the talktank - Penny Martin - ladies and gentlewomen

Jun 7, 2023

Mirijam Trunk - from journalism to media management

The Artistpreneurs Series - Mirijam Trunk Hosted by Udbela Escanero Today, we are speaking to Mirijam Trunk: after working as a journalist for Bayerischer Rundfunk and reporter for ARD, Mirijam decided to make her journey from the writer’s room to top-level business management. In 2019, she became CEO of the Bertelsmann Audio Alliance and built the company's podcast business. She has grown the production company Audio Alliance into the largest private-sector provider of podcasts, launching around 150 formats that reach over 7 million unique users per month. She has been part of the first management level of RTL Deutschland since 2022 and, as Chief Crossmedia Officer, is responsible for brand, content and talent development. She also heads the Sustainability and DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) departments. Mirijam is a passionate supporter of equality and diversity initiatives and works as an author and speaker to raise awareness of structural inequality in Germany. Don’t miss out on this exciting episode! Mirijam Trunk https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirijam-trunk/ Timestamps: 1:28 Introducing Mirijam 2:42 Overview of Bertelsmann 3:00 Miriam’s trajectory - classical singing to journalism to business management? 4:24 Structural issues noticed within journalism 6:57 The current media and business landscape and its fast changes 7:27 About Bertelsmann’s podcast company (Audio Alliance) 10:33 Power of storytelling - podcasting as as medium? 11:57 People as the amazing experience or component of her career 17:05 Networking - gender differences! 21:11 Sustainability, diversity, equity, inclusion challenges 25:20 How did Mirijam end up at RTL Germany? 27:58 How much did Miriam’s journalism education help her get into creative management? 30:52 Tips on starting out - learning to understand yourself! “Who are you?” 35:35 If you could change one thing about society, what would it be? 36:29 Chaos as Miriam’s unconventional truth to success 38:13 If you could invite anyone in the world for a podcast interview, who would you invite?

41 min