Whitney Reynolds

Whitney Reynolds (born April 3, 1986) is an American television talk show host, renowned for bringing a message of HOPE to audiences of The Whitney Reynolds Show, a nationally syndicated topic-based talk show that airs on PBS stations across the United States as well as via major providers such as Amazon, Tubi, YouTube and Roku.

She is a media personality, podcast host, author, executive producer, and philanthropist.

She has been faithfully dedicated to the city of Chicago since the day she arrived and her first talk show aired locally on NBC.

She continues to host and dedicate specials and Emmy® Award nominated PSAs to her home city in front of a live audience for WGN and is committed to bringing positive change via the Whitney Reynolds Show produced at the CineCity Studios.

With over a decade of being aired in major markets, as of 2021 the Whitney Reynolds Show became nationally syndicated on PBS through National Educational Telecommunications Association.

Originally from Durant, Oklahoma, Reynolds attended Durant High School from the year 2000–2004.

She was engaged in wide-ranging activities from being a cheerleader and executive president to anchoring her high school TV channel.

In tenth grade, she went to New York City for research, where she had a meeting that would set the course of her adult life.

At Good Morning America, she met an alumnus of Baylor University, the school where she would go on to obtain her undergraduate degree in Communications.

As with her high school experience, at Baylor, too, she was energetic and ever-present both in the realm of academia and in extracurricular communities such as Pi Beta Phi, YMCA Camp Counselor, and Habitat for Humanity.

She also worked at Baylor Athletics as a Video Assistant and Bears Radio Announcer.

As she noted in her Ted Talk, “What was once a simple walk down the street with my family, now turned to judgmental eyes not just on my parents, but also on me.” Her childhood dream, her adolescent experience and her connection with her audience were ultimately realized in the talk show that was born in 2011 - The Whitney Reynolds Show.

The show discusses a single topic from multiple perspectives.

Topics include but are not limited to military veterans, survived hardships, illnesses and stories of hope.

Some notable guests to discuss relevant issues on the show include Chelsea Handler, Michael Phelps, Magic Johnson, & Temple Grandin.

Within the first year, the show captivated NBC, and Reynolds had the opportunity to move the show onto their station.

In 2012, Reynolds moved The Whitney Reynolds Show to the PBS Network to broadcast in Chicago's Lakeshore PBS, The Quad Cities' WQPT and Peoria's WTVP bringing the show to an audience of 3.5 million viewers across the region.

As the success of the show kept building, in 2015, The Whitney Reynolds Show got nominated for its first Emmy in the category: Outstanding Interview and Discussion Special Programming.

Whitney has the honor of presenting at the award ceremony.

Reynolds makes it a point to visit and gives back to her hometown whenever she can even making it a stop in her 2016 book tour and has been back to Baylor University to give keynotes to faculty and her sorority, a distinguished alumnus featured in their Art & Science Magazine in which she is aptly described as “one of the most driven students that’s ever been around.”

Whitney’s early trip to New York city resulted in connections that would secure her a career-starting internship with the television show Good Morning America post-college.

While there, she worked in the research department, assisted in the studio, even entertaining the audience when the situation so demanded.

The encouragement she received in her early career is a vital part of why she pays it forward even in the present, bringing up interns and giving them opportunities to learn and thrive in the industry.

Upon completion of the Good Morning America internship, at the age of 21, Reynolds worked as a reporter and producer at KTEN News, an NBC station outside of Dallas, Texas.

Within three months, Reynolds became an anchor of their morning news show and with her popularity were able to increase the segment by a half hour - from 1.5 to 2 hours every day.

After just over a year at KTEN television, she left to pursue new opportunities.

Unemployed, during a recession, those new opportunities hinged on not just finding, but making the opportunity she needed after her move to Chicago, even working for a brief time at Nine West Shoes while searching for other opportunities in television.

She eventually picked up a job at WREX where she would film, edit, and report news on a daily story.

During that time her online talk show gained traction and garnered the interest of NBC, who bought what would then become Weekends with Whitney.

NBC ran the new show for about a year taking Whitney around Chicago trying new restaurants, tasting wine, and even skydiving.

While she had no trouble connecting with audiences and her finger was clearly on the pulse of what would bring out their enthusiasm, there was something about “around-the-town" pieces that was not as compelling or as timely as more serious topics and multiple perspectives. In large part, her heart was swayed by experiences gained over the course of her upbringing.

As a child, Whitney would fashion a makeshift microphone in her living room, interviewing friends and family instead of playing with dolls or reading books.

She wanted to be in the spotlight sharing stories from a very young age.

During her adolescence, her family's difficult personal journey steered her in the direction of sharing the more delicate stories of voices that must be heard.

Season 9 of The Whitney Reynolds Show premiered in Fall of 2018.

The show expanded its market on July 7, 2019, with the addition of WILL Champaign-Urbana.

Not only did the show expand its market, But The Whitney Reynolds Show also expanded the crew and their roles.

As of January 2021, the show expanded to be offered to PBS stations nationwide through the National Educational Telecommunications Association distribution service.

Along with that, its presence on streaming media platforms such as Amazon, the PBS Video App, Apple TV+, Tubi, Binge Networks and others, has seen enormous success spreading the mission and message of HOPE.

After the show reached nationwide status,The Whitney Reynolds Show kicked off its second season broadcast nationally during October 2021.