Share Your Bridgeport Voice: Derek Oxley the Pod Doctor

Derek Oxley, the Pod Doctor, sits down with Librarian Andre Massa to talk about what goes into making a podcast: writing, research, editing, promoting, and more--and discovering and developing those stories that drives the creation of a podcast.

Transcript

Meet The Pod Doctor

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to this latest episode of Share Your Bridgeport Voice. I am librarian Andre Motor, joined here today by Derek Obsley, the Pod Doctor. How are you doing today, Derek? Doing great. How are you doing? Thanks for having me. You're welcome. Thank you for taking the time to come out and see me. So I guess like the first question I have with the way that I introduced you is how did you get that nickname The Pod Doctor?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

The Pod Doctor. It's funny you should ask. When I think of um podcasting, I think of it as like an iceberg, right? And the tip of the iceberg, when you when people talk about podcasts, what comes to mind? Two guys sitting down or two girls you sit around having a conversation. But podcasting to me is more than that. When I listen to people's podcasts or they ask me to come in and take a look, or been teaching podcasting now for about five years. It's like, you know, I know a thing, a thing, a thing or two about podcasting, you know, be a doctor like Dr. Dre. You know, got a problem, I come in and fix your episode.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

So, as like the doctor of podcasting, first of all, I have to ask, what do you think of the setup in here?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

I think it's dope. I think it's cool. Just the whole idea of, you know, you got video, you got lights, you got the soundboard, you know, you got the top-of-the-line shore SM7Bs.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

I love these microphones. I will I will I have to agree with you on there. These microphones are like some of the best that I've ever had. I mean, and it's also interesting too, because I don't know if you can tell me about it, but a lot of the barriers behind podcasting, would you say would be the equipment, like the cost of getting all the equipment right?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yeah, the equipment is is a huge barrier for some. And then some people um after they get the equipment, now it's like, okay, what do I do?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

So that's so like that's like the main re like the main, I guess like the main thing that I wanted to have you here, though, is because um, you know, I used to do, I think I was actually telling you before we started recording, right? But my friend and I, like, you know, fifty, you know, way back in the day when we were like 19, we used to actually do some content creating together. So we used to make like, you know, funny Pokemon videos and like these ridiculous movies that he'd be if he's listening to this, he'd be mad if I told everybody about it. But like they were they were terrible, but it was fun to make anyways. Um, but the one thing that I noticed about creating content was you can have a great idea once in a while. It's about the consistency of it. So, like as somebody that does a lot of podcasting education, that does your own podcasting, right? What is the best way for somebody to try to create, you know, to try to not only come up with a good idea, but come up come up with a good idea that they can create something like episodes consistently from?

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Yeah. Um a lot of people have, whether it's in they're in a specific industry, whether it's a retailer or they're in marketing, you know, we should have a podcast. Somebody says that to them and they say, let's go. And they sit down and then at, you know, first couple episodes, and it's like, okay, what's what's next? What should we talk about? Um, but there's so much that's involved behind the scenes, even before the mic, well, you know, before the mic, you know, you turn the mic on and the equipment, it's like, what is the episode going to be about? Exactly. Why why should the audience tune in? Why should they care? And so if it's something that you're really passionate about and and knowledgeable about, and then you have a network and curious, um, reaching out to people and just getting them, getting their buy-in um will help you kind of okay. Now that's that seems to be something that people are interested in. How do I talk more about that? Well, this is something that I really feel strongly about, and people can can get a sense that you know you prepared, um, your guest is prepared, the audience is getting something out of it, and they'll tune in.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

So is it really just as simple as just like you know, just talking about something that you're interested in or passionate about? Or, you know, is it I guess is it a little more complicated about that than that, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Like that was a simplified version. I mean, to get started, you know, I I won't, like you said, you you and your friend got together and they were you were talking about Pokemon. Uh, some people really go into the storyline. There's got to be something that's that's timing there for for for the audience.

Research That Makes Guests Shine

SPEAKER_00 4:06

But how much re so how much research though would have to go into even before starting to record an episode?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yeah, it's who's this client, who's this person that's gonna be the guest? Right? What do I know about them? Why why did I have them? Why do I want them on the show? Right? What is it about them? So whether you're going and checking out their LinkedIn profile or you're going to IG or you're looking, you know, you're doing your due diligence on on social, it's like, what is it about this person that makes them something I think the audience might want to tune in and find out more about? And so now I've I've got some data, like you've got you've got a sheet here. Yeah. Right. And so you figure, all right, so you've done that. Now it's, you know, you sort of build some sort of rapport with them, you know, beforehand, before you even turn the mic on, you're reaching out to that person. That's part of, you know, the communication and setting up the um the episode and then editing. There's a lot that goes in on the firm.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

The editing, like the editing, I can tell you. I mean, I'm a novice at this stuff. I mean, my colleague, you know, the one who does actually these episodes, he does, he's so phenomenal at it.

SPEAKER_04 5:10

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Um, and then the friend I actually even mentioned, you know, he he he works for NBC like professionally. It is a lot of work. Yeah.

Editing Choices For Real Beginners

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Um, and a lot of people that I know that would come here, right? Uh, the editing is very overwhelming to them, even when I explain garage pain in the most simplest of terms. Do you have any recommendations for how somebody can get into editing? And you know, you were talking about like it's the tip of the iceberg, right? Yeah. Editing is a big iceberg. So, what is the best way for a new podcaster, particularly in Bridgeport, to navigate the iceberg that is editing? Like, where is a good place to start? How can they figure, you know, how can they, you know, find educational resources to make it simpler? Is is it maybe is it maybe something they could even look to maybe, you know, hiring outside hiring an outside editor to do it, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:57

That's that's if you could if you've got the resources to do it, I would suggest hiring it out. I mean, going back to the iceberg example, at the tip of the iceberg is the interviews. We're doing that part, right? And then on one side you have the different types of shows that can be created, and then the roles. And so you all there's a researcher, there's a copywriter, there's an editor, there's there's, you know, a producer, there's an associate producer. Um, so all these people, that's a different um, those are different jobs. And so the realtor, he's the expert, let's say, in in homes and buying. That's his niche, that's her niche, that's what, that's her wheelhouse. She's not necessarily, they're not necessarily going to be the producer. They might not be great on camera, they may not be great on audio. I don't want to take the time to learn how to figure out how to edit. But if you're so inclined, get um GarageBand. It's a it's a simple platform and it's not a knock to Android users, but it I can use it on my phone, I can use it on my iPad, or I could use it on my um my laptop or desktop. It's it's seamless. So I I can record an episode um and then you're you're editing it in in Garage Band. If you shot a video, um, you can extract the audio and it just then convert that audio into an uh convert that video into an audio file and then upload that and then you're off to the races.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

