Hey, welcome to how it's done a podcast for curious marketers. I'm Christie code. I'll be your host. And I'm really glad you're here. Today we're talking to Ryan Estus, who's the co founder of kick caster, a podcast booking agency that books are on top podcast that speak directly to your ideal audience. Welcome to the show, Ryan.
Thanks, Christy. So nice to be here.
I can't wait to learn more.
Yeah, absolutely. It's a podcast about podcasting. So I suppose it's kind of Seinfeld and after after all,
what's better than that, especially for people that love podcasts?
The man Yeah, well, and,
and we want to talk today about utilizing podcasts for growth and how you can leverage a podcast booking agency like kit caster to help grow your brand. I know that's a challenge for a lot of people and I I've already seen your agency at work, booking you and one other guests on this very podcast so far. And I love the process. They do a great job. So well done.
Thank you. Yeah, no appreciated. So it's a symbiotic relationship. We can't have a podcast booking agency without excellent podcast host. So thank you.
Awesome. Well, how about we dive in and you just tell us a little bit about kick caster and how it came to be? Tell you a little bit about yourself? Just you know,
yeah, let's do it. So kick caster is a podcast booking agency. We work largely with funded startup founders, entrepreneurs with exits, and C suites, execs, and we book them on the world's top podcasts. There's about 18 of us on the team now. And our job is to basically be the best in the world at booking podcasts for our clients. And I think we're, we're getting close to that mark. It never ends. But I think we're close to that kick caster started two years ago, we launched September 6 2019. Basically, as a collaboration with friend of mine, Brandy Whalen, who's our co founder. She has a PR agency and I had a PR agency for 10 years. And I had a digital marketing agency for about the same time. And I had a podcast for about nine or 10 years, it started out being called the Denver business podcast, and it became a podcast called Talk launch. And it was a founders podcast. So I interview, same kind of folks, you know, tech founders, stuff like that. And brandy would bring her clients to my show. And so we're getting coffee, and just kind of like, hey, let's do a project together. What you want to do is like, well, we met podcasting, something there. So we kind of went through a process of validation looking for a project in podcasting, and kind of came to this idea of a booking agency. And I think what we liked about it, is the way you scale, a service, like this kind of a productized service is old school, you know, it's like having a HQ and having, you know, putting butts in seats, and like creating a company culture. And both of us with kind of software tech startup kind of background, it was kind of the flip side of what we've been doing, you know, kind of lean and mean teams with 90% margins, and, you know, explosive growth or catastrophic destruction. This is this was kind of more like, kind of building a team. And so that's, I think it was really appealing to both of us at the time. So, you know, we started out with the pilot program that went really well, and kind of put everything into it. And two years later, here we are.
So you work with agencies all across the country? Or who do you mostly work with?
You know, we're working mostly with the startup directly, either with their marketing team or with the founder, CEO, we'll do kind of CEOs and stuff like that, too. But we also do work with agencies. So agencies will basically bring us on as like a podcasting arm to their agency, and we'll work on their behalf, and then they manage the client relationship on their side. But for the most part, we're working directly with the founder of the company,
and how do you determine which podcast to target?
That's, that's a good question.
I didn't I didn't have that on the list.
No, no, let's do it. The kind of way that we'll go out is we really start with the outcomes, you know, what do you want to get out of podcasts? Oftentimes, that could be kind of brand exposure. Like we're just looking to get our name out there a little bit more. Everybody's looking for prospects. And we definitely want to move the needle with podcasts where we can oftentimes startup founders are looking for runway, you know, so getting in front of venture capitalists, angel investors, filling the pipeline there becomes a priority and especially now, a lot of people are using podcasts to recruit talent, you know, get out there show that they're on the forefront of kind of whatever sector they're in and recruit talent through podcasting. So we kind of start there. Like, what are the outcomes you're looking for? What are the attributes of that audience? Find the audience for them. And then we'll go find the podcasts that match the potential outcomes and audience that the podcast has. That gets us really close, you know, to kind of finding that right fit
from there looks like media relations, but specific to podcasts.
Exactly, exactly. That's it. So you know, generally we'll do two tracks, we'll do kind of like a broad generalist entrepreneurial type story, podcast track, and then the other will be a little bit more technical, probably where you can find a higher conversion rate with within kind of those outcomes you're looking for.
