Mental Health Doesn’t Own You: The Power of Real, Authentic Conversations

Welcome back to the ACT OUT podcast! In this episode, host Adam Tomlin sits down with Noah May, host of the Lethal Venom Podcast, for a fun and honest conversation about podcasting, authenticity, and what it looks like to build something meaningful from the ground up. Noah shares how he went from studying journalism at Auburn to becoming a full-time podcaster, even though podcasting was never the original plan.

Adam and Noah talk about the reality of running a podcast full-time—the pressure of creating consistently, the reason Noah avoids a rigid posting schedule, and how he’s learned to build Lethal Venom in a way that still feels manageable and real. Noah also explains why his show resonates with so many people: it gives guests permission to be themselves, speak honestly, and show up without having to perform or polish every edge.

The conversation also dives into how Noah got started with interviews after joining PodMatch, why that shift changed everything for his show, and how one early episode unexpectedly blew up and helped define the direction of the podcast. Noah reflects on some of the conversations he’s most proud of, including an emotional interview with Adrian Caldwell and a solo episode about his classmates that struck a nerve with listeners.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to grow a podcast, why authenticity matters so much in long-form conversation, or how a passion project can turn into a full-time path, this episode offers a real behind-the-scenes look at building something people genuinely connect with.

Learn more about Noah May and the Lethal Venom Podcast here.

Tune in every Thursday for episodes that inspire, challenge, and entertain. Whether you’re here for laughs, lived wisdom, or action steps, the ACT OUT podcast is your space to rethink growth, embrace self-awareness, and act out your passions.

Want to be a guest on the ACT OUT podcast? Send Adam Tomlin a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/17697025629686282ce7409dc

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Transcript

From Shy Kid to Full-Time Podcaster — Noah May's Origin Story

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Act Out Podcast. I'm your host, Adam Tomlin. Today's guest is the host of the Lethal Venom Podcast, Noah May. Let's roll the tape. Noah, how are you, buddy? I am doing good. How are you doing? I'm doing great, man. I uh kind of told you a little bit uh a little bit before we uh started talking. I am uh I'm from Georgia. Uh and so whenever I saw the uh whenever I saw the Auburn Towns, I was like, ah man, I'm gonna have to talk to uh talk to Noah.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Yeah, I am Alabama born and raised here.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Where um can you tell I'm sorry, can you tell us uh what you do now currently?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yes. Currently I'm a full-time podcaster. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism, and I've been using a lot of my degrees, been kind of going into podcasting, which was not the original plan, but it just seems to have worked out that way. But I I do podcasting full-time. It's just my full-time job that I do. And yeah, I host three podcasts, but the main one that I really focus on is Lethal Venom. That's tends to be the most successful one, and the one that I have put a lot of hard work in that's really it's and it's the one that's kind of blew up.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Man, speaking of blowing up, like I feel like every time I uh every time I see you on Instagram, there's uh there's another episode coming out on Lethal Venom, and you must be the hardest working dude in podcasting.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

I well, there's there's a way more people, other people that work way harder than I do, so I wouldn't consider myself hardworking, but I try to pump out as many episodes as I can. You know, it kind of gets too stressful at times where you're just like, I don't know if I can handle all this. So I I try my best to get as many episodes as I can out.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Do you have like a excuse me, do you have a set schedule where you you release like every Monday, Wednesday, Friday or anything like that? Or is it just kind of wh whenever you can get them done?

SPEAKER_02 1:53

I I don't really have a schedule because I think if I did that would put a little bit more pressure on me. Um it it it pretty much ranges weekly. I do at least post one at least one episode a week is kind of what my goal. Sometimes I can post multiple episodes in a day, and then sometimes it might take I might post one and then not post for two days, and then one comes out two days later. So I don't really have a set schedule. It kind of gets a little too nerve-wracking and it kind of just gets a little too overwhelming for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Definitely get that. Uh my my wife helps me out behind the scenes. So if it weren't for her, like I think there probably would have been maybe one episode of the Act Out Podcast, and then it would be uh over and done with. But you uh you said that you uh you studied journalism uh in at uh at Auburn. Uh what was your uh what what was the game plan whenever uh you know, like whenever you're in school, what were you going to do graduate? Uh what was your plan?

SPEAKER_02 2:49

So the original plan was um I wanted to go into more of the entertainment side of journalism. I didn't want to do the kind of the news route, news station reporter or anything like that. After I I took a few classes at Auburn, I kind of learned that was just not what I wanted to do because of just kind of the some of the behind the scenes and the assignments that we had to do for the classes was just like it was all one man show, and I thought, I don't think I'm gonna like this.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

So I And now you do podcasting.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

