November 24, 2023 • 28 mins
Louise is an inspiring figure in the media business who continues to create great work as an app developer and podcaster co-hosting the Media Path Podcast.
Palanker authored the semi-autobiographical coming of age story Journals: Middle School Love and War, which she developed into a podcast that was called Journals Out Loud.
She also founded an advice app for teens called Ask Weezy.
Louise also produced and directed the documentary film: Family Band The Cowsills Story.
Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a walk and do what we do and do
it well. You know, if you're a nurse, you're keeping
people alive. My god, what is there a greater gift
to the planet. If you're a teacher, look what you're doing.
Oh my gosh, magnificent. I think we all have that
opportunity to take great, great joy and pleasure, and but
we're adding to the planet.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast, the podcast with
music and industry insiders talking about their love of music.
Buzz Night is your host, and today he's joined by
Louise Palliker. She's an app and podcast entrepreneur, co hosting
the Media Path podcast. She's also a filmmaker and was
co founder of the Premiere Radio Network. Let's join Buzz
(00:45):
and Louise next on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Hi buds, Louise, how are you well? How are you doing? Excellent?
Thank you? Thank you for a virtual edition of our
Taking a Walk Podcast. I appreciate it. We have a
lot to unpack in your illustrious career, but let's start
with growing up in Buffalo. How did that shape you
(01:13):
as being this blend of content creator, inventor, entrepreneur or
the whole ball of axe.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
That's a good question. I don't think Buffalo had much
to do with it other than how this then it
was from anything that interested me. My dad was My
dad made for coach for a living. I wasn't interested
in fashion or harming animals, but I loved everything about
(01:42):
my dad and I had a great childhood. So, you know,
everything that I wanted to do that was creative. I
felt like I wasn't talented enough to do in a
school setting or in a community setting, but I was.
I had a lot of For any birthday, I would want, like,
you know, a Codec camera or a Super eight film
(02:04):
camera or a Polaroid land camera or a tape recorder.
So I was recording shows like I was making podcasts.
I'm like just set player. You know. I didn't know
what I was doing, but I was just always creating something,
and I felt like doing it with my brothers and
sisters had less jeopardy than auditioning. You know. I was
(02:25):
in all the plays, but I was always in the chorus.
And even when I went to college, I didn't have
the nerve to say that I wanted to major in journalism,
which which is what I wanted to do. So I
got a teaching degree, and so I was a late
bloomer in that it really didn't start coming out of
me professionally until I moved to California.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
So early on you figured out the joy of creating
things and the satisfaction that comes with creating. Do you
remember the first time that that really hit you and
you were growing up?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Maybe it was saying things that were funny and adults laughing,
and then and recognizing that maybe there was some value
in that and that it pleased me and it pleased others.
So maybe like getting a laugh at the age of
two would could be a version of it. But let's see,
(03:24):
I think I was. I think it may have been
those little radio plays. Like we would get comic books
and then we would act them out in different accents.
On the first I had a real to real little
tape player, and then I had accept plates, and I
got my cousin Lois, and my brother and sister Joanne
and Craig involved, and we would, yeah, we would do
(03:45):
different accents and act out like those romantic comics that
girls would buy because we thought that they were so corny. Uh.
And then my sister and I created a comedy duo
that we called the Stiffa Sisters, and they would sing
and off key harmonies like like like I had any
idea of that the Sweeney Sisters would become a thing.
(04:09):
Although they sang in tune. We just were partying. I
guess stuff that we've seen on on some of the
variety shows. We knew it was funny. It was funny
to us, Yeah, stuff along those lines.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Well, if it's funny to you, then I'm sure it's
funny to somebody else.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I think my mother thought it was pretty clever. And
then we would also we would choreograph the Osmond's and
the Jackson Five. You know, we would we would put
on productions of the sound of music and you know,
things of that nature. I really think since it's first
(04:50):
I was doing, I had siblings who were creative, so
I had teammates.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
What did they end up doing in their career?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
My brother it works on He has always kind of
been in Manhattan working in the Broadway community, and he's
extremely clever. And my sister Joanne is a graphic artist.
Our older sister Amy, interestingly, who didn't do any of
these productions with us, it may have gotten her in
(05:18):
the role of Jackie Jackson once. Who knows, but it
could have happened. But she is a.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Financial advisor, and we know there's comedy evolved there.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Right, Oh hilarity. Sure, you know what people are spending
their money on and you have to keep it to yourself.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But you had this blend while you were doing all
this growing up of figuring out technical things in terms
of you know, the act of recording and all of that,
you had this other, you know, blend of improvisational skills
and probably in addition, seems like there was nothing you've
(06:01):
had in terms of the fear of failure. Is that accurate?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Hmm? Fear of failure, that's a good question. I think
I had what may be the most important quality, which
is a drive to complete the I have the completion gene.
And I think a lot of people have a lot
of ideas, but they they're not always inclined to finish.
(06:28):
That may be a fear of failure, or they get distracted,
or they get they get to what seems like a
barrier and they don't know how to get around it.
