VALENTINA IONESCU-COSTACHE founded MUR Media & Management in 2009 with the main focus on MUR Models, the division representing Romanian models in major fashion cities throughout the world. Having studied piano from the age of four and having performed at major concerts halls all over Romania, Germany and Greece, Valentina is a classical pianist by avocation (20 years) and a talent manager for fashion models (7 years) by vocation with a vast experience as a producer and presenter of television entertainment shows (14 years).
Her love for television production developed during a two-year unpaid internship in the Music & Entertainment Division at TVR (the Romanian National Broadcasting Corporation) after which she was hired on a full-time basis in 2002. From 2007 to 2010, Valentina produced and hosted her own two-hour live entertainment show, VINEriSTAR (Friday Star), which aired every Friday on TVR International, reaching the eight million Romanians living abroad. In 2007 & 2008, the show won Valentina the "Audience Award" as the most appreciated TV production out of 20 shows produced by TVR International.
From 2009 to 2013, Valentina produced and hosted Miss Universe Romania, the national beauty pageant that selects a Romanian representative to compete annually at Miss Universe. After an 11-year absence from participating at Miss Universe, Valentina was instrumental in assisting with the negotiations with Donald Trump's organization for the franchise for Romania.
Since 2006, Valentina has served on the Advisory Board of Blue Heron Foundation, a non-profit that raised $1.5 million from over 1,000 donors for various projects benefiting Romanian and Moldovan orphans, including a program that awarded 300 teenagers university and high-school scholarships. Valentina managed the entire production of each year's Valentine's Day Charity Ball in Bucharest at various locations with different themes.
Over the past 15 years, Valentina had the privilege of interviewing hundreds of renowned Romanian personalities and international celebrities such as Donald Trump, Stephen Baldwin, Tarkan, Mai Ling Lee, Lauren Conrad, Boy George, Lil Ma, Giuseppe Stefanel, Stella Stevens and Dayana Mendoza (Miss Universe 2008).
Valentina earned a Bachelors of Arts in Classical Piano (2003) from the National Music University of Bucharest, a graduate certificate from the Superior School of National Intelligence (2006), a masters degree in Mass Media Management & Communication (2007) from the University of Bucharest, a masters degree in National Intelligence Security Management (2008) from the National Academy of Intelligence of Romania, and has completed the Program on Negotiations for Senior Executives (2008) from Harvard Law School.