Episode 116
From Australian Idol to Podcasting Pioneer: The Journey Behind Bamby Media
I used to be quasi-famous.
It was a long time ago and not a place I particularly want to revisit, but as I reflected on how I built Bamby Media into the successful business it is today, there has been one key ingredient.
An unfair advantage.
This podcast episode is my origin story. I hope you enjoy it.
BAMBY MEDIA LINKS:
GEAR WE USE HERE AT BAMBY MEDIA:
Aputure Amaran 200d LED Video Light
Pre-Amp/Mixers we recommend
Transcript
It was recently International Podcast
Speaker:Day and I took the time to go through,
Speaker:probably for the first time ever in the
Speaker:whole existence of Bambi Media, kind
Speaker:of what we've achieved in that period.
Speaker:It's not all the things that
Speaker:we've achieved, but it's certainly
Speaker:some of the more, uh, momentous
Speaker:occasions, some of the milestones
Speaker:that we've been able to achieve.
Speaker:And I wanted to share them with you
Speaker:here because I felt like this might be
Speaker:inspiration for other people that have
Speaker:podcasting agencies that are starting
Speaker:their podcasting journey, that are
Speaker:business owners, that are trying to
Speaker:create podcast networks, anyone that's
Speaker:really starting out to kind of maybe
Speaker:give you that little bit of, ah, yes.
Speaker:Okay, cool.
Speaker:She did it.
Speaker:So I can also do it.
Speaker:So I'm going to take you
Speaker:back to the beginning.
Speaker:Why Bamboo Media even
Speaker:began in the first place.
Speaker:For me, it was really out of necessity.
Speaker:So prior to this business, I
Speaker:was a musician and a songwriter
Speaker:for probably about a decade.
Speaker:I have.
Speaker:Music really was the only
Speaker:thing that I ever wanted to do.
Speaker:I have been a singer since I was
Speaker:tiny, I did musicals, I did lots
Speaker:of singing at Stedford's, just
Speaker:singing, singing, singing, you know?
Speaker:And then I started to get into
Speaker:songwriting and I loved to
Speaker:songwrite and I started writing
Speaker:songs and loved every second of it.
Speaker:Then I went on to Australian Idol when
Speaker:I was 21, I think, and auditioned for
Speaker:that, that year, because I found out
Speaker:that you could sing your own song.
Speaker:And so I sang this song called
Speaker:Jacqueline, which is a song I wrote
Speaker:about two people that live next door to
Speaker:each other and didn't hadn't ever told
Speaker:each other that they liked each other.
Speaker:And that song really
Speaker:resonated with people.
Speaker:It got me through.
Speaker:The judging panel, I, you
Speaker:know, made it into the top 12.
Speaker:Um, there was 35, 000 other people
Speaker:that tried out and I made it into this.
Speaker:TV show, which was insanity.
Speaker:Like it was just the craziest thing.
Speaker:I can't actually even believe
Speaker:that it was me that did that.
Speaker:Just, it feels like a
Speaker:completely different life.
Speaker:And yet it was me.
Speaker:In fact, that did all those things.
Speaker:I had a driver.
Speaker:We lived in a mansion.
Speaker:I had a chef, like, publicity
Speaker:all over the place, paparazzi,
Speaker:it was in magazines, on
Speaker:radio shows, all this stuff.
Speaker:That was a time in my life that was
Speaker:really cool, but also really, really
Speaker:stressful because being on a TV show as
Speaker:a musician, which they didn't treat you
Speaker:like musicians, they didn't really treat
Speaker:you like songwriters, Treated you like
Speaker:you were on a reality tv show And so it
Speaker:wasn't really in the best interest Of
Speaker:the artists how they actually formed that
Speaker:show you didn't get a lot of rehearsal
Speaker:time in my case I'm completely deaf in
Speaker:one ear And so I had a few arguments
Speaker:with the producers of the show because
Speaker:they didn't give us any in ears.
Speaker:They didn't give us
Speaker:audio like in our ears.
Speaker:And for me, that's a real problem.
Speaker:I mean, I can't walk around the
Speaker:stage like other people and have
Speaker:monitors that I can listen to if
Speaker:it's too far away and all this stuff.
Speaker:Sound comes in and I have one ear.
