September 13, 2024 • 35 mins
Join me on this episode of Revelizations where I continue recounting my journey to hopefully become a podcast host. Thanks for listening.
Enjoying Revelizations and don't know what to do next? Let me offer a suggestion: Grab a device capable of playing a podcast along with some earbuds, turn on an episode of Revelizations, place the earbuds in the ears of your loved ones, and watch with joy as they thank you endlessly for introducing them to the Revelizations podcast. While you're at it feel free to leave a review on whatever platform you're listening to this podcast and follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Not enjoying Revelizations and don't know what you do next? Let me offer a suggestion: Grab your loudest portable speaker capable of pairing with a device that can play a podcast, go to a densely populated area with great acoustics, turn on an episode of Revelizations, crank up the volume, and laugh manically as the unsuspecting population looks around in confusion and bliss to the situation they are in. While you're at it feel free to leave a review on whatever platform you're forcing everyone to listen to the Revelizations podcast and follow/subscribe so you don't miss these types of opportunities in the future.
Thanks to today's sponsor: Clothes
Be sure to use code Revelizations at any and all checkouts. Probably nothing will happen, but it is worth a shot.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, I'm Brian James and welcome to Revelizations.
(00:19):
Before we get into this episode, I have a big announcement.
It seems like my podcast is an overnight success.
It has captured the attention of a lot of businesses wanting to partner with me and
my podcast for advertising opportunities.
If you could please listen to the end of the full episode, ad included, and click on the
promotional link in the description, it would help me a lot.
(00:40):
Be sure to use code Revelizations for additional savings.
This episode of Revelizations is brought to you by Clothes.
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(01:02):
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Say goodbye to those pesky court ordered restrictions on where you can and can't go and say hello
(01:26):
to finally being welcome to all of those yoga classes you were never able to go to.
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(01:47):
On this episode of Revelizations, we will be going further into how I got from a podcast
listener to a podcast host.
Or do I ever realize that dream?
No spoilers of course.
I've heard them say you can't know where you're going without knowing where you've been.
I'm not one to rock the boat and disagree with whomever them are.
(02:09):
In that spirit, let's do a brief recap of episode 1.
So go ahead and in your mind's eye, turn on that flashback filter for me.
You know, where everything is gray tinted?
No, not that one.
The more gray one, where the image is a little blurry too?
Yep, perfect, that's the one.
Brian spent a little over a year pursuing his dream of becoming a firefighter to find
(02:32):
out after only a month in a job somewhat adjacent to firefighting that he wanted nothing
to do with that career.
He was about to be married and now only had a part-time job working for a delivery company.
The once clear vision of the future had shattered and now he had to pick up the pieces to see
what he could create with what was left.
Fade out, end scene, filter off.
(02:55):
Now let's raise the curtain and see what's in store for us on this episode.
Doom and gloom or happy and sappy?
Lights, camera, action!
By shutting the door and becoming a firefighter, I had reopened Pandora's box of what occupations
I could pursue.
I could conceivably do whatever I wanted, but nothing sparked that purpose-driven life
(03:16):
that firefighters seemed to inspire within me.
I simultaneously had unlimited options and no options.
Did I want to be a lawyer, a doctor, join the military?
I sort of like bugs.
Do I want to be a biologist with a specialty in insects?
A surgeon?
An insect surgeon?
Sure, they make great money and live a rockstar lifestyle, but I just got married.
(03:38):
I needed to be able to provide an income for my family now, not in a decade when I can
open my own practice.
I had my bachelor's degree, but that degree wouldn't open any doors I'd want to walk
through without additional schooling.
The idea of going back to school was repulsive.
I really hated school.
Plus, it took me almost seven years to get my college degree in the first place.
(04:00):
How?
Well, for a lot of reasons, but suffice it to say a lack of motivation was a leading
cause.
I didn't want to be a person who got a degree, invested a huge amount of time learning the
knowledge to then not use it.
That's exactly what happened.
Then, again, now with my EMT licenses, I couldn't stomach more schooling to be in the same situation
(04:22):
that I'm in, again, aimless.
It's notable to think about how from birth to graduating high school, society has a well-worn
expected path for you.
You can stray if you want, but there is a lot of societal pressure and disincentives
to deviating.
Then, after being on this path that allows for almost no wiggle room, you reach the end
(04:43):
with the rest of your cohort.
You've arrived at the intersection of where you've been turns into where you're going.
When every step has been cleared before you, you're now met with an overgrown wall of
various vegetation.
You're given a pocket knife with the expectation that you will carve out your own path from
here.
Sure, there are paths on the other side of the overgrowth, but you don't exactly know
(05:05):
where they are or even if, when you find a path, that you will be happy with the destination.
You didn't like that analogy?
Okay, let me try again.
It's like you've been in this kiddie pool your whole life, sporting the most fashionable
water wings ever designed, safe in this three-foot diameter pool with an abundance of lifeguards
around you to make sure you don't get in over your head.
(05:27):
Then, after graduation, they instruct you to look up from your pool for you to realize
your kiddie pool has been floating in an ocean this whole time.
It's time for you to get out.
They need this pool for the next generation.
You're in the ocean now and need to find your way to land.
The lifeguards, having done their jobs, begin to leave, but before that, they give you a
(05:47):
compass, alert you that there is a gathering storm on the horizon, and say, bon voyage.
You find yourself floating in the infinite abyss, with the air quickly leaking out of
your water wings, wishing you paid more attention in your how to use a compass class.
It's remarkable that so many find their way.
Regardless, another reason why it took me so long to graduate from college, and I think
(06:10):
this one weighs heaviest on me, was letting other people tell me about my experience in
a class before I even took it.
I was in my late teens or early twenties.
There was a guy that I worked with who I considered smarter than me.
Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't.
He would come to work and echo a sentiment that I heard from a few other of my friends
about a particular class.
He emphatically would tell me how horrible this class was.
(06:33):
The class in question?
A mid-level biology class.
It was so difficult! he would tell me.
I needed to do whatever I could to not take this class.
It just so happens that this class that he and others were warning me about was mandatory
for my major.
Not only mandatory, but a prerequisite for other classes that I needed to take to graduate.
(06:57):
Meaning that it was all but certain that I had to take this mid-level biology course,
the very one I needed to avoid at all costs, before I could then take more advanced classes
that would build off the knowledge learned in that class.
His experience and those words loomed so heavy in my heart that I took pretty much all the
other classes I could to avoid taking that specific class.
(07:20):
At one point, I even considered changing my major, but the other major I was interested
in still had that same mid-level biology class as a requirement.
Looking back at it, it was just silly.
I wasted a lot of time with that.
When I finally exhausted all other classes and had no other option but to take the apocalyptic
(07:40):
class, it wasn't nearly as difficult as what was described to me.
I didn't sail through the course, but I did well enough in it.
I even enjoyed it a little.
This taught me a great life lesson.
To not let people completely tell me how I should feel about something before I've
had my own chance to look into it.
I needed to carry around a salt shaker.
(08:01):
When someone tells me how I should feel about something, I dig out my salt shaker, extract
a grain of salt, and take it with what they've said.
What was true for them may not be true for me.
Same thing for you with my experience working for the delivery company.
My feelings that the work doesn't matter was the value that I assigned to it.
Other people may love uniting product with purchaser, enjoy the social component of interacting
(08:25):
with a lot of people in a day, or being a key component in keeping a global economy
healthy.
