Trey Radel is a journalist, author, political consultant, TV and radio show host, and a former member of the United States Congress. 

 

Trilingual and world-traveled, Radel is expert in communications - branding, messaging, marketing, and crisis comms. In every aspect of his career, he has led teams, formed diverse coalitions, and executed winning strategies with the track record to show.

 

MEDIA

Radel started his media career as an intern at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. 

 

At CBS News affiliates in Chicago, Houston, and the Naples/Fort Myers markets, Radel worked in managerial roles and on-air. Radel has managed teams of producers, reporters, and photographers, led daily editorial decisions, and directed news coverage. 

 

In print, Radel bought, built, and sold a community newspaper, the Naples Journal. As publisher, he revamped and rebranded it, eventually selling it to the E.W. Scripps Company. 

 

Currently, Radel hosts the number one political talk show in Florida.

 

CANDIDATE TO CONGRESS

With zero formal political experience, Radel launched a campaign for the United States Congress. Utilizing his communication and leadership skills, the underdog won big, building a massive coalition of people cutting across generational, ethnic, and cultural lines. 

 

In Radel’s first week in Congress, the Republican made it a point to sit down and form relationships with every Democrat in the Florida delegation. This set the tone for his time in Congress where he would go on to work extensively with Democrats, some of which he maintains relationships with today. 

 

Fluent in Spanish and conversational in Italian, Radel served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. With his media background, Radel was often chosen as a top advisor to leadership on messaging strategies. He became a point person to communicate Republican ideas and legislation, especially on occasionally hostile networks and shows. 

 

CRISIS COMMS, POLITICAL & PRIVATE SECTOR CAMPAIGNS 

While the end of the road in Congress was unfortunate, Radel reflects on the turbulence and crisis situation as a learning experience, of course personally, but also professionally. Radel faced some of the most intense media scrutiny and pressure of any member of Congress, past or present. He learned how to weather the storm in a cool, calm, collected way, and to this day, helps others in crisis situations, personally and professionally. 

 

Radel’s main focus the last several years has been political and private sector communication consulting — branding, messaging, marketing, leading and executing campaigns. He also runs crisis management exercises, debate and interview prep, as well as media training. 

 

If it has to do with communicating, influencing, coalition-building, or persuading, Radel’s skills are unmatched. 

 

TECHNICAL & CREATIVE SKILLS 

Radel produces, writes, edits, and even scores his own music to broadcast and digital spots, mostly in the political sector.

 

He is also a SAG-eligible actor, with roles on Netflix, Disney+, and the Discovery Network. 

 

Radel's books include DEMOCRAZY, a True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food, described by Huffington Post as "a brutally honest, outrageous memoir" which exposes "how the Washington sausage really gets made," and Beyond the Great Divide: How a Nation Became a Neighborhood. The latter Radel coauthored with former New York Governor George Pataki, who was in office during the September 11 attacks. The book shares heartbreaking and inspirational behind-the-scenes stories from that horrific day. Pataki also assesses the political fallout since, asking a provocative question: “Did the terrorists win?”

 

Radel lives in Fort Myers, Florida, with his wife and three kids.