There are so many already out there! Find out why I've started my own show, how I aim to stand out from the crowd, what themes guide my questions, who has helped me to make it happen, and where I've been recording the episodes.
I started playing around with a podcast a few years back while sitting in my bedroom in London, recording through a tiny microphone plugged into my phone. I think I published about two episodes before I stopped. I hadn’t yet created enough time to think about the content and produce it really well. It was more of an experiment than anything, but it planted a seed.
Ever since then I have listened to podcasts, written up lists of people I’d love to interview, scribbled down questions, practised interviewing people, and imagined how I’d make it happen. It’s one of those ideas that I kept coming back to.
"If an idea keeps coming back again and again, you have to go with it." - Jarvis Cocker
This year, 2020, I am actually putting my ideas into action. I’ve recorded episodes in a studio in Sheffield, published some, and I have exciting plans for this podcasting project of mine.
It’s a podcast about the adventure of career change, interviewing people who have turned things around and started something completely new. These are people who I know, who I have had the privilege to spend time with, who have shared their stories with me - and now you.
Why a podcast?
I have chosen to create a podcast because the focus is on listening, which I think offers a very different experience to reading or watching an interview. My guests respond to my questions on the spot which means that they unfold naturally and my listeners can get a real impression of their personalities and experiences. With the attention being on sound I think it can really engage people and it also feels more intimate than reading an article.
Creating this platform is a positive challenge for me. It’s helping me to become more confident in discussing topics that are really important to me and bringing them out to a wider audience. It’s a new way for me to take bigger steps towards my mission of encouraging a new approach to career change. I get nervous, but I also feel really excited about it! And that’s when I know to go with an idea.
Standing out from the crowd
This is not a “how to” podcast on the subject of success. It is not offering advice or trying to sell you anything. There are already plenty of those! So, what is it? It is a platform where my guests share unique stories about their career change and different approaches towards it. My aim is to capture their experiences during the early stages of transition, so that they are not necessarily talking about a finely tuned product or business.
Why? Because I think that stuff often gets brushed under the carpet when talking about career change. I want to talk about what happens before the business takes off, before the book is written, before the websites and logos are designed, before the degree is complete. My questions are shaped by this idea to encourage guests to talk about making decisions, the challenges they’ve come across, their worries and thoughts, finding time for creativity - the human side of career change when it’s not wrapped up in marketing and advice.
Rather than giving my guests a space to offer advice about career change, I ask each of them to create a question to ask our listeners at the end of each episode. I think this can really add value to each one because people can take that question away with them to explore their own answers after listening, in their own time.
Another way that my podcast differs to many that I've listened to is that I keep the introductions really short, and I record them separately so that when I'm with my guest we get straight into the questions. This is a conscious choice I've made because I personally don't enjoy lengthy intros. There's no advertising or sponsorship on my podcast either.
Themes
As well as career change, other themes include adventure, nature and creativity. I’m interested to find out how adventure and spending time in nature can impact new choices, decisions, thoughts, creativity and connections. This is partly because I’ve experienced the positive impact myself and I want to listen to other people's experiences and perspectives. It’s also because I think it can open up a new approach to thinking about career change, taking people away from their cv’s and online job searching and towards deeper thought, creativity and a sense of adventure.
Tune in
You can listen on:
Making plans
After my first series of About The Adventure I will record a brand new one! The new series will be recorded outdoors in the Peak District with guests from the area. As of July 2020 I have just purchased a digital recorder so I’ll be playing with that while I complete the first series. I’m working towards starting the second series in August, which I’ll tell you more about soon!
Podcast artwork
This was created by nature writer & illustrator Tiffany Francis-Baker. She has written a really nice blog about how she created it on her website. I paid £100 for the design from start to finish. Working with Tiffany on my podcast logo was an absolute dream from start to finish! I felt that she connected with my ideas and she worked on the designs intuitively. I really appreciated her warm communication and receptive approach.
Podcast music
Sarah Sharp, otherwise known as Sheffield’s eccentric pop multi-instrumentalist Tsarzi, created my podcast intro. We met up in Tamper Sellers Wheel in Sheffield to discuss some initial ideas, then she sent over some samples, which I loved straight away! I paid £50 for the music which included a few different versions that Sarah played around with until I was happy with the final version. It’s been a brilliant experience working together and I highly recommend listening to her music.
Podcast production
After my initial podcasting experiments with recording and editing it all myself, I soon realised that I didn’t want to go it alone. I found a brilliant and affordable podcast studio in Sheffield, as well as a lovely editor and producer to work with.
My first three episodes were recorded in the studio by Joe Willis, with a bit of a break during lockdown, then we moved to online zoom recordings. Joe really helped to ease me into podcasting, he reassured me when I was nervous, gave me feedback when I asked him for it, and made recommendations - which is how I heard about Sarah Sharp making podcast music.
Home of my podcast
My podcast lives at captivate.fm which is designed for independent podcasters and guides you through the whole process, making it really straight-forward! They have an amazing team of people who respond to questions really quickly and a supportive Facebook group. It’s a Rebel Base Media platform which adds even more expertise and resources and they even have a meetup in Sheffield where I can meet other podcasters!
That’s a wrap
In July 2020 I am in the very early stages of my podcasting journey. If you have any questions for me I’ll do my best to answer, but I will be writing more posts as I go and as I learn new things. If you have a listen and would like to send me some questions, comments or feedback then please email sarah@sarahventurer.com