Yeah, well, it it's a little bit different. Uh I don't have to worry about it. You're you're fine. It's not like setting up a camera. Like this is kind of how they did it. I think for most news stations, what you would what I generally thought was you would have the main reporter and you would have a camera guy with you kind of a two maybe three-man show. We didn't do that necessarily, we did more of like solo things. So I had to set up the camera, I had to put the microphones on, and I'll I had to do all the work. And it was just not a fun thing to I personally didn't like that because it took too much time. And it was too stressful because you had to get everything done, and it it was just weird to have kind of like you're setting up and they're waiting for you to get set up and there's sitting and waiting, and so I was like, I don't think I won't like the doing this. So I I decided to just do the more entertainment route where it was kind of more radio interview style journalism that I would do. And so the plan after graduation was to work at a radio station, but I thought if I can work in a new station and just get that experience behind the scenes, I'll I'm fine with that as well. Coming to find out, trying to get a job as soon as you graduate was difficult. I'll every every job that I had gone to wanted experience. And of course I did not have the experience. So it was just kind of a losing battle of trying to get a job with no experience, and it just didn't work out. But podcasting for me was a kind of a saving grace. I didn't know really podcasting could have been a could be a form of journalism. I didn't really think that. And so when I was looking up is like a lot of the skills that I had learned had gone into podcasting, like interview style, having more kind of like the writing scripts kind of, and there was just a lot of aspects from the classes I took at Auburn that kind of went into podcasting. So it eventually went out in the end, but podcasting was kind of like was gonna be more of a hobby than a job at this point. But I'm real happy of how it turned out. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I mean I I would say so. It seems like you kind of like podcasting is a pretty natural uh segue from the journalism and doing the radio, you know, and it's you get the entertainment aspect of it, and you uh you know, if it seems like you get to get to share your voice, which you know, I I is that something that you've always like wanted to do?

SPEAKER_02 5:54

I was always shy growing up. So when people even heard that I was going into journalism, they were like, You go into journalism? It was just a lot of people were a little skeptic about it because of just how shy I was and how I just was always kept to myself. And they're like, You're wanting to go into a career where you're gonna be out and put like your voice will be out in public and you're gonna talk to a whole bunch of people. So it was just it was just a thing. And I was and I thought, well, yeah, but I also was really shy. It actually helped me break out of my shyness a little a lot now. Uh I can kind of talk to people a little bit more better. I have moments where shyness comes in. But being able to have my voice kind of heard was beneficial since I growing up, no one ever wanted to hear what I had to say or at all. So I was very happy to finally have my voice heard and to have a podcast where people could listen and feel heard and listened to.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Something that you uh said really uh really struck out uh really stuck out to me, and that was that uh you know, like growing up, you didn't feel like people wanted to hear what you had to say. Was that was that like peers?

Bullied & Silenced — How Childhood Shaped a Future Voice

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Yeah, it was more my classmates that I went to school with. I went to I my whole class was just really jerks to me. They were bullies towards me and everything. Yeah, anytime I tried to say something, it was kind of what that thing of, is someone talking? Do I hear a noise? That's literally how they kind of acted towards me, and that's kind of how they treated me. And so that's kind of how where a lot of my shyness comes from was well, yeah, they're not gonna hear what I have to say, and they're not gonna listen to what I have to basically have an opinion on. So I I felt very ghosted by my p uh classmates, and the only people that I really had in my life that really listened to me at the time were my parents. So they were the big supporters and main support system that I had. And so other than them, if I didn't have them, no one would have heard what I had to say. So being able to have a podcast now that has listeners and has people listening and tuning in, it just feels very it's just it's odd for me to have that sensation because growing up I didn't have that prior. So if it feels real nice to finally have the be able to have people listen to what I have to say, it just feels real good.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Um first of all, I'm really sorry that you had to go through something like that. Like no kid deserves to feel like they feel feel like they like no one wants to hear them in the first place. Uh but whenever you go through a situation like that, there's sort of two different routes that you can take. You can um kind of make it harden you and make you jaded, cynical, and you kind of turn into a bully and then you d uh try to destroy people, or you take that and kind of have, I guess, some empathy for other people and be like, I felt that way. I don't want anyone else to feel that way. And s and then go that other route. What what makes you think that you went the route of like, I want to, you know, I I want to be a difference. I want to make sure that no one has to go through what I just did.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

I think that it's something secretly that a lot of people have gone through is that they never get that chance to really open up and share what they have gone through and experienced. So I wanted to be kind of the spokesperson for those people that are silenced by even family members from friends, other family, just everyone in general. I just wanted to to have a voice and have people see people that you do not have to stay silent, that you can open up and you can talk to and share your opinions, that someone out there will listen and that they will find they'll be happy to listen to what you have to say, and they won't judge you, they won't tell you that what you're saying is complete and other crap. It's just that you have a voice that needs to be heard. And I I've heard a lot of people too in in the past, and since I've been vocal, a lot of the friends that I have now have really praised me for being so open and honest. I even have had some of my immediate friends too um I met in college have said that, you know, I've seen a huge change in you from being so timid and just really kept to yourself to now you're open up and you're more less shy now, you're more vocal about your opinions. So I've I've heard people say have seen like a huge change in it.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Oh man, I I'm so torn between going uh go going to uh like you know the change aspect or kind of going a little bit uh a little bit further uh back, man. Your story is just too you you just got too much to you, man. So whenever you make that decision of like I'm gonna do excuse me, I'm going to study journalism. I I want my voice heard. It seems like though you had made that choice, but you were still kind of living a little timid, uh, you know, kind of like living in the same living with the same lessons that you had learned from the bullies in school. Uh how did uh like journalism and podcasting kind of help you uh kind of move past that?

