4th Annual Classy Awards

Write, produce, and broadcast a weekly global teen radio program giving youth a voice with zero development dollars, zero sponsorship, and zero teen on-air experience. Founder of Be the Star You Are!®, Cynthia Brian leapt at the challenge, donating her time and expertise to coach and mentor.

What’s the recipe for a top ranked radio program? Take ten teens with attitude, mix in an unstoppable coach advocate, add a world of opportunity, stir with determination, dedication, and desire, sprinkle with fascinating guests, and bake at high heat until bubbling with possibility. Voila! Express Yourself!™ Teen Radio is served to a hungry world community!

After three months of arduous pre-production, writing, re-writing, and coaching, Express Yourself!â„¢ Teen Radio launched on November 22, 2011 on the Voice America Kids Network. Produced by veteran radio personality, Cynthia Brian, under the auspices of Be the Star You Are!® charity as a youth outreach program, Express Yourself!â„¢ billed itself as a show for, by, and with teens – a place where teens talked and the world listened. Hosted by two vivacious teens with several youth on-air field reporters from around the United States ranging in ages from 13-17, Express Yourself!â„¢ dished up a platter of electrifying topics from tough talks to trendy, hip, and powerful life choices. Celebrities, authors, sports figures, musicians, actors, educators, and activists gathered on SKYPE to play on the teen global campus where passion, productivity, and perseverance populated the airwaves.

Without reaching for ratings, by March 2012, only four short months after debuting, Express Yourself!™ was named the most listened to YA radio program in the world on the Voice America Kids Network! It’s remained a top choice ever since. Teens definitely have something to say and by all accounts, Express Yourself!™ has cooked up a recipe for success.

Within the walls of the young adult community, listeners are uplifted, encouraged, and supported to be the stars of their own lives. Through connections, collaborations, conversations, and conflicts, audiences in over 192 countries participate in this innovative approach to giving youth a voice. The money and the sponsorship dollars have not yet materialized, but with the originality and freshness of adolescent fusion cuisine, could the monetized dessert be far behind?