August 30, 2024 • 39 mins
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Gary Coichy, the visionary founder of Pod Digital Media (PDM), the world’s first and largest multicultural podcast network. With a rich background in digital marketing and e-commerce, Gary has worked with top brands like Lacoste, Verizon, and L’Occitane, and has led PDM to phenomenal growth and success.
In this episode, Gary discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in marketing to multicultural audiences, PDM’s strategic partnerships with major brands, and the exciting future of podcasting for people of color. We dive into his experiences studying abroad in London and Paris, his love for the movie “Boomerang,” and wish list for new partners.
Whether you’re a marketing professional, a podcaster seeking sponsorship, a podcast enthusiast, or simply curious about the intersection of media and multiculturalism, this episode is packed with valuable insights and engaging stories. Don’t miss out on this chance to learn from one of the most powerful individuals in podcasting today!
Connect with Pod Digital Media: https://www.poddigitalmedia.com/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dope-interviews--5006633/support.
In this episode, Gary discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in marketing to multicultural audiences, PDM’s strategic partnerships with major brands, and the exciting future of podcasting for people of color. We dive into his experiences studying abroad in London and Paris, his love for the movie “Boomerang,” and wish list for new partners.
Whether you’re a marketing professional, a podcaster seeking sponsorship, a podcast enthusiast, or simply curious about the intersection of media and multiculturalism, this episode is packed with valuable insights and engaging stories. Don’t miss out on this chance to learn from one of the most powerful individuals in podcasting today!
Connect with Pod Digital Media: https://www.poddigitalmedia.com/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dope-interviews--5006633/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dope.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
It's worth closing this plams DNA dope, It's worth closing
this plams DNA.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
What's good everybody, and welcome to Dope Interviews is brought
to you to buy them mighty nineteen Minnie group. I'm
your host, Warrenshaw, and in the virtual building today, I
have somebody who I'm considering to get to be one
of my friends. He's definitely an amazing colleague out here
in this space. He is an entrepreneur, he's a marketer,
real estate investor, change maker, and he's also the founder
and CEO of pod Digital Media. Gary Quashy, Gary, thank
(00:29):
you so much for joining us here Dope Interviews.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Brother, very nice to have this conversation.
Speaker 5 (00:33):
Man Warrant, my man, excited to be here, appreciate you,
thank you for having me. And uh and to correct you,
we're certainly colleagues. I feel like we've been doing work
now for the last two years. Would you say he
kicked up the relationship, so it's certainly beyond just like
you know, strangers at this point, So for sure, for sure.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Too kind, my brother, too kind.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well, I've done some research and you know, we like
to start here in the beginning kind of in dope interviews,
but might be starting for space.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
You might not be expecting, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
But you spend some time overseas, right, you spent some
time like in London doing some international studies.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Talk to me a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
How that influenced your approach to marketing and business.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
No, absolutely, man. So first of all, I'm Haitian. I'm
born and raised. I was born in the island of Haiti.
So I moved to the State such the age of fifteen,
going in sixteen and now in English between seventeen and eighteen. Right,
So there's a program called EESL English as a Second Language.
When you arrive from a different country, you get into
that program and that's basically how you start sort of
really get accustomed to the language and you start learning
(01:35):
the language, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
So yeah, so that being said, so.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
Being a third world country kid, moved to the States
trying to adapt, you know, in your teen years peak
teen years at that, and then went I went to college,
you know, studying international business in marketing. There was an
opportunity within the you know, the school that I attended
where you can actually in fact go to school overseas
and sort of really just learned business is different, sort
(02:00):
of how different cultures conduct business and learn about different international.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Trades rules, et cetera.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
So, yeah, the first country that I've ever visited post
of the United States, after Haiti was Great Brandon, and
I went to school in London, So yes, or in London.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (02:16):
You know, I prefaced the conversation by saying, I'm from Haiti,
because now in London it's an entire different culture, right,
It's you know, you have folks from Sweden, India, you
have folks from you know, Italy, Spain. So it's similarly
similar to New York. It's certainly a melting pot and
you know, different a lot of folks with different views.
(02:37):
Also earlier on man that certainly shipped my views where
now I till this stage, now I'm in my early forties,
where I always think of a global perspective simply because
that's how I was shipped at a young age, from
at nineteen, you know, interacting with folks from you know,
from different cultures in Europe, Africa, India, Asia, et cetera
at that early age, and a whole different continent.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Right, So that's certainly ship my.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
My views and perspective, especially from a business perspective, where
I always look beyond you know, my current sort of
geographic locations is always thinking how does this impact everyone
at the global level?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Gary is one thing that I want to kind of
turn this conversation to, and not necessarily just from the
podcasting lens, but as I take consume a lot of
television and entertainment there, the English are coming, They're not
They're here like they're here kind of in the U
not US culture, and a lot a lot of British
actors have kind of like made the name for themselves
more recently.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
But can you talk to me a little bit about your.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Lens from how how is marketing different or is it
different you know in a place like like England as
it is compared to the United States.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, I think marketing, you know, you know, marketing is.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Certainly is the way that you know, from you from
your how you attract consumers through your products or services. Right,
I think in different different cultures and different places part
of the world, it's all about understanding consumer adoption. What
does it take, What does it take for your average
consumer or your desired consumer that's going to attract them
to your product and services.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
And why should they choose you? Right?
Speaker 5 (04:09):
So, I think cultural relevance matters, right, which is why
in all worlds while we focus so in the multicultural
audience here in the States, simply because how you talk
to you know, how you talk to an African American
weather is going to be completely different, and how you
speak with someone that may be from Middle of America,
Wisconsin or what have you. Right, the nuances, the cultural
the verbiage is different in Detroit, this is what updell
(04:33):
right in New York it's what's good.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
You know.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Down South is a different burbiage, right, different language that
sorry people approach it. So then now we take that
a step further, you expand it at the global stage.
It's you know, it's it's insights or insights wherever you
might be, whether it's the States or Europe or.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
India, Asia, what have you. It's it.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
It really starts at the fundamental level of understanding who
are your consumers, how do you reach them, where do
you reach them, and what's going to make them tick
to attract them to your product or services.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
I think very well said you know, and obviously that
inside has led you to form the company and part
of the reason why we're having a conversation today. You
looked out for my for my podcast network, you know,
in a very intense way that we were very appreciative
are and still are very appreciative of. You know, what
inspired you to create pod digital media?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Sure? Great question my end.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
So from the age of sixteen, you know again move
to the state sixteen and being studying in Europe, I've
always operated with a sense of curiosity, right, curiosity in
terms of from a business perspective, what's next. Right, I'm
a trained media professional like you know, and just wake
up one day and said I need to start doing
(05:47):
podcast advertising.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
That's not that's not how this came about. Right.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
So I've been around since two thousand and two. I've
seen the evolution of search marketing when Yahoo was called
overture MSN was actually the lead being search engine platform
prior to Google even entering the space. Right, So I've
seen that evolution. I've been around for display advertising, how
that that digital world that's completely evolved. I've been around
(06:11):
for blogger blogger advertising, which is now what we now
call influencer Uh, you know, influencer advertising, right when brands
will actually identify specific blogs that has the right amount
of traffic, that has the right amount of influence, and
they'll go ahead and send and send them products. They'll
do the reviews, and they'll posting on the blogs, and
then that essentially will drive traffic back to the you know,
(06:32):
to a company's website. I've also been around and operated
through affiliate marketing with the link swapping, where you put
a put a link on your site, mind like on
your site, and you put your link on my site,
and in that way there will be some type of
transaction as you drive traffic to my site, people are
buying products. You get compensated on the back end, which
is essentially what podcasting is to some extent, because you
(06:54):
get to talk about a product, we do a code,
and then I dot code on the website.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Did you get compensated? You get some of commission for it? Right?
And then, and.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Then, in various rules that I've had throughout the years,
I operated as a as a director or vice president
or what have you for social media marketing.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Right.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
So, I've seen the evolution of Twitter. I purchased as
on Twitter back before he was ex and LinkedIn snapchat,
you name it. So I'm very familiar with the media
and the digital world. Although I've always been a I've
always been a I've always had a corporate role, but
I've always operated with an entrepreneurial mindset. You know, how
(07:35):
can I impact this industry, this industry is coming up next,
how can I make you know, how can I contribute
to it? And how can I sort of really learn
about it and bring value back to the clients or
the brands I may I've been working with all the time.
So anyway, that being said, you know, in twenty seventeen,
it certainly so the I certainly saw the the light,
you know, when I was doing my du diligence for
(07:56):
one of one of our client's kill's daughter. The CEO's
name is Lee Surprise, and she was looking to do
interviews because she was going through a rebranding process because
she had been acquired by Lorial and her core fans,
core customers felt like the product I had been warded down.
