Podcast Junkies

Drew Ackerman wants to help you fall asleep. Think of him as the Sandman of podcasting except that instead of sprinkling sand in your eyes he's sprinkling hour long stories in your earbuds with his slow, droning voice so you can get your much needed rest and relaxation.

Drew describes his podcast, Sleep with Me, as a bedtime story podcast for grown ups and thanks to his hard work and dedication, he's been helping insomniacs find the priceless sleep they've been craving. After discovering podcasts in 2005, he took the plunge and launched Sleep with Me in 2013, making him the last voice many people hear before they doze off for the night. With a head spinning amount of podcast downloads per month and the perfect sponsor to boot, Sleep with Me is evidence of just how impactful podcasting can be.

• 03:21 - The importance of podcast conferences for him
• 05:16 - What people believe he looks like when they hear his voice
• 06:48 - The first time he discovered podcasts
• 08:03 - When he first started dabbling with podcasting
• 09:16 - What he did to learn the craft of podcasting
• 10:20 - His aha moment when he decided to start his Sleep with Me podcast
• 13:22 - If he's always had a creative streak
• 14:21 - The family dynamic growing up with five siblings
• 15:39 - Who he thinks is the most surprised at where he's ended up in life
• 17:06 - When he realized his podcast was starting to get attention
• 21:37 - The importance of promoting your content
• 22:38 - When people outside of the podcasting space started taking notice of his show
• 26:05 - The nicest pieces of feedback he's received so far
• 27:57 - When he started having conversations with sponsors
• 29:14 - If Casper mattresses (his show's sponsor) are really comfortable
• 30:11 - How he landed Casper as a sponsor
• 31:55 - Other shows that have copied the Sleep with Me model
• 32:56 - Who he looks to for guidance
• 36:39 - My experience interviewing Lea Thau
• 38:15 - The podcasting heroes he's had a chance to meet
• 40:12 - His experience at PodCon
• 41:43 - If podcasting has helped him become less introverted
• 44:24 - Connecting on a deeper level through podcasting/podcasts
• 47:25 - The insight he's gained through Apple's new podcasting stats
• 48:40 - The one most misunderstood thing about him
• 49:18 - Something he's changed his mind about recently
• 52:43 - The story behind his Twitter handle

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/Drew-Ackerman-interview

To the day it's been 4 years since I released Episode Zero. This episode was a look back at the impact the show has made in my life and a celebration of the lifetime friends I've made as a result. Enjoy my walk in the park!

http://pjnk.es/165

For 11 years, Jordan Harbinger was host of The Art of Charm podcast where he interviewed notable A-list celebrities and influential personas such as Gary Vaynerchuk, Seth Godin, and Tim Ferriss. Now, as he begins to forge a new path with his new podcast, The Jordan Harbinger Show, Jordan is aiming to provide his listeners with an even richer, higher quality podcast experience than he's ever given before.

The goal of his show is for every episode to solve a problem or give the listener something they can apply right away. Jordan is masterful and extremely adroit at interviewing and his meticulous and methodical style of preparing for each guest is just one of the things you will learn from listening to this episode. Sit back and get ready to jot down all the gems Jordan is about to drop in your ears.

• 07:34 - Interviewing A-list celebrities
• 09:46 - How he takes control of his interviews
• 12:28 - His experience in radio and how it's helped him with podcasting
• 14:00 - If he thinks about what his audience wants when he's conducting his interviews
• 15:36 - Guest vetting and prep to avoid having a boring interview
• 17:32 - Why the amount of preparation and research is so important to him
• 20:52 - John Corcoran and what he taught Jordan
• 23:35 - Rebuilding his new show from the ground up
• 25:49 - Trust, feeling thankful, and his appreciation for the people who are helping him
• 29:00 - Getting back into the swing of things by having conversations on the mic
• 31:11 - If it was strategic to have attorneys as the first couple of guests on his show
• 31:45 - His interview with Bill Browder
• 33:52 - Using Scopolamine, a mind-controlling drug, to wage crimes in South America
• 34:51 - The important role his producer, Jason plays on the success of the show
• 37:18 - The Jordan Harbinger Show team
• 37:57 - The story of when he met Jason
• 39:33 - Why it was important to keep Feedback Friday on his show
• 42:15 - Jordan's advice on interviewing and what he does to prepare
• 47:16 - The important role his family plays while he rebuilds his brand
• 50:46 - Something he's changed his mind about recently
• 52:17 - The one most misunderstood thing about him

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/jordan-harbinger-interview-2/

Suzy Buttress is host of The Casual Birder podcast and has a deep love and appreciation for all types of birds. Having recently launched her podcast in November 2017, Suzy set out to share the wonder and excitement of watching wild birds in their natural habitat by sharing her experiences about the birds she's seen in the UK and other parts of the world with people just as passionate about bird watching.