SPEAKER_02 11:18

They both helped me kind of break out of my shell. I knew that when I went into this field, I knew that the shyness had to be broken. I thought I knew that I can't be shy to be in this field. I was real passionate about it. I was real like, okay, this is I had to really tell myself, okay, look, you are going into a field where you're going to have to be on camera, you're going to have to talk to strangers, you're going to have to talk to just regular everyday people that you'd never met. You can't be shy when you're doing this. And it took a it it took some time to get used to, but when I finally did, it just broke through and it just really shined too. I went from basically only talking to people that were in my immediate circle to opening up and having more friends online as friends kind of added me and talked to me as friends on Snapchat and all these places. I would actually talk to a lot more random people that were outside of my immediate circle and outside of my people that lived in my hometown. It was just a lot of baby steps that I had to do. I started speaking up a little bit more in classes in college to have like raised my hand and try to be a part of the conversation. So the there was just baby steps that I took to help better myself and help kind of break out of that shyness. It wasn't easy at times, but it really did work out in the end, and I'm really proud of the progress that I made.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

It takes so much courage to take that very first step. You know, uh, because your brain can come up with a billion different reasons why you should wait until tomorrow. You know? How did you how did you get over that?

SPEAKER_02 13:04

After I kind of graduated from college or uh high school, I mean, uh I was right in the middle of the it was right when the pandemic had started. I was a COVID child. So I was of course, we didn't have the typical graduation thing that most seniors probably get to experience or had experience. Um A lot of my friends that I hadn't had throughout high school kind of just dunked me after graduation. They were just tossed me out. And I got very lonely during that time, and I th I was tired of being by myself, so I kind of just added people off on social media of like, well, let me just add random people to see if there's any change in anything. And slowly enough I met some good people and some people that treated me talk trash too, that I just had to let go. But it it it took some time, but once I was able to finally get to that point of being open and honest with people and be able to meet new people, it just came real natural to me. So that was kind of the starting point of breaking out of my shyness was opening it, reaching out to other people that I had not never met, and just trying to have a conversation with them to be friends. So that helped a lot with my shyness and has really made it easy for me to be able to be open and honest with people.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

I mean, just listening to your story, it seems like you were almost destined to be a podcaster, you know, uh, because uh what what what is it like what was that what was the step? It was reaching out to a stranger and being able to have a conversation with one. And for like someone who for someone who had uh I guess such a hard time uh feeling like they wanted to be heard by like their neighbors, uh, you know, like the the people that are supposed to be closest to you, uh to kind of to kind of look to kind of not get that. But then there's a str but but then there's a stranger that's like, hey Noah, how are you, buddy? I hopefully that like I hopefully that was a uh like a powerful enough moment where you're like, you know what, I can I I can move forward.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Yeah, and it felt good to be able to have like friends that actually talk to me every day that hasn't leave me in the dust and kind of left me in dirt to be stepped on or ran over with a car. It was just like it just felt really captivating to me. It made me kind of my mood better.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Oh yeah, man, I'm sure. Um that to to be able to find a uh to be able to find a community, that's like that's that's one of the uh what core you know things that you know a human is just like programmed to do. And so um that's actually something that I've noticed a lot, like in uh in talking with different folks, is uh it's having a uh there's a common theme of having a very hard time of finding your tribe or finding your sense of community. What um what was it what was it for you that um that kind of helped you form your community once you started reaching out to strangers? What what were some of your values that you kind of like I'm gonna base my community around this?

Finding Community Through Honesty & Mental Health

SPEAKER_02 16:15

That's a good question. I I think for me it was just kind of uh honesty, really. At that point, I had been suffering from mental health for so many years, and I kind of wanted it to be stemmed off of mental health things, to be honest. I kind of wanted it to be a way for people that if they experienced any mental health issues that they could open up, and I was kind of like the therapist, kind of how I was kind of like my own therapist that was doing it for free of, you know, having people say that if you need someone to talk to, you have a place here. But that was kind of the uh the steps that I took at first to kind of benefit from that. And that's kind of how I just I made a lot of friends that had similar backstories as me that were pretty much quiet and they suffered from really severe mental health issues at the time, and no one really ever had their attention or gave them the line of day to talk. And so that's kind of how I made my community was open, honest opinions that you wouldn't be judged for, that you would be able to share it and not get ridiculed for what you're about to say. Um that's kind of how I simmed my community around, and I really grew and kind of was really, really popular at the time.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yeah, man. I I can imagine so. It sounds like you've uh those sound like great ideals and great values for any community. And I uh I'm just blown away that, you know, like you could have, you know, gone through what you did, but then are you still like you you somehow still made the best of it and really really grew for it from it, excuse me. You had said something uh earlier about uh struggling with some mental health issues. Uh have you had to go to therapy?