How much I guess my next question is like, how much effort should a beginner podcaster put into editing? Could it just be something as simple where they just open up Garage Band, set up a track, record the podcast, make some slight cuts, or is it something where they should really get into the nitty-gritty details right off the bat of like making sure that the sound is okay, you know, making sure that some of the white noise is out, maybe making sure some of the echo is out of there in the post-production.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah, I mean, you can do a zoom if you if you're into into that, or if you want to sit down, you're having a person, you're recording it. Um, you've got like top of the line equipment here. And so once you have that set, you're you're good. The where I would go back to and and where I sort of encourage people is spending the time on the front end. Like, what is this show gonna be about? Like, why should the audience, if you're looking at the analytics and you're looking at like you really want to produce this, then it's you've got to have a team trying to do it by yourself. It can be done. I've done it a um a number of years by myself, and you realize, oh, now I'm I'm switching hats because now I'm on the phone, I'm on the mic, and I'm talking. And then you know you're you're a booking agent. You you're going to get the guess. Yeah. And now you're navigating, somebody is doing the show notes.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

It's like, it's actually interesting you kind of mentioned that because I guess, like for this series in particular, share your bridgeport voice. Uh, I guess I am the booking agent, right? Like I found you, I found my other guests. You know, I we're doing the recording right now, we're talking about podcasting. Um, and then I have one other guy who's doing a phenomenal job editing it, but even that seems like a lot of work, right? Like, I didn't like a lot of people just think it's so easy to particularly I I like the part where you said like it's difficult to even get guests because uh a lot of people just think it's like so easy, like, oh, you can just contact anybody to be a guest. But there are people who aren't gonna be exactly comfortable talking on a microphone. They're not gonna be, you know, there's gonna be people that like the conversation's not gonna flow. So like when I'm thinking about who to who to get as a guest, I gotta think about like, you know, is that person gonna be willing just to kind of talk off the fly, right? Like kind of what we're doing right now. We have a script over here, but we're not even using that script. The conversation's just flowing. So is when you're choosing your guests for any, you know, or when you're teaching people how to do podcasting, um, do you have any tips for what they should primarily think about when they're choosing their own guests?

Storytelling Before Any Guest Booking

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Be even before we get to like the guest part, what I focus on is with with young people is the storytelling. Right? I'm I'm fascinated about young people and helping them tap into their imagination. Like the person that you're seeing now is not the I was this nerdy kid, used to hang out in the library, you know, racing to the Rubik's Cube. Um, it was not something I wasn't, you know, it was trying to find your identity and your space in this world or your voice. And so if you don't have that, then or not even the words, then what do you say? You just kind of quiet, you know, you might get paid.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

And that's the part that you want to avoid, I think, when you're doing a podcast, right? Because it's like that awkward silence. It's like, well, it's not just the silence itself is awkward, but like, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you're conveying to the audience that you weren't prepared.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Yeah, well, they can tell, you know, like as the in my role as like the pod doctor, you can tell when like you you're diagnosing the show, right? So I don't you may not have access to um I may not have access in most cases to like their their um analytics on the back end. Um but if you're listening to a show, you can tell when something makes sense, when when the when the guest was prepared, when the host was prepared, or you can tell and you can tell when they when it was just thrown together. Yeah, you know. Um yeah, the audience can tell. And so they after a while, if they if they like your personality, they like you know what you're doing and they enjoy that, they'll run with it. But if it's something like uh, you know, I want I want a storyline, I want, I want something, um, and I was talking about helping young people find their voice, is finding helping them find out their identity, right? So through story or through writing, and then making a library a cool place. Um so that's that's part of my my reasoning for doing it because there's a lot of um, you know, with sports, people have time to go out to play ball and whether it's baseball, football, basketball, all the sports, okay. But what about that kid that, you know, may not be so athletic, right? What's what's for them? They might be quiet, um, they might enjoy audio, they might like telling stories. How do we get them to sit down and be still and find some time away from the screen and um tap into what's in between the ears and then put that on paper? You know, that that's fascinating to me. So that's what that's what um attracts me to the work.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

So I guess I have like two questions that I want to follow up with then. Um, you know, number one, right? You mentioned that there are kids, right, who might not be athletic and but who have a story to tell.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

So what can we as a community do to provide access for those kids to get those stories out, right? So that they have a space where they can explore their own passion, you know, compared to, you know, other because like athletic kids, there's always tons of sports teams and after-school activities they can do. But for something like podcasting, though, maybe a kid who has a story to tell, that might not be readily available. So what can we as a community do to give those kids the same opportunities that somebody who might want to be a baseball

Community Access And Early Analytics

SPEAKER_00 12:53

player can get? And the second question I have is you mentioned a lot about analytics. How much should a new podcaster pay, you know, how much attention should a new podcaster pay to their analytics and how should they craft their show and respond to what they're seeing on the analytics side?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

