1. 2015 Alumni FellowSteven K. Richards ’84 Bus
Steven K. Richardsis president and chief executive officer of Mood Media
Corporation, with approximately $500 million in revenues and serving 450,000
clientlocationsin40countries.Moodistheglobalin-storeleaderforexperience design
solutions, connecting brands with customers via interactive music, media, and
mobile marketing campaigns. Richards is a business transformation expert known
for achieving swift, systemic operational turnarounds, marked by record revenue
and profitability growth.
Richards began his career in 1984 at AT&T, where he was groomed for broadened
management responsibilities via rotational, operational assignments with increas-
ing scope. In 1998, he was recruited to Excel Communications, serving through2001,
notablyastheirchief marketingandproductofficer.From2001—04, he held increas-
ing roles at RMH Teleservices, lastly as their chief operating officer before the sale
of the company. In 2004, Richards became president of TransworldSystems,atop
receivablesmanagementoutsourcerandledtheirtransformation,achievingrecord
revenueandearningsincreases,culminating with the successful sale of the firm. In
2008, Richards was appointed chief executive officer of PRC, a top-10 call center pro-
vider, and directed a two-year, private-equity-backed turnaround.
In 2010, Richards was appointed chief executive officer of Muzak. After
successfully repositioning the company, selling the business to Mood Media, and
integrating newly acquired businesses, he left Mood. He was recruited back to his
current role as Mood’s Global President and CEO just 10 months later, by Mood’s
board of directors.
Richards has completed executive programs at Duke University, the University of
Virginia, and Penn State. He is a lifetime member of the UDT-SEAL
Association, and is a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association. He and
his wife, Shelby, and daughter, Ryan, share their time between Austin, Texas, and
Charlotte, N.C.