Architecting Your Podcast Career with Intention 📐

Alexandra Cohl shares how she created her own blueprint

Hi Besties!

One of the things I love about podcasting is that folks who work in it tend to come from eclectic backgrounds because the industry is so young. Until recently, no one grew up wanting to be a podcaster or a podcast producer — those options didn’t exist!

Thus, I always find it fascinating to learn how people discovered their love of podcasts and built careers in service of their strengths. I’m thrilled to hear from Alexandra Cohl about exactly that for this week’s Q&A. Plus, she shares a killer out-of-office reply that you might just want to steal.

What were you doing before podcasting?

AC: I was teaching creative and essay writing, working at a boxing gym, freelance writing, and getting my master’s in English Literature! 

What was your introduction to podcasts, and how did you get started in the space?

AC: My introduction as a listener was Serial, like many of us, back in 2014. And while I’ve been an avid listener since then, it wasn’t until I was in grad school (2017-2019) that I started to get obsessed with them and become enamored with the medium. That’s when I realized, “Oh, I want to do this.”

During that time, I made a point to really study podcasts — the format, the questions, the music design, etc. — and through that time studying, I also started to see how I could be approaching my life differently (my interpersonal relationships, my relationship with myself, and my career path). I really credit so many of the women podcasters I learned from throughout that process for where I am in my life right now; listening helped me make that jump into creating something of my own and taking steps to quit what wasn’t serving me in my career path anymore.

In July 2019, I launched POD.DRALAND, which is now my company that offers PR and marketing to podcasters. But at first, it started as a weekly blog where I recommended women-hosted podcast episodes and indie podcasters (along with my social media platforms, where I began to build an audience and community). Its core mission is still to amplify women’s voices in podcasting, and I continue to innovate how to keep doing that. 

You have your own podcast, you work with podcasters, and you have a newsletter — introduce the Besties to the various components of your podcasting career and how you landed on each of them.

AC: Thank you for highlighting each of those pieces! They really come together to create this beautiful ecosystem of highlighting women podcasters. The Pod Broads is a podcast about women in podcasting that features in-depth interviews with women in the industry about their work, life, and how the two intersect. 

Soon after I started my blog, I knew I wanted to start a podcast, and this idea was just a natural progression of what I was already doing. Actually, a big inspiration was my obsessive YouTube watching days when I would consume hours of Inside the Actor’s Studio. I felt like I had encountered a lot of in-depth interviews with actors, writers, filmmakers, etc., about the intricacies of their creation process, their life, and their work. I wanted there to be something like that in the world for podcasters — and specifically, in my case, women podcasters because our voices need to be heard more, especially in what started as a male-dominated industry. 

While I made a newsletter back when I started the blog, it didn’t become what it is today until this year. The new year was when I got the idea to publish a monthly issue on the full moon. The moon is very intertwined with the feminine, and I wanted to give myself and my readers a way to engage with time that wasn’t just beholden to our work schedules and work weeks. Thus, Podcasting by the Moon was born, and each full moon, it features a mix of monthly celebrations and intentional reflecting, highlights from The Pod Broads (and shout outs to listeners), women in podcasting news, women-hosted podcast recs, and a list of things we are banishing for that month. I’ve always seen podcasts as an integral piece to building more emotional intelligence and personal growth, and this newsletter is just one other iteration of that! 

My work with podcasters centers on PR and marketing. I offer 1:1 sessions that help podcasters get the tools and information they need to grow their podcast, along with the emotional piece that needs to be nurtured. A lot of people struggle with self-promotion and finding the story within their own work, and I’m here to help with that. My monthly retainer clients and podcast tour clients are my ride-or-dies (or rather, I’m theirs!). I work closely with them on a monthly basis to actually manage and execute things like podcast swaps and collaborations, ad budgets, press coverage pitching, and booking them on podcasts as guests. 

