As Women’s History Month concludes, Barrett Media is sitting down for conversations with some of the highest-ranking female executives in the media space. In this installment, we sit down with Bonneville International President and CEO Tanya Vea.
Tanya Vea joined Bonneville International in 2010 as the Executive Vice President of Cross-platform Development. Under her leadership, the organization formed a combined news division. It brought the TV, radio, web, and newspaper divisions under one leadership umbrella.
She later rose to the role of President and COO for Bonneville International and Salt Lake City Market Manager for the company in June 2023.
She spent 14 years in the local television world, including 12 years with the CBS-owned-and-operated station group, before working at the Kim Brown & Associates advertising agency.
In this Q&A, Tanya Vea shares her perspective on whether or not she thought there were restraints placed on her because she was a woman, how she broke through to her leadership role, and why she hopes that those working their way into leadership roles today never feel like they can’t push through to where they’d like to be professionally.
*Editor’s Note: Some responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Launching Her Career
Garrett Searight: When did you know that you wanted to be in the radio, the media business? When is the first time you can remember saying this is something that I want to do?
Tanya Vea: In high school, I started out really very focused on wanting to do journalism, and I knew that from a pretty young age, I would say. So that’s what I pursued a degree in and started in TV news.
GS: What was it about the media business that interested you?
TV: Connecting with people and really figuring out: How do you find information and provide information in a community that benefits the greater good? That was very interesting to me.
GS: When you look back at your career and how you’ve grown and evolved, who have been some of the people who have been really influential in your growth during your career?
TV: I’ve been really lucky to have phenomenal mentors and bosses along the way. From the very beginning of my career, people included me in rooms that were well beyond the title and the position that I held. But it gave me the ability to learn the business and grow. And see things in a broader way, not just from the positions that I had.
I can’t overstate the importance of the mentors and, frankly, the really phenomenal bosses that I’ve had along the way. That’s not something that people normally highlight. Great bosses are not always words you hear together. I’ve had (bad bosses) too, but I tend to over-index on the good ones.
GS: When you first started, did you feel like there was a pathway to be an executive for women in the business?
TV: I wasn’t interested in that. That’s a hard question for me to answer because I was very focused and thought that my path would be journalism. It was after I left the business — I did a lot of crossover between radio and TV, built actually a strong partnership with radio partners and TV partners in the station that I was working in. I had a lot of access across different media entities, also with a newspaper. But I was much, much more interested in the content development side and never really saw myself sitting on the business side.
Now, obviously, with music stations and others in our portfolio, that’s the more fun side of our business. None of that thrives if the business isn’t thriving. And so for me, that became really the motivation. I guess I didn’t necessarily feel a ceiling because I’ve worked with really great people.
But I was shocked when I broke one because I couldn’t believe “How is it possible that I’m the first woman coming into a position or leading an organization at this time in our careers? At this time in life?” I think that was surprising to me. And now I’m much more conscious of making sure that people have opportunity and I’m trying to provide the exact same opportunities for people who are coming up in the business.
Breaking Through
GS: What goes through your mind when you accomplish something that had never been done before?
TV: It was really interesting. There’s an element of pride in it because you know how hard you’ve personally worked to get into a position of leadership. And I do think in some ways, women do have to work harder in to get into those positions because you’re not always the first person that they’re looking at — clearly, otherwise there would have been more women in leadership before this.
So it’s pride, but it was also — I don’t know, I’m trying to think of the right word — frustration. There’s nothing special about me. And I don’t mean that in — I believe I’m good at my job. I know I’m strong in those positions. But there are other women who have been before me, who would have been qualified, should have been potentially in those positions. I don’t feel like I’m special in any sort of way other than the timing worked out for me.
GS: There are a lot of people who view media still as a really male-dominated space. But if you look around the radio industry, many of the CEOs are women. Why do you think there has been a shift where we’ve seen so many executives of brands and companies who are now women?
TV: I think that women have been working their way up. And when you earn your way into a spot, I’m hoping that more and more organizations are just choosing based on who’s best for the role, not limiting your opportunity because of your gender. So I think that’s likely happening more. There are also more female owners. If you’re looking at, say, Ginny Hubbard or Caroline Beasley, people like that who are the heads of their companies, I think that makes a difference.
I would also frame it less as “why now?” and more as “why not sooner?” The talent has always been there. What’s changing is access and how organizations evaluate leadership. While there are more women at senior levels now, there is still work to do for more equitable access to opportunity. The organizations making the most progress are not doing it for optics. They are evaluating on performance and see an organizational advantage in better reflecting the markets they serve. I believe that is what is accelerating change.
Today’s Landscape
GS: How important is it to you to be a mentor to other future leaders, other women in the company — or outside the company — that want to grow to be an executive someday?
TV: What’s really important to me is that people in our organization don’t feel like they’re held back because of qualities other than their performance, other than their work ability, other than the talent that they’re bringing into the organization. So that would be true for any of our employees.
And I don’t want to be — and I think most women don’t want to be — in a position because you’re a woman. You don’t want to get a position because they say, “Oh, we need a woman in this position.” You want to be in your position because you’re qualified and you’re good. So I want everybody who’s coming up in the organization to really feel like they have the same chance at a promotion or at a position. That you’re not going to be included or excluded because of your gender, your race, or other qualities.
GS: When you sit down and reflect on your role and your position, what’s the best part of your job?
TV: Hands down, the people. Working with the people, both that work with and for us in the organization, and the people that we serve. Being able to serve in local communities is the reason I got into the business in the beginning. And I still feel that’s foundational for me. I think we’re a service industry, and we need to act like that.
It’s not really just about the business metrics and the numbers. It’s about what we are doing. What impact we are making in the communities that we are in. How we are having positive influence and impact. How we are having fun every day. And how are we doing things where our employees want to come to work. That we’re a good place to work. We’re very fortunate. We have incredible people within Bonneville.
So I love to come to work every day because I’m surrounded by really, really great people. And those people are making a big impact in their communities.
The Future
GS: What are the things that you would say to aspiring female leaders in the media space?
TV: Just get after it. I never had a “I can’t do this because” mindset. It just never occurred to me. So I think you can limit yourself in having beliefs that — and there are limitations. Those are true. There are real limitations in the world and in the workforce that will get in your way. And some treatments happen in organizations that shouldn’t. Those are real things. I don’t mean to minimize any of that, but the more that you just believe in yourself and believe in your ability to get to where your goal is and what your dream is — that can overcome a lot.
GS: That’s good stuff, Tanya. Is there anything that I didn’t ask you or anything you want to share or include?
TV: I feel like I’m a reluctant spokesperson on behalf of our gender. Just because I try really hard not to see the world through that lens. And again, I recognize that there are realities there. So I don’t mean to minimize that. But that’s not how we promote at Bonneville. It’s not how we look at things. It’s not how I operate personally. I don’t say, “Oh, you’re a woman, so therefore I’m going to give you an advantage over somebody else,” because I would never want that.
So it’s really about making sure the opportunities, the visibility, people in the room, how they’re being talked about — that that’s equitable. So you’re not being judged on those other factors. It can lead to people believing that you’re in that role because you’re a woman. As opposed to because you’re good. Or because you deserve to get promoted. Or in the same way anybody gets promoted — maybe you didn’t deserve it, but you landed there anyway because of what other factors came into play.
But that’s true for men and women. In the same way that women were clearly held back because they weren’t in those positions at all. You don’t want it to be that way. But you also don’t want to be told, “Well, you were given this because of this other factor.”
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