So when you're talking about conversion rates, how do you typically think about that with a podcast? Do you? Does it include all the way through to thinking about production and what calls to action you're you're putting in there, or it goes back to what you were just talking about? What's your goal? And understanding that from the on the front end?
Yeah, you bet. I mean, podcasts are pretty squishy. I mean, they don't fit neatly on spreadsheets. It's hard to find your acquisition cost from a podcast. So you know, we ask our clients, you know, you know, is this resonating with you? Do you like it, you know, cuz that's really important is it does become a really fun way for leaders to lead, you know, and kind of talk about the thing that they're most passionate about. But then what are the other areas that we can measure success within the campaign? You know, so it's really just a dialogue with the client of like, Hey, are you get what you signed up for? You know,
yeah. Do you ever find that some CEOs say that that's what they want? And yet go, let's go do some podcasts? And then they're, you know, just not available when you start delivering?
On the schedule? Sure. Yeah. Yeah, totally. And, you know, we have philosophy, you know, like, we don't believe that there's such thing as a podcast emergency, there just isn't, you know, it's true. You know, we definitely take our job very seriously. But it's like, Hey, man, you know, where we can, We'll reschedule to accommodate our clients. But we're also, you know, working on behalf of podcast hosts as well. So there's a fine line, you know, every if everybody's respectful of everybody's time, it works out great. So we do find, you know, what's great about kind of the Venn diagram of, let's say, podcasters, and, you know, CEOs and founders is they kind of overlap perfectly. These are folks who love to talk, you know, and we've had clients that have been with us for the entire two years that we've been alive. And it just kind of woven these podcast interviews into their schedule, because it's something they love to do. And because I think the outcomes oftentimes are a little bit of novel and chaotic, you don't, you don't really know,
you don't really have to prep too much for them, right. I mean, obviously, you're an entrepreneur, and a co founder, you know what your story is. And so it's pretty easy to talk about it.
100% you, you live and breathe the product, what we do find those in the beginning of the campaign, it's good to do a little bit of training around their story. You know, I think for everybody, it's it's hard to kind of talk about yourself, and who you are, and how you got to this chair. You know, oftentimes, it's it's kind of that the humble beginning story to that pivotal moment to where you are now and your vision for the future. And, you know, kind of working with our clients to create kind of stories and pull anecdotes from their past that kind of describe that transformation is really helpful, because especially kind of how you started the podcast. Tell me about kit caster a little bit about yourself, pretty much all the shows start like that. So having a good kind of tee off point where you can get into the meat of the conversation is just it's a great way to begin to campaign.
Hey, I agree with you. 100%. And, you know, that's like my passion. Okay, let's, let's help you figure out your story and then go tell it to the right audiences. Yeah. Which is also a great segue for my next question for you, Ryan, is you describe yourself as an American Buddhist entrepreneur. So I need to know, okay, why do you describe yourself that way? And why is that important to your business? And maybe your business model? I know you mentioned just a little bit ago, service, fun and profit. Yeah, I guess the concept that all of those can, in fact, work together.
