33. Hilary Estey McLoughlin

Growing up watching Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin by her Grandma Birdie's side, McLoughlin learned an important lesson: "An audience responds to seeing a more human side of celebrities, and hearing compelling stories told by real people." But there was a dearth of women revealing that "human side," a fact McLoughlin has helped remedy in her 22 years at Warner Bros. She's been a guiding hand behind award-winning talk shows for Rosie O'Donnell, Tyra Banks and Ellen DeGeneres -- and she's not done yet. This year the Queens, N.Y.-born executive has helped usher two new talkers to syndication, "The Bonnie Hunt Show" and "Judge Jeanine Pirro," before picking up a few more Emmys for her currently running strips. McLoughlin cites the 1984 vice-presidential nomination of Geraldine Ferraro as the day she realized that "women would someday rule this country and could do anything they put their minds to."