Just days after her graduation from the Wisconsin School of Business, Elle Mannion (BBA ’18) launched her career at NPR.
As an intern on the events team, she helped bring NPR’s podcasts to life through live events, including a conference for entrepreneurs based on Guy Raz’s How I Built This podcast, which explored how businesses are created and the stories of their founders.
Elle then transitioned to working on the music beat and now produces Tiny Desk concerts with artists like Faye Webster, Waxahatchee, and MJ Lenderman. She also organizes the annual Tiny Desk Contest, which she describes as a nationwide search for the next great undiscovered artist.
“I help sift through thousands of entries from independent artists across the country,” she says. “The winner plays a Tiny Desk concert at NPR, then we take them on a nationwide tour, playing nearly a dozen venues featuring local artists at each stop.”
Previous winners of the contest include Ruby Ibarra, The Philharmonik, Little Moon, and many more.
Elle also produces the New Music Friday podcast, hosted by fellow Badger Stephen Thompson (BA ’94).