You guys are doing it at the library, right? You've got a space and you didn't skimp on equipment. Um I'm quite proud of that, actually. Yeah, you know, so it's that's the start, right? And now it's attracting them and making it accessible and open and interesting. Like, oh, this is something that I should do. So I'll be bringing a um a program to the main library downtown. Um for the last five years, I've been in Cardinal Sheehan Center, been at the Lighthouse, the Q House, Leap in New Haven, and Q House is in New Haven as well. And um And just being there. So there are organizations who recognize the value of storytelling. Their businesses recognize the value of storytelling, right? Everybody's talking about storytelling. You think, you know, you do a search for for books, and there's tons of information out there about stories adults are getting comfortable, whether it's a story like the morph style presentations you have, you have those um those types of shows and those types of venues for adults, but what is there for for kids? And so to be able to provide opportunity for them so they can get familiar with it, um, is the start. That's that's what it that's what it's about. I think adults might be ruining podcasting, some of them. When you think of it's just chit, some of it's just chit chat, right? Uh but the storyline, and that's okay, if that's what you're into, fine. But there's like I'm not I'm not gonna I'm not tuning into something unless it like I have a specific interest, right? And then I would used to drive Uber, um, and I would spend hours on the road listening to podcasts, This American Life or Different Storylines. Uh, you know, it's like, oh, this is a show and it's dramatic podcast. It's like, oh, this is something that I'm interested in, you know. So whether it's an audiobook, um something that that that's gonna hold my attention. And so when people talk about, you know, you don't have you know shortened attention spans, people pay attention to what they're interested in. You know, so if you make it interesting, then then um they'll tune in. And the second part of the is the the ant to your question is um the analytics. I wouldn't worry about the analytics at first. Like if you don't have if you haven't figured out like why, why do I want to do a podcast? Do I just want to be seen? Am I looking for transformation? Is it a transaction? Everyone else has one. Um and so I feel like I should have one too. Uh if I'm if that's the case, if you haven't figured out your why, the analytics are going to um may become depressing, you know, because you know, men lie, women lie, numbers don't lie. And so looking at the numbers, you may you may throw your hands up and walk away from and say, ah man, this is I'm not gonna turn on this. Why should I even bother? This is yeah, it's if it's if you're looking for a quick money grab, there's better ways to uh to do it than than getting into podcasting because it's not it's not a quick game, you know, it's not a game, it's it's a business, it's a you know, it's people's livelihoods.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Right. Like actually, I do feel that some people try to just rush in and get into podcasting because they want to make a lot of money. But to me, I not that I want to necessarily knock on people who are doing that, but I feel like initially getting into it, that might be the wrong

Money Motives And Treating It Seriously

SPEAKER_00 16:25

reason. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. But if there was somebody that was interested in, you know, getting into pod, like trying to make some money off of podcasting, are there any tips that you could give them? You know, is it mainly just a case of like just stay persistent, just try to keep pumping out content? Or is there something more that they have to do?

SPEAKER_01 16:41

I would do my research. I would do my research on the front end of like why why am I getting into this? Right? Why, why, if if your why isn't strong enough, then that somewhere along the line you're gonna you're gonna give it a lot of people. I don't know the stats. Um well a lot of people start and don't even get to a hundred episodes. You know, they realize like, oh, this is this is a lot. But if you're going about it, then I would approach it like a like a business. It's it's I have to do there are different roles. If I've got the resources that I'm outsourcing, the editing, I'm outsourcing the videography. That way I don't have to think about oh man, I I gotta I gotta do this. Cause now you're switching, you know, we're not multitasking is a bit you you you're not you need to be able to focus on the thing that you're doing, and it's a craft, right? You're communicating, you're sharing a story with someone, and now you gotta figure out like how do I why am I doing this? You know, why am I doing this if I really want to impact some people and then how do I promote the show? Right? Who else may um be interested in in aligning themselves with the work that I'm doing? Right? If it's now I've got to advertise it, right? I've got a market, branding, you know, you there's there's a lot of roles that's involved in it.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

You know, everything you just said, like the reason kind of why I'm like nodding and I'm just like, okay, wow. Because like at first I was just thinking it's like, okay, you do the recording, then you edit it. Maybe you spend some time finding guests. But now that you've opened up the can of worms for branding and advertising and promoting, how much work is that? Where can somebody even get started to promote their podcast, right? To try to attract more viewers.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Yeah. You you think of people don't like rejection, right? So the idea of no, like I don't know, you come knocking on my door. I I'd like you to be a sponsor. A sponsor of what? Like I just started. So people are gonna look at numbers. Now you say, we just started. Why would I be giving you money? Now you but you you have the proof of concept. It's like, okay, that can be discouraging because there's that in, right? Somebody is gonna send you money. There if something is if there's a something in it for them, then they're down. But until you prove that there is um that this is a worthwhile endeavor, nobody's gonna tune in. Right? Un until it and even they'll tune in even to if it's nonsense. If there's a tension there, then it becomes, oh, okay, so we could make some money possibly by um we get some eyeballs on our product, on our cause, because they have eyeballs. And that becomes that game. So now it's it's networking, right? Because you may have I'm gonna go on somebody's show, they're gonna come on my show, and I get to borrow and leverage their audience and their relationships, and they'll they'll do it that way. But that's a that's a full-time endeavor, right? Because now you have to go and and listen to the to their their show to kind of get a feel for what are they what are they like? I don't know this guy, what is he like? We've spoken before, so I'm like, okay, sure. You know, this is this is but if I didn't know you, if we hadn't met, then I'm like, who is this? Who's this random guy just inviting me to a podcast? Yeah, and then he's like, nah, you're gonna do your duty. Yeah, it's gonna be that response. Like, what? Who I don't I don't know this person, and so that's what they that's what you think about the number of um emails people get and the responses, like that person who is the booking agent, and I've got a have a sheet that I'm gonna be sending out to to someone, right? Like I wanted to get I remember when I I wanted to get this guest um on on the show. She's the author of Out on the Wire, and it's it's she's a she's uh an artist, right? But she she wrote this podcasting book with um Ira Glass. So it's a full book, dope, dope resource. And so she has people. I don't have people. I contacted her person, he said, just shoot her your calendarly link. And I'm like, okay, I didn't have calendarly, I don't know what calendarly is, it's a booking. So I'm like, oh, okay, now I gotta go search out calendarly. Oh, I need to download this. Game changer. I send the link, they pick the date. Wow, I don't have to the back and forth. Yeah, oh, oh, okay, that was a change. But if you're doing it manually, imagine doing it manually and you don't know and like what resources are out there to book a guest. Now you somebody has to vet the guess. Is this in alignment with with what I'm um what I believe? And if it's not, then then it becomes excuse me, then it becomes like, why am I um I don't I don't know who this person is.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

I don't I guess like one of the things like when you're trying to actually start a podcast, and one of the things that I'm starting to realize is it is it seems like a lot of work, right? Like what you're describing seems like easily more than 40 hours a week that you're gonna be putting into this. Yeah. And it takes and it's gonna take a lot of like learning about a lot of creative resources too, right? Like, you know, we corresponded over email, but as you just as you kind of just demonstrated though, like that might not be the best form of communication because people's inboxes can have hundreds of thousands of emails in them. It's gonna be Missed. Yeah. You know, but then you mentioned something like some booking software like that, right? Well, you know, Microsoft also has like Microsoft booking that I've been seeing people do, right? So is that an avenue that people should really consider, you know, adopting that kind of technology if they really want to try to simplify all the work that goes into even all that work that goes into before you even get behind the microphone?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Yeah. Anything that's going to limit the amount of time, the checking, the corresponding, I got to send out a message, I got to read it, I got to, they can decide. They can decide at on at their leisure. Cool. Once they do that, then um I think at one point it was a link that I could um attach to Zoom. I don't do Zoom anymore because I never know where to look. And then it's not, I like the the personal meeting. Um so then it was just okay. So if it's Zoom, it would link directly to Zoom, it would book it on the calendar, and I don't have to think about it. Anything that's going to remove you actually having to think about doing something, I would I would suggest do that. You know?