Have your own salt shaker ready for when people tell you how to feel about something.
Unless they are telling you that the Revelizations podcast is the best podcast ever created and
has enriched their lives immeasurably.
Go ahead and take that one at face value.
(08:45):
That is an undeniable universal truth.
Since school was ruled out, that got rid of some choices of what the future could look
like.
Still, I was overwhelmed and saw only one way to go.
Fresh off the defeat of my last burst dream, I stopped even wondering or dreaming what
the future could look like.
I went the way of least resistance.
I stepped forward on the path that I was already on.
(09:08):
The path of just good enough.
A couple of months after I got married, an opportunity to transfer with the delivery
company I was working for became available.
I was going to go from a behind the scenes warehouse worker to a delivery driver.
It was a full time position and the base pay was higher.
My wife and I felt like it was a good first step and a new city could illuminate previously
(09:29):
unseen opportunities.
We packed up and headed to California.
I had a hope that maybe a new city could give me new purpose.
When I was packing everything to move, I was adamant about only bringing the essentials.
Except I couldn't help myself.
There was other baggage that I couldn't leave behind.
I guess I am just a sentimental softie after all.
(09:52):
I packed up my box of existential crisis and taped it shut.
I labeled it as Do Not Open with a little picture of a skull and crossbones.
I even went a step further and changed its caller ID on my phone to Do Not Pick Up with
a little broken heart sad face emoji.
Surely that would be enough to safeguard myself.
We arrived in our new home and got situated.
(10:14):
As the novelty of a new city and new routine changed into a familiar city and a familiar routine,
I couldn't help but notice one box in the corner of our apartment left unpacked.
My wife did most of the unpacking so I guess I could help her with this last box.
The writing was faded and undecipherable.
There was a picture on the box.
It was hard to tell but it looked almost sort of like a skull with other bones underneath
(10:39):
it.
What was in this box?
I thought to myself.
Only one way to find out.
I grabbed some scissors and opened it,
But before I could take out the contents my phone rang.
I looked down and the caller ID showed Do Not Pick Up broken heart sad face emoji.
Who could this be?
I scratched my head and pondered.
It must be important.
(10:59):
I better answer.
With that the questions came flooding back.
What am I going to do for a career?
Am I stuck grinding out my life in a job that I don't care about?
How can I better our situation?
What will be our quality of life?
Is this it?
Lots of questions and no answers.
I feel like this is a good time to make a clarifying point.
(11:21):
With these first few episodes when I was talking about being unhappy, lost, confused, unfulfilled
I'm talking about my professional life.
I was happily married and that remains to be true to this day.
Further, I am making this comment of sound mind under my own free will and in no way
am I being coerced by a dark silhouette breathing down my neck who may or may not be brandishing
(11:42):
a weapon as I say these things.
*Whispers* Please send help.
No.
I feel like this can get convoluted if I keep the parameters too broad to what contributes
to a fulfilled and happy life.
Mental health, physical health, spirituality, home life, physical activity level, friendships,
romantic life, diet, finances, and on and on.
(12:02):
That's not to say that you can compartmentalize one aspect of your life so that it doesn't
impact others.
Unfortunately, that isn't true.
For the sake of keeping this as straightforward as possible, I'd like to just focus on a
single variable of a complex equation as to what makes a life fulfilling.
That variable being my work life.
(12:23):
At this point, my wife and I have been in California for a year or two with me working
for the delivery company.
There was a lot of questioning my worth, working through shame, with no real change in how
I felt about myself.
As time went on, I did eventually allow myself to start dreaming about what else my future
could look like.
What is it that I want to do?
(12:43):
What is it that I can do that'll increase the richness of my life?
Can I deviate from the path of just good enough?
While I'm out in the rural country delivering packages, I have a lot of time to think.
I popcorned a lot of ideas like becoming a programmer, a video game streamer, even going
back to school for nutrition, a massage therapist, personal trainer, health coach, a door-to-door
(13:06):
doorbell salesman.
Nothing felt quite right.
Podcasts paired quite nicely with all that thinking, in the way that it gave me time
to step away from my thoughts.
On one of those metal breaks, I was listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
There's a lot to be said about him, but if there is one thing I found to be true is that
he has an abundance mentality.
(13:27):
He isn't worried that someone else's success will hinder his own.
He actively encourages people to enter the spheres which he occupies, namely comedy and
podcasting.
It is in one of these podcasts, specifically episode 1041 of the Joe Rogan Experience,
with Dan Carlin as his guest, that I found particularly inspiring.
In this episode, they were both encouraging the listener to extract more out of life than
(13:50):
the bare minimum.
I don't remember the words, I remember the feeling.
And for the first time in a long time, a new idea popped into my head.
Maybe I can have my own podcast.
The thought exhilarated me, but could I let myself have it?
I finally had a lead after years of no inspiration.
(14:11):
I had something I could look into and explore, right?
I was hard stuck on the first step of simply allowing myself to admit to wanting a podcast.
If I do, then it would mean that I'm setting myself up for the possibility that I could
pursue this and then again not be able to reach my goal.
It was almost counterintuitive.
Being hopeless for so long, you would think I'd be overjoyed and chase down the slightest
(14:35):
scent of something more fulfilling, except it was frightening to have a prospect in front
of me again.
Imagine being lost in a pitch black cave.
You can't see anything.
The cave's floor is rocky and uneven.
As you navigate around, you let your hands slide against the walls to help keep your
balance along with making sure that you're moving in a consistent direction.
(14:57):
You've been wandering for so long, you're not sure if you're getting closer to the
exit or walking in circles.
You come to terms that this is your reality.
This is the world in which you operate.
One day, a light appears at the far reaches of your vision.
It's only a spark, but your eyes haven't seen a light source in so long that it's almost
overwhelming.
For that brief moment, the cave is illuminated.
(15:20):
At long last, you know which direction to go.
You take your hands off the wall and make your way straight to the exit.
At this point, the cave has returned to complete darkness, but you're closing in on where
you saw the light.
In your excitement, you trip.
You stand back up, brush yourself off, and try to reorient yourself.
Looking around, you realize you no longer know which way the spark came from.
(15:43):
You knew the cave was dark, but was it always this dark?
After having that bit of hope and losing it, it feels like your circumstance has become
more desperate.
You feel more lost than ever.
Even though you're technically in no worse a position than before you saw the spark,
you were lost then, and you're lost now, that truth is lost on you.
(16:05):
You would almost be better off never seeing the spark.
To experience hope and lose it would almost be more devastating than never having a moment
of hope in the first place.
I was trying to protect myself to avoid that feeling.
After all, the last time I chased after something, I couldn't catch it.
This thought this desire of having my own podcast?
I buried it.
(16:26):
I kept it a secret from everyone.
I even tried to keep it from myself.
For no other reason than it wasn't real and I couldn't be a failure if I decided to never
follow through with it.
Can't fail if you never try, right?
Except I didn't bury it.
I planted it.
Every podcast I would listen to after that was watering the ambition.
(16:46):
Every time I would let my mind wander about having my own podcast, I was shining light
on the idea.
Until the dream sprouted.
It was a sapling, but it couldn't be ignored.
I accepted and owned the fact that yes, I want to host my own podcast.
This was a big moment for me.
After I walked away from becoming a firefighter, for years I had this narrative that I am a
(17:09):
failure.
I felt if I told anyone of any ambition or desire, whatever that may be, I would be met
with skepticism or criticism.
