► Tell us about you and your podcast
"Two Black Guys with Good Credit" is a show for the financially knowledgeable and the financially curious, created by Shaun and Arlington.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
In 2016, Shaun had an idea, born out of his charitable organization, Financially CLEAN, that he co-founded with Dionne 3 years ago. His goal was to create a podcast that would extend their message of financial literacy beyond the classroom. So, he recruited his college buddy Arlington and they got down to business. They realized just how much knowledge they had to share, so they launched Two Black Guys with Good Credit! Although, the show wouldn’t be complete without Dionne’s supporting role as ‘The Lady with the Facts’, whose friendship also dates back to their college days. It all happened so organically.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
With half our team on the West Coast (Arlington Forbes, Co-Host, Jacqueline Forbes, Production Manager) and the other half on the East (Shaun Lynda, Dionne Nicholls, Co-Hosts, Matthew Smith, Producer), it can be challenging at times with the 3-hour time difference and fitting it into our work schedules --all of us also run businesses and of course, Dionne and I also run Financially CLEAN. We try to avoid late night meetings or tapings but sometimes it's necessary. We prefer mornings on Fridays and weekends when the energy levels are highest. When you're passionate about what you do, you just find a way to make it work. We do everything in-house, we don't outsource anything so, our costs are very low. We're fortunate enough to have about 40 years of TV/Entertainment/Production experience collectively on our team thanks to Arlington, Jacqueline and Matt. Most recently, companies have been reaching out for sponsorship ad opportunities which does help in funding the program.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
To do what I love with people that I love. We are all friends of at least 10 to 20 years. Thanks to the recognition we've received as a top podcast of color by iTunes, Castbox.fm and Black Enterprise and our focus on great content, our podcast has opened some very exciting doors for us. It took us to Canada last year to do a live podcast taping for the students at Ottawa University and we'll be heading to Los Angeles in April for a special interview collaboration to name a few.
However, the most rewarding part of doing this podcast is the fan mail we get from our listeners. It is truly humbling to know that our listeners that come from all walks of life, across demographics, find our podcast relatable, find merit in the information we share and apply strong takeaways in their daily lives to propel their financial futures forward.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
Jacqueline keeps the production schedule in check, and we've streamlined the process down to 3 meetings over a two-week span. We try to keep long drawn-out phone meetings to a minimum by using the messaging app Slack.
1) One meeting for show idea conceptualization, Arlington creates the show outline then we each go off to work on our individual research.
2) One meeting for a read-thru to ensure our content is aligned, as well as, our vision/direction for the show. If we are doing an interview, Arlington does a pre-screen of the guest.
3) We tape. It's very simple, we each have a mic, laptop and use the Zoom teleconference platform for taping. Our recording software of choice is Audio Hijack. For editing, Matt uses Garage Band. He takes the live recorded audio files, loads them into Garage Band, adds the commercials and music (by the way the man with the smooth baritone who voiceovers our commercials is our very own Matt Smith). TA DOW! You've got yourself another episode!
► How do you market your show?
What's great about the growth of our show is that is have been primarily organic. Many of our listeners find us through word of mouth. The message of financial literacy and ultimately financial independence seems to reach far and wide. Of course, we are also active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and we send out newsletters to keep our fans engaged long after they've heard the latest show.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Done is better than perfect! Get started and with time you will tweak and continuously improve your podcast game. Focus on really good content and the rest will come. Be consistent with the frequency of your podcast, whether it is weekly, bi-weekly, etc.