SPEAKER_00 22:58

What do you think?

Rejection Lessons From The Road

SPEAKER_00 22:59

I have to ask, like, what was the biggest obstacle for you to build up your own podcast and your own podcast education?

SPEAKER_01 23:07

The biggest obstacle was nose, like in finding out like what the what the audience was. Like when I started I was doing these weekly race recaps, right, for the running and endurance community. So I would every week I would write a song, I would create the the track and garage band, um, and it was about running. And then I would uh lay the vocals, create the beat, and then find video and uh pictures of runners from around the world. And this sister who I've never met to this day was Texas, she was like, You should do a podcast. And I thought about podcasting like 07. Uh I was a senior center manager for FedEx Kinkos at the time, and they used to send us these CDs, training CDs. I'm like, why don't we just do a podcast? It would just be simple, you don't have to worry about the shipping. I know you got the shipping because you're FedEx, but somebody's got to burn these CDs and you got to distribute them to, you know, 1100 locations. It just would be easier to record it once and then be done with it. So I had kind of like an aversion of the podcast and afterwards, but she kept saying, You should you should do a podcast, you should do a podcast. And I started um, I said, okay, you know, in my car behind the wheel. And I interviewed a guy. He would sit, um, he was in Atlanta, the first guest. And I think at the time Anchor was around. They've since been, you know, Spotify purchased them for something like 250 million. Uh so I was using Anchor. I had my uh airpiece in and I had my phone recording me. Uh and I told him, you know, you're gonna need a phone to record you, and we're gonna talk on a phone. And then he would send me the video, and then I would have to sync the video together. And this is this was my I didn't, I wasn't aware of Zoom. And so this is what I was doing. Just and then you think about the the obstacles. And I I wanted to do a show where I was interviewing, I was gonna go across country and interview different runners and athletes and then do a you know cross-country show. And so trying to pitch that idea, I thought it was a great idea, right? Car broke down, a lot of hurdles and setbacks didn't happen. I didn't get across, you know. I got somebody to like donate like um some uh like some noon. If you're familiar with noon, it's like the hydration tablets or what have you. Yeah. And I was like, okay, yeah, but the buy-in, I thought I was gonna get the buy-in, um, but I didn't. And that was discouraging. But I was committed to, you know, the process. It's uh didn't happen. Um, I was trying to pitch Google PRX, had a a um a couple of contests, I applied like three times, got rejected. And so you just keep going. And after a while, that's how I came across um out on out on the wire, because it was one of the resources, you know. So you go and you're finding out, say, oh, we don't like this idea. And but um here's some resources. Um because you're learning, right? It's trying to figure out is this the audience that I should be talking to, or is is this the audience? And one of the during one of the weekly race recaps, and I did this for like two years, right? Writing a song, producing it, releasing it every every every week. Right. So marathoners do this thing where they they run and then they get participation medals, and then they post these participation medals on a Monday. Right. So they race on train all week, they run on Saturday and uh Sunday, unless it's the Boston Marathon, which is usually like on a Monday. Right. And um then they post about it. And so you have like a habit loop. They were gonna look to see themselves. And so I create just kind of fed into that loop, and they have different running in running group, understanding like the demographic, who your audience is, would help because then you know who exactly are you talking to, like who's what message are you gonna be putting out there? Is it gonna resonate with that audience? They were tuning in to see themselves, they weren't tuning in to to like the lyrics. I'm like, I'm not an artist, but it was you go through the process of writing and you realize, like, oh, this is something that this is a habit, this is a routine, but it's not necessarily for this audience, right? And so one of the tracks was um I was fascinated for rectangle box and I was a boy playing with toys. Voices came out. Yo, how'd they do that? Stupid me, curious to me, Jesus, are you serious? Yeah, I thought I was a genius, so I took a Phillips screwdriver. And I, you know, a rectangle box, right? Took a Phillips screwdriver, took the screws out the back to peek inside and see what was inside. It all looked strange to me. That became, that was like 2016. That's part of a children's book now. Really? Yeah. Awesome. So when I when I'm standing in front of the kids and I'm saying, I was fascinated with a rectangle box. One of the girls said, That sounds like a song. I was like, funny thing you should say that because it is a song. It started off as a song, and then there's principles that you could apply, right? Everything starts in seed form and then grows into an experience. And then they say, Everything starts in seed form, everything starts in seed form and grows into an experience and grows into an experience. And then they see it. Oh, this started as a song, and now it's an actual children's book. You can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles. And I'm standing there with a um a cassette player that I got from the Goodwill, realistic.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

So I don't remember if you remember Radio Shack?

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm not that old, but I'm young. Oh wow. I'm sorry. I'm only 31, man. You don't remember Radio Shack? I remember Radio Shack and Ralph.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

Yeah, and we had remember Circuit City? Circuit City, yes, and we had Circuit City too. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

So like I like, yeah, okay. Was I was I an adult when the cassette came out? No, but I remember what the cassettes were because I used to like take out all the film and try to like ruin my parents' cassette tapes. Or we used to have tape recorders, so my parents would spend all this money on like newer technology.

SPEAKER_03 29:06

Yeah, so they would they would spend money on a whole bunch of cassettes, and then I would I would take the cassette, put in the tape recorder, uh-huh and then record over the song. Like, oh my god. That's criminal, man. Listen, I was a kid. You can't you can't blame me.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

Get it solved. Get it fast. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. But like, you know, in a lot of the stories that you told me, there's a couple important things that I want

Growth Mindset For Tough Feedback

SPEAKER_00 29:30

to highlight. Number one is like the theme of when you do a podcast, it is not going to be easy, right?

