I Started an Indie Podcast — Here’s What I Learned
By: Grace Byrnes
Tags: Podcasting, Podcasting Tips, Weed, Musicals, Podcast

The cover art for our weed-loving, musical theatre obsessed podcast

Like many creatives, I tend to have endless ideas floating around in my head at all times. Also, like many creatives, I tend to keep most of them locked up in my head. When COVID-19 completely upended my musical theatre career, a dear friend and I brought one of my creative visions to life for the very first time. To say I’m proud is an understatement. Here is an assortment of lessons I’ve learned along the way.

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.”

I didn’t know a single thing about recording or editing audio when I started this journey. I, quite frankly, know nothing about marketing a podcast, and even the type of improvisational public speaking that makes a great podcaster doesn’t come naturally to me. I learned each of these skills slowly, progressing as each new episode aired. Earlier episodes (and even current ones) can still make me cringe, but I know I’ll never put anything out if I’m dead set on it always being 100% perfect. The reality is, it never will be! I release work I’m proud of, while still being aware that the podcast is a work in progress, continuously getting better.

2. When editing, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

I was watching an episode of “Comedians in Cars with Coffee” when Jerry Seinfeld piqued my interest with this topic. He spoke of constructing a stand-up act, with the mind of an editor. His strategy is always to be as funny as possible in as few words as possible. When editing, this is the advice I constantly keep in mind and it’s made a huge different in the overall quality of the podcast.

3. Choose, and go for it 100%

Before deciding on a podcast, and this one in particular, I had about a million different projects I wanted to begin working on. All of this noise in my head and indecision left me so overwhelmed, that I didn’t work on any of them. It wasn’t until certain factors aligned that I decided to give this project a shot, and since then it’s become clear that to get anywhere, you’ve got to choose something and execute it. Brainstorming can sometimes be a form of procrastination, so just pick something and get started.

4. It’s important to accept that almost all first attempts SUCK

It’s an uncomfortable truth that to be creative is to be vulnerable. Starting a new project means giving people an opportunity to see you suck at something. As a perfectionist, this doesn’t sit well with me, but at the end of the day it is unquestionably worth it. Besides, most people who choose to judge others for their attempts at trying something new or difficult, never put something out into the world themselves. In the words of Brené Brown, “For me, if you’re not in the arena, also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback.”

5. This is a passion project. I should be enjoying it!

This podcast is the only creative project I’ve ever made, start to finish. It’s my baby! Sometimes I feel the stress mounting up, in my desires to make it as perfect as possible. I want it to be received well, I want the sound to be high quality, I want to stop saying “like” every fifth word! It sounds silly, but it can really stress me out. I decided however, that there’s little sense in creating something without completely loving it. I’m lucky to be able to make something of my own, and I plan on enjoying the ride.

It’s been seven months since I began this journey, and I’m beyond excited to see where it takes me. I wonder what new lessons I’ll have learned by the time I reach the one year mark. If you’re curious, my podcast explores guilty pleasure musicals through stoner humor, and is called, “High Flyin, Adored”, and can be streamed on all major podcast networks. If you do nothing else, please, start that project you’re dreaming up in your head. You’ll be so much the better for it.