So Lorio decided to hire my agency at the time,
Landry Service, to actually go ahead and do some of
(08:18):
a rebranding campaign. And I supputed that rebranding campaign in
my head, being curious, I'm like Okay, this is just
the hiring us for a campaign. How can we tain
Lorial's Kill's daughter for more of a two year or
one year or a two year partnership versus more of
an ad hoc spots and dots type campaigns that we
were doing. I said, I need to bring innovation, right,
So if you want to bring innovation, you have to
(08:39):
be curious to actually have to find out and figure
out what they're not doing that you can bring to
the table.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So yeah, that's when I took.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
It on my hands and I started reaching out to
all the podcasts now works at the time, Gimblet, iHeart,
Pandora podcast Run. Started reaching out to all those different
companies and saying, look, I'm looking to reach African American
women at for Latina that's interested in this hair care
product so that they can actually understand that Kel's daughters,
you know, the product is still very authentic and still
(09:06):
speak to their core consumers.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Uh. And all these companies that.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
I reach to at the time, and I just couldn't
find three to five shows that we can actually go
to do any ad placements or we can tap into
to have Lista be interviewed and then then this the
recommendation stuff is coming back.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Hey there's this guy named such and such.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
It's a white guy. Hey, there's this guy named Joe Rogan.
And then I'm sitting there, I'm like, Yo, these people
just don't get it. This doesn't make any sense. I
don't know any African American women or any Africa latinas.
Actually I don't know any women for that matter that
wants to listen to ah a white guy or a
guy to tell them what to do with their hair
in the podcast. So yeah, man, in that moment, that's
when I you know, in my moment of frustration. But
(09:46):
that's also not that light bulb moment and saying, hey,
this doesn't currently exist.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
And being from New York, having access to.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
A lot of influencers and a lot of you know,
a lot of talent, and of course also having the
background and working in media, having access large agencies.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
I'm like, what's the words that can happen? Right? I
can always get.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
A meeting because I have the I have the network,
and I can always tap into different talent. So sort
of that's creating podcast content and help them monetize their
you know, he help them monetize the content. So that's
sort of really what birth the idea. In December of
twenty seventeen, and then in January of twenty eighteen, all
these various articles sorted coming out. Podcast is the holy
(10:25):
growth of advertisers. Podcasted numbers are going from two hundred
and seventeen million dollars or maybe five hundred million dollars,
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
And so that's certainly grew my interests.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
And then that's when I went ahead in July July
twenty eighteen and lunch pods of your media.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well long winded.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
Answer, but that's what I have to give you the
background here, so you know, so that's how we got here.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
No, nothing long winded about it, brother, I mean, you know,
we we we got to get to the nitty gritty
and understand what the situation is. And you know, as
you were talking, I watch a lot of Shark Tank,
consume a lot of that, and I can always tell
you know, if of a black owned product, if you will,
or something that's ethnically engaged, and sometimes you know, hey,
(11:06):
it's just not going to resonate with some of those
investors on that now sometimes exactly like yeah, you're you're
gonna have a hard time. So I appreciate you, you know,
finding and trying to create a lane, and you have
you've created a lane you know, to connect podcasters who
look like you and I uh, you know, to the
advertisers who want to work and work with us in
those spaces. So the beginning is obviously hard, right when
(11:29):
you're you're just trying to create the lane and get
that started. But now you're you're operating, and you're and
you're making it happen, and you have X amount of
podcasts now when networks whatever, What are what are your
challenges now that you've actually seen some success, Like, what
are things that you have you and your team have
to kind of get over the hump to continue that
that path of success that you're on.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Uh, I think currently, I mean, you know, currently you
you build a business in and and where we totally
where we completely bootstrapped it.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Right, We're not we're not DC backed.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Uh you know, we're not funded by a private equity
firm or any you know, a large holding company, right,
so we bootstopped it. So at first that's sort of
really you're building the business out of survival, right, You're
trying to figure out how do you keep the lights on,
how do you attract advertisers, and how do you sort
of even attract talent people to work with you From
a podcaster's perspective, how do you build credibility within the
marketplace so people would know you're a real player. Right,
(12:19):
So at first I was those were certainly the challenges,
you know, lacking in resources, lacking and funding, but you
still have to go ahead and make it happen.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So we got over that hump.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
But I think now, you know, it's more the challenges
now is that the space is a bit oversaturated, right
in terms of the large companies actually have the right
resources to do this prior to me go ahead and
saying we are the first and the largest multicultural podcast network.
So now they're all out intered the chat, right, they're
all out into the space. I think now the challenges
(12:48):
it's the same challenge as just presents it up in
a different way. Right, how do we stay ahead of
the curve, how do we attract talent? Right, let's say
it's a challenge shuffle Stephen A. Smith, all these sort
of well known folks, athletes, former athletes, that's not creating
podcast content how do we attract them without having sort
of the the pocketbook of those larder of those larger entities,
(13:10):
and also not willing to sort of really give talent
any sort of upfront payment, cash payments, sign on bonus.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
In order for them to come to come work with us. Right.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
So therefore now we have to work three times harder
right on the advertising front to attract bigger advertisers, but
at the same time, in order for the to work
with us, they also want to ensure that we also
have taped to a talent that they don't want to
work with.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Right. So it's a different sort of challenge in that
regard that one that we welcome.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
That's you know, that keeps us, you know, that keeps
us engaged, that keeps us sort of we're not complacent
because we know that at any given time that someone
can can sort of attempt to sort of really you know,
get the.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Talent that we might be interested in working with.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
And then the second piece to that I'll say is
is certainly you know we're working with talent, right, We're
working talent, We're working with creators. We're working with creators
would unfortunately sometimes may not have the knowledge the media
knowledge to understand how the space works. Right, they're thinking,
because they're a big name, they're going to enter the
podcast space and out of nowhere they're going to get
one hundred million dollar deals, and those things don't work.
(14:16):
So that's a challenge in terms of I don't like
to say that world where we have to sort of
humble folks right through education and.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Saying look, you always you say you are. However, this
is a new medium.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
You actually still have to build an audience first and
then now and then that's when advertisers will come into
the folds. Certain folks that have into the space now
this was twenty fourteen to twenty seventeen, they'll be really
rich because that's when brands were just really looking for
content and they were paying top dollars sponsorships. But marketers
have gotten smarter, right, They're relying on data, They're relying
(14:47):
on insights to ensure that you know, yes, you're a
big name, but or you're really moving the needle, or
you're really.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Helping me sell products and stores on my website.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Just because you're a big name doesn't necessarily mean that
you have the influence that you think you have.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
So so that just.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
Makes it a bit challenging, you know when when we're
having certain conversations with certain talent.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Gary, So you bring up a really interesting point there, right,
So hey, let's keep it the buck. I'm not a
big name, I'm I'm Joe Shmoe podcast or what are
the cases be?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So is your company now moving into.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
That space where it does need to be, you know,
of that upper echelon of talent and you know the
views and you know whatever influence because again, hey, it's money, right,
and it doesn't matter that McDonald's millions of dollars to spend.
They want to spend that money appropriately and strategically. So
it's not a matter of just because I started a podcast,
McDonald's are going to come and sponsor me. So is
(15:38):
that the lane that you all just kind of need
to move in now? I think as hey, times are
shifting and your company is continuing to get notoriety.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, but yes, the answer is yes and no.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
And our industript and numbers, right, So we really believe
in talent especially you know, we have different shows that
we work with. For example, there's a new show that's
that's called Elevate Hers that recently started.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I want to sit in episode thirteen.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Uh, you know, but their work, you know, those those
the two female hosts actually have a media background, whatever
work and entertainment they've hosted, chosen other platforms.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Whether it's BT et cetera.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
So they really know how to create quality content and
they're going to ahead and do the work and then
really grow their numbers and then their numbers and the
type of guests, the quality of the content that has
that have grown within the last few week tremendously, Right, So,
I think what we're doing, it's not necessarily going after
the big names.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
The big names are attractive.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Big name also doesn't mean that they're going to be
a workhorce to create content consistently that's going to be
evergreen that advertiser can tap into at any given time, right,
Sour And Yes, we're going to attract those big names
because they might want to create a limited series that
a brand can tap into.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
However, there's also two two, two.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
Three talent that may not necessarily be household names, but
when they're created, when they create content, they also have
real influence and they have a real fan base and
disal quality the content that they're creating that they're also
going to attract audio instance, that advertisers can tap into.
