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Authentic Podcasting Lessons from Mark Grimes That Every Beginner Should Hear

• Josh Troche - Pedal Stomper Productions • Season 3 • Episode 5

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What happens when a working-class dad turns life’s challenges into a platform for change? For Mark Grimes, it meant turning his passion for volunteer mental health into Chewing the Crust, a storytelling podcast that’s equal parts grit, growth, and pie.

In this episode, Mark shares how one moment backstage at a Chris Evans radio festival sparked the idea to start a podcast focused on mental health stories, resilience stories, and the everyday experiences that shape us. With no background in broadcasting, he launched a YouTube podcast from his cluttered home office, proving that imperfect action beats perfection paralysis every time.

We explore how Mark uses his natural curiosity and background as a UK podcaster to draw out powerful, human moments through long-form interviews. From dealing with production hiccups to using Riverside editing as a learning tool, Mark’s journey is packed with wisdom for new and seasoned podcasters alike.

We also dig into:

  • Why the best interview tips start with letting people finish
  • How to build human connection without over-editing your guests
  • Why success isn’t measured in downloads
  • How podcasting turned his book into a movement

Whether you're looking for real-world advice on how to start a podcast, improve your interview skills, or connect your content to a deeper mission, this episode delivers the honesty and insight you’ve been craving.



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Some people are just larger than life. Big personalities, lots to say. And those people typically are pretty good at getting the stories from other people. That is exactly what our next guest does. Mark Grimes has a podcast called Chewing the Crust. You're curious now, aren't you? Stay tuned. It's. With me today is Mark Grimes, and Mark is across the pond way at the big pond. Right. Mark is, as we record this, we were just discussing.

It is 2:00. Here it is, 7:

