How Podcasting Changed My Life As A Teenager / A Revolutionary Journey

Just around one year ago, I took the decision to start my very own podcast. It was a revolutionary decision as it brought new experiences, taught me many skills and ignited a passion for podcasting. In this article, I will be sharing all you need to know about my podcasting journey and how you can start your own podcast too.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is a downloadable audio file which you can listen to from different apps. The most popular podcast platforms which offer a wide range of free podcasts of different topics are Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

My podcasting timeline:

The idea of a podcast came from my older brother, who knew that I love to talk and give advice to others. He recommended me to start a podcast.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, my sister and I decided to start a podcast. This podcast would be about discussing all girl problems and their solutions.
After my sister and I decided on the name (which was originally ‘The Chat Library’) we then started creating podcasts and uploading them on an app called Anchor.
My sister promoted it on her social media. For me, I felt hesitant to promote it since as a teenager who goes to school, it was a bit awkward to see my friends seeing this. However, I was and am confident to promote it.
We got quite a lot of positive feedback, but we did realise that some individuals who were supposedly our ‘close friends’ didn’t say a word about it.
In October 2020, after consistently posting podcast episodes, I received hate/constructive criticism from people at school.
Fast forward to January, the podcast hit over 1000 streams and it is still growing.
My sister and I changed the podcast name to ‘Girl, How?’ now.
My sister and I have been posting one podcast episode every week and we have listeners from over 52 countries, and we have learnt so much about this podcasting world. It has been a great experience.

What I learnt:

Firstly, I learnt that creating a podcast isn’t as hard as some may think – it is all about researching and keeping consistent.

I also learnt that when you start something new that no one else in your community has (such as a podcast), you can instantly see the reactions of people near you – those who actually support you, those who keep quiet and those who are secretly jealous.

I also learnt how to stand up for my own views. Since my sister and I discuss controversial opinions, some people may have disagreed with them, but I kept my head high and learnt to debate.

Articulating and bringing clarity to my thoughts was something I also learnt to do with this podcast. It also allowed me to give my own advice in this big Internet world.

Dealing with hate was a major but significant thing I learnt (which now also means that my teachers know about my podcast too).

And of course, it has taught me the power of consistency.

Tips to start podcasting today:

If you want to start a podcast, go for it. You need to be confident in yourself and just get started. Don’t let perfectionism or judgements from others stop you.

Have a good motivation and aim for the podcast e.g. ‘I am starting this podcast about the Indian culture so I can represent Indians.’

Use a good app to start. We chose Anchor which is completely free and easy to use.

You need to research quite a lot to figure out how to host your podcast in other platforms.

My final thoughts:

Just get started.
Be enthusiastic about starting it.
You will learn a lot from podcasting if you remain consistent.

That was my detailed article about one year of podcasting as a teenager. I hope you enjoyed this article and gained some insight on podcasting. Please check out my podcast, welcome to all girls out there:

Girl, How? on Google Podcasts or search up Girl, How? on any other podcast platform.

P.S I also do have another Islamic podcast which I also do weekly with my sister but we remain anonymous there.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!