S3:E18 // Why We Need the Friends We've Never Met
JANUARY 20, 2022
Episode description: Laura talks with The Pod Broads host Alexandra Cohl about burnout, they discuss the one question that they ask everyone they interview, and how the women they've never met are shaping them in 2022.
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Transcript:
Laura: You know those things that everyone else seems to know, but that somehow you don’t learn until late in the game?
This past week, after I made the executive decision to change up our January episodes so I could give myself a much-needed break from the usual 40+ hours that we spend on our regular season episodes, I was listening to a bunch of podcasts, and all of them kept talking about how they were dropping a different type of episode, or someone else’s episode, or doing a re-release because they were taking a break between seasons. I realized, wait, this December to January break is like a THING in podcasting. How have I created over 180 episodes and not known this?
Then last week I had lunch with a podcaster friend and she asked me how long our seasons were. When I told her they went from September to May—a timeline that seemed completely normal to me as a parent of kids in school—she said, “wow, that’s a really long season.”
And it is. This year more than ever, I’m feeling that. I honestly hadn’t ever seriously considered doing a shorter season, because the minute you wade into the conversation about how to actually make money at podcasting, all you hear is downloads, downloads, downloads. If you’re a weekly podcast and you miss a week, you miss those downloads, too. Which hurts you if you’re trying to build up those downloads to the point where you actually see real money from advertising.
But there’s another reason we’ve kept our seasons long. I’ve always liked the school year rhythm, the way it allows for the narrative arc of life to naturally emerge. Maybe someday we’ll shift to a different rhythm, but in the meantime, I’m embracing this idea of—maybe not a mid-season break, but at least a mid-season shift.
Because I’m not just coming into 2022 tired. I’m gearing up for a new adventure as we launch our Kasama Labs podcasting course. For those of you interested, I’ll include a link in the show notes so you can get in on the early bird price, which goes through tomorrow, January 21.
Also, I think I might be coming down with COVID. Like, right now, as I’m speaking, I think I might have COVID.
Okay, to be fair, I’ve been saying that for days. Every time I’ve had so much as a tickle in my throat or a wave of fatigue, I’ve assumed it’s because I am getting COVID.
This is what happens when one by one your most cautious friends test positive. And then you learn that your husband has COVID and then you watch as each of your three children gets it too, and only your test pops up negative. Our house is small. It’s virtually impossible for me to isolate. I’m basically just waiting for it to get me, too.
We’re all doing fine. The kids miss their friends. We miss having them at school. No one is deathly ill. Grammy gets a huge shoutout for attempting Zoom school while we try to work.
Why does this feel like deja vu? Haven’t we been through all this before? This topic deserves a whole episode, and when we’re not so tired and grouchy, we’ll create it. But not this week. This week, we’re doing our best to keep things manageable.
I shared in last week’s episode that one of my 2022 resolutions is to come up with creative solutions when the work piles up. And by creative solutions, I don’t mean that I will just work more hours (which was my response for most of 2020 and 2021). I mean solutions that actually bring relief and rest when I need it most.
So today, I’m sharing another one of those creative solutions. It’s a conversation I had recently with Alexandra Cohl, a fellow podcaster who has had me on her show, and a few weeks ago dropped one of our favorite episodes in her feed. Her podcast is called The Pod Broads, and it’s a podcast about women in podcasting. We talk about our favorite episodes, share what new things we’re up this year, and what we know now that we wish we’d known before.
If you are like me right now, holed up in your home and feeling just a little bit worn out from life (or the coronavirus—sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference), then I think you’ll find a lot here to keep you entertained, engaged, and curious.
When you’re done listening, I hope you’ll check out the Pod Broads and sign up for Alexandra’s newsletter, Podcasting by the Moon. You can help both of us by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. You can also copy and paste that same review into Podchaser and Goodpods, two podcast apps that we love because they give a lot of love to Indie podcasters. Goodpods featured Shelter in Place earlier this month as one of their January staff picks.
If you and your loved ones are quarantining this week, we hope that you’ll feel a little less alone listening to this conversation. These are tough times, my friends. But there are still a lot of reasons to feel hopeful. I hope you find a few of them in this episode.
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Laura: I am Laura Joyce Davis.
Alexandra: I'm Alexandra Cole.
Laura: And Alexandra is the truly fabulous host of the Pod Broads . . .