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Yes. I well I was very anti-therapy at the time and first beginning because of just how it was portrayed on TV and in movies, it was just really portrayed very poorly. Of the only time the only people that you see at therapy offices are cuckoos. And it was just basically someone that could be like have an imaginary friend talking, they have multi-personalities. That's just kind of how I perceived therapy as. Yep. But come to find out that it that was far from the truth. Um I didn't start going to therapy until about 2021, 22 was when I started going. So I was kind of late. It was a little bit later than I probably needed to. I went to a therapy session in 2020 one time, and it was too with a woman, and I just wasn't not clicking. It just wasn't. I was in that mindset of K you're you can't tell me what to do. I'm not gonna listen to what you have to say, which I learned quickly. That's not how therapy works. That's completely not how that goes. Um it was just it was just a weird thing. Uh, so I never went back to her. But then after my mental health had gotten so severe, I thought, okay, I caved in and went to therapy, and there was some things that helped, um, some things that didn't work. Um, I have had multiple therapists too that have all done stuff differently, so that's been kind of a factor in that as well. But in the end, it actually ended up working out pretty well. Was able to heal a little bit from it, but I have done a lot of self-healing with a lot of self-therapy that I've done. That seems to be more beneficial than therapy itself, but therapy was a really great place to start and it really does help me with some parts of my life.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

I am uh very similar, uh very similar uh training as you. I I I did not think that uh that therapy would be beneficial for me. Uh at first it was that I thought that therapy was all uh basically where you had to be basically schizoaffective disorder in order to, you know, in order to really need therapy. Um and then after that, I was convinced that after that, I was convinced that I didn't need therapy uh because I knew exactly why I did the things that I did. I was just completely powerless to stop them. Like I I and so I just assumed that a therapist we would just I would lay down on a couch and then the therapist would just ask me questions and I would like give them answers and like basically just verbally jujitsu them around the the room and there would be there would be no benefit to it. Um but it wasn't until I it wasn't until I had uh my son Camden. He'll be three in March. Whenever whenever he was born, I realized that there were patterns that I was going to repeat from my childhood, and I was absolutely powerless to stop those. And so I was like, you know what, I I'm a lost cause, but maybe I can get some help for Camden and he'll be it'll be a little bit easier for him than it was uh than it was for me. And it wasn't until like probably six to nine months into therapy that I kinda had a had like a change of uh kind of like a perspective change where like, you know what, I I think I want to be able to like work on myself for me instead of just for someone else, you know?

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

What um you had said that you had done some uh some self self healing and that was more beneficial than than actual therapy. Can you kind of get a little bit in the uh into into your self healing journey?

The Classmate Episode — Using Your Podcast to Heal

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Yeah, uh uh a lot of things that really helped for me was the podcast, actually. Was a lot of when I first started doing the podcast, this was before I got on. Podmat and this was kind of before I started doing interviews. I did a lot of solo episodes at first and this was talking about my mental health. I even did a an episode about my classmates and this is how they treated me. And after I did that episode, I just felt so hurt. My I just felt like a huge weight got lifted off my shoulders because I had so much built-up anger and hatred towards them of how badly they that they treated me that it felt really good. I thought and I had been to therapy so many times at this point, and even was at a psychiatrist at the point. I thought this was the most beneficial thing I've ever received from even all the therapy sessions. This was like the biggest thing that kind of got a lot of my anger out. I was just I felt this so much relief after that. I felt so much happier. I was just like, oh my god, that feels so good to really be able to finally say my honest opinion about them and have the truth out there. Um and then there were some other things

Why the Name "Lethal Venom" — When the Truth Hurts

SPEAKER_02 23:00

that I had shared too that.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Is that where lethal venom comes from? The name lethal venom from that that feeling? You sandbagged. I love it. Okay, okay, yeah. So as as you were saying that I was like, lethal venom, of course.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah, it kind of stems from how the truth hurts and how people when they hear the truth, it can sometimes be harmful and lethal to them, and that's how venom is to humans. That's kind of how the truth can be. So that it a hundred percent stems from that from that saying. And so when I was telling all these sharing all this, I was honest. Now, when it came to censoring and names, I did censor everyone's name. I didn't want I didn't want their public their name out on the podcast for people to go and give them hate. Also didn't want a lawsuit, but I I wanted to keep everything that I uh to where I could I would know who I'm referring to, but other people would not. And I kept it very private and really protected and everything. Um I'm wanting to do an episode, kind of do it with my teachers as well. That's an episode that I am currently in the process of working on. But um I did kind of want that this was like school in general, but I didn't really do a deep dive into like the teachers themselves. So that was kind of gonna be like a separate episode there. But I just felt so much relief and I just knew that going on pod coming on this podcast and just venting and telling my honest opinion really it was the best medicine for me. And I am very happy that I have a platform where I can do that.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Yeah. Um that is oh man, that that's I I I love your story. Like it there's there's something about it that's uh it's it's very resonating. But I I was wondering whenever uh whenever you were doing that that episode about your uh you know about your classmates. Don't you still live in your uh hometown, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Uh uh do a lot of the folks that you go to or that you went to school with, do they still live live live around there as well?

