Jazz Joins WXXI Studios as Manager of Creator Partnerships + Biz Development

After more than a decade on Rochester radio, I’m stepping into a new role focused on the future of media, creators and community storytelling.

If you’ve been following my journey for a while, you know I’ve never been very good at staying in just one lane: TV/Radio Personality, Producer, Entrepreneur, Podcast Editor.

For more than 25 years, storytelling has been at the center of everything I do. Now, I’m excited to share what’s next.

I have officially joined WXXI Public Media as its first Manager of Business Development and Creator Partnerships, a newly created position focused on growing WXXI Studios as a production hub for Rochester’s creators, podcasters, filmmakers and businesses.

In this role, I’ll help develop new business and revenue opportunities for WXXI Studios, build partnerships with creators and clients, expand access to WXXI’s production resources and help launch new initiatives—including a Creator-in-Residence program designed to bring more voices and ideas into the studio.

And if that sounds a little familiar to my JazzCast Pros family…it should.

From Building a Podcast Network to Building a Creator Ecosystem

When I launched JazzCast Pros in 2022, the vision was bigger than simply producing podcasts. I wanted to help people with something meaningful to say turn their ideas into professional content, find their audience and build community around their expertise and experiences.

Since then, JazzCast Pros has helped develop, produce and distribute 15 original podcast series and more than 1,200 episodes centered around business, health and personal growth.

I love editing podcasts, but I’m equally passionate about building the partnerships, systems and opportunities that allow creators to thrive.

That’s a big part of what makes this opportunity at WXXI feel like such a natural evolution.

As WXXI President & CEO Chris Hastings shared in the press release, my combination of business development, production experience, community relationships and entrepreneurial experience will help WXXI explore new ways to generate revenue and expand its impact during a time of major change for public media.

I’m excited to bring the entrepreneurial mindset I developed through JazzCast Pros into one of Rochester’s most respected media institutions.

Yes, JazzCast Pros Is Still Here!

The network isn’t going anywhere. While I have officially retired from my radio hosting career at WDKX after more than a decade on the air as Jazzy T, the JazzCast Pros podcasts you know and love will continue to be produced and distributed through the network.

You’ll still be able to hear the conversations, experts, entrepreneurs and changemakers you’ve come to know through our shows. Our mission of using podcasting to connect content, community and commerce continues.

What is changing is my role. I’m entering a season where I can spend more time building opportunities behind the scenes. RJ and I will continue to host the Elevating Enterprise podcast with a new business series called Inside the I-Corridor.

For longtime listeners who have followed me from radio into podcasting, thank you. Leaving afternoon radio after 26 years is a major transition, but I’m incredibly excited about where media is going and the role I get to play in helping shape what comes next.

The Future of Public Media

Independent creators are no longer on the sidelines of the media industry. They are becoming an essential part of it.

Podcasters, filmmakers, journalists, artists, entrepreneurs and digital storytellers are building their own audiences and creating content that reflects communities in ways traditional media hasn't always been able to do.

I believe there is a tremendous opportunity to bring those worlds together. I want WXXI Studios to become a place where Rochester creators can walk through the doors with an idea and find the production resources and pathways needed to help that idea grow.

And now I get to help build what that looks like.

For the next generation of Rochester creators.

For organizations with important stories to tell.

For businesses looking for new ways to connect with audiences.

And for a public media organization thinking boldly about its future.

This next chapter brings together so many pieces of my career—from my early days in broadcasting and television, to production and entrepreneurship, to building JazzCast Pros from the ground up. I’m taking everything I’ve learned with me.

Here’s to the next chapter.

With Love,

Jazz