We're Hitting Record 🎙️
...and for once, I don't know how this ends
I have been risk averse since the day my autobiographical memory came online.
As a child, I never wanted to go to sleepaway camp, much preferring the quiet and safety of home, my room, my things, my people.
As a teenager, the thought of trying any hard illicit drugs was a non-starter, because you could never be assured where it came from (Mom and Dad, you’re welcome) and I made sure to consume my first ever alcohol within shouting distance of my parents, just in case (…. sorry Mom and Dad)
As an athlete, I did every preventative exercise. And in the event of an injury out of my control, I meticulously followed scheduled “return to run” protocols so as to not injure myself again.
I have never once ridden a Six Flags rollercoaster.
I have never had any desire to go scuba diving or snorkeling.
Hell, you probably can’t even get me to go in the water past my knees.
Do we not remember Shark Week and every single fact we have ever learned about bull sharks?
When I turn the oven off after cooking, I make sure to say out loud, “the oven is off,” even if I’m mid-conversation. The reason being: when I put my head down on my pillow at night and think, “did I turn the oven off downstairs after I pulled the lasagna out of the oven?” I remember saying it out loud and it’s imprinted in my memory. And I can go to sleep.
There are very few points in my life you can ever point to as me “taking a risk.”
And if ever there was a “risk” to be taken, it was certainly always a calculated one.
Like the time I moved a thousand miles away from home to a place I had never been (Binghamton, NY… what up!!) to take my first television job.
Or the time I moved to Boston 5 months ahead of my husband to take a freelance job that meant a short-term paycut, zero guarantees and double the cost of our South Carolina rent.
From the outside looking in, you’d think I’d recognize that there was no guarantee either of those scenarios would work out. Except, I knew both of them would. Because to me, there was no other option than for them to work — and therefore — a blindingly white confidence assured my scared-of-anything-higher-than-the-second-floor brain that there was in fact no risk at all.
My work has never felt like risk to me, it has always felt like slow and steady progress. I put in the hard work, I come prepared, good things happen. Simple as that.
But when a friend of mine called me on his cross-country roadtrip (by the way… after he quit HIS job) to pitch me an idea for a project that was percolating in his brain — involving me — my initial reaction was, “no WAY.”
“I don’t have enough support, I don’t have enough childcare, I don’t have the time, I don’t have the space…”
And as he kept talking and I kept listening, ideas began forming in my own head. Soon I went from “aaaaabsolutely not,” to collaboration mode.
“But what if it was like…”
“And what if we talked about…”
So many of you have asked me, '“so what comes next for you?” to which I have answered mostly, “I’m freelancing a little writing, doing some content creation, chasing around a tiny dictator, etc etc.”
And many of you (including a couple dear friends) have said:
You should start a podcast.
And every time I have met that thought with,
“I do think that’s the logical next step but I just don’t think it’s the right time.”
(how many of my friends are laughing reading this or listening to this because you’re like, we have had this EXACT conversation)
So what is it about this kind of new venture, this kind of project that I can literally do from my basement, that has my hackles up more than when I moved to a sleepy town sight unseen during my most formative career years?
Because this time, there’s no feeling of assurance that it works out.
But the more we talked about it, the more I got excited about the prospect of it. I could continue to wax poetic in voice notes to every friend, or I could channel some of that into an hour a week of recording. Actually talk about some of the things I’m reading, navigating and feeling — both as a former broadcaster trying to pivot her journalism skills and as a Mom trying to find her way in the world of Instagram parenting.
So here it is: we are launching a podcast. And nobody asked for it. But you’re getting it anyway, and it’s probably the least either of us have ever planned anything in our entire lives.
A week ago we were talking on the phone about what we could even do with a podcast, what niche we see ourselves in, how we create content that matters in a saturated space. How can we talk journalism in a cataclysmic time for journalists? Especially since one of us likely wants to go right back into the fray?
How do we share our incredibly different life perspectives while aligning on our many common threads?
Two days ago we sat on FaceTime tweaking rudimentary logos, batting around titles that matched what we were going to be talking about (oh yeah, and what is it that we’ll be talking about again??) and getting accounts up and running so that the infrastructure gives us support in an entirely new medium.
And this week, we’ll hit record.
From the inception of the idea to the first time we will hook up our new Amazon primed mics? Two weeks. For two journalists who have spent more than a decade meticulously curating every word, every angle, every shot sequence, this feels kind of insane.
But we’re just fucking doing it. And it feels incredible to let go of whatever the outcome might be.
I told my husband about the call when he got home from work that day. I, of course, highlighted all the reasons I should not be taking something like this on right now, to which he reminded me:
“I never want our kids to not try something for fear of it not working out. The only failure is in never trying at all.”
SO here goes, coming soon to anywhere you get podcasts near you:
“Nobody Pitched This” … because nobody did. It’s a fledgling idea we came up with that is likely to be all over the place…. and we can guarantee that none of the stories we talk about would likely ever get the 1:15 package time in a traditional newscast.
We’re hitting record this week and trying our hand at publishing it as soon as we can, but there’s a huge learning curve here for us, so bear with us. If you want to follow us on socials, we’ll let you know there when it’s out and ready for your eager listening ears:
On Instagram: @nobodypitchedthispod
On YouTube: @nobodypitchedthispod
You can follow my co-host, Adam on Substack through his newsletter: RefreshMintz and also on Instagram: @refresh.mintz
It would mean the world to these two kids if you threw us a follow and followed along!
For those of you who are like, hey I recognize that guy. Well, you do! It’s because you probably remember us doing the 4 PM show together at our Columbia station. He both produced and reported for it (and so many other newscasts, he’s a huge political buff) and I have always loved nothing more than talking headlines with him.
And he’s also a dear, dear friend. One I’ve kept in touch with in the years since he left for stints in Nashville and Phoenix. And then I moved to Boston… and as many of you know, then promptly quit.
So what will we talk about? A little bit of everything. Stories that are catching our attention. This seemingly millennial career reckoning. What’s going on personally — he’s on a bit of a sabbatical, and I guess you could say, so am I? But with remarkably different lifestyles. He’s navigating the world of dating apps and I’m currently researching books on potty training.
Needless to say — we hope this podcast delivers some texture. And we certainly expect to blow each other’s minds.
Cannot wait to share whatever this is, for however long it is, in whatever form it comes… with all of you.
ALL OF THAT TO SAY: being risk averse is another way of saying you like surety. And while a train with wheels has a chance to go off the tracks, if it never has wheels to begin with — it never moves at all. And my toddler would argue… what fun is that?
XO-
Sam