! Ha! Yes, the winters in the Czech Republic can be extremely cold, but at least you know that spring and a proper summer are waiting just around the corner. You can plan your weekends, holidays and outdoor activities around the weather with some degree of confidence, which, let's face it, isn't always possible in Ireland! So I really don't mind the cold winters, knowing that beautiful spring and summer weather is on its way. Another thing I absolutely love about living here is how safe I feel. It's something I probably take for granted until I travel to other countries and notice things that make me feel a little more cautious. It reminds me just how fortunate we are to live in a country where I feel so safe and comfortable raising my children.
However, if there's one thing I really miss about Ireland, it's the people. I think it's something you don't fully appreciate until you move away. Whenever I go home, I'm reminded of just how incredibly friendly, warm and welcoming Irish people are. There's something so special about the way Irish people interact with one another. They'll strike up a conversation with a complete stranger and chat away as though they've known them for 15 years! There's a genuine warmth, willingness to help and down to earth nature that I absolutely love. They say the Irish are among the friendliest people in the world, and I couldn't agree more. It's something that makes me incredibly proud to be Irish.
I was also very lucky when I moved to Prague because I already had a lovely circle of friends here.
Having visited Jakub regularly over the previous couple of years, I'd already built friendships and connections, which made the transition so much easier. Moving to a new country where you don't know a single soul must be incredibly daunting, so I was very fortunate to have that support network waiting for me.
And how did you get involved with CIBCA and the St. Patrick's Day Parade?
I actually can't believe I've been living in Prague for so long and had never heard of CIBCA! Every Christmas, I host a Christmas brunch at our house for some of our closest friends and their children, with a special visit from Santa, who is actually our friend Juraj, stuffing a pillow up his Santa suit and handing out presents in his Slovak accent! Last Christmas, I invited our former neighbour and friend, Ollie Donohue, along with his family. Ollie is originally from the UK and lives in Prague with his Czech wife and their family, but he has an Irish surname, which was something we bonded over. Anyway, Ollie arrived through the door, and within about 30 seconds, he was helping himself to the snacks and casually informing me that he'd signed me up for the St. Patrick's Day Parade! I nearly choked! "Excuse me, WHAT?!" I didn't even know there was a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Prague!
To be fair, I felt as though I'd been living in a little cave for the previous eight years, raising three small children, with two years or less between each child, I'd barely come up for air, never mind explored what was happening in the wider community! And when you're raising young children without family nearby to help out, those early years can be pretty intense. Ollie knew Darragh Price through their children's school, so he'd mentioned me to him. About a month later, Darragh got in touch, we had a chat, and I was absolutely delighted at the prospect of getting involved. The timing felt perfect. My youngest had just turned three and a half, so I was finally emerging from those very intense baby and toddler years and felt ready to get involved in something new. What excited me most was discovering this wonderful Irish community in Prague that I hadn't known existed.
There's something really special about being surrounded by people who just get what it means to be Irish, especially when you're living abroad. During one of our conversations, Darragh mentioned that he was looking for a Grand Marshal for the parade. I said, "Have you considered getting some radio presenters involved?" I suggested Rebecca and Brendan, the breakfast show presenters from Dublin's 98FM. Having worked in radio for so many years, and having worked closely with both of them, I was able to reach out directly and ask whether they'd be interested in taking on the honour of becoming the Irish Grand Marshals for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Prague. And that's really how my involvement all began.
And now you've been off the airwaves for a while. Any plans to return?
Well, although I haven't been presenting on Irish radio stations in the traditional sense since leaving Ireland, I've actually never fully stepped away from the industry. I've continued recording radio advertisements for Bauer Media, which owns a number of Irish radio stations, including Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM and SPIN 1038, iRadio and Beat 102 103, as well as working with Millbrook Productions and Global Tour Creatives. It's been fantastic because it's allowed me to stay connected to the industry and maintain all those lovely relationships I built during my years working in radio.
As for presenting, about a year ago, I was approached by Superdrug, one of the UK's largest health and beauty retailers. They were looking to introduce a radio-style presence in their stores across Ireland and asked whether I'd be interested in presenting some weekly shows for them. For the past year, I've been presenting four radio shows a week for Superdrug, alongside my regular voice-over and radio advertising work. It's been brilliant getting back into the swing of presenting again, and it was reassuring to discover that I can still do it! It really reminded me just how much I love being behind the microphone. When the time is right, I'd love to explore the possibility of returning to Irish radio in a bigger way. With technology being what it is these days, I'm hoping there might be opportunities to present remotely from Prague, provided I can connect to the stations' broadcasting software…so let’s see!
