Leila Pirnia co-founded MBA Podcaster in January 2006 to provide information and advice to MBA applicants. MBA Podcaster is now ranked #1 on iTunes for the MBA category and generates over 80,000 podcast downloads each month. She was most recently Vice President of Strategic Planning & Global Brand Management for DIC Entertainment, a leading independent children's entertainment company in Los Angeles acquired by Cookie Jar Entertainment. She left DIC in August 2008 to exclusively pursue her podcast portfolio companies. Prior to this, she was with Merrill Lynch's Global Media Investment Banking Group in New York City. In addition to MBA Podcaster, Leila has co-founded PeaInThePodcast.com and has helped launch LawSchoolPodcaster.com. Leila received a B.S. in Finance from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You can reach her at leila@mbapodcaster.com.
Janet Nakano is a host and producer for MBA Podcaster. She is a Los Angeles native and received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from UCLA. Janet started her career as a journalist reporting news for public radio stations and programs including NPR-affiliates KPCC and KQED, Pacifica and BBC. Her work in radio and media culminated into an interest in film and led to her completing the graduate certificate program in Documentary Film at The New School in New York. She has directed the short film Fly and has recently worked as editor on a feature film. janet@mbapodcaster.com.
Dilini Fernando is a video host for MBA PodTV. Dilini graduated from the Brown University with a degree in Public and Private Sector Organizations. While studying at Brown, she was actively involved at a local alternative rock radio station, WBRU. With a passion for entrepreneurship, media and business, she simultaneously pursued her on-air career (as a radio DJ for a CBS radio affiliate in Boston) while developing her own record label, music venue and artist management company. She is currently an MBA student at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she is the chair of the Media, Entertainment & Sports Group. You can reach her at dilini.e.fernando@gmail.com
Mia Saini is a video host and producer for MBA PodTV. Mia graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a double major in neuroscience and media studies and a double minor in civil engineering and management science from MIT Sloan School of Management. At MIT, she was chosen as a Truman Scholar and Rhodes Scholar Finalist. After MIT, Mia worked at Goldman Sachs in New York before leaving for TheStreet.com. She has interned at NASA Ames Research Center, CNN, Warner Brothers, and most recently for CNBC. She is currently an MBA student at Harvard Business School, where she is the Founder and Anchor of HBS TV and on the Board of Directors of Harbus, HBS’s student-run newspaper. You can reach her at mia@mbapodcaster.com.
Diana Page Jordan is an award-winning broadcast journalist, with national first place awards for breaking news, best use of sound, features, as well as for her author feature The Book Page. She has first place awards from Oregon Press Women for her AP Radio book feature Between the Lines and for her hosting of a talk show at KRLA in Los Angeles. She is also an Oregon Woman of Distinction. Diana’s radio work led her to join MBA Podcaster as one of the first hosts and producers. She also hosts and produces podcasts for Law School Podcaster. Diana has interviewed hundreds of authors for AP Radio Network, XM Satellite, and Barnes and Noble’s website, and reviews books on Portland’s local ABC-TV affiliate. She is a published author, with author interviews in Writer’s Digest and The Costco Connection, as well as non-fiction stories in four anthologies. She has a live talk show with authors called Open Book with Diana Page Jordan on PDX.fm. Diana anchors the news in Portland, Oregon. She’s also a voiceover artist and on-camera talent. Diana has written a memoir, a screenplay and is finishing a novel, and she also writes a daily BookBlog. She is originally from New York City, and graduated from the University of Florida with a BS in Journalism and Communications.
Catherine Girardeau is a host and producer for MBA Podcaster. Her background includes print and radio journalism, podcasting, and video production. Her work has garnered awards, from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters "Silver Reel" to first-place awards from the National Association of Interpretation to a MUSE award for the podcast series she co-created with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, "SFMOMA Artcasts". Catherine speaks German and plays classical and bluegrass violin. She lives with her family in San Francisco.
Vanessa Bronte is the marketing manager for MBA Podcaster. She is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from UC San Diego with a B.A. in Communications. Vanessa launched her career in public relations and marketing at a boutique agency in San Diego where she was named the “Social Media Diva” of the team. She actively volunteers with the Public Relations Society of America and is a member of the UC San Diego Young Alumni Council. She recently began her first year as a fulltime MBA student at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business.