Mentors
By matching participants with an experienced senior leader in the industry, Audio Academy Mentoring offers connections across the breadth of the audio industry at the highest levels.
Alex Hollands is a multi-award winning executive producer with over a decade’s experience in content strategy, creator development and original production across global platforms. Creator and EP of critically acclaimed podcast series receiving millions of downloads, with a significant track record in developing content for audiences worldwide.
Co-creator of two of Amazon Music’s Best Podcasts of 2023, BPA winner 2024 (History category), 2 x Lovie Awards 2023 - Bronze in Podcasts: Documentary; Gold in Podcasts: Health & Wellness, British Podcast Gold Award 2023, Sports Podcasts 2025 Gold award, Rose D'Or, BBC Audio Drama, Corporate Content Gold Award 2022, APA 2022, IWPA 2022, and two-time Chortle Award winning.
BPG Radio Programme of the year nominee 2022, Apple 'Shows We Loved' 2022, Publisher Podcast Awards nominee 2022 (Best Lifestyle Podcast), Ambie nominee 2022 (Best Podcast for Kids), C4 National Comedy Award and Sony Award nominated.
Radio Academy 30 under 30 and two-time RIG Best Comedy and Entertainment Producer finalist. BBC New Talent Hotlist 2017.
Catherine Carr is an award winning radio presenter and producer, with over 20 years experience in audio. She reported for and produced the BBC's Woman's Hour, created and produced Talking Politics, hosted Where Are You Going? and recently produced and presented a five part series about teenage boys for Radio 4, and is currently making a follow up on girls. Her first book 'Who's The Favourite?' - all about siblings - is published this Spring and is based on her independent podcast Relatively.
Chris Skinner is Vice President, Head of Content at Sony Music. With extensive experience in podcasting and radio production, Chris now leads a large creative team making podcasts for the UK and international markets. One of the world’s first ever podcasters, he remains at the heart of the industry, making shows with David Tennant, Elizabeth Day, Kathy Burke and Kermode and Mayo. His side project, The Bugle, is one of the world’s longest running shows, with over 300 million global downloads. Earlier in his career he exec'd The Christian O’Connell Breakfast show, as well as launching shows with Jason Manford, Sara Cox, Trevor Nelson and Rickie Melvin and Charlie, as well as bringing Cerys Matthews to Radio 2.
Clare McGinn is a UK-based broadcast executive, creative media consultant and qualified professional performance coach working with clients in the UK, Ireland, North America and Australia.
She spent over three decades at the BBC, including as Senior Head of Production for BBC Audio in Bristol, leading teams and major commissions across Radio 4, BBC Sounds and the World Service. She later moved into BBC Studios Audio as Creative Director for commercial strategy, helping shape partnerships, create formats and drive audience growth.
Clare now runs Napoleon’s Nose Creative Media (https://napoleonsnose.com/) coaching individual leadership clients who want time and space to grow their career. She specialises in the creative sector.
She also advises organisations on editorial, broadcast strategy and talent development and writes regularly on Substack and LinkedIn about food, leadership and culture, blending reporting with practical insight.
Dan Moss is Director and Founder of Colour It In Studios, producing content across television, digital platforms and podcasts for the likes of Channel 4, UEFA and the BBC. He was previously Managing Director for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM platform, before which he cut his teeth at Somethin’ Else, producing and later exec producing specialist music shows across BBC Radio 1, 6Music and 1Xtra for many years.
Gwyneth Williams (OBE) was Controller, BBC Radio 4 and 4 Extra. Before that she was Director of the BBC World Service in English, Editor of the Reith Lectures and Head of BBC Radio Current Affairs. She started her career writing current affairs talks for the World Service and then worked at the Overseas Development Institute before returning to the BBC. She took five years out of formal employment to be with her young children. She has published two books, one (co-authored) on Southern Africa, and another on Third World political organizations. She is a Trustee of St Martin-in-the-Fields. She was a Walter Shorenstein Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2020.
She grew up in South Africa and read PPE followed by postgraduate social anthropology at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, where she is an Honorary Fellow. She is married with a son, a daughter and three grandchildren. Her current interests include writing poetry and walking her two springers.
Janine Kempadoo is an experienced executive and expert in youth audiences. With a 20 year history of working in the broadcast media industry - previously Head Commissioning Executive at BBC Radio 1Xtra, she is skilled in Content Creation, Multi-Media, Artist Relations, Team Management, Strategic Thinking And Media Production.
Jasper Corbett is currently head of audio at the Observer. Before this he was executive editor and a partner at Tortoise Media - a slow news start up which specialised in narrative, investigative podcasts. He spent nearly 20 years at BBC News working mostly in audio for Radio 4 news programmes including Today, The World At One and PM. He also worked for a number of years on long form documentaries and podcasts for Radio 4 and the World Service.