You bet. Start with kind of the American Buddhist, I guess I differentiate, call myself an American Buddhist, as opposed to just a Buddhist. Because I saw the Dalai Lama speak when I was, you know, young in Zurich. Oh, wow. It was it was so cool. And he spoken English, which was awesome, too. You know? How old were you? I was like 20
or 20. And you're in Zurich. That's it. Yeah, it's a good time to be alive right there. Oh, boy. I
had a lot of fun. It was great. You know, and I was definitely kind of deep into studies of some Tibet or some Tibetan but a Buddhist philosophy and Buddhism for sure. But more kind of into Taoism. I mean, I was teenager essentially. So I didn't even know what I know. Yeah, absolutely. So I had the opportunity to go see the Dalai Lama. And I did. And one thing he said, he's like, you know, Americans can never be we're not Americans, Westerners can't be Buddhists, because they don't understand Buddhist culture. And then he talked a little bit about what it was like, and kind of the, the mountainous regions of Tibet. And like, why that philosophy kind of rooted there around the culture. I kind of took that to heart, I was like, Wow, that's pretty harsh. I was like, Well, I guess my pursuit of Buddhism is over, because the Dalai Lama told me it's impossible. So, so there's a differentiation there. But it didn't stop my studies, you know, I kept pursuing that. And, you know, in America, particularly like our introduction to Buddhism, which happened kind of in the late 40s, and 50s, coincided, been perfectly overlapped with what was happening kind of culturally, in America, with both the hippie movement and the psychedelic movement. So the introduction of Buddhism was largely founded by people getting turned on to psychedelic drugs, you know, and for better or for worse, that kind of flavored, what Buddhism would be, for the next 50 years in America. And in a lot for worse, there's been kind of a reckoning in Buddhist circles in America as a result of kind of those, you know, crazy days. So, so, you know, Buddhism is important to me, as a technology as a ways to kind of bring peace and structure to our minds. And also, you know, some ways to kind of explore consciousness. So I love talking about Buddhist topics, and those in general. But I also like, kind of some of their rudimentary ideas of how to be a moral person and a good person in the world without a very structured religious belief, nothing to believe. And one of them is right livelihood, you know, so working in a positive way that that doesn't do any harm becomes important to me, as in my practice as a Buddhist. So, you know, introducing those ideas, and really just exploring what those ideas could be in work has been kind of a fun process and in cake caster.
Awesome. So that was very much a part of the conversation when you guys launched this thing.
No. No, no, it was just, that'd be a weird way like I opportunity staples. I want to inject Buddhist principles into this company. Are you cool with that? No, no, I think
it's just more like your personal philosophy. And yeah, I guess, yeah,
it totally it filters in, you know, kind of, you talked about kind of the way that being an entrepreneur, entrepreneur, myself, but also family guy, you know, I got two kids, and I have my passions and hobbies. And you start to realize that, like, you just don't have that much time. I'm also like, you know, manic and I love jumping into new ideas and stuff. So I had to kind of create a criteria for which I would do things. And for me, that became, you know, it has to be fun. It has to be of service, and it has to make money. You know, it has to be fun. Because if it's not, I'm just not going to want to do it. You know, simple as that. Right? It has to make money because otherwise I just be in my closet. Writing songs all day long, forever. I got responsibilities. I gotta make money.
You're a songwriter, too. Oh, and a former life
for life? Um, well,
yeah. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, go ahead.
Oh, and then the third one, you know, it has to be of service because bringing meaning to our work is personally important to me. But also I think for for it to stick and to build a staff, you know, you have to feel like you're making a difference, you know, in multiple domains. Otherwise, again, it's just you're not going to get your best performance, and then figuring out how to deliver your best performance becomes kind of the next task. So kick caster, for me, ticked off all three of those things, and kind of send us on our way.
That's awesome. What What's this thing you talk about emotional attraction in the role podcast, play and healing our alien culture? Yeah, and emotion kind business practices. You know, talk to me about this a little bit.
You bet. Um, so a couple of things. I suppose I'll speak just on work broadly. First, you know, when I was growing up, I didn't know what an analyst was or this or that, like there was I needed people. I knew that like, people did business on the golf course. But I actually had no idea what that kind of work was what to me like your job was like, the characters on Mr. Rogers or, or like the the businesses in the strip mall, you know you've got a grocery store, you've got a mechanic, you got your lawyer, you got a doctor, I knew what all these things were nurse, you got to teach your nurse Absolutely. mailman. You got the milk guy you got you got jobs, you know. And, and that's what I understood. And now because of the internet and kind of these different things, you have things that are called podcast agents, which is so ridiculous. I mean, what is that? You know, it doesn't even make sense. But in largely, there's a lot of work like that, if you're a software engineer, like what it ends up is that we're spending a lot of time in front of glowing rectangles. And how do you manage that? You know, right,
like my son, he's in college right now. But he had his first PR internship this past year, and he's like, Oh, Mom, I now I get what you're doing, you know, on your computer all day, every day, because that's all he saw me do is looking at this screen and typing on it. Yeah.