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Uh some have moved. I don't know. I really don't really keep up with them. I do follow them on Instagram because you know, I I feel like Instagram's kind of like the more like fake following like you just want to be nosy, as well as on Facebook. Uh to my knowledge, I think some of them still do. I know a majority of them stayed here. Uh I know some of them did actually go off to college. Uh one went to somewhere in Pennsylvania to school, someone went to North Carolina's, but a lot of the students actually kind of stayed in the state, and they went to either Auburn or Alabama, Jay's, you know, some some of the more big colleges around here. One girl that I know graduated from Alabama moved to Texas to be a doctor, so I know she's moved out there to for work. But other than that, everyone else has pretty much stayed around here that is maybe about a f within kind of a circle distance of from here. But I I was staying in Auburn and I I unfortunately had to move back home because of finance financial issues and just having money saving problems as well. So I I wanted to stay at Auburn, but I ended up having to come home just due to financial reasons. But um, to my knowledge, I think everyone for the most part has stayed around here, but I'm not too sure.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Yeah. It center sounds a lot like Cartersville, where like uh if you if you would have asked me that question, I'd be like, well, there was so-and-so they went to they went to uh like Valdasa State, and then there was so-and-so that went there. It's just you know where like because it's so small, you know where everybody went. So just you saying that that was very fondly reminding me of uh Cartersville. But why I'd asked you that though is like after you had released that episode, I'd wondered even if you were kind of like careful with like censoring names, if you kind of caught any flack or if anybody came up to you and was like, hey man, what's up? Like I saw that uh or listened to that episode.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

That's a really good question. I personally have not received any messages from anyone in particular that has said, was this directed at me? Or I've not had anyone that said, was this directed at so-and-so. I'm still waiting for that moment because I know that it's gonna probably happen sometime down the line. But I did kind of send a message to them and say, hey, I made an episode about you. And I think that's what I got I think a lot of them kind of got that message and listened to it themselves, but they just have not said anything to towards me. So I don't really person honestly to God know what their reaction to it has been or was. It's still been a mystery. I'm kind of surprised that I haven't really gotten a lot of messages from it because I feel like a lot of the dreams that I've gotten for that episode have come from my classmates that live around here. So I I don't know. It it's just been a little odd. I kind of was a little surprised of how now I did have some people that kind of did follow me after that. I think because they once they learned that their name could have been possibly mentioned, I think they kind of they did text me about prior to it coming out of like, did you talk bad about me? And I just said you just have to listen to it. But since the release, I've really hurt nothing. It's just big crickets really.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

So Yeah, I was I was wondering about that. Like, because if someone came uh came up to me and was like, you know, there were things that you did that like really that that really hurt me, I would I would want to know now so that you know I could try to apologize. But I think pre-therapy, if someone uh came up to me and was like, you you know, you you you uh contributed to uh you know to this like experience that I had, I don't think uh I don't think my ego would have been able to handle that. And uh I I I think I probably would have been very defensive and eight either like gaslights you or tell you to toughen up or something. I think, you know, like it would wouldn't be it would have absolutely nothing to do with you. It's totally just on on the insecurities that they have.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

Yeah, it w it it's just weird to think that, you know, how the second that I would say, oh by the way, I met an episode about you that it's been so cr it's been so quiet. I thought I would be getting messages every day after that episode came out of like, is this directed at me? Who's this who are you talking about here? And it's just been silent.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

Did you want any reaction from them, do you think?

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Oh yes and no. I I really didn't do it for them, but I thought, you know what, I am putting like honest opinions about them out there, and there were some hints where I think if you went to school with me, you would know who I was referring to at that point, but to the a general audience that listened, they would not know who it was. Um I'm even surprised at how I got really honest and you know, like very specific about my opinion, what some people still had their name censored, but gave Easter eggs and clues about who I was referring to that I've not even had people be like, so you were talking about so-and-so here. And I don't know, it's just been really, really odd.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Yeah, I I'm sure. And I'm glad that you didn't uh it it's it's clear to me that you didn't make that as a revenge thing. Or, you know, like I I think you would have had a much different answer, you know, with me asking you if you if you wanted them to say something back to you if you if it were about revenge. It it seems much more along that kind of like that that therapy or the self-help route for you, which uh is probably more of a healing feeling than get trying to get revenge on somebody.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Yeah, 100%. If I if I 100% wanted to do the revenge route, I would not have censored any name out. Um that would have just been my way of revenge of like coming back for them. But I wanted to be the mature one and keep their private information private. And there's even times when when I was editing the episode two, this is where I spent about three or four days editing this because I did not want any name to get blasted on the podcast. I didn't want to miss a name. And there there were even times when I was listening to like the parts that I had already edited that I was like, who am I talking about here? I had to literally get like my yearbook out and at times had to follow along and be like, okay, this is who I'm talking about. And then after I did it while editing and recording or editing the podcast, I realized that I had skipped the name, and I thought I thought, damn it, well, I thought, oh well. So there was one person that didn't get mentioned in the episode that I completely skipped. So I was so mad, and it was close to the beginning too. It wasn't like, oh I could just do this at the very end. No, it was at the b very beginning, and I was just like, I'm not redoing it, so this that is won't be mentioned. But um another thing is too, is that uh with the podcast episode how I formatted it is I kind of went down the line in my yearbook. So I mean it wasn't like sporadic. I mean it there was a clue that of who I was gonna be talking to at this point, which of course halfway through gets messed up because I skipped someone, so it kind of works up to a point. But yeah, it's just been really surprising to not hear anyone say anything, and and I think that just kind of further proves my point of that it's don't really care about my opinion or that it is think that I'm not seeing. It just kind of solidifies it.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

That sucks that you know, that kind of is the feeling that you get. But the good news is it seems like there are plenty of other people that wanted to listen to you though. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

Oh yeah, that was like one of my at the time when I first recorded and really say it was my less most less than two episode, because it was just like most of my episodes were like at the time, I think about 30, 40 minutes, and even sometimes they were like 20 minutes, and I have to exactly look. I think the episode was like I think when I recorded it, I think I recorded for two hours, and I thought, well, that might be a little bit too long, so I'll try to edit it down. But I have to exactly see how long it was, because I think people saw the time, they're like, Whoa, he he had a lot to say. Yeah. Yeah, it's about it was about an hour and thirty-five minutes. That's kind of how long the episode ended up being. And I think when people saw that, they're like, This is a this is gonna be juicy. And so they heard it and they were just like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

Well, uh at first I I was thinking maybe that you had done that episode and then that kind of like became you know your podcast. But had you already started your podcast before you did that episode?