00 there. But your podcast chewing the crust. I love the title of that. It stemmed from the your book, The Pie Eating Man's Guide to a Healthy Mind. First off. I love pie. Pie is like the best thing ever. You're using the the platform to share, like, a lot of unpolished stories. You talk about resilience. You talk about hope. And to me, it's one of the reasons why, like when I first connected with you, I'm like, oh, I we're going to get along. How are things today, Mark? I've had a phenomenal fortnight with regard to my book and the podcast. I love it. I love it. We're going to dive into some of those here. I mean, chewing the crust, it really is. It's a spin off of the book, right. What was the moment where you said, you know, this book needs to be a podcast or or I need to talk to other people about this. Like when when did this moment hit you? Well, the book was started around three years ago when I was at a festival. You know, I I'm a working class guy. I'm from a working class family. I have a full time job, and this is how I start the book. You know, I've got a dog, I've got a family, I've got credit cards that are bulging all of the normal life things. And in the UK, the pie is almost like a symbol of fish and chips. It's not dissimilar. So people would have a pie for lunch in the working classes. And that's the idea. So the book is targeted at an echelon of society. And if I were to title it Mark Grimes This Guide to a Healthy Mind, no one in the world would know who I was. Whereas if I call it the Eating Man's Guide to a Healthy Mind, it gives a better idea as to that section of society. So that's where the name came from. And then as part of the book, the book just evolved. So the book spewed out of me. I'm so passionate about mental health, and I'm so passionate about the disproportionate view within the UK, particularly of how we better manage our mental health. And it's absolutely aimed at the middle classes in the UK. So, you know, I think I think it's probably similar in the US, but I don't think it's exactly the same in the UK. We're quite keen on the underdog and we're not very good at shouting about our successes, whereas the Americans are pretty good at shouting about their successes, you know. Yeah, and all that stuff. I've got a shinier car than you and we're not very good at that, and probably better in the South than we are in the North. But and, and therefore the, the, there's less of a pride in being wealthier and being more successful. Certainly in the North, it's quite good to be the underdog. But as a result of that, they're not very good at managing the mental health. They're not very good at look after in themselves. And the thought of meditation means going into a, putting a caftan on, going into a field of beautiful flowers surrounded by birds, and going, well, actually you can listen to AC, DC and what you dog and meditate and that's the difference. So I was trying to I'm trying to educate people that you can access mental health assistance and practices every day. That will make you feel better, but your pride is currently stopping you. And that's that's just not an excuse anymore. So that led me to talk about life pivots in the book and life pivots without wishing to to teach people to suck eggs. It's something that's happened to you in your life. It could be good, it could be bad. It could the could be a number of them. But my friend once told me that when you look back at your life, you'll be able to put your finger on a handful of days where your life changed in such a way that there was no going back, that your view of life will change, or your finances might change, whatever it is, but you be able to put your finger on that life pivot and say, from that day on, everything changed. Well, the beauty of my podcast is that the subject changes with the person. So it's rarely the same. Maybe the structure of it is similar, or that the reason behind it is similar, but literally I've gone from well. Subject matter will probably come up for a chat, but it it just I'm simply a question asker and an A and a forum provider. After that they are the star of the show and my job is to make them be amazing because I think they're amazing and I think they're inspiring and I my idea is that ultimately, the same people that read my book will hopefully be able to listen to my podcast. And if somebody is in a dark place or they've been in a dark place, or they might fall into a dark place and they can't see a way out today, if these people have done it, then hopefully it might just make them not make a terrible decision. Or it might just make them think this is worth keeping going at. That's it in a nutshell. I that I love that and I love how you presented that with that, you've got a general like just this curiosity for people in general. I mean, that you you've mentioned in some questions before, you said it's your ADHD and just genuine curiosity. Who has there been a moment where you thought like, Holy cow, this is this is this is where this pivots and takes off in terms of the podcast or the like, the book or everything as a whole. Is there like a specific moment where someone said something and you like, that's the piece I needed. There's there's a couple of things. And they both have been quite recently. So I volunteered as a, as someone for this charity called My Black Dog. And my black dog was the term that Churchill used to use to describe his low moods. And this, this charity, basically, an online charity which operate via a chat based system. So keyboard chat based system not have not a phone chat. And every evening people would come online. You don't know anything about the you don't know the the gender. You don't know the sexual preferences. You don't know the color of the skin, you don't know anything about them. And they're the same to you. They were doing an auction on the radio show with Chris Evans. And I couldn't afford to put in for the auction because of big money things, but I could afford to give some of my time, and that's where that started. So I was a regular listening listener to Chris's show, and we I regularly text in, I text in daily. And my name got regularly recognized. And then I started volunteering for this charity. And the charity started attending the festival. So I got to meet Chris 2 or 3 times. So while there, I spoke to Chris and I said, Chris, how do I do this? I've never written a book. I've never I don't know anything about meditation. I don't know anything about yoga, really. I've tried it for an hour yesterday, you know, and I said, how? How do I write a book about it? And he said, right, okay. Well, this this afternoon come down to the main stage. He said that that is out of there. Why don't you ask him? And I thought, okay. And so I went down to the thing and I asked the question, and after he thought about it, he said to me, the only way to start writing a book is to start writing a book. You know, you'll never write a book unless you get a notepad, your phone and iPad, your laptop, whenever you've got an idea to scribble it down a bit like comedians do with the jokes. Yep. So that evening I did. I started writing the book, and then it made me think about things more, and it made me realize about the podcast and the podcast has become something, really important and integral to the book. But it it's almost like, a bi weekly extra chapter of the book, but it like a life study from the book of somebody who's been through difficulties and gone on to be inspiring. But and if the next twist or pivot, one of the, one of the great things about Car Fest is they have some really, really