So so the answer is yes, but but also on
and I think it's identifying talent that we can rely
(17:09):
on that also understand the business of creating content, the
business the media in advertising space, and understand what they
need to create in order so to keep attracting bigger
advertisers and not just make a job. Essentially makes a
job as much easier at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Yeah, I mean, it makes it makes total sense, right,
And I appreciate, you know, the honesty in that, because
you know a lot of people would just try to
you know, sell you know, sell me a ship, right,
And I think it's important to kind of understand what's
real and and if we're business people and you're serious
about your business, and even in my network, we understand
that we've had people come and go, even on our network, right,
some people are their hobbyist and some people who are
(17:47):
taking it seriously and then maybe do want to make
it a profession in some capacity. So you have to
figure out the way in a sense to kind of
merit those things together. Especially you're you're you're you're leveraging
multimillion dollar deals here. So I fully fully understand that
you're now moving into I think nil and you know,
other kind of exciting spaces.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
The decision behind that is that just kind of what
the industry is trending towards, and you just you just
kind of have to go there because that's what's kind
of hot right now.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
No, I mean for us, it's all about innovation, right,
It's about innovation and also what's next for us? Right
Because then now, if I'm working for a podcaster that
is also a current athlete or a former athlete, right,
and that also has large influence on social media, that
has a YouTube channel, a very active YouTube channel, very
engaging TikTok page, also something on Instagram X or Facebook
(18:36):
or threads, you know, why would I not want to
help them monetize those platforms as well. Right, So that
has a lot of us to really move into the
influencer space. But also those current athletes might also have
access to their kids might might currently be high school
athletes or college athletes, and they've also now built a
strong following and they're also looking for ways to monetize,
to monetize the content, especially of course with nil sort
(18:58):
of being legal now where you know, student athletes can
actually monetize their you know, the image and likeness. On
our end, if McDonald's is a Tier one client of
ours and we have access to this sort of endless
pool of talent, why we now want to bring innovation
and bring you know, and bring additional creators to McDonald's
(19:20):
so we can help them move the needle so that
they can keep selling their products. So on our end
is what value in addition to audio, which will always
be the point of entry, because we don't want to
be the jack of aultars and the master of none.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
We are the master of audio.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
We understand podcasting, you understand the multicultural audiences. We also
understand the buying power of that segment. But additionally, if
that was the point of entry, what more can we
bring to the table to celebrate more.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Value for advertisers?
Speaker 5 (19:46):
How can we sort of really help them reach that
hard to reach them a gen zers now that has Chipotle,
you know, you know that has Chipotle, that has all
these other options that we're not available to you and
now when we were growing up right, So therefore they
have to make their dollars work three times harder and
there's also so many multiple touch points as to the
(20:07):
different places where they can multiple screens where they can
reach that audience. How can we help them, how can
we make that How can we help them make that happen?
How can we be the bridge of the bridge to
connect them authentically in all those various segments. So, which
is why now it's not sort of what this is
what the industry is doing for us.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
We always want to make sure that we'll bring your
value to our advertisers.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Extremely well said.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
We're talking with Garret Quashia here from Pod Digital Media
here in Dope Interviews.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
To take a quick break, y'all, We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
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and stick around for more insightful discussions right here on
Dope Interviews. And we're back here on Dope Interviews here
with the great Gary Quashy here from pod Digital Media.
So Gary's been talking to us a lot about the
podcast industry, his role in it thus far, and Gary,
all all experiences are learning experiences. So you know, what
(21:58):
would you say has been the most surprising thing that
you learned in the years being in this industry, you know,
working with the various level of talent and understanding that
it is ever evolving.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
That's a great question, man. I mean you learn a lot.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
You know, you learn a lot again when you're dealing
with various you know, we're dealing with various corporations.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Uh, you know, it's you know various.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
You know, the way McDonald's conduct business very different than
we amexed does business are very different that we're Parkland
game with us business, right, and you also learned you know,
you're dealing with corporations, with some corporations that have a
lot of red tapes.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
So it's it's really learning to maneuver again.
Speaker 5 (22:37):
It's learning to sort of position or offering in a
way that's attracted to all of those you know, all
of the all of the different types of advertisers, whether
those A CpG brands, B two B brands or big
pharma or financial services, et cetera. It's it's really learning
the best way to sort of keep evolving and keep
positioning the company, especially now too, as more competitive have
(23:00):
entered the space to create similar offer into what we
currently have. Right, So, I think that's not that's that's
that's that's it's a revolving door that will always keep happening.
Competitors will enter the space, advertisers. People are switching roles
and finding ways to ensure that your product doesn't remain
stale and then that you can actually find ways to
(23:21):
again going back to the word that I mentioned earlier,
continue to bring value so that advertisers can say, look, yes.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
We like to work with those bigger with those big
brand names, household names.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
However, we know that the audience is that in the
type of talent that pop digital media work with brings
a lot of value and where we're able to reach
that audience at scale, we have to keep working with
those guys.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Two part questions for you here Gary the big Who's
who's the Who's the whale? From a podcasting standpoint and
from a brand standpoint, you know, it's like, Hey, I
can't wait to work with this person. On the podcasting
side and on the brand side, we're.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
Speaking no a manifestation for sure pouted out on the
brand side man. You know, you know, I'm very surprised
that we haven't worked with it's Verizon.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
You know, we've worked with AT and T, We've worked with.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
One another teleco company I can't think of right now,
but surprising we haven't worked with Verizon and are strong
enough in terms of you know, we have you know,
their their their huge sponsors in the NFL. We have
a lot of NFL podcasters that we work with. They
also have a lot of value brands that they have
invisible brands that's sort of really cheap to a household
that may not make over one hundred over one hundred thousand.
(24:33):
So you know, we have sort of the audiences and
the shows that make sense. However, we just haven't been
able to correct that nut. So so I'm speaking into
existence and of twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five, pod
Media will be working with Verizon. That's certainly the will
and on the podcast. And to be honest, to be
quite honest with you, man, there's not necessarily a name
(24:55):
per se. You know, if you look at interviews I've done,
I want to say back in twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen,
I would say Oprah, right, but you know it's it's
you know, that's those Those are the names that I
used to float in interviews. But to be honest, there's
not necessarily one name simply because we see we've seen
big names come into the space and faill terribly just
(25:17):
because you know, they just want to talk about themselves
and they don't know necessarily how to keep the audience engaged.
And they're also lack consistency, so they're podcast and the
content that.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
They're creating felt's terrible.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
We've seen actors, musicians, politicians, all of them come and
feil terribly. I think when we want to keep we
want to we want to keep enhancing the job we're
doing right now. And the best way to keep identifying
great talent, whether it's a household name or none household name,
that's going to create quality content that we can tap into.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I think and you're you're at the stage here now
where you don't necessarily need to be wish listing, and
that's a great place to be, right for sure, it
really is. So not a lot of businesses, she black
owned businesses can get to that point. So you your
team has been amazing speaking of you know, I mean,
you're the person I deal with for for the most part,
right but I I you can't possibly be running this
(26:11):
all by yourself. Shout out the rest of some of you,
your teammates and maybe even people helped you bring this
this vision into life.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
Absolutely, man, shout out. I suferred Frednn and Lewis. Is
an operation team. Alex Briez, who is the gentleman that
leads or operation efforts. We have and fenneralists operations. We
have Charisma then uh that also work on the operations team.
We have Stacy Smith, We have Attasha Young, and we
(26:38):
just hired two new folks. I can't think of their
names right now, but but no, man, we have a
pretty robust team that really helps us. You know, I'm
certainly the face you know in terms of from interviews,
you know, but that's certainly a goal of hours to
sort of really elevate some of our other team members too,
so that that everyone I'm not always the person in
the first line of defense, but we certainly have a
(26:59):
team behind me that.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Always supporting me.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
That ensures that you know, we can that there's businesses
running smoothly and and properly.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
And it's a high class business.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Let me tell you if you if you haven't, if
you haven't followed positive media on social media or gary
on social media, maybe in some places, man, And it's
it's amazing for me, you know, I mean to see
and keeping it about, to see another black man doing
just doing the damn thing.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
You know, you're you're in cans, you.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Know, you're you're overseas, over here, you're at our basil
here in the South Florida area where I'm at as
well too. Like it's just it's it's it's inspiring, right,
And I think in a lot of ways in our
culture there's sometimes there can be that jealousy that's there.
But I look and I see you winning, and I'm like, well,
hell yeah, bro, Like, like it's amazing to watch, brother,
So keep doing that, man, because I think you are
(27:46):
inspiring those even if that's not what your intent is,
that's absolutely happening on the back end.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Brother, I really do appreciate you for that.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
No, I appreciate you saying that, and I think, you know,
I think now I'm operating with purpose, and my goal
is to certainly keep operating with the right intentions and
to make the right impact within my community.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
So therefore, which is one of the reasons why you know,
I go back to a lot of high school colleges,
even you know, even just this interview, right, I'm my
goal is to create more interviews, to really share my story,
right to let everyone know, Hey, I'm this kid that
you know that started out in eighty that didn't speak
English until he's eighteen. I still have an accent until
this day. But consistency and hard work and curiosity I've
(28:28):
led me to where I'm currently at right now. I
promise you I did nothing special. But besides out making
sure that I'm staying curious, I'm doing my due diligence,
and I just and I keep learning right, and I
operated with flexible mindset so I can always receive information
to understand how I'm showing up and how I'm being received.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
So yeah, the goal is certainly to.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Keep inspiring for sure, to ensure that more guys that
look like me can be in all those spaces, so
that you know, at the end of the day, I
can always pass the baton. It's all four of us
at the table or building on table actually, so that
that more of us can actually can be enjoying a
nice meal together.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Yeah, that part, that part right.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
There.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
A couple last ones here, Gary, fun fact that people
don't know about you, but something that they that people
don't know, something you might not have already shared on
other interviews.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I need an exclusive R and dope interviews.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I got you, man. I'm a social loaner.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
I'm very I give so much energy out on a
daily basis, right, whether that's the team internally that I'm managing,
whether that's to clients, whether that's to talent, or whether
that's just to you know, everyday folks that I interact with.
