Our Team

Our

Team

Lydia Kim

Sales Development Manager

Harper Wayne

Senior Account Manager

Celia Ver Ploeg

Manager, Client Success

Andy Kelly

SVP, Branded Audio

Ethan Fixell

VP, Branded Audio

Rachael Swan-Krasnoff

Senior Marketing Director

Sarah Yoo

Head of Production

Amber Smith

Director, Audience Development

Debra Garrett

Podcast Account Director

Matt Romano

Executive Producer

Nakia Swinton

Supervising Producer

Ciara Kaiser

Producer

Matt Stillo

EP, Post-Production

James Foster

EP, Post-production

Siara Spreen

Engineer

Celia Ver Ploeg

Manager, Client Success

Harper Wayne

Senior Account Manager

Lydia Kim

Sales Development Manager

Sarah Yoo

Head of Production

Siara Spreen

Engineer

Siara Spreen is an audio engineer for the Custom Podcast team at iHeartMedia. Throughout her 15 years in the industry, she has worked on everything from film and TV to audiobooks and podcasts. Before joining the iHeart team, Siara was fortunate to work with Gramercy Post, one of New York City’s top audio post-production facilities, where she was nominated for an Emmy for her work on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Outside of work, you can find Siara playing guitar badly and watching sci-fi movies.

Matt Stillo

EP, Post-Production

Matt Stillo is a story-oriented editor, sound designer, recording + mixing engineer, and Executive Producer. In the past, he has worked in fast-paced studios with clients such as Wes Anderson, Greta Gerwig, A24, iHeartRadio, Spotify, CBS, A&E, Discovery, and more, across film, television, commercial, and podcasts. Between his creative background in theater and technically-oriented skill set, he finds himself most at home telling stories behind the desk in Pro Tools. Equipped with precision audio tools and a U87 or two, he's ready to create, collaborate, and deliver high-quality audio projects again and again.

James Foster

EP, Post-production

James Foster is an Audio engineer & Executive Producer for the Custom Podcast team at iHeartMedia. Having worked in most branches of the audio industry, he has a wealth of experience and understanding of what it takes to make great content regardless of the medium. Throughout his career, James has been fortunate to work with Windmill Lane, Dublin's premier music recording studio, Gramercy Post, one of New York City’s top audio post-production facilities, and most recently from his home studio, the podcast giant Freakonomics Radio. With his love for all things sound, James is always ready to create quality content and help guide the process from start to finish.

Nakia Swinton

Supervising Producer

Nakia (a.k.a. ""Kia"") has always had a passion for media, culture, and comedy. A Jersey girl at heart (born and raised!), Kia holds a degree in Communications and Media Arts and a minor in Business from Montclair State University. Following influential internships at BET, NBCUniversal, Press Here Publicity, and VH1, she took on the role of Communications Assistant at VICE Media before committing to pursuing her love for comedy and media, which landed her at WarnerMedia as a Talent Assistant (TruTV, tbs, TNT). For four years, she hosted and produced a weekly radio show on WMSC 90.3FM, where she interviewed local hip-hop artists and created entertaining segments on dating and news. She has written for VICE, HuffPost, and Medium, covering politics and the Black community. She also developed, created, and hosted the Black History Month series on VICE's daily podcast. In 2019, she launched So-Called Oreos, a podcast she produces and co-hosts that dives deeper into Black identity and culture. Her love and hard work in podcasting lead her to her current role as Supervising Producer for Custom Podcasts at iHeartMedia. If she's not creating content, she is probably traveling, teaching POP Pilates, dancing, enjoying comedy, or attending a food festival.

Amber Smith

Director, Audience Development

As the Director of Audience Development on the custom podcast team, she leads the team's podcast growth strategies, ensuring the content we produce for brands gets the largest reach. Amber started her career as a researcher on the Today show before jumping to audio. She has worked on multiple sides of the podcast industry as a producer for SiriusXM and later joined the team that negotiated content partnerships for podcasts on SiriusXM and Pandora. Before joining iHeart, she led audience development for Slate Magazine’s podcast catalog. Amber is an alumnus of both the University of Southern California and Louisiana State University. Outside of work you can find her chasing her toddler outside of work.