Which is weird. You know, innately? And
how do you describe that to kids, right? Like, then they don't get it makes it difficult. It's not very tangible. But
yeah, but if you're a mechanic you like, at a place, and people come in, and they have a problem, and you solve the problem. And that's every single business that makes sense. You know, what doesn't make sense is like, whatever we're doing right here in front of like, glowing rectangles. And like, if there's something unsatisfactory about this kind of work, just built in, because really, we're not supposed to be in front of glowing rectangles, we're supposed to be engaging with each other and personal level, at least, that's what we've been doing for a few 100,000 years. Species, you know, so they're, they're certain, you know, downsides. There's many upsides that are fantastic, you know, I don't want to be lifting rocks in a field, you know, I don't want to, I'm glad I'm doing what I'm doing. But it becomes an internal world, then, you know, is that like, how am I engaging with myself, so I can engage with with my work. So largely, a lot of that is for me, built around kindness, and the idea of kind principles of both for yourself, you know, like protecting yourself and understanding, like, you're engaging in something that has never been done before, by all of humanity's first time, we're trying to figure out how to work our lives around email, you know, and then how do you bring that across into your communications that are largely digital, you know, and kind of having a kind give first kind of philosophy, one, because I think it's important to bring that into the world, but to it's also to protect ourselves, you know, because we need to be able to work, and we needed to be able to, metaphorically close the door and leave work. And for me, from a leadership perspective, it's very important for me to create those opportunities for our staff, you know, because in order to get the best, most creative, productive work out of them, they can't be looking at emails at 8pm, they can't be getting text messages from stuff on on Sunday afternoons. Because that means from Monday to Friday, when I need them, they're going to be torched. You know, and all this is new territory. So figuring out ways where we can be, you know, use unconditional positive regard and assume positive intent. That's a big one. Yeah, you know, too, and it's because that's what we want to put into the world. But also, it releases us sometimes of like, searching for the perfect, sarcastic cold, but hot reply, you know, it's just no time in our lives for that, you know, so that's kind of my approach, I think, to bringing kind of kindness into into the workplace a little bit.
I love that. And I imagine that resonates when you're trying to grow your company. And, and, and people. I know, we try to put a lot of our philosophies of our agency on our website, and people tell us that, that that comes through, when we're doing interviews and hiring people, so I think it's important to put those values out there and stick to them.
Yeah, and it's, it's, there's a practice, you know, it's like, it's like, I, oh, we've got values and things that we talk about, but it's like, how does that show up in our daily routines, you know, so we've got a lot of kind of Q C's and in touch points with with staff to make sure that they're okay. Because you, we all know, if you're getting 100 200 emails a day, and all of them are singing your praises, and one of them is off. You're just gonna be obsessed with that off email, you know, and it'll drive you bananas. So, you know, in a leadership position, I do feel like it's my responsibility to help give us some tools in order to deal with these glowing rectangles and how it is kind of maybe anti biological work interaction. I shouldn't say Anton, it's just new. This is new. And so we're all trying to figure out how to do this. And also, you know, to validate a podcast agent should be on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood as a potential career. That'd be awesome.
You should talk to Sesame Street. I know. Go ahead and add that because you know, they're constantly updating to match the world around us, which is pretty cool. Well, so along those lines, you say podcast hosts, make great podcast guests. I'm wondering why well, I have some ideas about why that why that is and why it's important. But I'm also curious, why would I work with a podcast booking agency? Tell me the pluses of of it. I've experienced, I've experienced it, as I mentioned at the top of the show, but I'd love to hear you talk about it. You bet
from both sides, I think what we're saving people's time and money. You know, if your podcast hosts, and let's say you reached out to your network on LinkedIn, you realize that that takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of time, to book guests. You know, so working with podcast eight, agency like us, if your podcast hosts, it's totally free for you. Like, it's like, tell us which podcast about let us feed you great guests. It's kind of a no brainer. You know, for podcast hosts, we say that they make great guests, because one they like to talk. So they're on podcasts. But two, they're also already comfortable with kind of the emotional material that will come up from doing podcasts, big emotions. It's kind of shocking at first, maybe
what do you mean by that?
