The pop culture, TV & film, internet-oriented, college podcast

Julia and I, [Grace], have been friends since sixth grade. Oddly enough at 12 years of age, we bonded over wanting to work at a production company, making videos, writing articles, and even podcasting. With a strong passion for film, TV, and the internet's various nuances, it's safe to say that we were a match made in heaven. Fast-forward to our junior year of high school, we decided on committing to making a podcast for an untapped resource: Gen Z.
 

We started a podcast because that's usually all we ever talked about, constantly giving one another recs in-between gym lockers or passing by one another in the hallway. We also loved the idea of starting a YouTube channel or at least writing and directing our own video content, but it seemed impossible given our circumstances at the time, (SAT prep, college searches, and carrying social media on our backs). We released our first episode in January of 2020 and it's safe to say, we never looked back!
 

We originally were more on-top of our posting schedule, for a wide range of reasons. Given our initial excitement of what this new venture would bring, our high levels of motivation allowed for a quick stream of content to happen. This was two months before the infamous COVID-19 pandemic, which both ultimately and unfortunately slowed down our posting schedule. By the time things lightened up, we were working on college applications and our everlasting struggle with senioritis. However, what made it very easy was the fact that we figured out how to keep our budget reasonable, (meaning spending approx. $0 on technology, but hundreds of dollars in Yerba Mate investments). Sadly, it seems that no podcast RSS feeds come without strings and we've decided to move onto the paid-hosting website: Simplecast.
 

We gained a lot of listeners and amazing, incredible support from many of our peers, family, and friends. Lucky for us, we had easy access to an immediate and consistent audience of our local community through our high school and social media, as well as our personal family and friends. Sadly, we have not received a sponsorship yet but are excited for the incoming future when we tackle our long-distance friendship/co-hostship over Zoom this fall! We have learned so much about editing software, posting software, how the process works firsthand, advertising and marketing, and even managing revenue in our own merchandise shop, all of which we originally wanted to incorporate into our future careers.
 

We use iMovie to edit our podcast, and luckily as students, we have access to free Adobe software so both of us will learn how to use Adobe Audition in the nearby future. We first prep by preparing a general topic or direction we want to go into during each episode. Then, we also make sure to write down our favorites in media for our segment "Favorite Things". We set up our Voice Memos app, and then we're on the air! (We are on a budget, working on the microphones as we speak!) We like to use Zoom for interviewing guests because it has really accessible and easy recording software that goes right into the cloud!
 

Listeners absolutely find our show through social media, and luckily being the age we are we have an advantage of familiarity with many different social media platforms. Through primarily Instagram and Twitter, we frequently post stories, photos, clips, tweets, and memes that cater to our audience while also marketing our show and merchandise.
 

Honestly, even though Julia and I still can struggle with this, my biggest piece of advice would be to commit yourself. For years and years, we would both individually and collectively have amazing ideas we wanted to share, whether it be a video idea, a channel idea, a business idea, or a script idea. Although we were already on our way with an exciting potential project, we both would make excuses and say that we were waiting to create content because we didn't have enough resources. Even after recording one episode, we had doubts about ourselves in relation to everyone else. Roosevelt didn't lie when he said that comparison was the thief of joy! We knew that after many failed attempts of ventures, that our one exception to Static Water had to be a dedication to consistent uploading, (still working on that part lol!!!) Trust me, we are 13 episodes in and STILL don't have external microphones! So that just means that you can do anything you put your mind to and dedicate some time to. Just do it!
 

We have an official Teespring store where you can buy some fancy attire and accessories right here: https://static-water.creator-spring.com/, you can stream us on Spotify: ( https://open.spotify.com/show/444hql1KC79DCEIY5rUJif ), Apple Podcasts: ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/static-water/id1493607442 ), and Stitcher too! ( https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=648253 ). This is our official Simplecast site: https://static-water.simplecast.com/ , and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @static_h2o !!!