I give so much energy. I'm very I'm an extrovert, right,
so I give a lot of energy. However, once I
(29:42):
come home and then I'm in my own personal space,
I don't want to be bothered. So so that's certainly.
That's certainly. I've never said this on any interview. This's
my first time saying this publicly. Actually, So yeah, that's
the fact. I'm a social as much of an extrovert
that I am.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I actually do enjoy my lums.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
I hear that, and I and I share that I do.
I do, I share that I think.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Some of my jobs, if you will, require me to
be more extroverted and more personable.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
But I'm very reserved, you know.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
And it's it's a conversation that a friend of mine
told my wife one time, because you know, she she's
she's from the South, per se, and you know, they're like, well,
she's like, she's nice on purpose, you know what I mean,
not really even have the interactions. So when she's being nice,
it's on purpose, you know, to try to get the
job done. So last one kind of a fun one.
So I was watching something else and I heard, you know,
(30:33):
you might be a Boomerang fan, and that is Boomerang,
the Boomerang talk a little bit while about why that
one that hits with you and and Gary, we we
share that that's one of my favorite movie Eddie Murphy
movies and one of my favorite movies period of all time.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Man, that's certainly not one of my top fives for sure.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
So the kick is this, I didn't have any older
brothers or any older cousins. Right again, that's part of
the purpose mission, the mission that I'm on right now.
Because you can't be what you can't see. You can't
be what you can't hear, right, which is the power
of audio. And it's the power of having folks like myself,
you know, even yourself to in certain spaces, or even
being able to have platforms that we can offer to
(31:13):
you know, to a community so we can care with stories.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Right.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
So to boom Rang specifically, I've always been even at
a young age, I've always wanted to be in marketing,
but I didn't really know what marketing was, right. I
used to hear all those commercials, funny commercial series commercials,
same thing with National on TV and also on the radio,
and I'm like, who's responsible for this? Like why am
(31:38):
I the one of hearing this message right now?
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Right? That curiosity led me to saying I want to
be a marketer?
Speaker 5 (31:44):
Right, And then now you're watching Boomerang and in me
not having any one any older brother, and you're the
cousin I can say sort of say as mentors, right,
I sort of really.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Look at this TV character as someone that I want
to be. I'm like, this guy is cool, well, this
guy is smart, and this guy also sort of the
charisma and the swag to sort of really really attract
the ladies. I want to be Marcus Graham. Right. Uh.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
And to be honest with you, man, and I'm not
embarrassed to say it. I've went and led my career.
Everything I've done, I've certainly as you know, as high.
You know, I worked for Beauty Brand, one of the
companies I've worked for. I was the director of marketing
and you know, and I sort of really came up
with some of those marketing ideas and I really felt
(32:32):
like I was Marcus Graham. I'm like, I've reached the
level that I've wanted to reach to be Marcus Graham.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So so it's certainly a movie.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
I try to watch it at least once every two months,
is because it's still I'm still inspired by it, just
because I just remember the.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Feeling when I first watched it.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
Hide inspired me and I'm like, man, I have to
be Marcus Graham. And I even wrote a book where
the book is you know that's also a fun fact,
a book that's called Bachelors of New York City where
it's not just one game all the characters in the
book it's for it's for different types. It's for different
versions of Marcus that you get in the book. One
(33:08):
that the gentleman. That's in finance entrepreneur marketer uh in
an attorney uh in the movie. You know, in Boomerang,
Marcus only was the only cool one these two friends
market you know, Martin Lawrence and the other gentlemen were
not as cool as him. So he was sort of
really like the de facto leader of the crew. But
in the book that I wrote, you have four Marcus greams,
(33:28):
which makes it very It's called Bachelors of New York City.
It's on Amazon, you know, which makes it very sort
of a fun read. And yeah, but that that's again
that was inspired by the movie Boomerang. So I became
a marketer because of Boomerang, and I also went the
end of the book because of it as well.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
That's hell a dope, Hello, dope.
Speaker 5 (33:46):
Favorite favorite scene is he shows up to the office.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
That's what I want to say. Within three minutes of the movie,
he shows up to his office.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
And he's swany's ringing and his swony's ringing, and his
secretary is like, hey, Marcus, the the what's it called,
the casting call is happening, and he su spends his
chair where he goes and he looks in the lobby
and then he comes back and he goes hold all
my calls for the rest of the day. I need
to go to this casting call, and I'm in. I'm
(34:17):
not embarrassed to say it. Actually did it at one
of my one of my jobs when I was talking. Yeah,
so so yeah, what's yours?
Speaker 1 (34:26):
What's your what's your favorite scene?
Speaker 3 (34:28):
I gotta say, honestly, I think it's the stuff where
like the boys are just kind of hanging out, so
like it's the workout scene, you know what I mean,
And it's just like, yeah, you know what I mean,
it's probably not appropriate for this shield, but you know
what I mean, like they're talking, they're talking about you
know about you know, how they're trying to get with
ladies or whatever, and just like the bromance that's within that,
that stuff resonates with me kind of kind of throughout.
(34:49):
You know, you would have a really dope podcast.
Speaker 6 (34:51):
Strong, No, I agree, I agree, right, right, right, Strong
j Or Chris Rock from the Mailroom Some stories, right, No, Actually.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
I mean that movie as so many characters and there's
so many top two talent, Like you think of a
guy like Chris Rock.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
He was playing he had a limited scene.
Speaker 5 (35:11):
But he's seen what was so impactful, right because he
worked in the mail room. So you think about the
level of talent that was in that movie.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Man.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
You know you have Halle Berry what's your name that
played Hylashawan, Robin Gibbons, Robin Gibbons, right, you have Robin Gibbons.
So it's it's incredible, man. It's certainly one of my
top of it movies for sure.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, yeah, that's a great place to wrap and give
us some opportunity for some bandwidth and maybe have another
conversation down the line as podigen Media continues to grow
and expand.
Speaker 4 (35:39):
Before we let you go, just you.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Know, where can the people reach you, to reach the
company and kind of what's next for a PDM.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
No, absolutely, you can reach us on Instagram pod Media
that's where that's our Instagram page. But myself personally, will
you can also reach us podig Media on LinkedIn and
my name Gary Kwashi g A O Y.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
C O I C h y.
Speaker 5 (35:58):
You can certainly find me, you know, it can certainly
find me on LinkedIn. That's that's certainly the best way
to connect with me. I mean as far as wes next, man,
it's again, we want to keep innovating. You know that
we're very excited about the experiential awn of the business
that we currently have. Right, we're creating our culture, We're
creating We're creating live activations or our key cultural moments
and events like oid Baso, super Bowl, All Star f One,
(36:20):
Fashion Week, HBC Homecomings, Hispanic Heritage more Black History Month.
So we want to keep you know, being very much
more consistent in terms of taking podcasters. How do we
make audio sexy, Well, it's by creating live activations around
and having live podcast conversations that's getting recorded again and
be bringing in personal engagement and bringing custom episodes and
series for advertisers, right and then of course the influencer
(36:42):
awn of the business that we have. We're very excited
about it. You know, we're getting ready to make an
announcement we just signed with We just signed one of
the largest w NBA agency in the country. They have
about fifteen percent of all active w NBA players, So
are women in sports we you know, we're very excited
about that segment. So all things that's coming out of
(37:03):
the pipeline, and again, those are all things that we're doing.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
In order to bring more value to advertisers.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
All right, well, I'm gonna need some of those w
NBA contacts and to come on the baseline NBA podcast
Gameless plug here and Dope interviews. But that is a
great place again to rap. He is the great Gary Quashi.
Make sure you figure following that pod media. I'm Warren Shaw.
Hit me up at Shall Sports NBA or at Dope
Undersports interview and as always you know what it is.
It's been another dope interviews.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
Y'all out.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Together we stand the vile.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
We never the vision is one striving for the better,
working as a team, working toward a dreams, not even
work when the team is the dream or the United Front.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
We got a home back, a band of brothers to
counter wrapped.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Then he attack one heart. In fact, forget what the
blood say. Dope is what flows in his fan's DNA.
So let's do it for the love, give to the max.
