KOST radio personality Ellen K celebrates the accomplishments of women in a new production
To celebrate Women’s History Month in March, radio personality Ellen K, host of the “Ellen K Morning Show” on KOST (103.5 FM), and iHeartMedia wanted to create something special to honor women making a difference in a variety of fields.
“Women We Love With Ellen K,” a new iHeartRadio original podcast, launched March 8, International Women’s Day. Episodes upload every Wednesday and feature Ellen K in conversation with female-identifying doctors, lawyers, small-business owners, singersongwriters and more.
So far, she’s shared chats with songwriter Diane Warren, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, Dr. Deborah Holder from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and entertainment attorney Dina LaPolt. The podcast has been met with such a positive response, producers have extended its run, as Ellen K said they found themselves with so many women to talk to that it was difficult to narrow it down to just a quartet of episodes in March.
“We’re just going to keep it going forever, because we quickly became addicted to it,” she said during a recent phone interview.
“I really love finding out how they met their partner, the love of their life, and the turning point when they were maybe a little girl and what clicked to make them go down a certain path,” she continued. “These are things you can’t just do in five minutes on the radio, so I’m glad we get to have this time. Jamie Lee
Curtis, I could talk to her all day long. We could have had a Jamie Lee Curtis Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 just because there is so much there.”
Other guests scheduled include Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, Travel Channel host and pilot Kellee Edwards, singer Bonnie Tyler and author Abigail Harrison, aka Astronaut Abby. However, Ellen K wants the podcast to feature women like Grandma Barb, the grandmother of her morning show staff member Rachel Damelio.
“Barb is just one of those women that has amazing life advice,” she said. “I wanted to get some of the generational stuff on the show too, because I have found in talking to so many women and women who are older in my life, that some of the things they have to say can also work for young people today. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s such a huge generation gap,’ but really it’s not.”
Ellen K herself is an influential figure. Born Ellen J. Theo in Palo Alto, she grew up in Indiana wanting to be a veterinarian, but an internship at a radio station changed her direction. She went on to DJ in various markets before landing cohosting gigs in Los Angeles alongside radio legend Rick Dees in 1990 and then with Ryan Seacrest when he took over Dees’ spot in 2004 at KIIS-FM (102.7). She went solo hosting the morning show at KOST in 2015. She’s also the voice of the Grammy Awards and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. More importantly, Ellen K said, she’s delighted to see more women than ever in radio and podcasting.
“I got into this business many, many, many years ago, so I ask people when they say, ‘Hey, I grew up listening to you!’ I am like, ‘Were you in the car seat or driving?’ ” she said with a laugh. “I think of that as a badge of honor. When I first started, there were no other girls around me; it was mostly men for twothirds of my career.
“I thought back to the first woman example I had and that was at my very first job where we had a female program director and I didn’t see another female program director until maybe 20 years later. I just thought, ‘Wow, she was a true pioneer and I looked up to her so much and still do,’ ” she said. “I think about how she interacted with me and the other men around. So to have this podcast launch on International Women’s Day is great, but one day, I hope we don’t even have to have a separate spotlight for women because it will just be the norm. … Men, women, whatever, we’re all equal.”
She references the new Gwen Stefani single, “Slow Clap,” as she describes how it feels when women are encouraging and opening the door for other women.
“I love what it says in that song, like, ‘I’m rooting for you; you’re rooting for me,’ ” she said. “It’s just such an uplifting message and I think really women naturally do that anyway, but it’s nice to see it happening and I hope we continue to see it more.”
Doing the podcast has also been a major learning experience, she said, as she’s explored moments in these women’s lives that were pivotal, where tough decisions and sacrifices needed to be made.