Episode 76
Going Pro: The Pursuit of Podcast Mastery
We’re discussing the journey of going pro as a podcaster today. After watching an episode of Modern Wisdom where the host, Chris Williamson speaks on “going pro” with his podcast, it got me thinking about what that truly means.
Drawing parallels to my own experience as a singer and musician, I highlight the importance of dedication, mentorship, and continuous learning for mastery.
I hope to challenge you to consider how you can 'go pro' and invest in your own craft. Podcasting or otherwise, what got you to where you are is not going to be what gets you to the next stage of mastery.
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Transcript
Welcome back to my face.
Speaker:My name is Brianna.
Speaker:I'm the head honcho here at Bambi Media.
Speaker:Today we're talking about going pro.
Speaker:Inspiration for this podcast episode
Speaker:has come from a podcast that I
Speaker:was listening to, Modern Wisdom.
Speaker:The host Chris was talking about
Speaker:how he didn't get serious with
Speaker:his podcast until he decided that
Speaker:he was going to go pro with it.
Speaker:And what does going pro actually mean?
Speaker:Well, it means devoting time, energy,
Speaker:money into things that you wouldn't
Speaker:normally Devote to, let's say in
Speaker:your podcasting journey, just think
Speaker:about a professional athlete for a
Speaker:moment when they're going pro, when
Speaker:they're going to hit the big leagues,
Speaker:do they do that all by themselves?
Speaker:Do they just spend no time
Speaker:or money or energy doing it?
Speaker:No, they don't.
Speaker:They spend a buttload of time
Speaker:getting better and they have
Speaker:coaches that help them with specific
Speaker:things and they do a bunch of
Speaker:research into what they need to do.
Speaker:I can tell you a story about me
Speaker:growing up as a musician, as a singer.
Speaker:So since I was, I don't know, four or
Speaker:five years old, I wanted to be a singer.
Speaker:And as I grew, that became
Speaker:a stronger mission for me, I
Speaker:turned into a songwriter, I
Speaker:really wanted to write songs.
Speaker:and once I had decided that this
Speaker:was something I really wanted to
Speaker:do, it was like I had blinders on.
Speaker:There was nothing else
Speaker:that really mattered.
Speaker:Granted, I lived at this time with
Speaker:my parents, they could help support
Speaker:me, I could devote as much time and
Speaker:energy as I wanted into it because
Speaker:I didn't have a bunch of other
Speaker:responsibilities coming at me, you know?
Speaker:I was young and I could
Speaker:just do it by myself.
Speaker:Lots of singing lessons, lots of
Speaker:practice, lots of standing in front
Speaker:of a mirror and watching myself.
Speaker:Looking at how my face changed
Speaker:when I sang different words.
Speaker:Focusing on what my breathing was
Speaker:doing and that I was getting through
Speaker:to all the other aspects that the
Speaker:breath helps control with singing.
Speaker:I would record myself using a tape player
Speaker:back then, and then later I would listen
Speaker:back to what I had done during my singing
Speaker:lessons so that I could understand
Speaker:where I could improve Going pro meant
Speaker:having a coach, a teacher who could help
Speaker:me get better at my craft and pick up
Speaker:things that I just didn't know about.
Speaker:You don't know what you don't
Speaker:know and it couldn't ring more
Speaker:true than going pro in anything.
Speaker:If you're trying to do it all
Speaker:by yourself, then you're only
Speaker:going to get to a certain level.
Speaker:You're only going to
Speaker:get to a certain point.
Speaker:so I want you to think about
Speaker:your podcast in the same way.
Speaker:If you're trying to get a better
Speaker:result, what are you putting in that's
Speaker:different to what you're doing now?
Speaker:Really, like, be honest with yourself.
Speaker:What are you putting into this?
Speaker:And are you hoping for a different
Speaker:result without really changing much?
Speaker:At some point, at some level in any
Speaker:creative pursuit, and I would argue most
Speaker:pursuits, You have to develop further.
Speaker:So And as a singer, as a
Speaker:musician, I continued to develop
Speaker:over a long period of time.
Speaker:I had dedicated singing lessons for 10
Speaker:years, a decade of learning to sing with
Speaker:different coaches, different teachers.
Speaker:And once I was finished with
Speaker:one, I had developed a really
Speaker:good skill in classical voice.
Speaker:Then I would go, okay, I probably don't
Speaker:need to know as much about that now.
Speaker:I want to incorporate some
Speaker:more jazz or Broadway style.
Speaker:And then we went and found a teacher that
Speaker:was really good at that so that I could
Speaker:develop that area and then bring those
Speaker:combination of things together and molded
Speaker:into what I actually wanted to be, what,
Speaker:how I actually wanted to sound and how
Speaker:I wanted to represent my unique voice.
Speaker:So that was a decade of mastery.
Speaker:Like a pursuit of mastery that
Speaker:I went on and then after that,
Speaker:I went into musical theater.
Speaker:So from grade 10, I started doing
Speaker:musical theater, uh, productions
Speaker:and I was in quite a few of those.
Speaker:So I was learning again, different
Speaker:skills that I could pile onto there.
Speaker:And all this time from the age of
Speaker:about 12, I started songwriting.
Speaker:And I would write, write, write, write,
Speaker:and I would record myself with these
Speaker:songs, and then listen back to them,
Speaker:and then change things, and then change
Speaker:the lyrics, and change the, the way that
Speaker:melody went, and I would add harmonies,
Speaker:and I would put different things in.