I was fascinated when I learned about Suzy's podcast through a serendipitous Twitter thread I came across and reached out to her to invite her on the show. With her elegant and soothing English accent coupled with her passion for birds, Suzy is sure to delight even the most casual birder.

• 05:10 - How I found out about Suzy's podcast
• 06:24 - When her interest in birdwatching started
• 08:27 - Why she calls herself a casual birder and why she started her podcast
• 11:03 - Birdwatching as a form of meditation
• 11:58 - Suzy explains the format, content, and style of her show
• 14:00 - The type of guests she's had on the Casual Birder
• 16:43 - The generosity of the podcasting community
• 19:28 - Her favorite podcasts
• 20:35 - Helen Zaltzman's Podcast Support group she's a part of
• 24:17 - The meaning of bird calls and songs
• 28:38 - How anyone can learn the meaning of the sounds birds make
• 30:57 - How she is able to determine the type of bird by their sound
• 34:52 - Combining her husband's love of photography with her love of bird watching
• 38:08 - Her husband joining her on the podcast to talk about their trip to Antarctica to penguin watch
• 40:29 - If penguins are classified as birds
• 44:51- Her Facebook group
• 46:37 - What inspired her to start her podcast
• 53:05 - What the most challenging thing has been for her as a podcaster
• 58:35 - How she would like to build and grow her podcast going forward
• 1:02:01 - Audio drama podcasts
• 1:03:54 - Something she's changed her mind about recently
• 1:06:18 - The most misunderstood thing about her

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/suzy-buttress-interview

Joe Pardo is the host of The Business Podcast and co-creator of the Mid-Atlantic Podcast Conference or MAPCON which debuted in 2015. Super Joe, as he's currently referred to, is also the author of four books, a speaker, and has a knack for designing nifty t-shirts people want to wear.

He was turned on to event planning from a young age watching his grandfather put on vendor events in the 80's and he later started to put together his own LAN parties for video gamers. After attending a conference in Florida and speaking with Lou Mongello and Jared Easley of Podcast Movement, he got the idea of starting his own podcasting conference for the entire Mid-Atlantic region.

• 07:26 - The idea behind my Podcast Junkies t-shirts
• 08:50 - Joe's Mic Dropper shirt and creating shirts people want to wear
• 11:18 - His MAPCON shirts
• 14:01 - The origins of MAPCON
• 22:37 - His knack for being a very generous host
• 25:23 - What sets his conference apart from other podcast conferences
• 26:43 - The "Dating Game" panel they created with podcast coaches & new podcasters
• 28:13 - MAPCON's, "Create a Podcast on the Fly" contest
• 29:04 - One of the things he had to learn to improve MAPCON
• 31:28 - Adding another day to MAPCON 2018
• 32:54 - What drew him to DJ'ing early on in his life
• 35:42 - When I first started DJ'ing
• 38:46 - Joe's Adventurtorium album and how it led him to start podcasting
• 41:10 - His experience editing audio and how he got the idea for his podcast
• 46:01 - The different types of series he's done on his show
• 47:29 - The new series he just launched
• 49:21 - A common theme he's noticed in his conversations on The Dreamers podcast
• 51:57 - What drives him to keep writing books
• 54:47 - His new book, Sales Won't Save Your Business
• 56:09 - Joe talks about the three other books he's written
• 1:00:14 - Joe's two pieces of advice for content creators
• 1:02:02 - Something he's changed his mind about recently
• 1:04:31 - The one most misunderstood thing about him

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/Joe-Pardo-interview

Named one of the best podcasts of 2017 by The Atlantic, The Adventures of Memento Mori, by D.S. Moss, is about death and living a more meaningful and purposeful life. By exploring the science, mysticism, and culture around death, D.S. takes the big elephant in the room and puts it front and center so you're forced to face this subject that is taboo to so many people.

With topics that range from communicating with the dead, ego death and ayahuasca, to your digital afterlife, The Adventures of Memento Mori, will have you start looking at life and death in a whole new light.

