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BLOG / Kenneth
What’s stopping you?
‘What’s stopping you?!’ was the response the first time I discussed starting a podcast with my wife. It was mid-2014. Having discovered podcasts during my long cycle commute that year, I had the pleasure of listening to 100’s of hours of conversations on a wide range of subjects.
I had a need to start learning again. I loved the intimacy of a podcast, the insight, thoughts, and views helped me expand my own horizons. When I was feeling down and needing a lift, I’d put on a comedy show. When I felt in the mood for learning I’d listen to the latest trends in nutrition be debated and when I wanted to just a hear a brilliant conversation I’d plug into a three-hour conversation on pseudoscientific theories involving ancient civilisations (occasionally!). With a forty mile round trip on a bike I could get through this in a day.
A podcast can be such an intimate and moving experience, like a deep conversation with a close friend. I recall a few episodes moving me emotionally. Once I was in the middle of a long run around my local country park. I was so moved by the discussion that I need to sit down and reflect on how lucky I was to have the life I have. I received some funny looks that day as I ran along with tears streaming down my face.
Starting my own
I started to think about starting my own podcast in 2015. I had no audio skills, a few ideas for a topic and I almost got close but never pulled the trigger. On reflection, I’m not sure why, I think it was probably a lack of confidence. Whilst I’ve always been confident in many situations, my lack of academic achievement had certainly always left me feeling behind others. Let’s not get too deep......we’ll leave that for another public blog post .
Fast forward four years, a new job, a new sector and finally feeling comfortable and driven in my career, the thought came up again. Could I start a podcast on the social good sector? I’d been working for a charity for three years and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to help others give back to a cause they cared for deeply. However, the thoughts returned. Would I have anything to say? Could I find someone to co-host? How would I record it? What would people THINK?!?!?
I believe what stops many of us following our passions is that most creative endeavors that you make available publicly make you feel vulnerable and the opportunity for criticism is a scary one. Some of the most brilliant, creative people I know still hate the thought of their work being seen by others. In the end, I knew it wouldn’t be perfect but finally convinced myself I had nothing to lose. So I messaged a friend I knew from the sector who I thought would make a good co-host. As he recalls the story, I took him out for lunch on his birthday, we had a beer and I took him through the idea. Thankfully he bought in and the journey started in Oct 2017 with the aims of having fun, giving something back to a sector we both admired and exploring our own creativity.
Since then we’ve gone on to record almost forty episodes of the Do More Good podcast. We’ve ventured all across London meeting people from different walks of life. We’ve had conversations with CEO’s, entrepreneurs, founders, leading designers, activists, volunteers, and fundraisers all trying to do more good by sharing their experience and journey.
It’s been a rewarding endeavor but not without its challenges. It takes time to arrange guests (we only record face to face so we have to find time around our busy day jobs to fit it in) we had to buy microphones, recording equipment and pay for hosting. We’ve missed a few bedtimes, drank a few beers and morning commutes have been filled with research, editing and social media. However overall it’s been lots of fun, we've learned a tonne and we’ve met some amazing, amazing people.
Five benefits
So back to the reason for the post: what are the five benefits of having a side project? Here goes...
You have the freedom to explore your own creativity that you may not get in other areas of your life.
You’ll get to meet new people who share your passion for a topic
You have something that can help take your mind away from work. As someone who struggles to switch off the mental health benefits of this are well publicised.
You can learn and develop new skills. Audio editing, interviewing, networking are just a few that I've picked up along the way.
It can support your work goals and development. There can be cross-over with your professional life.
The reasons above might be more relevant to me and my project, but many of them apply to whatever you choose your side project to be.
I’ve been very lucky to find something that I love doing and that I’m passionate about. I’ve acquired a great friend during the process, met some amazing individuals and have hopefully helped someone somewhere think differently, take that next step, or follow their dream.
We’re not on this planet for long so don’t miss out on the opportunity. Forget what other people think. Don’t dwell - just do it. What's the worst that can happen?!
What’s stopping you?