I was always somebody that completed things. If I was
working on a little radio show like I would do
my own versions of remember those I don't know your age,
(06:49):
But there were those records that came out and it
was like an interviewer asking someone a question and then
the answer would be a clip of a song. I
wouldn't make those about my family. They always make it
about something that was happening in current events, and that
(07:10):
they would ask a question and the answer would be
like a snippet of a song. Things were supposed to
be hilarious, like well, I would make my own versions
of them interviewing members of my family, and then the
answer would be you know, Like for my sister Amy,
for example, I would ask her a question and she
would just keep singing that Helen Ready song leave Me Alone,
Won't you leave Me alone?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
You know?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Because Amy was too cool for us, like she was
like borderline hippie. But yeah, I think I was. I
definitely had fear of failure when it came to auditioning
for a school play. I don't think I gave my
best performances. I didn't get a part, an actual speaking
(07:51):
part in a place till I was a senior in
high school and I played the Mayor's wife and Bye
by Bertie, which is barely a speaking role. She mostly
screams and faints. So yeah, I think because I probably
completed so many projects on my own, I was really
ready for around two thousand and four when we started
(08:12):
getting all those tools kind of bundled in with our computer,
and you could actually take what was in your head
and create it. You could write a book, you could
record music, you could make a movie, you could you know,
process your own photos. I was really ready for that home,
those home tools, because I was doing them with analog
(08:34):
equipment as a child.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And what were you doing job wise in two thousand
and four.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
By then I had already created and sold a company
called Premiere Radio Networks. So yeah, in the trenches, I
had no fear of failure. I just did things because
I knew that I could, so performing alone on a
stage for example. A I got finally back into that
doing when I started doing stand up comedy. But it
(09:03):
was all kind of like as the Premiere Radio ride
was cresting and we were selling the company. That's when
I started performing again, and that's when I started making
a film about the cow Sills, and that's when I
wrote my own book and recorded my own album of
my own songs. It was really kind of like those
(09:27):
bundles of tools that we were getting with our computers.
I'm sure there's a lot of people that have a
parallel track that were suddenly given a Mac computer with
all these all these creation tools and started creating everything
that had been in their minds, you know, this whole time.
But yeah, I was able to make my career in
radio where I was being creative because we had studios,
(09:48):
you know, we had all those analog tools, and we
were creating comedy that we would send to radio stations.
We were creating countdown shows and music, and I was
interviewing artists, and we were sending interview interview interviews to
radio stations with all of the people that you get
(10:10):
to meet and interview in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yeah, I've been a consumer of the Premiere Radio Network.
I've been a client of them, and probably share some
of the same mutual friends that are part of that
organization to this day. So definitely, I've very very familiar,
great people. So how did the genesis of creating Premiere
(10:39):
come into your head? And what was the process?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I was writing for Ricky's I was writing the weekly
Top forty Countdown, which is Rickty's was a top radio
guy in Los Angeles and he wanted to have a
syndicated show, and I was, I think maybe the fifth writer.
It fired his first four writers, which I didn't. I
had a job at a show called PM Magazine, which
is a television show that was syndicated, and he came
(11:07):
on as a guest host. He liked the way I wrote,
and one day I had a call from him while
he was on the air doing a show. He kept
putting me on hold to talk on the radio or
at which point I would turn to my coworker and go,
oh my God, because I couldn't believe this was happening.
But and then you know, there was. He gave me
(11:27):
the opportunity to come and write for him, which meant
leaving TV and going into radio, so I had to
give that some thought. But he he was doing comedy,
which is really By then I was like twenty three, Yeah,
I knew this is where I want to go. I
would like to be writing something funny rather than writing
PM Magazine, And so I went. And that introduced me
(11:48):
to fellow dis jockeys Tim Kelly and Steve Lahman and
Ed Mann, and we got to talking, and Tim had
this idea that we could do something that we called
the Plane Wrap Countdown, which would be creating tools that
you know, this is analog once again, so you know,
it helped dis jockeys to get to get tools. So
(12:09):
we were creating tools for dis jockeys to perform their
own Top forty countdown where they would have interviews with
all of the artists that were on the countdown. So
we would give them the script and we would give
them the interview soundbites and they could host their own show.
And that was the genesis of Premiere Radio Networks.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
That's a great story and I have to think, certainly
knowing a couple of those characters that you mentioned, particularly
Steve Lehman, that the way he thinks and his sort
of outlook on building things and as an entrepreneur had
(12:50):
to be really inspiring.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Steve definitely had that entrepreneurial spirit and when we started,
when Tim and I started creating the Plane Rep Countdown,
he wanted it. He was doing what was called the
mini feature called National Lampoon's True Facts. He was doing
like a little it would be like a little show
with one commercial, and he was a distuctie kiss, and
(13:13):
he definitely wanted to create programming, and when we started
with the plane rep countdown, he wanted to partner with us,
and so that is what wound up happening.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
So how long of a process was it in terms
of the you know, beginning phone call you got about
selling the network, and then you know the culmination of
the deal.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
That's the Steve end of business. I'm in the trenches
with all of the creators, and I go to board meetings,
I hear these things. You know, I always knew. Steve
always said like the goal is grow the company, grow
the company, which is a sentence I had never heard.