Listen to an opinion, but react to facts and remember
that together with.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
A ship, but separate just pieces of it.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Shooting dope. It's worth closing his Stam's DNAT. Dope, It's
worth closing his Stam's.
Speaker 7 (38:12):
DNA family represent like a tree with names on it.
We're free, no change on it. Believe the pain's gone.
I can see we come together like questions on the
quiz Mota flowing viz man, you know what it is
and if ignorance is Blisity's gonna hate this lesson organized
in the like a tropical depression. My symbols across some
(38:34):
mic and ghost peppers because I'm just a black shoe
growing up to be a shepherd, moon lightened as a
weapon to protect the children. Every brother is a father.
Dynasties we're building Max J and k Beabay and Isai
next level of the family foundation.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Understand me,
Dope.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
It's worth closing this plams DNA dope, It's worth closing
this plams DNA.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
What's good everybody, and welcome to Dope Interviews is brought
to you to buy them mighty nineteen Minnie group. I'm
your host, Warrenshaw, and in the virtual building today, I
have somebody who I'm considering to get to be one
of my friends. He's definitely an amazing colleague out here
in this space. He is an entrepreneur, he's a marketer,
real estate investor, change maker, and he's also the founder
and CEO of pod Digital Media. Gary Quashy, Gary, thank
(00:29):
you so much for joining us here Dope Interviews.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Brother, very nice to have this conversation.
Speaker 5 (00:33):
Man Warrant, my man, excited to be here, appreciate you,
thank you for having me. And uh and to correct you,
we're certainly colleagues. I feel like we've been doing work
now for the last two years. Would you say he
kicked up the relationship, so it's certainly beyond just like
you know, strangers at this point, So for sure, for sure.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Too kind, my brother, too kind.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well, I've done some research and you know, we like
to start here in the beginning kind of in dope interviews,
but might be starting for space.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
You might not be expecting, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
But you spend some time overseas, right, you spent some
time like in London doing some international studies.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Talk to me a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
How that influenced your approach to marketing and business.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
No, absolutely, man. So first of all, I'm Haitian. I'm
born and raised. I was born in the island of Haiti.
So I moved to the State such the age of fifteen,
going in sixteen and now in English between seventeen and eighteen. Right,
So there's a program called EESL English as a Second Language.
When you arrive from a different country, you get into
that program and that's basically how you start sort of
really get accustomed to the language and you start learning
(01:35):
the language, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
So yeah, so that being said, so.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
Being a third world country kid, moved to the States
trying to adapt, you know, in your teen years peak
teen years at that, and then went I went to college,
you know, studying international business in marketing. There was an
opportunity within the you know, the school that I attended
where you can actually in fact go to school overseas
and sort of really just learned business is different, sort
(02:00):
of how different cultures conduct business and learn about different international.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Trades rules, et cetera.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
So, yeah, the first country that I've ever visited post
of the United States, after Haiti was Great Brandon, and
I went to school in London, So yes, or in London.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (02:16):
You know, I prefaced the conversation by saying, I'm from Haiti,
because now in London it's an entire different culture, right,
It's you know, you have folks from Sweden, India, you
have folks from you know, Italy, Spain. So it's similarly
similar to New York. It's certainly a melting pot and
you know, different a lot of folks with different views.
(02:37):
Also earlier on man that certainly shipped my views where
now I till this stage, now I'm in my early forties,
where I always think of a global perspective simply because
that's how I was shipped at a young age, from
at nineteen, you know, interacting with folks from you know,
from different cultures in Europe, Africa, India, Asia, et cetera
at that early age, and a whole different continent.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Right, So that's certainly ship my.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
My views and perspective, especially from a business perspective, where
I always look beyond you know, my current sort of
geographic locations is always thinking how does this impact everyone
at the global level?
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Gary is one thing that I want to kind of
turn this conversation to, and not necessarily just from the
podcasting lens, but as I take consume a lot of
television and entertainment there, the English are coming, They're not
They're here like they're here kind of in the U
not US culture, and a lot a lot of British
actors have kind of like made the name for themselves
more recently.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
But can you talk to me a little bit about your.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Lens from how how is marketing different or is it
different you know in a place like like England as
it is compared to the United States.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, I think marketing, you know, you know, marketing is.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Certainly is the way that you know, from you from
your how you attract consumers through your products or services. Right,
I think in different different cultures and different places part
of the world, it's all about understanding consumer adoption. What
does it take, What does it take for your average
consumer or your desired consumer that's going to attract them
to your product and services.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
And why should they choose you? Right?
Speaker 5 (04:09):
So, I think cultural relevance matters, right, which is why
in all worlds while we focus so in the multicultural
audience here in the States, simply because how you talk
to you know, how you talk to an African American
weather is going to be completely different, and how you
speak with someone that may be from Middle of America,
Wisconsin or what have you. Right, the nuances, the cultural
the verbiage is different in Detroit, this is what updell
(04:33):
right in New York it's what's good.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
You know.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Down South is a different burbiage, right, different language that
sorry people approach it. So then now we take that
a step further, you expand it at the global stage.
It's you know, it's it's insights or insights wherever you
might be, whether it's the States or Europe or.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
India, Asia, what have you. It's it.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
It really starts at the fundamental level of understanding who
are your consumers, how do you reach them, where do
you reach them, and what's going to make them tick
to attract them to your product or services.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
I think very well said you know, and obviously that
inside has led you to form the company and part
of the reason why we're having a conversation today. You
looked out for my for my podcast network, you know,
in a very intense way that we were very appreciative
are and still are very appreciative of. You know, what
inspired you to create pod digital media?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Sure? Great question my end.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
So from the age of sixteen, you know again move
to the state sixteen and being studying in Europe, I've
always operated with a sense of curiosity, right, curiosity in
terms of from a business perspective, what's next. Right, I'm
a trained media professional like you know, and just wake
up one day and said I need to start doing
(05:47):
podcast advertising.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
That's not that's not how this came about. Right.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
So I've been around since two thousand and two. I've
seen the evolution of search marketing when Yahoo was called
overture MSN was actually the lead being search engine platform
prior to Google even entering the space. Right, So I've
seen that evolution. I've been around for display advertising, how
that that digital world that's completely evolved. I've been around
(06:11):
for blogger blogger advertising, which is now what we now
call influencer Uh, you know, influencer advertising, right when brands
will actually identify specific blogs that has the right amount
of traffic, that has the right amount of influence, and
they'll go ahead and send and send them products. They'll
do the reviews, and they'll posting on the blogs, and
then that essentially will drive traffic back to the you know,
(06:32):
to a company's website. I've also been around and operated
through affiliate marketing with the link swapping, where you put
a put a link on your site, mind like on
your site, and you put your link on my site,
and in that way there will be some type of
transaction as you drive traffic to my site, people are
buying products. You get compensated on the back end, which
is essentially what podcasting is to some extent, because you
(06:54):
get to talk about a product, we do a code,
and then I dot code on the website.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Did you get compensated? You get some of commission for it? Right?
And then, and.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Then, in various rules that I've had throughout the years,
I operated as a as a director or vice president
or what have you for social media marketing.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Right.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
So, I've seen the evolution of Twitter. I purchased as
on Twitter back before he was ex and LinkedIn snapchat,
you name it. So I'm very familiar with the media
and the digital world. Although I've always been a I've
always been a I've always had a corporate role, but
I've always operated with an entrepreneurial mindset. You know, how
(07:35):
can I impact this industry, this industry is coming up next,
how can I make you know, how can I contribute
to it? And how can I sort of really learn
about it and bring value back to the clients or
the brands I may I've been working with all the time.
So anyway, that being said, you know, in twenty seventeen,
it certainly so the I certainly saw the the light,
you know, when I was doing my du diligence for
(07:56):
one of one of our client's kill's daughter. The CEO's
name is Lee Surprise, and she was looking to do
interviews because she was going through a rebranding process because
she had been acquired by Lorial and her core fans,
core customers felt like the product I had been warded down.
So Lorio decided to hire my agency at the time,
Landry Service, to actually go ahead and do some of
(08:18):
a rebranding campaign. And I supputed that rebranding campaign in
my head, being curious, I'm like Okay, this is just
the hiring us for a campaign. How can we tain
Lorial's Kill's daughter for more of a two year or
one year or a two year partnership versus more of
an ad hoc spots and dots type campaigns that we
were doing. I said, I need to bring innovation, right,
So if you want to bring innovation, you have to
(08:39):
be curious to actually have to find out and figure
out what they're not doing that you can bring to
the table.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So yeah, that's when I took.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
It on my hands and I started reaching out to
all the podcasts now works at the time, Gimblet, iHeart,
Pandora podcast Run. Started reaching out to all those different
companies and saying, look, I'm looking to reach African American
women at for Latina that's interested in this hair care
product so that they can actually understand that Kel's daughters,
you know, the product is still very authentic and still
(09:06):
speak to their core consumers.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Uh. And all these companies that.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
I reach to at the time, and I just couldn't
find three to five shows that we can actually go
to do any ad placements or we can tap into
to have Lista be interviewed and then then this the
recommendation stuff is coming back.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Hey there's this guy named such and such.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
It's a white guy. Hey, there's this guy named Joe Rogan.