Well, you know, on one side, if your podcast host, you'll get in a rhythm of like making people comfortable. It's your job is like, hey, I want to bring out the best for you. So that we can have a great conversation here. And you get better and better and better at that. Now when you turn the table, and now you're the guest, you start to understand what maybe why those guests were a little uncomfortable. I mean, because big emotions do arise. You look at the podcast, you're like, Man, am I good enough for this show? Or maybe I'm too good for this show. Or look at the guests that were on the show? What am I going to talk about? What are they going to ask me like all of these things, just being plain nervous, you know, bubbles up, you know, and in figuring out, like, how to work with that, as that's coming up and get comfortable with it. So largely podcast hosts have kind of dealt with that already. So they can kind of really hit the ground running on that side. So since Yeah. And then you find
yourself constantly like listening and watching other podcasters and always trying to figure out oh, I really love what they did there. Or oh, that's, that's awesome. I'm gonna bring that into, into my shows or,
Oh, totally. I mean, I'm, I'm just a fan of virtuosity across the board. You know, so became being obsessed with music and then and then seeing that like people that talk like real conversationalist, mastery, masterful journalistic questions and way they deliver. You know, I like like Guy Ross from how I built this. laughs So he's so good. And the way he laughs He goes. So like, the laugh doesn't like hit the mic hard. I'm like, Dude, this guy's a pro, you know?
Now I'm gonna be completely aware of the laughter thing.
Exactly. Totally self conscious. I mean, before now, it's like video is part of podcasting. But before at least you didn't have to worry what what to do with your hands is back to video. And it's like, what am I doing with my hands while I'm talking? So
more bobblehead? Like, you know, that my first video podcast, I was like, I am a total bobblehead. I have to work on that.
No, I think it's great. It's it shows great empathy. Like, you're like that. I'm affirming that was a great response. I like you know, and then for our clients, you know, why would they use us? Yes, it's time and money and expertise. So we've built relationships with maybe five 6000 podcasts plus and add them all the time. You know, it's nice to have somebody else pitch you because it's kind of weird. Unless you're a total narcissist, to like, just sing your own praises. And podcast hosts, aside from you, of course, are not communications professionals. So chasing down these podcasts does take some time. You know, we save them time and money and just kind of just tee up, usually about once a week podcast interviews for our clients. So it works with their schedule.
Is there some sort of baseline mark that podcasts have to hit for you to pitch them? I'm kind of curious how you guys came across how it's done?
You bet that not that,
you know the answer to that, but if you do great, but you know, is there some sort of threshold or I imagine there's some sort of criteria that you use?
Absolutely. So we begin kind of our podcasts search, you know, we go through those outcomes, audiences, podcasts and everything. And in the search, we'll start with categorically from Apple podcast top 100 shows. So we start They're, and then we have kind of this delta between they're in the top 10% of podcast globally. And that's where we're going to find majority of our podcasts. The sweet spot is that 5%, you know, right in that 5%, top 5% shows that we like to be in. But we'd never booked anything that would be less than the top 10% We have kind of a platinum package as well, that would only be, you know, 1% or better. For some folks, they just want to see large audiences. And we kind of have a service for them. But largely, we're looking for a mix of, you know, a great production super relevant to what they're doing a nice sized audience and just straight quality of the show. And that's how we kind of find the folks that we work with
those sound like great criteria.
That's how we found you. I don't know who it was. Okay, yeah.
Well, we got some goals with the show. And, and my friend Ellen, who's listening in and, you know, monitoring us as we're talking she's, she's helping me with that. She's awesome. Shout out to Ellen. So, I'm also sometimes I'm like, Okay, how much runway and ramp? do podcasts have? You know, because they've really come on the scene pretty hot and heavy just in the last few years. And everyone's like, Oh, we're, we're at the very, very beginning of this thing. Do you think that's true?
Yeah, shockingly, I'm pretty bullish on podcasting.
I get Yeah, I guess you kind of are. Yeah, I mean, it's a whole company around it.