But he was steeped in this stuff. So if it
weren't for Steve, I would not I would not be
where I am today. He was the person who had
(13:58):
all of the business acumens and I was in the
trenches doing all the creativity, and Tim was kind of
straddling both sides. So it was alchemy. We really had
a beautiful team, and my trajectory would not have happened
had I not encountered those two gentlemen. And then you know,
along with Ed Mann and Craig Kitchen, you know the
(14:19):
people that you meet along the way to contribute it's
chemistry because it requires certain ingredients in order for it
to work, and we had them and it was just
like lightning in a bottle. So I'm eternally grateful to
my brothers there, my brothers for life.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Are you still a board member?
Speaker 1 (14:40):
No, we told and I don't even know if I
have shares anymore. I mean it was sold to what
is now. iHeartMedia.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Sure, we'll be right back with more of the Taken
a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taken a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Have you ever seen Craig Kitchen, who happens to be
one of the nicest guys in the world, But have
you ever seen Craig be frustrated under pressure with anything?
Because I haven't.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
I mean, I have my version of what Craig looks
like under pressure, but it's not like what anyone else
looks like under pressure. Is this a magical person? You know?
You know what Craig you know because my other partners
did not have this, and I think maybe they learned
some of it from Craig was that he listens and
he agrees with you, and he validates what you're saying. Now,
(15:35):
he may never do what you asked. But the point
is that the conversation was felt productive and you felt heard,
and then whatever happened, you know, you adjust to. But
I don't know where Craig learned to do that, but
he really treats everybody like they matter. And I learned
(15:55):
from Craig that that's essential. I mean, I mean, don't
we all learn the quality is that we want to learn?
Like in other words, we encounter all kinds of people,
they have all kinds of different styles, and I'd like
to take what I love from each person and say
I liked that, I like the way he handles this,
(16:15):
I like the way he approaches that. And with Craig,
I felt like he really understands how important it is
for each of us to feel validated, to feel as
if we're a part of what matters and what is
contributing towards the success. And so you don't like there's
(16:38):
an improv rule. Have you ever taken any improv classes?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
The one important improv rule that I'll teach you that
you can take away if you like it is yes.
And so you never say no. That's stupid, you say yes.
And we could also not drive the car off a cliff.
You know, we could also think about maybe staying on
the road. So, in other words, you approve of what
(17:06):
they've said, and then you add to it so that
someone will feel open to volunteering their next idea. They
won't feel hurt, humiliated, scared and embarrassed, and you'll continue
getting their thoughts. And that's I don't know if Craig
took it in prov class or that's just naturally how
(17:28):
how he knows what works best for success is to
keep everybody plugged in, and so he just I once
asked him, like, how like he when Steve left and
Craig was running Premiere, he was left having to deal
with all these guys at Jake Core, and you know,
(17:49):
they were the big radio guys and they had a
different style than Craig's. And I said, how much of
your life is running the company and how much much
it is the politics of these waters that you're currently
swimming in? And he said it was sixty percent politics.
(18:09):
And I thought that that was shame because because of
Craig's various talents that at those levels of things, so
much of your life is just staying alive. And that
made me sad, but it also validated my decision that
was a good time for me and move on to
(18:31):
my next adventure.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
And the next venture was really launching the podcast Media
Path right, No.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Media Path is my fifth podcast. So I started doing
stand up, I wrote a book, I recorded an album
of my own songs. I got into photography. I made
a film about the cow Hills, and I started podcasting
with my friend Laura Swisher and our first pot cast
(19:00):
was called Weezy in the Swish, and then I have
moved through various podcasts and it really wasn't until Fritz
Coleman retired from his job as the weather man at
NBC Los Angeles that I started podcasting with Fritz, and
that is our current show, which we are now on
episode on Media Path Podcasts.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Congratulations, that's no small feat.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
But going back to your childhood and you made reference
to this, you were always sort of fiddling with creating things,
which was the genesis of maybe you know you're thinking
on podcasting, and then it probably made it easy for
you to be in that space. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Oh? I think absolutely. I've been talking into a microphone
until you know, I mean since probably I was eleven.
So that was you know, even at premiere and I
was behind the scenes, I still voiced a lot of
stuff because the radio stations didn't know who was I
did hundreds of different characters, and I you know, I
(20:09):
wasn't the top voice performer, but you know we were
cranking out so much content that you know, that was
natural for me.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
How difficult is it to build an audience with a
podcast from your perspective, I certainly have my personal perspective.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, you know, it's extremely difficult because you know, as
I heard James Taylor say once to Oprah, not in
person on the TV. I'm not name dropping, but he said,
you know, anyone can get their foot in the door.
There's just like millions of people inside the door. So
(20:46):
you know, the dynamic has changed in terms of we
we can all create, we all have those tools on
our computer. We can all create a show. But how
do you how do you develop an audience? How do
you stand out? And that just tricky for everyone. I
mean I've I've pretty much tried everything that you're supposed
(21:06):
to do. Hire publicists, and you know all the social media,
you know, making clips and disseminating this way and that
way and tagging this and that, and you know you
believe and find me on TikTok with highlights from our podcasts.
