Meet the Women Who Changed the News Cycle: Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg

Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who've made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode gives you a direct line to women who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts to stay tuned.

I will never forget the day I discovered TheSkimm in 2012; it was a breath of fresh air in an inundated news cycle. It offered a digestible delivery of news that was direct and, quite frankly, made sense. Thus, TheSkimm quickly became my—and many others'—go-to news source. 

On July 18, 2012, Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg released a newsletter to roughly 3500 email addresses, which would eventually become TheSkimm, a trusted source for news for a community of more than seven million Skimm'rs. Zakin and Weisberg's mission was simple: give millennial women the information they need to live their smartest lives through conversational language, broader context, and a format that breaks stories up into easily palpable pieces. Ultimately, Zakin and Weisberg created a tool that seamlessly integrated information, from politics and breaking news to pop culture moments, into our daily lives. Today, the brand has expanded its offerings through two top-rated podcasts (Skimmed From the Couch and Skimm This), events, video, TheSkimm app, a wellness vertical (Skimm Well), and a money and finance newsletter, Skimm Money. Additionally, in June 2019, they released TheSkimm's first book, How to Skim Your Life, which debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Sellers list. Their flagship product, Daily Skimm, remains the fastest-growing newsletter on the market. Impressively, Zakin and Weisberg have amassed accolades and have been featured on several highly esteemed lists, including inclusion on Forbes's 30 Under 30 in Media and Vanity Fair's Next Establishment and participation in the Goldman Sachs Builders + Innovators Summit as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs. 

So how did Zakin and Weisberg manage to completely reinvent the way we consume news? It should come as no surprise that both have always had a passion for journalism and news reporting and began their early careers at more traditional news outlets. Zakin started her career at MSNBC and Lifetime and Weisberg at MSNBC and The Daily Beast. The two reconnected while working at NBC as news producers, where they began reimagining the delivery of daily news. Tune in to the latest episode of Second Life to hear how Zakin and Weisberg combined their past experience in newsrooms to start a company that would break the cycle and how they continue to evolve the brand. 

Up next, The Actress, Producer, and Brilliant Podcaster Monica Padman on Embracing Change