They say when you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. If that is true, Heather Cohen, President of The Weiss Agency, hasn’t worked since she was 14 years old when she started preparing to be in the media business while still in high school.
“I still feel like I’m that radio kid,” said Cohen, a Hofstra grad who cut her teeth at WOR in New York. Cohen joined The Weiss Agency in 2007 and was named its President in 2023. She has worked with the likes of Montel Williams, Nick Cannon, Fred Toucher, Zach Sang, Tim Conway Jr. and many other talents in every format imaginable.
When Cohen was named President of the agency, Founder and CEO Eric Weiss said, “In Heather, we have not only an exceptional talent agent but a true leader and advocate for positive change. Her dedication, industry acumen, and commitment to her clients embody the values we hold dear at our company.”
Having worked in the industry as a producer and programming manager gives Cohen a very different perspective than a lot of other agents. It also gives her the ability to help her clients in ways others cannot.
“Every single day, I feel like I’m reinventing myself, because I want to make sure that I stay relevant to help all of my clients continuously grow, grow their brands, and stay relevant as well,” Cohen said. “It is so challenging just to keep up with how this business is evolving. But it’s also very exciting and I’m actually incredibly optimistic. I wake up, and I’m excited. And I know that I’m going to probably get scared at some point during the day, because there’s going to be something that I don’t yet know or understand. But my personal goal is to learn as much as I can and stay on top of every area of growth that’s out there.”
As for the near decade she spent inside the broadcasting business, Cohen says, “I’m very blessed that I had all those years, either at a local radio station or at a network before I became an agent, because I know what it is. I know what it is to produce for two days straight during a national emergency. And I still miss being in a studio when things are happening.
“So, I have the appreciation for the talent that works so hard and the people behind the scenes in our business that work so hard. I believe so much in them and what they do. And I think they’re insanely talented and hardworking. And it’s such a pleasure and a privilege to be able to represent some of the industry’s top performers, because I know how hard they work and what they do is so difficult.”
Cohen feels a unique connection to her talent because she is taking care of them the same way she was taking care of talent when she was a producer. She also has experience as a manager in media, so she truly understands both sides of the equation. The biggest place that comes in handy is when Cohen is negotiating on behalf of her clients.
“When I’m negotiating [with managers], I have an understanding and empathy for what they do and what they’re going through, and honestly, their lives are even more complicated now than my life was when I was in management. So, I think I’m fortunate that it gives me a unique perspective where I can speak everyone’s language, whether it’s the talent side or the management side or the programming side.”
She also has empathy for talent, who are now putting in more hours and doing more different things than ever before. “Everyone is putting in more hours, and they are doing things that they didn’t do three months ago or six months ago,” Cohen said. “And if you want to have longevity in this business, you will make sure that you are learning everything that you can, and that you are helping, whether you’re at a station or you’re on a platform that you are helping everyone around you.
“The majority of the people that I work with, and the majority of the people who are very successful today are doing eight different things and probably looking into what the ninth thing is.”
On the positive side for talent, Cohen said she is seeing more media companies who are trying to learn from content their talent is creating on their own.
“They see [that content] actually is enlarging the brand, that it’s actually bringing more attention to the station, or the channel or the platform or the TV show,” she said. “Whoever’s willing to put in that time and effort and research…we all have to try new things and see what works…Great content providers are going to always continue to do well.”
Cohen said she realized early on in her career that she didn’t have what it took to be a great on-air talent, but said she was really good behind the scenes and got really good at supporting the great talent she was working with. Plus, she feels a personal connection the industry overall. As she puts it, “I love this business, it’s in my blood, and I’m so passionate about it.”
Eventually her friend Eric Weiss talked her into heading up a New York branch of the agency and when she started, she did the only thing she knows how to do, which was dive in headfirst and learn everything there was to know about her new world. A decade into her new career, she was on the cover of Radio Ink magazine behind the headline, ‘Agent Extraordinaire’.
Asked what makes her good at what she does she said, “I deeply care about my clients. They’re my family. And I care about the industry as well. I love what I do. I am really passionate about the people that I represent. I only represent people that I’m passionate about and I have to really believe in their talent. I serve on several industry boards because I love this industry, and I want to give back to this industry. It’s been very, very good to me.”
Cohen is bullish on the future of the industry, especially from the content creator side where more and more opportunities are opening with the growth of streaming networks and digital distribution.
“There’s always room for competition, and we’re always going to find great talent,” she said. “For example, I have Nick Cannon and Zach Sang over at Amazon. I spend a lot of time with Amazon. And they are producing incredible content at Amazon. But, you know, they still love radio. I think it’s exciting to have a lot of opportunities.”
As for her passions outside of her day-to-day work as an agent, much of it revolves around the industry. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Women in Media as well as the Broadcasters Foundation of America. Additionally, she is part of the Executive Counsel and Dean’s Advisory Board for the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra.
Cohen said she feels “super blessed to represent some of the greatest names in all formats of audio and media. And it’s really fun working with them to continue to help achieve their goals.”
When she speaks to younger people, Cohen said her main advice is to “keep an open mind.” She stresses there’s no need to decide now what you want to be doing a decade later.
“I don’t know that I would tell somebody right out of school to go become an agent,” she said. “I would probably tell somebody who’s right out of school to go and get into a media company they want to work for. And don’t be concerned if you’re taking a job that doesn’t have the title that you thought you would go after in your senior year of college. Get in there, prove yourself, work hard, and if you’re working hard and doing a good job, there’s a good chance that you will be elevated and be able to move around and get into the department that really intrigues you and really interests you. And then figure out what you’re truly passionate about.”
If you find a career that you love and are passionate about you are among the lucky ones. Heather Cohen has been lucky enough to find that twice.
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Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