interesting stars there from the UK and they just walk around the festival. So they're, they're available. And so I was able to give them copies of my book and I and people who had researched, I knew who were in for influential and that I like, you know, it's not I didn't I know what I'm doing isn't unwholesome. I'm not using these people, but but their platform is greater than mine for sure. And it's an honor for certain people to read it. Well, I hope so. And certainly that's the feedback. But some of these people have now agreed to come on the podcast. Oh that's awesome. Very cool. Congratulations. With that. And with like, I've got 120 subscribers. We're talking people with over a million like, followers on, on, on Instagram and things like that. So, you know, big name, big potent. Yeah, that's very cool. As we I've got two more questions kind of to wrap up here. And the first one I'm going to I'm going to press you on just to see I always love doing this. I like putting twists on things to get that interesting answer in two sentences. What would be the biggest lesson that you've learned from the podcast? And just say, you've asked me one question so far, and you've had about a half an hour answer in two sentences. We get we we've we've we've this is one of the things that I love is, is when in so many cases, as an interviewer, I find it so valuable to get people outside of their comfort zone to answer questions in different ways than they're comfortable with. So to me, to, to put that impetus of pressure on on you, to me, I think I every time when I do something like this, I typically get a wonderful kind of creative answer. And once again, while I'm yammering on here, go ahead and think about, because to me, I know you've pulled I mean, lesson after lesson from these people that you've talked to that have these truly impactful stories. Is there an or is there like an overarching theme that you can say, this is the thing that I pull away from it every time? I think there's actually two answers to the question, because I think there's one answer, which is both podcast and guest related and the the and the answer to that question is if you think your message is good enough, don't worry about the technical side. Yes I agree, totally agree. Totally one 1,000% agree. Because when I started out I've got a GoPro because I go diving, and I've got an office, which is a absolute beep tip, you know, and I realized that if you move all the crap from over here to over there, the viewer can't see it anymore. You know, as long as you've got some decent Star Wars pictures and long pictures behind you that you remember to straighten before you start to record. Yep. It's not about the the technical side will improve and it has to improve you you. I don't think people will forgive you if you produce low quality, videos over and over again, but I think they will forgive you if you first one isn't great and the second one slightly better, but still not great, and the third one slightly better and still not great. That they will forgive you for that, because if the content is good enough, it doesn't matter. The second one is that I've got ADHD and I've probably forgotten it. The second one. I have done this myself numerous times where you get so happy about the first point. It's funny because that first point really plays into like my signature closing question is, if you could give one piece of advice to a business owner or someone, just anyone that's thinking of podcasting, what would it be? And to me, that is the that is the golden answer. I've always said to be okay, if you suck, it's going to be fine. The only person that's going to watch it is your mom. And she's going to love it no matter what anyways, because you're the one that did it is. Yeah. And I think I think the extra the postscript to that and it's not point to because I think kind of remember point two. But the postscript to that is if you're enjoying it, it doesn't matter how many people watch it. I absolutely love that. I that that's a beautiful piece to that. I often tell people when they start podcasting, you're going to get eight downloads. You're going to get six downloads. If I told you there was six people in the next room that wanted to hear from you, would you walk into the next room and talk to them? And everyone's like, yeah. And I'm like, well, then why won't you upload the podcast? Yeah. And that's all about pride and shame and, and comparison. And my book is all about putting pride, shame and comparison about, which is why I've got a big spot on the end of my nose today and have not done anything about it because it's about being authentic. And I did the same for my interview yesterday. I thought you looked pretty none. Nonetheless unconscious. I mean, that helps. Where did the second piece come back to you? Yeah, I think the second piece, because you you asked about my guests. And again, this is a bigger answer, but the easy answer is let people finish. And I'm not I'm not in it for the killer. I'm not in it for the killer phrase. And I I'm. You will hopefully know this. I'll you'll see this. But I'm not very good at making sure, partly because I'm so busy, but I'm not very good at doing the marketing stuff. I just put it to Facebook or Instagram and I just think somebody taught me this on a on a course. I went on letting people finish. You just don't know what somebody's going to say. And if you assume you do, you'll be wrong. Certainly you'll be wrong at least once a day. It's interesting. I worked with someone that would invite experts in and then proceeded to talk, but anywhere between 70 to 85% of the episode and I'm like, why in the hell did you have an expert in, I have guests because I want to hear from you. I want to hear your stories. I want to hear how how you're podcasting, why you're podcasting, the why you started those types of things. Yes. The let people finish. And it's tough. Sometimes it is tough. But in the same sense, that is something that applies to like just sitting in a meeting. So many times I even catch myself sitting there like, just waiting for them to, to pause for half a second. So that way I can say, say what I need to say. What they need to say is probably more important than what I need to say. Yeah. And I think the other thing that, and this is me talking like I know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm 11 episodes into something that is something that I'm interested in. The other people seem to find interesting, but I don't know what I'm doing. So my advice might not be worth a great deal, really. But it's worth something to me. And and it's it's what I think. So, but I just I interviewed a chap last night who's somebody I've met twice, and I think a great deal of, And he is, he suffers he's suffered with autism all of his life, but he didn't know until he was 49. He, couldn't speak until he was six. And then he only made noises until he was 11 or 12. And he only started to form words when he got to what we would call secondary school or senior school. And he has a terrible had a terrible stammer. He still has a stammer, but he manages it. And one of the things that I'm glad I've learned in, in the ten previous episodes, the first episode I edit is out every you know, every little thing that was between a word. I edited every single one out, and I probably did it again on the second one, maybe on the third one. I thought, this is taking forever. People can't really do this. And actually on Riverside, it kind of does it for you anyway. It does. But but that's part of the personality of the person. Are you and and whilst I'm