Mirijam Trunk

Mirijam Trunk (33), born in Bamberg, studied psychology, communication studies, and political science in Munich and Washington, D.C.. After completing her master’s degree and training at the Deutsche Journalistenschule in Munich, she worked as a reporter for Bayerischer Rundfunk before joining Bertelsmann in 2017 for a management trainee program.
Following positions in publishing and as executive assistant to the management board at Gruner+Jahr, she was appointed Managing Director of the newly founded Bertelsmann Audio Alliance in May 2019, where she centrally developed the podcast business for the companies RTL and G+J. She built the Audio Alliance into Germany’s largest privately owned podcast producer, drove the establishment of a marketing unit within the subsidiary AdAlliance, and created with AUDIO NOW the foundation for what later became the RTL+ audio offering.
With the merger of Gruner+Jahr and RTL Deutschland, Mirijam Trunk was appointed to the first management level in January 2022. The newly created cross-media division is intended to leverage the synergies in brand, content, and talent development resulting from the merger. In May 2022, Mirijam Trunk additionally assumed responsibility for Sustainability and DE&I, overseeing both internal and external initiatives on environmental sustainability, diversity, participation, and inclusion.
Alongside her professional work, Mirijam Trunk is a passionate supporter of gender-equality initiatives and speaks and writes publicly to raise awareness of structural inequality of opportunity in Germany. In March 2023 she published her first book, Dinge, die ich am Anfang meiner Karriere gerne gewusst hätte (“Things I Wish I’d Known at the Start of My Career: Why Not Everyone Has the Same Opportunities in Working Life”), which reached the top 10 of the bestseller list of Manager Magazin. She is currently working on her second book.