Podcasting Full Time: Catching Up With Noah May & Lethal Venom

In this reunion episode, I welcome Noah May back to the show to catch up on everything that has changed since his first appearance. Mr. May shares how his podcasting journey has grown over the past year, from hosting Lethal Venom to relaunching Southern Reads and working on Music Talks. He also talks about graduating from Auburn with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and how podcasting unexpectedly became a major part of his professional and creative life.

Throughout the conversation, Mr. May and I discuss the real behind-the-scenes work of podcasting: recording hundreds of interviews, managing a massive backlog, dealing with no-shows, navigating guest expectations, and learning when to stop over-editing. We also talk honestly about the strange, funny, and frustrating parts of working with guests, assistants, PR teams, and people who do not always understand the time, energy, and professionalism required to run a podcast well.

This episode also explores how podcasting can open doors that creators never expected. Mr. May shares how Southern Reads has brought authors, books, interviews, and new opportunities into his life, while I reflect on how podcasting helped me grow into speaking, comedy, international networking, and global connection. We discuss PodMatch, podcast reviews, guest outreach, episode promotion, and the difference between someone who genuinely wants to share a story and someone who only wants to pitch a product.

More than anything, this conversation is a reminder that podcasting does not have to start perfectly to become meaningful. Mr. May’s story shows how a creative side project can turn into a calling, a career path, and a platform for hundreds of voices.

https://noahspodcasts.com/

Website: https://coupleonukes.com

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Want to be a guest on Couple O' Nukes? Send me a message on PodMatch:  https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1726279485588093e83e0e007

Sign Up For A PodMatch Account: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/coupleonukes

*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.

Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple of Nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and honestly reflecting on it, the past few weeks I've had a couple reunion episodes, which is awesome. One of the things I love the most about podcasting is the community, the networking, meeting people, and we as entrepreneurs do so much that having an episode with someone a year later is- you're like, "Wow, I can't believe they did all that stuff. I haven't done that much stuff in 10 years," you know? Some of- sometimes. And others, you know, we're just slowly growing, doing our thing. But yeah, I wanted to invite Mr. Noah May back on to go over some new podcasts that he launched, all the interviews he's been doing, the growth of Lethal Venom, from the new logo, which is amazing looking by the way, to just how life has been. So Mr. May, if you could please tell us a little bit about yourself, especially for those of us who didn't catch your last episode, who you are and what you're doing. So, um, I'm Noah May. I'm 24. I'm a year older since we've started doing- ... our last episode. I got a year older, and I am the host of three podcasts now. I do, uh, Lethal Venom, I do Music Talks now, which is still kind of getting a revamp, but, um, Southern Reads also has relaunched and that... And since then, uh, there's been a lot of change that we'll probably get into going on forward, but I, I graduated from Auburn with my bachelor's in journalism, so I have a four year, uh, four-year college degree with that. And yeah, since then I've just still been doing podcasting. I've had some projects happen that have been kind of- that have launched and some of that I'm still working on personally. So, uh, the- there's been a lot that's happened in the past year, which is crazy, so I'm excited to kind of share and give updates about what's been going on with me in the podcast world. For sure. A year older and a year wiser, hopefully. Hopefully that's the plan. Yeah. We don't, we don't wanna go backwards, but, you know, y- you talk about one of your podcasts is book-related. You're doing all these interviews. You got the journalism degree. Are you secretly writing a book? Um, yes and no. Um, I was... Well, since our last, uh, interview, I'd had two people reach out to me. Um, one wa- her name's Vanessa. I don't know if you've heard of her, or I actually got recommended through her from Pete, which I think we know Pete versus Anxiety. Um- Yeah, so you're talking about Vanessa the Vivacious, Humanity 2.0, right? Yes, sir. Uh, she reached out to me. Um, we kind of were on each other's podcasts, and we did kind of interviews on each other's, and she re- um, asked me to write a section for a book that she's coming out with called, I don't know if we can say the title yet, but she's coming out with a book, um, that she's asked me to have a feature story in there. So she wrote, um, reached out to me, and I'm been currently writing it. Uh, so been working on that. So I kinda am writing a book, but it's just kind of a short section. And then, um, I had another woman reach out to me, uh, Adrienne Baker. She, uh, hosts a podcast. I have to pull it up. I can't remember. I've done so many shows and whatnot. Yeah. It, uh, I get names and all that mixed up. But she, um, wanted to have my episode featured in a book that she was coming out with, uh, that was focused on mental health. So, uh, she had asked me if it was okay if w- if my episode was featured in there, and I said, "Absolutely. That's no problem." So I've been asked to have two in there, but, you know, the personally having, like writing a, like a full-on memoir or something, that's not on the to-do list yet. I'm pretty sure later on, maybe if I get bored enough, I'll do it, but so far, I've just been asked to do kind of sections in there, so. Yeah, well that's always a good stepping stone. You know, it's, uh, it takes a lot of pressure off of you about all this publishing stuff, 'cause you just write your chapter, turn it in, and yeah. You know, it's funny, when I first started podcasting, it's like I knew every guest's exact story and name and pod- I could tell you everything. And now I'm at 300-plus episodes, and sometimes I'm like, th- this will sound really bad, but I'll be honest. Sometimes there's a guest that I just completely forget, uh, you know. But then as soon as I see their picture or their name, I'm like, "Oh, yeah, of course I know who that is," and I can tell their episode and stuff. But it's like, not only that, but I've also guested on, on many shows. I've, I guested on I think over 50 shows now across the world, so it all blends together. Especially, I'm sure you've had days where, I've had days where I do back-to-back episodes or, uh, you know, some people, it's very late at night or very early in the morning. Listen, if you're podcasting with me and it's like midnight my time and, you know, 9:00 PM your time, uh, I'm gonna forget half of it. We're still gonna show up. We're still gonna make it happen. But yeah, it's- Yeah ... de- definitely blending together, and this is on top of all the in-person conferences, all the online Zoom meetings and other groups that I'm a part of. So it's hard. But everyone remembers me. They're like, "Oh yeah, the guy with the cowboy hat, Mr. Whiskey." And it's like, oh. Why'd you have to be so memorable? You know, sometimes, sometimes it's good to just not be that memorable because then I, I go to conferences and people are like, "Mr. Whiskey, we, you know, we met three years ago. Yeah." And I'm like, "Okay, that's, three years ago is a really long time in terms of podcasting." I don't you know, uh, yeah. Yeah. But luckily the, anyone who's been on my show more than once, I, I got you down pretty, pretty down pat, you know? So, uh, yeah. But you talked about, I don't know how many episodes you're at now, but it's been a while since you launched Lethal Venom as your main podcast platform. How has the journey really been shaping with that, you know, in terms of feedback, in terms of how you personally feel? Have you been called to change kind of the direction of it? How is it ex- expanding and growing? Well, really when we first last talked it was kind of at, I think at that point I had done, I don't even think 100 episodes yet. I mean, it was still pretty new. Um, I looked, and we did our interview back in August, and that was right about a m- month or two after I was on Podmatch, and I was still kinda getting the late swing of things then. I think A little after we did our interview, it just went skyrocketed and has