Alexandra: . . . a podcast about women in podcasting. I am also the founder and owner of Pod.draland, LLC, which is a continuation of a blog that I started in 2019 called Pod.draland, where I featured women-hosted podcasts and indie women in podcasting. In that work, I do PR and marketing for podcasters—basically all things podcasting, all things women in podcasting—that's my jam. I am here with a past guest of mine.
Laura: And I am the host and executive producer of Shelter in Place, which is a podcast about re-imagining life through creativity and community.
I'm a lifelong fiction writer who became a podcaster—not by accident, but I definitely had no idea what I was getting into when I started Shelter in Place as what I thought would be a very small creative project that would last me for a couple of weeks and give me some sanity while my kids were home from school for the first couple of weeks in the pandemic.
And now here more than 180 episodes later, this is my full-time job. It's what my husband does with me. Now we have a training program. Basically, everything has changed because of this work.
Alexander is one of those people that I became aware of because your Pod.draland newsletter was a way that I found a lot of other shows and great information and great writing. I don't know if I ever told you that.
Alexandra: I don't think you have.
Laura: And we've never met in person, but I still feel like you're a friend.
Alexandra: I feel like I've met you in person, which is, I guess, the strange thing of this pandemic for a lot of us. But that's so nice about the newsletter. Thank you for sharing that. And I love that you brought it up now, because I'm relaunching a new and improved newsletter, and I'm, like, super stoked about it. So this is very timely to hear that.
Laura, is there anything else you want to add to that that I may have missed?
Laura: I think the only other thing to mention is in addition to doing the podcast (Shelter in Place), my husband and I founded a training program, which now as of this month—very exciting—also timely for me to have this conversation—is sort of in two parts.
One is we have a live training intensive. We've had 16 graduates of that program in 2021. We're pausing that just for this semester, because we're launching Kasama labs, the self-paced online version of that, where people basically get a lot of the same teaching, training, really breaking down the podcast production process start to finish, and getting very manageable, bite-size tools. They get a toolbox of how to make a podcast from start to finish, and all of the pieces that are involved in that. And then also having a big picture vision both for their show and really for the larger creative life that we all are in pursuit of.
What are some of your favorite episodes of the Pod Broads?
Alexandra: It's extremely hard to choose a favorite episode as I'm sure you know. But one of my all-time favorites is still my very first one of season 2 with Nichole Perkins, the author of the recently-published memoir, Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be. And she was the co-host on Thirst Aid Kit, which is a really awesome podcast. And she also hosts This is Good For You podcast. Nichole just does a lot of stuff that I truly love in this industry—and in tangential industries. I have just loved her values and the way that she talks about things, especially how she talks about female pleasure—and pleasure in general—and this is pleasure in all ways. Not just, like, sexual pleasure. It's, you know, simple pleasures and innocent pleasures. Things that don't have to mean anything except for your pure enjoyment of them. She's one of my main idols in the space, I guess you could say. When she said yes to the interview, I was like, “oh my God!” I was so thrilled. So that's one that stands out.
I think also the one I did with Avery Trufelman, in that she's someone that since I've seen her speak at Werk It 2019, I was pretty hooked. And then she became the host of The Cut, which it was all over then, ‘cause I was already obsessed with The Cut. And so I just became even more deep in her work.
I had a listener who expressed that that episode was long and luxurious in large part due to. Avery and her voice and how she speaks about things, but I think my favorite thing about that episode was just. The recording of it was so it was just different. It was, really dark and her like, city apartment. I keep joking about that episode because when I was talking to her. I was like, I feel like we're in like a podcast new right now.
It was, definitely one of those episodes where you can kind of feel the magic in the air as it's happening
Laura: I actually went back and listened to it a second time
There was so much there that summed up the way that I was feeling about this past year and about work in particular. It was an episode that this moment in time needed. I think
I was one of those people who reached out to you and was like, Avery Truffleman this episode is so good.
Alexandra: I think the theme here. Is that the episodes that just stick with me more, the ones that I actively know really resonated with people because they shared that with me.
So, you know, if you're listening, share with me, if you like the episode, because then I know, it was something that you wanted to hear.
Laura: I feel like your conversation with Avery Truffleman really, really tapped into the challenge, but also kind of the magic of work and this work.