Speaker:It's very hard for me to pitch.
Speaker:Like I can't get my pitch if I can't
Speaker:hear the rest of the sound and the band.
Speaker:So I really struggled with that program
Speaker:because I felt like I was gypped a
Speaker:little bit as far as it not being
Speaker:about the performer and not being about
Speaker:the musician, it was about the judges
Speaker:and being about the show in general.
Speaker:So, uh, that at the end of that show,
Speaker:I made a lot of wonderful friends.
Speaker:I.
Speaker:Loved the experience from that
Speaker:perspective and then when I came
Speaker:back home I was a little bit
Speaker:almost like agoraphobic for a while
Speaker:because you couldn't go anywhere.
Speaker:There was just people Everywhere
Speaker:that knew what you look like you
Speaker:couldn't go to the grocery store
Speaker:without people wanting you Signature
Speaker:or staring at you weirdly when
Speaker:you're looking for some apples.
Speaker:Like it was crazy, it was really,
Speaker:really weird walking down the street.
Speaker:And you had these kids just looking
Speaker:up at you like, Oh, and this was time
Speaker:before social media really, even, you
Speaker:know, there was sort of, Facebook was
Speaker:just kind of starting to get going, but
Speaker:it wasn't really much else going on.
Speaker:So there wasn't streaming channels.
Speaker:You know, we, we had millions of
Speaker:people tuning into the TV show.
Speaker:And so you were really
Speaker:recognized everywhere.
Speaker:so I did that and I'm glad I did it.
Speaker:And it, um, it taught me a lot.
Speaker:And then from there, I had also
Speaker:been doing a audio production
Speaker:degree at the conservatorium
Speaker:of music through that period.
Speaker:I fell in love with audio recordings.
Speaker:So I worked in a lot of
Speaker:different recording studios
Speaker:when I was working on my album.
Speaker:And I met a lot of people through that.
Speaker:I love the actual production of music,
Speaker:obsessed with microphones, microphones.
Speaker:Like that side of things to me, just the
Speaker:technicalities, the way things sound, the
Speaker:effects that you could use, the plugins,
Speaker:what the EQs and the compressions and all
Speaker:these things was stuff that I just loved.
Speaker:So when I finished on Australian Idol
Speaker:and I came back to sort of real life,
Speaker:I put together this album that then
Speaker:I released with the help of Brandon
Speaker:Anthony, who is a fantastic producer.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:I, that was great, you know,
Speaker:and then I got that music
Speaker:featured in on film and TV.
Speaker:I got it featured in
Speaker:NBC, CTV, uh, Foxtel.
Speaker:There's some of it online now as well.
Speaker:I had it featured on an Adidas
Speaker:online campaign, short films.
Speaker:All things like just a bunch of stuff
Speaker:happened through that period, which was
Speaker:really cool as an independent artist.
Speaker:It was really cool to be able
Speaker:to achieve all those things of
Speaker:which I still get royalties for
Speaker:today, which is really nice.
Speaker:It's not a lot of money, but it's still
Speaker:that little like, Oh yeah, you know,
Speaker:that little ping that you get when you
Speaker:get that little sort of notification.
Speaker:Which is fun.
Speaker:So I continue to do that.
Speaker:I did a lot of touring.
Speaker:I gave back to the community a lot.
Speaker:I went out and I helped rural
Speaker:communities, uh, write songs and put
Speaker:together an album through a Songs of
Speaker:the Seraph program, thanks to QMusic.
Speaker:Then I released another
Speaker:album called On So It Goes.
Speaker:Which I produced completely on
Speaker:my own and then had it mixed by
Speaker:Brendan and mastered by Sterling
Speaker:sound over in the U S and that was
Speaker:a project that was a labor of love.
Speaker:Something I was really passionate
Speaker:about doing, just doing it all
Speaker:myself was really cool and recorded
Speaker:a lot of that in my home studio.
Speaker:So then I learned those skills of how
Speaker:to record at home, how to use isolation
Speaker:booths, how to use different microphones
Speaker:and, and put them together with a set
Speaker:up That was achievable for people to do
Speaker:without having to go to a big studio.
Speaker:So I recorded that whole thing myself.
Speaker:I had a big album launch for that.