It's funny, though. I mean, you know, I've been doing it for 10 years. So podcasting was kind of old hat to me. And I was like, Yeah, you know, podcasting agency. You know, I, it just seemed, I don't know, inconceivable a little bit. But I do think podcasting and just audio in general is in its infancy. And we're gonna see all kinds of different models built around podcasting, as we're all already kind of seeing, you know, I think that, you know, they describe audio is a warm medium. And video is being a cool medium, you know, where with a warm medium, your brain gets to fill in the gaps a little bit, you know, if people are just on the treadmill right now, they're they're imagining us sitting and talking together. But of course, we're not there, their brain is very active as they're listening to the to the podcast, as opposed to videos where you everything is kind of presented for you. So to me, it just evokes this idea of like sitting around the campfire in the dark, in retelling that day's hunt, you know, you can't really see their face, but there's a flicker of fire or something where people are retelling the stories and those stories became, you know, the basis of your culture, but also the basis of survival, you know, because if they're like, yeah, the herd of buffaloes is behind the second rock past, you know, you better get that story. So I think that there's something innately baked into us to hear conversation and stories and be drawn into them, especially in podcasting, where they're kind of, they're casual, they're kind of charmingly amateurish. And that's just how people talk. You know, it's it's not an interview, as you know, it's not Barbara Walters, grilling somebody and them dancing around the questions. It's like that there's a whole artificial world that people don't, don't really communicate with. Rather, they communicate like how I'm trying to do, which is a gigantic run on sentence that never ends.
Look at that. Look at the transcribed transcriptions from podcasts, and they're not quite as compelling as the actual disaster. No one finishes a sentence, you know, there's all kinds of
three commas, two dashes. No X, no punctuation. Yeah. And you know, but that's how people talk. And that's how people listen as people can, their attention will fade in and fade out. And they're like, yeah, he's rambling on, I'm gonna space out, and then maybe there's a little nugget there. And he danced around that a little bit. So I think, you know, podcasting brings out kind of this natural instinct to communicate, but also to, like, be a fly on the wall, as it were. And kind of the second part of your question before of like, you know, me personally, I do think that podcasting is a healing force. Because of that, you know, social media has kind of proved itself to be maybe a net negative. I don't know if we could say that yet. Not gaming. Yeah, it seems like it, it really brings out some of our negative capabilities. Whereas podcasting, I think really brings out our best, which is to say that, you know, Christy, you and me seem like we're very similar, but even if we weren't, I think we would greet each other on this podcast. In the same way. You know, we extend the olive branch as it were to like, look for places that we do connect as opposed to places where We don't, you know, so social media brings out our polarities, but I think podcasts and just conversation in general brings us back together.
I love that, which makes it all the better channel medium for startups, CEOs, people that are trying to do cool new things, or just to, you know, build cool and nice companies 100% to be able to be able to also, you know, have that kind of human connection. And
yeah, yeah, I mean, especially in startups, it's like, what blue flat logo? Do you like better than the other one? It's all pretty homogenized. You know, if you if you do have a story out there, then that could be the differentiator where you go with this widget versus that widget is like, Man, I heard a podcast with the CEO. He seems cool. She seems awesome. You know, that's why I'm gonna go there. What? It's kind of like a reason.
Yeah. When I've watched documentaries, you know, so how many times have I watched a documentary of some band, or musician and like, you know, I was kind of indifferent to them, maybe beforehand, but then I watched the documentary. I'm like, oh, man, they're the best like, Yeah, a bit brother over them. Yeah, like, I liked the Avett Brothers. But then once I saw that documentary, I was like, obsessed with them.
Because you're my brothers.
So, you know, when you're when you're working, is there a size company? That's like too big? That's, you know, really not? Not in your sweet spot that you wouldn't really take on? Or is that not really a thing?
No way bigger than better? Work with billion dollar companies? And okay, no, typically, what we'll do with them, though, is really silo, their leadership team, you know, if it's kind of a CEO, CEO, maybe there's an HR story, figure out what department is trying to do what and then really go go there. I mean, what's fun with like, big enterprise type companies, is that they're gonna have a very specific approach. And also, like, it's, it looks impressive, you know, it's like, whoa, this company is worth $10 billion, you know, it makes it easier for us as booking agents. Plus, they have great budgets. I mean, I love enterprise
camp, right? You get to do like, you get to do some cool stuff. And then yeah, you know, the other big benefit is then they can leverage their social media channels, and they can showcase these different podcasts that their executives are on and the stories they're telling, and they can put those, you know, publish them themselves on their own channels. And I think that, that gets so many more eyes on it. It's such a awesome opportunity. Oh, totally. I mean, beyond just a, you know, a digital news article, for example, which is equally great. But you know, they each have a different role.
