Sony Music Entertainment’s Global Podcast Division hired media and podcast veteran Serita Wesley, who will serve in the newly created role of head of U.S. entertainment podcasts.
Wesley will be based in New York and reports to Tom Koenig, VP, U.S. podcasts, at Sony Music.
In her new role, Wesley is tasked with leading the division’s entertainment podcast strategy and overseeing the development of new shows across a range of genres, including comedy, pop culture, self-care and talk. The company said that as Sony Music focuses on building a slate of “always-on and returning series,” Wesley also will help build and manage the growing entertainment team, which includes several new producers starting this spring.
Wesley has more than 15 years of experience in the entertainment, marketing and podcasting industries. She previously an executive producer at Fresh Produce Media and senior producer at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook, working on shows including the “Red Table Talk Podcast” and “Positively Gam.”
She is also the co-creator and sole writer for the forthcoming scripted series “Un-Lesh for Love,” which debuts on Audible in 2022 by way of Charlamagne Tha God and Kevin Hart’s SBH Productions audio production company. Welsey also co-founded, produced, and hosted the iHeartRadio Award-nominated podcast “On She Goes,” a travel and lifestyle podcast for women of color.
Welsey holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in radio, television and film.
Sony Music Entertainment’s podcast division is based in New York, Los Angeles and London. The company has a slate of 55 podcasts. Those include several from Three Uncanny Four, a Brooklyn-based podcast production company co-founded in partnership with Sony Music.
