Elana Mandelup on Strategic Left Turns and Global Storytelling

“I tell Audible's story to the world, which is fitting for a company built on storytelling,” says Elana Mandelup, Audible’s Head of Global Public Relations and Corporate Communications. Mandelup joined us in 2018 to help reimagine and scale Audible’s public relations in the US, and as Audible grew and transformed into a worldwide presence, so did Mandelup’s role. Now she leads campaigns and activations "from São Paulo to Sydney, London to Tokyo," finding authentic, integrated strategies to showcase Audible's category-defining content. She secures coverage in top-tier press while spearheading the brand's PR presence at premieres, fan conventions, festivals, publishing fairs and more.

This global perspective has fundamentally changed how Mandelup thinks about storytelling and brand building, particularly as she navigates different cultural contexts, media landscapes and customer expectations. As she points out, “What makes this particularly exciting is that each marketplace requires its own bespoke approach; what resonates in Berlin might fall flat in Mumbai.”

But that complexity is exactly what she loves. At Audible, she says, “The work remains wonderfully unpredictable, and after seven years, I'm still discovering new opportunities to connect audiences with the magic of audio storytelling around the world.” Read on to learn more about how she got her start, the culture-defining entertainment she’s worked to support, and what drives her to stay ahead of every story.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Pop culture and news are my lifeblood, and I'm fortunate to work in a role that harnesses both passions. In communications, having your finger on the pulse of culture is essential. I've been a voracious consumer of media since childhood; I would collect every magazine and newspaper I could find, devouring each section from world news to business, arts to technology. That early curiosity has evolved into a strategic practice. I'm constantly synthesizing insights across my feeds and publications, tracking not just what's happening, but understanding why it matters and where it's headed.

This synthesis helps me and my team to continually challenge perspectives, reinvent our approach and bring fresh ideas to the table. It adds to the confluence of our diverse viewpoints, transforming insights into breakthrough campaigns. I've learned that the best ideas often come from unexpected voices, and creating space for healthy pushback leads to work that's not just culturally relevant, but genuinely innovative.

What drew you to Audible?

I recognized early on that Audible was creating a soundtrack for culture. Having spent years at AMC Networks, working on groundbreaking shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, I sensed that same transformative energy building in audio, with audiences expanding rapidly and culture-defining content. Audible stood out as the clear innovator, not just as the leader that established the audiobook category, but as a company driving seismic change.

I saw tremendous untapped potential in how we could shape the narrative around this audio revolution. There was so much opportunity to educate new audiences, engage press and tastemakers, and tell the story of what we were building. What sealed it for me was the culture: a creative playground where leadership doesn't just encourage risk-taking and innovation, they expect it. That high bar for excellence continues to be both a thrill and an impetus to keep pushing boundaries.

What are some “left turns” you took on your career journey?

My career has been defined by what I like to think of as strategic left turns, with each one teaching me something unique and additive. I started as an NBC page working on Saturday Night Live, which was an incredible first job out of college. That led to my first major pivot: to take my career to the next level, I needed to move to Los Angeles. I knew exactly one person there, who graciously let me sleep on her couch while I hunted for a job and a future.

That leap paid off. At the talent agency WME, I gained a 30,000-foot view of how the entertainment industry operates. Then, I moved into personal and brand publicity at ID PR where I learned to build individual brands for talent while managing crisis situations at light speed. But the most significant turn came when I decided to move back east for my Master's degree in strategic communications at Columbia. I missed academia and had more to learn—a decision that proved invaluable, both professionally and personally; I had the good luck of meeting my husband on campus. An unexpected but delightful outcome!

Each pivot was really an exercise in strategic exploration. I knew my passions and core strengths, but I needed varied experiences to fully cultivate them. Those seemingly disparate roles, moving from live TV to talent management/publicity to strategic communications, created the multi-dimensional perspective I bring to my work today. Sometimes the best career path isn't a straight line; it's the accumulation of diverse experiences that makes you uniquely equipped for what comes next.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

The ability to see tomorrow's headlines today. In PR, we're always reading the tea leaves and predicting trends. Actual foresight would be the ultimate upgrade. Though I'd probably still check my phone obsessively, out of habit.

Lightning round

• Coffee or tea? Coffee, emphatically (although I do like a matcha).
• Morning person or night owl? Morning person.
• Where are you working from currently? Newark, New Jersey.
• How long have you been with Audible? Seven years this August.
• Who is your biggest inspiration, career-wise? My mentor and friend Sarah Barnett, former president of AMC Networks, with whom I worked for nearly a decade. A formidable leader who transformed my understanding of strategic communications, Sarah taught me that true leadership marries intellectual rigor with emotional intelligence.
• Dine in or take out? Both?
• Favorite hobby? Yoga.
• Favorite Audible listen, go. Wild with Happy made me laugh and cry and laugh and cry, in quick succession!