Podcasts were always this mysterious world to me. For years, I wrote things down in agendas and notebooks like “DOWNLOAD PODCASTS” or “GET INTO PODCASTS.” I’ve scoured “BEST PODCAST LISTS” in magazines and jotted down ones that sounded incredible. When friends and colleagues have raved about their fave pods, I noted those too. But I just never took the plunge.
I guess I could blame general busyness? A lack of media consumption in general as a full-time job mixed with owning an organization really leaves me with little down time to kick back? Probably both those factors mixed in with being a semi-luddite when it comes to learning and caring about technology AND my podcasting just wasn’t happening.
That was UNTIL maternity leave + pandemic! Yes, after birthing a tiny human you go from GO GO GO to slowing it WAY down and hanging out and caring round the clock for said tiny human. It was/is a very different pace for me and really forced me to adopt a whole new mindset. Pretty much every afternoon for the entire year that I was on mat leave, I would get us outside for some fresh air and to run errands or walk around our neighborhood. It started with 1km, then 2km and pretty soon I was doing upwards of 4-5km a day. Not only was it great exercise, but it allowed me to pop in my earbuds (errr, actually earBUD. Always keep one ear open to hear the babe and the general noise situation. Mom hack, ya know!?) and FINALLY begin to delve into the wonderful world of podcasts.
Now the babe is 18 months old but my love for podcasts has not waned. While the walks have ceased a bit as I’m back to work and she’s at preschool, I now throw on podcasts in the car to get my weekly fix. There’s always at least a dozen more I would love to listen to on a weekly basis…I’ve joked with people that my dream job would be to be a professional podcast listener. I’m seriously not joking. Well that and a professional student…just getting arts degrees in all the subjects – ah, like linguistics! And Anthropology! What can I say, I like learning stuff.
Not only did I get mega into LISTENING to podcasts, but I went so far as to start my OWN podcast. With the help of Lead Podcasting and now our dear friend/tech whiz Anthony Addario, Jaime and I record a 45 minute (ish) episode of our ETERNAL HOPTIMIST podcast every 2nd Tuesday at 8pm and then release it out into the world 10 days later. These little audio nuggets contain industry chatter, SOBDL updates, digging into our archives and reminiscing about the last wild 8 years building this organization and then rocking a Q&A with some incredible women in our world. From brewers to artisan candle makers to the VP of Philanthropy at the charity we support, it’s been so lovely to connect and converse.
And now, in no particular order, here are some of the things I’m loving so far from hosting our own podcast:
- Just Shooting the Shit – Jaime and I talk all day every day, but it’s typically short and sweet convos regarding the in’s and outs of our business. Our Whatsapp thread is full of questions, responses and SOBDL business dealings. So every 2nd Tuesday, when we get to crack a beer, unwind, reflect and speak candidly and off the cuff on our episodes, it’s really refreshing and enjoyable.
- Saying Stuff Aloud- I feel sometimes my brain moves faster than my mouth and I struggle to clearly and coherently communicate what I want to say. Maybe most people feel this way? I dunno. The hibernation of postpartum life plus pandemic definitely hasn’t helped so I’ve enjoyed the podcast as it’s allowed me to form my thoughts, practice slowing down my speech and getting better at articulating all the thoughts, ideas and opinions swirling in my head
- Rapid Fire Questions– at the start of our interviews with each guest, we do a sort of icebreaker and ask 3 questions:
-If you didn’t work at ______ what would you be doing?
-What’s the one brewery you’d LOVE to check out next?
-What’s the 1 beer you would want to drink if stranded on a desert island?
We ask for short and sweet responses and I LOVE the responses we get. From Karyn who responded to Question 1 without skipping a beat “I would either open a sex shop or be a kindergarten teacher” to the folks who HAVE to choose more than 1 beer for their desert island…based on length of time on the island, whether or not there’s food on the island, what the weather is like. The sheet contemplation and analysis some people put in this question is hilarious and heartwarming.
- Sage Advice- I love how all the wisdom nuggets we get when we ask folks currently working in beer how folks looking to get into the industry should go about doing it. I love this question because I remember about 10 years ago, scratching my head trying to figure out how to break into the brewery I was working casual/part-time with. If I can help speed or at least simplify that process a bit for listeners, then that makes me feel good. It’s like I’m passing the torch and making it a bit easier for the next ‘generation’ of beer folks. From Catherine Opedisano talking about the importance of putting in the time and working hard right out of the gate to Sophie Prescott talking about staying positive and saying yes to things so you can dabble in different parts of the business and prove your worth, I definitely connected with many of the responses and loved seeing how some of the women killing it right now in the beer scene truly got their chops.
That’s it for now. Make sure to give our trusty podcast a listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And like/subscribe too and if you could also take 2 minutes to leave us a (glowing not scathing) review, I would truly love you forever.