Speaker:I had a string quartet and a
Speaker:grand piano and a beautiful
Speaker:backup singers and all the things.
Speaker:And I was pregnant at the time.
Speaker:I was five months pregnant
Speaker:with my first child with my
Speaker:husband through all that period.
Speaker:Uh, my husband was also doing degrees
Speaker:and he was studying to become a
Speaker:doctor and then he eventually finished
Speaker:that degree and then we had to move.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And by then I had a child who
Speaker:was 13 months old, something like
Speaker:that, and we had to move up north.
Speaker:That was probably one of the
Speaker:worst years of my entire life.
Speaker:It was so hot.
Speaker:Cairns is where we moved to.
Speaker:It's a beautiful place, like, where
Speaker:the sort of rainforest meets the ocean.
Speaker:There's really nowhere that
Speaker:I found that's as special as
Speaker:that as far as how it looks.
Speaker:But it was so hot, so
Speaker:humid, and I hated it.
Speaker:I really, really hated it.
Speaker:I was isolated from
Speaker:my friends and family.
Speaker:There was no one up there that I knew.
Speaker:And my husband was a
Speaker:doctor by this point.
Speaker:So he was an intern.
Speaker:He was never around.
Speaker:And I was with this.
Speaker:I was with a baby at that point, and this
Speaker:was all new to me, and my mental health
Speaker:really suffered through that period.
Speaker:I got very anxious, very stressed, all
Speaker:things I'd never really had before.
Speaker:Had this sense of, like, no identity,
Speaker:or not no identity, but not having any
Speaker:time to do anything for myself anymore.
Speaker:And then I started to think
Speaker:more long term at that point,
Speaker:how was my life going to go?
Speaker:Like, how was this going to work
Speaker:with a child and potentially
Speaker:wanting to have another one?
Speaker:And then also be a touring musician.
Speaker:Like it just that to
Speaker:me does not make sense.
Speaker:And with my husband being a
Speaker:doctor as well, like who's going
Speaker:to look after these children,
Speaker:how is this going to work?
Speaker:And.
Speaker:It really made me start to think about
Speaker:where do I want my life to actually go?
Speaker:And how do I want my family
Speaker:unit to exist amongst the things
Speaker:that we also want to achieve.
Speaker:And to me, having a family and being
Speaker:there for them was a massive deal.
Speaker:I grew up with a, um,
Speaker:very supportive family.
Speaker:Mom and dad were just amazing.
Speaker:My dad is an entrepreneur himself
Speaker:though, and was, Just very rarely around.
Speaker:He often worked seven days
Speaker:a week, very long hours.
Speaker:And I didn't want that for my children.
Speaker:I didn't want to be an entrepreneur
Speaker:or a person that wasn't around.
Speaker:It was very important for us to have a
Speaker:unit where I felt like I could be there
Speaker:to pick them up, to drop them off, to
Speaker:have those little chats with thing with
Speaker:them when things were going wrong and.
Speaker:Do all of those things.
Speaker:So I wanted to try and find some way
Speaker:of, of building that, uh, for myself.
Speaker:So then I started to think about
Speaker:how could I make this happen?
Speaker:What could I do that wasn't like,
Speaker:or being a musician, but it was
Speaker:kind of adjacent to that field.
Speaker:And I put myself on Upwork as a
Speaker:audio editor because I'd been doing
Speaker:some transcription work through rev.
Speaker:com just because I love to type.
Speaker:I was just sort of typing stuff
Speaker:and, you know, doing that in
Speaker:naps and listening to things.
Speaker:And then one day I started
Speaker:editing, I started transcribing
Speaker:this thing called a podcast.
Speaker:And I was like, what
Speaker:the hell is a podcast?
Speaker:I'd never heard of it at this point.
Speaker:This is quite a long time ago now.
Speaker:And when I listened to it, the more
Speaker:I was like, wow, this is really cool.
Speaker:Like I could totally.
Speaker:You know, because it's audio editing,
Speaker:which is something I'm very skilled
Speaker:at already from my production degree.
Speaker:It's also crafting a story.
Speaker:It's storytelling.
Speaker:It's using voice.
Speaker:It's audio adjacent.
Speaker:This seems like it would be perfect.