And I absolutely loved that almost in the same breath. The two of you talked about how exhausting this year and not just this year, you know, the whole pandemic has been. And at the same time, I loved that. She was just unapologetic about the fact that she really loves her work. And then at some ways
the work was what saved her in this time of being depressed, but also finding a lot of meaning and joy in the work.
that has exactly been my experience since I started this. I've definitely had those moments of, sometimes weeks or months at a time where I'm just struggling.
I was joking with my husband recently that I kind of feel like I'm giving myself therapy because it forces me to face this part of myself.
And I think just to do the self reflection that you have to do with any good writing. And I think it's why podcasting is such a cool medium, because there is Intimacy built into it I think listeners of all kinds of shows feel this. And it's why podcasting has become this kind of lifeline in the pandemic because it's this way that we can, keep feeling connected to each other, even when we're not physically together.
Alexandra: I had a interview with Barry psych recently. Who's the creator of podcasts in color.
And there was a point in the episode where she got pretty emotional and like ended up crying a little bit. But then we also were like laughing hysterically and other parts of it. And it just feels like such a full representation of what it is to be human and the defense.
Emotional experiences we can go through in the course of a day or the course of a conversation, because
we can be both healing and healed at the same time about different things.
I appreciated that she was vulnerable with me and allowed me to share that because I think that it was a conversation that needed to be heard also about some of the toxicity in the podcasting industry and like why it's important to be aware of it.
And my goal with the pod brides is to show these women's full humanity and experience and.
That's exactly what that episode was, it was all of it. And I love that so much.
Laura: I think it's interesting. The Avery Truffleman episode that I love so much of yours. I think I loved it for the same reason that I love two of my favorites from this current season. And one of those is the one that you dropped in your feed recently stuck in the staircase, which is an episode all about languishing.
And I was very much languishing as I was writing that episode. So it was kind of an interesting thing to be living it as I was writing my way through it. And the episode that I think of as sort of the sister episode to that is one that just came out. right before the new year and it's called productivity unhappy.
those two episodes, live in a very similar creative space in that they're really examining a lot of the assumptions that we make. What is normal in work and life and also just figuring out, how do we live in a way that is not giving up, but admitting that things are not back to normal and they may never be.
And somehow we got to keep going and be kind to ourselves and each other in the midst of that. I was very much living what I was writing it is often that way where the episode is written, I've maybe even recorded voiceover and I'm like, why doesn't it feel right. And then I realize it's because I'm going through this right now. And I need to dig a little deeper to figure out where this actually needs to land.
And, that happened with both of those. They ended up actually being a lot of fun to create, but there was a struggle behind that fun.
Alexandra: I grinned really big when you first We're saying what your favorite was? Because this was the episode that came to mind for me too. And it came to mind for me before we had even Done the swap on the pod broads. Stuck on the staircase was one that I was just like, this is speaking to my soul right now. it was one of those episodes where you listen to and you're like, okay, so I'm not alone. There are reasons for this there's language for me to identify this because I definitely am in a combination of burnout and languishing for sure. But knowing the specificity of what languishing really was and ways to think about it. So it's not all consuming. I think that that's what I got from that episode.
And I also loved learning about. Rain, what you do with your kids ran. I was like, oh, I need to start implementing this. And honestly, I'm not going to give it away because I think the listeners just need to go listen to that episode so they can know what that means. But I loved it.
Laura: The other one that's sort of similar. It's called choose your own audio adventure. It started as kind of a silly idea of bringing our listeners into the process of how we create these episodes. it occurred to me at some point that it really was sort of like a choose your own adventure in that the wonderful thing about creativity. And I think especially your own creative project is you always have choices. Sometimes they can be pretty straightforward. And then sometimes the best choice is actually the one that seems really silly or almost sort of frivolous, but then it ends up taking you somewhere. And that is exactly what happened with this episode. It was a very fun episode to write, and also very intricately designed in terms of sound and story. And it really is a picture, I think, of what we go through every single episode of Shelter in Place in some shape or form. It was just a thoroughly fun, joyful episode to create.
And I was thinking a lot about that because my husband Nate and I have been doing all this work to launch the Kasama labs, which is walking people through that process and really breaking it down for them in a way that's digestible and manageable and gives them really tangible tools to get that work done for themselves—and hopefully find a lot of joy and excitement in the process.
Alexandra: What's the name inspiration. I actually don't know that, and I really want to know.
