And So, She Left draws attention to extraordinary women who left the corporate world. Each episode focuses on a woman entrepreneur; and how leaving a traditional workplace, pursuing an unexpected professional path, or otherwise rejecting the status quo brought them fulfillment and improved their life.
This episode focuses on Michelle Redo, a former veteran producer from NPR with a passion for memoirs who moved from Boston to a rural town in Maine to start her podcast company Flying Pig Audio. She is also the former mentor of our host Katherin Vasilopoulos.
Interviewing Michelle provided us the unique opportunity to explore the roles of writing and storytelling in an entrepreneurial context, especially in relation to stories surrounding personal trauma. By thematically anchoring the episode around the topics of memoir and trauma; we aimed to create an episode that introspectively explored nuanced and highly personal aspects of the entrepreneurial journey like communication, criticism, and self-reflection.
There were two goals we set out to achieve with this episode:
One: Create an award-worthy piece of content that draws attention to And So, She Left among potential high-profile guests, leading to an increased number of guest bookings.
Two: Deepen Cansulta's relationship with Michelle Redo and the community of her podcast, Daring to Tell, leading to a cross-pollination of listeners and regular leads on potential guests from Michelle.
Bringing the Project to Life:
Once our team's guest pitch to Michelle Redo was accepted; our team provided a detailed guest guide outlining the types of questions that may be asked, best practices for remotely recording audio, and a separate fillable section used to gather details related to the episode's promotion (a professional headshot, relevant links, relevant personal information, etc.). After recording the interview, the audio was edited into segments and a local file library was created to gather sound effects and music for use in each segment. The episode was produced meticulously, undergoing several rounds of editing on both a top-level and micro scale. Once uploaded to our RSS feed, the episode was promoted through our (and our guest's) LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter (X), Instagram, and Facebook channels.
Obstacles & Challenges:
The biggest challenge our team faced was editorial; namely, balancing the guest's personal and professional insights. We wanted to create an episode that offered listeners a self-reflexive take on leaving the corporate world while also offering practical advice. With a guest whose profession is based around personal storytelling rather than practically advising entrepreneurs, it was essential for our host to direct the conversation accordingly to make sure our audience felt both informed and emotionally satisfied. We also made multiple edits of the interview and kept detailed prep/production notes before, during, and after the recording to ensure this challenge was met.
Remote recording presented another significant challenge. Since Michelle Redo recorded in an untreated environment located in a rural area, our producer had to contend with poor internet quality and a suboptimal recording space. The post-production and recording processes were therefore demanding and crucial to ensuring that the episode met (and exceeded) broadcast standards of quality.
How the Work is Unique:
Unlike many other podcast interviews with entrepreneurs, our intent was to shift focus from popular pragmatic topics related to entrepreneurship (scalability, skills development, etc.) towards the broader themes of introspection and personal growth/trauma. Rather than simply sharing practical tips or telling a linear personal story, the resulting episode provides a fresh perspective on entrepreneurship. It proposes that entrepreneurship is an inherently vulnerable and highly personal endeavor that requires consistent and ample self reflection. Michelle views entrepreneurship primarily through a humanist lens; she believes that every entrepreneur has a story to tell, and that their ventures are inseparable from their life's overarching story.
Another unique aspect of this episode is the close relationship between the host and interviewee. Since our host is interviewing her former mentor, she consistently leverages their pre-existing relationship to dig into vulnerable territory. For instance, from 20:26 to 22:20, Michelle is able to openly discuss incredibly difficult moments with relative ease. Without a prior connection to the host, Michelle may have found it more difficult to disclose certain details about traumatic periods in her life on a public platform.
Based on the goals we established, the results of this episode exceeded expectations.
This episode was nominated for a 2023 International Women's Podcast Award (IWPA) and received two 2023 Signal Awards (Gold & Listener's Choice), allowing the team to promote And So, She Left as an award-winning podcast. By sharing this episode with potential guests, we have been able to book higher profile interviewees (Bisila Bokoko - United Nations Executive Chair, Mallory Greene - Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient, etc.). We have also seen a dramatic increase in attention from potential guests; between January 1st and February 15 2024, we booked guests for nearly every episode in 2024. We currently have a waitlist of more than a dozen guests for 2025.
Our team has also remained in contact with Michelle Redo, meeting once a month to discuss our latest projects and whether we can aid each other in their completion. Several subsequent guests have been recruited through Michelle, including award-winning Author Nadine Kenney-Johnstone. We also found that listeners of Michelle's podcast Daring to Tell have joined our audience through cross-promotional efforts (and vice-versa), and we have benefited from an increase in episode completion rates as a result. Additionally, Michelle, our show's host Katherin Vasilopoulos, and our show's Creator/Producer Ethan Lee are currently laying the foundation for a new independent podcast network that was inspired by their collaboration on this episode.
