Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to disability empowerment now. I'm your host, kid Mavidigan, singing today. I'm talking to Nicole and Eileen.
Ladies, welcome to the show.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: Thank you, Keith. That was so cool to see that live. Yeah, see your intro live.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: Okay, so to keep consistent, who are you?
[00:00:41] Speaker B: I'll go first. My name is Nicole Feltman. I've been working with Keith for three years now. I am all things social media and transcripts. Yeah, three years, Keith. You haven't gotten rid of me yet. I feel like, yeah, so I do all things social media, and I do the transcripts for all of the episodes as well. It's really exciting. We have platforms on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, so be sure to follow those, please.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: Hello, my name is Aileen Castro. I am the creative producer for disability empowerment now. I essentially upload the podcast to all platforms. Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, the disability empowerment now website. I help Nicole sometimes with social media if needed. I also proofread the spanish transcripts if needed.
Yeah, I'm just a little bit of help kind of everywhere. And I also send out the newsletters, and I create the newsletters and send.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Those out as well.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: So, Vince, team idea was originally the brain trial of Alex Perry, who, if you want to see someone who totally embodies their biography, you should go check out that episode.
She's amazing.
I don't know if there's any other way but to her, Nicole, that I would have met you all bad girl.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Alex is amazing. I'm a fan of Alex.
I'm so glad that she introduced us. We were actually working in a newsroom for a couple of months, and that's where she kind of introduced the idea of potentially working on the disability empowerment now podcast. And I'm so glad that she did introduce me to the podcast and you, Keith, because it has been a really fun journey.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: So I remember being in New York last year, and you called me Nicole one evening. You had the God in the time difference of regard you.
We were down a few team members, or we were expanding our operations as we always tried to do each season. We tried to go bigger and better. Not better, bigger.
And so you found Isa and Eileen. Tell me, out of everyone you know, and I've seen your Rolodex, it's quite impressive, why did you choose Eileen and Idza?
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Yes. Well, I will just go ahead and say, just to kind of tie back to Alex, we were working on a podcast together, and she's just really so knowledgeable on podcasts and how to operate them, and she kind of gave me some insight into that, and for that, I am so grateful. And we actually had our own podcast while we were both stationed in Tucson. And so she just taught me a lot, and I'm so grateful for that. And I kind of wanted to help and kind of pass the baton that way, if that's kind of how den was created. I wanted to continue that energy that Alex had started with. And so I appreciate her choosing me as a professional recommendation, and so I kind of wanted to take that and pass the baton similarly. So I'll start with Elaine. So we have known each other for a couple of years now. We met in Spain, actually studying abroad, and we just automatically got along due to similar interests of podcasts and social media and kind of all things creative. And so I really liked her creative, how she expressed herself and just her drive. And then knowing her now, she's just really a hard working person, and she's very consistent, and I can rely on her very heavily. So I knew she'd be a perfect fit for us, especially in the creative producer role.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: She slid right into my LinkedIn a few seconds before you called me, and I was like, who?
Oh, you mean she just slid into my direct messages?
Oh, that's funny timing. Continue.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: It goes down in the DM's. Yes, especially in LinkedIn. That's the good one. That's the good place for it to go down.
[00:06:07] Speaker C: I love LinkedIn.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah. So, yeah, so I just, I kind of inquired about it to her because I know she carries a lot of responsibilities, and I just said, hey, there's a role open. We're trying to test it out and kind of create this new role. Is that something you'd be interested in? And she was just an automatic yes. She was like, I'm down.
She was on your LinkedIn. She was looking at the website, and she was like, yeah, I want to be a part of this. And so, yeah, so it's been great ever since. And then with Isabella, she is really talented. She graduated from the U of A, from the Ehler College of Management, which is pretty fabulous. And so her realm is website design.
And so I just thought she'd be great to kind of come on the team. She also is fluent in Spanish, so she wanted to kind of help us with our transcripts to just be as accessible as possible to our viewers. And so she really stood behind that. And if you check out her website, that's kind of like the services that she provides.
I thought that that would also be, that was more of a direct connection to see what we needed and to see her services.
So I kind of just found her that way.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: So, Elaine, as one of the newest members, and it's funny cause we've been working together for almost a year. One year judge. Before we started recording, we actually met.
It's funny how those things happen.
So, as one of the new team members, how is your work environment? How would the work culture.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: I love the work environment. I feel like I can express myself when needed. I feel comfortable reaching out to anyone on the team.
It's been very soothe sailing. I feel like, yeah, it's been nice getting to know everyone. Even though we just met in person today. It felt like I've known you for a very, very long time. So it was a very nice, comfortable feeling, and I think you've created a great space for all of us.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: My mother will appreciate that comment, so thank you.