• 06:12 - What The Adventures of Memento Mori is all about
• 07:43 - The story behind starting his podcast
• 10:55 - The process he took in formulating the show
• 12:28 - If his friends worried once they found out what his podcast was about
• 14:01 - Talking about the idea of dying in his first episode
• 14:46 - Advanced Directives and why it's important that you have one
• 15:47 - Whether or not it was important for him to have a personal connection to the topics he set out to cover
• 17:48 - His experience in putting together the Psychedelic Ego Death/Ayahuasca episodes (#13 & #14)
• 19:58 - My practice of ayahuasca
• 21:16 - Being bothered by consumerism and waste post-ayahuasca
• 22:23 - Being named one of the best podcasts (#31) of 2017 by The Atlantic
• 26:16 - My interview with Andrew Mason and his product, Descript
• 28:00 - His workflow and overlaying his show on top of the Freakonomics formula
• 29:03 - If he's been able to meet any of his podcast heroes as a result of his show
• 30:18 - Being surrounded by podcasters in New York City
• 32:14 - Podcast conferences and the benefits I find in attending them
• 35:39 - The shows he was listening to when he came up for the idea of his podcast
• 38:05 - A group of people who thought his show got too personal
• 41:05 - One of the reasons he did psychedelics and tried to transcend ego
• 41:52 - Where he was born and the different places he has lived
• 42:19 - Living in his favorite city - New York City
• 43:56 - The missteps he encountered when he started to promote his show
• 48:20 - Not feeling natural promoting his show in the social media space
• 51:04 - Something he's changed his mind about
• 53:09 - The most misunderstood thing about him

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/D.S.-Moss-interview

For over 10 years, Chel Hamilton has been a hypnotherapist. She decided to create her podcast, Meditation Minis, which focuses on helping people manage their stress and anxiety through guided meditations, after a friend of hers kept insisting she start a podcast on meditation. She committed to doing six episodes, but 6 million downloads later, Chel is only just beginning.

With big plans to take Meditation Minis to the next level by incorporating Virtual Reality technology in the future and adding workshop weekends to her repertoire, it's definitely safe to say that Chel got more than she bargained for when she set out on her journey of podcasting.

• 07:04 - Her biggest takeaway from Podcast Movement 2017
• 08:32 - The sessions she found interesting at Podcast Movement
• 09:10 - Chel explains the Sparks talks from Podcast Movement
• 10:47 - How she got the idea for Meditation Minis
• 13:04 - Why she found it surprising that her podcast has had such a positive effect on people
• 14:46 - Why she designed her show the way she did
• 17:26 - When she was first introduced to meditation
• 18:34 - Chel explains who Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) is
• 20:27 - How she became involved with hypnotherapy
• 23:20 - What steps she took to ensure she would have a successful business and podcast
• 27:06 - Why she didn't end her podcast after her first year as she originally planned
• 27:49 - The idea of the concept Know, Like, and Trust
• 29:25 - Repurposing her content for people to purchase
• 31:18 - How she approaches recording longer meditation sessions
• 33:44 - Where she learned how to mix sound for her podcast
• 37:22 - Combining all her skill sets
• 37:48 - Her plans to create virtual reality immersive guided meditations
• 39:17 - Podcast Junkies in virtual reality?
• 41:13 - The therapeutic possibilities of using virtual reality technology
• 41:29 - Our experience with Float Tanks
• 44:04 - Growing up and moving away from Columbus, Ohio
• 45:38 - The person who is most surprised of where she has ended up
• 46:21 - Her relationship with sponsors
• 47:31 - If she thinks about different ways to grow her show
• 50:39 - Her three day Emotional Detox workshop
• 51:52 - The one most misunderstood thing about her
• 52:25 - Something she's changed her mind about recently

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/checl-hamilton-interview

Mary Nichols, a.k.a. DJ Fusion, is a seasoned radio DJ and podcaster. She hosts the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast, FuseBox Radio with her co-host and business partner, John (The Black Hawk), which focuses on bringing a diverse mix of independent and mainstream Black Music from all over the world along with relevant commentary, news, and guest interviews.

Mary got her start in radio while she was a student at Rutgers University where she hosted her first radio spot that ran from midnight until two in the morning and where FuseBox radio was founded. Since then, she's gone on to have a long and illustrious career spanning almost 20 years and started the media based entertainment company, FuseBox Media LLC that delves into the mediums of photography, DJ'ing and writing.

• 09:04 - Mary recounts the story of when she first stepped into a radio station
• 10:37 - When she first learned of podcasts
• 12:28 - The bird watchers podcast I discovered through Twitter
• 15:43 - Spotify's growing number of podcast downloads
• 20:43 - The format of Mary's show
• 24:44 - The founding of her media based entertainment company
• 27:48 - The fans of her show
• 29:22 - Our mutual love of DJ'ing
• 36:13 - The origin story of her moniker, DJ Fusion
• 42:06 - The first time she got the opportunity to inject her opinion on a matter as a DJ
• 45:24 - How she handles using copyrighted music on her show
• 50:59 - Where she sees her show going in the future
• 01:02:28 - What she's changed her mind about recently
• 01:03:37 - The one most misunderstood thing about her

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/mary-nichols-interview

Karen Yankovich is a Social Media Marketing Consultant, speaker, and the host of the Good Girls Get Rich podcast. Although she's new to podcasting, she's taken her digital marketing experience and expertise in LinkedIn to launch a show aimed at entrepreneurs and small business owners who don't understand how to use social media and online digital tools and help them to establish confident brands and elevate their income and businesses.

