Arielle Nissenblatt On Learning, Geography, And How To Start A Podcast

Arielle talks about the journey of formal education in her life. She went from being more reserved and lacking confidence to finding her true passions and believing in herself more.

She opens up about being diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disability in her early years. This also lead to some traumatic memories of being removed from class for needing more help with math. Even though it’s meant to help, in her case, and probably most cases, it did more harm than good.

Through post-secondary education and entering the workplace, she was able to better connect with her passions in the real world and her confidence grew. One of these big passions was geography. The other one, was podcasting.

We talked about being a multi-passionate person and how it’s ok to have so many interests. We found out the extent of organization systems Arielle uses and some of her interests. She has many new passions from TikTok, to checking out new food, mapping, rollerblading, tennis, soccer, and of course anything new in the world of podcasting.

Like always, there were some awesome surprise tidbits in the conversation. We learned how she broke her elbow and her Apple Watch called 911. Arielle also shared that she is pretty much vegan, loves storytelling and is a geography expert. Arielle has an incredible mindset and approach to life. She is the absolute definition of a lifelong learner.

Memorable Quotes

“If you have an idea for a podcast. Awesome. Great. Think about why it should be a podcast first.”

“I Love Podcasts. When I started listening, I just became exposed to all of these new people and all of these new stories that I had not been aware of beforehand.”

“I am constantly challenged to come up with new ideas. I love marketing concepts and I love connecting with people about how to tell their stories.”

13 Things To Remember When You Start Your Podcast

1. Know your why. Not just from a philosophical, motivational standpoint. Know why it should be a podcast. Could it be a different medium? What about podcast specifically do you think is valuable to tell this story, or share this information? Make sure it is best as a podcast, it can be easier to test YouTube, or blogs first to see if you want to keep investing time and energy into it.
2. Decide on a format. Is it going to be you interviewing a guest; you and a co host interviewing; you and someone else having a conversation; a panel of guest; or a solo, scripted show; or perhaps a combination? Get some clarity on the format, template and structure of an episode.
3. If it’s an interview show make a long list of the people you would want to interview and send as many pitch emails as possible. You will get no’s, but no’s lead to yes’s and everything happens for a reason.
4. Continually and consistently put out content to continue to grow your show. Creating traction comes from consistency, so be sure to build systems that allow you to bank episodes and upload regularly. Create your show like a podcast assembly line.
5. What investments can you make up front for the show that allow for you to focus on what you do best, or to make things more streamlined? For example, hiring an editor can free you up to be the talent on the show. But, this also depends on the style of your show. With a regular conversation, the editing work is not complex, keep it simple, clean up the sound a bit, remove a few awkward pauses and hit publish. If you have a very pre-scripted, polished and produced series, then the editing will take hours to complete. It’s all about knowing what your brand message is when it comes to the style of creative you are going for. But overall being aware of how much time, or money you have to invest in the show and the next best investment is valuable.
6. Over communication with your listeners is valuable because clarity is key. As you grow an audience and want to build a community there is no room for confusion. Publish with a rhythm and cadence that is clear and people can easily understand. When can people find the latest episode? Will you be changing formats and how will your audience know? You want to build connection by being transparent and involving your audience. Let them know what you are doing. If the audio is a bit messed up in an episode, let them know up front. If you are bringing two guests on instead of one, or doing some solo rants, let them know. Communicate any new developments, or challenges with your audience.
7. The audio quality must be stellar. It is really hard to get away with audio that doesn’t sound good. Whether this means practicing editing tools, or hiring someone to do it for you, ensuring audio quality doesn’t interfere with listening enjoyment should be a top priority.
8. Choose a podcast hosting site. There are many, but use one of the popular ones because it will be stra...