Executive Producer, Meditative Story

Under the direction of WaitWhat co-founder and series creator Deron Triff, the Executive Producer of Meditative Story will lead the production team in creating approximately 40 new episodes each year. The EP will also support WaitWhat’s Head of Audience Growth to expand the show’s reach, and strategically design production strategies that accelerate the property’s ability to scale in different media formats.

About Meditative Story

Meditative Story combines vivid first-person stories with mindfulness prompts inserted into the narrative, and presented inside a breathtaking musical composition. There is nothing like it. With a new episode each week featuring an original story from a beloved, well-known personality or newer voice, the show’s listen-through rate is believed to be the highest in the world at 115%. Meditative Story is most recognized for its standards for inventiveness, exquisite storytelling, and original music.

Meditative Story is growing at a rate of 50% annually, and monthly downloads are now approaching 750,000. Apple Podcasts, among other platforms, regularly feature the series on their home page. And in a recent survey of 275 listeners, Meditative Story earned a NPS score of 74.

We’ve designed the production process for Meditative Story to yield unforgettable stories that have profoundly positive effects on listeners. And we partner with our storytellers to craft the stories they most want to share with the world. Our kindness, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence builds trusting, fond relationships with storytellers, many of whom tell us that the experience was the best in their professional lives, and they go on to recommend other storytellers to us.

Meditative Story is made free to the world on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play and other audio streaming platforms. In recent months we launched a Membership program for Meditative Story that includes a number of benefits including live events, curated gifts from featured partners, access to Sleep Song — a bedtime experience that is inspired by the core musical arrangements we create for each episode. In the coming months we anticipate extending Meditative Story into a publishing, a wellness product for companies, among other format expansions designed to reimagine the experience for different needs.

Requirements

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Prepare and oversee the Meditative Story production budget and schedule.
• Oversee curation of extraordinarily compelling, and often surprising, storytellers with unmatched diversity, including sought-after personalities throughout the schedule.
• Lead thoughtful, incisive interviews with storytellers to pull out captivating narratives that are beautifully revealing, relatable and nuanced.
• Help storytellers prepare for tracking sessions and coach them during the recordings.
• Oversee and support the show’s Head Writer/Editor in managing a team of Meditative Story contract writers to execute beautifully crafted stories inside of tight deadlines.
• Oversee and support the show’s Producer in managing the production schedule, completing assemblies, ensuring releases are signed, conducting recording sessions with hosts and storytellers, managing the media assets, collaborating with the Web and social teams, and various other weekly duties.
• Lead hiring and staffing for the podcast format of Meditative Story, all in accordance with WaitWhat’s annual planning and budget.
• Oversee excellence in audio editing/assembly/mastering.
• Supervise the overall performance of the series and work with the audience growth team to meet or exceed projections quarterly download goals.
• Super serve Meditative Story brand partners, ensuring ads are exquisitely crafted and inserted in the podcast, and reports are delivered with rich context about performance.
• Cultivate the relationship with the host, Rohan, making the experience creatively appealing and joyful for him.
• Suggest format iterations and experiments designed to build audience, grow retention, and push the boundaries of inventiveness.
• Provide editorial and design teams the materials to support promotion and engagement.
• Support strategic efforts to extend Meditative Story into television, products, membership offerings and more.

Qualifications (please detail these in your cover letter or resume)

• 5+ years of demonstrated podcast production experience exceptionally produced shows
• Experience creating and managing sophisticated budgets and complex schedules
• Deep understanding of podcast performance metrics and the ability to extract insights
• Great communication skills, both written and verbal, in English
• Self-starter with a get it done attitude (No two days are the same)
• Extraordinary time management and multi-tasking skills
• Fast and eager learner, with critical thinking and problem-solving skills

Benefits

This is a Full-Time position, with the intention to be New York City– and office-based as soon as it’s safe. We offer a benefits package that’s generous and competitive with larger companies. Benefits include 3 weeks of company holiday (2 weeks in summer + one week between Christmas and New Years), 5 personal days, healthcare (PPO, vision and dental), short- and long-term disability, life insurance and 401(k). We work startup hours, but we also rest. We’re an anti-racist organization, committed to equity and diversity of all kinds — on our team, among our investors, and as represented on our media properties. Most importantly, we only hire extremely kind people.

• If this sounds like you, please include a cover letter telling us why.

About WaitWhat

WaitWhat is creating the most valuable independent portfolio of premium IP at the intersection of daily habit and human potential — with a contrarian strategy to scale.

Downloaded more than 70 million times, WaitWhat’s media properties have defined new genres in the areas of business (Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman), wellness (Meditative Story) and creativity (Spark & Fire). In everything WaitWhat creates, it aims to elicit the contagious emotions of wonder, curiosity, and mastery — infusing its content with “Wait, what?” moments that spark curiosity and help us live at the top of our potential.

Founded by June Cohen and Deron Triff — the former TED execs who launched TED Talks and led the media organization for a combined 17 years — WaitWhat’s approach to content is unique in the industry, with a passion for inventing new business models and building inventive partnerships. Learn more about WaitWhat >>
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