Sharing the Process Behind ‘Beginner’, our New Podcast
What led to this blog and the desire to share the process behind the podcast?
There are a few women I deeply admire in media. ann friedman and Melody Kramer are two of them. A regular practice both of these ladies maintain is sharing the process behind their work and openly broadcasting their learnings through the internet.
For example, Ann wrote this post on Medium about how to pitch as a freelance writer. Melody Kramer wrote this post on the Association of Independents in Radio blog about the virtues of “sharing out loud.”
Kramer says that there are specific advantages of sharing the intimate details of your process,
When you’re transparent about your process, you can fail without falling down, particularly if you don’t think in absolutes like failing or winning. Scientists routinely do this, and we should follow their lead.
What do I mean by this? Let’s say you have a hypothesis about a new way to connect with your audience. And you try it, and it doesn’t work. OK. Well, now you know that doesn’t work, so you can now revise your hypothesis and try something different.
In my case, it helps me create a community around my work. In the true spirit of Beginner, openly admitting what I do and don’t know, helps others feel a little less alone by either shining a light on things of which they were not aware or by allowing them to see that they are not the only ones who don’t know.
Together, we can search for answers that help us all succeed.
There’s also something uniquely American about process. We are obsessed with figuring out the blueprint to success. Albert Murray, the essayist, said talks about the democratic nature of exposing your process in Murray Talks Music.
By sharing process, an artist acknowledges that anyone can learn from her experience and create art.
This thinking shows up in other successful podcasts, many of which chronicle first person journeys towards success.
“Start Up” is a podcast about Alex Blumberg, who is not only recording his journey starting a company but also sharing inside secrets like how to pitch a well-known investor like Chris Sacca.
“Millennial” is a podcast about a girl trying to make it as a radio producer, but the first season is more about how Megan Tan goes from an intern for a show to making a living off of her own podcast business. It’s also the same reason shows like Guy Raz’s “How I Built This” are so addictive.
Beginner itself, through the immigrant story, acts as a how-to guide for getting past your insecurities and fears. But I want to supplement the podcast with a guide for building your own project, starting a podcast from scratch and making a living off of your passion because I have benefited from those who lit the way for me.