r- it's just been up here for the whole time. I've done... I have actually recorded about 500 episodes since then. Wow. I do literally interviews every day. I've gotta say, it's kinda slimmed back a little bit. A little, it's kind of been like a little bit of weighing about guests and whatnot, and I've had some guests not show up, which I'm pretty sure we've all encountered- Mm-hmm how it's frustrating. But, um, I- it's kind of gotten a little slow on doing interviews, which I'm so far behind on posting, I'm kind of thankful for it 'cause I can get caught up. But I've been doing that, and I've really gotten s- a lot of positive feedback from it. I've not had really much negativity come from it, which is kinda shocking, 'cause I thought at this point I would have had, like, um, some criticism for it. Um, I know for Apple Podcasts, I've had people, I think 46 people, leave a review for me on p- on Apple Podcasts, which is out- astonishing to see. Spotify has kind of like a... Like I said, someone did leave kind of a low rating on one that kind of bumped my score down to, like, 4.6. So I'm like, I don't know. So- Yeah that's like kinda the only negative feedback I've received, but, you know, it's still, like, really good compared to some other big podcasts out there. So really, it's just been overwhelmingly positive. I've not had anyone give, like, any negative feedback, which I'm thankful for, and a lot of my guests love, love the podcast, that they come on. So overall, it's still been really overall positive. Yeah, and you gotta take the Spotify with a grain of salt, because I would say for every, you know, 10 Apple Podcast reviews I get, maybe there's one person who's on Spotify, and it's only a star rating as far as I know. I don't think you can even leave a written review. So, uh, you know, I, I'll be honest, I never even checked my rating on Spotify before, 'cause I, I just, I always look at Apple Podcasts 'cause that's, that's my main platform. And you, you know the frustration of, man, if every guest left a review, how much greater, right? You'd be at 500 reviews. You know, it's like... And it, I don't know. I always review the podcast I'm on for the most part. It's like, it's not that hard to do. But it's okay. It's okay. You know- Yeah ... some people are just- It is what it is. But yeah, those reviews, I mean, they say cherish your first one-star review because having enemies mean you're doing good work. But at the same time it's like, yeah, well, if no one ever dislikes it, that's good too , you know. I've had my fair share of different comments on YouTube or, um, stuff like that, and sometimes it's not about you, it's about the content, and not even the content quality, but the subject. So, like, I posted a discussion on men's mental health, suicide grief, and all that, and within 45 minutes of that video being out on YouTube it got disliked, uh, not even by someone who, to my knowledge, watched the full video. They just saw the topic and they're like, "Oh, we hate this." And, um, anytime I post anything faith-based or mention Jesus Christ it gets dislikes on YouTube. Uh, certain topics of domestic violence or human trafficking get dislikes, which that's just evil people. If, if, if you hate domestic violence prevention and awareness, obviously your dislike doesn't really mean much to me. It's... Well, it's sad. I mean, it's disheartening to... I had, I had- Yeah ... like, pro human trafficking comments on one of my com- uh, on a YouTube short I posted, and it's like, yeah, yeah. Um, that's why my comments on Instagram, you can only comment if you follow me, 'cause I don't have time for all the trolls and BS and all the negativity and racism and, and sexualism and hatred that, um, Instagram and, and X and those platforms, uh, kind of specialize in more than... You know, Facebook and LinkedIn is pretty, pretty tame. But, uh, yeah, so what would you say... I know you interview such a wide variety of people. In the 500 episodes, I mean, you're recording every day. Are you s- are you weekly? Are you bi-daily or daily? Like, how frequently are you dropping these episodes? Or is this just a big backlog? You're like, "I'm gonna take the year off. No more interviews. I'm just gonna slowly release it." Well, you know, honestly, I felt bad for having such a, being so far behind. I'll be, I'll be real honest. When I first started doing PodMatch and learned about, you know, you get paid to do interviews, that money side of me was like, I g- that was, like, a really bad drug I really got. So I was, like, doing seven, eight interviews a day that are, like, hour-long interviews, and which, you know, I don't... Sometimes I don't even go the full hour. But even sometimes I go over the full hour, so it was just like I was really wanting a lot of those interviews for the, for the money side of it. I will be honest, I kind of got hooked on that and was like, you know- It's a great tool. Well, I've only posted about not even 200 episodes yet, but I have like over 400 in the thing, so it's, it's good to have a backlog like that so in case something go- does go wrong, you know, I have episodes backed up. But it also is like people have waited for so long for an episode to come out, and I've had some people that are like very understanding. They said, "You know, look, I understand all what you go through. I just c- I'm, I'm just a person that comes on and speaks. I don't have a podcast myself." Some, some people are understanding, and some people are not. They, they feel like that they should have that episode come out within 24 hours of you recording. Yeah. And I'm just like, "Well, think about times that by like 300. That's probably when your episode will come out." But I think a lot of my s- I did a lot... I, I think I took editing a little bit too seriously too 'cause I would like record like an hour-long episode, go back and sit through that full hour listening to it again and not really making any tweaks. But I, I do a lot of precise editing too. I really took this podcast for... Because at the time, this was my child. It was my only baby that was kinda keeping me from having to go out- Right ... and do like a full-time job. It was kind of a way for me to be able to work from home and do this. So I took this podcast really seriously, and I think I took it a little too seriously, looking hindsight at it. Now, I still, it's weekly. I try to at least post one, but I've gotten to where now I'm just posting them without doing much editing at all just to kinda get called up 'cause I think I got that too much stress of like people have waited for so long, you know. And, you know, I'm understanding too. Like, I've, I've done podcasts where I've done it last year, and they've not even come out yet. But, you know, I don't forcefully be like, "Where's my episode? Where's my episode? Where's my episode?" So I'm, I try not to be that kind of person 'cause I understand that, you know, you run multiple shows. You are a one-man crew. It takes a long time for an episode to come out. Yeah. So I try to not be that person, but it's so hard, and I've had to be ugly with some people too. You know, I've had some guests come on that are not r- un- really guests. Like since then I've had some kind of minor horror stories of guests I've had to deal with that are just difficult to work with. Mm. And I try to keep a positive attitude, 'cause, you know, this is kind of a reputation thing. Oh, but it's so hard sometimes for my mouth not to get the best of me. I'm just like- Yeah ... y'all are testing me today. But I do try to post weekly now, and I've gotten to where I try to post multiple times. I just maybe cut dead parts out and then post it, 'cause I've gotten to that point of, like, I can't keep doing what I was doing Yeah. Well, and, and that's a, I don't wanna say a phase, but it's a part of the journey for every podcaster, myself included. I used to spend, you know, a long time editing, doing every uh and um, and, and, and this was before, you know, now we've got some good AI tools to help out with that. Uh, but yeah, this was, you know, manually editing and I, I would, you know, watch every episode back and edit it, which means it's even longer. You know, if you're watching and editing an hour-long episode, it'll probably take you two to three hours 'cause you're pausing, you're replaying, you're pausing, and it really does take a lot of time. And so when you have as many episodes as you do, yeah, I just had to kinda slow down with that as well. I know some people are ... Like, it's important to edit, uh, you know, of course, major changes and stuff, and the more you edit, the more time you can save. And sometimes with podcasting, it is a battle for how short you can make the episode because of retention and