I had my next hurdle.
I needed to get over my own insecurities.
For this to be real, I had to take this burgeoning desire of my heart and let other people see
it.
If only I had someone in my life that I could trust with this perceived delicate information.
(17:32):
Someone in my corner who could celebrate with me and to encourage me through all the wins
and sticking points.
When I remembered that I know a person like that, in fact, I married a person like that,
I confided in my wife that I wanted to host my own podcast and was met with nothing but
uplifting words.
Even to this present day, years later, she's still cheerleading for me.
(17:54):
Sometimes from a point of exhaustion like, stop talking about it and go do it.
Go twosie or get off the pot already.
A valid critique for someone like me who has an unbelievable talent for putting things
off for future Brian.
My wife's complete support in me wanting to start a podcast gave me courage and desire
to want to include other people.
I began slowly telling other friends and family.
(18:17):
*Speaks slowly* I want to host my own podcast.
That's great.
But can you please stop talking in that off putting, spooky, slow motion way?
*Continues speaking slowly* Sure.
Everyone I told was encouraging and showed interest.
Of course they did.
There are people who love me and want to see me happy.
(18:39):
Allow me a moment to project my thoughts.
We can get stuck in this self-critical pattern of overanalyzing ourselves.
So much that we think that other people also have us under a microscope, waiting to pounce
when we make a mistake.
That's rarely the case.
It's usually the opposite.
You invite people in and they will shine a light on those flawed thoughts allowing you
(19:00):
to see that it was silly to even think that way in the first place.
If this isn't your experience, I hope you reconsider who you let in and surround yourself
with.
It took me a while to get from admitting to wanting to have my own podcast to figuring
out what kind of podcast I wanted to host.
After some thought, I landed on an interview style podcast.
(19:21):
I would go out into my city and talk with random people who were willing to sit down
with me and have a long-form conversation.
The idea was that everyone I would meet had lived a whole life up to that point.
Odds are in their lifetime, at least a few interesting things have happened to them.
I would sit down across from them and get to know a random person who happens to be
cohabitating the planet with me.
(19:43):
Now that I figured out what kind of podcast I wanted to host, I needed to figure out what
equipment I was going to purchase for the types of environment I was going to be recording
in while additionally taking into consideration the podcast format too.
This is not a quick process.
Like a baby, I am starting fresh with no knowledge.
However, babies get birthed.
Learn to walk and speak 10 syllable words faster than it takes me to figure out my equipment
(20:07):
needs.
I began by reading several blogs and articles about podcasting equipment.
Weeks of me researching all this equipment, then weeks where I am not looking at anything.
In practice, what this looks like is, I read a few articles and gained some knowledge.
Then in those articles that I read, they introduced peripheral concepts.
Wanting to focus on the information I just read, I opened up a new internet search window
(20:30):
for those peripheral terms.
The idea was that this way, I can have a starting point for my next bout of research while digesting
what I just took in.
I didn't want to flood myself with too much information at once.
I wanted to really learn it.
As a result, these now open search windows and their terms are left sitting on my browser.
I tell myself, I'll get to them soon.
(20:51):
After a few days of those browser results sitting there, I get tired of them staring
at me, judging me, shaming me for not getting to them yet.
Hey, I've been here a week already.
Don't pretend you can't hear me.
I see you on Reddit ignoring me.
Oh, look at that.
He is on social media AND watching Hulu at the same time.
A real savant, this one.
(21:11):
Eventually, I close the windows.
I'm not going to sit here and be strong-armed by my own brain into learning.
Only to pick up a week or so later where I left off, except I'd have to reintroduce
myself to the information I learned earlier because I'd forget some of it.
It's easy for me to be critical of myself.
That's why I'm doing it.
However, the reality of the situation was that I was overwhelmed with the enormity of
(21:34):
knowledge I had to learn, or at least what I thought I had to learn in order for me to
make informed decisions about equipment purchases.
I knew nothing about recording hardware, recording software, or even the difference between those
words.
I have been using hardware and software interchangeably my whole life.
It was fun, but also mentally taxing, as I'm sure that many of you know that when you are
(21:58):
working a full-time job plus compulsory overtime, you're not always eager to grow yourself.
You can read this intellectually stimulating article, or you can turn on Netflix and watch
a comfort show.
Netflix won a lot.
Not every time, but a lot.
I was fatigued from work and had decision paralysis with the seemingly abundant options
set before me.
(22:19):
Do I need a microphone with a USB port or XLR port, a condenser microphone, or a cardioid
microphone?
What?
What are these freaking adjectives doing in front of the word microphone?
Aren't all microphones just microphones?
Turns out that's not the case.
I'm probably even saying cardioid wrong since this is the first time I've said the word
(22:40):
aloud.
This process continues with every piece of equipment.
First the microphones, then the mic stands, continuing with the mic cables, followed by
a digital recorder, and finally the headphones.
Each one took way longer than it had to for me to come to a decision on what to purchase.
It was around Christmas when I figured out all the equipment I was going to need.
(23:02):
Then it was spring when I bought everything because apparently I needed all that time
in between to question the decisions that I made earlier.
In a spirit of gratitude, money wasn't a prohibitive factor for getting into new hobbies.
My family wasn't rich, but we weren't paycheck to paycheck.
Although I never had expensive tastes in hobbies either, just your normal childhood shenanigans
(23:23):
like motorized sports, marble sculpting, and a few startup projects where I threw my hat
in the ring at colonizing space.
Growing up, my parents were always supportive of me pursuing a new hobby that I showed interest
in.
Even in my adulthood, my dad and mom were still eager to show that they believe in me.
Any expense I could possibly incur with starting a podcast had already been subsidized by them.
(23:45):
Not because I asked them to.
Unprompted, they gave me money and said, go get them, bunny.
Along with my brother and his wife, my wife's mom and dad, her sisters and their husbands.
For all the barriers that I put in my way before allowing myself to start a podcast,
thanks to the support around me from my family, money wasn't one of them.
Funding?
(24:05):
Check.
Concept?
Check.
Equipment?
Check.
Uncheck.
Check.
Uncheck.
Check.
Notarized and laminated.
No backsies.
Now, onto my next mission of finding a location to record my conversations that I would have
in a public space to then turn those into a podcast episode.
The location had to be public enough to find a consistent, steady flow of people so I could
(24:28):
ask if they would want to have a conversation with me while simultaneously being private
enough to not pick up on ambient noises from the environment like background conversations,
wind or other hustle and bustle.
This did spark a few questions that I didn't think of until that point in time.
How was I going to transport all of my recording equipment?
Was I going to need to purchase a folding table and chairs?
(24:50):
A portable table?
How big should that table be?
Should I bring an extra chair just in case the person I'm talking to has a friend they
are with?
Two extra chairs?
I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to give it its due consideration, its undue
consideration followed by some more consideration.
Wait.
Wait.
Don't skip ahead.
(25:10):
Hear me out.
I know you're thinking, Brian, I can't, I can't do this again with you.
It took you ten minutes to describe how it took you so long to pick out equipment.
It'll probably be its own episode of you hunting around town for those exact specifications
you described for the location of your podcast.
And you'd be right.
Next time, on the Revelizations podcast, Brian tests out 30 different locations for a podcast.
(25:36):
No, this was relatively painless.
I picked a park that was by my house.
It had everything I needed and more.
It was now time for me to show proof of concept.
