Introducing Leading By Example: Will Pearson - President of the iHeart Podcast Network

Part-Time Genius

iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope

Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In our premiere episode, Farnoosh Torabi sits down with Will Pearson, President of the iHeart Podcast Network, to uncover how his personal journey and core beliefs guided his path from college entrepreneur to podcast industry pioneer. Pearson reveals how his early experiences—launching a company from his Duke University dorm room—instilled leadership principles that still drive his decision-making today as he oversees the world's largest podcast network. Through candid conversation, he shares the deeply personal insights that informed pivotal choices throughout his career, from identifying the right business partner to making an early, conviction-driven leap into podcasting. Pearson opens up about how each phase of his journey—including building partnerships with creative forces like Will Ferrell and Shonda Rhimes—refined his leadership philosophy and shaped iHeart's innovative approach to podcast advertising that's transforming the industry.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	We know that we have the toolkit to help a podcast network or an individual podcast
0:12.0	succeed through marketing and the megaphone that we have here at IHeart.
0:16.0	But we also know we want to invest in and believe in creators to see through their vision. We've tried to do that with so many others, whether that's with Bloomberg and business,
0:24.9	Will Ferrell and Comedy, Shonda Rhymes in the creative space, the NFL or NBA in sports.
0:30.7	Our job is to help these great organizations and creators bring these ideas to life.
0:35.8	So it's been fun to be able to organize that way. We don't
0:37.9	always get it right, but in its best execution, that's the way we try to organize.
0:43.0	We just heard from Will Pearson, the president of the IHeart podcast network where he's
0:47.5	responsible for the growth strategy of IHeart's original podcast content, which can't be an easy
0:52.8	job, especially as we're entering a more
0:54.8	crowded marketplace for podcasting. We'll hear how Will and his team managed to make IHeart
0:59.6	stand out to consumers and how the company has become revolutionary with their podcast advertising
1:04.9	strategy and IHeart's commitment to giving creatives the space and resources they need
1:10.4	to share important stories.
1:12.7	This is Leading by Example, Executives Making an Impact.
1:16.8	I'm Farnished to Robbie, and I'm excited to take this journey with you as your host.
1:20.6	I know what you might be thinking, but this is not just another interview podcast about founders and CEOs.
1:26.5	We're going past the PR and into the personal stuff
1:29.4	and how their lived experiences shape leadership. The workplace, as you know, is going through a
1:35.0	massive transformation. Everything from how we define work-life balance to what we expect from our
1:40.2	leaders and companies is evolving in front of us in real time. And my goal with this podcast
1:44.9	is to bring you real guidance, actionable insights, and the truth about the roles we can all play
	...

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