So yeah, I mean, I think you just have to
keep grinding and be consistent and have a show drop
(21:30):
every week at the same time, and build build. We
have a YouTube version of our show so you can
see us in the studio, and then I add all
kinds of visual elements, do it using final cuts since
I know how to make films, and I respond to
every comment we get. I want people to feel involved
(21:52):
and I want to build a community. But it is
a lift, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
But it's so it is, and yet it's so satisfying
creating something, putting it out, you know, back to what
got you excited as a child about creating?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yes, you know, and it gives you every week that
sense of completion, which is so satisfying that hey, I
made something, and you know, I used to just show
it to my mom and my dad and now you know,
so it was like completion was running into the kitchen
(22:29):
and playing something from my mom just really not all
that interested, but you know, visual making dinner and during
the person she was. But I mean, I think raising kids.
Is that is that thrill of completion? Right once they're grown,
it's like, look at this, Look at her there, what
(22:50):
she's doing? You know, So we get it in so
many aspects of our lives. You know what we do
doing it well. You imagine driving by a house that
you helped build and knowing that that the brick is
there because you put it there. I mean, I can't
imagine how how satisfying that must feel, that it creates
shelter for people. There's all kinds of ways to feel
(23:12):
that sense of satisfaction and do what we do and
do it well. You know, if you're a nurse, you're
keeping people alive. My god, what is there a greater
gift to the planet. If you're a teacher, look what
you're doing, Oh my gosh, magnificent. So I think we all,
you know, have have that opportunity to take great, great
(23:34):
joy and pleasure and what we're adding, what we're adding
to the planet.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
What do you think the state of podcasting is now?
There's been obviously some corrections that have occurred with the
strategy for some companies around podcasting. What's your personal view
of the state of the state.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
I don't really know because I'm I'm on us. We're
with a small network and they just they publish us,
and I think it's still a great sorting. You know,
the big sorting process of the television in the fifties
were you know, at least they're already networks at that point,
(24:16):
but it was like the battle was like how do
we get TVs into more homes? And you know, what
are we going to do? And what kind of shows
are people going to want to see? And how do
we measure what they like? Now it's like super easy
to measure what they like, you know, the analytics are
right there. But the podcasting is everything from somebody talking
into their voice memo recorder and publishing it and NBC
(24:41):
making podcasts. It's the big guys are doing it, the
little guys are doing it. So it's a great sorting
of how how is this going to be disseminated more
clearly and sorted into networks and sorted into categories and
you know, very searchable. You know, maybe Google's getting into
(25:03):
the game of like having you know, one of their
search keys being podcasts. Right now, it's you can go
from images to news to you know all and a
few other categories, but maybe the podcast will be one
of those pulled down you know, one of those search
tools where you'll type something into the Google search field
and click podcasts, and so you would then see I think,
(25:28):
a better sorting of everything about botany, you know, whatever
you want to find a podcast about, it'll there's got
to be a better i would say, sorting tools and
also conversation tools so that people listening to the same
podcast can converse about it and it so it's I
(25:48):
think it needs better sorting, and that's probably what's in
its future.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
So what else are you working on these days in
terms of new projects? Any other documentary?
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Not right now? I mean I had a documentary short
that was in the festival circuit when the pandemic hit.
And then during the pandemic, I started podcasting with Fritz
And because Fritz is a household name in Los Angeles
and I want to, you know, be the best I
can for this project. I'm putting all my energy into it.
(26:22):
So I'm not teaching right now. You know a lot
of stuff that shut down for the pandemic, I've kept
shut down for me so I can devote my time
to media path Because the video version of this is
like making a documentary once a week. You know, if
you go to our YouTube page, which is at Media
Path Podcasts, you'll see that every episode if you put
(26:46):
it up on YouTube. Even if you put it up
on the screen while you're making dinner or folding things,
it's every time you look at the screen, there's something
to look at. And I think that may be a
in the future of podcasting too, where everything is sort
of visual and you know, audio owned, you know, audio
(27:09):
only or visual if even like for your show, if
you just wanted to have on the screen a picture
of you, you know, people could be able to put
it up on the wall, right so that you know,
have you've gone into people's homes and there's just stuff
playing that's coming out of the wall. So there's like
they've got a music playlist or whatever. But you can
look at a screen, there's not much to see, but
at least you're playing it through your home system. Right.
(27:33):
So yeah, I'm I'm I'm pretty busy with this making
it as visually interesting as possible. But I will make
more documentaries. I love that art form and I would
I would love to make my next documentary. I just
I'm not sure what it will be just yet.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, my last question, Louise is do we send Craig
Kitchen a bill? That's really the question.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
I don't know if he's good for it, you know, yeah, no,
definitely he is the best. I love that guy, and so,
you know, I think we, you know, maybe send him
a bill that would be like what these royalty checks
that folks are getting, these writers are getting. Maybe for
two or three cents. Yeah, I would send him that.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Weezy. Thanks for being on Taking a Walk. Appreciate it.