I imagined it would be incredibly easy in the age of social media to get flocks of people
to sit down and talk about themselves.
Turns out, that wasn't remotely close to being true.
(25:56):
People were more than happy to say no and carry on living their lives not having another
conversation with me.
I don't blame them.
It's an intimate and intimidating prospect to sit down with a stranger to then have an
extended conversation with them.
If the roles were reversed, I would be too busy listening to music, looking at my phone
with my head locked onto the ground to even acknowledge the person trying to convince
(26:17):
me in the first place to sit down and have a conversation.
Not so much because I'm too cool, but because I'm not great at small talk, which is another
reason why I wanted to have this style of podcast.
It would help me develop a skill that has long been in atrophy.
I wanted to become a better conversationalist through having conversations.
The working title for this podcast was Learning the Art of Conversation.
(26:41):
After a handful of attempts of lugging my podcast gear to the park, I realized it wasn't
as good of a location as I originally thought.
It was too noisy.
I wouldn't be able to record a conversation without picking up the wind or children having
fun at the playground.
Couldn't they find a better place than a public park to have their fun?
Couldn't they see I was trying to create something great?
(27:02):
Or at least I would have if anyone would have said yes to my clunky, stammering question
of, would you like to sit down with me for the, I don't know, the next hour and we talk about
all the things that make you uniquely you?
On top of that, while I'm making my pitch, I'm trying to figure out the correct ratio
of eye contact to looking away.
(27:22):
You know, the perfect balance of eye contact that shows I'm not a psychopath analyzing
your behavior to figure out how to act properly in public and looking away too much that they
think I'm asking the person behind them if they want to be on a podcast.
It boggles the mind how people could say no to me.
Due to the ambient noise of the park, and definitely not because I kept telling kids
(27:43):
to get off my lawn every time they got too close to me, I scrapped the park location.
However, with the help of my wife, we found a better location for recording a conversation
in public.
It was in an outside strip mall.
The area I would be recording was about 50 feet removed from a busy foot traffic area.
There were tables tucked away in a side seating area that dead ended into the backs of surrounding
(28:06):
buildings.
The location was in public.
Not noisy.
No one was going to be walking past me while I was talking with someone, and the buildings
to my back blocked the wind while offering shade.
It was perfect.
Now, the only thing standing in my way was me.
This new podcasting area, affectionately referred to as my podcasting studio, was about a 50
(28:26):
minute adventure from being at my home to being at my studio, completely set up and
ready to have a conversation.
I did my best to make it inviting.
I even had a water bottle for the guest.
In fact, I still have that bottle of water in my podcast go bag.
I would set up everything and go walk up to where the main pathway was for the strip mall
to begin asking people if they would want to be on my podcast.
(28:49):
A little bolder this time than at my other location because now I wasn't at a park.
I was at my podcasting studio, but still, I was having trouble finding people interested
in being featured as a guest on my podcast.
One time, I was giving my pitch to someone only to have it derailed by a simple question
that I should have had a prepared answer to.
What is a podcast?
(29:10):
They asked.
I was caught off guard.
Doesn't everyone know what a podcast is?
A podcast is a podcast like a TV show is a TV show.
It is what it is.
I probably would have been better off saying that and risk sounding rude rather than what
actually unfolded.
But no, no, no, no.
I couldn't let my new friend down without, if the answer was written down, what would
(29:32):
amount to many pages worth of words to describe what a podcast is.
I panicked.
I quickly tried recruiting all of my brain cells to help me solve this riddle.
I failed miserably.
I was using sweeping hand gestures, exaggerated body language like they were going to aid
in my point.
I circuitously over explained that it is like a radio show that is recorded usually in advance,
(29:56):
which can then be downloaded using various podcast apps.
If only I were that nice and succinct.
I didn't say that.
I wish I had said that.
I have since erased from my memory the exact words of what actually was said.
I imagine it sounded like, uh, you know, it's food for your ears that does stuff to your
emotions and brain.
(30:17):
Sometimes.
This person declined my invitation.
Yet still I persisted.
For a while, at least.
I had many adventures of driving to my podcast studio, setting up the recording equipment,
asking people if they'd like to chat, being politely shot down, running out of time and
then packing everything up to head home.
(30:38):
Each time I'd be a little more deflated as I returned podcastless until finally I was
devoid of all air.
Eventually the reality set in that perhaps this ambush style of podcasting wasn't going
to be fruitful.
It turns out that people at a park or shopping mall didn't budget an extra hour in their
day for me.
Who'd have thunk it?
(30:58):
Maybe there is a better way than investing hours of my valuable days off, sometimes only
day off, to then leave with nothing.
Back to the drawing board, because I was determined to make this work.
What?
You don't believe me?
Perhaps that's because you've been paying attention.
I can't remember the exact last time I packed up my podcasting gear and left conversationless,
(31:20):
but one of those times was my last.
I left telling myself and eventually my loved ones who would check in with me about my progress
that I was back to the drawing board on how to attract people.
The strategy I had of going to the podcast destination in hopes of having an interesting
conversation left too much to chance.
It wasn't the best use of my coveted time, which was true.
(31:41):
I had ideas to attract people like I could make a sign saying, I'm a podcast host, let's
have a conversation, or I could make a post on Craigslist that I'll be at a designated
area at this certain time, and if you're interested, pop on by and let's jibber jabber
for a bit.
Those things never happened, maybe for the best?
I had stalled out again.
(32:02):
Occasionally through the months, I would think about restarting the podcast.
I never did.
I found myself again in limbo.
I had given up on the learning the art of conversation podcast.
My dissatisfaction with my job was increasing, and I felt I was being delusional to have
this ambition that I could be a podcaster, or that I would find anything more fulfilling
in my life than what I was currently experiencing.
(32:25):
And there I was, in my just good enough job, treading water, an unfulfilled Brian, wondering,
is this it for me?
And that's where I'll leave it.
Will Brian ever realize his dreams of starting a podcast?
Stay tuned for the answer.
Thanks for listening, everyone.
I'll see you on the next episode of Revelizations.
Again?
(32:46):
I'm noticing a trend that this guy is ending every podcast on a heavy note, but joke's
on you because I'm not ending yet.
I have another big announcement.
I don't want to just have an advertisement at the beginning of the podcast and have you
all think that I'm a big sellout who is using his massive audience as leverage to get washing
machines full of money per ad placement.
(33:07):
That's simply not true.
I have been ruthlessly discriminatory about which companies and products I am putting
in front of you all.
Only the most ethical companies and highest quality products will have a chance to be
featured in an episode of Revelizations.
In that vein, I thought it would be a good idea to include a testimonial section at the
end of each episode.
This way, you can hear firsthand how the products I have tirelessly vetted are having a positive
(33:31):
impact in the lives of your fellow listeners, and maybe you too, should you decide that
the advertised product would equally enhance your life.
Be sure to enter code REVELIZATIONS at the checkout for additional savings as your life
is empty and meaningless without this episode's product.
Thanks for listening.
(33:57):
Oh man, there is nothing that changed my life more than when I started to wear clothes.
Now when I move to a new place, I no longer have to worry about the cops being called
on me when I have to go door to door to the people that live around me, letting them know
that I am going to be their neighbor.
(34:17):
I am no longer concerned about if I am on this list or that list, whether it's the
sexual predator list or the FBI watch list.
Now the only list I am trying to get on is that exclusive club in town.
Haha, right?
I can go everywhere I want now.
Want to go to the library and check out some books?