SPEAKER_05 29:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

You're gonna have many good ideas that you think are great, but that other people are gonna say no to. So, my first question to that would be when you are rejected, how how do you respond to that in a positive way, right? Like, do you go back to the drawing board and maybe try to think of something completely different? Or do you try to rework what the initial premise behind that idea was and maybe do some tweaks? And then the other thing is you mentioned something about the importance of knowing your audience. How do you tail your podcast to target that particular audience and to respond to the needs of that audience? And then if you do want to eventually expand, what do you do with the content to go beyond that initial audience? Like keep that core audience there, but try to attract maybe some of those fringe people that you're not reaching currently.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

I have a um a growth mindset, right? So initially, like somebody would say things and it then it would, I would respond, like I'm gonna show you, right? That's that's just I'm just using like the hate as gas, as fuel, right? But that's like, why would you, if you consider yourself a a a premium individual, you wouldn't pull up to a gas station with a luxury vehicle and put regular in it. Right? So regular is it's just no, but it may get you going, it will get you to the destination, but it's not that's not the best choice. Um so understanding, okay, like I got a growth mindset then, okay, what part of this is true? Right. And if they're rejecting the idea, you're separating the them rejecting the I the concept and and and me. Like I'm not the I'm not the idea. I'm not that's a thought, right? I could I could exist, I could get another thought. You know, I can I may need to tweak it. You know, I'm not a golfer. Somebody mentioned something about Tiger Woods once, and um he has these trainers, and sometimes there's just a small tweak in his you know swing that he that he'd have to make. So it's a minor adjustment. Okay, so then this is not for that audience. Maybe I need to be going in this direction and not, you know, teaching because those who can do and those who can't teach. I could do both. But the idea is understand, oh, so the audience is um would be those those people who are actually interested in serving young people. Right. And how do you translate a message to uh that audience? And how do you then uh reach uh young people? Like if you can't, if there's no bridge, if you're not able to make traverse that bridge, then what happens? Like you've got this great uh uh studio, we've got this great stuff, but if we can't reach young people, then that's a problem. And if you've demonstrated, yo, this is something that I'm able to do, not because you know toot my own home, it's just it's just something that I've lived. You know, I've I I've I've I started my career in in the specialist department in Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn. Spent four years working with my mentor, Mr. Mickins, and he he had this idea that um it doesn't have to be this way, right? Crack epidemic, I'm telling my age, yes, I'm old, but it's okay, it beats the alternative. And he had this idea that, no, this is this is this is my school, this is our kids, these are our kids, and it doesn't have to be this way, right? You're not gonna be able to sell drugs outside of my school. And in fact, I want the cops out here to help provide security. And this is he's not a punk, and you know, real recognized real, so people know, okay, that's Mick. He's a basketball coach, this is what he's about. We're gonna do whatever we want to do, but we're not gonna be able to do it over here, right? So he had before Boys and Girls High School had metal detectors, he would check bags, right? So you you you you'd have to get like going through the airport, that's what he would do. He you'd have to open up or you're at yeah, or you're at a concert. He would make sure, like, you're not coming in here with a weapon because I want to protect. So that's what I witnessed, that's what I saw. And so after spending four years there, and I went to high school. I don't remember what my principal looked like, but I remember what um Mick looks like because I spent four years working directly with him. Right? And so now you go over to East New York, Brownsville, which is a different section of Brooklyn, hardcore, you know, and this is again during that time frame, you're you're knocking on doors. Now I'm I'm doing casework and outreach work, and then become a case manager. And so you're in the homes, you're talking with families, with parents, and you're seeing how someone lives, right? And so it's different than they're coming here. You're actually going there. So now you you help them to kind of form and shape like the full picture of like what what are they what do they got going on? Right? You I don't know what you what was it like for you growing up?

A Librarian’s Story Of Belonging

SPEAKER_00 34:22

I mean, I got into a lot of trouble when I was a kid. So, like for me, like back in middle school, right? Like the hardest thing for me was to fit in. Right. Because like, you know, I went to a private school. So I basically we had a small class and you were with that class for like all like kindergarten all the way through eighth grade. Now I joined in the fourth grade. Fourth grade was terrible. I got picked on, I got bullied because I was a new kid and I didn't know how to fit in. Um, and then like fifths and sixth grade were they kind of weren't too bad for me when I was growing up. But seventh grade was like, you know, you got all the everybody, you got all the hormones running, right? So like all of a sudden now, us guys, we were trying to impress like the girls in the class. So then now I was getting to some real stupid stuff, like throwing stuff at the fans, trying to actually oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

This is true confessions.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

Yeah. Okay. So this is gonna be ironic because I'm a librarian, but the seventh grade, we used to do this real dumb thing. Remember those IBM computers? So like they would have like kind of the disk drives in them, and they would have all these cords, and like you'd have the speaker set up. So do you know what we decided was a great way to impress the girls? We would beat up the computers.

SPEAKER_04 35:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

So what we literally did is that we would punch the computers, we would take the sides off, we would put wet paper towels in there to short circuit them.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

I decided to cut the wire on the speaker and then brag to the girl that I had a crush on that I did it. It didn't work, by the way. Yeah, and I got zero dates out of that. Um but like it comes back to the idea of like for me, it was the most important thing for me growing up was trying to fit in. But in exchange, I did these really dumb things that now that I look back on as an adult, I really regret. But that's because I was afraid of rejection, right? Like going back to that theme of like rejection and trying to fit in in order to overcome that fear of rejection. Um, I wish I was a better kid. I I still did okay for my I I would I would at least hope that I did okay for myself. In fact, in the eighth grade, I know your mom is pro uh yeah. Oh, did you see that episode actually on the channel 12? I do my research, man. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, yeah, I I gave I put my mom through the ringer, man. Okay. Um and then what happened is after the seventh grade it was a real tough time because my best friend left. He went to a different school. So they ended up actually like the two, we so there was two private schools. I went to Sacred Heart, which no longer exists actually in Danbury, and then my um and then there was St. Peter's. St. Peter's is a very historic Catholic school down there. So they merged them together to try to save St. Peter's. And so I moved to St. Peter's for the eighth grade. He left. And so the I I really, really try to fit in even more because now all of a sudden I lost my best friend. Um, and so then things got really bad to the point where like Danbury Library was right next to the school that I went to. So remember how we used to beat up computers? Well, I decided to go to Danbury Library. And, you know, they had they have a very nice children's section there. And you know what I did to the computers there with a couple of friends? We beat them up. I got banned. I got banned from the library. Now, years and years later, I I think maybe around um well, my mom's gonna kill me, but it was she encouraged me to volunteer. Was it around 2000, before COVID? So I would say probably 2019, I started to get serious about like going from a master's in library sciences. So I finally got in 2022. And guess where my first library job was? The place you got banned? Yeah, Danbury Library. And you know what's even crazier, by the way, is one of the first days that I was there, I go to train and like working in the children's section. And the guess who the children's librarian was. The one who banned you guys?