And then I'm sitting there, I'm like, Yo, these people
just don't get it. This doesn't make any sense. I
don't know any African American women or any Africa latinas.
Actually I don't know any women for that matter that
wants to listen to ah a white guy or a
guy to tell them what to do with their hair
in the podcast. So yeah, man, in that moment, that's
when I you know, in my moment of frustration. But
(09:46):
that's also not that light bulb moment and saying, hey,
this doesn't currently exist.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
And being from New York, having access to.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
A lot of influencers and a lot of you know,
a lot of talent, and of course also having the
background and working in media, having access large agencies.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
I'm like, what's the words that can happen? Right? I
can always get.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
A meeting because I have the I have the network,
and I can always tap into different talent. So sort
of that's creating podcast content and help them monetize their
you know, he help them monetize the content. So that's
sort of really what birth the idea. In December of
twenty seventeen, and then in January of twenty eighteen, all
these various articles sorted coming out. Podcast is the holy
(10:25):
growth of advertisers. Podcasted numbers are going from two hundred
and seventeen million dollars or maybe five hundred million dollars,
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
And so that's certainly grew my interests.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
And then that's when I went ahead in July July
twenty eighteen and lunch pods of your media.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Well long winded.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
Answer, but that's what I have to give you the
background here, so you know, so that's how we got here.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
No, nothing long winded about it, brother, I mean, you know,
we we we got to get to the nitty gritty
and understand what the situation is. And you know, as
you were talking, I watch a lot of Shark Tank,
consume a lot of that, and I can always tell
you know, if of a black owned product, if you will,
or something that's ethnically engaged, and sometimes you know, hey,
(11:06):
it's just not going to resonate with some of those
investors on that now sometimes exactly like yeah, you're you're
gonna have a hard time. So I appreciate you, you know,
finding and trying to create a lane, and you have
you've created a lane you know, to connect podcasters who
look like you and I uh, you know, to the
advertisers who want to work and work with us in
those spaces. So the beginning is obviously hard, right when
(11:29):
you're you're just trying to create the lane and get
that started. But now you're you're operating, and you're and
you're making it happen, and you have X amount of
podcasts now when networks whatever, What are what are your
challenges now that you've actually seen some success, Like, what
are things that you have you and your team have
to kind of get over the hump to continue that
that path of success that you're on.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Uh, I think currently, I mean, you know, currently you
you build a business in and and where we totally
where we completely bootstrapped it.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Right, We're not we're not DC backed.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Uh you know, we're not funded by a private equity
firm or any you know, a large holding company, right,
so we bootstopped it. So at first that's sort of
really you're building the business out of survival, right, You're
trying to figure out how do you keep the lights on,
how do you attract advertisers, and how do you sort
of even attract talent people to work with you From
a podcaster's perspective, how do you build credibility within the
marketplace so people would know you're a real player. Right,
(12:19):
So at first I was those were certainly the challenges,
you know, lacking in resources, lacking and funding, but you
still have to go ahead and make it happen.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
So we got over that hump.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
But I think now, you know, it's more the challenges
now is that the space is a bit oversaturated, right
in terms of the large companies actually have the right
resources to do this prior to me go ahead and
saying we are the first and the largest multicultural podcast network.
So now they're all out intered the chat, right, they're
all out into the space. I think now the challenges
(12:48):
it's the same challenge as just presents it up in
a different way. Right, how do we stay ahead of
the curve, how do we attract talent? Right, let's say
it's a challenge shuffle Stephen A. Smith, all these sort
of well known folks, athletes, former athletes, that's not creating
podcast content how do we attract them without having sort
of the the pocketbook of those larder of those larger entities,
(13:10):
and also not willing to sort of really give talent
any sort of upfront payment, cash payments, sign on bonus.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
In order for them to come to come work with us. Right.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
So therefore now we have to work three times harder
right on the advertising front to attract bigger advertisers, but
at the same time, in order for the to work
with us, they also want to ensure that we also
have taped to a talent that they don't want to
work with.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Right. So it's a different sort of challenge in that
regard that one that we welcome.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
That's you know, that keeps us, you know, that keeps
us engaged, that keeps us sort of we're not complacent
because we know that at any given time that someone
can can sort of attempt to sort of really you know,
get the.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Talent that we might be interested in working with.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
And then the second piece to that I'll say is
is certainly you know we're working with talent, right, We're
working talent, We're working with creators. We're working with creators
would unfortunately sometimes may not have the knowledge the media
knowledge to understand how the space works. Right, they're thinking,
because they're a big name, they're going to enter the
podcast space and out of nowhere they're going to get
one hundred million dollar deals, and those things don't work.
(14:16):
So that's a challenge in terms of I don't like
to say that world where we have to sort of
humble folks right through education and.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Saying look, you always you say you are. However, this
is a new medium.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
You actually still have to build an audience first and
then now and then that's when advertisers will come into
the folds. Certain folks that have into the space now
this was twenty fourteen to twenty seventeen, they'll be really
rich because that's when brands were just really looking for
content and they were paying top dollars sponsorships. But marketers
have gotten smarter, right, They're relying on data, They're relying
(14:47):
on insights to ensure that you know, yes, you're a
big name, but or you're really moving the needle, or
you're really.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Helping me sell products and stores on my website.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Just because you're a big name doesn't necessarily mean that
you have the influence that you think you have.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
So so that just.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
Makes it a bit challenging, you know when when we're
having certain conversations with certain talent.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Gary, So you bring up a really interesting point there, right,
So hey, let's keep it the buck. I'm not a
big name, I'm I'm Joe Shmoe podcast or what are
the cases be?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So is your company now moving into.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
That space where it does need to be, you know,
of that upper echelon of talent and you know the
views and you know whatever influence because again, hey, it's money, right,
and it doesn't matter that McDonald's millions of dollars to spend.
They want to spend that money appropriately and strategically. So
it's not a matter of just because I started a podcast,
McDonald's are going to come and sponsor me. So is
(15:38):
that the lane that you all just kind of need
to move in now? I think as hey, times are
shifting and your company is continuing to get notoriety.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, but yes, the answer is yes and no.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
And our industript and numbers, right, So we really believe
in talent especially you know, we have different shows that
we work with. For example, there's a new show that's
that's called Elevate Hers that recently started.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I want to sit in episode thirteen.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Uh, you know, but their work, you know, those those
the two female hosts actually have a media background, whatever
work and entertainment they've hosted, chosen other platforms.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Whether it's BT et cetera.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
So they really know how to create quality content and
they're going to ahead and do the work and then
really grow their numbers and then their numbers and the
type of guests, the quality of the content that has
that have grown within the last few week tremendously, Right, So,
I think what we're doing, it's not necessarily going after
the big names.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
The big names are attractive.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Big name also doesn't mean that they're going to be
a workhorce to create content consistently that's going to be
evergreen that advertiser can tap into at any given time, right,
Sour And Yes, we're going to attract those big names
because they might want to create a limited series that
a brand can tap into.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
However, there's also two two, two.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
Three talent that may not necessarily be household names, but
when they're created, when they create content, they also have
real influence and they have a real fan base and
disal quality the content that they're creating that they're also
going to attract audio instance, that advertisers can tap into.
So so the answer is yes, but but also on
and I think it's identifying talent that we can rely
(17:09):
on that also understand the business of creating content, the
business the media in advertising space, and understand what they
need to create in order so to keep attracting bigger
advertisers and not just make a job. Essentially makes a
job as much easier at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Yeah, I mean, it makes it makes total sense, right,
And I appreciate, you know, the honesty in that, because
you know a lot of people would just try to
you know, sell you know, sell me a ship, right,
And I think it's important to kind of understand what's
real and and if we're business people and you're serious
about your business, and even in my network, we understand
that we've had people come and go, even on our network, right,
some people are their hobbyist and some people who are
(17:47):
taking it seriously and then maybe do want to make
it a profession in some capacity. So you have to
figure out the way in a sense to kind of
merit those things together. Especially you're you're you're you're leveraging
multimillion dollar deals here. So I fully fully understand that
you're now moving into I think nil and you know,
other kind of exciting spaces.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
The decision behind that is that just kind of what
the industry is trending towards, and you just you just
kind of have to go there because that's what's kind
of hot right now.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
No, I mean for us, it's all about innovation, right,
It's about innovation and also what's next for us? Right
Because then now, if I'm working for a podcaster that
is also a current athlete or a former athlete, right,
and that also has large influence on social media, that
has a YouTube channel, a very active YouTube channel, very
engaging TikTok page, also something on Instagram X or Facebook
(18:36):
or threads, you know, why would I not want to
help them monetize those platforms as well. Right, So that
has a lot of us to really move into the
influencer space. But also those current athletes might also have
access to their kids might might currently be high school
athletes or college athletes, and they've also now built a
strong following and they're also looking for ways to monetize,
to monetize the content, especially of course with nil sort
(18:58):
of being legal now where you know, student athletes can
actually monetize their you know, the image and likeness. On
our end, if McDonald's is a Tier one client of
ours and we have access to this sort of endless
pool of talent, why we now want to bring innovation
and bring you know, and bring additional creators to McDonald's
(19:20):
so we can help them move the needle so that
they can keep selling their products. So on our end
is what value in addition to audio, which will always
be the point of entry, because we don't want to
be the jack of aultars and the master of none.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
We are the master of audio.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
We understand podcasting, you understand the multicultural audiences. We also
understand the buying power of that segment. But additionally, if
that was the point of entry, what more can we
bring to the table to celebrate more.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Value for advertisers?