Here’s how I got started: Within a year after starting my blog, beginning to record my podcast, and building my Instagram and Twitter around this work, I had the opportunity to help another podcaster with the launch of their show and get them press for it. I quickly realized that this was a natural step forward to what I had already been doing and what I was so passionate about: getting other podcasters heard, noticed, and in front of new listeners. Since then, I’ve grown that work, and it’s been awesome getting to apply my years of experience with writing and crafting stories for specific audiences in this new way.

Your podcast, The Pod Broads, focuses on women in podcasting. What have you learned through those interviews, for better or worse?

AC: Ah, I have learned so much! I’ve learned that a good conversation is akin to a hug. I started these recordings during the pandemic, and time and time again, getting into these deep, fun, and fulfilling conversations saved me when I was at low points and didn’t even want to press record. I’ve learned that those I admire most also admire the work I’m doing (an honor, truly). I’ve learned that we all deserve the space to reflect on the impact of our work and that we don’t always get to do that — until someone creates that space for us. I’ve learned that places I once admired had some really messed up work environments. I’ve learned that a lot of us feel imposter syndrome and that we are all healing from something. 

What has your own unconventional path taught you?

AC: It’s taught me that I can figure it out. I still struggle with old workplace trauma where I was deeply undervalued and overworked, which can sometimes waver my confidence. But, I am getting stronger at knowing that even if I don’t know something, I will always work to figure it out, and that grit is invaluable. It also showed me that the more “conventional job path” is not necessarily the more stable one. That was a big thing that the pandemic showed me, and it was the ultimate push for me to quit my old job and jump full force into what I am doing now. So far, working for myself has been the best move I could have made financially and to start building healthier relationships in the workplace. It’s still a work in progress, but I know there are other ways we can be engaging with work and inside the workplace, but we need to make those intentional choices, not just follow business as usual.  

What’s one PR and marketing tip that you think most indie podcasters should have?

AC: Give yourself time to dig deep, and don’t rush that process because you want to see results right away. So, do things like: spend the time getting clear on your story and what sets you apart from others, identify what your value points are and how they will serve someone else’s audience, and be clear on who your audience is and what they actually want from you (not just what you want). It might be the “less sexy” part of the process, but the clearer you can get on all of these things and then have a continued awareness of them, the more effective your PR and marketing efforts will be.

You offered me some great advice on out-of-office replies. Can you share your OOO and general business communication strategy to get things done AND stay sane?

AC: I would love to! This is the OOO auto-reply I used when I was working reduced hours in January.

Thanks so much for your message! I am working on a reduced schedule this January and practicing what I preach: taking time to rest, refocus, and set my intentions for the new year. I appreciate your patience as I respond as soon as I am able to.

If you are a current client of mine, this email does not apply to you! I'll respond to you shortly.

POD.DRALAND LLC will have some exciting new updates this year for podcasters and those looking to improve the PR and marketing for their podcasts. If you would like to stay updated on these new offerings and resources, be sure to subscribe to Podcasting by the Moon (if you aren't already), and if you are a podcaster who wants to remain in the loop for pitch opportunities to collaborate with other podcasters and continue to grow your own, be sure to fill out the Green Light Roster form. 

In the meantime, here are the top five interviews on The Pod Broads from 2021 that you won't want to miss: 

Avery Trufelman

Jessica Lanyadoo

Nichole Perkins

Juleyka Lantigua

Mala Muñoz

Here's to a new year of listening to women (in general but specifically in podcasting!). 

I hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy during this time. 

Warmly,

Alexandra 

I love to use these messages as a little marketing nugget for where I may want to direct people during the time I'm away. I now also include this at the end of all my emails:

Separate from truly urgent matters, it is normal for me to take a couple of days to read my emails and several more days to reflect on the matter and respond in a thoughtful manner. The culture of immediacy is not something I wish to perpetuate nor is it something that I will endorse through my actions or my expectations of you. We are full humans and should be able to live our lives as such.

I totally can’t take credit for this message, though! Another person shared a similar version on Twitter (or somewhere — I wish I could remember who and where exactly but sadly cannot), and I tweaked it to fit me. It’s a reminder to myself and other people that not everything is about work and that we should respect people’s time outside of it.

