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Pabel Martinez is a native New Yorker, storyteller, and former tech executive. 

Throughout his career, Pabel struggled balancing two jobs…tech employee and actor.  As an actor, he would focus on assimilation because he was trained to believe that many parts of his identity were unprofessional. Pabel would dedicate days out of the week to study “white popular American culture” and memorize scripts he would later use for work conversations. He knew that talking about Bad Bunny and shows like Insecure would not make him relatable. Instead, he would binge-watch seasons of Riverdale since it would help him build relationships with colleagues and senior leaders. The assimilation became overwhelming, and it was at the expense of his identity & mental health. As a result, Pabel's mission in life became redefining professionalism by empowering authenticity. In 2020, he launched his company, Plurawl, to bring this mission to life.

Pabel's Takeaways

1. Interrupting is often helpful and we need to learn how to do it deftly. Interrupting is cultural – it’s governed by what we consider polite, which is different everywhere. My husband, from Ohio where everyone is awfully nice, used to be horrified by what I see as my enthusiasm, which means I interrupt far more often than he does. I grew up in Boston and, later, New York. 
   
   The skill of interrupting may seem pretty small, inconsequential, even, but it’s not – it’s about being a host who can create a good flow to a conversation, and stay in control of it so you can serve your listeners. 
    
2. Is there an injustice you see, one that isn’t being addressed? You can use a podcast to fill that need, both by having the courage to share your own difficult story, and by encouraging guests to share their untold stories on your show. Representation matters. We know this, but Pabel is showing it. Listeners tell Pabel that because of quien tu eres, they no longer feel alone. And that gives them strength to make changes they didn’t have the courage to do before.
   
   That response says a lot about the connection a host on a mission can create with their audience. Could you help your audience know they’re not alone? 
    
3. While I believe there are universal qualities and skills to hostiness – I’m on that quest to uncover them – I also believe there is no single definition of a “great” or “best” host. Because, like my mother used to always say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That said, we can certainly know when a host is beloved. Not everyone will love you. But your ideal audience will, if: you understand who you’re talking to. 
   
   Are you serving that person? Do you know what they need to hear, and are you willing to go there? Pabel admitted that it’s hard for him to share episodes like the one he did about his salary, and the one he did about quitting his job at TikTok – but that they were among the most popular of all of his episodes. So get to know your ideal listeners very well. Care for them. Let your work speak to them. And, depending on your goals, speak out FOR them.
4. Who we are as a human has everything to with who we are on the mic. 
   And what I realized is that who we are as human beings has everything to do with who we are on the mic. 
   If we are courageous, it shows. 
   If we know who our listeners are and love them, it shows. 
   If we are ashamed of something in our lives and that holds us back from expressing our full selves as hosts, it shows. 
   If we are making our podcast (or giving our speech or writing our story) solely to support our business and make money – purely for our own ends – it shows. 
   It doesn’t matter if we’re actually sharing personal stories or not: listeners hear and respond to our character in our voices, regardless of the format.
   So Pabel’s question — ¿Quién Tú Eres? — applies to all of us.
   Before you turn on the mic, spend some time with his question.  
   Who are you? 

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Credits 

Sound Judgment is a production of Podcast Allies, LLC. 

Host: Elaine Appleton Grant

Podcast Manager: Tina Bassir

Production Manager: Andrew Parrella

Audio Engineer: Kevin Kline

Production Assistant: Audrey Nelson