Speaker 5 (19:46):
How can we sort of really help them reach that
hard to reach them a gen zers now that has Chipotle,
you know, you know that has Chipotle, that has all
these other options that we're not available to you and
now when we were growing up right, So therefore they
have to make their dollars work three times harder and
there's also so many multiple touch points as to the
(20:07):
different places where they can multiple screens where they can
reach that audience. How can we help them, how can
we make that How can we help them make that happen?
How can we be the bridge of the bridge to
connect them authentically in all those various segments. So, which
is why now it's not sort of what this is
what the industry is doing for us.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
We always want to make sure that we'll bring your
value to our advertisers.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Extremely well said.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
We're talking with Garret Quashia here from Pod Digital Media
here in Dope Interviews.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
To take a quick break, y'all, We'll be right back.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
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and stick around for more insightful discussions right here on
Dope Interviews. And we're back here on Dope Interviews here
with the great Gary Quashy here from pod Digital Media.
So Gary's been talking to us a lot about the
podcast industry, his role in it thus far, and Gary,
all all experiences are learning experiences. So you know, what
(21:58):
would you say has been the most surprising thing that
you learned in the years being in this industry, you know,
working with the various level of talent and understanding that
it is ever evolving.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
That's a great question, man. I mean you learn a lot.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
You know, you learn a lot again when you're dealing
with various you know, we're dealing with various corporations.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Uh, you know, it's you know various.
Speaker 5 (22:21):
You know, the way McDonald's conduct business very different than
we amexed does business are very different that we're Parkland
game with us business, right, and you also learned you know,
you're dealing with corporations, with some corporations that have a
lot of red tapes.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
So it's it's really learning to maneuver again.
Speaker 5 (22:37):
It's learning to sort of position or offering in a
way that's attracted to all of those you know, all
of the all of the different types of advertisers, whether
those A CpG brands, B two B brands or big
pharma or financial services, et cetera. It's it's really learning
the best way to sort of keep evolving and keep
positioning the company, especially now too, as more competitive have
(23:00):
entered the space to create similar offer into what we
currently have. Right, So, I think that's not that's that's
that's that's it's a revolving door that will always keep happening.
Competitors will enter the space, advertisers. People are switching roles
and finding ways to ensure that your product doesn't remain
stale and then that you can actually find ways to
(23:21):
again going back to the word that I mentioned earlier,
continue to bring value so that advertisers can say, look, yes.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
We like to work with those bigger with those big
brand names, household names.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
However, we know that the audience is that in the
type of talent that pop digital media work with brings
a lot of value and where we're able to reach
that audience at scale, we have to keep working with
those guys.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Two part questions for you here Gary the big Who's
who's the Who's the whale? From a podcasting standpoint and
from a brand standpoint, you know, it's like, Hey, I
can't wait to work with this person. On the podcasting
side and on the brand side, we're.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
Speaking no a manifestation for sure pouted out on the
brand side man. You know, you know, I'm very surprised
that we haven't worked with it's Verizon.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
You know, we've worked with AT and T, We've worked with.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
One another teleco company I can't think of right now,
but surprising we haven't worked with Verizon and are strong
enough in terms of you know, we have you know,
their their their huge sponsors in the NFL. We have
a lot of NFL podcasters that we work with. They
also have a lot of value brands that they have
invisible brands that's sort of really cheap to a household
that may not make over one hundred over one hundred thousand.
(24:33):
So you know, we have sort of the audiences and
the shows that make sense. However, we just haven't been
able to correct that nut. So so I'm speaking into
existence and of twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five, pod
Media will be working with Verizon. That's certainly the will
and on the podcast. And to be honest, to be
quite honest with you, man, there's not necessarily a name
(24:55):
per se. You know, if you look at interviews I've done,
I want to say back in twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen,
I would say Oprah, right, but you know it's it's
you know, that's those Those are the names that I
used to float in interviews. But to be honest, there's
not necessarily one name simply because we see we've seen
big names come into the space and faill terribly just
(25:17):
because you know, they just want to talk about themselves
and they don't know necessarily how to keep the audience engaged.
And they're also lack consistency, so they're podcast and the
content that.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
They're creating felt's terrible.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
We've seen actors, musicians, politicians, all of them come and
feil terribly. I think when we want to keep we
want to we want to keep enhancing the job we're
doing right now. And the best way to keep identifying
great talent, whether it's a household name or none household name,
that's going to create quality content that we can tap into.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I think and you're you're at the stage here now
where you don't necessarily need to be wish listing, and
that's a great place to be, right for sure, it
really is. So not a lot of businesses, she black
owned businesses can get to that point. So you your
team has been amazing speaking of you know, I mean,
you're the person I deal with for for the most part,
right but I I you can't possibly be running this
(26:11):
all by yourself. Shout out the rest of some of you,
your teammates and maybe even people helped you bring this
this vision into life.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
Absolutely, man, shout out. I suferred Frednn and Lewis. Is
an operation team. Alex Briez, who is the gentleman that
leads or operation efforts. We have and fenneralists operations. We
have Charisma then uh that also work on the operations team.
We have Stacy Smith, We have Attasha Young, and we
(26:38):
just hired two new folks. I can't think of their
names right now, but but no, man, we have a
pretty robust team that really helps us. You know, I'm
certainly the face you know in terms of from interviews,
you know, but that's certainly a goal of hours to
sort of really elevate some of our other team members too,
so that that everyone I'm not always the person in
the first line of defense, but we certainly have a
(26:59):
team behind me that.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Always supporting me.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
That ensures that you know, we can that there's businesses
running smoothly and and properly.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
And it's a high class business.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Let me tell you if you if you haven't, if
you haven't followed positive media on social media or gary
on social media, maybe in some places, man, And it's
it's amazing for me, you know, I mean to see
and keeping it about, to see another black man doing
just doing the damn thing.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
You know, you're you're in cans, you.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Know, you're you're overseas, over here, you're at our basil
here in the South Florida area where I'm at as
well too. Like it's just it's it's it's inspiring, right,
And I think in a lot of ways in our
culture there's sometimes there can be that jealousy that's there.
But I look and I see you winning, and I'm like, well,
hell yeah, bro, Like, like it's amazing to watch, brother,
So keep doing that, man, because I think you are
(27:46):
inspiring those even if that's not what your intent is,
that's absolutely happening on the back end.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Brother, I really do appreciate you for that.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
No, I appreciate you saying that, and I think, you know,
I think now I'm operating with purpose, and my goal
is to certainly keep operating with the right intentions and
to make the right impact within my community.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Right.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
So therefore, which is one of the reasons why you know,
I go back to a lot of high school colleges,
even you know, even just this interview, right, I'm my
goal is to create more interviews, to really share my story,
right to let everyone know, Hey, I'm this kid that
you know that started out in eighty that didn't speak
English until he's eighteen. I still have an accent until
this day. But consistency and hard work and curiosity I've
(28:28):
led me to where I'm currently at right now. I
promise you I did nothing special. But besides out making
sure that I'm staying curious, I'm doing my due diligence,
and I just and I keep learning right, and I
operated with flexible mindset so I can always receive information
to understand how I'm showing up and how I'm being received.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
So yeah, the goal is certainly to.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Keep inspiring for sure, to ensure that more guys that
look like me can be in all those spaces, so
that you know, at the end of the day, I
can always pass the baton. It's all four of us
at the table or building on table actually, so that
that more of us can actually can be enjoying a
nice meal together.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Yeah, that part, that part right.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
There.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
A couple last ones here, Gary, fun fact that people
don't know about you, but something that they that people
don't know, something you might not have already shared on
other interviews.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I need an exclusive R and dope interviews.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I got you, man. I'm a social loaner.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
I'm very I give so much energy out on a
daily basis, right, whether that's the team internally that I'm managing,
whether that's to clients, whether that's to talent, or whether
that's just to you know, everyday folks that I interact with.
