177: {Podcast LIVE} Breaking in the New Beaufort Digital Corridor Podcast Live Studio

In this engaging interview, Sasha Horne and I sit down to break in the BDC live podcast studio. I share my journey from corporate recruiting to podcasting, my love for the Lowcountry, and insights into building a successful podcast and community in Beaufort. Discover tips for aspiring podcasters, the vibrant local festivals, and how to connect with other inspiring entrepreneurs.

PS: This was the very FIRST one, but stay tuned for more! 

Transcript

Caroline Pennington (00:01.303)
Hello everyone, it's Sasha Horn with a Lowcountry Explorer podcast. I'm here with Carolyn Pennington, who is a female founder and a podcaster. We met right here at the Buford Digital Corridor, I guess, sort of kindred spirits wanting to learn more about what the digital and entrepreneur ecosystem was like here in Buford.

Tell us this. This is the my I guess to call the signature question. Did you find the low country or did the low country find you? I'm on the low country. I am born and I was raised in Charlotte, Carolina. I came to South Carolina. I'm a game croc. So I went to school there and I stayed in Columbia for way too long and my husband, I asked where we met decided we want to go live on the coast. We looked in Charleston. That was too addictive traffic, too expensive and everyone said

go check out Beford. So this was five years ago. We've been here five years now and we came and visited. We bought our boat, had it downtown and just fell in love. Wow. I love that. I mean, I think like for a lot of people, all it takes is just that one visit and you're just like hooked. So a little bit with me, I grew up here, but I did not appreciate it at the time. I was, you know, graduating from high school and I was like, yeah, I want to go to the big city. And for me, that was Charleston.

I went to undergrad there and from there I went off to DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and I found my way back in 2024. I was in town for a high school reunion during the pandemic and was just captivated at how much there is to do here. And maybe it's just because I'm older now. So the types of things that interested me when I was 17, you know, didn't have that, but yeah, I really love to hear stories of people who

and chose to adopt this as their home. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a sleepy version of Charleston, but that's totally OK with me. Like, I don't want that traffic. I would like a less expensive place to live. I love the food here, the people, the water. mean, you just can't get anything better than that. So today we are, you know, taping here at the Buford Digital Corridor. They just launched their brand new podcast studio. I know you are one of the people like me who saw this room.

Caroline Pennington (02:22.964)
how it used to look. So the VU for Digital corridor is a former Bank of America and we are sitting in the former safe deposit vault. So what are your thoughts? I saw your face when you first walked in and this is my first time seeing it too this morning. What were your thoughts when you walked in and saw how they have transformed the space? I was shocked because I like you had joined as a member about a year ago because I'm in the digital space.

And I did see it when it was an actual bank vault and I was like, how the heck are they going to turn this thing into a functional podcast studio space? But they did it. I mean, it looks pristine with the sound walls and the chairs and it's cozy and it's very interactive. You can have guests here. You can probably do solos here. You could disguise the limit with it. So I'm very impressed with everything that you've been able put on here. And so a little bit about your

career trajectory? How did you go from college student, like some of our listeners are right over there at USCB, to now doing what you do as a podcaster, as a woman in this media and tech space? Tell us about that. All right. So I actually worked in the recruiting space for 15 years. I was a headhunter. And when I started that, I recruited entry-level professionals like

receptionists, file clerks, data entry clerks, like you name it. Fast forward 15 years later, and I'm working in a C-suite space. So I'm recruiting CEOs, CFOs, COOs, like the really big high income earners. And that was actually when I started to start my podcast, is I was used to interviewing people for a living. At that point, I interviewed tens of thousands of people at all types of levels. I was working with Fortune 500 companies, placing their executives, finding executives for them.

Small businesses, again, executives, private equity, when they would go in and wipe out the C-suite space, executives. So I was comfortable talking to anybody and interviewing anyone. And so when I was still in my corporate career, I decided I was going to figure out how to start a podcast. And this was now, now my podcast, which is the Fitment and Founder. This is the third year of me doing it. And I've been consistent. I showed up every Tuesday. I've learned a lot of lessons. I've been in mastermind programs. I've been on over a hundred podcasts as a guest.

Caroline Pennington (04:43.275)
And I will say if you're listening to this and you're interested in starting a podcast, do it. It is the best thing that I've done. It's connected me to hundreds of amazing women that I never would have been connected to if not for the podcast. And the scariest and most daunting part of it is the tech piece. And thankfully with AI, it makes it so much easier now. So what used to take me three hours to do when I first started this journey, now it takes me under five minutes. Wow.

So if you're thinking about starting a podcast or curious or on the fence or want to know that it's not that hard, you can figure it out just because you haven't done it yet doesn't mean you can't do it. So that's my podcasting journey story. And when I started my podcast journey, I was used to interviewing people for a living. So I knew I just had to figure out the tech part, press record. But as my podcast journey has evolved and right now my podcast is ranking in the top 3 % globally. That's incredible.

hearing little beavers I actually do more I do a mixture now of interviews and solos and what I've learned as a podcast host is people and your audience they want to hear from you right and so I would encourage you to do a mixture both if you're thinking about doing a podcast because people even if you think like I don't know what I would say or I don't know

you know, what I would talk about. I have those same thoughts and those same things cross my mind. It still crossed my mind today, even with what I have going on. So you just have to get that in check and press record. I love that. Just press record. So I really would love to hear about three years of the podcasting game ranked globally. I want to know about some of the most interesting guests that you had and also maybe tips for

finding interesting guests if someone watching or listening is interested in starting their own podcast potentially here at the digital border. Yeah, that's a great question. And I will say when I started my podcasting journey, I started with my personal ecosystem. So what does that mean? Okay. I was a headhunter at the time. I had been connected to a lot of executives. I have an online presence both on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Caroline Pennington (06:58.658)
so I started using my connections that I knew personally to start building my audience. And I went and asked them to be my podcast as a guest because they knew who I was anyways, online. and they knew that I would be professional, with my show and how to represent them and their expertise. And I just started building out strategically. would ask people who had slightly larger audiences than me.