It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Oh. I enjoyed talking with you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a walk and do what we do and do
it well. You know, if you're a nurse, you're keeping
people alive. My god, what is there a greater gift
to the planet. If you're a teacher, look what you're doing.
Oh my gosh, magnificent. I think we all have that
opportunity to take great, great joy and pleasure, and but
we're adding to the planet.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast, the podcast with
music and industry insiders talking about their love of music.
Buzz Night is your host, and today he's joined by
Louise Palliker. She's an app and podcast entrepreneur, co hosting
the Media Path podcast. She's also a filmmaker and was
co founder of the Premiere Radio Network. Let's join Buzz
(00:45):
and Louise next on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Hi buds, Louise, how are you well? How are you doing? Excellent?
Thank you? Thank you for a virtual edition of our
Taking a Walk Podcast. I appreciate it. We have a
lot to unpack in your illustrious career, but let's start
with growing up in Buffalo. How did that shape you
(01:13):
as being this blend of content creator, inventor, entrepreneur or
the whole ball of axe.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
That's a good question. I don't think Buffalo had much
to do with it other than how this then it
was from anything that interested me. My dad was My
dad made for coach for a living. I wasn't interested
in fashion or harming animals, but I loved everything about
(01:42):
my dad and I had a great childhood. So, you know,
everything that I wanted to do that was creative. I
felt like I wasn't talented enough to do in a
school setting or in a community setting, but I was.
I had a lot of For any birthday, I would want, like,
you know, a Codec camera or a Super eight film
(02:04):
camera or a Polaroid land camera or a tape recorder.
So I was recording shows like I was making podcasts.
I'm like just set player. You know. I didn't know
what I was doing, but I was just always creating something,
and I felt like doing it with my brothers and
sisters had less jeopardy than auditioning. You know. I was
(02:25):
in all the plays, but I was always in the chorus.
And even when I went to college, I didn't have
the nerve to say that I wanted to major in journalism,
which which is what I wanted to do. So I
got a teaching degree, and so I was a late
bloomer in that it really didn't start coming out of
me professionally until I moved to California.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
So early on you figured out the joy of creating
things and the satisfaction that comes with creating. Do you
remember the first time that that really hit you and
you were growing up?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Maybe it was saying things that were funny and adults laughing,
and then and recognizing that maybe there was some value
in that and that it pleased me and it pleased others.
So maybe like getting a laugh at the age of
two would could be a version of it. But let's see,
(03:24):
I think I was. I think it may have been
those little radio plays. Like we would get comic books
and then we would act them out in different accents.
On the first I had a real to real little
tape player, and then I had accept plates, and I
got my cousin Lois, and my brother and sister Joanne
and Craig involved, and we would, yeah, we would do
(03:45):
different accents and act out like those romantic comics that
girls would buy because we thought that they were so corny. Uh.
And then my sister and I created a comedy duo
that we called the Stiffa Sisters, and they would sing
and off key harmonies like like like I had any
idea of that the Sweeney Sisters would become a thing.
(04:09):
Although they sang in tune. We just were partying. I
guess stuff that we've seen on on some of the
variety shows. We knew it was funny. It was funny
to us, Yeah, stuff along those lines.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Well, if it's funny to you, then I'm sure it's
funny to somebody else.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I think my mother thought it was pretty clever. And
then we would also we would choreograph the Osmond's and
the Jackson Five. You know, we would we would put
on productions of the sound of music and you know,
things of that nature. I really think since it's first
(04:50):
I was doing, I had siblings who were creative, so
I had teammates.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
What did they end up doing in their career?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
My brother it works on He has always kind of
been in Manhattan working in the Broadway community, and he's
extremely clever. And my sister Joanne is a graphic artist.
Our older sister Amy, interestingly, who didn't do any of
these productions with us, it may have gotten her in
(05:18):
the role of Jackie Jackson once. Who knows, but it
could have happened. But she is a.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Financial advisor, and we know there's comedy evolved there.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Right, Oh hilarity. Sure, you know what people are spending
their money on and you have to keep it to yourself.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But you had this blend while you were doing all
this growing up of figuring out technical things in terms
of you know, the act of recording and all of that,
you had this other, you know, blend of improvisational skills
and probably in addition, seems like there was nothing you've
(06:01):
had in terms of the fear of failure. Is that accurate?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Hmm? Fear of failure, that's a good question. I think
I had what may be the most important quality, which
is a drive to complete the I have the completion gene.
And I think a lot of people have a lot
of ideas, but they they're not always inclined to finish.
(06:28):
That may be a fear of failure, or they get distracted,
or they get they get to what seems like a
barrier and they don't know how to get around it.
