Hello again; I hope you and your family are doing well.
In a previous post I told you about how my third attempt at winning one of the Holman Prize $25,000 grants was more successful.
I did make it past the first round into the semi finals this time. Which is a big accomplishment.
I was one of 36 people selected out of hundreds of applicants representing twenty countries spanning five continents.
Taking The Next Step
The next step was to provide them with information to show them whether or not you would be capable of completing your preposed goal.
I submitted the requested detailed plan, balance sheet, and income statement.
These were very difficult considering we had to project what our income and expenses would be for a whole year into the future.
I’m honest enough to admit to you that there are times I wouldn’t want to project next week much less next year.
For example how could any of us have projected the rise in prices caused by covid related problems in the supply chain.
Just a year earlier the only price hikes were occurring with masks, hand sanitizer, and other personal protective items.
I submitted and I waited.
Wasn’t Going To Wait On Holman
For those of you who know me well, you knew or should have known that I wasn’t going to sit around waiting on them.
Once I get a crazy idea in my heart, I take action.
To borrow a swimming metaphor I jump in with both feet and start swimming.
Sometimes, I wish I had stayed by the side of the pool sitting in a Lounge chair and drinking a cold beverage.
But I do it anyway. Partly because that is how I’m built. And partly because I know y’all are watching.
I’m more afraid of y’all seeing me chicken out than I am of failing or looking silly.
Blubrry Support
As part of my Holman Prize pitch I reached out to the wonderful people at www.blubrry.com
They had been my hosting company for my podcast The What’s Your Excuse? Show since restarting the audio portion of my podcast in July of 2019.
Their podcast player is very accessible both for listeners and for podcast hosts.
Their technical support department was very helpful in getting me back out there on Apple Podcasts and the other players.
I asked them if they were going to start a podcast network like mine, how would they go about it.
I didn’t expect that they would decide to offer the network a free pro hosting plan for at least the first year of the network.
I knew they were committed to accessibility, but I was blown away by their desire to invest in something that could help other aspiring hosts like me.
Making Friends Is Always The Right Call
While promoting my Holman Prize application I had met and become friends with some of the other competitors.
To me I never want to miss an opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and see where those relationships take me.
I have also learned that very little good comes from an attitude of lack.
So, believing that there are enough good things to go around I reached out to some of the other competitors.
Meeting Emily
One of the people I met was blind downhill snowboarder Emily Trepanier.
You know, over the years I have met a lot of people online who wonder about a totally blind man having a blog.
Even now I still get some of those questions. Which I am happy to answer.
So, just imagine how I felt hearing there was a blind woman who races down mountains on a little board.
I just had to meet her. So, I sent her a message through Face Book.
She was also interested to meet me. And she agreed with my philosophy of making friends with my competitors.
We agreed to meet via Face Book Messenger. We scheduled a time for a Saturday afternoon back in June of 2021.
We had a great talk. It was like two old friends catching up after being away from each other for a long time.
I found out that she too had failed to win the Holman Prize either.
So, Holman didn’t select a blind guy wanting to start a podcast network to help other disabled people share their stories or a blind downhill snowboard racer wanting to be the first woman to win a Paralympic gold medal in her sport.
I found out that Emily was continuing to train in spite of Covid shutting down most of the gyms and snowboard runs.
I found out that she had assembled a collection of coaches to help her train for her sport.
And that before moving from Ontario to Vancouver for better access to the slopes she had even attracted a few local sponsors for her racing.
So excited to find that we had the same idea about not waiting for help from Holman.
I didn’t plan to ask her to join the podcast network, but somehow the subject did come up.
I did ask her, and she said yes.
We made a list of things we would need to get done before her show would go live.
Recording Her Podcast
While I was able to get a sponsorship offer from Blubrry, I wasn’t able to get a similar offer from Zoom.
I was hoping to avoid having Emily spend money on a platform to record her podcast.
We tried Zoom with me on with her so we could use my existing paid account.
But, we couldn’t figure out how to record without my photo or video showing up on camera.
Then we tried Stream Yard.
But I just couldn’t figure out to configure it to record at all. Much less how to set it up so people wouldn’t see me on camera there either.
Obviously, Emily is not a shrinking violet. She decided to try Anchor.
It turned out to be a perfect option for Emily.
First, it is free to record your podcast there.
Second, it can be used from her phone. Important when race season keeps her away from home.
Also, it has a feature that allows for connecting with people worldwide for conversations that can be shared on your podcast.
It even has a collection of royalty-free music that a host can use for background or as their show’s intro.
Once the recording platform was decided upon, Emily began recording content for her podcast and scheduling interviews for future episodes.
Picking A Name
Our net concern was what to call the podcast.
Neither one of us had a natural idea.
So, I did what I usually do. I shared her need for a great podcast name on social media.
We got a lot of great ideas. Too many great ideas in fact.
And we were stumped as to what to call it. But then Emily went to her dictionary.
She discovered that “shredding” is a snowboarding term that means performing at a very high level against tough competition on challenging terrain.
And the show had its name.
Introduction To Shredding For Gold
Apple and the other podcast syndication sites won’t include a new podcast unless the applicant has at least one audio file.
So, I encouraged Emily to record a podcast trailer for her show.
Bad Podcast Launch For A Great Show
Now, there are a lot of things that I am good at.
There are a lot of things I can manage to do just well enough to accomplish my goals.
But me and Emily have established that one place I stink at is the launch party.
First, Emily is just naturally more of a party person.
She decorated her apartment for the occasion.
Since we were doing this launch via Face Book Live it’s important to know that she is better with technology and social media than I am.
And at the time for some reason I insisted in trying to organize the launch in spite of knowing my eight year old computer probably wasn’t up to the challenge.
On the day of the launch I could not get my computer to launch the Face Book Live event.
After we spent over two weeks promoting it. I felt so bad.
But Emily just jumped right in and started a second live session. Then she invited me to it.
We had a great time introducing people to my new friend Emily, telling them about the podcast, and explaining the name.
We did have a few die-hard supporters show up. And we got some great questions.
There is an old show biz saying that a bad final rehearsal leads to a great opening night.
In spite of my fumble the show and Emily have done very well.
She has recorded new content every week. And I have done my best to get it out on a regular schedule.
Even when I had to do it all from my tablet after my trusty laptop finally broke.
The show has a loyal following that listen every week.
As the race season begins I’m sure the show will only get better.
And Emily has volunteered to organize future virtual podcast launches. For those of you thinking about going us crazy people on WYE>
Emily’s Shredding For Gold is the first brand new show on the Wye, What’s Your Excuse? Network.
It is or I guess I should say it was a big first step.
Since then I have had lots of wonderful conversations with disabled people from around the world about starting their own podcasts.
I fully expect that there will be at least one new show launched in January.
And February or March could see two new hosts joining the network.
And I have added links to some existing shows to the network shows page. Hoping that by including them on the platform I can help them grow their audiences.
While the people running the Holman Prize program didn’t decide to fund me or Emily, Me and Emily were going full-speed ahead with our dreams.
In fact “Adventure Ahead” is Emily’s catch phrase.
Which reminds me that starting this podcast network and helping Emily start her show has been a needed replacement for traveling around the country.
It has taken the place of planes, trains, and buses.
It’s taken the place of packing a suit case and making sure I have snacks for the road.
I hope that our story has encouraged you to go ahead and take action even if the people around you aren’t cheering you on.
If you would like some help starting your own podcast, or if you would like to add your podcast to the network; then please email me at wye@wyexcuse.com
Thanks for your continued support. I couldn’t keep doing this without knowing you are along on the journey with me.
Take care out there, Max