The Grit & Gravitas podcast, hosted by Universal Media, Inc. CEO Anne Carnathan and Deeter Gallaher Group founder Anne Deeter Gallaher, has remained true to its original vision in many ways. Carnathan and Deeter Gallaher started the effort in 2021 in an effort to aid women in business and help teach the lessons they were forced to learn the hard way. And though G&G is still serving up lessons over two years later, some of the most profound learning has come from the host seat.
“The intent of the podcast is to teach, and now we [the hosts] are the direct beneficiary,” Carnathan said. “It’s important that it’s not just about what we preach, or about what we advocate, but that we practice it. I’m a lifelong learner, and it’s almost free school experience to be a part of this.”
Carnathan joined the team at UMI nearly 13 years ago, and has since risen to the role of President and CEO. At 58 years old, Carnathan has made a career of learning from those around her. Now, as co-pilot of G&G, that is truer than ever before. After two seasons, 58 episodes, and a lifetime’s worth of wisdom, Carnathan feels that her guests have taught her just as much as she has taught others.
“If I can take one thing from each podcast and apply it to my thought process, it will make a difference,” Carnathan said. “And that’s what we’re hoping people do, listening to our show.”
In most episodes, Carnathan and Deeter Gallaher host a different influential woman from across the world of business, ranging widely in disciplines and expertise. Season 2 featured an appearance from Jean Chatzky, founder of HerMoney and former financial editor of NBC’s TODAY show. From finance to fitness, from retail to public relations, each guest has a different story to tell and a different perspective to offer.
That is what makes each episode such a unique opportunity. Carnathan is sage in her own right, but with such a vast array of experiences on display, it is impossible not to glean new lessons.
“I cannot say enough about what the show has done to fill my soul,” Carnathan said. “To continue learning from such incredible women, in any walk of life, in any vertical as far as business, in ways I could have never anticipated.”
But for all of the invaluable advice offered by the show’s guests, it is the openness of G&G’s hosts that helps everything shine through. Carnathan will be the first to tell you that she has failed an innumerable amount of times over the course of her career, and it is through those challenges that she has risen to where she is today.
“I’m much better talking about the setbacks, because I so strongly believe that everything happens for a reason and leads directly to the magnitude of the comeback,” Carnathan said. “That’s part of giving– when you give, you receive back tenfold, and that’s been fulfilled beyond my wildest imagination.”
Grit & Gravitas began with the intent of “paying it forward,” of removing a few of the rungs from the ladder women in business are often forced to climb. That goal has come to fruition, along with untold and unexpected rewards greater than even the host’s initial expectations.
“I am overwhelmingly proud of the sheer positivity of this show,” Carnathan said. “And the continued emphasis on positivity, and the fact that so many women have agreed to come on, and that [Deeter Gallaher] and I continue to engage and commit– that’s by far the biggest thing that I will take away from this in perpetuity.”