But, yeah, no, it's with Alex, it was always meant to be a collaboration. As I said in the birds part of the interview, the original job I had hired her for was to teach me Adobe audition. Great program. We couldn't do this video cards without it, but I knew my limits, and I knew there was no way I could possibly drive this vehicle and do everything. There are podcasters and video cadsters who do that quite effectively.
I tip my hat off to them. I knew I wasn't one of them.
There was gonna be ten episodes, and then I was gonna go in my closet and cry about how. How hard the luck was if I tried to do it all myself. And so we were gearing up for season two, I believe, and I had the idea of, hey, I'll pledge your lunch to two seasons in one year, because that's normal.
And so that is where she was like, I think we're gonna need some help. And that's when she introduced me to Padskill and Nicole. And Nicole, reading your initial plan on the social media front was endearing, and I would like.
She can accomplish half of that. That would be great.
But you have constantly excelled every.
Yeah. And so to know a little bit about you, what made you decide to become a social media juggernaut?
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Yes. So, Keith, you're gonna make me cry over here. I'm like, oh, thank you so much. If you can say that again on recording, I would love to listen to that every morning.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yes.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: But, yeah, so I am a Virgo. That is my star sign. So I like to. I'm one of those people I like to say, because I'm a Virgo, I'm a perfectionist. I think it's a little bit of trauma in there as well. Yeah. So, I don't know. I'm just very much a perfectionist, and when I see something, I have a vision for it. And so once I heard what you were looking for, and with my background in social media, I just. I knew I was going to make that happen for you, so I would just. That's just kind of how I work. I like to be consistent, I like to excel goals, and I love social media, and I've been doing it for so long that it's like, I'm very used to the algorithm, so. And it really is just. It really does come down to consistency for the algorithm, and so I knew that's something that I could do and I wanted to do for you and the podcast. So I'm not, you know, super not pulling like a wand out of my hat or anything like that. It's just.
Yeah, it's just. Just a dedication and wanting to get it done for the team. Yeah.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: So, Eileen, stepping into the creative producer role, how would that at the very beginning and easing in, or did nicole impat skill should pick you up metaphoric, like speaking, and throw you in the deep end of the creativity bubble?
[00:13:32] Speaker C: Um, I wouldn't say I was thrown in. They did definitely help me a lot. They made, um, videos for me to, like, follow along at the beginning because we were like, mid season, I believe, or start of a new season, and it was a lot of work. But, yeah, I got adjusted, I'd say pretty, pretty well.
The first two episodes, I did have my little mishaps, but after that, I feel like I. I've gotten the.
The swing of things. Yeah, for sure. It's been really nice because I love my creative side, and I feel like this podcast has given me the space to, like, explore that more, apart from my nine to five job. So it's been really nice, like, indulging in that space.
[00:14:20] Speaker B: Yeah, we didn't necessarily throw her in. We threw her in with floaties.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: I wish someone had done that for me. Back in season one, I would record an episode and then I would take.
Yeah, but, yeah, season four, there's gonna be a lot of Claude's collaboration with other podcasts around the globe, and one in the UK led by two disabled women.
We were talking about the bemusement of non podcasts and non video cadsters lack of knowledge into what a hard job and Leboyan's job that creating a podcast is. It's not like, hold someone up, they drop whatever they're doing, they get on you record an episode hunch of few heeds, bam Magstud. Transcripts are a snap. They're easier than dating. Uh, because that makes sense. Uh, that's true.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: I second thought, Keith.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: Wait, that lunch comment on the whole thing.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Uh, I think that transcripts are easier than dating, um, because I do the transcripts. I know. And so I just vincent the humor.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Pod of the team interview.
No, but that experience talking to other podcasts, and we spent a lot of time on that episode. Judge, going back and forth.
I certainly know that before I got into vids line of work and vids, it's all I do now with my life. I had the exact same ignorance of the complexity of not just the episodes, but promoting them and outreaching this and that.
Why do you think people think that this me medium is so easy to put out when it's actually very much a team effort each and every week? Where's the dids connect?
[00:18:03] Speaker B: That's a great question, Keith.
[00:18:05] Speaker C: Yeah, well, from what I can gather, I just feel like since there are so many podcasts out there currently, I feel like the misconception. Is that how you said, it'll be really easy just because there are so many out there right now? So people probably just think it's like, okay, let's sit, talk, record ourselves, upload it. When, like you said, it is a team effort every upload, every Sunday. If I'm missing one little thing, it like, holds back the whole episode from going up. So it's like, it is a team effort. Everyone has their own individual roles and.
