Podcasts for Creatives: Optimize Your Time
The past few days I've been asked like three times what my favorite podcasts are. I'm DEFINITELY not an expert on the subject, but I'm pretty vocal about how listening to podcasts has changed my life since I started in 2015 (well technically I started a long time ago- there was this one podcast by a bunch of gay guys that discussed America's Next Top Model that I used to download onto my iPod Nano in like 7th grade but that's besides the point.)
If you're a busy person like me, there are a lot of times when you're doing mindless activities like driving, washing dishes, grocery shopping, waiting at the doctor's office, etc. where you feel like your time is being wasted. Even when I'm editing photos or designing I can get restless. I love to read, and I also love listening to music, but until podcasts, I wished I could multi-task so I didn't feel like my entire day was flushed down the toilet. Podcasts gave me the opportunity to feel like I was learning or being entertained while also killing time, and the best part is that they're free and available to you right on your phone as long as you have a set of headphones handy.
I'm at the point now where I'm literally shopping at the store while listening to a podcast, making my food while listening to a podcast, starting a new one when I only need to drive 5 minutes away, walking around the block while listening, showering with a bluetooth speaker in the bathroom, editing photos while listening, cleaning my house while listening- you get the point, I have obsessive tendencies.
I've been toying with the idea of starting my own podcast in 2018, so I have been venturing more into the space to listen to more and more shows lately. However, I'm pretty biased with the types that I listen to, and there are really only 2 genres that get me engaged: True Crime, and Creative Entrepreneur.
Below are my FAVORITE podcasts as of late that I listen to regularly (or have listened to in the past) that I recommend!
Serial
Serial is the OG podcast of our generation in my opinion. This is the first one I listened to back in 2015 and it completely obliterated a long car ride for me. I was obsessed with season one, the murder case of a high school girl in the 90's that reporter Sarah Koenig decided to take on, and I'm pretty sure so was the rest of America. If you're new to podcasts, this is a great starting point because Sarah's voice is easy to listen to, the podcast is laid out perfectly, and it's a real life true crime case that is interesting in itself. I think season one was INFINITELY more successful and interesting than season two, which dives into the case of American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, but I did listen to that one too on another long car ride.
Also if you have already listened to Serial and you're familiar with it, this SNL skit cracked me up.
Up & Vanished
This is by far the best podcast I've ever listened to. It's another true crime podcast about a teacher who went missing in the early 2000's in a small town in Georgia. Without giving too much away, I want to mention how this podcast started so much of a ruckus in the small town that while the podcast was still releasing episodes each week with speculation on what happened, someone came forward with information. This led the podcast to becoming caught up in real time about what was going on in court, which was CRAZY considering it had been a 10 year old cold case. Podcasts are powerful, y'all. Payne Lindsay, the narrator of this one, has a few spinoff shows as well: Sworn, and Atlanta Monster (which just started a few weeks ago.) I think Sworn is meh, and I just started Atlanta Monster today- I have high hopes since Up & Vanished set the bar so high.
For real though, when I was moving into my new apartment last summer, I binge listened to this for like 20 something hours straight until I caught up in real time and then became enthralled with the online live community where the supposed killer was actually posting in the forums...I was so obsessive to the point that I was tracking down the accused on Twitter and stalking them and trying to corroborate anonymous sources on the podcast with the accused peoples' friends on Facebook. IT GOT CRAZY. I got crazy. I've never been able to find another podcast as amazing as this since then. TRUST.
Being Boss
This is another one of the first podcasts I listened to. When I went to the Venture Pop conference in New Orleans in 2016, two of the speakers were the women of Being Boss. I had no idea that they were kind of a big deal with a very successful creative entrepreneur podcast at the time, so when I left the conference and started listening I was like holy moly these people are legit. This podcast is mainly geared towards women creatives, but can be listened to by pretty much anyone. The hosts Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon are very successful freelance boss babes in real life, and they cover an array of topics on the show from interviewing other successful business owners, talking about motherhood while working from home, branding, self worth, and more.
