S1 E.14 Pivot and Evolve with Radio Host Carla Marie
In this EpisodeIn this episode, we sit down with Carla Marie, co-host of the Carla Marie and Anthony Show to talk about everything from the origin of Adriana and Carla’s friendship, The Elvis Duran Show, surviving during COVID, and fascinating celebrity interactions.
Adriana and Carla talk about how they originally became connected. Let’s flashback to November 2013…Adriana had just launched Little Words Project, and - in her words - the brand was “vintage”. A customer of Adriana’s and a fan of Z-100 and The Elvis Duran Show brought the brand to Carla’s attention. Carla fell in love with it, reached out to Adriana, and LWP was featured on the “What’s Trending?” segment that January. It was LWP’s first ever publicity moment, and Carla still pitches the brand to stores to this day.
Adriana, Mariah, and Carla all grew up loving The Elvis Duran Show. During her junior year of college, Carla stumbled upon an internship opportunity for the show. Spoiler alert: she got it, and this was the stepping stone in her career that made her realize that she wanted to be involved in the radio industry. Her primary job was to answer the phones all day long, and having on-air time was simply a perk.
One day, Elvis approached her and told her that she had outgrown her position. Carla notes that the thing with radio shows is that people grow with them for 30+ years and never leave. So, there was nowhere for her to go at the show, and she ended up leaving to continue her growth.
Of course, leaving a show that is so well-known posed questions from those around her. Carla knew that there was more for her out there. She mentions a notable moment - the day that Elvis sat her down for this meeting about outgrowing her position, she wrote the date and a simple sentence in her notebook: “In a year from now, my life will be very different.”
Fast forward to 6 months later, she got an offer for an opportunity in Seattle. Going from NYC, the mecca of the radio industry, there was an adjustment period. At first, seeing people leave work at 3pm was really weird to her - that kind of work/life balance was abnormal in NYC. The budget also dramatically shifted. There was no “cushion” to easily put on events, and sponsors were relied on, not just something nice to have.
During Carla’s time at Elvis Duran, she and her colleague, (and now best friend), Anthony started a podcast. This led to their current show, The Carla Marie and Anthony Show. Carla mentions that although she gains a lot of traction from listeners, in the deepest part of the industry, many think that Anthony is the only host. Usually, there is one primary host and many do not understand their collaboration. She and Anthony have negotiated contracts together and have been paid the same to the penny (girl boss energy only!).
All was going well, and then a worldwide pandemic hit, causing shifts in every aspect of our lives. For Carla, some of her colleagues worked from home, and she was still in-studio. One day, she had a mysterious illness and everyone went virtual for 8 weeks. Adriana, Mariah, and Carla talk about how it is an awkward readjustment to be around people again.
Although Carla was back in-studio, there were still many restrictions in place. 5 minutes before she went on-air, she received a text about her mom, and how she needed open heart surgery. Of course, this is an emotional rollercoaster – Carla physically could not be there for her mom when she needed her most. She says that she had to use her biggest grounding mechanism: staying in the moment. Because there are commercial breaks and ads, Carla was able to keep herself together. However, she is not afraid to share her emotions. To her, it is never “don’t cry”, but instead “don’t cry right now.”
As a radio host and interviewer, Carla has been fortunate enough to meet and interact with many celebrities. Adriana, Mariah, and Carla touch on some of the best interactions of her career. Carla says that she was the most starstruck when Fall Out Boy came to Elvis’ studio for their reunion. She was full blown panicking and FANGIRLING. On the contrary, she talks about one of her not-so-great interactions: Hailey Bieber. On a red carpet, Carla was interviewing Hailey and the whole time, Hailey was practically ignoring her. (like…what?!?)
In true Mariah fashion, she shares one of her most memorable trade show experiences. While flying to Vegas, she had an encounter with who she *thought* was a normal man. As the conversation progressed, this man turned out to be Travis Scott’s manager, and it is safe to say he felt passionate about Mariah. He invited her to gamble with his friends, one of them being Travis Scott himself. Of course, Mariah went and kept her cool.
As we are wrapping up this episode, Carla asks Adriana how she navigated hiring people to supplement her business. Adriana offers insightful advice, saying that she hired out of pure necessity. It took her a few years to trust people and really let things go, and being so preoccupied with her fertility journey helped her do that.
Mariah talks about how LWP is her passion and her life. There are typically only 1 or 2 employees who devote their whole career to one set opportunity – we have seen it in the radio industry, and in the business industry. Mariah is one of them, and they are a true concrete unit.
It is safe to say that we learned so much from having Carla Marie on this episode. We love her passion for LWP, and her honesty about Nick Jonas (yes, he is as beautiful in real life). Listen to the full episode to hear more, and we’ll catch you next week.
Important Times2:08 - Connection between Adriana and Carla
3:45 - LWP on “What’s Trending?”
6:00 - Intro to CM
10:15 - Outgrowing Elvis Duran
17:32 - Breaking into the Radio Industry from Internships
19:40 - CM’s Experience/Industry Shift
22:20 - NYC to Seattle
28:40 - Monetizing Social Media/Footprint
29:22 - COVID and Radio Industry
32:09 - LWP and COVID
33:50 - CM’s mom’s heart surgery
37:58 - Navigating backlash
40:25 - CM’s “On-Air Mindset”
42:30 - Podcast production tips
47:31 - Being a woman in the Industry
51:09 - Starstruck from celebs, best/worst Interviews
53:51 - Noah Cyrus
58:44 - Mariah + Nick Jonas
1:00:54 - Darren Criss afterparty
1:03:26 - Mariah + Travis Scott
1:10:20 - How Adriana found Mariah
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Welcome bestie.
We’re so glad you’re here.
We’re Adriana and Mariah. Co-hosts, entrepreneurs, BFFs, and girls just like you trying to figure it out as we go.
