#95: Hala Taha - Hot 97, The MTV Show that Never Was, and Accidentally Making $2 Million

EntrepreneurshipBuisnessPodcast

Nov 18

Written By Samuel Donner

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Episode Description

In this episode of Finding Founders, we hear from Hala Taha, a leading podcast entrepreneur, founder, and CEO. Hala’s story shows a journey to realizing your self-worth in the face of post-9/11 obstacles, working without compensation, and failing time and time again. Hala started with a pretty “blessed childhood”, going with her father to work at the hospital, and was a bit of a tomboy. But, after 9/11 her life changed dramatically. In high school, she experienced a feeling of isolation and being shut out of those activities she used to love. It wasn't until college that she really found her stride. She soon found a career in entertainment, working at Hot 97, then blogging with strawberryblunt.com, and eventually starting YAP and hosting the Young and Profiting Podcast. But her journey was far from smooth.

Show Notes

Early Life: Hala had a “blessed childhood” until it wasn’t.
Life after 9/11: Her high school life changed dramatically following 9/11.
Radio: Hala found her passion, Hot 97, but working in an unpaid, high- stress position wasn’t sustainable.
Blogging: She knew how to deal with rejection, and set her sites to blogging as a new platform.
MTV and Shut Down: With MTV, she almost struck gold, but never quite made it.
Changing Career Paths: Hala went back to school to get her MBA, ready to add an entrepreneurship tilt to her career in entertainment.
Hewlett Packard internship: In her new career path, there was still the issue of unpaid internships.
YAP: She finally launched a podcast, and it grew faster than she could have ever imagined.
Marketing and Growth: She used all the resources at her disposal to grow the show.
Advice: Hala speaks on realizing your worth.
Next Steps:Next stop, her own podcast network.