Vulnerable EP44: Mattel’s Teale Sperling is Calling for Representation Through Barbie’s Megaphone

Today on Vulnerable, I have an inspiring conversation with Mattel Television’s Manager of Creative Content, Teale Sperling. Teale focuses on preschool TV and the Barbie Vlogger on YouTube.   In this episode, Teale shares with me the journey she went on to become a leading voice in development and production at Mattel. Teale originally planned on being an actor, but as a little person, the roles available were limited and tended to be stereotypical. She saw a gap in the industry for women like herself and with the encouragement of her husband (who is also a childhood friend of mine!) she decided to go into development to create the representation that was missing. Now she has been at Mattel for over 8 years working on Barbie Vlogger (which has over 11 MILLION subscribers on YouTube), Deepa & Anoop, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, and more.    Teale and I discuss the need for more representation of disabled people in media. She shared how she's navigated her own disability, developed self-love, and her passion for developing more projects that show that disabled people are people.    Teale is AMAZING! I am so thankful for her thoughtful work in creating content for kids, like mine, and for educating them about important issues that are going on in the world in such a fun and creative way. Because of her work, a new generation of children will see themselves represented in a way that she wasn’t. Follow Barbie Vlogs on YouTube. Connect with Teale on LinkedIn. Follow me, Christy Carlson Romano on Instagram @thechristycarlsonromano and TikTok @christcarlsonromano, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and follow Brendan Rooney on  Instagram @thebrendanrooney and TikTok @brendanrooney. Be sure to follow Vulnerable @thevulnerablepodcast on Instagram and TikTok. You can watch the video version on my YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.