SPEAKER_03 38:22

She was like, It's you. I remember you. She's like, What are you doing here? I'm well, I'm a librarian.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

She's like, Oh, okay, well, the same things you did to me, it's gonna happen to you too. So yeah, so a few years later, so like a few months later, right? I actually got the job here in Bridgeport full-time. And so we had, we had our own neighborhood teens, actually, teens actually that lived by here, they would come. And, you know, they well, they didn't beat up computers, so that was good. But, you know, they were teens, they were acting out, they were, they were causing trouble, they were getting ruckus. And so then I have to go and be like, you know, you can't use that language here. You have to keep your voices down, you know, all those kinds of things. And then you know what I realized at the time?

SPEAKER_05 39:07

What?

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Yeah, that children's librarian was right. Now I know what it's like to be on the other side. But it really got me thinking, though, like, why did I act that way in the first place? And it was because of like what I mentioned, the fear of rejection. And then trying to fit in so bad to overcome that fear of rejection. Maybe if I had curated a just a better mindset about myself or built up more self-esteem back then, I wouldn't have done those stupid things as a kid.

SPEAKER_05 39:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

But now that I look back on it, I am not afraid of rejection anymore, right? Like if I have an idea and somebody says no to it, if the way that I internalize it is up to me. If I want to internalize in a negative way and then try to do stupid things like I did as a kid, that's on me. But if I internalize it as like, well, so, you know, if somebody rejects you, ask why. Ask what they think is bad about the idea. And that's just not a lesson for podcasting, I feel. I feel like that's a lesson for life. Like, you know, I'm starting out as a librarian, right? I have a lot of people that have been doing this job for a lot longer than me that give me feedback. And they tell me all the time that maybe what you're doing right now isn't the right thing, but there's a better way to do it. I ask why? And I listen to them. And I listen to them because they've been doing it for so much longer than me, and they know what works and they know what doesn't. So I guess I don't know if I feel like I'm rambling here, but I feel like it's I feel like there is also a sense of humility, right? That comes with you know, overcoming the fear of rejection. It's to understand that when somebody is rejecting you, when somebody is saying no to you, it is not that they are necessarily slighting against you as a person, you know, right, or saying that you aren't capable of having a great idea or doing something great. It is that, you know, you are not, you know, you exactly haven't been doing it for long enough, or there's not a lot of life experience, but you can get that, but you need to listen.

SPEAKER_04 40:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

I kind of wish I listened as a kid, to be honest. Yeah. But then again, I'm like what, 12?

SPEAKER_01 41:04

That's what we are. And so starting my my starting earlier, whether it's in the classroom, whether it's at the library or an after-school program at the Shein or at Leap or at the Q house, it's helping young people find their voice, find their identity, right?

Branding Means Stop Trying To Fit

SPEAKER_01 41:22

What's interesting is kept mentioning this thing about trying to fit in. So when you think about branding and marketing, um, we're told, you know, if you if you pay attention and you answer all the right questions and you sit still and and you fit in, it's a good thing. Now, if you have a product and you have a brand and you're trying to fit in, it's the worst thing possible. Because if you're like everybody else, you just become invincible. And so trying to if you but if you know who you are and why am I doing this, then you're gonna be able to handle like what life throws at you because you have a sense of you know self-worth and you're not gonna internalize it. It's a two-way street, like mentorship, leadership, you know. Somebody's been doing something for a number of years, they have experience, right? They might be out of touch with like what's happening right now. So that's an advantage. So there's some things, it's a two-way street. You have things that you can offer to them. There are things that you could offer to me, like your your experience. And I think about people think about their T's, right? Their talents, their experiences, their abilities and skills, and all these things that we accumulate over time become helpful. Um and those experiences help to shape who you were, right? And so now I don't have to necessarily experience what you went through. I can say, like you said, listen, but it comes with a sense of humility. You know what? Okay. Um and having a filter, like, okay, I'm I'm gonna listen, I'm gonna take what I can from it. Um, if it applies, if it doesn't apply, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna take it personal. I'll listen. Some people, some adults um take you not applying all the things that they say to you as you're not listening. My one of my mentors said, you know, uh read two books and then make up your own mind. You know, so you just if we just take everything, we want people to, we want kids to, you know, think about critical thinking. But then so now if I'm deciding that because now I'm doing my critical thinking, I'm thinking about what you said, um and I'm watching what you do, and if those two things don't align, even as a kid, I know I don't know the word for it, but I know you said, and they'll call you on it. And I remember watching adults do stuff and then you told me to do this, but you're not doing it. Don't do as I say, what do they tell you? Don't do as I say, do as I say, do, or whatever it is. Yeah, it's it doesn't make sense, but there's a word for it. It's called hypocrite.

SPEAKER_03 43:52

And you're hypocrite, you know, so now I hear that phrase so many times, and that's the first thing I think of too.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

Yeah, and so kids know they don't know. They don't know the word for it, but internally, something doesn't jive. They know something ain't right. You just told me not to do this, and you just did it.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

And that's the thing. When you're 12 years old, you're smart enough to realize, like, wait a minute. Yeah. So you're telling me I have to act the way that you tell me to, but then you do something completely different. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

That don't make no sense. No.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

Does it?