Joby Waldman is Creative Director at the award-winning media company Reduced Listening.
Starting out as a club DJ, he has been producing audio for 25 years, specialising in music radio, factual storytelling, audio drama and sound art. He is a founding trustee of Multitrack, a charity working for a more inclusive and accessible audio industry
Kat Wong's 30-year career has spanned across a number of vibrant industries and renowned brands, including Apple and BBC Radio.
Her path has been eclectic and fulfilling, from producing BBC Radio documentaries about the cultural impact from the fall of apartheid in
South Africa, to being a freelance entertainment reporter. Kat’s multi-award-winning journey across live radio, including BBC Radio 1 with Zane Lowe, has spanned across indies and commercial radio. Kat pivoted to BBC Woman's Hour, working with Emma Barnett at BBC Radio 4, co-leading its Powerlist, Game Changers in 2014.
After years of being an editorial lead and managing high-profile talent and teams, Kat moved to Apple in 2015, launching Beats 1, Apple Music Radio worldwide, heading up the European content and operations from London. Kat’s success continued for a decade, where she developed and led global campaigns, including Creative Studios, an initiative partnering with nonprofits to provide career-building mentorship and professional industry skills to underrepresented communities across the globe.
In 2025 left Apple and founded Oh Yeah.
Leanne Alie is an all-round creative and leader in the podcasting field, having worked across all aspects of podcasting from production, development and commissioning. Formerly the Head of Podcasts at Unlocked (part of The Partnership Group) one of the leading talent agencies in the UK, she lead production and creative development on The Reggie Yates Podcast, Dear Jill with Jill Halfpenny and Three People with Rebecca Front. Prior to that she spent some time at the BBC as a Development Producer and Commissioning Producer, focusing on diverse narratives, she has worked on shows such as Pressed, Constantly Evolving with Eve and Brown Girls Do It Too. She also created and produced Swipe Your Sign - a Black Queer Dating Show with an astrological twist. Leanne also developed the very first BBC Sounds Audio Lab, which is an accelerator programme that commissions new podcasts from up-and-coming creators, to tell stories from under-represented groups. She is also the host and creator of the multi-award-winning Coiled podcast; a documentary podcast exploring afro hair in all its forms and textures. Leanne's passions lie within making content for diverse audiences and is an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the audio industry.
Lee-Anne Richardson – SVP, Global Head of Podcast Production, Sony Music Entertainment - Lee-Anne Richardson is Senior Vice President, Global Head of Podcast Production at Sony Music Entertainment’s Global Podcast Division. She oversees production and post-production across the division’s podcast and radio slate, managing teams based in New York, Los Angeles, and London. With more than 30 years of experience in production management, Lee-Anne has worked across audio, television, and digital platforms, delivering shows that span music, entertainment, and documentary genres worldwide. In addition to her production leadership, Lee-Anne plays a pivotal role in diversity, mentoring, and staff development initiatives within SME’s UK office. In 2022, she spearheaded SME’s partnership with London based Youth Charity A New Direction for its flagship Creativity Works: Podcasting course and has been the brains behind the commissioning and development of the Sony Music Podcast Academy, furthering access and opportunities in the podcasting industry.
Lorraine Okuefuna is an Assistant Commissioner for BBC Sounds, specialising in entertainment and narrative podcasts. She has worked across major titles including 5 Live’s flagship series Gangster, the investigative series Stakeknife, the Rosamund Pike led audio drama People Who Knew Me, and Miss Me? with Miquita Oliver & Lily Allen.
A Multitrack Fellow and Spotify Sound Up alum, Lorraine is known for her sharp editorial judgment, talent‑spotting instincts, and her commitment to delivering innovative, audience‑focused audio.
Megan Bradshaw is the Head of Spoken Word for Amazon Music for Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and a PhD candidate in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia. Her doctoral thesis, The True Crime Podcast Industry: Creators, Production, and Power, examines the feminist and production politics of true crime podcasts. Megan serves as a Trustee of the Norwich Unity Hub, a charity based in Carrow House—formerly the Coleman’s mustard factory—supporting the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector through affordable, accessible creative spaces. She is also the Podcast Sponsor for Amazon’s Regional Creatives Fund, which will support two UK charities and their podcast projects next year. She has lived in Dublin, Paris, and Buenos Aires, and now calls Norwich home.
Neil Sloan is the Managing Editor of BBC Radio Wales and has audio career spanning more than 20 years – in the BBC, the independent sector and commercial radio.