Absolutely. No, it's good. And, you know, the challenges, they're oftentimes just compliance, and making sure that, you know, company message brand standards are front and center, we kind of review that. I mean, the nice thing about, you know, if we're talking about a founder, like they can shoot from the hip, it's their baby. Right now. They're not scared of what they're gonna say
your job is to create news. Right, exactly,
exactly. But, you know, if you're working with, you know, a compliance officer at enterprise company, you know, they might be a little bit more guarded. And rightfully so. But typically, they've gotten to the position where they are, because they're very good at navigating that that balance,
right. Now, as part of your role, do you do anything post booking? If, if maybe they don't like something about the podcast before it gets published? And we want something edited out? Or is that turns over to somebody else?
Oh, no, we'll take care of it's only happened two times. Oh, it's only happened two times for
somebody else. What happened?
Oh, okay. Sure. Um, the first one was somebody you know, like a fist bump. And he was talking about, you know, he, after he wrote his book, he came home and fist bumped his kids, because he was excited about it. But he said fisting. Oh, and the podcast host started laughing 15 kids, and that's not good. That's, that's he didn't know. He didn't know what that was. And so, you know, the podcast agent was like, oh, you know what, you don't know what that was. But you know, I don't even want to talk to you. But we went back and partners can edit that out. They took it out? Yeah, of course. Yeah. And the other one was somebody meant to say person of color. And they said colored people. Again, I mean, this isn't somebody who is a native English speaker. And it was like, oh, you know, and the podcast host was like, hey, hey, I don't think you think what you meant to say was person of color. And so they went back and helped him out. And I think it just again, points to the fact that like, podcasting is all based not a surprise. It's not like a gotcha thing. Yeah, no, everyone wants you to be okay. And like, I know what you meant, but and everybody knows what you meant. But we're going to go ahead and edit that out anyway, because we don't want to, you know, make it a source of stress for you, but Yeah, like it was
a great example. Yes.
Yeah, I was like, oh, yeah, we want to change those.
We're gonna work on that.
But otherwise, you know, countless hours of podcasts recorded and it's fine.
Well, and obviously, you've seen great results, like what are your results look like? What could someone expect if they're hiring you? You know, I mean, I guess.
Yeah, it's across the board. You know, it's everything and everything in between. So we've had people that have found seven figure, runway by finding investors through podcasts, we've booked on them, which is great. We've had authors that sell books, we've had coaches that sell subscriptions to their coaching program. We've had attribution models where we're getting, you know, SAS b2b tool signups from podcasting. We have had people hired from from podcasts, we've had people find their co founder through podcasts we booked. So now comes, this is the most important thing to me, because as an entrepreneur, I'm sympathetic to what they're doing. And we want to make sure that they're using their time in a way that makes them money, gives them service and it's fun.
Well, obviously, you're having great results, because you've been around now for Wait, this is your you said you started in 2019. Yep, two years on six,
which was yesterday.
So Happy anniversary. Yeah. Thank
you. Yeah. Yeah. So you know, the results are are fantastic. And the only way we know that is because that's what our clients tell us by sticking around.
That's a good sign. Yeah. Yeah. And we're, you're in you're in Colorado.
Yeah. We're in Denver. We're based in Denver. What part of Denver? Baker?
I don't know where that is. But
it's like there's like a baker arts district here on Santa Fe drive. So we're just just shy of downtown Denver, south. How will you were you
Nashville, Tennessee. Oh, I
love Nashville. Yeah, it's awesome. But I didn't know and I saw your guitar back there.
That is not mine. That's a little baby baby Martin that I got from my son when he was little. And I think he may be played at once.
You're born with a Martin guitar, right in Nashville. It's not how it works.
I mean, a lot of people are but I have zero musical, you know, talent. I mean, zero. So it's kind of sad. I thought I thought about trying to learn how to play the guitar during COVID. But that didn't last very long.
It hurts the fingers. It really does.
I didn't know that. You know, your fingertips went numb. Amazing.
Yeah, I've been teaching my daughter to play guitar. And she's really, you know, she's like, Dad, how do I get these transitions and changes is like you have to play till they bleed. That's it.
Like truly? Yeah.
And they will, they will and then the feeling leaves your fingers.