It can be really tough to get things done and stay sane, especially in our current state of the world. So, I try to be mindful of when I’m feeling most focused and energized and use that to my advantage. I LOVE to use the schedule send function for email when it comes to communication. Because, to be totally honest, sometimes my brain is working better at 10:00 p.m. than it is at 3:00 p.m., and that’s when I feel like catching up on emails, whereas at 3 p.m. sometimes I just want to do a dance break in my living room or play soccer with my cat (I’m serious, he dribbles). But I don’t need to actually send that message so late! It puts expectations on other people (whether we want it to or not), and it might make people start to think I’m available at that time, too — which I’m not.

Anything else you’d like to add?

AC: Yes! I would love to shout out one of my newer clients as their podcast launches Tuesday, May 10th — and it is the first true-crime podcast that I’m working with, which has been super fun. It’s called Father Wants Us Dead from NJ.com and is a deep-dive narrative nonfiction podcast with two award-winning journalists going inside the mind of John List, an infamous murderer who slayed his whole family in 1971 and disappeared for 18 years. ‘Tis super unsettling and fascinating, and I know all my fellow true crime lovers will enjoy it.

Thank you, Alexandra!

➡️ Stay up to date with all things Alexandra Cohl on Twitter & Instagram.

➡️ Check out Alexandra’s newsletter Podcasting by the Moon, “centered on being a space about the women in the podcasting industry.”

Bringing the latest pod jobs straight to you

Financial Director (full-time) at Radio Kingston | Kingston, NY

Production Fellowship (part-time) at Live Wire Radio | Remote

Intern (part-time) at Walking Cinema | Bay Area pref. or Remote

Associate Producer (part-time) at Walking Cinema | Bay Area pref. or Remote

Producer, Opinion (full-time) at New York Times | New York, NY or Washington, DC

Dailies Producer (full-time) at Dear Media | Los Angeles, CA

Private Parts Unknown episodes, work stuff, guest spots, etc.

• Private Parts Unknown: Original Boner Gel Presents... Dick Myths

For our latest episode, we welcomed Original Boner Gel founder Manuel Deran to bust some Dick Myths! Sofiya was the host, and Manuel and I went head to head to see who's more of a penis expert in this fun and informative game.

This week’s recommendation might be the podcast of your dreams, literally. Podcaster Sabrina Ricci recommends a pod affectionately dubbed the “Daddy of Sleep Podcasts.” Check out:

Sleep With Me: Great British Bake You Off to Sleep C5/C8 E10

“Sleep With Me is a great podcast that helps me to fall asleep. I liked this recent episode because my husband Garrett and I are both fans of Great British Bake Off, and it’s fun to hear someone summarize it.”

Now hold your tantrums, Besties, because Sabrina happens to host a pod that will make your inner child roar called I Know Dino: The Big Dinosaur Podcast. This family-friendly pod discusses new dinosaur discoveries (did you know there’s a new dinosaur discovered almost every week?!), features interviews with paleontologists, and has an upcoming series on the new Jurassic World movie.

Sabrina suggests you start here:

A Fossilized Baby Dino, a New Ankylosaur, and Dinosaurs in Zulu

“We had a really great guest, Sibusiso Biyela, who talked about the importance of being able to speak about science in your first language and advocating for decolonizing science. He's a science communicator currently working on a project to bring scientific terminology to six African languages. We also had some really cool news items. We talked about baby Yingliango, an embryo in a fossilized dinosaur egg that was so complete it looked like it was sleeping, a new ankylosaur (the “living tank” dinosaurs with club tails), and we covered Beipiaosaurus as our dinosaur of the day. Beipiaosaurus was a therizinosaur, which is one of the weirdest types of dinosaurs—they’re theropods so related to tyrannosaurs, but they had really large claws and only ate plants”

Fabulous recs — thank you so much, Sabrina!

➡️ Here’s the link to submit for future editions.

So… ROLL CALL! 🗣

What were YOU doing before podcasting? And what are the components of your current podcasting career?

Follow me @courtneykocak on Twitter and Instagram. For more, check out my website courtneykocak.com.