not suggesting you shouldn't tick some of them out because some of them are dead, pauses, part of it is their story. And if I, I've told I said at the beginning of the podcast that I recorded last night of Arsenal, he's called his top guy. I just want the listener. I said, look, Arsenal has struggled with a really difficult stammer. All of his life is pretty much under control. But I think he's very matter of fact with it. So it helps. That helps. But he I said, look, if you get in periods of quiet, it's not because your equipment is malfunctioning. It's because, Arsenal is just trying to get his words out and, let his story is so amazing, it's worth waiting for. And you know, if you're going to listen to a podcast for an hour and a half, or you could edit ten minutes of gaps out, who's not going to listen to the podcast for that extra ten minutes that spread over the hour and a half and you don't. It takes you sometimes to look at people like Chris Evans. You know, the guy who inspires me. He's a world class interviewer. When you listen to him, he says, he, he, he has gaps. And actually they all do. So don't worry about it. I love that it's funny you say that's part of the personality. No one, I think, in their right mind would ever accuse you of not having enough personality, especially not your shirts. Mark, where can people find you? I mean, we know there is the Chewing the Crust podcast. Is there a website? Is there some place else that people should be able to find? You? As with all of my marketing, there is an awful website which is called WW updating man dot. Co.Uk. But it's not love it. It's just I've not I've not done enough with it, but, it's currently just a platform for you to be able to get access to the to the book. If you don't know, the book is available on Amazon. It's called The Party Man's Guide to a Healthy Mind. It genuinely is good. It's genuinely funny. I can say this now, because enough people have told me that I wouldn't have liked to have said it six months ago, but it is genuinely good. And it's funny, and I believe it's helpful, and it's helping people who I didn't expect it would help. And it's helping people help people that seal the magic of it. But during the crust, I, I've had some really, really, really interesting guests. I've had somebody who was a friend of mine but watched her partner murdered in front of her, and now has gone on to, advocate tighter regulations on the ownership of crossbows in the UK. I've had Arsenal last night who was an amazing guy with, with autism and and sorry, an autistic guy is the way to say it. We've also had a doctor from Texas. She, she's an autism and ADHD doctor. She was amazing. Christian. I've got a submariner from Idaho. I think he's from, yeah. Who's a terminal cancer, and now he he has a podcast spreading the word to for men to go and get tested. It it's all about these people who've gone through something that you might have nightmares about, and they have gone on and they are now helping people on the back of it. And I just can't admire people more. I love that I definitely I know a number of our people are going to end up going over to the podcast and checking out the book. Mark, I really appreciate the time today. I know in a week I'm going to be a guest on yours, so I'm going to encourage people to come over and check that out too, because I think we're probably going to have some fun. Yeah, we're going to I think we should do it naked. No one wants that out of me. No, it was that out of me. Haha. Well, what I would encourage people to do is to watch YouTube rather than listen to the Spotify, because I am that handsome. But you're missing out on sort of 75% of the show. 100%, 100% Mark. Thank you once again, this has been a ton of fun. Thanks mate. You star. It's been really nice to meet you. And it's it's a great platform and I'm looking forward to the, the the chat saying how awful my podcast is and what I can do right. Or is it just me? Or when you talk to someone from across the pond or with an accent, you automatically raise like a few IQ points from them? Mark was a great guy and a very interesting guest to have on because he's he's so passionate about what he does and who he's talking to and really who he's helping. The, the the stories that he's getting from people. And I encourage you go listen to his channel. There are some great stories. He, he talks to people for quite, quite some time about them. A lot of his podcasts are two hours or so, but they're really interesting. There's great stories in those. What, what what did we learn from this is the big thing and the the. I always want to leave with an actionable tip, and the one is the one that I think stumble. So many people stumble over is that just get started thing. And even if you're podcasting, just go, just do it. So many people are like, when I get people even in the studio, I mean, you're in the studio, you've got the nice microphones, there's the good lighting in here, the they're worried about like a couple of strands of hair or a little bit of makeup or, I mean, am I sitting up straight? All those things. And I worry about those too, but I don't let them stop me from recording. I make sure that it's the message is the important thing. It's not like what I'd look like that day when I delivered it, or how I sounded when I deliver it. Do I look at those things? Yes. Do I think about those things? Yes. But I don't like let those things stop me from recording. I don't let those things stop me from putting out the information. I love what he said about authenticity in this, and leaving some of the ums and ahs and the stammers and things of that nature. It can be tough in a lot of cases there. Like like I said, if you pull out all the ums out of a podcast, it sounds weird. Not only sounds weird, but it looks weird because it's no longer a human. The human connection is one of the most powerful things I think that we can have, and especially with the way social media works, the way internet works it, it's tough to find these really solid human connections. And as I look at the camera here, I know I'm I'm speaking directly to you. I know we're connecting in that way. That's something that I think is lost. After we hung up the call, I talked with Mark for a few minutes and I said, yeah, I am the guy that at the grocery store. Like, if I'm waiting in line, I don't pull my phone out and scroll. I'm the guy that's going to talk to the person in front of or behind me. I want to find out about them. And I think that's why we do podcasting. I think that's why I, I've learned some social skills like that. So to say, but to me, it's that wanting to learn about other people, it's wanting to hear their stories, it's wanting to engage with others. And when you when you honestly engage with others, when you approach others, even if they are on their phone, it's pretty amazing how quickly they put it down. So to me that once again, it comes back to that be human, be okay with not having the perfect podcast. Be okay with a few ums, Oz ers, stutters, stammers, whatever. Those are all okay. The pauses when you talk, especially something like this when I'm pausing, I'm giving you a second to think about things. I'm letting you hang on those things. Those things should be there. That is what makes for that authentic connection with the people that are out there. So it doesn't need to be perfect. It does need to be you. That being said, do me a favor. Take care of yourself. If you can take care of someone else too, I will see you very, very soon.

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Josh Troche

Host