engagement, uh, to that degree. What I'll say is I totally relate to the, the frustration of your episode not coming out because I am a, "Hey, I want, I'm eager to promote this, to make social media clips from it, to share it." And you know, I've had some people where I recorded, I think the longest was nine months. You know, I recorded and it didn't come out till nine months later. And it is re- I can understand it is really frustrating, but I also know that like, hey, there's nothing I can do about it. Like, I, they've got this backlog and they record ... Uh, a l- and a lotta times when the host records every single day with people, I'm expecting like, hey, it's gonna be a while. Th- the only time I'll reach out is there's a few hosts that I'm like, "Hey, you never put an estimated release date," or, "It's been a long time, and like, you know, you said it would be out in a few weeks. It's been a few months." You know, a few weeks versus a few months. So I've followed up with a few people. Uh, sometimes people just forget to tell you that the episode is released, and it, it's gotten to the point where I've been on so many different shows that I can't keep going back every single day and checking every single one of them to be like, "Did it come out yet?" You know? Uh, i- I, as a good host, you tell your guest when the episode is out. And me personally, I send the link to Apple Podcasts and YouTube. I say, "Hey, the episode's out. I'm promoting it," blah, blah, blah. But yeah. And then as term, in terms of- Guests that are, a- a- as you call them, difficult to work with, I've had my fair share as well. Uh, y- we, you mentioned earlier no-shows. Me and Chris Milson in a recent episode talked about that and how frustrating and discouraging it can be, especially he and I have both experienced, and maybe you've experienced as well, back-to-back no-shows or multiple no-shows, you know, in a row. That's really disheartening. For me, the worst has been, like, canceling plans or rescheduling or changing my schedule to accommodate a podcast and then, then rescheduling last minute or canceling, especially because people say, "Well, didn't you block that day off for work?" For me, it's like I have ... I'm available from these hours to these hours any day for a podcast. Uh, but then that day will be unbooked for weeks, and then like two days beforehand people will be like, "Oh, I've decided I'm gonna podcast on this day." I'm like, "You gotta be kidding me." You know, like, I'm gonna do it, but I was low-key hoping no one would book for that spot. And I, I, I had to change it because it used to be just like 24 hours notice. I'm like, I need three days, okay? I can't just have people booking for tomorrow morning, and you know, it's only 24 hours away. I had to, I had to, you know, structure my calendar to be reasonable, you know, reasonable. And I changed it where like, hey, I'm only doing a maximum of maybe three or four podcasts a day because I've done, like you mentioned, doing seven or eight in a day all over an hour long. You get mentally exhausted. You get tired. Your body's cramped. Your eyes hurt. I mean, 'cause you're just sitting there interviewing, interviewing, interviewing. Most of the time listening and listening, and I tell you, like, the day I did 10 hours straight of podcasting, each episode was slightly shorter than the last. And the last episode was like, we went from an hour and a half episodes to the last one was like 45 minutes. I'm like, "I'm going to bed." You know? So it's, uh, it's tiring. And I know compared to some other jobs, our complaints are very, you know, minuscule compared to what other people go through. But it is some- Right of the difficulties. And I'm curious, have you had issues with when you talk about difficult guests, is it guests who talk too much, who don't really have any answers? Is it people just wanting to promote a product or a service and not actually share an impactful story? Or what kind of difficulties are we talking about, uh, without name-dropping every single one of them? When, when we get off the call, you and I can talk about who it is because we probably have recorded with them both If I remember who they are. Yeah, yeah. This has been so... They come very few and far between. I, I'll, I'll be honest, they have been very few and far between. I mean- Well, that's good ... every person that I've interviewed has been respectful, and they've been fantastic guests. The b- I've had, though, a few... There was one that I interviewed and actually posted. I posted 'cause the interview wasn't bad. He just talked for a very long time, and o- one of the big rules about journalism that we learned is that you don't interrupt people. I thought, "You've got to take a breath of air or something." I think they talked for about an hour and a half straight, and I thought- Wow I'm just sitting here just nodding and, you know, when I'm trying to, like, button an answer. I've gotta say, easiest episode to edit because it was just, like, sitting here just listening to it. But, um, I've had worse. I've had a little bit more... Um, I had a guest come on that, uh, worked for a company, and it seemed like he had to have everything run by the boss, and everything had to be approved by him. I, I think he got confused in thinking that we were doing the actual interview that day, which it was kinda hard 'cause I didn't do really pre-interviews like I do now. I said, "Well, we're doing the main interview today. I thought we were doing it today." And, um, he told me that he had to get permission through his boss, and I thought, "Really? You have to get permission through your boss?" That was kinda where I was honest. I said, "Honestly, you don't need to have permission. It's your time to be on my show. I don't need so-and-so's permission of, like, can he be on my show today, yes or no? It's more of, like, you know your schedule. You know what you need to do." It kinda made me mad, 'cause I thought... And I told the boss that. I said, "You don't have right to be able to be, like, controlling him of what he needs to be doing and what his schedule is. It's his show. It's not your time." So I was... I got a little... The Mae in me was like, we have family history where the Mae in us comes out, and the Mae in me came out that day. It just made me so mad 'cause I thought he was a good guest, 'cause I thought he had, like, an interesting story. He had a wonderful business that he had. His boss was just too controlling over everything, and I just felt very upset from it. And I told him, I said, "I'm not working with... I'm not... Mm-mm. I'm not having everything run by him. He's not... His name's not on the interview name. His name's not gonna be in the episode title. It's not even gonna be in the description box." I don't wanna have my interview run by... It was, like, a c- it was, like, uh, controlling my whole interview process of, like, "This is when you're gonna edit. This is what he's g- what you're going to tell him." And I thought, "No." I thought, "You're not- Hmm ... you're not, your name's not on my show." And, um, so he's been the worst one I've worked with. And then I had a guest come on a way way back, like, last year, and I think this was after we had done our interview. Um, it was a woman that had come on on Podmatch. Well, I, I messaged her directly and said, "I want you to be on the show." I typically was the one that sent my messages out to everyone, and she said, "Well, I don't think I'll be a good fit for your show, but this other person that I have would be a good fit." And I thought... I ran through the whole thing of like, well, do you have like a website for them? Do you, do they have a PornMatch profile? Do they have any kind of profile that I can look through? And I think she gave me A few examples of like, I think I was not prepared at all for this interview. When I f- when I started, hit record, I thought, "I'm not prepared. I don't have anything to go off of. