Events

The Gracies Interview Series provides access to winners who speak on their experience and the impact that winning a Gracie has had on their career. The next session features Gracie Award winners Colleen Wheelahan, Morning Host on SiriusXM Symphony Hall and Host of Evening Classics on WUOL-FM, and Laura Atkinson, Host at Louisville Public Media.

The video is available below as well as on the AWM YouTube channel through December 8th, after which it will be available for AWM Members through the Knowledge Center. Please email info@allwomeninmedia.org with questions.

Colleen Wheelahan is the morning host on SiriusXM Symphony Hall (channel 78) and the host of Evening Classics on WUOL-FM in Louisville, Kentucky. She is also a musician herself – a classical percussionist. Her newsletter, called Classically Colleen, brings a look at current events through the lens of music, and curates playlists of new releases.

Colleen’s work in radio and podcasting has been recognized by the Alliance for Women in Media with two Gracie Awards, and the Radio Television Digital News Association with a regional Murrow Award. She has also produced arts and culture coverage for PRI’s The World, APM’s Marketplace, the NPR Newscast, and WBUR’s Here & Now.

Laura Atkinson is a Louisville native who has carved out a career as a classical singer and public radio host in this country and abroad. She completed her teacher training in the foothills of Appalachia at Maryville College and her masters degree in Vocal Performance and Early Music at Yale University. In 2010 she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study at the Mendelssohn Music Conservatory in Leipzig, Germany. She spent the subsequent near-decade enjoying Germany as an ensemble member at the Staatstheater Braunschweig and as a freelance singer in Berlin with her husband, who was an ensemble member at the Komische Oper Berlin.

After relocating back to America, Laura began a career as daily host for Louisville’s classical music station, 90.5 WUOL. Her audio project about motherhood in music, “Notes from Mothers” won a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media in 2025. She continues to work around the country as a professional ensemble singer and soloist. At home, her two young children keep her busy, and she enjoys the perks of being married to a sommelier.

If you have a suggested topic of speaker for a future interview, please email info@allwomeninmedia.org.

Gracies Interview Series Archive

About The Gracies Interview Series

While loved by millions, few knew the real Gracie Allen as she was always in character when in public. The Gracies Interview Series, presented by NCTA – The Internet and Television Association, serves to strip away the persona and share the grit and wisdom of today’s media professionals. The Alliance for Women in Media has interviewed women and men in media across every industry and job function who have blazed trails for those to come. 

If you have someone to suggest for a future Gracies Interview Series, we would love to hear from you. Please send ideas to info@allwomeninmedia.org.

Past Gracies Interview Series Guests:

  • Katie Couric, Award-Winning Journalist and Founder of Katie Couric Media
  • Colleen Wheelahan, Morning Host on SiriusXM Symphony Hall and Host of Evening Classics on WUOL-FM, and Laura Atkinson, Host at Louisville Public Media
  • Julia Whelan, Author, Screenwriter, Actor, and Acclaimed Audiobook Narrator
  • Claudia Uceda, Congressional Correspondent with Univision Network News
  • Katrina B, Producer for Nessa On Air on HOT97
  • Emily Turner, Anchor & reporter with Action News Jax
  • Melissa Gibbs, Director of Journalism News Lab, Brigham Young University School of Communications and BYU graduates and Gracie Award winners Aubree B. Jennings, Alexa Elliott Johnson, and Anna LaTour Youngs
  • Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Co-Founders of Lemonada Media
  • Deborah Parenti, President & Publisher, Radio Ink, RBR, and TVBR
  • Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia, Founders of the Latino Media Network
  • Beverly Chase, VP, Current Programming & Development and EP & Showrunner, VICE on Showtime
  • Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, CEO of A Wonder Media Group, LLC (AURN – American Urban Radio and SupeRadio)
  • Paula A. Kerger, President & CEO, PBS
  • Cathy Hughes, Founder and Chairwoman of URBAN ONE, Inc.
  • Julie Talbott, President, Premiere Networks
  • Jessica Cordova Kramer, CEO, Lemonada Media
  • Marcia Cruz, VP Content Acquisition Latam, Vrio Corp.
  • Susan Larkin, Chief Operating Officer, Entercom
  • Jill Frederickson, Senior Vice President, Production & Content Strategy, ESPN
  • Dr. Susan R. Bailey, M.D., President of the American Medical Association (AMA)
  • Julie Moos, Executive Director, National Press Club Journalism Institute
  • Jason Bailey, President, Sun Broadcast Group and AWM Honorary Trustee
  • Vicki Lins, President & CEO, CTAM
  • Elaina Smith (Nights with Elaina Host)
  • Nicole Schuman & Seth Arenstein, PR News Editors
  • Annie Howell, Founder & Managing Partner, The Punch Point Group
  • Michelle Rice, General Manager, TV One
  • Mike McVay, President, McVay Media
  • Elizabeth Smart, Author, Founder of the “Elizabeth Smart Foundation” and Children’s Advocate
  • Libby Geist, Vice President & Executive Vice President, EPSN Films and Original Content
  • Shayna Sharpe, CEO of Regional REps Corp.
  • Karen Brodkin, President of Business Affairs and IMG Worldwide
  • Lauren McHale, Vice President and Director of Sales, Katz Sports Marketing
  • Hannah Storm, Award-Winner Journalist, Producer & Director
  • Suzyn Waldman, First Full-Time Female Color Commentator in the Major Leagues
  • Mickey Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer at WideOrbit

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