Speaker:So I put myself, I put my.
Speaker:Self out there on Upwork as a
Speaker:freelancer and started getting
Speaker:audio editing jobs for podcasts.
Speaker:And this was probably, uh, 10 years ago.
Speaker:Now I started to do that and I got
Speaker:this job with this client over in the
Speaker:U S which completely changed my life.
Speaker:The trajectory of it all at this point,
Speaker:because it was one of these projects
Speaker:where it was already quite high profile.
Speaker:I suppose the people that
Speaker:were on the show were.
Speaker:Quite well known in the U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:I could help craft the story.
Speaker:I could help create emotion by
Speaker:using sound effects, folly music.
Speaker:And it was this beautiful,
Speaker:like integration of all
Speaker:the skills I already had.
Speaker:When people talk about this unfair
Speaker:advantage, I absolutely stepped
Speaker:into this, into the podcasting space
Speaker:with the unfair advantage of already
Speaker:knowing, um, how to craft a story and
Speaker:how to pull emotion out of people.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:I started working with them, and
Speaker:it was just one of the best things
Speaker:that I've ever done in my life.
Speaker:And then as time went on, I completely
Speaker:fell in love with it as a format, and I
Speaker:just started getting more and more work.
Speaker:And I started getting referrals, and I
Speaker:started getting more people interested
Speaker:in what I was doing on Upwork.
Speaker:I became more Top rated on Upwork, just
Speaker:as a freelancer, just working with a
Speaker:bunch of people doing a whole bunch of
Speaker:audio editing work and more podcasts.
Speaker:And it just grew and grew and grew.
Speaker:And then through this period, I
Speaker:was just working naps, like when
Speaker:my child was napping and nights.
Speaker:So I was working a lot, but when
Speaker:she was asleep and so this kept
Speaker:going and kept going and kept going.
Speaker:And then my husband was
Speaker:a doctor by then as well.
Speaker:And then we had our second child.
Speaker:And the business was really
Speaker:starting to take off even more.
Speaker:I had employed my first
Speaker:employee by then as well.
Speaker:And it would really,
Speaker:really grown quite a lot.
Speaker:I'd already had my Bambi media logo.
Speaker:Everything was sort of trugging along
Speaker:there, but still working just nights.
Speaker:But also I was now able to work two
Speaker:times a week in full days because
Speaker:we'd move back to where we are based.
Speaker:And my mother was able to take the reins
Speaker:on caring for the children a couple of
Speaker:times a week, which was just insane.
Speaker:Like just the help that I received then
Speaker:how my mental health improved having
Speaker:a village around me, all of those
Speaker:things made a massive difference to
Speaker:me being able to run my business and
Speaker:then kind of a curve ball hit us where.
Speaker:My husband came to me one day and he had
Speaker:been a doctor for quite a few years by
Speaker:then and he said I can't do this anymore.
Speaker:I don't want to be a doctor.
Speaker:I don't want to have the life where I'm
Speaker:never around and I'm continually having
Speaker:to study for more and more exams and
Speaker:he was very far along at this point and
Speaker:but it wasn't a surprise to me that he
Speaker:didn't want to do it anymore because it
Speaker:never felt like me knowing him that it
Speaker:was something that really lit him up.
Speaker:him up.
Speaker:He was always my like
Speaker:roadie as a musician.
Speaker:He did my photography, a lot
Speaker:of my graphic work as well.
Speaker:Very creative, a guitarist as
Speaker:well, all sorts of that stuff.
Speaker:And so when he said, I don't want
Speaker:to be a doctor anymore, it was
Speaker:kind of like a relief in a way too,
Speaker:where I just went, Oh man, good.
Speaker:Like make some decisions for yourself
Speaker:that are just for you, you know?
Speaker:And so I said, fine.
Speaker:That's good, you know, just
Speaker:stop and we'll figure it out.
Speaker:And then that was also through the
Speaker:period where COVID was just about to hit.
Speaker:So he got out just at the time
Speaker:when he would have then potentially
Speaker:been extremely busy as a doctor.
Speaker:And then the business
Speaker:really took off after that.
Speaker:I wasn't having to do so much kid stuff.
Speaker:I was able to then work and
Speaker:transition more into a full time role.
Speaker:And it grew so quickly.
