Valenti School's Press Play

Isidro Reyna is a Senior Communication Specialist at NASA, where he's tasked with telling stories of human space exploration. From running into people at lunch who just returned from Space to traveling to Russia to watch the launching of a rocket, the job has given him incredible opportunities. 

Byron Perry is the Founder and CEO of Coconuts Media, a local city news and video network reaching up to 26 million people per month in Bangkok, Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong, KL, Jakarta, Bali, and Yangon. In this episode, Byron discusses growing Coconuts from him writing all of the content while living in Bangkok to having 8 offices across the region.

Philip Morabito founded Pierpont Communications in 1987 after leaving New York City and a prestigious Madison Avenue public relations firm. Hiring his first employee in 1992, Phil now oversees the largest independent integrated marketing and PR firm in the southwest – with offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and New Jersey. In this episode, Phil discusses his strategy for expanding Pierpont in the coming years, and how he went from a young man who owed just one suit when he moved to New York City to becoming a successful entrepreneur and leader in the community. 

In January of 2016, Matthew Riemer, along with his partner Leighton Brown, started the Instagram account lgbt_history. Just a few years later, it has nearly 500,000 followers and led to the publishing of the book, We Are Everywhere. In this live episode, Matthew talks about why they started the account, how it's built such a large following, and why he thinks understanding queer history is so important.

Jenny Dial Creech is a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle. As such, her job is to share her thoughts and opinions about everything going on in sports. In this conversation, we talk about her successful career, her approach to writing, and the ways she is able to handle the often vicious and sexist feedback she receives especially through social media.

Olivia Kuan is currently directing and producing her first documentary feature, a project that tells the story of the Houston Herricanes, an all-women professional football team from the 1970s. On this episode, we discuss her personal connection to the film and how she went from growing up in Houston to attending NYU film school--and now working as a successful Director of Photography in LA. 

We need your help! Please take this audience survey to help us shape the third season of Press Play: bit.ly/press-play-feedback-19. Press Play will resume this fall.

As President and CEO of Fred Rogers Productions, Paul Siefken oversees the production of popular children's programs like Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Peg + Cat, and the Odd Squad. In this episode, Paul discusses his career from high school teacher in North Carolina and Georgia to the one carrying on the legacy of Fred Rogers.

Mariana Atencio is a bilingual journalist who reports for MSNBC and NBC. Originally from Venezuela, Atencio went to Columbia University for her masters in journalism before embarking on a successful career of reporting and now as an author of her first book, Perfectly You. On this episode, Atencio discusses her career from being a young journalist to someone making a difference in the lives of her followers all around the world.

Matt Lewis has earned a reputation as an independently minded and intellectually honest "right-of-center" journalist. He is a senior columnist for The Daily Beast, host of his own podcast Matt Lewis and the News, book author, and frequent commentator on CNN. During this conversation, we hear about how he finds time to be on so many platforms, his approach to writing and the news, and how he was able to get to where he is today.

For some entrepreneurs, the desire to run their own business is innate. For Aimee Woodall, president and founder of the Black Sheep Agency, that wasn’t the case. Aimee happened into the entrepreneurial life – and then excelled at it. On this episode of Press Play, Aimee talks about how Black Sheep became an impact-driven agency, offers advice to aspiring creatives and so much more.

Gilad Katz, the Consul General of Israel for the SW United States, joins the conversation this week to discuss his job as a representative of Israel, the role new media plays in democracy, and how his career began as a journalist.

When the re-launch of the XFL was announced, Oliver Luck was appointed as its CEO and Commissioner. In this episode, he talks about his decision to join the XFL and why he thinks this time it will be a success this time, and how he transitioned from an NFL player to a business executive.

Devi Asmarani is an Indonesian journalist and entrepreneur who, along with a group of other women around SE Asia, launched the app Mango Meter—an app that aims to offer a feminist perspective on film ratings. This isn’t her first startup, though, as she previously launched the Indonesian news website, Magdalene.co. In this episode, she recounts her process for those startups, and how she got there after spending her college years in a rather unlikely place: Alabama.

For more than 30 years, Jorge Ramos has been one of the most trusted voices in journalism. Often referred to as “The Walter Cronkite of Latin America,” Ramos is known to ask tough questions. In this episode, Ramos shares his beliefs about journalism and his role as a journalist, recounts how he got his start, and talks about his legacy.

Kim Thai is an Emmy award winning producer and creative currently serving as the VP of Original Digital Video for Discovery Communications. This wasn't always her career path, though, as she began her career by working for major print journalism publications after getting both her BA and MA in journalism. On this episode, we talk about her creative process now, and how she made that transition from journalist to creative executive.

After spending time working in the Obama White House, Vanessa Wade was looking for a change. She decided to move home to Houston and start her own PR agency, Connect the Dots. In this episode, we hear about the challenges--and the rewards--of starting and running your own agency, and how Vanessa actively engages with and gives back to the community.

Scholes hosts early morning sports shows on CNN both domestically and internationally. He covers all major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, World Series NBA Finals, and the Masters. In this episode, Scholes highlights his journey from UH to getting to his position at CNN and the nuances of his career as a sports anchor (such as writing his own scripts, breaking news stories, traveling) and recalls his favorite moments of the job.

A 28-year studio veteran, Courtenay Valenti has risen through the creative development ranks at Warner Bros. Pictures to become president of production and development. Valenti has been a creative force behind the studio’s resurgence in feature animation and the founding of Warner Animation Group, where she shepherded such titles as The LEGO Movie to critical acclaim. In this episode, Valenti will talk about her Hollywood career and her life growing up in the spotlight as the daughter of legendary Hollywood heavyweight Jack Valenti.

True crime podcasts are among the most popular in the medium so making a splash in this genre is tough. Impressively, The Australian’s true crime series The Teacher’s Pet has been downloaded more than twenty million times. In this episode, investigative journalist and The Teacher’s Pet host Hedley Thomas discusses everything from the podcast and how he continued to integrate new discoveries into each new episode to his extensive career as an investigative journalist.