Hirst started her career at 96.3 Radio Aire in Leeds as a helper making tea for DJs, before joining the overnight show at age 16.

[citation needed] She moved to Minster FM in York, then to The Pulse of West Yorkshire in Bradford in 1995 to present the evening show.

In May 2013, Hirst returned to presenting nationally on Gold on Saturday afternoons where she created a show called 'Vinyl Heaven', with every song played live from the original vinyl copies.

She then joined the national Hits Radio network in August 2021 to host 'Stephanie Hirst's Belters' which airs Saturday nights from 11pm & 'The Throwback' Sunday evening's from 7pm.

Hirst came out publicly as a woman and talked about her gender transition on 11 October 2014 during an interview with Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio 5 Live.