Rachael Swan-Krasnoff

Senior Marketing Director

Rachael is Senior Marketing Director for iHeartMedia’s Custom Podcast team, where she partners with brands to bring their messaging to life through meaningful audio content. Rachael has helped tell creative stories since her days as a Telecommunications major at Penn State University, where she hosted a late-night-style program called After Hours. Before venturing into the podcast space, Rachael started her career as a media buyer under the GroupM umbrella, which helps her understand the sales landscape from all sides of the spectrum. Later, Rachael would manage some of Wondery and Spotify’s most lucrative podcast partnerships; she helped oversee some of Spotify’s largest podcast acquisitions. At iHeart, she is excited to push the boundaries of custom content and help brands tell truly entertaining stories while ensuring their brand messaging is heard. Outside of work, you can find Rachael trying to keep her cats from knocking down everything in her apartment. She also loves to draw and bake. All cupcake recipes are welcome!

Ciara Kaiser

Producer

Ciara is a Producer for the iHeartMedia Custom Podcasts team. She holds a degree in Journalism & Media Studies from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Before joining the iHeart team, Ciara spent five years with SiriusXM producing entertainment talk radio. She launched ""The Michelle Collins Show"" - the 2020 Gracie Award-winning program - welcoming Hollywood royalty and highlighting daily news from political discourse to endless celebrity drama. She also spent several years in the audiobook space, working with all ""Big Five"" publishers. Her candid energy in creative spaces is clear, and she prides herself on being a team player & technical problem solver. In addition to her work at iHeart, Ciara is fond of sharing her passions & playlists with others - anything to bring a smile to someone's face!

Debra Garrett

Podcast Account Director

Debra Garret is an Account Director for iHeartMedia’s Custom Podcast team, where she develops innovative and impactful relationships with brands to connect them to the magic of our custom podcast offering and creators. Debra has over ten years of experience in the advertising and media industry, partnering with some of the world’s largest brands from Disney, Netflix, and NBCUniversal to Apple, Verizon, Samsung, and many more. Before joining the iHeart team, she was a Senior Strategy Manager responsible for developing cross-publisher strategies for Pandora, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and SiriusXM based on data-driven insights and recommendations. Before venturing into the digital audio and podcast space, Debra started her career as an account manager, partnering with eBay advertising to oversee digital and programmatic campaigns. Outside of work, you can find Debra listening to true crime podcasts or spending time outside with her family and friends.

Matt Romano

Executive Producer

Matt Romano is a digital content creator with over 15 years of experience developing projects and experiences across video, audio, social, and emerging platforms. At NBCUniversal, Matt oversaw the development of multiple award-winning projects promoting SYFY and USA Network programming, including high-level partnerships with Amazon & Google. As Sr. Director, Platform and Franchise Strategy at SYFY WIRE, Matt served as Executive Producer. He oversaw creative production for over 15 podcasts, including highlights such as Behind The Panel, Battlestar Galacticast, Through The Looking Glass: A LOST Retrospective, and Metal Crush. Matt studied Broadcasting & Mass Communication at SUNY Oswego in upstate New York. He is currently based in Hartsdale, NY.

Ethan Fixell

VP, Branded Audio

Ethan has over 15 years of experience as the producer of a wide range of written, video, and audio content connecting audiences with brands. Prior to joining the iHeart team, he was the Global Head of Brand Strategy for Kerrang! — the UK's premier rock music publication since 1981 — where he launched the company's first-ever U.S. office and oversaw all digital content, including the production of the brand's first official podcast, Inside Track. Before that, he was Editor-in-Chief of The Beer Necessities (a branded beer culture publication founded by Anheuser-Busch), and wrote about beer, wine, and spirits for dozens of international publications including Food & Wine, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Men's Journal. Following a two-year stint at Comedy Central, Ethan spent seven years as a full-time comedian, touring the country, performing multiple times on The Tonight Show, and Executive Producing his own digital TV series for NBC.

Andy Kelly

SVP, Branded Audio

Andy Kelly is the Senior Vice President of Custom Podcasts at iHeartMedia. Andy leads the team that helps the world’s best brands tell their stories through the podcast medium. His responsibilities span the gamut from working directly with clients in building out original custom campaigns to overseeing all branded podcast production. Before joining iHeart, Andy was the founder of LookAlive Inc, a fully integrated commercial production company specializing in programmatic creative, building campaigns for major brands and media agencies such as BMW, Unilever, Mindshare, IPG, IRC, UM, and more. Additionally, Andy spent six years as a producer of feature-length documentaries, television commercials, and reality television series across the globe for Netflix and Vh1. Andy is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and Loyola Marymount University, and an avid consumer of podcasts of all genres.