Hala Taha
CEO, Founder
- Hala has had a knack for inventing successful products and motivating teams since a young age. She began her career in radio production while in college, working at HOT97 on The Angie Martinez Show. In her senior year of college she founded The Sorority of Hip Hop, building a community of 50 female bloggers who hosted a popular blog, events, concerts, and radio shows. When the blog boom slowed down, she got her MBA, graduating #1 in her class with a 4.0 gpa, and spent the next 6 years in various corporate marketing roles at Hewlett Packard and Disney Streaming Services.
- In 2018, Hala launched Young and Profiting Podcast as a side-hustle, which quickly became a Top 10 Entrepreneurship podcast and now has over 30 million downloads. At the same time, she launched her personal brand on LinkedIn and is one of the most recognized influencers on the platform. She graced the cover of Podcast Magazine in 2021 and was honored as a Webby Award Honoree and 40 Under 40 in Podcasting in 2022. Hala has interviewed star-studded guests from the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Gary Vee, Alex Hormozi, Deepak Chopra, Daymond John, Mel Robbins and countless others.
- Hala founded YAP Media in 2020, an award-winning agency that helps 8-figure business owners and CEOs build personal brands through social media and podcasting. In 2022, Hala launched the YAP Media Network, a podcast network that helps top podcasts land sponsorship deals with major brands like LinkedIn, Airbnb, and Shopify. YAP Media is pacing to hit 8-figures in 2025, and represents some of the most popular business podcasters in the world including Jenna Kutcher, Amy Porterfield, Tori Dunlap and John Lee Dumas.
Jason Ames
COO, Managing Partner
- Jason's curiosity and passion for building great things led him unexpectedly into the world of business at a young age. In college, he taught himself Audio Engineering by spending 5-9am in the university's music studio every day before class. By graduation, Jason had bought and was co-operating his first business – the Butterfly House Preschool – while also working as a freelance music producer.
- In 2020, Jason founded 9th Path Audio – a podcast production company helping business owners launch podcasts to grow their personal brands and businesses. A high-touch, white-glove service, 9th Path Audio launched dozens of podcasts featuring famous guests like Sharon Stone, Mark Cuban, and Sammy Hagar.
- In 2022, Jason partnered with YAP Media to elevate production services for their top podcasters. In 2023, 9th Path Audio merged with YAP to form a new business partnership under the YAP Media brand.
Kate Ponzi
Managing Partner, VP of Social
- Kate began her journey with YAP Media as a volunteer shortly after its inception, driven by a vision to contribute to something extraordinary. In 2021, she left her corporate job and moved to New York City to build YAP Media alongside Hala. Leading YAP’s social media agency, Kate oversees cross-platform strategies for accounts totaling over 3M followers and driving 100M+ views annually.
- Prior to joining YAP, Kate honed her expertise across the media industry at Nielsen, Universal Pictures, and Allied Integrated Marketing — blending her passion for storytelling with data-driven insights. Starting her career at 13 as a caddy and later in retail, Kate has spent her life in client-facing roles — cultivating a deep understanding of service, leadership, and growth.
Timothy Tan
Limited Partner
- Tim is known by his friends as “the Mad Scientist” for his ruthless focus on execution and data-driven decision making. Employee #2 at YAP, Tim was instrumental in setting up some of the core processes that allowed YAP to scale to 7-figures in its first year.
- In 2021 Tim co-founded Joy Wallet, a performance based affiliate marketing company. In just two years, Tim scaled Joy Wallet from $0 to net profitable mid 8-figures/year revenue with no external financing. Tim exited Joy Wallet in July 2024 to start his latest venture attnCapital.