Laura: Kasama is actually a Tagalog word. Back in 2010, ancient history now, I had a Fulbright scholarship to go to the Philippines for a year. And it was a creative writing Fulbright, so I was actually working on a novel. But a huge part of my work there was volunteering with this beautiful Filipino-founded Filipino-run program that helped sex trafficking survivors. And our whole year was hanging out with these women. We were also setting Tagalog the whole time we were there.
Kasama means companion. But it really is bigger. It's really a cultural concept. In the Philippines, if you go somewhere—anywhere, like the palengke, the open air market—it's very unusual to see people go alone. And of course in the United States, we go everywhere by ourselves, right? We're so much about our independence and it's all about the individual. But in Filipino culture, it's all about the group.
I think about this moment that we had with one of these women where I was going to go one place. Nate was going to go another place. And she said like, “Ate Laura, Kuya Nate, where's your kasama?” And so I asked her about it. I was like, “well, do you ever go anywhere without a kasama?” And she was like, “well, yeah, sometimes, but honestly, it's just kind of sad to live life without a kasama.”
And that stuck with me so much so that we came back in the Philippines in 2011, and it really shifted the way that we lived our lives from that point on. Our lives became—long before Shelter in Place—much more focused on community and figuring out how to partner not just with each other, but all kinds of people in our life to help each other out in whatever work we were doing.
And so the Kasama Collective, the idea there is anything you're learning, you're learning with somebody right there beside you. It's very mentorship and coaching focused.
The Kasama Labs of course is a little bit different because it's self-paced, but even in that, there's really built in this idea of somebody kind of walking you through this process.
Anything we do in life, yeah, you can do it alone. But it's probably going to be a lot more fun if you can learn from the people around you and they can learn from you. It's like my friend said: it's a little bit sad to do it alone. It's more fun when you can do it with somebody else. And often we end up learning a lot about each other and about this world through that process.
Alexandra: I love that. I had no idea about any of that. That's awesome.
Laura: What is something that you wish that you'd known when you started podcasting?
Alexandra: I feel torn with this question because I really enjoyed the discovery process of both the industry and like parts of myself in doing this work,
so I don't know if I would change anything or like would go back with different knowledge because, like anything in life, it ends up shaping how you're moving through the world, but and thinking about like, what would I hope someone who's listening would know?
When they started one thing is that whatever idea you're starting with for a podcast, It's an idea that you can see evolving. Not that you have to know how it's going to evolve, but to not be so rigid to keep it from evolving, because if you want something to have longevity, it has to.
have an opening to evolve. And I think that that's something that is also helpful to know when you're starting so that you don't get stuck in like a perfectionism moment where you're like, oh, if it's not perfect, then I can't start the podcast. Have a clear vision, but that vision can change and be okay with it changing.
And then I honestly wish that I had known what types of templates I might want. Like what kind of email response templates do I want, because when you're taking on everything for your podcast, the production part is huge. And even the most seemingly small tasks become. Big and lead to burnout when you're trying to manage everything else. part of me is like, well, If I did go back, I think I would have wanted to like, A day or two days, just writing out email templates for every type of scenario that I could need. Like someone pitching your podcast and you don't know how to respond, so then you take days to respond. And then all of a sudden it's been two weeks and you're like, oh no, I never responded to that email. And I feel bad, but I just couldn't think about it. Cause I was trying to edit my podcast
Laura: I'm smiling because one of the things that we have in our Kasama labs is those templates. I think the module is called putting yourself out there. And it's about the many different ways that we pitch ourselves and our work when we're doing this. And that's one of the tools that we give people is like, here are some templates that you can change and adjust to fit your own needs, but you have something to start with because it is it's that not starting from scratch with every element. And like you said, when you start your own podcast, you do everything and you have to learn everything.
Alexandra: Setting yourself up for the least amount of burnout as possible. I think those are the things that come to mind for me. But what about you?
Laura: I don't have a lot of regrets. I'm very, very grateful that. the process itself has been a gift, even though it's been hard and a lot of work.
And, there've been times where I have been burnt out but I think one of the greatest gifts in that has been learning, oh, that process, of learning of growing of changing and adjusting and learning to be flexible and saying, okay, that didn't work now. How can I do it so that it does work?
I think that has been massive in terms of how much it's changed me as a creative and just as a person in life to be like, oh, there isn't just one right way to do this. This is actually okay. If I have to adjust, it's okay. If I have to try it a lot of different ways before I land on the thing that really is going to be the path I want to keep pursuing.
