Podcast Spotlight: Letters To My Kids
I was extremely fortunate enough to talk to the creator of Letters To My Kids. We discussed how the podcast came to be, how listeners typically react when they listen, and their goals for the podcast. Below is our Q&A.
Listen: Apple Podcasts
Discover Pods: How did you decide to get into podcasting?
Letters To My Kids: Podcasting was not a natural choice surprisingly. About 1-2 years ago; I had originally planned to write a book regarding my experiences and to document all of the content for my kids. Hence, the title of the podcast. Unfortunately though, real-life work schedules and demands; as well as no shortage of procrastination meant that the writing-a-book thing never progressed beyond just an idea.
Fast forward to end December 2017. Funnily enough; it was after watching “The Big Sick” and getting inspired by the story behind it that I finally decided that I should look into a talking medium for delivery. And so, I started exploring the possibilities for this and eventually stumbled upon the podcasting choice of delivery.
So, one of the things driving this podcast now is the fact that I would like to make sure I see this through and not to have regrets due to “not doing it”. I cover this point-of-view on my 10th episode about living life without regrets.
DP: Letters To My Kids is an extremely unique podcast, how do listeners typically discover your show?
LTMK: Unfortunately; due to the subject matter; as well as the fact that the people who contributed to my life experiences are still alive and out of respect to them, I decided to launch this podcast anonymously and will continue to do so unless something changes in this regard.
Due to this, word-of-mouth advertising and utilizing my not-insignificant personal contacts is out of the question due to the sensitivity of the content and how it could affect the people I talk about.
In this respect, The reddit podcasting subs have actually been very supportive and a prime driver in listener numbers. I’ve also had some success with advertising this on Overcast, but I’m hoping to increase my reach through some partnerships with related agencies as well. But at this juncture; I’m still working on that.
I do hope that my content is well-received-enough that listeners feel compelled to share this with their friends. I’m seeing some evidence of this happening, so I do hope that works out.
DP: Your podcast obviously deals with very serious subject matter, what are you hoping your listeners come away with?
LTMK: From what I have gone through in life; I realize that at the end of the day, all I have to offer is a viewpoint and perspective; that I’ve been told is quite unique. Personally, if anyone learns or at least avoids any of the numerous mistakes that I’ve made and gone through in life; then I would consider my mission and objective as being done and successful.
This is not to say that I’m perfect though. The whole point of this podcast is to illustrate that fact; that I went through lots of situations; some presented by fate and life, and some I made as a consequence of my own actions.
But through it all; I survived and came out of it. On top of that; I moved on; but with a story to tell. That was the original goal of what I set out to achieve 1-2 years ago; to document my experiences to be handed down to my kids; so hopefully, they could learn from the mistakes made by everyone (not just me) in my stories.
More than just the stories though; I hope to be able to show that no matter how hard life treats you, just keep your head down and keep going and working on it; one day at a time. Episode 5 on failures talks about those days in particular.
DP: Has listener feedback helped steer the direction of your show?
LTMK: Yes and no. There have been feedback around the incorrect grammar of my initial title; which I’ve corrected but could not fix the logo in-time. It’s a laughable mistake though but I’ve come to think of it as a learning experience; like all the things in my podcast.
I’ve also changed the delivery format up; based on some very constructive feedback to put more structure into it and to present it better.
With regards to the content itself, it’s all very original and the direction is more or less the same as I what I imagined and started off with.
I’m’ always looking for feedback though; as I believe in life, constant and consistent improvement is always welcome.
DP: What’s your recording and editing schedule like?
LTMK: I do weekly deliveries of new episodes. With my real-life schedule of both work and family commitments that could impact recording schedules, I try to do as many episode recordings that I can, but I typically record 2 episodes minimum per week.
Like everyone else; I try to keep myself motivated to keep delivering the output consistently. Any feedback received would definitely help in this regard.
DP: What’s the hardest challenge for you as an indie podcaster?
LTMK: Honestly, the content and direction of the content was probably the biggest initial challenge. Did I want to put some structure into it, or should I just make random episodes. Once I decided what I wanted to do though; in terms of the presenting the content and direction from a personal perspective.
The on-going challenge now is just in making sure that we keep everything fresh and relatable; while making sure I maintain a fine balance between the seriousness of the subjects while making sure we don’t make it “too” serious and bore people’s socks off.
Apart from that; marketing the podcast is definitely a challenge; given the anonymity and the fact that people take more time to establish trust if you don’t have an identity.
DP: What podcasts do you listen to in your spare time?
LTMK: To be honest, time constraints mean I don’t have access to headphones and as such; I don’t get to listen to podcasts very much. That being said; I check out podcasts randomly on Reddit so I browse a fair ‘bit. On top of that; I like the 2 below:
TED Radio Hour and The Daily Boost.
DP: Anything else you’d like to add?
LTMK: There was some discourse on reddit previously around my podcast title, in particular with a 4-year military veteran of Iraq/Afghanistan; with regards to the decision to call myself a “suicide survivor”. I would like to reiterate that in all my real-life conversations and experience sharing, I’ve never presented that I “survived” suicide as some sort of a badge of honor or achievement; it’s merely a statement of the fact based on the attempts at suicide decisions in my life. Some could call it cowardly; that’s true, but it WAS my decision.
My 1st attempt was when I was between the ages of 9-10 as a response to the domestic violence that I was witness to in my family.
I’ve talked about my 2nd suicide attempt in the podcast, but my 1st attempt which is possibly much more intense, is being kept for a future (as-yet-undecided) episode.
If you would like some more information about my experiences, let’s just say at the age of 11; I helped the victim (obviously a family relative) of the domestic violence in my family run away and hide from my parents. I think that’s as much trailer I can put in for my future episode…. 🙂
After all; we all have gone through our own struggles and challenges in life. These experiences would shape our perspectives. I address these perspectives as episodes in my podcast to fulfill an ambition to document all my experiences as well as the fulfilling and complete life that I have managed to go through; in spite and through it all.
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