SPEAKER_02 34:11

The funny thing about it is that I had let's see, uh I actually had just uh celebrated my one year anniversary of Lethal Benham. I had my first episode come out uh a year ago, two days ago. So I've congratulated that thank you. Posted my first episode on February 24th, then the next episode I posted was my mental health story, and then the third one that I did was my dating experience and kind of just my dating world, and then the fourth one was the classmates. So I was very freshly like new at podcasting. This was kind of even before five episodes were done. So it this was a very early on episode that I did. These this is when more of my solo episodes came to be and kind of how I started doing my solo journey before I got into interviews and pod match. And so that I could yeah, technically you could consider it being like before it blew up, essentially. But that was kind of one of my early episodes, and I was I was really proud of how it turned out.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

Whenever

Pod Match, Going Full-Time & the Power of Authentic Interviewing

SPEAKER_01 35:16

what what made you decide to start doing the uh doing the interview route instead of just doing the solo?

SPEAKER_02 35:24

That's it's a f it's kind of a funny story. At the time I was working at a trampoline park and I quit about a week in. I was like, not for me, you can't do kids. I'm sorry, you can't do it. I literally was like bullet, I'm like, I'm ready to have a bullet in the gun. I was so like, no, I can't do this. So I I initially kind of got fired or it kind of quit. It was kind of like I quit, but also got fired. I was like so sad about it. I was like, I'll just go home and cry about it. But no, I came home because I had not been home in a while, and this was post-graduation, so I didn't really have like I didn't need to be back at Auburn for anything in particular. Well, so while I was home, I got an email from a guy that worked at PodMatch, and I think everyone that is on PodMatch knows Alex San Filippo is his name. And he basically emailed me and said, Hey, I've I came across your podcast and loved the message, kind of the theme of it, and then he kind of told me a little bit more about who he was, so that he worked for PodMatch, and that PodMatch was a podcasting network that features podcasts from all different sides and kind of is like a platform for podcasters to kind of thrive and build off of. And at the time I hadn't previously gotten job offer scams, or like I had gotten a lot of similar emails like this in the past from just regular jobs that turned out to be scams or turned out to be hoaxes. But I thought, but this one's for podcasting. I thought it just seems too good to be true that a podcast offer would be coming up towards me. So I did a lot of research on PodMatch before I even said yes, I would love to just to see and feel if what I was about to do was legitimate, was a good choice. And I saw a lot of five-star reviews. I really didn't even see like a four-star review, and so I thought, so this okay, this must be a legitimate thing. The thing that kind of stuck out to me was that you could possibly get potentially get paid from having guests on. That's what kind of struck and kind of grabbed my attention was I thought, paying. I thought so it's kind of considered like a job offer. Uh so I thought, you know, I'm just gonna give it a try and see how I like it. It was only six dollars, and I thought, you know what, if I don't like it the first month, it's six bucks. It's not a big deal. Uh joined it and just immediately fell in love with it. Alex has been such a huge uh supporter for the podcast. He has such an incredible network of people that I have met like yourself and have had so many so many guests on the podcast that have been through Podmatch. He just has such a great network, it is such a good platform. He really has a good business going, and I have really enjoyed it. It was probably the best decision I ever made, and it luckily came at a time that I was just desperate to find something work-related that I was really passionate about. So I was like, I was so thankful that it came to be, and I was just so happy that everything finally started to fall in place.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

What was the transition like going from solo to doing interviews? Uh was it like was it was it difficult for you to transition or could you just jump right in?

SPEAKER_02 38:37

If I had not taken a lot of the journalism classes, nerves would have been gone. Being able to do interviews, it was kind of the same thing as podcast or journalism. You would have to send a message to the person that you want to do an interview with, then they set up a time, then came to having to set up in prior to the interview, talk to them, had the interview done. So I mean there that that aspect was in there. If I had not gone into that field and I started doing journalism, doing podcasting, and let's say I was an engineer, then it probably would have been like a different different thing for me to different world for me to be thinking of of like, this is I don't know how much I would like this. So if it wasn't for journalism, it probably would have been more stressful to me. But luckily, since I was able to have that kind of background in journalism and interview style and skills, it was an easy transition for me.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

I think uh I think my biggest misconception of uh of being a podcaster was that I just assumed that these were just gonna be conversations and it would be just like as if you and I were having dinner together right now with no camera or anything. Like first uh first time sat down with somebody I was like, okay, no, this is like actually like work here. You know, I'm like analyzing, have to think questions. It was it was more it was a lot more tricky than I thought. What was your biggest misconception?

