HeadRoom with the incomparable co-founder and President of First Media, Sharon Rechter. Dr. Rod and Sharon discuss what it's like to build a media company from the ground up in an ever-changing media space, her life and family, and her inspiration to work as tirelessly as she does. Sharon is a powerhouse rooted in family, history, and impact.
First Media is a leading media publisher with over 250 million followers and reaches 71% of U.S. women every month across its brand portfolio. As President, she has grown the business from a single linear cable channel to a global media business with over 200 employees across three countries.
Within two years of their inception, First Media’s social brands - So Yummy, Blossom, Blusher, and Babyfirst, became #1 in the world with the most viewed and engaged content. In addition, First Media has also partnered with top brands to create the best-performing sponsored video content on Facebook, reaching the top spot 6 years in a row. Brand partners include Walmart, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Mattel, Sony, and Facebook - just a few of the brands partnering with First Media to build and activate audiences worldwide.
The company’s first venture, TV, with the Babyfirst and SoYummy TV networks, currently reaches over 100 million U.S. TV homes combined.
Sharon is a powerhouse entrepreneur who embodies the mission of the business as a do-it-all woman and mother of four. She was named in the top 40 Under 40 Women in Cable, and One of the Most Influential Women in Cable and Broadband in 2020. Sharon also won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2019 and wrote the best-selling children’s book, “The Girl from There,” at the age of 11. Sharon is a public speaker who is committed to helping women lead inspired lives.
Dr. Rod Berger is a keynote speaker, moderator, producer, author, and expert in strategic storytelling. Berger’s book, The Narrative Edge: Authentic Storytelling That Meets The Moment (Wiley), hits bookstores in late 2025. He draws on more than 4,000 interviews conducted worldwide for Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fair Observer, including a cover story about former Virgin Entertainment co-founder Jason Felts, for Los Angeles Magazine, as well as various podcasts. He has captured the narratives of investors, CEOs, renowned entrepreneurs, bestselling authors, scholars, and cultural icons such as NBA legends Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley, as well as United Nations officials and Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar, while also exploring the behind-the-scenes world of Formula 1.
Berger has met with the Crown Princess of Sweden, Pope Francis, United Nations officials, and NGO leaders, covering stories of water insecurity with WaterAid, the intergenerational refugee crisis faced by displaced Sudanese in Uganda, and the impacts of child marriage in Western Africa with the Le Korsa Foundation.
Berger served as a guest lecturer at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management for nearly two decades, focusing on the power of storytelling in business.
He has partnered with The Jim Henson Company to create a television show, The Ultimate GOAT, that combines his passion for distant lands and storytelling with culture, sports, and puppetry for family programming.
Berger conducts moderated keynote events that blend storytelling with live, on-stage narratives featuring cultural icons such as Opal Lee, the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and recognized as the “Grandmother” of Juneteenth. In 2023, Berger received the inaugural Pangea International Literacy Prize and delivered his TEDx Talk, “Story is Our Currency.” He lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and two children.
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