I was always somebody that completed things. If I was
working on a little radio show like I would do
my own versions of remember those I don't know your age,
(06:49):
But there were those records that came out and it
was like an interviewer asking someone a question and then
the answer would be a clip of a song. I
wouldn't make those about my family. They always make it
about something that was happening in current events, and that
(07:10):
they would ask a question and the answer would be
like a snippet of a song. Things were supposed to
be hilarious, like well, I would make my own versions
of them interviewing members of my family, and then the
answer would be you know, Like for my sister Amy,
for example, I would ask her a question and she
would just keep singing that Helen Ready song leave Me Alone,
Won't you leave Me alone?
Speaker 3 (07:30):
You know?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Because Amy was too cool for us, like she was
like borderline hippie. But yeah, I think I was. I
definitely had fear of failure when it came to auditioning
for a school play. I don't think I gave my
best performances. I didn't get a part, an actual speaking
(07:51):
part in a place till I was a senior in
high school and I played the Mayor's wife and Bye
by Bertie, which is barely a speaking role. She mostly
screams and faints. So yeah, I think because I probably
completed so many projects on my own, I was really
ready for around two thousand and four when we started
(08:12):
getting all those tools kind of bundled in with our computer,
and you could actually take what was in your head
and create it. You could write a book, you could
record music, you could make a movie, you could you know,
process your own photos. I was really ready for that home,
those home tools, because I was doing them with analog
(08:34):
equipment as a child.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And what were you doing job wise in two thousand
and four.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
By then I had already created and sold a company
called Premiere Radio Networks. So yeah, in the trenches, I
had no fear of failure. I just did things because
I knew that I could, so performing alone on a
stage for example. A I got finally back into that
doing when I started doing stand up comedy. But it
(09:03):
was all kind of like as the Premiere Radio ride
was cresting and we were selling the company. That's when
I started performing again, and that's when I started making
a film about the cow Sills, and that's when I
wrote my own book and recorded my own album of
my own songs. It was really kind of like those
(09:27):
bundles of tools that we were getting with our computers.
I'm sure there's a lot of people that have a
parallel track that were suddenly given a Mac computer with
all these all these creation tools and started creating everything
that had been in their minds, you know, this whole time.
But yeah, I was able to make my career in
radio where I was being creative because we had studios,
(09:48):
you know, we had all those analog tools, and we
were creating comedy that we would send to radio stations.
We were creating countdown shows and music, and I was
interviewing artists, and we were sending interview interview interviews to
radio stations with all of the people that you get
(10:10):
to meet and interview in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yeah, I've been a consumer of the Premiere Radio Network.
I've been a client of them, and probably share some
of the same mutual friends that are part of that
organization to this day. So definitely, I've very very familiar,
great people. So how did the genesis of creating Premiere
(10:39):
come into your head? And what was the process?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I was writing for Ricky's I was writing the weekly
Top forty Countdown, which is Rickty's was a top radio
guy in Los Angeles and he wanted to have a
syndicated show, and I was, I think maybe the fifth writer.
It fired his first four writers, which I didn't. I
had a job at a show called PM Magazine, which
is a television show that was syndicated, and he came
(11:07):
on as a guest host. He liked the way I wrote,
and one day I had a call from him while
he was on the air doing a show. He kept
putting me on hold to talk on the radio or
at which point I would turn to my coworker and go,
oh my God, because I couldn't believe this was happening.
But and then you know, there was. He gave me
(11:27):
the opportunity to come and write for him, which meant
leaving TV and going into radio, so I had to
give that some thought. But he he was doing comedy,
which is really By then I was like twenty three, Yeah,
I knew this is where I want to go. I
would like to be writing something funny rather than writing
PM Magazine, And so I went. And that introduced me
(11:48):
to fellow dis jockeys Tim Kelly and Steve Lahman and
Ed Mann, and we got to talking, and Tim had
this idea that we could do something that we called
the Plane Wrap Countdown, which would be creating tools that
you know, this is analog once again, so you know,
it helped dis jockeys to get to get tools. So
(12:09):
we were creating tools for dis jockeys to perform their
own Top forty countdown where they would have interviews with
all of the artists that were on the countdown. So
we would give them the script and we would give
them the interview soundbites and they could host their own show.
And that was the genesis of Premiere Radio Networks.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
That's a great story and I have to think, certainly
knowing a couple of those characters that you mentioned, particularly
Steve Lehman, that the way he thinks and his sort
of outlook on building things and as an entrepreneur had
(12:50):
to be really inspiring.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Steve definitely had that entrepreneurial spirit and when we started,
when Tim and I started creating the Plane Rep Countdown,
he wanted it. He was doing what was called the
mini feature called National Lampoon's True Facts. He was doing
like a little it would be like a little show
with one commercial, and he was a distuctie kiss, and
(13:13):
he definitely wanted to create programming, and when we started
with the plane rep countdown, he wanted to partner with us,
and so that is what wound up happening.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
So how long of a process was it in terms
of the you know, beginning phone call you got about
selling the network, and then you know the culmination of
the deal.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
That's the Steve end of business. I'm in the trenches
with all of the creators, and I go to board meetings,
I hear these things. You know, I always knew. Steve
always said like the goal is grow the company, grow
the company, which is a sentence I had never heard.