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Uh I don't really know if I had any misconceptions. I I I think coming from like a journalism background, everything does kind of seem like journalism to me. It is work. Like you know, you kind of when you're doing the solo episodes, you kind of think of it more as a hobby and kind of more of like carefree. You're just like, I can BS it and you know, see how it it comes out in the end. When it comes to interviews, you have to be a little more professional and you have to be kind of more aware of what's going on. You can't just really space out and kind of not pay attention. You kind of have to think of questions, you have to have everything planned out beforehand. It just was a lot more planning than I had initially thought. But it's been really good to see how well the podcast has done since then, but there are probably yeah, I think if I didn't have that journalism background, there would have been a lot more misconceptions. I thought I don't like this. I get I think a lot of people tend to also come on the podcast like in interview type clothes. They come on with suits and ties, some people come on with work dresses on, and it makes me look like a slob because I literally have come on the podcast with a white t-shirt on, with a v-neck to kind of go all the way down here, and I just look like a complete slob. And that was kind of a misconception that I got was that oh, I thought people just dressed casual for interviews. No, some actually do dress up, but I'm just like I've told people this is just my style of clothing. This is just what I wear. I'm at home, I'm comfortable in my own clothes. You only get to see me from the chest up, so it doesn't really matter what I have on. But that's kind of a big misconception I've I guess would have is that people actually kind of dress up for these interviews.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

Uh your podcast is uh very uh very much rooted in authenticity. I so I think it would be disingenuous of you to be wearing a three-piece suit right now, you know? It would just or is it whereas you were if you were hosting your podcast, you know, it's just there there'd be a little bit of a disconnect there.

SPEAKER_02 42:08

Yeah, I think it would be a little bit more stressful and more like firm. You know, I I I've come on podcasts too that even before I started doing the video aspect of podcasting, I could have a guest come on that says is this video, and they're like, I said, it's just audio, and they're like, they kind of like then they take clothes off. I've had men take their suits off to get more comfortable on the thing, and I'm just like, okay, I thought we'd be having a strip show right now. It's like I can't take no more of my clothes off. But they got more comfortable, I think, when they heard audio. They didn't worry have to worry about physical appearance and didn't have to portray themselves on on camera. Which even if it was, I don't care if you take like get comfortable. I mean, you see me in this kind of shirt and this kind of clothing, it's a laid-back show. I'm not strict, I'm not wearing a three like a three-piece suit and jacket, tie, button-up shirt or anything like that. My hair's not styled with moose in it to have more of that more professional appearance. Literally, I have come on podcast with my hair sticking up. It's like I look like a I I'm like I come over here like a sl a slob, and I love doing that because it makes people, I think, even when they see that, they're like, Oh.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Okay. To me it would put it would put me at ease. You know, like I I think I would be like, i if I had never been on a podcast before, I I I think I would be kind of expecting I'd I'd probably be my Sunday best and like, all right, here comes the host, and then you know, I'd see you and I'm like, Oh, okay. Never I'm I'm gonna be able to be me. I I think that whenever you are wh whenever you're yourself, it gives whoever you're with permission to be themselves as well.

SPEAKER_02 43:57

Yeah, and that's I've told people, I said, be open and honest. I mean, be yourself. Don't pretend to portray an image that you're not known for. This is a podcast where you can be your true self and not have ridicule or any backlash from it. I'm not gonna make fun of you for honest your honesty of what about your beliefs and things. This is your time to share your opinion and be your true self. And a lot of people have really loved that. They have just really come out of the woodwork and has been like, I appreciate that so much of being able to finally talk about what I want to talk about. And it feels real validating to know that there is a podcast out there for them that is just like that, where they can be their true selves and that they can open up and be honest with themselves.

SPEAKER_01 44:49

Is there uh is there an episode or two that you're like most proud of?

SPEAKER_02 44:55

Oh, absolutely. Last year for season during my first season, there was a lady that I had interviewed. Her name was Adrienne Caldwell, and she's on PodMatch as well. She had the most captivating story I've ever heard out of everyone that I had. She just had a so much trauma in her life growing up. And her episode was the first one that kind of made me teary-eye a little bit. And I normally don't get teary-eye when I hear more of the human stories at all. I I just haven't really been that person that if I'm watching a movie and if some like a person dies or there's a very sad moment, I don't cry, but yet if an animal breaks a tail down Yep.

SPEAKER_01 45:37

Um the the waterworks will come uh the exact same, yes.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

I I become this hot mess, and then people are like, Get the cry up. So but this was the first episode where I kind of got really emotional from her interview because it was just so it tugged hard. It just tugged my heart. She said I felt so much sorrow for her. I just felt so sorry for her. And she told it honestly. She did not hold back, she just said like it said it like it was. It was just the honest truth. That was probably my favorite episode from there. And, you know, I I think my other one would have to be either the classmate episode or my own mental health episode, because of just how raw and how honest those episodes are. My favorite episodes tend to be the ones that are the most honest and most kind of like raw. Those tend to be the my favorite ones because I knew that because I know that they're just s pain that's just finally getting unleashed on the podcast. Those tend to really be my favorite episodes.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

I'm taking mental notes, so uh I'm gonna be a guest on your podcast actually. I think uh well we'll be recording in uh in a couple weeks. Um I'm I'm taking some notes. I I I gotta be uh I I gotta crack your top five at least.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

I'm sorry? No, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

Oh no, I was uh I was I was just uh just messing around, man. I I have had like a blast like hearing

The Voice They Tried to Silence Is Now Paying the Bills

SPEAKER_01 47:05

your story. Um what is the thing that you were most proud of uh of being a podcast or having your podcast?

