"They did so much, so well, so long ago." Tabitha Sukhai talks Teen People magazine

01/23/22 • 28 min

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This is Teen People, the podcast where I track down people from Teen People magazine. Where are they now? This week’s guest, Tabitha Sukhai, gives us an update. Tabitha is an award-winning digital media professional and social media strategist. She got her start as a Teen People Trendspotter, part of a network of thousands of Teen People readers who contributed original content to the magazine, participated in focus groups, and advised Teen People’s staff on local trends in their own communities. As a New York-based Trendspotter, Tabitha had a close involvement with the magazine and its staff. This gave her valuable editorial and marketing experience in a major media corporation. In 2001, she jumped into an internship—or rather, a series of internships—across the TIME Inc. spectrum, but she began by working with Isabel González, Teen People’s Special Projects Editor, and head of the magazine’s Trendspotter program. Today Tabitha uses her skills to uplift small businesses and mentor up-and-coming digital media professionals. Tabitha spoke with me in the fall of 2021 from her home in New York. Podcast notes: See Tabitha in action: https://about.me/tabitha.sukhai Find me on Twitter and Instagram: [at] TeenPeoplePod And on Tumblr: https://teenpeoplepod.tumblr.com Credits: Music by Lesfm from Pixabay Subway sound effects: Jay Reed from Winslow Township, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lexington_Avenue_Line_vc.ogv Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

Previous Episode

Mr. Maroney goes to Washington

Who had Bush v. Gore in a Teen People debate on their Y2K bingo card? Padraic Maroney is a writer and marketing professional from upstate New York. After moving to Philadelphia as a teenager, he created content for The Bucks County Courier Times’ 'Reality' section, written by local teens. This led to an opportunity as a Teen People Trendspotter, as well as an internship in New York. Twenty years later, Padraic has published an unauthorized, behind-the-scenes tale of the making of the Scream franchise, and is now preparing another book on the Saw series from the early-mid 2000s. He began by telling me about Teen People magazine’s unsuccessful attempt to get George W. Bush and Al Gore together, on stage, in a Teen People-sponsored debate on youth issues, during Election 2000. Could that debate have changed the course of history?? Probably not, but we’ll never know, will we? Here’s Padraic’s story. Podcast notes: Padraic’s book, 'It All Began With a Scream': https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58866004-it-all-began-with-a-scream Padraic's Twitter: [at] padraicjacob Find me on Twitter and Instagram at teenpeoplepod, and have a listen to my interviews with Zena Burns and Kelly McWilliams in season one of Teen People podcast. Credits: President Clinton's Remarks Regarding Columbine HS Shooting (1999) courtesy; William J. Clinton Presidential Library Intro music: © Anna Soper Outro music: Fighter [No Vocals] - punk rock by ohhgeeeznotagain on Pixabay Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

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"The most delightful surprise": Kerisha Harris found her calling through Teen People's News Team

Kerisha Harris is a corporate communications professional from Paterson, New Jersey. In the early 2000s, Kerisha was a member of Teen People magazine’s News Team, a corps of young journalists from across the US. She has since worked as a journalist, and is currently working on a Master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies. Teen People’s News Team gave young journalists some of their very first bylines, and prepared them for careers in media. "I have so much to be grateful for, about that experience," Kerisha told me. Kerisha spoke with me from her home in Connecticut, where she told me about her involvement with her high school newspaper, and how that led her to Teen People’s News Team, and beyond. Podcast Notes: Watch Kerisha and her dad on her sister's podcast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ZCWPsATTM Find me on Twitter and Instagram at teenpeoplepod, and on Tumblr at teenpeoplepod.tumblr.com. Have a listen to my interviews with other Teen People News Team members from season one of Teen People podcast! They are Lucas Peerman, Lisa Wong Macabasco, and Lindsay Soll Kirkman. Credits: Intro music by Coma-Media on Pixabay Outro music by Lesfm on Pixabay Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.