4 Reasons Why We're Starting a Podcast

Photo by Jess Fredericks Photography // Recent Babe Crafted Member Workshop at Station House

Hey, girl! The rumor is true: podcasts are the new blogs. However, that doesn’t mean everyone needs one. We all have to decide what we’re going to devote energy & resources to. If a podcast is one of those chosen things for you, that’s awesome. Its it’s not, that’s okay girl. I wanted to share some insight on why I decided a podcast was the right fit for Babe Crafted, some of the questions I had, and some real talk on adding another thing to my plate. Let’s do this! 

Here are 4 reasons why I decided to create our podcast, “Babe Behind the Brand”. 

Coming soon! // Photo by The Dashing Ginger

Fun

– Reasons people start their own business: 

– Have more control over their schedule

– Have more control over who they work with

– Take vacation when they want to, not when someone else says they can

– Oh, and because it’s fun!

My favorite thing about having a business is that I get to do what I love and I get a lot of joy from it. It’s hard work, no doubt, but it’s also a total privilege. So when I’m considering adding something new to what I offer, I ask myself if I’m doing it because I truly want to. #letshavemorefun

Storytelling

I’ve been really passionate about sharing others’ stories since 2008. I started interviewing musicians I admired by messaging them on MySpace and publishing their words in a ‘zine. If you’re interested in checking out my interviews with The Jealous Girlfriends, Passion Pit, or Mike Posner, click here. 

Musicians became artists. Artists became entrepreneurs and community builders. It’s been 11 years and all I wanna do is have some fun… and continue to interview interesting people about their goals & challenges. 

I see our podcast as an opportunity to dive deeper into stories of how women entrepreneurs have overcome challenges to inspire others to do the same. It’s also a chance for me to be a part of the story, which is something I find to be really fab from a personal & professional standpoint; I’m a ‘Babe Behind the Brand’, too!

Girl Gang Perks

We launched our Tampa Bay-based membership in January of 2018. Fast forward a year and we have 81 members (Maxie McCoy said it best. I’m #batshitgrateful).

One of the member benefits we boast is a custom video about each member & her business as a portfolio piece and way to dip her toe in the water to being on camera and incorporating video into her digital branding strategy. 

So for the babes who already completed their video feature, I wanted to have another way to highlight them and help them A) get comfortable and experience sharing their story in a podcast format and B) help them accomplish their goal of becoming a guest on a podcast (or more podcasts if they’ve already been a fab guest of someone else’s). 

Plus, guess what! I’ve spent a year with these women! I know them and their story. I’m excited to ask them questions that I know our listeners & community will find interesting, inspiring, and totally helpful. You’re not going to hear any filler Q&A with us, I assure you. Nothin’ but the goods.

Also! We’re testing out a digital membership (officially launching in early 2020) with 7 amazing women from all over the country. Since it’s a small group, I wanted to make sure I offered the utmost value for them and their time during the 6 month test, so one of the benefits is that they’ll receive a guest spot on the podcast. Woot!

Growth 

So I’ve mostly highlighted the storytelling aspect of what we’re striving to achieve, but another aspect of the podcast will be a professional development piece. 

There’s such a hunger for ways to try new media, technology, & business ideas, but many of us don’t know where to start or what to try first. And Inspiration is great, but actionable steps towards making your business even better is a must. So each podcast episode will offer a peek behind the scenes and a more in depth look at a female founder, but it’s also going to include a mini workshop in the second half. 

The workshop includes actionable tips and an exercise you can do at your desk or on your phone. Our first two episodes feature workshops on following your intuition and hiring team members. #winning 

Challenges & Questions 

Here comes the real fun….. the challenges of adding a podcast to what we offer. 

So I say ‘we’ a lot… but it’s me who executes all of our content so I’ll be the one recording, editing, and promoting each podcast episode. Was the idea of taking on another piece of content intimidating? Heck yes. Our Feature videos take approximately 8 hours from start to finish (hours added up from the day we shoot to the day we publish & promote). Podcast episodes need lots of T.L.C., too! I’m budgeting 6 hours from start to finish per episode. That’s a big investment of time and energy in addition to our videos, blog, social media, member engagement, etc.

But because I see so much value and fun in the process, I consider it to be a no brainer that yes, this is something beneficial for our members, our audience, and myself. 

What I have starting out:

– Experience recording & editing audio 

– A high quality Zoom H2n microphone

– A private, quiet home office space to record in

– Editing software (iMove projects can be exported as mp3s)

– 3 episodes lined up

What I do not have starting out:

– Hosting software (some ideas on what platforms could be best for you are here)

– A launch timeline 

So as you can see, I have a lot of pieces in place, but there’s still some work to do before we officially launch. I spent October through December of 2018 planning out my whole new year by identifying what projects I wanted to continue and which ones I wanted to stop doing. I mapped out all of our member events for the year. I also mapped out blog content ideas. However, what I did not do was plan on starting a podcast, ha. BUT. There were so many reasons that ended up being pointed to a big neon sing saying “Yes, this is for you!”. 

Sending out good vibes via your headphones, babes!

This is another piece of the puzzle that I choose to DIY because I like to learn by doing. So at the end of the day, I’m just a girl sitting in front of a microphone asking it to all work out. Which, honestly, is a pretty good place to be. 

Thanks for stopping by to hear me out on why we’re starting a podcast and feel free to leave a question or some good vibes in the comments. I’m also totally open to any ideas or suggestions as I’m a newbie to podcasting! Have a stellar weekend & stay boss. xx -G