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Former Radio Pro Kari Carbone Keeps the Beat at Center For Business Engagement

Kari Carbone, senior development associate in the Center for Business Engagement, takes pride in her attention to detail.

If there’s a thunderstorm the day of a big meeting, Carbone checks if the room has a place to stash wet umbrellas. Are there enough coat racks and garbage cans? How close are the parking spots to the meeting room? Have everyone’s dietary restrictions been noted?

“A lot of what I do is the little operational things that no one pays attention to until something’s not right,” she said. “I love taking care of all of those little behind-the-scenes things.”

Carbone admits she wasn’t always so meticulous. Before coming to ºÚÁÏÉçÇø five years ago, she was a promotions director for iHeartRadio. “My desk was a disaster — piles of papers, price sheets and contest rules were everywhere,” she said.

That changed when Carbone began working with iHeart’s executive vice president of programming, a stickler for organization and detail.

“It rubbed off on me,” she said. “By the time I got here, it was part of my personality.”

Carbone spent 22 years with iHeart, which owns six radio stations in Pittsburgh: 102.5 WDVE-FM, 96.1 Kiss (WKST-FM), 105.9 The X (WXDX-FM), 3WS (WWSW-FM), Fox Sports Pittsburgh (WBGG-AM) and BIG 104.7 (WPGB-FM). 

During her time with the company, it evolved from Chancellor Media Corporation to Clear Channel Radio to iHeartRadio. Her role also changed as she worked her way up from part- and full-time gigs in promotions to executive assistant for the director of national programming.

Carbone grew up in Pittsburgh loving 1980s music and Everton Football Club in the English Premier League. The worlds of music and soccer collided the day British rockers Def Leppard — one of Carbone’s favorite bands — visited the station to perform an in-studio acoustic set. 

“They’re all soccer fans,” she said. “Joe (Elliott, lead singer) had his arm in a sling because he’d injured it while playing. I didn’t bring anything for them to autograph, but we had a huge box of soccer balls from ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ movie promotions, so I grabbed one.”

That sparked a long conversation about the movie and the sport.

The signed ball sits in a display case in her home. “I check it every now and then so it doesn’t deflate,” Carbone said. “I’m afraid to pick it up because it might mess up the autographs.”

That chapter of Carbone’s career ended with the COVID-19 pandemic. When a three-month furlough stretched into six months, she looked toward ºÚÁÏÉçÇø.

Through Temporary Employment Services, Carbone started her career at the Center for Business Engagement as an administrative assistant. When a full-time position opened, she made a quick and seamless transition.

“It was an adjustment at first,” she admits. “But I think the things I learned in radio — attention to detail and the ability to adapt and handle pressure — really carried over.”

Carbone manages logistics for the frequent corporate visits that are central to the office's mission of forging partnerships between the university's research and the business world. She helps link corporate visitors with researchers doing related work. It takes behind-the-scenes precision to ensure those meetings go off without a hitch.

After decades in an industry known for its unpredictability, Carbone found a new home in an academic setting that values her calm amid chaos.

“Whether it’s organizing a radio station remote broadcast before a Steelers game or a corporate visit on campus, it’s all the same in a way,” she said. “You have to think ahead, anticipate and make sure everything looks effortless to everyone else. That’s the magic I like creating.”