A letter from Jane Bernhard
I believe in the power of telling stories. Coming from a 10+ year background in media & entertainment, I am driven by connection and personal narratives.
I began my career as a professional television and theater actor (HBO, Discovery, Oxygen). As a creative, I have always believed that the best way to find meaningful work is to create it through authentic connections and deeply imaginative creativity.
After a decade in the industry, I determined that I needed to understand how business worked in order for the stories I create and share to have more of an impact.
So, I pivoted and got my MBA from Columbia Business School.
The pivot was as hard as it sounds, but as an actor, I had cultivated resiliency and the inability to take "no" for answer.
Columbia changed my life. I grew immensely. I interned in Strategy at PlayStation Studios and took classes focused on Technology and Media.
I saw the potential and value for a creative and unconventional person to come into the Technology industry and shake things up.
I embarked on a six month research project with a Columbia Business School AI Professor where I interviewed CEOs, Executives, and MBAs at most top tech, media, and gaming companies. While this was originally for an MBA thesis, I decided to continue conducting these interviews post grad, and focused many of the conversations on career paths as well.
To date, I have interviewed over 600 CEOs, Executives, and MBAs from Fortune 500 companies in Tech, Media, and Gaming - including the CEO of PlayStation, CTO of Animoca Brands, Director of Digital Innovation at MAX, VP of Immersive Content at Lucasfilm, Director of Engineering at Meta, VP of Marketing at Activision, SVP of Unity, VP of Omniverse at NVIDIA, and Senior Manager of Growth at Xbox).
I also rediscovered how my background as a storyteller and connector could applify others' stories as well.
So, in an effort to share stories that authentically resonate with me or could be impactful for others,, I have decided I will write, here, about what I learn from these conversations - in an effort to share important stories with the world, including my own.
Every person is unique - and in uniqueness we find power and resiliency.
I hope that my work provokes curiosity, thought, and conversation.
Oh, and I love to talk and want to collaborate.