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you do." And so I didn't post that interview. S- out of all 500 I've recorded, that's the only one I've never posted. Well, they started getting kind of like, like, "Where's your episode?" And all this stuff, and I told them honestly, I said, "Well, honestly, I wasn't prepared enough for the interview process at all and wasn't prepared." He w- he wasn't a bad guest by all means. It was just poor communication on their part. And they were like, "Well, it's real tacky that you did an interview and didn't even post it or anything." I said, "Well, one, I was not prepared for it, so it wasn't a good interview to begin with. Two, when it came to promoting, I had no social platforms for him to be promoted on. I had no website to go off of really." And told them honestly about it, and it kinda got put to rest for about a month. Well, about a month later, I get another email from 'em from another person that said, "When's this episode coming out?" And I said, "Well, I told h- his assistant or owner or whoever was over him about the whole situation." They got mad at me over that, and I thought, "Well, it's y'all's fault for not having that cross-communication going on." So I've had two instances and I'll be honest, when it comes to assistants If I lost my hair due to assistants, I'd be bald. I hate talking to assistants. It's one thing I've had some awful And I don't know how you, uh, what your protocol is with assistants, but every time I see like, "I'm as- assistant for so-and-so," I'm like, have to take an Advil, 'cause I'm just like, "Okay." I had one person to come up to me and I said, "By the way," I said, "You ... I loved how you messaged me on Podmatch." And they said, "I don't have a Podmatch profile." And I thought, "Hold on. Oh, wait a minute." And I said, "So you're telling me that I haven't been talking to you during this whole time?" 'Cause I was, like, using first-person pronouns, and they used, like, first-person pronouns of like, "I would love to be on your show. This is who I am. My name's so-and-so, and I own this thing." So I thought, "Oh, I'm talking to the guest." Well, come to find out I was talking to his assistant. And I thought, "How'd you get hired?" I, I literally told him on the call, I said, "I'm telling you this from experience. Your assistant doesn't need to be doing that, because what it's gonna showcase to all these other podcasters is that they're talking to you directly. They're setting up questions, they're setting up all these times." And so I told him, I said, "You better talk to your assistant now and say, 'Uh, why are you using first-person pronouns like I, me, and all this stuff? Why you're not using third-person pronouns?'" 'Cause people are thinking or assuming that it's me messaging and not you directly saying like, "Hey, I'm so-and-so's assistant." I thought, "How dumb." Honestly, when she, he said that, I was just ... I was taken aback. I was like shocked at just then I thought, "Oh my God, how stupid can you be?" And I was like, I know it wasn't his fault, but I thought, "How did you not know either too?" So I've, I've ha- I've had some interesting- Mm ... some interesting- Right things podcasting. So I don't know how you've been with assistants, but I've had some really bad ones. I've had maybe one or two that have been good. It can definitely be a pain point. One thing I will say on Podmatch's behalf is a lot of times it will automatically inform you if it was booked through a publishing or other third entity party. However, if an assistant does just make the profile, then it's up to them to notify you. I'll say most of them have reached out and said, "I am reaching out on behalf of Noah May," you know? Or, "And my name is so and so, and if you need anything, you'll be contacting me." A majority of them have informed you of that bec- well, and that's the professional and proper thing to say, "Hey, I'm reaching out on behalf of this person." What I'll say is I guess the most irritating thing is I have found that if the podcast is booked through an assistant or a publishing company or a promotion company, that is the highest rate of no-shows. And I don't know if it's a thing where- I don't know. I, but historically, the most no-shows have been when the guests themselves had it booked through an assistant or whatever it is, and maybe they don't look at their email, or the assistant forgets to put it in the email or whatever it has been. Historically, those have been the most no-shows. Most of the time they're like, "I didn't know I had a podcast today." Like, what do you mean? Like, your assistant didn't tell you? I mean, we planned this out weeks ago or, or, you know, days ago or months ago. It's never a thing where the assistant is like, "Oh, let's throw a podcast onto their schedule tomorrow," right? Usually, it's booked in advance, and that has been the most annoying part. Mm-hmm. And one example I shared, I actually reached out to Alex Sanfilippo, the founder of Podmatch, about this one. There was a specific promotion company on Podmatch, reached out to me with five different guests in one day, and every single guest was a New York chiropractor, a New York City chiropractor, and I guess this promotion company specifically did chiropractors. And I was like, man, I will do these five interviews, but they gotta be spaced out. I can't just do five chiropractor episodes in a row. I think people are gonna think I- I'm a couple of chiropractors, not a couple of Newks. So you know- Right. Mm-hmm ... I had all of them were no-shows in a row. And I reached out to Alex. I was like, "Hey, man, the chances of all five of them blowing me off at once i- in terms of not showing up compared to the, uh, the chance that this promotion company didn't tell all five of them that they had an interview, who do you think is at fault?" I said, "What are the chances that five people all were like, 'I'm not showing up to, to the podcast today?'" I said, "It's more likely that this, the group that booked all five of them did not-" Mm. "... cross-communicate well," which is what we were talking about earlier. Cross-communication is so important, and I, I have found, yeah, I don't, I like... Assistant, and for me, if I have an assistant, I wanna know everything you're doing. If you're making accounts on my behalf, I wanna review them first to make sure that they're accurate. You know, a lot of people outsource and just trust it, and I have actually been to events, you know, I, I won't name drop, but one of the biggest disappointments is like- They outsourced the T-shirts, I believe, to their assistant who misspelled a word on the shirts. And I look back at the photos and everyone's shirt, the name of the event has a typo in it, you know? And I, I've seen stuff like that. You know, I've seen assistants spell people's name wrong or get the information wrong. And there's nothing wrong with outsourcing, right? But there has to be a level of trust and review of quality of work. You know, you have to build that relationship first. You can't just hire an assistant and be like, "All right. Here's what you're doing. Go free." You know, like you should work first. And that's why they always say, like you should go through the process of editing your own videos first before you outsource, so you know what you want and have a feel for what is being done. And yeah, I think it's definitely been a pain point for me. I don't know if I've gotten into too many arguments with assistants. Uh, and if I have, it's definitely because like the, the no-show thing is really upsetting 'cause- When it's not the person's fault and it's their assistant's fault, it's like, come on. Like, you, y- your job, you're getting paid to inform this person that you're booking them on podcasts. But I, I have found that's the highest rate of no-show is if someone books through a third-party company or, or assistant. But when the guest themselves says, "Hey, I wanna be on your show, and, you know, I'm gonna do it," they're, usually they'll show up because they put in the time and effort. And I have found that people wanting to do the manual work of promoting themselves, themselves, uh, are pretty committed to the craft. Not to say that I have 100% show up rate, you know that. And one of the things you talked about too was, um, yeah, just difficult guests, having guests who were long-winded. I think about an hour response was one of my guests. A different guest was about a 45-minute response. Uh, one of the worst ones was actually I had a guest who was like, "Hey, I wanna come on a podcast. You know, I've got this message I wanna share." Or I had two people. First one was like, "I wanna share a message. I wanna be a podcast guest." Okay, yeah, come on the show. Kinda gave me an idea of what they wanna talk about. We were done in nine minutes. Nine minutes. They, they were like, "I don't have anything more to say." You know, his message is pretty straightforward. I was like, "I understand, but as a podcast guest, like, we need at least 15 minutes." And so I had to really think of some questions to keep the conversation going. And usually with podcasting, it's the opposite. Usually the guest has too much to say. This was, "Yeah, I'm done." I was like, "That was your message? It's been nine minutes." And it's good to be able to say your message compactly, but not for long-form content, you know? Right. Yeah. And so that was probably one of the most, uh, flexible moments I have had in my podcasting career where I had to be like, "Hey, we gotta make this interview work