SPEAKER_02 47:14

There's a lot of things that have really come with the podcast that I never imagined. I think just finally having a successful job that I really love, the the most thing I'm really proud of is just how mentally well I am right now. This has been the happiest I've been in a very long time. This has been kind of the longest stretch of happiness I've had with the podcast. It has just really helped my mental health, and I'm so beneficial for that. And when I finally was able to say, yes, I'm a full-time podcaster, having to worry about job hutting and have putting that in the past was so beneficial to hear and just finally was some just felt so nice to hear of like I don't have to worry about jobs anymore, I don't have to worry about possibly working in a job that I'll just potentially hate a week or two in. I don't have to worry about coworkers that maybe are troublesome or bullies to me. It was just so much and then all the accomplishments that I've had for the podcast too, it's been like being in the top ten for multiple for months on end, continuously, has been so rewarding and just having so many people on the podcast. And I the list can go on, but the there's just so much that I'm proud of with the podcast, and it's how many good opportunities have come from it.

SPEAKER_01 48:39

I think my favorite part of your story is that the voice that was kind of put down and dismissed uh you know through your childhood is now the voice that is paying the bills and making a life and making a making a difference as well, man. I I'm really I I'm really happy for you.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

Yeah, it's so funny because everyone in school, I don't think, would have imagined myself being a podcaster, they never would have expected this from me. And that's kind of just the thing, too, about them that it just really is the difference between me. I was real focused on my school studies, and this has just been the difference between high school peers and college peers. A lot of the people that I went to Auburn with that were in a lot of my journalism classes, they have so much success in their lives. I mean, I I know them. I had one girl that was in my classes that moved to the Midwest to work in a new station out there. She got a job offer from them of wanting to come out there to work. I've had other people that work with I think with the school itself. I mean, they they have more professional career milestones than the personal stuff. Like the only things I've ever really seen from my classmates have been pregnancies and marriages, weddings, all like uh before twenty-four. I'm just like okay. So I see that a lot of my classmates stayed in the bedroom a lot during that time. But it was it there's just a a line between like uh who I was originally hanging out with versus who I ended up hanging around with. And I was kind of fit with the college peers too. I worked hard, I I was a full-time college student. I mean, there was a there was a year that I did spring, summer, and fall for classes. So from January literally to December, I was doing classes every day. I think in total I had like a month break just to be able to graduate on time. I graduated like a semester late because it was something that happened at my community college that we won't get into today because I'm mentally well today, but they basically screwed up with my classes, long story short, classroom or like class error that they did. So I actually ended up having to go to Auburn an extra semester and to not actually go for an extra year I had to take summer classes. So I was really hardworking my school. I was like dedicated. I focused a lot of my time on all that. And it paid off. It really paid off. And it's just I'm so happy with how everything has turned out. It just was I never imagined in a million years that I would be sitting on podcasts like this, I would be host of a podcast, as well as be a guest on podcasts, too. This never crossed my mind. If if you told me this a year ago, that I would be on podcasts, that I would have 300 plus episodes recorded, I'd be like, huh, that's funny. But it's just crazy how much a year has changed for me. And I'm so happy and grateful for all the opportunities I have.

SPEAKER_01 51:58

Uh, where can folks find you?

SPEAKER_02 52:02

The best place that they can find me is through my website. It's noahspodcast.com. There you there's a blog that I do write on so people can see blog posts from me on just random things. Uh all three of my podcasts are on there and socials and where it's all available and all everything like that's available on the website. So feel free to go check that out as well. You can see my other appearances on other podcasts as well on the website, too. Just like this podcast, this show will be added to the website. So when it comes out, you'll be able to have a clickable link on there to take us right to the episode. So there's a lot of things on the podcast and on the website to check out. For socials, to follow me personally, you can follow the podcast on Instagram and TikTok at Lethal Venom Podcast and uh Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, it's at Noah's Podcast. And you can connect with me on LinkedIn as well. It's uh my first and last name, Noah May. First one with a uh with a mascot of a tiger, that's me. Yeah, if you see a tiger mascot beside me, that's me. So that's easy to find. Or if you sense uh see someone's hand dumped in like a big bowl of water, that's me as well. So uh feel free, but all that all these links and everything's on the website.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

The uh the link to your uh to your website will be in the description of this episode so folks can uh check you out. But not until this episode's finished, guys. Noah man, I am uh so thankful that you uh sat down with me today, and I'm really excited to uh to sit down with you in in a couple weeks, I think.

SPEAKER_02 53:36

So we're looking forward to that. But yeah, I enjoyed being on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. Love this conversation, just love the casual flow, loved the format of it. I thought it was a really good podcast. Thank you so much, man.

SPEAKER_01 53:52

Noah, thank you for acting out with me, bud. Thank you so much for having me. It was a complete honor.