SPEAKER_01 44:17

You watch, I watch, I was on my bike, um, and I'm driving, you know, you at a stop sign you or a light, and I look over there as a mom. She's got a child in the back, and she's on her phone. And I'm looking, I'm like, come on. Not in, I guess it's sort of like judgment. Like, so I couldn't imagine, like, I'm looking over, she's on her phone and driving. There's a kid in the back in a car seat. Now I couldn't imagine you getting into an accident and your partner is like, and the like, what happened? Or something happens and now you have to live with that on your mind. Like, it's because of me being on my cell phone that I had this accident and now I don't have my child. That's a lot of weight. It's kind of a dark story. But anyhow, it's reality. You know, and so you don't you don't want that to happen. And this, you know, you I've seen older people. The addiction is real. You know, so if getting young people to think about how do I manage that component? How do I, you know, deal with bullying? How do I deal with fitting in? And and so some things are just showing or telling. And I think showing and having access to people like yourself who can, oh, how do I use this? And then being open to have a conversation rather than wagging your finger at people, they might um, they might listen.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Well, and like now that I look back to the way that I sort of like grew up, right? And, you know, we mentioned earlier at the start of this episode that you have kids that are gonna be athletic and they have the resources to explore that athleticism. But you have kids that are, you know, they're gonna have interests that they can't, they can't show through a sport. They need a platform to tell their story, to talk about why it is that they're interested in doing. And so I look back onto myself and like, I wonder, was I one of those kids? So what I really liked in the seventh and the eighth grade was I loved reading history. So I would read like the history textbooks before like we even were assigned to do them. I would, you know, we had the internet. So broadband at least still exists. I was able to go on the internet, I'd read like EnCarta articles and like all of these things, but I didn't really have a platform for me to really talk about like what I found so interesting about history or tell my own story. Right. Nor did I actually, now that I think about it too, nor did I really have a mentor who could have provided me those spaces. So, you know, as we're talking about young people on this episode and the importance for them to tell their stories and why podcasting can be a way for them to tell that story, how important is mentorship really at that age, especially like at ages 11, 12, 13, 14, where they might feel a little bit misunderstood.

Mentorship That Changes A Life

SPEAKER_01 47:00

It's it's it's critical. Um, my one of my early mentors was a neighbor who happened to be a librarian, Miss Harris. It's because of Miss Harris that I have my driver's license. Miss Harris would find stuff for me to do. Um, and she taught me more by um me asking, she encouraged me to ask questions. You know, as a kid, you just ask questions, right? And in her in Brooklyn, in the front yard, she owned her home. We didn't own our um our home. She had a car, neither one of my parents drove. And so um you know, I'm outside in front of her yard, and you know, she had a rose bush. She said she wanted to grow them, but she was pruning, she was clipping them. So if you why are you cutting the and so she would explain what she was doing. She was patient. You cut it because then it's gonna cause the roots to go down deeper. Oh, okay. I remember this. All right, fine. You know, she shoveled snow. You know, she had snow outside, we didn't own our home. She had a shovel, so there was no reason for us to have a shovel. I would go and and shovel her snow. And then she said, You should go next door and ask Miss Adams. But you gotta figure out what the price is gonna be because you don't want someone to take advantage of you. Like, what should you charge? I don't know what to charge. What do you think it's worth? What is your time worth? So there would be lessons, right? She'd had, you know, cleaning her windows. You could mix this product with this, and you get the newspaper. Why am I using the newspaper? Because the ink in the newspaper helps to keep the and it's like, oh, okay, all these homemade remedies, right? And so she would let me she she would let me explore my creativity. I painted and I would go to my father on a Saturday to paint. I was watching him under his tulips. When I felt like I could do it on my own, Miss Harris let me experiment in her home. Right? I bring my dad by and you know, to check out the the what the work that I had done. And so he comes in, you know, I introduced him to Miss Harris. He knows Miss Harris, but they never he's he's never been in her home before. But she she knows he knows that his son is spending time there and he's doing this work. Now he comes and he looks in the hallway. He's not saying anything. He's looking like, okay, everything, the line, the lines edging was right, right? I said, What do you think? He's just quiet. I think you should have put a drop cloth down. Miss Harris never said there's paint all over the floor. She never mentioned, she never said anything to me about like the paint, you ruined my, we're gonna pull Loleum down. Then that that was gonna be the next project. That's what she said. I'm not worried about the floor, it's gonna be the next project. But the freedom to explore, like so with her guidance, with her, you know, go get the you're gonna need your license. I was like, why? My parents don't drive, you're gonna need your license, go and get the book. She didn't go get the book for me. She told me where to go get the book. I got the book, and when you're ready, I'm gonna let you use my car and I'm gonna drive you to get your license. So because of her, this adult taking time to to listen, to provide an environment, you know, not giving you answers, Miss Harris kept it above. She smoked. Miss Harris, you didn't even finish that cigarette. Then you then she was a chain smoker. But it just gave me like she was like, Don't don't worry about what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

What is it that phrase again? Like, what is it, do as I say, not what I do?

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Yeah, yeah. But she she she let me know she wasn't she wasn't trying to prevent, present like this perfect persona. She cared. And people knew that I hung out with Miss Harris. They thought Miss Harris was my mom. They see me with Miss Harris more than anything else, so they kind of looked out for Miss Harris. Miss Harris knew that, you know, she she took pride. She didn't have kids. Um, and in Brooklyn they would have uh block parties. There was no interest, there was no need for her to be advocating for a block party because she didn't have kids. And why would she do that? But she she wanted to provide an environment where the kids could play in the street without fear of getting hit by the bus. The B-26 ran up and down our block. Right. And I knew when there was a shift in the community, um, one day when my best friend, who's no longer here, you know, he was in the street playing, and Miss Harris said, get out the street. He went inside and told his his um mom and his grandmother, I got out the street because I didn't want any heat. I know if I if she says something to my mom, I'm gonna get beat by my mother. My mother's gonna tell my father, and I would say, Mommy, if you don't say anything, daddy daddy won't even know. We could just keep this between me and you. Ronald's mother and grandmother came outside, don't be telling what they went off. I was like, oh wow. And in my mind, it's just it just made sense. Like she was concerned. Like there's this abandoned lot that should be a garden, or you should do something productive with it. So tying that that sense of community was important. You know, so that long answer to um your mentors are important because if you don't see it, you won't even know what's possible. Like I could be a mentor, I could be a librarian, I could be an entrepreneur, I could be, I could be a barber. Like this guy, Axel, you know, he's got a barber shop here, and he has a beauty and supply store. So um another friend who's he's got the runs the largest barber expo in the world. Barber Expo here in Connecticut. People try fly him out all over the country to talk about barbering. So how does how does somebody do that? How do you tell that story, his story, right? Because now you see, oh, he's from where I'm from. It unless you what's possible, right? You get to think like, oh, this is this is possible. If I don't if I don't ever see it, like you won't even know that this is this is a thing. The first time I went to New York City, I'm like, it's an influx of like sensory overloads, like all these lights, taxis, but you see a world of possibility. You you can kind of get to see um mentors are critical, and then but it's it's mentorship up and then it's mentorship from bottom up as well, because you know, that's why they bring in the new people, you know, to organizations, and then you have older folks who may get forced out because it it costs them less to employ uh someone um someone

Building Bridges Through The Library

SPEAKER_01 53:15

older.

