Stephanie Hirst’s had a remarkable journey.

Her radio career has gone from cueing up a record for the first time at Radio Aire, through market leading shows like Hirsty’s Morning Glory on Viking FM and Hirsty’s Daily Dose on Galaxy (and latterly Capital), to hosting the commercial radio chart.

But hidden behind the bouncy breakfast show were increasingly dark days, plagued by thoughts of suicide.

She knew she risked losing everything, but was braced to give it up in order to finally become her true self.

Now, she’s back making radio magic at BBC Radio Leeds – and the journey is far far from over.

Thank you to Stephanie for sharing her story, with some amazing memories from over the years and truly inspiring words.

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

HR Media is one of Yorkshire’s leading PR agencies, launching way back in 1997.

Richard Fidler has recently stepped up to the post of Chief Executive – having first joined the company more than 15 years ago.

In this episode, hear about his early days with HR Media and his career path since then, including spells on a local newspaper and as a magazine publisher.  

You can find HR Media here: hrmedia.org.uk

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Season 2 is focusing solely on the area of PR – and how it has changed alongside the media industry.

Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Caroline Woffenden is Managing Director of MK Public Relations.

She’s worked around the country, moving between agency and in-house PR including some huge companies such as Tesco.

In this episode, hear about her career and what led her to MK.

There’s loads more information on the company at mkpublicrelations.co.uk

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Season 2 is focusing solely on the area of PR – and how it has changed alongside the media industry.

Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Jamie Veitch is a PR consultant based in Sheffield.

His range of skills go way beyond just PR, and in this episode we hear about the work he’s done, including his current weekly radio show on Sheffield Live.

Find out more about Jamie on his website: jamieveitch.co.uk 

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Season 2 is focusing solely on the area of PR – and how it has changed alongside the media industry.

Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Faye Smith’s path into PR is far from the norm.

Her background isn’t in news or marketing – she actually worked in training before making the move.

In this episode, hear about her path into the industry, and all about Keep Your Fork, where she’s Managing Director.

Check out Keep Your Fork here: keepyourfork.co.uk

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Season 2 is focusing solely on the area of PR – and how it has changed alongside the media industry.

Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Neil Anderson knows the media and PR world inside out.

In this episode, hear about his background and what led him to setting up his own company, Neil Anderson Media.

If you’d like to find out more about Neil, check out neilandersonmedia.com

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Season 2 is focusing solely on the area of PR – and how it has changed alongside the media industry.

Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

The title Radio Producer doesn’t really do Dave Masterman justice.

He’s been part of multi-award-winning teams producing shows at the old XFM, helped launched Chris Moyles’ show on Radio X, and led the team on Dave Berry’s breakfast show on Absolute Radio. And plenty more, to boot.

Now he’s in Manchester at Audio Always – where he gives us an insight into the way much of radio is made in current day.

Plus find out what Moyles in really like… and who the heck is New Rave Dave in the Prize Cave?

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Will Chalk is part of the Newsbeat team at the BBC, producing news and features for Radio 1.

His journey started on student radio and then local commercial radio – via a summer in Ibiza with the boy band Blue (no, really).

Hear Will’s thoughts on the recent consolidation of local radio stations, and his top tips if you’re looking to get a foot in the Radio 1 door.

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Andrew White leads Walks Around Britain – a popular television show screened around the world, with its own podcast, online video subscription service, and new strands set to be unveiled soon.

But for Andrew it all started back at junior school, and his love of film and media never went away.

Learn about Andrew’s path to your TV screen… via an unfortunate incident with a muddy bog.

Behind The Mic is exploring the media world in the 21st century. Check out all the episodes at jae.media and subscribe to get new ones as they’re released.

Music by Black Lark from Fugue

Welcome to Behind The Mic…. exploring the media landscape in the 21st century.

In the trailer, find out what the show is all about and who we’ll be meeting as we explore the industry with those working in it right now.

Hit the subscribe button to get the first two series of the show when it launches in October 2019

Music by Max Sergeev from Fugue