I mean, I don't know how I never knew that before. But it's just not the part people talk about.
On fact, guitar players are the only people that can tickle themselves. Because they have no feeling in the chest.
Well, this seems like a pretty good segue to a favorite part of our podcasts. We don't always but sometimes we like to end on like, what are your favorite? You know, book, podcast, quote, movie music. Take take. What about you said in a previous life, maybe you were a songwriter, or maybe you wanted to be and I just heard this love of Nashville. So yeah, it's a favorite music.
Oh, boy. What do I like now? Um, whatever. You know, the album that got me through COVID Was that Nathaniel Ratliff record? Gosh, so good. So good. He's awesome.
I'm gonna see him in concert here in October. With the
night sweats or? Yeah, so yeah. Oh, man.
Yeah, I'm excited. You got to read rocks a lot.
Yes.
I see. What was your last concert?
at Red Rocks? Yeah, it was. Pretty lights. Probably in the fall of 2019. Right before? Yeah, it was 20. March 20. Yeah, pretty lights. And that was an incredible shows. Very cool.
That I saw Tyler Childers. There was the last concert I saw there. Yeah, cool.
I mean, I got tickets to see bill burr on October 1. So I can't wait for that little comedy on reference.
Oh, me. Oh, awesome. That should be cool.
Yeah.
Well, awesome. So that's your that's your headquarters. We're looking at here on the screen for the audio listeners. They can't see this, but it looks awesome. I love it.
It's a really cool space. It used to be you know, we're in this other building in this room. It was like are in this facility who's a co op workspace that we are in and then COVID killed it? But we are still here and so We took over the whole thing. That's awesome. Yeah. So if we're growing fast enough that we kind of were like, well, can we just can we just stay? We did. So we're here but we are actively looking for a new HQ here in Denver, something that we can make our own something a little bit smaller.
I was in the rhino district recently in July I was there first for something I mean of going to a Rockies game state at the Rambo is awesome.
Oh, that's that's a good spot to end up right there.
Yeah, yeah. So it looked like there was lots of space down there. You might could inhabit.
You know, I had an office in Rhino on lamb or probably for four years. Oh, wow. But that was before it was cool. You know, now now they know what they've got. I mean, it's it is like the the cool spot in Denver, you know, and actually parking down there is complete disaster. So we're looking for some little sleep here. You know, that has parking. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. That's a good idea. Parking is Primo.
Parking is big. If you get to work and you're fine. You have five minutes to get on your zoom call. And you're looking for a spot. It kind of sets the tone for the day.
Yeah, I agree. Well, good luck on that. That's not easy to find. No, but Well, listen, I appreciate you taking the time. Ryan, before we check out today. I'd love for you to share. How can people get in touch with you find you what's the best way to reach out?
Kid caster.com is a great way to kind of learn about the service. There's an application there. If you want to be a guest on podcast, we want to talk to you. Um, if you'd like to talk to me, you can just email me. My email is Ryan at kid caster calm. And I'm happy to talk podcasting or anything else.
Buddhism.
Yeah, totally leadership. Or you know, I've been really liking Ted lasso. If somebody wants to talk about Shut up.
I'll talk about him all day long. I mean, and Roy, he might be my favorite.
I know Roy's is. There's a little Roy in all of us, right? Yeah, yeah. Angry at 10. All
angry, but like a softy really at heart. Yeah.
Slow swearing around children that he does. I'm just like, I don't that's I don't like that roll. Come on now.
Well, you know, they're British. That's true.
So they're drunk all the time. So that's their excuse.
Yeah, it's a great feel good show. Love it. Totally. Well, Ryan, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time being my guest today telling us more about kid caster. I'll definitely be following up with you guys. We'd love to work more with you.
Me to Christie. I really appreciate this great conversation.
Yeah. Thanks so much. Thanks. That wraps up this episode of how it's done. My guest today has been Ryan Estus, co founder of caster. Thanks, Ryan.
Thanks, Christy.
That's it for now. Thanks so much for listening. We're looking forward to keeping great conversations coming your way as we grow this podcast. There's even more great content from our conversations on our blog. Be sure to check it out at grow with poco.com That's grow with fuoco su osio.com Stay tuned until next time, and no matter what Stay curious