SPEAKER_00 53:15

So what are some of the ways though that we you know, like some people they find mentors by luck, right? Some people just naturally have mentors in their lives. But for those kids that might not have the luck to have one naturally in their life, what can we do as members of the community, right? As like adults to make sure that every kid at least has a chance to get the same, you know, to get a Miss Harris, right, in their life. Um, is there anything that we can do better? Is there anything that we can do at all to make sure that everybody has access to a mentor?

SPEAKER_01 53:42

Like through through your relationships, through the network, what I realized through the network and the running community was you had a running in triathlon sports. I mean, especially triathlon, you think about three three disciplines the swim, the bike, the run. So these are high-performing individuals and they're doing this. They're not all professional triathletes. Um, they're doing this uh as on the side with their and it's an expensive sport. So they're high performing individuals, how do you balance that into your life? So now you think about doctors, lawyers, gynecologists, you know, I've I've entrepreneurs, a variety of people say, oh, those are those relationships. So now when I come across a kid who might be interested in being a um an attorney, I got access in my phone, hey, this person might be interested in in this. What should they, what should they be doing? You know, so just tying those relationships together. Then you have people who you meet, you know. Um Miss Wilson, she runs a college tour program here in in Bridgeport, providing access to people who've gone to college and understanding the importance about it. Now you think about the relationships. Everybody doesn't go to college for the same thing. Um, so you have these different people who have done what you're trying to do. They may not be familiar with the latest technology, right? Because you're closer to their age, that's the advantage. Right? That becomes like your hook, staying staying connected. And then that that person then is able to pick up the phone and say, hey, yeah, I got you know, there's a banker. Um, how do you get into that? You know, Calvin from MT Bank. Sometimes he does work at the um, he comes in and speaks to some of the young people at um the Cardinal Sheehan Center. And so so uh a kid seeing someone who looks like them doing a particular thing, they start to say, oh, this is something that maybe I could do, being a bridge builder and not a gatekeeper.

SPEAKER_00 55:38

I think that's actually so important because like a lot of the things that you mentioned, you know, they can be overwhelming because like basically what the world is telling you is that the second that you turn 18, you have to figure out all this stuff on your own, things like taxes and having to apply to college, or maybe, maybe college isn't right for you. Maybe you go to a trade, right? Or having to get something like right, like a driver's license. I think we often underestimate just exactly how much you need to get a driver's license. You need to have somebody that has a car and is willing to teach you, and not a lot of people have access to that, right? Um, and some people are lucky enough in their lives where they might have that guidance in them, but other people they're not. And like a lot, you know, you mentioned relationships, right? I think that, you know, whether we're librarians or entrepreneurs, podcasters, doctors, you know, I feel like that because we made it to where we are, you know, we have an obligation then to create those bridges to forge those relationships with the kids so that they can have the same opportunities too, because it is a tough world to navigate. Yeah. And without those relationships, it's you know, you're you're gonna be working your first job and you're gonna be told you have to file tax by the 15th. Well, nobody taught me how to file taxes. Yeah, I don't know how to do that, right? Um, you know, I guess luckily I had my parents in my life, but you know, and they were able to they were able to help me that. But that goes back to that idea of like I was lucky enough to get that in my life. Somebody, somebody else that would have been born the same time as me, they might not. And they're navigating the same world I am, but with without those relationships that I was fortunate enough to have.

SPEAKER_05 57:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:15

Um, and so I feel like, and the reason why I like feel that these podcast episodes, create, you know, uh having these studios here, right, is at least one of the ways that the library is doing a phenomenal job of creating those relationships, of being bridges and not gatekeepers, right? You know, teens can come in here and you know, not only do they not only would they be able to use these studios, but they have a collection of materials that they can go, right? We have books on like how to navigate the college application product or process, what kind of you know, books that can help them find their careers, right? Um, you know, it really comes down to getting them in here in the first place. Um in it's not even just like the physical materials they have, but also just like the resources as you know, we as people. You know, if they want to ask me, like, hey, I'm you know, I'm uh I'm looking to apply for college, like where what is what is the first that I can do? Like I, as a librarian, can help them do that. Um and that's why I'm proud of the work that I do here, because like I, I and the very talented staff of the Bridgeport Public Library, I mean, we are building those bridges continuously for them. Um and that's like like I said, right? That's why I do this podcast series because I want to really highlight exactly not what I do. I'm not trying to toot my own horn. Um and there are so much more talented people than me in this system. But, you know, it's to really just provide that like, you know, these are the resources that we have, you know, we've, you know, and the these are what we can do for you, right? We are here to be the bridge that you need. Um and that's why I particularly like that's particularly why when I saw you do that workshop actually at Burroughs, like that's why I was interested in bringing you as a guest, because you know, it goes back to like content creation, right? And how to get started in the world of podcasting. Nobody has that knowledge. Yeah. But you're here looking to be the bridge for them to get to that knowledge and hopefully they can tell their own story. And that's what excites me. That personally is what excites me. I mean, I this I guess there's really not much more I can say about that, but just that like I'm excited for like what you know we can do here in Bridgeport. Yeah.

Thanks And Where To Listen Next

SPEAKER_01 59:15

Well, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, it was phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 59:17

Yeah, no, thank you so much for being for taking the time out to come and I feel like that was a great episode. So um Thank you again for this listening to this episode of Share Your Bridgeport Voice and special huge shout out to the pop Dr. Derek Aki for joining me here tonight. Once again, I'm Librarian Andrew Monster. Um please visit our website, www.beachportlibrary.org, to check out future episodes of Share Your Bridgeport Voice as well as episodes of Bridgeport on Matt.