(34:39):
Sure, why not?
Go to a school and submit my application to be a teacher?
Well, no.
That's still prohibited.
But that breakdancing class I've had my eye on, yeah, I'll give it a spin.
Thanks clothes.
Clothes.
Now available through every reputable apparel store.
(35:01):
Void where prohibited.
Hi, I'm Brian James and welcome to Revelizations.
(00:19):
Before we get into this episode, I have a big announcement.
It seems like my podcast is an overnight success.
It has captured the attention of a lot of businesses wanting to partner with me and
my podcast for advertising opportunities.
If you could please listen to the end of the full episode, ad included, and click on the
promotional link in the description, it would help me a lot.
(00:40):
Be sure to use code Revelizations for additional savings.
This episode of Revelizations is brought to you by Clothes.
Wanting to cover your uh-oh no-no parts, but it's winter and much like you, all the fig
(01:02):
leaves you've harvested to cover yourself are shriveled and useless?
Tired of trying to use pine needles to cover your shame and then they just get in all the
wrong places?
[Inhales sharply] Ooh, yikes.
Worry no more, with Clothes, long gone are the days of people pointing and laughing.
No more being chased out of public spaces.
Say goodbye to those pesky court ordered restrictions on where you can and can't go and say hello
(01:26):
to finally being welcome to all of those yoga classes you were never able to go to.
Clothes, giving you access to the world since caveman days.
Now available at every reputable apparel store.
Void where prohibited.
(01:47):
On this episode of Revelizations, we will be going further into how I got from a podcast
listener to a podcast host.
Or do I ever realize that dream?
No spoilers of course.
I've heard them say you can't know where you're going without knowing where you've been.
I'm not one to rock the boat and disagree with whomever them are.
(02:09):
In that spirit, let's do a brief recap of episode 1.
So go ahead and in your mind's eye, turn on that flashback filter for me.
You know, where everything is gray tinted?
No, not that one.
The more gray one, where the image is a little blurry too?
Yep, perfect, that's the one.
Brian spent a little over a year pursuing his dream of becoming a firefighter to find
(02:32):
out after only a month in a job somewhat adjacent to firefighting that he wanted nothing
to do with that career.
He was about to be married and now only had a part-time job working for a delivery company.
The once clear vision of the future had shattered and now he had to pick up the pieces to see
what he could create with what was left.
Fade out, end scene, filter off.
(02:55):
Now let's raise the curtain and see what's in store for us on this episode.
Doom and gloom or happy and sappy?
Lights, camera, action!
By shutting the door and becoming a firefighter, I had reopened Pandora's box of what occupations
I could pursue.
I could conceivably do whatever I wanted, but nothing sparked that purpose-driven life
(03:16):
that firefighters seemed to inspire within me.
I simultaneously had unlimited options and no options.
Did I want to be a lawyer, a doctor, join the military?
I sort of like bugs.
Do I want to be a biologist with a specialty in insects?
A surgeon?
An insect surgeon?
Sure, they make great money and live a rockstar lifestyle, but I just got married.
(03:38):
I needed to be able to provide an income for my family now, not in a decade when I can
open my own practice.
I had my bachelor's degree, but that degree wouldn't open any doors I'd want to walk
through without additional schooling.
The idea of going back to school was repulsive.
I really hated school.
Plus, it took me almost seven years to get my college degree in the first place.
(04:00):
How?
Well, for a lot of reasons, but suffice it to say a lack of motivation was a leading
cause.
I didn't want to be a person who got a degree, invested a huge amount of time learning the
knowledge to then not use it.
That's exactly what happened.
Then, again, now with my EMT licenses, I couldn't stomach more schooling to be in the same situation
(04:22):
that I'm in, again, aimless.
It's notable to think about how from birth to graduating high school, society has a well-worn
expected path for you.
You can stray if you want, but there is a lot of societal pressure and disincentives
to deviating.
Then, after being on this path that allows for almost no wiggle room, you reach the end
(04:43):
with the rest of your cohort.
You've arrived at the intersection of where you've been turns into where you're going.
When every step has been cleared before you, you're now met with an overgrown wall of
various vegetation.
You're given a pocket knife with the expectation that you will carve out your own path from
here.
Sure, there are paths on the other side of the overgrowth, but you don't exactly know
(05:05):
where they are or even if, when you find a path, that you will be happy with the destination.
You didn't like that analogy?
Okay, let me try again.
It's like you've been in this kiddie pool your whole life, sporting the most fashionable
water wings ever designed, safe in this three-foot diameter pool with an abundance of lifeguards
around you to make sure you don't get in over your head.
(05:27):
Then, after graduation, they instruct you to look up from your pool for you to realize
your kiddie pool has been floating in an ocean this whole time.
It's time for you to get out.
They need this pool for the next generation.
You're in the ocean now and need to find your way to land.
The lifeguards, having done their jobs, begin to leave, but before that, they give you a
(05:47):
compass, alert you that there is a gathering storm on the horizon, and say, bon voyage.
You find yourself floating in the infinite abyss, with the air quickly leaking out of
your water wings, wishing you paid more attention in your how to use a compass class.
It's remarkable that so many find their way.
Regardless, another reason why it took me so long to graduate from college, and I think
(06:10):
this one weighs heaviest on me, was letting other people tell me about my experience in
a class before I even took it.
I was in my late teens or early twenties.
There was a guy that I worked with who I considered smarter than me.
Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't.
He would come to work and echo a sentiment that I heard from a few other of my friends
about a particular class.
He emphatically would tell me how horrible this class was.
(06:33):
The class in question?
A mid-level biology class.
It was so difficult! he would tell me.
I needed to do whatever I could to not take this class.
It just so happens that this class that he and others were warning me about was mandatory
for my major.
Not only mandatory, but a prerequisite for other classes that I needed to take to graduate.
(06:57):
Meaning that it was all but certain that I had to take this mid-level biology course,
the very one I needed to avoid at all costs, before I could then take more advanced classes
that would build off the knowledge learned in that class.
His experience and those words loomed so heavy in my heart that I took pretty much all the
other classes I could to avoid taking that specific class.
(07:20):
At one point, I even considered changing my major, but the other major I was interested
in still had that same mid-level biology class as a requirement.
Looking back at it, it was just silly.
I wasted a lot of time with that.
When I finally exhausted all other classes and had no other option but to take the apocalyptic
(07:40):
class, it wasn't nearly as difficult as what was described to me.
I didn't sail through the course, but I did well enough in it.
I even enjoyed it a little.
This taught me a great life lesson.
To not let people completely tell me how I should feel about something before I've
had my own chance to look into it.
I needed to carry around a salt shaker.
(08:01):
When someone tells me how I should feel about something, I dig out my salt shaker, extract
a grain of salt, and take it with what they've said.
What was true for them may not be true for me.
Same thing for you with my experience working for the delivery company.
My feelings that the work doesn't matter was the value that I assigned to it.
Other people may love uniting product with purchaser, enjoy the social component of interacting
(08:25):
with a lot of people in a day, or being a key component in keeping a global economy
healthy.
Have your own salt shaker ready for when people tell you how to feel about something.
Unless they are telling you that the Revelizations podcast is the best podcast ever created and
has enriched their lives immeasurably.
Go ahead and take that one at face value.
(08:45):
That is an undeniable universal truth.
Since school was ruled out, that got rid of some choices of what the future could look
like.
Still, I was overwhelmed and saw only one way to go.