Neil’s career highlights include nurturing a young Greg James on Radio 1 and the stable of presenters he has produced ranges from Fearne Cotton to Vernon Kay and Sir Terry Wogan. As an executive producer at Voiceworks he led on documentaries and podcasts for BBC Radio 4, World Service and Radio Wales. He is also the current chair of the Radio Academy in Wales.
Peggy Sutton is an award-winning audio producer with nearly two decades of experience making story-led radio and podcasts. As a freelance producer, executive producer and story editor, she has created premium series for organisations including the BBC, Audible, Raw TV, CBC, Wondery, the Financial Times and Pushkin Industries. Her work centres on character-driven storytelling that explores big ideas and illuminates something about how the world really works. Peggy began her career at Somethin’ Else, where she led teams to develop and produce documentaries and strands across current affairs, science and music for the BBC and other clients. She went on to become Vice President at Sony Music Entertainment, collaborating with producers, editors and on-air talent to create narrative non-fiction podcasts for international audiences.
Rachel Simpson is a senior podcast executive producer with over 10 years’ experience making standout content for major entertainment brands. She’s worked on flagship shows including BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and joined Spotify in 2020, as Creative Lead overseeing all elements of pre-production, production, and distribution of Spotify’s original podcast slate in the UK. She now works in Spotify’s partnership team, where she helps creators at every stage grow their shows, reach new audiences, and earn revenue. Previously, she was a commissioner at BBC Sounds, where she developed original podcasts including the hit true-crime series The Missing Cryptoqueen.
Ruth Barnes is the founder of Sonoloom. A new audio company working in the overlap between human storytelling and emerging AI driven content tools. Formerly the founder of Chalk and Blade, known for its award winning narrative journalism in the true crime genre including Hunting Ghislaine (Global), Was There Ever A Crime (Indie) and Charlene: Somebody Knows Something (DMG). Her titles have been commissioned by leading US and UK funders including the BBC ‘Spygate’, iHeart ‘Crying Wolf’, Audible ‘The Madman’s Hotel’ and ‘Coatbridge: The Disappearance of Moira Anderson’ and CBC ‘The Making of Musk’. At C+B Ruth also led the development of the BBC’s first ongoing TV Companion Podcast Obsessed With, which was also the first to be fully visualised for BBC 3. In the branded space Ruth has made shows with adidas, Vogue, The Wellcome Trust, Unicef and many more.
Steve Ackerman is a media executive and entrepreneur with over 30 years’ experience across audio, entertainment and online content in the UK and USA. He was co-owner of Somethin’ Else, helping grow it from a small audio studio into an award-winning, multi-platform content company, acquired by Sony Music Entertainment in 2021. Following the acquisition, Steve led Sony Music’s Global Podcast Division from New York, overseeing international strategy, creative output and commercial growth.
He began his career in radio as a presenter and producer, a background that continues to shape his focus on creativity, culture and commercial impact. Steve is now a Non-Executive Director, advisor and consultant, working with boards and leadership teams across media, entertainment and the creator economy.
He is a Fellow of the UK Radio Academy and has been repeatedly named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the “40 Most Powerful People in Podcasting”.
Susie Warhurst is a senior executive in the global podcasting and digital audio industry. She is Head of International for Apple Podcasts, based in London, where she leads business strategy and growth for Apple Podcasts. Before joining Apple in 2021, Warhurst spent more than six years at the podcast company Acast, where she led their Creator expansion into global markets and served as SVP of Content working with major media partners and creators to develop and distribute podcasts. Earlier in her career she held a senior partnership role at AudioBoom and worked as an radio producer for public broadcasters including WNYC Radio in New York and for the BBC Radio produced by UBC Media Group in London, building extensive experience in audio production and digital media.
Tony Phillips is an experienced radio and podcast executive, who has been VP of Content at WNYC Studios in New York and a Commissioning Editor at BBC World Service and Radio 4. He is the Founder and Director of audio production company Sea Salt and Mango, clients include WNYC Studios in New York, BBC Radio, Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Vicki Blight is the Head of Radio & Commissioned Audio for Bengo Media, an independent production company. As an Executive Producer, she has overseen a diverse and high-profile slate of programming for national broadcasters. This includes Owain Wyn Evans for BBC Radio 2 and Owen Money for BBC Radio Wales, along with specialist music series such as Dance Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies and Women Who Rock for BBC Radio 2.
Vicki's portfolio also includes the celebratory Doctor Who: 20 secrets for 20 years for Radio 2 and BBC Sounds. Under her leadership, Bengo Media’s Radio division has secured the highly competitive BBC's Indie Development Fund for two consecutive years, once with BBC 5 Live and BBC Radio 1, demonstrating a continued commitment to developing innovative audio content and new talent.
With 24 years experience across BBC and commercial radio, both on and off mic - Vicki brings a unique perspective.