I give so much energy. I'm very I'm an extrovert, right,
so I give a lot of energy. However, once I
(29:42):
come home and then I'm in my own personal space,
I don't want to be bothered. So so that's certainly.
That's certainly. I've never said this on any interview. This's
my first time saying this publicly. Actually, So yeah, that's
the fact. I'm a social as much of an extrovert
that I am.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I actually do enjoy my lums.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
I hear that, and I and I share that I do.
I do, I share that I think.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Some of my jobs, if you will, require me to
be more extroverted and more personable.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
But I'm very reserved, you know.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
And it's it's a conversation that a friend of mine
told my wife one time, because you know, she she's
she's from the South, per se, and you know, they're like, well,
she's like, she's nice on purpose, you know what I mean,
not really even have the interactions. So when she's being nice,
it's on purpose, you know, to try to get the
job done. So last one kind of a fun one.
So I was watching something else and I heard, you know,
(30:33):
you might be a Boomerang fan, and that is Boomerang,
the Boomerang talk a little bit while about why that
one that hits with you and and Gary, we we
share that that's one of my favorite movie Eddie Murphy
movies and one of my favorite movies period of all time.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Man, that's certainly not one of my top fives for sure.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
So the kick is this, I didn't have any older
brothers or any older cousins. Right again, that's part of
the purpose mission, the mission that I'm on right now.
Because you can't be what you can't see. You can't
be what you can't hear, right, which is the power
of audio. And it's the power of having folks like myself,
you know, even yourself to in certain spaces, or even
being able to have platforms that we can offer to
(31:13):
you know, to a community so we can care with stories.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Right.
Speaker 5 (31:17):
So to boom Rang specifically, I've always been even at
a young age, I've always wanted to be in marketing,
but I didn't really know what marketing was, right. I
used to hear all those commercials, funny commercial series commercials,
same thing with National on TV and also on the radio,
and I'm like, who's responsible for this? Like why am
(31:38):
I the one of hearing this message right now?
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Right? That curiosity led me to saying I want to
be a marketer?
Speaker 5 (31:44):
Right, And then now you're watching Boomerang and in me
not having any one any older brother, and you're the
cousin I can say sort of say as mentors, right,
I sort of really.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Look at this TV character as someone that I want
to be. I'm like, this guy is cool, well, this
guy is smart, and this guy also sort of the
charisma and the swag to sort of really really attract
the ladies. I want to be Marcus Graham. Right. Uh.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
And to be honest with you, man, and I'm not
embarrassed to say it. I've went and led my career.
Everything I've done, I've certainly as you know, as high.
You know, I worked for Beauty Brand, one of the
companies I've worked for. I was the director of marketing
and you know, and I sort of really came up
with some of those marketing ideas and I really felt
(32:32):
like I was Marcus Graham. I'm like, I've reached the
level that I've wanted to reach to be Marcus Graham.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So so it's certainly a movie.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
I try to watch it at least once every two months,
is because it's still I'm still inspired by it, just
because I just remember the.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Feeling when I first watched it.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
Hide inspired me and I'm like, man, I have to
be Marcus Graham. And I even wrote a book where
the book is you know that's also a fun fact,
a book that's called Bachelors of New York City where
it's not just one game all the characters in the
book it's for it's for different types. It's for different
versions of Marcus that you get in the book. One
(33:08):
that the gentleman. That's in finance entrepreneur marketer uh in
an attorney uh in the movie. You know, in Boomerang,
Marcus only was the only cool one these two friends
market you know, Martin Lawrence and the other gentlemen were
not as cool as him. So he was sort of
really like the de facto leader of the crew. But
in the book that I wrote, you have four Marcus greams,
(33:28):
which makes it very It's called Bachelors of New York City.
It's on Amazon, you know, which makes it very sort
of a fun read. And yeah, but that that's again
that was inspired by the movie Boomerang. So I became
a marketer because of Boomerang, and I also went the
end of the book because of it as well.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
That's hell a dope, Hello, dope.
Speaker 5 (33:46):
Favorite favorite scene is he shows up to the office.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
That's what I want to say. Within three minutes of the movie,
he shows up to his office.
Speaker 5 (33:56):
And he's swany's ringing and his swony's ringing, and his
secretary is like, hey, Marcus, the the what's it called,
the casting call is happening, and he su spends his
chair where he goes and he looks in the lobby
and then he comes back and he goes hold all
my calls for the rest of the day. I need
to go to this casting call, and I'm in. I'm
(34:17):
not embarrassed to say it. Actually did it at one
of my one of my jobs when I was talking. Yeah,
so so yeah, what's yours?
Speaker 1 (34:26):
What's your what's your favorite scene?
Speaker 3 (34:28):
I gotta say, honestly, I think it's the stuff where
like the boys are just kind of hanging out, so
like it's the workout scene, you know what I mean,
And it's just like, yeah, you know what I mean,
it's probably not appropriate for this shield, but you know
what I mean, like they're talking, they're talking about you
know about you know, how they're trying to get with
ladies or whatever, and just like the bromance that's within that,
that stuff resonates with me kind of kind of throughout.
(34:49):
You know, you would have a really dope podcast.
Speaker 6 (34:51):
Strong, No, I agree, I agree, right, right, right, Strong
j Or Chris Rock from the Mailroom Some stories, right, No, Actually.
Speaker 5 (35:02):
I mean that movie as so many characters and there's
so many top two talent, Like you think of a
guy like Chris Rock.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
He was playing he had a limited scene.
Speaker 5 (35:11):
But he's seen what was so impactful, right because he
worked in the mail room. So you think about the
level of talent that was in that movie.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Man.
Speaker 5 (35:17):
You know you have Halle Berry what's your name that
played Hylashawan, Robin Gibbons, Robin Gibbons, right, you have Robin Gibbons.
So it's it's incredible, man. It's certainly one of my
top of it movies for sure.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Well, yeah, that's a great place to wrap and give
us some opportunity for some bandwidth and maybe have another
conversation down the line as podigen Media continues to grow
and expand.
Speaker 4 (35:39):
Before we let you go, just you.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Know, where can the people reach you, to reach the
company and kind of what's next for a PDM.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
No, absolutely, you can reach us on Instagram pod Media
that's where that's our Instagram page. But myself personally, will
you can also reach us podig Media on LinkedIn and
my name Gary Kwashi g A O Y.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
C O I C h y.
Speaker 5 (35:58):
You can certainly find me, you know, it can certainly
find me on LinkedIn. That's that's certainly the best way
to connect with me. I mean as far as wes next, man,
it's again, we want to keep innovating. You know that
we're very excited about the experiential awn of the business
that we currently have. Right, we're creating our culture, We're
creating We're creating live activations or our key cultural moments
and events like oid Baso, super Bowl, All Star f One,
(36:20):
Fashion Week, HBC Homecomings, Hispanic Heritage more Black History Month.
So we want to keep you know, being very much
more consistent in terms of taking podcasters. How do we
make audio sexy, Well, it's by creating live activations around
and having live podcast conversations that's getting recorded again and
be bringing in personal engagement and bringing custom episodes and
series for advertisers, right and then of course the influencer
(36:42):
awn of the business that we have. We're very excited
about it. You know, we're getting ready to make an
announcement we just signed with We just signed one of
the largest w NBA agency in the country. They have
about fifteen percent of all active w NBA players, So
are women in sports we you know, we're very excited
about that segment. So all things that's coming out of
(37:03):
the pipeline, and again, those are all things that we're doing.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
In order to bring more value to advertisers.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
All right, well, I'm gonna need some of those w
NBA contacts and to come on the baseline NBA podcast
Gameless plug here and Dope interviews. But that is a
great place again to rap. He is the great Gary Quashi.
Make sure you figure following that pod media. I'm Warren Shaw.
Hit me up at Shall Sports NBA or at Dope
Undersports interview and as always you know what it is.
It's been another dope interviews.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
Y'all out.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Together we stand the vile.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
We never the vision is one striving for the better,
working as a team, working toward a dreams, not even
work when the team is the dream or the United Front.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
We got a home back, a band of brothers to
counter wrapped.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Then he attack one heart. In fact, forget what the
blood say. Dope is what flows in his fan's DNA.
So let's do it for the love, give to the max.
Listen to an opinion, but react to facts and remember
that together with.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
A ship, but separate just pieces of it.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Shooting dope. It's worth closing his Stam's DNAT. Dope, It's
worth closing his Stam's.
Speaker 7 (38:12):
DNA family represent like a tree with names on it.
We're free, no change on it. Believe the pain's gone.
I can see we come together like questions on the
quiz Mota flowing viz man, you know what it is
and if ignorance is Blisity's gonna hate this lesson organized
in the like a tropical depression. My symbols across some
(38:34):
mic and ghost peppers because I'm just a black shoe
growing up to be a shepherd, moon lightened as a
weapon to protect the children. Every brother is a father.
Dynasties we're building Max J and k Beabay and Isai
next level of the family foundation.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Understand me,
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