Speaker:Um, once I was able to really take
Speaker:the time and the reins to do that.
Speaker:And I had said to him, well,
Speaker:cool, you know, you're going
Speaker:to be the stay at home dad.
Speaker:Now that's awesome.
Speaker:Like he wanted to do that, but then
Speaker:very quickly through that, he looked
Speaker:at what I was doing, especially
Speaker:on the graphics side, uh, where it
Speaker:was, it was not something I was very
Speaker:good at, but it was something that.
Speaker:clients wanted and that I could do
Speaker:good enough, he then realized like,
Speaker:actually, I think I should help you.
Speaker:I could take this area on because it
Speaker:was something he was very skilled at.
Speaker:So quickly transitioned to him being
Speaker:a stay at home dad and, um, me working
Speaker:to then us both working to then having
Speaker:children that were then always home
Speaker:because of lockdown during COVID.
Speaker:And then by then we had two other
Speaker:employees and the business was insane.
Speaker:It was very busy through that period.
Speaker:We took on a lot of, a lot more
Speaker:clients just because everyone wanted
Speaker:a podcast, but we could handle it.
Speaker:The capabilities we had were there.
Speaker:We hired more staff.
Speaker:We did more.
Speaker:It continued to grow.
Speaker:And it was a lot of referrals.
Speaker:We have never marketed our business ever
Speaker:as far as like, I've never spent money
Speaker:on advertising to advertise our services.
Speaker:It's really just word of mouth
Speaker:and referrals up till that point.
Speaker:And even today, the only thing I
Speaker:do is the YouTube channel to help
Speaker:grow our business in, in a way that,
Speaker:you know, draws people into our
Speaker:world and we see how we can help.
Speaker:But so all that through, through all
Speaker:that period, it was just referral,
Speaker:which is a testament to the strength of
Speaker:us as a business, as far as the work,
Speaker:the quality of the work that we did.
Speaker:And I think that's the most important
Speaker:thing is to make sure that whatever
Speaker:you're doing as a business owner.
Speaker:As long as the quality of your
Speaker:work and the service that you
Speaker:provide is of a very high standard,
Speaker:then you will get referrals.
Speaker:You absolutely will.
Speaker:I can't see a way where you wouldn't.
Speaker:People will want to refer you
Speaker:because you're doing a good job.
Speaker:And so that continued
Speaker:to be the way we grew.
Speaker:We've hired more staff and we've
Speaker:continued to grow from there.
Speaker:And now being almost a decade into this
Speaker:business and then reflecting on this
Speaker:through the international podcast day,
Speaker:there were a few things that I looked at
Speaker:that actually blew my mind as to how we
Speaker:are where we are from where I started in
Speaker:2015 with a logo that I designed myself,
Speaker:which I was so excited for because it was
Speaker:a logo, even though it wasn't very good.
Speaker:And it was very generic to then
Speaker:getting to a point where I could you.
Speaker:Get, commission one of our friends,
Speaker:uh, an artist and illustrator who also
Speaker:came and worked for Bambi media as well
Speaker:to create the logo that you see today.
Speaker:That was a huge step to me.
Speaker:That was one of the biggest steps
Speaker:of where I then went, I want a logo
Speaker:that represents us as a business.
Speaker:So when that happened, that
Speaker:was a really, really big deal.
Speaker:And then over the past decade, when
Speaker:I looked at how many clients we've
Speaker:worked with, so even though today we
Speaker:work with probably on a weekly basis,
Speaker:we're probably sitting around 35 to 40
Speaker:podcasts that we produce every week.
Speaker:Overall, in the last decade,
Speaker:we've worked with more like 270 or
Speaker:maybe close to 300 clients, which
Speaker:is just a phenomenal amount of.
Speaker:People, when you think about that and
Speaker:businesses that we've helped serve
Speaker:and launch podcasts for and grow
Speaker:and, you know, run tutorials for and
Speaker:masterclasses and consults and all that.
Speaker:So that to me is huge that we've
Speaker:worked with that many people.
Speaker:And then I started this whole thing.
Speaker:Like that's crazy to me.
Speaker:That's really, really cool.
Speaker:We've also tried to collate
Speaker:how many downloads have been
Speaker:received from our clients.