somehow, and, and we gotta think of some questions and-" It was also a subject where I could only say so much too, right? It's not like I can just fill in. And then, and the, and then it makes me look like a bad host too if it's nine minutes of, of him talking and then, you know, 30 minutes of me talking, right? So you gotta balance it. So I- I've had my fair share of that. I think the worst story was I had a guest who showed up, didn't know the name of the podcast, and didn't know who I was, and has, had just been reaching out to podcasts as billets to guest on to promote, uh, his new program. And I, I kinda mentioned that earlier to you. Some people are just using it as a pitch fest, a promote fest. And it's fine if you wanna promote a service, a business, a book, but you have to make impactful content for the whole podcast episode. And yeah, that guy's interview, that was early on, one of, one of the first few guests I had. So I was in that phase where I felt obligated to release, and I'm sure y- you are similar. And after a while you're like, "I'm not obligated to release anything. If you're a bad guest or it was a bad interview, it's my right." And that's what it says in my guest contract, too, is, you know, it's not a guaranteed release if for some reason the host, which is me, or, or, you know, decides like, hey, I don't know, something didn't sit right. I had an interview once where a guest made a claim that later on I was like, "Hey, I can't release this episode because I, I d- I don't agree with this at all." Um, so yeah. And then my thing too is I, I actually never reach out to guests really. I'm at the point I just have guests reach out to me, uh, you know, 'cause it's been a steady pace. But if I reach out to a guest, 'cause you, you got denied, for me it's like, well, what do you mean you're not a good fit for the show? Obviously I wouldn't have reached out to you if I thought you were a bad fit for the show, right? Like, why would I reach out to you like, "Oh, this person would be a terrible guest. Let me take my time and energy to reach out and invite them on the podcast." Like no, obviously I read through your profile, and I think there's a place for you here. And I guess sometimes I've had it too where people were like, "I don't know if I'd be a good fit for the show," and it's usually misperceptions. I've had some guests who thought the show was military only or focused on this subject only or limited to this subject only. I'm like, "No, I wouldn't have reached out to you and asked you to be on the show if I thought you were a bad fit." I don't know if that's kind of what went through your mind during your thing as well. Yeah, I've had people do that to me too, where, you know, I reach out and they're like, "No, I don't think I'd be a good fit." And I thought, "I didn't reach out for no reason." You know, I The good thing about, I know a lot of podcasts have the particular niches of like, oh, this is only about mental health. This podcast really was, like, open to anything. I mean, you can come on, like, a typical recording. Like, I had one recording day that was so ca- random of how random the c- conversation is. I can have a firefighter come on, I could have someone that's a doctor come on, someone that's, like, a sex phone operator and then, like, a person that's, like, religious and stuff. That's how diverse my podcast is. So, you know, I feel like people that would open the door for more people to come be, like, more open and comfortable to come on because of how diverse it is. But I have had that in- experience of, you know, that is don't feel like they're a good fit for the show. You know, you reach out and don't e- they don't even give you, like, a dedicated, like... I don't know if I'd... That is immediately, or like pass on you. And I'm just like, it hurts 'cause I get a lot of passes, too, and I don't know if it's just like- One thing that I have suspected is, you know, they look at my profile and they see, like, 469 interview r- like, reviews, and then they go over to my podcast and they see, like, 100 episodes released. So I don't know if that's, like, a correlation of like- Mm ... I don't know if that's maybe... And, you know, if that's on my behalf, that's a lesson I need to learn from too. I don't know if that's what people are, are going based off of. I don't know. You know, I don't know their brain. But I have had people that, you know, I reach out, 'cause I feel like everyone has a story, and I 100% agree with you too about the promotion thing. You know, I, I don't mind people coming on here to promote a product, but, like, I just don't want you to come on here and be like, "This is the product I sell. This is what we do." I'm wanting to hear, like, the backstory of, like, how did this company come to be? How did this, like, product, brand... I want to hear, like, the backstory of, like, the making process of it, the launch of it. You know, I... All this stuff too. And I have had just guests come on here and, you know, I've, I've recently now gotten a lot of emails now. I used to not get a single email for people reaching out to me, and I'm just like, "How'd you find my email?" 'Cause I don't... The only place I really publicly say that is on my, my description box too. So I remember the first email I got from a guest, I was like, "I'm popular now." It was just like I made it. Now, now I'm not getting all my messages through PodMatch. I've had some emails seem a little advertisey, like promotion. Mm-hmm. Yeah, same. And I'm an, an automatic no on those, because I can be like, "It just sounds like you really are just promoting a b- a product to..." So- Yeah ... I have passed on a few emails. And, you know, emails too are also sketchy because y- Mm-hmm ... I love, I've... I have really loved and enjoyed what Alex does for PodMatch. And, you know, there's some minor tweaks that I wish he would fix personally that I have actually reached out to him for of, like, I think this would work better for the p- platform. I love PodMatch to de- I mean, it's a great platform. I love what he does, and, you know, I'm on their legacy team. I'm a buddy. It's like I'm, like, buddy-buddies with him in all this stuff. He's b- they've been really good for m- my show and for what they do for me. They've been really, really beneficial, and they've been really good people to work with. They, and everyone I know really likes it. I think e- every podcaster that's on PodMatch really does, loves the product just from what I've seen. Uh, I just kind of... There's something I wish they could change too- Mm ... about it, and, you know, for that as well, when you're doing, like, outside Doing interviews outside of PodMatch is a little challenging too, because PodMatch has that great tool of d- being able to schedule. You can put a link in there. And kinda going back of o- one thing, a lot of podcasters that I know that I've been a guest on, they don't really update the PodMatch link in there. You know, there's only the thing that puts, like, release link. I've noticed a lot of podcasts on there don't do that- Right ... I've noticed. Um- And there's no way to really hold them accountable. You know, like, you can message them and say, "Hey," like, "you never shared the link." And, uh, you know, that's confirmation that we did it, and that's important. And it's like some of them, unfortunately, are gone too. Like, I've had plenty of people, like they're They have their account for, like, three days, and then they're gone. Or s- they g- they do the free trial or they, they have an assistant get it, and then they're gone. And I, I hate that too. Yeah. I, I would say that's one of the things that needs to be fixed, and I ... You know, I've called up on that too, is people won't update the link. And it even gives you reminders and everything, like, "Hey, make sure you put in this link." Yeah. I've had that problem with reviews too, of just, like, people leaving, like, a review. I mean, you don't want to sound pushy to where it's like you're begging and bending. 