In this article, I would like to discuss how starting a podcast has affected me and is still continuing to shape me as a person.
Huge props to every podcaster out there who always takes their time to share their knowledge, wisdom, insights, advices, humor and to help the listeners grow, learn and form a beautiful community. Just like any other content creator role, podcasting takes a lot of creative planning based on the premise of the show. One has to make sure the information is correct, aligned, mindful with sensitive topics, coordinate and schedule with your guests, make pretty posts on instagram, edit the long overhaul of audio/video files. You get the point.
How it all started?
You know that one best friend who you just love, enjoy their vibes and company, and together you plan these crazy ideas of traveling across the world or making a short film, starting the youtube channel, going to college together? Well, I am lucky to have that friend in my life. Although none of those ideas came into play due to respective careers taking off, we had one idea that was flourished to life and that was this podcast.
The inspiration behind why we started this comes from listening to several podcasts out there; On Purpose, Something You Should Know, Gary Vee, Knowledge for Men, and Telugu Bytes. The beauty of any podcast is that you are listening to wonderful people just talk. Topics can be a wide range, it can be serious, sensitive, humor and it allows the listeners to tune in and be open-minded. From what I have listened to and gathered, we thought of doing something that is more connected to us and focuses on a specific audience. That’s how Telugu Saga came to life.
Mission
With this podcast we hope to unravel the stories of common individuals who speak telugu and share their life journey full of experiences with us. Whichever path they took, and how they took it. Everyone has a bumpy road, struggles that they went through and in turn sharing their stories will create an impact in the community and by listening to them it will empower us to keep going and know that we are in this together, no matter what.
We wanted this podcast to focus on our current generation of people who speak the same language, culture, and be able to share our thoughts, perspectives, learn from each other, and share our knowledge. We want the listeners to be able to connect with our interactions or conversations to remind us that we are all on the same ship. The more we are close looped the more we are accessible to be able to help each other and that’s powerful. The younger generation who are about to or already graduated college, they are stepping their foot into the world of uncertainty. Going through this process can be really hard, and you need to right support system to help you get there. That support system can be your parents, your friends, or random strangers you just happened to meet because you loved their energy and you found similar interests and values that they had gone through.
Sometimes you feel alone in this process of figuring it all out, one may not have all the resources at hand, don’t know who to talk to or what to listen to and it can lead to something else. With this in mind, we wanted to solely focus on this podcast on the younger generation to speak about what they are going through right now. They don't have to be successful, don’t have to have any achievements in their pocket, and don't have to have everything figured out. We want people to come in, speak raw on what is going on in their current life, hit the topics they want to share with the world, and then in return, it might help someone to be uplifted. Everyone has a story and it’s up to them to share it or not. We want to provide a platform to be in any help to educate, grow, question our thinking, and prepare the next generation.
Planning Episodes
My friend had so much fun scheduling the introduction calls and the actual podcast. We generally have an intro call with the guest to get to know them — as a way to break the ice. We chit chat about where they are from, what they do, how they spend their time and we try to find commonalities and similar interests just like when someone meets them for the first time. After getting to know them more we try to decide a good topic that they want to share with the audience and as hosts, we try to come up with questions and that will bring out a good story flow from his/her journey. And you can’t end the episode without something memorable so we added a rapid-fire round that will make them think on their feet and it just a way to get to know them more personally.
Outcome
We first interviewed our mutual friends who have undergone a lot of stress trying to figure out their career and what has been preventing them from reaching their potential. They were vocal about how the culture and external forces that were affected made them re-think what they want to do. We were so grateful they came on to the show because having to make career choices is one of biggest problems that almost everyone faces when you grow up in a household where your standards are set so high by others. With more episodes, we had more incredible people join to talk about various topics like the Telugu film industry and its actors and actress, how one person became more outgoing, Telugu culture in America, and many more.
What have we learned during the process?
We learned that each person in the community has paved different roads for themselves. As people, sometimes we are in our own bubble and never think outside of our base. Having to meet these people in our community and knowing their interests made us feel different, missed out, sparked more curiosity, and in turn grew more chances to have conversations. This eventually led to more spending time with people, learning how to communicate in different scenarios, and understanding how people are from different backgrounds.
Future
We are planning on bringing more people as the word reaches out. We had unforgettable conversations and interactions with our guests and we hope to continue this path as long as it can last. We want to keep the audience engaged with new ideas every season, fun and interesting questions, and have the next generation take on this legacy.