But he was steeped in this stuff. So if it
weren't for Steve, I would not I would not be
where I am today. He was the person who had
(13:58):
all of the business acumens and I was in the
trenches doing all the creativity, and Tim was kind of
straddling both sides. So it was alchemy. We really had
a beautiful team, and my trajectory would not have happened
had I not encountered those two gentlemen. And then you know,
along with Ed Mann and Craig Kitchen, you know the
(14:19):
people that you meet along the way to contribute it's
chemistry because it requires certain ingredients in order for it
to work, and we had them and it was just
like lightning in a bottle. So I'm eternally grateful to
my brothers there, my brothers for life.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Are you still a board member?
Speaker 1 (14:40):
No, we told and I don't even know if I
have shares anymore. I mean it was sold to what
is now. iHeartMedia.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Sure, we'll be right back with more of the Taken
a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taken a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Have you ever seen Craig Kitchen, who happens to be
one of the nicest guys in the world, But have
you ever seen Craig be frustrated under pressure with anything?
Because I haven't.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
I mean, I have my version of what Craig looks
like under pressure, but it's not like what anyone else
looks like under pressure. Is this a magical person? You know?
You know what Craig you know because my other partners
did not have this, and I think maybe they learned
some of it from Craig was that he listens and
he agrees with you, and he validates what you're saying. Now,
(15:35):
he may never do what you asked. But the point
is that the conversation was felt productive and you felt heard,
and then whatever happened, you know, you adjust to. But
I don't know where Craig learned to do that, but
he really treats everybody like they matter. And I learned
(15:55):
from Craig that that's essential. I mean, I mean, don't
we all learn the quality is that we want to learn?
Like in other words, we encounter all kinds of people,
they have all kinds of different styles, and I'd like
to take what I love from each person and say
I liked that, I like the way he handles this,
(16:15):
I like the way he approaches that. And with Craig,
I felt like he really understands how important it is
for each of us to feel validated, to feel as
if we're a part of what matters and what is
contributing towards the success. And so you don't like there's
(16:38):
an improv rule. Have you ever taken any improv classes?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I have not.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
The one important improv rule that I'll teach you that
you can take away if you like it is yes.
And so you never say no. That's stupid, you say yes.
And we could also not drive the car off a cliff.
You know, we could also think about maybe staying on
the road. So, in other words, you approve of what
(17:06):
they've said, and then you add to it so that
someone will feel open to volunteering their next idea. They
won't feel hurt, humiliated, scared and embarrassed, and you'll continue
getting their thoughts. And that's I don't know if Craig
took it in prov class or that's just naturally how
(17:28):
how he knows what works best for success is to
keep everybody plugged in, and so he just I once
asked him, like, how like he when Steve left and
Craig was running Premiere, he was left having to deal
with all these guys at Jake Core, and you know,
(17:49):
they were the big radio guys and they had a
different style than Craig's. And I said, how much of
your life is running the company and how much much
it is the politics of these waters that you're currently
swimming in? And he said it was sixty percent politics.
(18:09):
And I thought that that was shame because because of
Craig's various talents that at those levels of things, so
much of your life is just staying alive. And that
made me sad, but it also validated my decision that
was a good time for me and move on to
(18:31):
my next adventure.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
And the next venture was really launching the podcast Media
Path right, No.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Media Path is my fifth podcast. So I started doing
stand up, I wrote a book, I recorded an album
of my own songs. I got into photography. I made
a film about the cow Hills, and I started podcasting
with my friend Laura Swisher and our first pot cast
(19:00):
was called Weezy in the Swish, and then I have
moved through various podcasts and it really wasn't until Fritz
Coleman retired from his job as the weather man at
NBC Los Angeles that I started podcasting with Fritz, and
that is our current show, which we are now on
episode on Media Path Podcasts.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Congratulations, that's no small feat.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
But going back to your childhood and you made reference
to this, you were always sort of fiddling with creating things,
which was the genesis of maybe you know you're thinking
on podcasting, and then it probably made it easy for
you to be in that space. Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Oh? I think absolutely. I've been talking into a microphone
until you know, I mean since probably I was eleven.
So that was you know, even at premiere and I
was behind the scenes, I still voiced a lot of
stuff because the radio stations didn't know who was I
did hundreds of different characters, and I you know, I
(20:09):
wasn't the top voice performer, but you know we were
cranking out so much content that you know, that was
natural for me.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
How difficult is it to build an audience with a
podcast from your perspective, I certainly have my personal perspective.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Well, you know, it's extremely difficult because you know, as
I heard James Taylor say once to Oprah, not in
person on the TV. I'm not name dropping, but he said,
you know, anyone can get their foot in the door.
There's just like millions of people inside the door. So
(20:46):
you know, the dynamic has changed in terms of we
we can all create, we all have those tools on
our computer. We can all create a show. But how
do you how do you develop an audience? How do
you stand out? And that just tricky for everyone. I
mean I've I've pretty much tried everything that you're supposed
(21:06):
to do. Hire publicists, and you know all the social media,
you know, making clips and disseminating this way and that
way and tagging this and that, and you know you
believe and find me on TikTok with highlights from our podcasts.