'Cause I know some people, and, like, these podcasters that are, like, these top podcasters too on PodMatch. And no disrespect to them, they have good shows, but they kinda get pushy on, like, reviews. But ... And you have to do it in that moment. It's like, "Can you go leave me a five-star review right now?" And it's just like, "Let me log in. Hold on. Wait a minute." You're just ... It's just, like, this awkward thing. You know? And you don't wanna be that kinda host that's wanting to basically beg for that. Because- Mm ... I think honestly for podcasters too, that's kind of the secret to how you get paid is if they complete the interview. I mean, it's ... That's kind of the secret to PodMatch about getting paid. That's h- kind of how it works for us, like, podcasters, how we make Kind of how we are able to use the platform and kind of one of the things that we do. And, you know- It's only respectful if I leave a review, you leave a review as well. I've had so many not leave a review, and it's like how do you appropriately tell them to leave a review without being pushy, kind of like acting like a, a diva trying to get like attention? And it's like I've had trouble trying to word that too. I've also had people... difficulty trying to persuade people to even try Podmatch 'cause of how pricey it is. Like, and this is kind of a thing that I brought up to them just the other day about, I emailed them and I said, "You know, I think a lot more people would be likely and open to try Podmatch if there wasn't kind of like that huge divisive range in price between hosting and guesting." Like, that was every... I've had like for the book podcast in particular, um, when I started posting the book podcasts about two, three weeks ago, I've had so many people reach out to me, and they were like, "It look, this looks like such a great platform. It's just too high for me." And I looked at them and I said, "I don't blame you for that. I understand that it's a high thing." Like, it's money that you're wasting to, to like try a, out a product that you don't know if it's going to re- really be beneficial. So, I, you know, I, that's one of the big thing for me personally what I think ha- what, what I would wish they, they would change would be like lowered pricing for the memberships- Mm and stuff on there, 'cause I think a lot more people would wanna sign up and try it out if they knew, if they knew that it would be beneficial and be cheaper. But that's kind of personal critique that I have for them. But other than that, I, they're such a great company. It's just, you know, there's some minor things. Like, I don't know for you too, I reached out to them about like a tech error I thought was just something on my end, but on my reviews, you know, for mo- all these reviews that, you know, for podcasts have thousands of reviews, you only can see like the first 20 pages of them. If you click like see all reviews, it stops at like 20. Mm. I've reached out to them on that, and they are not really, the, the... They've told me that they'd look into it, but I've not really seen a fix in it. I don't know if you've experienced that or know what I'm talking about, but it's like People can only see like, I think the furthest people can see now is like back in January of this year. Mm-hmm. And that's just like a s- like a handful of them. And so I don't know. There's just some minor tweaks that they need to fix, but, you know, it's... Yeah, uh, you know, some people are, they get so much and they have to do so much that, you know, that I understand that they have a full business and they have so much that they go, have going on between- For sure interviews themselves, and business meetings, having to go to c- events and sponsors, and, you know, they, they've got so much going on. But I don't know. I w- I, I really wish that they would fix the, the review page too, to where you can see like- Mm ... reviews all the way back, 'cause I'd like to see like reviews from like my first interview, and I can't see that anymore. Mm-hmm. For me, I'll be honest, I, I couldn't care less about my reviews on Podmatch because that is only Podmatch specific. For me, it's more important about what reviews I get on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on those really big public platforms where the listeners are. Because when it comes to Podmatch, I mean, really I haven't seen any bad reviews, maybe a few. And to be honest, when I book a guest or vice versa, uh, I, I really don't care as long as their content is good and we're gonna be a good fit. I mean, I suppose it's only in a ca- it, it only has to be an extreme case. If I'm about to guest with someone and there's a review, frequent no-show or low response rate or a one-star review or a two-star, I've really never seen less than five or four stars on, on Podmatch because most of the people who are using it got it to streamline their podcast guesting or hosting, and they're, they're pretty committed. Like I said, the only time I really have an issue is if it's a third-party company representing someone who don't even know they're on Podmatch, which I've had that chuckle as well because I had someone and I said, "Yeah, I, you know, I got you through Podmatch. Make sure you go back in and release the episode link." And they're like, "What's Podmatch?" I'm like, "You have a profile and were texting me on it." You know? So w- I've had those same situations. Uh-huh. It's like you don't even know what platforms your agent is using. And like, you know, that's important to know because what if they're on a website, which I couldn't think of one, but what if they're on like a bad website or a website that is not good for your reputation or is not in align with your company? Not that there's a lot of guesting websites that are bad, but it, you, you get the gist of that. As far as the pricing point, I would say when you do a good quality and amount of interviews, the price point is covered. You know, maybe not each month depending how many interviews you do, but you also gotta think the money that goes in all goes out. Podmatch has made over $1 million back to small independent podcasters. It's one of the only platforms that does it. And if you lower that price point, that means each person is gonna get paid less per interview, so then your money that you're making from it is gonna go down and that incentive goes down to a degree. So I think the pricing point for how much software there is and how streamlined it is, uh, is pretty awesome. And then, you know, as a Podmatch network member, you get a lot of great information. I think I pay the most expensive one 'cause I both guest and host, and I think you're probably the same way. You know, I think it is- Yeah that's the most expensive plan if you're both guesting and hosting, which sometimes I'm like, do I even care about guesting anymore that I wanna pay for it? Because- You know, I have found that guesting on other podcasts, it's, it's so hit or miss with the fruitfulness of that. But I also am a man who believes firmly in you never know what episode is gonna reach someone, so any opportunity that is aligned with you, you should take. I believe, to be honest, if, if we're gonna talk specifically about your podcast and why people are saying they're not a good fit, I think it's a very shallow reason. I think people see your podcast logo and title, and they automatically assume, "Oh, this is a really far-right political show," or, "This is a redneck show," or, "This is," uh, whatever, you know, preconceived notion they have, 'cause I've had the same thing obviously with podcasts being called Couple of Nukes and, and the picture of it obviously. I had the subtitle, you know, Rebuilding Our Dreams, Rebranding Our Lives, and it's mental health and self-improvement. But I've had people be like, "Hey, it seems like military only." And I, I think it's very shallow to look at your podcast logo, Lethal Venom, or mine, Couple of Nukes, and be like, "Oh, I assume it's this or that. I'm not a good fit." It's like, well, did you actually read what the show is about? You know. And for me- Right ... honestly, if you're not gonna take the time to read what the show is about and you're gonna off the bat say, "Hey, I'm not a good fit," then you're not the kind of person I wanna work with anyway because that's, that's so shallow. You know? Like, I don't expect you to listen to the podcast, right? And I always love when a guest comes on and they're like, "Hey, I've listened to the show," and actually mean it. 