I wouldn't go after the people who had these massive audiences like Tony Robbins or like any board of field or people have ginormous because number one, you're probably not going to get to them anyways. And number two, that just you have to start smaller and that's completely okay. So I took my ecosystem, my connections I have personally, and I started building that out. And as I did that, I started to study more consistently online every Tuesday with a podcast of marketing it on LinkedIn and Instagram.

And then people started to pitch slap me and come to me. I get over a hundred a week now. Wow. That's incredible. And I only have one interview spot. So you have to be particular about who you interview, who you want on your show. And the motto that I've had the whole time is how am going to serve my audience? How am I going to teach them something? What would they like to learn? And I do that by, talk to them on social media.

I do polls on LinkedIn, I do polls on Instagram, I do stories on Instagram saying, okay, what do you guys want to hear about? And they'll talk back to you. So if you're like, I don't know what I'm talking about, or my audience or whatever, start asking. And you're like, maybe I don't have an audience. That's okay. Start asking anyways, and you might hear crickets in the beginning. And I had crickets in the beginning. 15 people listened to me my very first month of podcasting when I started this journey in 2023.

And I'm so grateful for those 15 people because I probably would have quit if I didn't even have one. And they could have been my family members. don't know. To the OG listeners. Yeah. I have keep going. Yeah. I love that. You got to keep going. Yeah. So this podcast, as you might have heard just from some of like our conversations before, kind of came to fruition just because the brand existed.

Caroline Pennington (09:16.807)
The gentleman who produces reached out. Well, actually he didn't reach out to me. I reached out to him, but I just saw a social media post and it's like, you can see yourself posting a podcast. And I loved the low country brand. I loved Explorer because prior to, you know, being a mom and, you know, settling down, I was a digital nomad for many years. So I love travel and exploring. And as I mentioned, yes, I am from here, but I am no expert on the low country. left when I was 16 and a half and

hadn't lived to your sense. So this podcast kind of gives me a way to get reconnected with the community and kind of see how it has evolved, what has stayed the same and working in journalism, I've just always been naturally curious. So it's kind of like now I have a platform. So I'm not just that girl asking nosy questions. I now have a platform to share all of my inquisitiveness with anyone who's interested in learning about the region. I love that. So what's your favorite?

thing about Beaufort right now. My favorite thing about Beaufort right now is the festival scene. That did not exist when I was a kid. mean, you've lived here long enough to know there's the Gullah Festival, there's the Water Festival, there might be an Oyster Fest in there, but that's about it. But I feel like every month there's something exciting for music festivals, all sorts of things. I just really love how the city and the neighboring towns like Port Royal

are really seem to be committed to closing down the streets and just having people out in the streets, giving it that block party vibe. And I do not recall that as a kid growing up here. And I really love how family friendly all of those events are because I have a two year old. So it's nice to just take the stroller out and walk around and see all the other moms and meet people. I knew people from high school and stuff, but a lot of those people have also moved away. So I really kind of had to find my...

my tribe, if you will. And I think that the digital corridor and just all of the outdoor activities and we're in March now. So this is the time where things start to pick up. Do you have a favorite local festival or? I like the Orister festivals. I like any of them downtown. I've been to the Gullah Festival. I've been to the Water Festival and I'm with you. They're so fun and family friendly and wholesome and just like.

Caroline Pennington (11:38.855)
You get to meet people, see people that you know, all of the above, and it's just fun. Yeah, and I love that it gives a place, it makes this area a destination for people who traveling out of town. They might plan their travel around a particular festival, right? But for the people who live here, you know, when I would come back on summer breaks, for instance, we would always go to Charleston or Savannah to go out. And now it's like you kind of don't always have to do that. You can find things right here in your own backyard and Buford and...

you know, the island or you can head up to Bluffton Hilton Head and find like a lot of fun stuff and you're not having to necessarily travel that far. Yeah, I love that too. I'm with you on that too. Yeah. Well, I really love this conversation with you. So tell people where they can find you or they can subscribe to your podcast. And if someone is listening or watching and they think that they might be a good guest for your podcast, tell us the types of stories that you like to share.

Sure. So I have an application on my website. My website is femininefounder.com. And so if you're interested in being a guest, you can apply there. My audience, I cater to female entrepreneurs. So I interview women who start grown and scaled companies that are both service-based and product-based companies. I'm very into health and wellness. So I like to talk about those topics as well.

I like woo topics. like I am very open minded about a lot of different topics. And so if you have an expertise in any of those or specific niche that you think could be a good conversation to serve the audience, definitely use the application in or send me a DM on LinkedIn or Instagram. And best place to find me is on social media or you can go to my website, femininefounder.com. Awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today. so much for having me. Absolutely.

Caroline Pennington (13:33.383)
You're so good. Oh, thank you. OK. What do you use? I haven't done this before,