This series is all about libsyn podcasters. Its sole purpose is to introduce these awesome podcasts to the world as well as share their podcasting insight to empower the community!
Q & A’s with Lena from The Shipping Podcast
When did you start podcasting?
I started podcasting on July 31st, 2015, when I released four episodes, with four very different guests.
My first interview was with Captain Niels V Pedersen, the Captain of the worlds’ largest container vessel, when she called the Port of Gothenburg (my home city).
At the time for the interview I didn’t have any equipment, I just managed to get in contact with the Captain when he passed Singapore Straights enroute to Europe and Gothenburg, with his cargo.
So, I had 5 weeks to find a way get the permission to go into the port, get onboard and sit down with Captain Pedersen.
One of my best friends was already podcasting, so she promised me I could borrow her equipment, I decided to bring her along, in case I didn’t know how to work the Zoom H2N, and to give her a memory from a bridge onboard a very large ship, overlooking both me, the interview and the loading and unloading.
Why did you start podcasting?
I started podcasting when I realized that I can do this on my own, I can learn from the best and I can just start, no need for any media house or any other platform, I can just do this.
I am a vivid podcast listener myself, I have a favorite Swedish one, which inspired me very much, but I had also come to the realization that shipping, nothing is better suited for “story-telling” than our industry, but no one is telling the story, so the industry I would like to make more known is very suitable for audio.
What’s your show about?
I have a very large international network in the maritime community, after having spent more than 25 years in the industry, and it is the people that makes the world go around.
Every marketing campaign or attempt to get the shipping industry more known to the public always includes pictures of ships, cranes, engines, ports or something similar, but no one showcases the people.
I have never met a boring person in my line of work, everyone is a personality in her/his own way, so I decided to interview people about what they do in their every day job.
They are all very passionate, so it’s easy to interview people, and the more I ask, the more they speak.
I always do my interviews face to face.
There is more than one reason for this, but the main one is that I want to interview the superstars of my industry, and they are usually men 50+, who I know would probably decline if I said that they had to do some settings on their computer to participate in the Shipping Podcast.
If I can only get them to agree to see me, put aside some time in their calendar and be there when I show up, I am a winner.
1,5 years later, the Shipping Podcast has been downloaded in more than 145 countries.
I can see that most of the downloads takes place in what I would describe as maritime hubs, places around the world with maritime activities going on.
My goal is to make the shipping industry known to the general public, but it seems like if I have targeted people within the industry first.
What’s your podcasting set-up? Hardware, software, CMS, etc.
I use a Zoom H2N microphone, which works very well for me and I edit in Audacity on my PC.
I have a WordPress website, built on the Maroon Pro Theme, www.shippingpodcast.com, which I only use for publishing my episodes.
How have you promoted your podcast?
The only promotion I have done is through social media, [Twitter][tw1], Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn. I did have a substantial number of followers on my [personal Twitter][tw2] account before I started podcasting, which has been a lever for me.
Being something new to my industry, I quite often get interviewed in trade press about what a podcast is, why I started and what I want to achieve.
I have even been featured in large companies’ in-house magazines.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
Something I wish I knew before I started was how passionate I would become about podcasting.
It’s so much fun and I learn new things every day. After a lengthy career where you at the end feels that all you do is the same thing, it’s very refreshing to do something new and meet new people from whom I can learn a lot, turning tables.
I also wish that I would have known how few people that know that you can listen to podcast on your mobile.
I cannot tell you how many mobile phones I have had in my hand since I started, all shapes and all forms. I am not complaining, I show them subscribe to my show and hand it back, but I am amazed how many people only use their smart phones in such a limited way.
After a happy anniversary Lena! If you happen to be a maritime professional or are interested in any way shape or form about ports, ships, logistics, goods, trade etc OR interesting conversations, do subscribe to The Shipping Podcast!
You can also easily subscribe to The Shipping Podcasts’s newsletter right from the website.
Do you work in an industry that has great stories that no one is covering? Why not start a podcast? We would love to host your media! and if you need help with the how to podcast part of things, come to one of our monthly FREE Podcasting QuickStarts!