'Cause I've gotten some emails. You know, you talked about getting the emails. I've had some emails that were made up. A person... I hate, I don't know if you've gotten this, "Dear Epic Podcaster." Once AI really took off, so many emails suddenly changed to "Dear Epic Podcaster," and I knew that it was just, like, AI-generated because no guest was calling me Epic Podcaster, and then really as AI boomed, suddenly I'm getting 10 emails a week, Epic Podcaster. Where did this come from? You know, it's, it's not that I became an epic podcaster. It's just that it became a pitching style. But I had someone reach out and said, "Mr. Whiskey, we really loved, you know, your episode with Su- Susie Q on, you know- Mental echo chambers of self-limiting beliefs or whatever, completely made up episode and guest. Never happened on my show. Or I had someone reach out, "I really liked your f-500th episode. I, I'd love to be 501." And I was like, "I don't even have 500 episodes out." You know, it's like the worst is when their pitch doesn't even, it's not even backed up, you know, historically or logically. It's like, how are you gonna pitch to be on the show or say you listened to this episode? And some people say, "Oh..." And I, and I doubt they listened to it, 'cause a lot of times they'll say, "Oh, your recent episode ABCXYZ," and it's just they grab the title of a recent episode. Sometimes they'll even have AI talk about it, but you can tell if they actually listened to it or not, because you'll be like, "It's just from the show notes." Like, that's literally just copy/paste from the show notes. And- Mm ... I'm not one of those people who have gone farther, and I've worked with some podcasters who have gone farther and been like, "Tell me what you like about the episode." Or the best was, I think a gentleman I heard did an interview with the assistant of someone who had passed away. Yeah, and let- let's say it was, like, Michael Jackson, and it said, "An interview with Michael Jackson," blah, blah, blah. And this person was like, "I really loved your episode with Michael Jackson. It was so infi- insightful they said this." And the, the podcaster was like, "Well, Michael Jackson's dead. That was an interview with his assistant, and we called it Interview with Michael Jackson 'cause she shared us personal insight. But, like, you don't even know Michael Jackson is dead." And it wasn't him, but it was some famous person. So s- so stuff like that, and I think that goes all down to, like, how people respect us as a platform and as a person and a professional. And, you know, sometimes we're judged preemptively because of our podcast logos or our titles or these preconceived notions of what our show is. Uh, you know, I've had products reach out. I think it, just 'cause it's kind of funny, I think I had a person reach out just to promote boner pills on my podcast. And they tried to tailor it like, you know, um, not being able to get it up can lead to mental health issues, and you're a mental health podcast. So I was like, but it was, like, so strongly just like, uh, "Please, these boner pills, they're made from plant fusion medicine, and, and they really get it up. And, like, it's important." And I was like, but it was like, it was clearly like, yeah, and, and, you know, uh, sexual frustrations and mental health are real issues, but the way it was pitched was so much like- You, but one of those things like make sure you say the product name this many times and show it like this and that, and do you want us to send you a free sample? Oh, sure. I sh- I should have said, "Yeah, let me, let me get one of those just in case I have a rainy day." But yeah, so it's, it's definitely been a journey. But what I, I wanna switch to before we wrap up here really is of the, one of the reasons I called you on to catch up over this past year was your new podcast, which aren't necessarily new, but kind of a rebirth of some, some old projects you had going on. And I know you had promote- I saw you post promotion those for them, looking for guests, kind of relaunch these. Tell us about those. So the one that kinda had took, has kinda taken the new crown has been the book podcast. Uh, I started doing... Of course, when I did the interview, Southern Reins was already out at that time, but it was kinda gone into dormant d- just due to Lethal Venom's unexpected success of how well it was. I wanted to, for one of my things this year of trying to be a serious podcaster and, you know, really want to do this full time, was I wanted to have a little bit more of a balance between all three podcasts. So I decided to kind of relaunch it. I launched some solo episodes of the book podcast, and then I think I went on to, I'm trying to think, LinkedIn, I think was the first place I went or, or Instagram too, and just said, "Hey, I have this podcast out. If you want to, um, be a guest on there, just let me know." I put, um, the book podcast also on the, on Podmatch too, um, just as like, kind of like a guesting profile. Didn't make a, or hosting profile, didn't make a guest profile and all that, and just to see, test the waters to see, like, I'm gonna put it on here. I'm not gonna message anyone. I just kinda want the people to find the podcast and just find me first and to see how well it does, um, getting viewed, and see how well it does in the algorithm. Well, that pr- I think about 10 people reached out to me my first day, which was shocking, 'cause Lethal Venom actually didn't get that kind of recognition at first. So it was kind of like a hmm. So I did some interviews, and I've met some amazing people through the book podcast as well. They've actually been sending me books in the mail too, which has been- Oh, yeah ... something that, you know, that, uh, y- I dreamed of, you know, is, like, getting, like, PR packages. You know, that's like anything, like, "Oh, am I gonna have, like, a PR package?" So I've really been really beneficial, like, having them sending me books, and, you know, I don't... These have been books I don't ask. You know, I tell them in emails now, "If you wanna send me anything, you can," but I don't give them my address. I wait till them, for them to be like, "Yeah, I'll send you something. What's your address?" So I usually just wait for them and, you know, they've sent me some other books, which is an honor. Most people would not be able to get that. Um, since then I've had, um, actually had one author that I really loved reading reach out to me, or I messaged, emailed them. I thought, "Oh, they'll never see it." Emailed me back. She was like, "Yeah, I'll do it," and I was like... Thought, "Wait a minute." I about fell out of my chair as, as from a heart attack. So I think she's coming on either next week or- The week after next, so next week or two she'll be on. But it just was shocking, and I've had a newfound audience from that too. It's just been crazy how Podmatch really has helped my podcasting journey too. A lot of my numbers started kinda going up on the po- Like, literally this was the book podcast without posting for a long time. You know, it'd be like a r- a occasional, like, uptake. But first day I posted it was like, phew. And it was just like people started recognizing it. They're really showing that they're listening to it, and they're knowing what it's like. So it's just been a second successful thing that's happened, and it's just like... It's crazy to think, like, I do this for a living. I think some people get, like... Are having such a hard time with jobs and everything now, and, you know, it's kind of selfish to think that, you know, you sit home like you and me do. You know, you get to travel, and you've done so much, and that's from you've done the podcast longer than I have. You know, there's a lot of these veteran podcasts that have been on for years and years, and they get to do all this traveling and stuff. I saw that you recently got... Were going back on your cruise, and, you know, you- you're newly engaged, and I knew that was kinda different. You and your wife were going now on a cruise together for podcasting events- Oh, yeah ... like you did, like I've heard before. Um, so you know, that's kind of the... There's still dreams of that, but this was kind of like a second launch. So it's been doing really well. I actually did, like, a full week launch of it with just doing book interviews. I didn't do anything for Lethal Venom, nothing for that podcast, I think other than one interview that was already scheduled. But it was a successful week, and it's just kind of a new thing now. I'm balancing two pod- two podcasts at once. But I've d- been kinda doing that new method of not doing a lot of editing, and I feel so much more relaxed doing that. Right. Yeah, for sure. And where do you see kind of along the same lines the future going? Any big projects in the work that you're really excited for with the podcast or anything else now that you've, you know, got the journalism degree and a podcast going? Are you gonna start a journalism podcast? Are you looking to try to work for, like, a news company or be independent? What kind of are the goals shaping up to be as we approach... Uh, 'cause I just turned 24 this year as well. You and I are approaching the quarter-life crisis, so it's like, "Oh, no, what are we doing?" Well, you know, as, as I think I said in our first interview, this was not the plan. This was not where I thought my- Yeah you know, oh, I went to school for four years, have a bachelor's degree in journalism, I'm doing podcasting from home. You know, that's just not... I thought this would be, like, a side gig. You know, I'd post an episode here, wouldn't post another one for a few months. You know, I just don't really plan for anything. You know, there's