I don't have a lot of regrets, but I would have loved if somebody could have sat me down and said, you know what, everybody's going to tell you to do a million different things at once. And it's actually okay to just pick one at a time.
Is great as it is to be on social media. It is not the be all end all. And it actually may not translate to downloads. And I know for some people it does, I think it depends on the podcast, but think it's been interesting to realize that my time is much better spent in general. With the kind of networking and promotion that actually leads to real relationships I'm not saying that social media doesn't have its purpose, but there are places that I'm only starting to make connections this late in the work that I'm like, I should have reached out to this person ages ago. Like this is a lovely person that I have now gotten to know in the industry. Who is really thoughtful. I'm happy. I know them whether or not they give me a shout out and the energy that I get from those kinds of interactions and connections is just so much more life-giving than whatever I posted on, Instagram, Twitter, like I am in those places, but I don't generally find those places to be the places that make me feel really excited to keep going in this work. They're fine. They're nice for what they do, but they can also leave you feeling kind of empty if you're having a rough day and somebody else is doing awesome. I think if I had it to do over again, I would put that energy. Maybe not a hundred percent elsewhere, but maybe like 70% elsewhere.
Alexandra: I think that's a great point. And especially what you said, it totally depends on the podcast figuring out what works for you and like your genre and like, The types of connections you want to be making is really key to that. So I totally agree
Laura: What's one question that you ask every guest in your show.
Alexandra: I always ask at the very start of my interviews, who are you in your work and who are you outside of your work?
it's the second part that trips people up a lot. My goal is to really show how the two intersect, because no matter how we might try and separate them, they are interwoven.
Laura: What's your own answer to that question.
Alexandra: The way that I would answer currently is in my work.
I, am a PR and marketing consultant for podcasters. I also am a podcast, host, producer, and editor. I'm a storyteller and a writer and someone who needs to think critically and creatively on pretty much a daily basis. All of that stems from, being a writer being an English lit nerd being a researcher in that way. those last couple ones are definitely wrapped into my personal identity too. you're not a writer only because you're paid to do it. Like, I think that that's something that a lot of us as writers have had to grapple with before identifying as a writer. And I'm definitely of the mindset that I'm a writer, whether I'm being paid for it currently or not. I, I'm a really sensitive person which I used to think was a bad thing, but. Coming to realize, it's a gift. And I think that it's actually a really positive thing and I don't apologize for it anymore.
Laura: That's totally been my journey as well. I now see it as a superpower. And I think it is for you too, which I think is what makes you such a fabulous interviewer is that you have that sensitivity.
Alexandra: I'm also on the flip side are really anxious person, which is just how it is. I'm a sexual assault survivor, which is a big piece of my identity and it intersects with how I engage in my interviews, how I view work and how I want to, create my life to be now that I've started to go through a healing process. I'm the youngest sibling, I am a singer. I'm a retired marching band, cool nerd, which is very specific, but. You get it, you get it. And I am a cat mama and a partner to my wonderful boyfriend. I'm a loyal friend and I'm someone who would probably cosplay in medieval garb, like three out of the seven days of the week, if it was socially acceptable.
Okay, so now I want to know what's one question that you ask every guest.
Laura: What's your greatest hope and fear right now. I find it to be a very revealing question that says a lot about how people are experiencing the world both on like a personal and global level.
Alexandra: So what would your answer be to that question
Laura: I'm afraid that I am working harder than I ever have in my entire life. And I love it. I'm choosing this, but it is so much harder to make money doing this than I ever imagined. I think I'm a little bit afraid that maybe I won't get there. I'm so proud of the work we've done, both with the Kasama collective and our graduates.
You know, we found out a couple months ago and we've stayed there that we are in the top 1% globally of all podcasts. We are now an award-winning podcast and we've been nominated for other awards. And it's crazy to me that you can reach that level of like what the world would say is success.
And I do think it's success. I'm very, very proud of. Not just of myself and my husband, but like every person who's been a part of this. I am deeply, deeply proud of those people and this work, and I believe in it. And also it's like, man, you have to do so much work beyond that to make that actually turn into making a living from this. I think there's all of these built-in questions with being any kind of an entrepreneur. But I think, especially in something where, ultimately what we're doing is art it's entertainment. And it's not easy to make money doing it.