Fresh off the defeat of my last burst dream, I stopped even wondering or dreaming what
the future could look like.
I went the way of least resistance.
I stepped forward on the path that I was already on.
(09:08):
The path of just good enough.
A couple of months after I got married, an opportunity to transfer with the delivery
company I was working for became available.
I was going to go from a behind the scenes warehouse worker to a delivery driver.
It was a full time position and the base pay was higher.
My wife and I felt like it was a good first step and a new city could illuminate previously
(09:29):
unseen opportunities.
We packed up and headed to California.
I had a hope that maybe a new city could give me new purpose.
When I was packing everything to move, I was adamant about only bringing the essentials.
Except I couldn't help myself.
There was other baggage that I couldn't leave behind.
I guess I am just a sentimental softie after all.
(09:52):
I packed up my box of existential crisis and taped it shut.
I labeled it as Do Not Open with a little picture of a skull and crossbones.
I even went a step further and changed its caller ID on my phone to Do Not Pick Up with
a little broken heart sad face emoji.
Surely that would be enough to safeguard myself.
We arrived in our new home and got situated.
(10:14):
As the novelty of a new city and new routine changed into a familiar city and a familiar routine,
I couldn't help but notice one box in the corner of our apartment left unpacked.
My wife did most of the unpacking so I guess I could help her with this last box.
The writing was faded and undecipherable.
There was a picture on the box.
It was hard to tell but it looked almost sort of like a skull with other bones underneath
(10:39):
it.
What was in this box?
I thought to myself.
Only one way to find out.
I grabbed some scissors and opened it,
But before I could take out the contents my phone rang.
I looked down and the caller ID showed Do Not Pick Up broken heart sad face emoji.
Who could this be?
I scratched my head and pondered.
It must be important.
(10:59):
I better answer.
With that the questions came flooding back.
What am I going to do for a career?
Am I stuck grinding out my life in a job that I don't care about?
How can I better our situation?
What will be our quality of life?
Is this it?
Lots of questions and no answers.
I feel like this is a good time to make a clarifying point.
(11:21):
With these first few episodes when I was talking about being unhappy, lost, confused, unfulfilled
I'm talking about my professional life.
I was happily married and that remains to be true to this day.
Further, I am making this comment of sound mind under my own free will and in no way
am I being coerced by a dark silhouette breathing down my neck who may or may not be brandishing
(11:42):
a weapon as I say these things.
*Whispers* Please send help.
No.
I feel like this can get convoluted if I keep the parameters too broad to what contributes
to a fulfilled and happy life.
Mental health, physical health, spirituality, home life, physical activity level, friendships,
romantic life, diet, finances, and on and on.
(12:02):
That's not to say that you can compartmentalize one aspect of your life so that it doesn't
impact others.
Unfortunately, that isn't true.
For the sake of keeping this as straightforward as possible, I'd like to just focus on a
single variable of a complex equation as to what makes a life fulfilling.
That variable being my work life.
(12:23):
At this point, my wife and I have been in California for a year or two with me working
for the delivery company.
There was a lot of questioning my worth, working through shame, with no real change in how
I felt about myself.
As time went on, I did eventually allow myself to start dreaming about what else my future
could look like.
What is it that I want to do?
(12:43):
What is it that I can do that'll increase the richness of my life?
Can I deviate from the path of just good enough?
While I'm out in the rural country delivering packages, I have a lot of time to think.
I popcorned a lot of ideas like becoming a programmer, a video game streamer, even going
back to school for nutrition, a massage therapist, personal trainer, health coach, a door-to-door
(13:06):
doorbell salesman.
Nothing felt quite right.
Podcasts paired quite nicely with all that thinking, in the way that it gave me time
to step away from my thoughts.
On one of those metal breaks, I was listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
There's a lot to be said about him, but if there is one thing I found to be true is that
he has an abundance mentality.
(13:27):
He isn't worried that someone else's success will hinder his own.
He actively encourages people to enter the spheres which he occupies, namely comedy and
podcasting.
It is in one of these podcasts, specifically episode 1041 of the Joe Rogan Experience,
with Dan Carlin as his guest, that I found particularly inspiring.
In this episode, they were both encouraging the listener to extract more out of life than
(13:50):
the bare minimum.
I don't remember the words, I remember the feeling.
And for the first time in a long time, a new idea popped into my head.
Maybe I can have my own podcast.
The thought exhilarated me, but could I let myself have it?
I finally had a lead after years of no inspiration.
(14:11):
I had something I could look into and explore, right?
I was hard stuck on the first step of simply allowing myself to admit to wanting a podcast.
If I do, then it would mean that I'm setting myself up for the possibility that I could
pursue this and then again not be able to reach my goal.
It was almost counterintuitive.
Being hopeless for so long, you would think I'd be overjoyed and chase down the slightest
(14:35):
scent of something more fulfilling, except it was frightening to have a prospect in front
of me again.
Imagine being lost in a pitch black cave.
You can't see anything.
The cave's floor is rocky and uneven.
As you navigate around, you let your hands slide against the walls to help keep your
balance along with making sure that you're moving in a consistent direction.
(14:57):
You've been wandering for so long, you're not sure if you're getting closer to the
exit or walking in circles.
You come to terms that this is your reality.
This is the world in which you operate.
One day, a light appears at the far reaches of your vision.
It's only a spark, but your eyes haven't seen a light source in so long that it's almost
overwhelming.
For that brief moment, the cave is illuminated.
(15:20):
At long last, you know which direction to go.
You take your hands off the wall and make your way straight to the exit.
At this point, the cave has returned to complete darkness, but you're closing in on where
you saw the light.
In your excitement, you trip.
You stand back up, brush yourself off, and try to reorient yourself.
Looking around, you realize you no longer know which way the spark came from.
(15:43):
You knew the cave was dark, but was it always this dark?
After having that bit of hope and losing it, it feels like your circumstance has become
more desperate.
You feel more lost than ever.
Even though you're technically in no worse a position than before you saw the spark,
you were lost then, and you're lost now, that truth is lost on you.
(16:05):
You would almost be better off never seeing the spark.
To experience hope and lose it would almost be more devastating than never having a moment
of hope in the first place.
I was trying to protect myself to avoid that feeling.
After all, the last time I chased after something, I couldn't catch it.
This thought this desire of having my own podcast?
I buried it.
(16:26):
I kept it a secret from everyone.
I even tried to keep it from myself.
For no other reason than it wasn't real and I couldn't be a failure if I decided to never
follow through with it.
Can't fail if you never try, right?
Except I didn't bury it.
I planted it.
Every podcast I would listen to after that was watering the ambition.
(16:46):
Every time I would let my mind wander about having my own podcast, I was shining light
on the idea.
Until the dream sprouted.
It was a sapling, but it couldn't be ignored.
I accepted and owned the fact that yes, I want to host my own podcast.
This was a big moment for me.
After I walked away from becoming a firefighter, for years I had this narrative that I am a
(17:09):
failure.
I felt if I told anyone of any ambition or desire, whatever that may be, I would be met
with skepticism or criticism.
I had my next hurdle.
I needed to get over my own insecurities.
For this to be real, I had to take this burgeoning desire of my heart and let other people see
it.
If only I had someone in my life that I could trust with this perceived delicate information.
(17:32):
Someone in my corner who could celebrate with me and to encourage me through all the wins
and sticking points.