still a lot of goals and dreams of what, what I w- You know, I'd love to have a podcast studio. There's some podcasting things- Mm-hmm ... behind the scenes- Yeah ... that I would like to upgrade to and, you know, be able to just upgrade, but I know that will come with time. Just gonna take a lot of hard work to get there. You know, being able to go to traveling for interviews, too. I think what you're doing of, you know, being able to go and traveling, you know, is something I really would like to do. Um, go to some podcasting events. You know, there's just minor things like that that I'm really looking forward to. But, you know, it's just kind of like being like the high top thing podcast where you have lots of celebs come on. You know, that's always the, I think, everyone's goal in life when you're a podcaster is to have that. So, you know, that's just kind of a dream. But, you know, just living day by day of just, you know, growing the podcast, just taking it step by step and living through it. But there's... You know, it's hard to say where I'll be next year. You know, I don't know. Um, as for projects, I don't really have any, like, projects really that I've not mentioned that are on there. You know, I have, I think since we talked, a website now, which is crazy- Yes. Mm-hmm ... that I now have an official website. I'm official on that, so that was kind of like- Happy on that. I, I never thought I'd have a website. That was kind of one of the big checklists. That was kind of a big checklist for me for the podcast was a website. I felt like, okay, that was one big mark that I can check off. So, um, I don't know. It's just I'm open to opportunities. You know, if there's an opportunity to work for a news company, you know, I'll take it. I just really have loved podcasting. I feel like I really would like to just do career in podcast, and everyone's like, "You know, this was just meant for you." Th- they said, "You're so good at what you do. This was what you were meant to do." And I'm like I, yeah, but it just wasn't the plan, you know? But so a lot of people said, you know, "You- I think you were built for that. You, y- I see, I can see you doing that." So they're just like, "You know, just take it. Just go r- with it, run with it, and see what happens." And it's been paying off, so you know, it's- Yeah ... I don't really see any stopping and doing it, so I'll be 60 years old. 100%. 100%. Yeah. Yeah, but by that time, the microphone and, you know, will be inside of our brain and everything, right? We just live stream- Oh, who knows ... to people's brains and all that stuff we say. But I think what's really interest- I don't know if I'd want lethal venom in my brain. N- no offense. You know, it's like, "Hold on, Mom, I'm, I'm live streaming some lethal venom into my brain." It's like that's what these kids do nowadays. But yeah, uh, jokes aside- Yeah ... I think, like you've mentioned, when I first started podcasting, I didn't see becoming international speaker and comedian, speaking on stage in different countries. Like, I just won an award the other night here in, in Japan. I showed up, gave a improv speech on, on mental health and rainy weather and, and won an award. Like, that was not the plan, you know, when I first started podcast. It was every few weeks, it was a hobby, and, uh, you know, it ended up going full time. And I definitely wanna meet you in person, whether I, you know, go to where you are, or if I meet you at PodFest, Podcast Movement, some kind of podcasters gathering, whatever it is, uh, I know we'll meet in due time, do some in-person content. But yeah, I have the same dream, of course, of having a nice studio set up. Uh, here in Japan, I just have curtains behind me, and when I'm not in Japan, I have a green screen, which is fine, but, you know, having that nice look with the, the neon sign and, uh, custom-made, you know, all that stuff you've talked about. The, the upgrades over time, they'll come with time. You know, the, the merch and everything. Uh, you know, I'm excited for my lethal venom T-shirt whenever it comes out, you know, uh- Oh, lord ... that kind of stuff. Yeah. Like, you know, those, those small- Yeah ... but personally meaningful, uh, accomplishments. You know, getting the new microph- like, this is such an upgrade from what I used to have. And, you know, it's a small thing, but to us it's like, wow, you know, it's super awesome. So yeah, speaking opportunities, in-person events. I've gotten to meet a lot of my guests in real life, you know, just grab lunch or dinner with them, super cool. Sometimes record an in-person podcast, you know. That, that's the awesome part. My personal recommendation to, to you now would be go, go to high schools or other places once, you know, you have a really established show like you do, and say, "Hey, I have a journalism degree. I'm a podcaster. I'm recognized top of the charts," or whatever it is, "and I'd love to start a podcast program at your school to teach about podcasting is the new wave of journalism. People trust podcasts more than news channels. I'd love to start a mentorship program or a podcast program." I mean, that's the kind of stuff that, like, I didn't think of when I first started podcasting, and- I went to a school, talked to them. They're like, "Hey, do you wanna come..." I, I was like, "I'd like to speak on stage about, you know, mental health and bullying and stuff, really important." They said, "Would you be willing to come back once a week and teach from your podcast, uh, mentorship and different stuff to the students?" And, you know, and then we were talking about h- having me, you know, Zoom in some of the guests from my podcast who are, are, you know, great educational value. And I was like, "Okay, did not see this route." So it takes us to places we don't expect, to people we don't expect. Um, you know, having a celebrity... I've had some, you know, celebrities on my podcast since. I had EJ Snyder, six-time Naked and Afraid champion, like people I would've never expected. A, a, America's youngest and first flight instructor to fly a single-engine airplane across the Atlantic Ocean. Like, s- I've met some voice actors. Like, I've met the voice actor of, of Ash from Pokemon. You know, like, you go into these conferences and podcasting, you never know who you're gonna meet, and sometimes they reach out to you first and you're like, "Me? Little old me?" You know? So- Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited to see the future. You said you don't know where you'll be a year from now. I think you're gonna be on this podcast a year from now, you know, depending how you grow, over 1,000 episodes, you know, and, and whatnot. But, um- Oh. Oh, yeah ... I'm excited to see where you're going and where I'm going. And for anyone listening, I hope this has been encouraging to you to maybe start a podcast if you've had cold feet or hesitation around it. It's easy to do. Uh, don't be scared, like it's gonna grow into this uncontrollable thing that takes over your life, you know. Uh, you are solely in control, you know. Like, Mr. May and I set the pace. We record as much as we want or as little as we want. We post as frequently as we want. You know, find your cadence, find your calling. But if you're thinking about starting a podcast, uh, yeah, we've, we've promoted a lot Podmatch, not a paid promotion for us. We actually have really benefited from the service. But if you're not for that, there are free guesting matching softwares. Uh, they're not as good, I'll be honest. I've, I've used them. They're not as good, but there are other options, you know, so don't think that this is something that's really expensive to do or difficult to do. You don't have to have our conversation. You could be a 15-minute podcast, a 20-minute podcast, whatever you want. But I hope that we have encouraged you in some way. And Mr. May, of course, we're gonna have that brand-new website link in the description below. Everyone go show some love to that website. And, uh, of course, your different podcasts will be there. People will be free to reach out to you to guest, of course, or contact or collaborate with you in whatever way. But thanks for coming back- Yeah ... on the show, you know, just catching up and, and seeing. And, uh, once you're a featured author and those books that come out, definitely let me know so we can promote those and everything else going on. I definitely will. I appreciate you for reaching out to me again. You know, as I told him before, he's the first podcast that I've been a guest on that's actually reached back out and been like, "Hey, I want you to come back." So I really appreciate you for being the first, and yeah, I really enjoyed coming back. So thank you again for having me