Speaker:And these are only the
Speaker:clients that we work on.
Speaker:Like these aren't clients that
Speaker:we just did a consult for, or
Speaker:we did a one off thing for.
Speaker:These are clients that we worked on for
Speaker:oftentimes a long period of time, if
Speaker:we're not still working with them today.
Speaker:And it's based on how much they
Speaker:generated during our time together,
Speaker:not what they've done Sort of since,
Speaker:and we worked it out to be about 13
Speaker:million downloads in that period.
Speaker:13 million is a massive number.
Speaker:And I know the biggest podcasts in
Speaker:the world get a lot more downloads
Speaker:than that, but we're working with
Speaker:niche podcasts in niche industries
Speaker:that serve mostly kind of B2B.
Speaker:And to get that many downloads just is.
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:Like it's, I'm just yay, you know, to
Speaker:all of them for being able to achieve
Speaker:those numbers now, when, with the
Speaker:roster we work with currently, we
Speaker:probably sit around 110 to 140, 000
Speaker:downloads ish a month on the roster
Speaker:that we have, which are just, again,
Speaker:huge numbers for niche podcasts, very
Speaker:tailored audiences, re engaged audiences.
Speaker:And I love serving that independent
Speaker:B2B field, although I do love working
Speaker:with the larger brands and we have
Speaker:certainly done that before as well.
Speaker:I do really love that, but I also
Speaker:appreciate that a lot of the podcasting
Speaker:industry is built on that smaller niche
Speaker:with those smaller downloads as well.
Speaker:And now we have a team of
Speaker:five during the busy periods.
Speaker:We have, you know, up to eight or
Speaker:nine staff depending, but right now
Speaker:we're sitting at a A staff level
Speaker:of five, and we can support a lot
Speaker:of podcasters through that period.
Speaker:I have this YouTube channel that I'm
Speaker:growing and I'm just, I'm, you know,
Speaker:close to getting to that a thousand
Speaker:SCR subscribers, which is something
Speaker:that I've just so been enjoying doing.
Speaker:seeing how it goes for us, because again,
Speaker:we're very niche, very niche topics.
Speaker:I love talking about microphones.
Speaker:A lot of what I talk about is putting
Speaker:microphone, like battling them against
Speaker:each other, software tips, tools, tricks,
Speaker:things for podcasters and growing that
Speaker:channel to me is like such a good time.
Speaker:Responding to all your comments is
Speaker:something that just gives me so much joy.
Speaker:So keep doing that.
Speaker:Let me know what you thought
Speaker:of this video as well.
Speaker:It's just me talking to you about
Speaker:how I got to where I am, the very
Speaker:long process that it has taken.
Speaker:And I want you to think about that.
Speaker:Like if you're just starting your
Speaker:journey and whatever it is, whatever
Speaker:business you're doing, it's not something
Speaker:that is going to happen quickly.
Speaker:And you're going to have to
Speaker:leverage your prior skills.
Speaker:Like that's probably the quickest way to
Speaker:getting somewhere is if you have prior
Speaker:skills in something, how can those skills
Speaker:be transferred into something else?
Speaker:If you're trying to build a business
Speaker:and you've got skills somewhere, try
Speaker:and bring them into the new thing so
Speaker:that you're not starting from super
Speaker:low bottom, you know, the very bottom.
Speaker:But how can you incorporate
Speaker:things and people talk about that
Speaker:unfair advantage all the time?
Speaker:What is your unfair advantage
Speaker:and how can you incorporate it?
Speaker:Because I don't think that You know
Speaker:me being a musician before and then
Speaker:not doing that anymore I don't think I
Speaker:don't feel like that is a waste at all.
Speaker:I feel like it's leveraged Where I am
Speaker:now And I'm still going back to music.
Speaker:I'm working on a new slate of
Speaker:material at the moment, but I just
Speaker:want you to know that even if you
Speaker:let something go, firstly, you
Speaker:never have to let it go completely.
Speaker:And secondly, how can you use those
Speaker:skills to piggyback onto something that
Speaker:may be better suited to your life, like
Speaker:where you want to go with things as well.
Speaker:That's it for me.
Speaker:I hope you liked that and
Speaker:I'll chat to you again soon.