When I remembered that I know a person like that, in fact, I married a person like that,
I confided in my wife that I wanted to host my own podcast and was met with nothing but
uplifting words.
Even to this present day, years later, she's still cheerleading for me.
(17:54):
Sometimes from a point of exhaustion like, stop talking about it and go do it.
Go twosie or get off the pot already.
A valid critique for someone like me who has an unbelievable talent for putting things
off for future Brian.
My wife's complete support in me wanting to start a podcast gave me courage and desire
to want to include other people.
I began slowly telling other friends and family.
(18:17):
*Speaks slowly* I want to host my own podcast.
That's great.
But can you please stop talking in that off putting, spooky, slow motion way?
*Continues speaking slowly* Sure.
Everyone I told was encouraging and showed interest.
Of course they did.
There are people who love me and want to see me happy.
(18:39):
Allow me a moment to project my thoughts.
We can get stuck in this self-critical pattern of overanalyzing ourselves.
So much that we think that other people also have us under a microscope, waiting to pounce
when we make a mistake.
That's rarely the case.
It's usually the opposite.
You invite people in and they will shine a light on those flawed thoughts allowing you
(19:00):
to see that it was silly to even think that way in the first place.
If this isn't your experience, I hope you reconsider who you let in and surround yourself
with.
It took me a while to get from admitting to wanting to have my own podcast to figuring
out what kind of podcast I wanted to host.
After some thought, I landed on an interview style podcast.
(19:21):
I would go out into my city and talk with random people who were willing to sit down
with me and have a long-form conversation.
The idea was that everyone I would meet had lived a whole life up to that point.
Odds are in their lifetime, at least a few interesting things have happened to them.
I would sit down across from them and get to know a random person who happens to be
cohabitating the planet with me.
(19:43):
Now that I figured out what kind of podcast I wanted to host, I needed to figure out what
equipment I was going to purchase for the types of environment I was going to be recording
in while additionally taking into consideration the podcast format too.
This is not a quick process.
Like a baby, I am starting fresh with no knowledge.
However, babies get birthed.
Learn to walk and speak 10 syllable words faster than it takes me to figure out my equipment
(20:07):
needs.
I began by reading several blogs and articles about podcasting equipment.
Weeks of me researching all this equipment, then weeks where I am not looking at anything.
In practice, what this looks like is, I read a few articles and gained some knowledge.
Then in those articles that I read, they introduced peripheral concepts.
Wanting to focus on the information I just read, I opened up a new internet search window
(20:30):
for those peripheral terms.
The idea was that this way, I can have a starting point for my next bout of research while digesting
what I just took in.
I didn't want to flood myself with too much information at once.
I wanted to really learn it.
As a result, these now open search windows and their terms are left sitting on my browser.
I tell myself, I'll get to them soon.
(20:51):
After a few days of those browser results sitting there, I get tired of them staring
at me, judging me, shaming me for not getting to them yet.
Hey, I've been here a week already.
Don't pretend you can't hear me.
I see you on Reddit ignoring me.
Oh, look at that.
He is on social media AND watching Hulu at the same time.
A real savant, this one.
(21:11):
Eventually, I close the windows.
I'm not going to sit here and be strong-armed by my own brain into learning.
Only to pick up a week or so later where I left off, except I'd have to reintroduce
myself to the information I learned earlier because I'd forget some of it.
It's easy for me to be critical of myself.
That's why I'm doing it.
However, the reality of the situation was that I was overwhelmed with the enormity of
(21:34):
knowledge I had to learn, or at least what I thought I had to learn in order for me to
make informed decisions about equipment purchases.
I knew nothing about recording hardware, recording software, or even the difference between those
words.
I have been using hardware and software interchangeably my whole life.
It was fun, but also mentally taxing, as I'm sure that many of you know that when you are
(21:58):
working a full-time job plus compulsory overtime, you're not always eager to grow yourself.
You can read this intellectually stimulating article, or you can turn on Netflix and watch
a comfort show.
Netflix won a lot.
Not every time, but a lot.
I was fatigued from work and had decision paralysis with the seemingly abundant options
set before me.
(22:19):
Do I need a microphone with a USB port or XLR port, a condenser microphone, or a cardioid
microphone?
What?
What are these freaking adjectives doing in front of the word microphone?
Aren't all microphones just microphones?
Turns out that's not the case.
I'm probably even saying cardioid wrong since this is the first time I've said the word
(22:40):
aloud.
This process continues with every piece of equipment.
First the microphones, then the mic stands, continuing with the mic cables, followed by
a digital recorder, and finally the headphones.
Each one took way longer than it had to for me to come to a decision on what to purchase.
It was around Christmas when I figured out all the equipment I was going to need.
(23:02):
Then it was spring when I bought everything because apparently I needed all that time
in between to question the decisions that I made earlier.
In a spirit of gratitude, money wasn't a prohibitive factor for getting into new hobbies.
My family wasn't rich, but we weren't paycheck to paycheck.
Although I never had expensive tastes in hobbies either, just your normal childhood shenanigans
(23:23):
like motorized sports, marble sculpting, and a few startup projects where I threw my hat
in the ring at colonizing space.
Growing up, my parents were always supportive of me pursuing a new hobby that I showed interest
in.
Even in my adulthood, my dad and mom were still eager to show that they believe in me.
Any expense I could possibly incur with starting a podcast had already been subsidized by them.
(23:45):
Not because I asked them to.
Unprompted, they gave me money and said, go get them, bunny.
Along with my brother and his wife, my wife's mom and dad, her sisters and their husbands.
For all the barriers that I put in my way before allowing myself to start a podcast,
thanks to the support around me from my family, money wasn't one of them.
Funding?
(24:05):
Check.
Concept?
Check.
Equipment?
Check.
Uncheck.
Check.
Uncheck.
Check.
Notarized and laminated.
No backsies.
Now, onto my next mission of finding a location to record my conversations that I would have
in a public space to then turn those into a podcast episode.
The location had to be public enough to find a consistent, steady flow of people so I could
(24:28):
ask if they would want to have a conversation with me while simultaneously being private
enough to not pick up on ambient noises from the environment like background conversations,
wind or other hustle and bustle.
This did spark a few questions that I didn't think of until that point in time.
How was I going to transport all of my recording equipment?
Was I going to need to purchase a folding table and chairs?
(24:50):
A portable table?
How big should that table be?
Should I bring an extra chair just in case the person I'm talking to has a friend they
are with?
Two extra chairs?
I don't know, but I'm sure as hell going to give it its due consideration, its undue
consideration followed by some more consideration.
Wait.
Wait.
Don't skip ahead.
(25:10):
Hear me out.
I know you're thinking, Brian, I can't, I can't do this again with you.
It took you ten minutes to describe how it took you so long to pick out equipment.
It'll probably be its own episode of you hunting around town for those exact specifications
you described for the location of your podcast.
And you'd be right.
Next time, on the Revelizations podcast, Brian tests out 30 different locations for a podcast.
(25:36):
No, this was relatively painless.
I picked a park that was by my house.
It had everything I needed and more.
It was now time for me to show proof of concept.
I imagined it would be incredibly easy in the age of social media to get flocks of people
to sit down and talk about themselves.
Turns out, that wasn't remotely close to being true.
(25:56):
People were more than happy to say no and carry on living their lives not having another
conversation with me.
I don't blame them.
It's an intimate and intimidating prospect to sit down with a stranger to then have an
extended conversation with them.