That's a goal for me in 2022 is to change that, Now I will say we are having conversations. That are not the conversations we were having a year ago, . At the international women's podcast awards, this last fall, we won an award that was the changing the world one moment at a time award, the conversations that have come from that are very exciting, these are leads. I'm following. but it is a little scary, with three kids. We've lived real, real lean in this pandemic.
Alexandra: I definitely identify with pieces of that though. I don't have three children, just one very needy cat, baby.
Laura: I think What gives me hope is that there have been just so many amazing people in this podcast industry who have helped me out along the way.
And who have been in it with me And It's lovely to be in an industry where I feel like I am constantly encountering people whose first question, when they meet you is what can I do for you?
How can I help you? And it's changed the way that I approach life., when I talk to somebody and I can see they're doing good work, that is my first question for them as well, because it is genuinely how I feel. I want to help other people succeed in this business. And I do believe there's room here for all of us.
And that is so different than so many other areas of life. And it really has changed the way that I move through life.
I think it's an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset. It doesn't mean that we're going to have everything we need and want all the time, but the way we approach moments of relative scarcity, really changes how we experience things.
Not that everybody in podcasting is lovely and warm, but many of us are, and many of us actually want to help each other. And I think that is a gift. So thank you for being one of those people who has said, what can I do for you? And how can I help you? Because I think it's why we're still in touch. It's a genuine connection and a real friendship at this point that I just . . . I really appreciate it.
Alexandra: Whenever we get to connect, I always feel energized and more positive than I was maybe before that phone call. I love what you're doing and clearly there's a reason that we're continuing to collaborate.
Laura: So last question is how would we describe each other's podcasts? I would say that The Pod Broad's is a show where women podcasters talk about podcasting—but what makes it such a great show is that you, Alexandra, do not just get fascinating women to talk about their work—which you do—but you help them uncover their “why.”
Like, why are they doing that work? What is it about that work that makes them tick? Why create? It's the question that we ask in every episode. It's the first module in our Kasama Labs and our Kasama Collective, and everybody has a different answer, and that's fine. There's not a wrong answer. But when you really start to get into why are people showing up to do the work that they're doing? Why are they waking up this morning, or on the hard days why are they continuing this? I know you don't ask that question per se, but I do hear in your interviews echoes of that, and you say it in different ways. You're really getting at what makes these people tick. What is the thing that they bring to it that is uniquely them. I think that question not only reveals the most fascinating parts of people, but it really gives you a kind of roadmap, both for creativity and for life. And I hear that in every single episode of yours I've ever listened to, and it's why I keep coming back, because it never gets old.
Alexandra: I'm going to have to quote you on my website with that.
Laura: Please do. People should know this.
Alexandra: So in asking myself the same question, but about Shelter in Place, the first answer that comes to mind is it's a warm hug. That's how I feel when I listen to your podcast. I remember I had Tweeted a little while ago saying something like, “a good conversation as akin to a hug.” And your show is one of the first ones that comes to mind when I have that feeling. It's like such a comfort listen, and it's also thought provoking and like a beautiful mix of story and captivating conversations and hard questions, detailed answers—and just truly an exploration of humanity.
That's what I get from it and why I love it so much. And it's also really fricking dope in terms of sound design. Like I'm always like, oh my God, I wish I could do that. It's just such a wonderful piece of story.
Laura: Thank you. I might have to quote you on my website too.
Alexandra: Do it. I love it.
Laura: One of the things I love about the podcast industry is that it’s filled with people like Alexandra, who are doing such great work and at the same time are supporting others who are doing great work, too.
Case in point, in Alexandra’s first issue of Podcasting by the Moon, she gives a shoutout to Shelter in Place and our Kasama Labs podcasting course. She also shares news from several other incredible women who have become friends of mine over the past couple of years.
Steph Fuccio, who helped shape our episode Productivity Unhacked a few weeks back, hosts live Global Podcast editor chats every month to help podcasters understand the technical and business side of podcasting.
Carolyn Kiel, who had me on her show Beyond 6 Seconds just over a year ago, is shifting its focus to spotlight stories about neurodiversity.
That friend I had lunch last week is Elaine Grant, and she’s in Alexandra’s newsletter too. She’s hosting a workshop on pitching your podcast and banishing self-doubt.
And speaking of free workshops, I’m hosting one on sound design with one of our recent Kasama Collective graduates in partnership with the Skylark Collective, who hosts the International Women’s Podcast Awards.