Yeah, but I have no complaints. This team is amazing.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: I feel like everything is a constant learning, and I think approaching it that way is really great because we all have to learn as a team. So I will say I think everyone on the team is very strong willed and hard working, and so I think that really works.
I think sometimes there's like a little bit of, like everyone's kind of strong and going different, separate ways. So we kind of all have to kind of come back together a little bit.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: We have definitely bodied heads before creatively, and I would worried that we would never ever do that because the dynamic with Alex was just so chatty, so friendly, and it's like Vince, real life, she's amazing. That's the point I'm trying to make you. But when you have all of this creative, mature energy flowing around different bodies, they are bound to be conflicts. You cannot avoid that.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think all of us are and it's like, not even in a bad way either.
It's very much just like everyone.
I think it's a beautiful thing, really. Everyone is so strong and so creative and excited and hardworking, and it's just. Yeah, but there's that aspect of the work of, like, trying to figure out how to navigate each other, who's. What's. What's stubborn, what's not, how to, you know, let things go, how to move forward. But then there's also the work itself, which is the uploading, which is the editing, which is, Keith, you doing the interviews, which that in itself a lot.
[00:20:49] Speaker C: It's.
[00:20:50] Speaker B: And it's the hours that's dedicated to the podcast. And so, yeah, I think that's a great question of, like, how do people think that it's so easy? Because I think if we didn't have four people, I think Alex is also amazing, and she was amazing for our podcast as well. I think you're exactly right nailed on the head.
She could do so much. Her skillset is so large for one person, but I don't think it's a job for one person, just one person in this economy.
Yeah, but, yeah, so I think four people is a good amount to really kind of produce a podcast, and it's a constant learning. And I think maybe. Yeah, I agree with Elaine, like, saying that because there's so many podcasts, people think they can just, you know, do it. And there are some platforms that do make certain things easier, and there's different ways to produce.
So maybe that's kind of where people are thinking or coming from.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: But like you said, ebooks that say how to start a podcast in five easy steps or how to grow your podcast audience fat.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Yeah, it's.
You're like, click, please. What do they have to say?
[00:22:14] Speaker A: Because this is not save money now.
[00:22:18] Speaker C: And it all just, like, depends on how far you want to take your vision, because someone could just easily record something and upload it. But you're very committed to this podcast, so you want to find, like, the best audio app. The best.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:33] Speaker C: You know, the quality of the podcast, the more.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: More research I do on each dance and a lot of weeks, I mean, doing research on two to three gets maybe even more.
The gads bring their a game and judge me up in terms of meeting their energy and their intellect, and you guys do, too. I mean, I cannot talk about this podcast without conventionally fawning over each member of Vids team. That's how grateful I am. But it's all about excelling.
Like Vids podcast was always envisioned to be a interview podcast. Sure, I can talk for two or 3 hours.
I would get really bored, even if oodles and oodles of people would listen to that. It's just nothing engaging for me. If I wanted to talk to myself, I will go in the closet instead of my mail. I mean, it's.
Yeah, I mean, we all, we've all been there. We all should keep going there. Let's roll that.
But no, it's about feeding off the energy of the other people. Like the episode with Kurt Yeager in season three, which I will forever fond of because that really started the video cats element. That was always going to be something we did, but that was going to be in season four, season five. But once I had that experience with Kurt Yeager over video, I would like, damn, I told bad skill. I never want to go back to just creating podcasts.
They're a waste of time. They're not a waste of time at all. But I have to make that perfect, like, clear to my audience.
Podcasts are not a waste of time.
Video cats. Once I got bite in by that bug like a radioactive spider marvel, please call me.
It was like, that's all I wanted to do. Like, I found the interviews that much more euphoric in terms and much more exciting to do. And I've mentioned to bad skill more than once, and we're not going to do this, but if I had the free time, I would have completely rerecord season one and two and just redo them as video counts, because that's how much I learned as a whole from not switching mediums but adding another.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: I mean, I think it would always be really cool to also, like, eventually create a set and kind of have, like, in person interviews as well for you. I just think you're so good at interviewing and asking those questions, and it's good to hear that you feel stimulated, but I think you also are able to stimulate other people through your conversation and your questions. So, yeah, you're extremely entertaining, and I can see how being able to have the visual aspect as well, it's like a whole different kind of performance that you're able to have, and I think you just kill it every time. So I really hope that we can get there one day.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Well, the reason why I do interviews and interview people so well, I tried to figure out a way to not sound eager to stick over anyway. It's the my natural curiosity about people and about their stories and what makes them tick and why they do what they do. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't do that because spoiler alert. And I'm nothing sure either of you will believe that I'm painfully shy. Except when you put this microphone all I'm happy go look at sometimes when I see my dog.