Speaker:I was thinking about it all the time.
Speaker:And how that then manifested
Speaker:later on, was I went on to do some
Speaker:incredible things as a musician.
Speaker:I had songs featured on NBC,
Speaker:on Foxtel, an Adidas campaign.
Speaker:I had songs featured in,
Speaker:in short films as well.
Speaker:I won different awards.
Speaker:I got a professional development
Speaker:grant with Warner Music.
Speaker:and on top of that, I also went onto
Speaker:Australian Idol and I got into the top
Speaker:12 of that crazy reality program as well,
Speaker:all from that mastery, that going pro,
Speaker:that laser focus, those blinders that I
Speaker:had on to go, this is what my focus is.
Speaker:This is what I want to do.
Speaker:How can I pull these things?
Speaker:How can I learn as much as I can
Speaker:from different people, from different
Speaker:industries, and bring it all together
Speaker:and turn it into something that is
Speaker:unique to me and is at a pro level.
Speaker:I also went on to do a, a degree
Speaker:at the conservatorium of music.
Speaker:and then recorded two albums.
Speaker:All this time working with different
Speaker:people, collaborating with different
Speaker:people, going pro Ultimately, for
Speaker:me, what happened was I fell out of
Speaker:love a bit with the process of live
Speaker:performance and I had a child and
Speaker:I didn't want to do that anymore.
Speaker:And again, then I came back to
Speaker:my focus of, okay, if I don't
Speaker:want to be a professional touring
Speaker:musician anymore, how can I use
Speaker:the skills that I already have?
Speaker:To go pro in something else.
Speaker:and that's when the love of podcasting
Speaker:really began for me, because I already
Speaker:had an audio production degree.
Speaker:I was already a really good storyteller
Speaker:and songwriter from all those years of
Speaker:professional development in that place,
Speaker:and it felt like a very good fit for me
Speaker:to jump into the podcasting space because
Speaker:it was still telling stories in an audio
Speaker:format and being creative in the process.
Speaker:So I want you to think about
Speaker:that podcasting point of view.
Speaker:If you're devoted to this as a medium, if
Speaker:this is part of your marketing, part of
Speaker:your business, part of your professional
Speaker:career to have a podcast, what are
Speaker:you doing to uplevel those skills?
Speaker:Are you learning how to interview better?
Speaker:Do you have a speech coach?
Speaker:Do you have someone
Speaker:helping you craft content?
Speaker:Or someone you can bounce ideas off with
Speaker:your content that isn't just someone
Speaker:that works in your business that doesn't
Speaker:have those skills anyway and you're
Speaker:all just kind of shooting in the dark?
Speaker:Have you bought a better webcam?
Speaker:Have you got a decent microphone?
Speaker:Have you got some lights?
Speaker:You know, I'm nowhere near done
Speaker:with what I'm doing here and the
Speaker:level of complexity and the level
Speaker:of things that I want to pile onto
Speaker:this, even just our own podcast.
Speaker:What are you doing?
Speaker:what's the one thing that you
Speaker:can end the year with for 2023
Speaker:that you think will really help
Speaker:you in your podcasting journey?
Speaker:For next year, for 2024, maybe
Speaker:that strategic coaching with
Speaker:me here at Bambi Media to get a
Speaker:bit more of that VIP experience.
Speaker:But also the last thing I
Speaker:want to say is that no matter
Speaker:who you engage to help you.
Speaker:With this next phase of what
Speaker:you're doing and it doesn't need
Speaker:to be podcasting any Pursuit.
Speaker:You must be able to take their
Speaker:criticisms, to take their constructive
Speaker:feedback and learn from it and Implement.
Speaker:You've got to swallow the ego that
Speaker:maybe you've developed at this point
Speaker:and go They're the one that knows this.
Speaker:I'm engaging this person.
Speaker:I'm paying this person money to help me
Speaker:go pro, so I'm going to listen to what
Speaker:they say, and I'm going to implement
Speaker:what they're asking me to implement.
Speaker:You don't want a yes man.
Speaker:You don't want someone that says, you're
Speaker:doing a good job, just keep doing that.
Speaker:You want someone that picks you apart.
Speaker:And I've had that the whole way
Speaker:through my professional development
Speaker:as a musician and then into podcasting
Speaker:as well, learning from different
Speaker:people that already have skills
Speaker:in the area to develop my skills.
Speaker:and allow constructive feedback.
Speaker:But don't listen to people that don't
Speaker:know what they're talking about.
Speaker:Don't ask an opinion of someone for
Speaker:something that you've created that
Speaker:they don't actually have any skills in.
Speaker:Because what they're going to give
Speaker:you isn't really valuable feedback.
Speaker:They can give you an emotional response.
Speaker:They can tell you about how
Speaker:something feels for them.
Speaker:But the actual nitty gritty of what
Speaker:it is that you're trying to do, trying
Speaker:to develop, needs to be someone that
Speaker:knows what they're talking about, that
Speaker:has been where you are, or has trained
Speaker:or coached people from where you are.
Speaker:They're the people that you listen to.
Speaker:So when you've decided, I'm going to go
Speaker:pro, they're in podcasting, whatever it
Speaker:is, it doesn't need to be podcasting,
Speaker:but I'm talking about podcasting
Speaker:because this is a podcasting show.
Speaker:When you decide you're going to go pro,
Speaker:what are you putting in place to go pro?