So yeah, I mean, I think you just have to
keep grinding and be consistent and have a show drop
(21:30):
every week at the same time, and build build. We
have a YouTube version of our show so you can
see us in the studio, and then I add all
kinds of visual elements, do it using final cuts since
I know how to make films, and I respond to
every comment we get. I want people to feel involved
(21:52):
and I want to build a community. But it is
a lift, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
But it's so it is, and yet it's so satisfying
creating something, putting it out, you know, back to what
got you excited as a child about creating?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yes, you know, and it gives you every week that
sense of completion, which is so satisfying that hey, I
made something, and you know, I used to just show
it to my mom and my dad and now you know,
so it was like completion was running into the kitchen
(22:29):
and playing something from my mom just really not all
that interested, but you know, visual making dinner and during
the person she was. But I mean, I think raising kids.
Is that is that thrill of completion? Right once they're grown,
it's like, look at this, Look at her there, what
(22:50):
she's doing? You know, So we get it in so
many aspects of our lives. You know what we do
doing it well. You imagine driving by a house that
you helped build and knowing that that the brick is
there because you put it there. I mean, I can't
imagine how how satisfying that must feel, that it creates
shelter for people. There's all kinds of ways to feel
(23:12):
that sense of satisfaction and do what we do and
do it well. You know, if you're a nurse, you're
keeping people alive. My god, what is there a greater
gift to the planet. If you're a teacher, look what
you're doing, Oh my gosh, magnificent. So I think we all,
you know, have have that opportunity to take great, great
(23:34):
joy and pleasure and what we're adding, what we're adding
to the planet.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
What do you think the state of podcasting is now?
There's been obviously some corrections that have occurred with the
strategy for some companies around podcasting. What's your personal view
of the state of the state.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
I don't really know because I'm I'm on us. We're
with a small network and they just they publish us,
and I think it's still a great sorting. You know,
the big sorting process of the television in the fifties
were you know, at least they're already networks at that point,
(24:16):
but it was like the battle was like how do
we get TVs into more homes? And you know, what
are we going to do? And what kind of shows
are people going to want to see? And how do
we measure what they like? Now it's like super easy
to measure what they like, you know, the analytics are
right there. But the podcasting is everything from somebody talking
into their voice memo recorder and publishing it and NBC
(24:41):
making podcasts. It's the big guys are doing it, the
little guys are doing it. So it's a great sorting
of how how is this going to be disseminated more
clearly and sorted into networks and sorted into categories and
you know, very searchable. You know, maybe Google's getting into
(25:03):
the game of like having you know, one of their
search keys being podcasts. Right now, it's you can go
from images to news to you know all and a
few other categories, but maybe the podcast will be one
of those pulled down you know, one of those search
tools where you'll type something into the Google search field
and click podcasts, and so you would then see I think,
(25:28):
a better sorting of everything about botany, you know, whatever
you want to find a podcast about, it'll there's got
to be a better i would say, sorting tools and
also conversation tools so that people listening to the same
podcast can converse about it and it so it's I
(25:48):
think it needs better sorting, and that's probably what's in
its future.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
So what else are you working on these days in
terms of new projects? Any other documentary?
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Not right now? I mean I had a documentary short
that was in the festival circuit when the pandemic hit.
And then during the pandemic, I started podcasting with Fritz
And because Fritz is a household name in Los Angeles
and I want to, you know, be the best I
can for this project. I'm putting all my energy into it.
(26:22):
So I'm not teaching right now. You know a lot
of stuff that shut down for the pandemic, I've kept
shut down for me so I can devote my time
to media path Because the video version of this is
like making a documentary once a week. You know, if
you go to our YouTube page, which is at Media
Path Podcasts, you'll see that every episode if you put
(26:46):
it up on YouTube. Even if you put it up
on the screen while you're making dinner or folding things,
it's every time you look at the screen, there's something
to look at. And I think that may be a
in the future of podcasting too, where everything is sort
of visual and you know, audio owned, you know, audio
(27:09):
only or visual if even like for your show, if
you just wanted to have on the screen a picture
of you, you know, people could be able to put
it up on the wall, right so that you know,
have you've gone into people's homes and there's just stuff
playing that's coming out of the wall. So there's like
they've got a music playlist or whatever. But you can
look at a screen, there's not much to see, but
at least you're playing it through your home system. Right.
(27:33):
So yeah, I'm I'm I'm pretty busy with this making
it as visually interesting as possible. But I will make
more documentaries. I love that art form and I would
I would love to make my next documentary. I just
I'm not sure what it will be just yet.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, my last question, Louise is do we send Craig
Kitchen a bill? That's really the question.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
I don't know if he's good for it, you know, yeah, no,
definitely he is the best. I love that guy, and so,
you know, I think we, you know, maybe send him
a bill that would be like what these royalty checks
that folks are getting, these writers are getting. Maybe for
two or three cents. Yeah, I would send him that.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
Weezy. Thanks for being on Taking a Walk. Appreciate it.
It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Oh. I enjoyed talking with you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
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