But it's having that cure curiosity, that fuels the podcast judge ed much ads like going back to Alex. The second or third meeting we had, she was showing me her instagram, and she had done graphics for her pod nerds. Podcats. And you could see in the colored structure, the shading, the font, everything it screened pattern. There wasn't this random oai, let's through this parted. Okay, that's good. No, everything was thought out. It was meticulous.
And she did that for however many episodes of Pod nerds podcasts. And so pageant and curiosity was always the building blocks of the backbone of this shell, which is only growing larger and larger and larger. So, in wrapping up, did either of you know anything about disability or what really, uh, motivated you to get involved and stay involved in a educational and social judgment? Bored thinking, uh, podcasts and video cats.
[00:31:23] Speaker B: Wow, Keith, that's a packed question.
I think as a person, I care about social justice issues, and I would say I'm a humanitarian. So I think that's just kind of where I lie in my life experience. And so that also, like, I would also agree with the passion and the curiosity. I think that I feel that deeply as well. And so, for me personally, when I kind of heard about you and heard about your story and the podcast and I heard about your goals, I think my first question is, like, okay, where is this supposed to be going? Is this something that I can meet, or is this something, you know, that's, like, super far out of reach? And so, for me, I, not to sound egotistical as well, but I like to take challenges. And so when I heard that you wanted to kind of be in this space, I just kind of wanted to make that happen for you just by really appreciating your story and your vision and your passion and your curiosity. So I think there's that side of it, and then the other side of it is that I think the question was, what made you want to be involved in a disability podcast about social justice and humanitarianism?
I just always like to learn more. I know what my experience is. I know when I look around, I know what I see is where I'm at in my experience. But I always like to know more, and I like to also know about people's lives and their experiences and their stories, and I don't like to assume so. For me, it's honestly really exciting when every episode comes out doing the transcripts because I like to be able to really take in everyone's interview and the information. It's really like it's become a hobby of mine. So, yeah, I would say that is my answer.
[00:33:23] Speaker C: Yeah. Keith, like you said, I, too love getting to know new individuals and their stories and where they come from and what makes them ticken. I love socializing with everyone, and I'm a social worker, so I want to be as empathetic as I can possibly be towards anyone. So I also wanted to join this podcast to educate myself more on people with different disabilities and know their stories and know me as an ally, as an advocate for disability, like where my place is and what I can do to make them more comfortable.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: So, yeah, the stories that other guests tell, it's what I look forward to each and every episode and to be able to bring more humor, more personal anecdotes, link it with their stories, incentuations, or experiences.
I also like how each season tries to outdo itself, and so we're never stagnant. Net we always keep dreaming back, like, uh, this season hasn't even begun, and by the end of this year, hopefully most of the season will be done. Uh, and we'll all.
We have offered pre season content and we'll offer post seeds and content, and we're starting a nonprofit next year to provide more structure and to pull people into the creative process and stick holders and what not. Any final comment?
[00:35:54] Speaker B: Yes, I have a final comment. I appreciate you asking that.
I just. Yeah, I think, like, exactly what you're saying. I think the momentum is so heavy, and the momentum that you've created is so dense and so, honestly, so cool to be a part of, and I'm just so excited to see where we can continue moving, and I'm excited to be a part of that.
What is the saying? The well oiled.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: The well oiled machine.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: Exactly. I'm excited to be one of the wheels on that behind you and continuing to move forward.
[00:36:32] Speaker C: So, yeah, I just. Yeah, I'm very grateful for the year I've had on the podcast. It's been. It's been a really great journey.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: Learning more and more the gets, uh, made me commit to 20 seasons, and I actually did that. So somehow that's going to happen.
Hopefully, I won't need sleep. Uh, at some point. Uh, I can just keep working and working and working.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: No, you need sleep, Keith.
[00:37:11] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I know. I know. We do. We all do. I'm so appreciative of both of your talents and of, uh, pat skill and inserts. Uh, you guys and my dog make me get out of bed each morning. And I constantly think of new and exciting ways how we can all change the world together. But I much end with I like the fact that most of the creative ideas, to renaming the episodes, to redesigning the website, to creating and producing a newsletter, all of those ideas didn't come from me. I'm very happy thank driving the ship here and judge allowing the creative bloodshed of my colleagues to bloom as well. So thank you very much.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:38:56] Speaker A: You have been listening to disability empowerment. Now I would like to thank my guests, you, Olitzina, and the Disability Empowerment team that made this episode possible.
More information about the podcast can be found at Disability empowermentnow.com or on our social media ad disability empowerment. Now, the podcast is available wherever you listen to podcats or on the official website. Don't forget to read, comment, and share the podcast. This episode of Disability Empowerment now is copyrighted 2024.