Karen has had success showing companies how they can use LinkedIn to get new clients and she also sees the value of using it in the podcasting space. With her finger on the pulse in the social media and digital marketing world and a lucrative consulting practice, you can be sure that there's something Karen can help you with to elevate your brand.

• 04:47 - The story of how Karen and I met
• 09:19 - Why she changed her mind on the importance of her production quality
• 12:13 - The challenge of producing videos and why she considered using YouTube
• 13:58 - Karen's audience and why she started her podcast
• 17:25 - The time I forgot to edit out the UPS man who interrupted a podcast recording
• 18:17 - Karen recounts one of her podcast faux pas
• 19:13 - Using Zoom for podcast recordings
• 20:39 - How far in advance she plans her episodes
• 23:32 - Her days working in corporate America to working in digital marketing
• 26:02 - If she found it scary going out on her own
• 27:15 - Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals
• 28:33 - Karen's thoughts on being around like-minded people
• 29:45 - What a six figure salary means to an entrepreneur
• 31:09 - Masterminds and how they can help you grow
• 32:46 - My idea for a new segment I'm calling, Where Are They Now?
• 33:46 - Growing up in New Jersey
• 35:49 - How some people thought she was crazy for leaving her six figure part-time job
• 36:32 - Why others were asking her why she hadn't left her job yet
• 39:01 - If she's always had a creative streak
• 39:48 - Karen talks about one of the carnivals she planned
• 40:38 - Why she feels LinkedIn is so important for corporations and entrepreneurs
• 41:16 - The mentors that have been helpful to her in her career
• 45:00 - How LinkedIn can be useful to podcasters
• 50:58 - What she's changed her mind about recently
• 51:38 - The one most misunderstood thing about her

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/karen-yankovich-interview

Charles Beckwith is the host of American Fashion and Fashion Is Your Business podcast He once ran an online fashion magazine, studied, then dropped out of filmmaking, interned on Dawson's Creek, and has a network called Mouth Media Network. Phew! We cover all this and more on this fascinating chat. Enjoy!

• 00:09 - How Charles and I met
• 02:56 - When he recorded his first podcast
• 04:16 - How long he had been a filmmaker when he started his podcast
• 05:16 - The microphone he's using for this podcast episode
• 06:01 - How he developed his relationship with Sennheiser
• 06:55 - Why he feels Sennheiser saw the value of partnering with him and his show
• 07:48 - Charles explains what fashion technology is
• 08:37 - Stella McCartney and vegan and environmentally friendly materials
• 10:58 - The excitement behind wearable tech
• 11:31 - A company that's making custom shoes for $250
• 12:29 - The article he wrote on how the fashion industry could use blockchain tech
• 13:15 - Syndicated Media's idea to replace iTunes as the hub of podcast RSS feeds with a blockchain
• 13:38 - What blockchain technology means
• 15:13 - Where his love of fashion comes from
• 15:43 - His most noticeable episodes
• 17:37 - Why he likes having a panel on his podcast
• 18:33 - How he's grown as a host since the start of his show
• 19:47 - Why he has a love/hate relationship with the show Project Runway
• 20:15 - Charles explains how he starts every episode of American Fashion
• 21:30 - What he does with episodes where the conversations weren't great
• 22:10 - His network, Mouth Media Network and his first show of the network
• 24:42 - The podcast player he and his team is developing
• 28:53 - Whether or not he's worked on a mobile app before
• 29:22 - His love of technology, Kevin Kelly from Wired, and the 2600 magazine
• 30:29 - His piece of fiction in 2600 magazine and his involvement with their conference
• 31:57 - Mouth Media Network's different podcasts
• 32:54 - If he's ever put a network together before and what he's learned from creating his network
• 34:52 - Where he thought he would be at this point in his life
• 37:01 - His approach to networking and making connections
• 37:53 - The Stone Soup story
• 40:55 - When he started to put his skills as a connector to use
• 42:44 - Something he's changed his mind about recently
• 43:05 - The one most misunderstood thing about him
• 45:14 - What's got him excited for the upcoming year
• 47:40 - The podcast conferences he plans on attending this year

Full Show Notes: http://podcastjunkies.com/charles-beckwith-interview