The Skinny Confidential: Him & Her
This is a podcast from famous lifestyle blogger Lauryn Evarts Bostick and her husband Michael Bostick. I'm not going to lie- if you don't already know Lauryn through her online community The Skinny Confidential, you might write her off as just another gorgeous blonde lifestyle blogger on the internet. This is the furthest thing from the truth though, because I heard her speak at the Create & Cultivate conference in New York last spring and she KNOWS what she's doing. She's by far one of the most knowledgeable and articulate people I've heard speak about marketing, and her success with rising to the top of the saturated lifestyle blogger market speaks for itself. Her husband Michael is also a freelance marketing guy who considers himself as a "serial entrepreneur" so their conversations on the podcast are really interesting. They lead a pretty bougie So-Cal lifestyle, so once you can get over their California accents and the fact that they're going to talk about luxurious things, you can really appreciate how knowledgeable and down to earth they both are. I find them hilarious and I think they're both genius for doing this podcast together because it goes beyond just being a "blogger" podcast and more into the realm of life coaching for owning a successful business. I'm obsessed with them and they have some really legitimate guests on the show like Jillian Michaels, Dr. Dennis Gross, and social media celebrity The Fat Jewish. Definitely familiarize yourself with Lauryn's blog before you jump right in though because it might be controversial or opinionated for some people's taste.
Goal Digger
This is the podcast by photographer/social media influencer Jenna Kutcher. I'm not going to lie- I'm not 100% sold on everything Jenna says and does, but I do find this to be a good photographer specific podcast. She has a ton of online courses and a huge social media following, but I'm not the biggest fan of Jenna's photography aesthetic or her views on some topics so I really only listen to her podcast (sorry if you ever read this Jenna!) Jenna is INCREDIBLY successful as a photographer turned social media influencer turned creative entrepreneur (she talks about how she's making like 7 figures) so I look up to her in that regard and think that this is a good podcast if you're looking to level up your business (especially if you're a photographer.)
altBR
This is really only relevant if you live in Baton Rouge or Louisiana, but it's a great one if you're local! The guys of altBR have interviews all kinds of people who are doing big things in the capital city. I like that I know most of the people who have been interviewed on the show, but I still learn something new about them through the interviews conducted on the podcast. I also got to photograph Jacob and Abe recently and they were super cool dudes.
The Influencer Podcast
This podcast is conducted by Julie Solomon, who is basically an expert when it comes to PR and social media. Julie used to work in corporate PR for big record labels and bands like P!nk and Maroon 5, then she did PR for the book industry, then she started a mommy blog, and basically she made a ton of money through being an influencer with the knowledge she had from working in PR. Her methods are very much thought out and proven, and she interviews a lot of brands and influencers on her show. If you're nerdy like me about social media marketing, this is for you. Julie has made SOOO MUCHHHH money pitching herself to brands and she's really great about talking you through being confident in the influencer space.
The Garyvee Audio Experience
This podcast is more about hardcore entrepreneurship, but has its creative moments and guests. Gary Vaynerchuk or "Gary Vee" is really well known in the entrepreneur world and he's been doing this podcast foreverrrrr. I haven't listened to a ton of the episodes (it's kind of weird because all of his are like short little episodes? I like episodes to be at least 30 min long, preferably an hour) but the few I have listened to have really solidified him as an expert in my mind.
Creative Class, a Podcast for Freelancers
This is a very short podcast, but I like the hosts Paul Jarvis and Kaleigh Moore. Paul Jarvis is a really successful down to earth web developer/writer and I enjoy getting his weekly emails. It's nice to hear his voice in real life on the podcast when so much of what I ingest from him is the written word. He and Kaleigh talk about the struggles of freelance life and solutions and practices. This podcast doesn't dive super deep in their episodes, but it is still a nice listen. I'm not sure if they just aren't consistently recording or if they're done forever, but there's only like 11 episodes to listen to and they're all fairly short.
There are so many more podcasts I've listened to an episode here or there of, but as of now these are the ones I'm listening to the most frequently.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID...
I really want to start a podcast this year! I love to talk so I feel like I'd be a good fit for this medium haha. I'd love your opinions on what you think would be interesting (it'd most likely be in the creative entrepreneur genre since that's what I'm most passionate about) so please comment your thoughts below! Also if you have any other podcast recommendations for me, I'm all ears!
*EDIT AS OF 2019- Do What You Want Radio is live! Listen here!