If the roles were reversed, I would be too busy listening to music, looking at my phone
with my head locked onto the ground to even acknowledge the person trying to convince
(26:17):
me in the first place to sit down and have a conversation.
Not so much because I'm too cool, but because I'm not great at small talk, which is another
reason why I wanted to have this style of podcast.
It would help me develop a skill that has long been in atrophy.
I wanted to become a better conversationalist through having conversations.
The working title for this podcast was Learning the Art of Conversation.
(26:41):
After a handful of attempts of lugging my podcast gear to the park, I realized it wasn't
as good of a location as I originally thought.
It was too noisy.
I wouldn't be able to record a conversation without picking up the wind or children having
fun at the playground.
Couldn't they find a better place than a public park to have their fun?
Couldn't they see I was trying to create something great?
(27:02):
Or at least I would have if anyone would have said yes to my clunky, stammering question
of, would you like to sit down with me for the, I don't know, the next hour and we talk about
all the things that make you uniquely you?
On top of that, while I'm making my pitch, I'm trying to figure out the correct ratio
of eye contact to looking away.
(27:22):
You know, the perfect balance of eye contact that shows I'm not a psychopath analyzing
your behavior to figure out how to act properly in public and looking away too much that they
think I'm asking the person behind them if they want to be on a podcast.
It boggles the mind how people could say no to me.
Due to the ambient noise of the park, and definitely not because I kept telling kids
(27:43):
to get off my lawn every time they got too close to me, I scrapped the park location.
However, with the help of my wife, we found a better location for recording a conversation
in public.
It was in an outside strip mall.
The area I would be recording was about 50 feet removed from a busy foot traffic area.
There were tables tucked away in a side seating area that dead ended into the backs of surrounding
(28:06):
buildings.
The location was in public.
Not noisy.
No one was going to be walking past me while I was talking with someone, and the buildings
to my back blocked the wind while offering shade.
It was perfect.
Now, the only thing standing in my way was me.
This new podcasting area, affectionately referred to as my podcasting studio, was about a 50
(28:26):
minute adventure from being at my home to being at my studio, completely set up and
ready to have a conversation.
I did my best to make it inviting.
I even had a water bottle for the guest.
In fact, I still have that bottle of water in my podcast go bag.
I would set up everything and go walk up to where the main pathway was for the strip mall
to begin asking people if they would want to be on my podcast.
(28:49):
A little bolder this time than at my other location because now I wasn't at a park.
I was at my podcasting studio, but still, I was having trouble finding people interested
in being featured as a guest on my podcast.
One time, I was giving my pitch to someone only to have it derailed by a simple question
that I should have had a prepared answer to.
What is a podcast?
(29:10):
They asked.
I was caught off guard.
Doesn't everyone know what a podcast is?
A podcast is a podcast like a TV show is a TV show.
It is what it is.
I probably would have been better off saying that and risk sounding rude rather than what
actually unfolded.
But no, no, no, no.
I couldn't let my new friend down without, if the answer was written down, what would
(29:32):
amount to many pages worth of words to describe what a podcast is.
I panicked.
I quickly tried recruiting all of my brain cells to help me solve this riddle.
I failed miserably.
I was using sweeping hand gestures, exaggerated body language like they were going to aid
in my point.
I circuitously over explained that it is like a radio show that is recorded usually in advance,
(29:56):
which can then be downloaded using various podcast apps.
If only I were that nice and succinct.
I didn't say that.
I wish I had said that.
I have since erased from my memory the exact words of what actually was said.
I imagine it sounded like, uh, you know, it's food for your ears that does stuff to your
emotions and brain.
(30:17):
Sometimes.
This person declined my invitation.
Yet still I persisted.
For a while, at least.
I had many adventures of driving to my podcast studio, setting up the recording equipment,
asking people if they'd like to chat, being politely shot down, running out of time and
then packing everything up to head home.
(30:38):
Each time I'd be a little more deflated as I returned podcastless until finally I was
devoid of all air.
Eventually the reality set in that perhaps this ambush style of podcasting wasn't going
to be fruitful.
It turns out that people at a park or shopping mall didn't budget an extra hour in their
day for me.
Who'd have thunk it?
(30:58):
Maybe there is a better way than investing hours of my valuable days off, sometimes only
day off, to then leave with nothing.
Back to the drawing board, because I was determined to make this work.
What?
You don't believe me?
Perhaps that's because you've been paying attention.
I can't remember the exact last time I packed up my podcasting gear and left conversationless,
(31:20):
but one of those times was my last.
I left telling myself and eventually my loved ones who would check in with me about my progress
that I was back to the drawing board on how to attract people.
The strategy I had of going to the podcast destination in hopes of having an interesting
conversation left too much to chance.
It wasn't the best use of my coveted time, which was true.
(31:41):
I had ideas to attract people like I could make a sign saying, I'm a podcast host, let's
have a conversation, or I could make a post on Craigslist that I'll be at a designated
area at this certain time, and if you're interested, pop on by and let's jibber jabber
for a bit.
Those things never happened, maybe for the best?
I had stalled out again.
(32:02):
Occasionally through the months, I would think about restarting the podcast.
I never did.
I found myself again in limbo.
I had given up on the learning the art of conversation podcast.
My dissatisfaction with my job was increasing, and I felt I was being delusional to have
this ambition that I could be a podcaster, or that I would find anything more fulfilling
in my life than what I was currently experiencing.
(32:25):
And there I was, in my just good enough job, treading water, an unfulfilled Brian, wondering,
is this it for me?
And that's where I'll leave it.
Will Brian ever realize his dreams of starting a podcast?
Stay tuned for the answer.
Thanks for listening, everyone.
I'll see you on the next episode of Revelizations.
Again?
(32:46):
I'm noticing a trend that this guy is ending every podcast on a heavy note, but joke's
on you because I'm not ending yet.
I have another big announcement.
I don't want to just have an advertisement at the beginning of the podcast and have you
all think that I'm a big sellout who is using his massive audience as leverage to get washing
machines full of money per ad placement.
(33:07):
That's simply not true.
I have been ruthlessly discriminatory about which companies and products I am putting
in front of you all.
Only the most ethical companies and highest quality products will have a chance to be
featured in an episode of Revelizations.
In that vein, I thought it would be a good idea to include a testimonial section at the
end of each episode.
This way, you can hear firsthand how the products I have tirelessly vetted are having a positive
(33:31):
impact in the lives of your fellow listeners, and maybe you too, should you decide that
the advertised product would equally enhance your life.
Be sure to enter code REVELIZATIONS at the checkout for additional savings as your life
is empty and meaningless without this episode's product.
Thanks for listening.
(33:57):
Oh man, there is nothing that changed my life more than when I started to wear clothes.
Now when I move to a new place, I no longer have to worry about the cops being called
on me when I have to go door to door to the people that live around me, letting them know
that I am going to be their neighbor.
(34:17):
I am no longer concerned about if I am on this list or that list, whether it's the
sexual predator list or the FBI watch list.
Now the only list I am trying to get on is that exclusive club in town.
Haha, right?
I can go everywhere I want now.
Want to go to the library and check out some books?
(34:39):
Sure, why not?
Go to a school and submit my application to be a teacher?
Well, no.
That's still prohibited.
But that breakdancing class I've had my eye on, yeah, I'll give it a spin.
Thanks clothes.
Clothes.
Now available through every reputable apparel store.
(35:01):
Void where prohibited.
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