STEM Factually

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► Tell us about you and your podcast

I am Dr. Marissa, a Ph.D. chemist and former professor. One of my passions is teaching advanced concepts in STEM in ways that anyone can appreciate and understand. I have several years of teaching and research experience, as well as specialized experience in the development and implementation of CUREs (course-based undergraduate research experiences). My skills therefore lie within teaching advanced STEM concepts in an approachable, understandable, and tangible way. I value an individualized approach to teaching, and focus my skills towards developing a variety of resources to encompass a broad audience with diverse learning styles.

Through STEM Factually, I offer educational resources for people of all ages and educational levels. STEM Factually is a resource from an educated, experienced professional who you can trust to deliver accurate and applicable information in a tangible way.

Episodes range from the STEM Stacks series targeting individuals from 0-18, to full literature reviews targeting those further along in their experience with STEM. The Active Play series teaches STEM to toddlers in a unique and interactive way. In addition to episodes geared towards parents and children, STEM Factually has a number of episodes focused on choosing undergraduate and graduate programs in STEM, information on careers in chemistry, and topics including undergraduate research. There is something for everyone, as STEM is for everyone.
 

► Why & how did you start this podcast? 

STEM Factually came about as a way for me to grow professionally as well as contribute to my community while I focus on my current role as a stay-at-home parent. I initially had the idea for a podcast as the primary method of delivery when teaching my kids STEM. My 4 year old has always been a very independent learner and I periodically recorded audio content for him to listen to while he played. The content taught him STEM concepts about his toys and activities by utilizing active learning teaching techniques. Podcasting is a great platform for teaching, as it is screen free, can easily be paused and started, and creates an auditory experience for learning that many students benefit from. The accessibility of podcasts also greatly aligns with STEM Factually's initiative of making STEM more accessible for audiences of all economic statuses.

After years...months...days...of brainstorming, troubleshooting, and developing ideas for a business with an actual trajectory that was beneficial to both the scientific community and my professional growth, I started producing content with the intent of publishing to podcast platforms. After around 6 months of creating a stockpile of resources, editing, building a website, organizing my thoughts and business goals, I got over the "stage fright" and posted my first few episodes.

STEM Factually is fairly new and still growing, and with time I hope it is an expansive resource individuals of all educational backgrounds can go to for reliable information.
 

► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

Finding time to do the STEM Factually podcast is quite difficult sometimes. I have two young children I care for during the day and value family time when my husband is off hours from his career. Typically I start work around 8:00 pm when my kids go to bed and try to work for around 4-6 hours a night. I also work a few hours on weekends. I try to release episodes once a week, but the nature of the STEM Factually podcast is more of a repository of content that can be accessed again and again accommodating a slower release schedule.
I currently fund the podcast myself and try to keep costs at a minimum. I spend a decent amount of time on customer acquisition currently, as STEM Factually is just starting out.
 

► What do you gain from podcasting?        

STEM Factually is a newer podcast and we do not yet have sponsors or other forms of revenue. My goal is to start small and provide a considerable number of resources at no cost to the listeners as community outreach.

STEM Factually benefits me in a number of ways, as it provides a way to grow professionally, keep up to date in my field, and explore new methods of teaching STEM to a larger and more diverse audience. I look forward each day to spending my night developing educational content that may spark a child's interest in STEM, help a parent introduce science to their toddler for the first time, or help a high school student choose a path in STEM. Science has always been a major part of my life and has brought me much joy; sharing STEM with others is a passion of mine.
 

► How does your podcasting process look like? 

For each episode, I develop a set of slides as if I were to give a lecture. This part is usually the most time consuming, as I value organization and high quality and correct information. Different types of episodes take less time or require more materials than others, so the development of the slides can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a week or more.

Recording does not typically take too long, and I usually only need to do one take with minor editing. My experience as a professor prepared me well for public speaking.

I treat the development of episodes like I would a lesson for a course. Spend all day thinking about the goals and teaching approaches, spend the night developing the physical content and recording, and then deliver the content via the podcast ideally a couple times a week.
 

► How do you market your show?

Marketing has been the biggest hurdle for starting up STEM Factually so far. I currently have not paid for marketing and instead manually acquire customers by reaching out via social media, contacting businesses, educators, etc. individually. It is time consuming and has been promising so far, but is difficult to scale. Marketing is therefore what I am focused on improving in the next few months.

Listeners find the podcast primarily through our Spotify home page (~ 60%).

The marketing channels I have found most useful so far have been social media. I have been able to reach quite a few interested individuals through Reddit and Facebook.
 

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

I think the most difficult step for STEM Factually is marketing, as I mentioned before. Having a strong marketing plan prior to launching is probably a smart way to start. Slow growth is acceptable for right now as my goal is to develop a large library of resources over time, but for most podcasters, I would suggest considering growth and marketing approaches before launching.

Resources for aspiring podcasters...I would suggest aspiring podcasters know their content and goals for their podcast and really review similar content to develop a familiarity with available products out there already. This allows podcasters to develop a niche and stand out amongst the crowd.
 

► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?

Website: https://mrcphd.weebly.com/
Podcast:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stemfactually
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stem-factually/id1740457247
https://lnns.co/xcrfgvs8SL5
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemfactually
Twitter X: https://twitter.com/STEMfactually
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemfactually/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/STEMFactually