Ryan Estes - The Prospecting Show Transcript
MMallory KassoyDec 1, 2021 at 7:49 pm16min
SSpeaker 1
00:02All right, welcome back to the prospecting Show. Today is Wednesday, November 10. Second episode of today, we're doing two back factors really interesting. Today we're gonna have a cool guest because we've been pushing podcasts back and forth for the last year without actually talking to each other. So today, we have Ryan Estus, from Kitt caster on the show. So welcome. Thank you so much, Connor, I appreciate it. And we actually have really good audio today too, because, you know, you got you got the good setup going and all that and it's gonna sound real nice. So we'll get this added in post production. So most people who are listening to the prospecting show, we kind of run this format, past, present and future we want to learn about you what you do, how you do it, and how you can help people. So to start things off, walk us through who you are and what your company does.
SSpeaker 2
00:46You bet. So the company kid caster, we book entrepreneurs on top podcasts like this one. Specifically, we work with funded startup founders, entrepreneurs, with exits, and C suite executives. And you know, what we do is we've we put them on podcast tour about me, you know, I'm, I'm a Colorado guy through and through. I, I've been doing a little bit of soul searching to see what got me into this podcast. Well, I've been podcasting myself for 10 plus years. I've always absolutely loved it. So you know, starting this company is kind of a dream job for me. But I kind of pinpointed a story of like when I really found this conversation, even larger point to be like maybe a focal point of my, my life. So I was 19 my freshman year in college had wrapped me and a buddy drove from Denver to Fairbanks, Alaska, and then down into Anchorage. We were supposed to have a job building cabinets. in Fairbanks. The guy was like, how did you guys get here? We're like we drugs. I know why? Well, I don't have a job and like what? So we went down to Anchorage and just started scrounging up work and just had the most wonderful summer ever. About halfway through, he kind of got cold feet. I think he had a girl back home. So he left and he's like, we got to go. And I was like, You know what, I'm having good time. I'm stay. And he's like, What are you gonna do? I was I don't know. So I was kind of couch surfing I had my guitar with me at the time was kind of a coffee shop, songwriter type guy. And there's all these like great bluegrass festivals in Alaska. So I started hitchhiking to all these bluegrass festivals. And at the time, who knows what, I don't know, 97, Alaska was still pretty safe to hit again, I don't know what it's like now. But it was and so I'd go to these festivals, I bring my guitar with me. And you know, I, you know, didn't have a pot to piss in and didn't have $1 or two nickels to rub together. You know, but because I had my guitar with me, I would just go in the stage access. And so I'd kind of do go backstage and watch all these performances. Well, what's cool about the time too, is that the, it was all campout type stuff. So in the festivals, all these bluegrass musicians are camping out, too. So concerts were great. But after the concerts when the show is over, there would be you know, a big like a bonfire. And so all the musicians would grab their, their guitars and their bass or whatever, and gather around the fire and start playing together. And one of the coolest things that ever happened to me was at this music festival, and I was not very confident with my skills. These guys are real pickers. You know, is there like, everyone's going around to do a song and that guy comes to me. And I was like, Okay, well, you know, let's go, I'm gonna try. And so I started playing, stir it up from Bob Marley, you know, and the, this guy stops, he's like, Hey, man, stop, stop, stop. And I was like, you know, at this point, and he's like, hold on, and he points to his buddy who had a tuba. And he's like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, you know, it starts playing it, and then the whole play, sing it with me. So, you know, Trump was going around to these festivals and hanging out with these artists, just these amazing conversations, you know, I was 19 years old, and like, learning a lot from people older than me and musicians in the business. And it was just wonderful, you know, and I realized that like, outside of my Spectrum was like, this world of like, connection, and particularly the hang that happens with musicians. So I think that's what really got me started and pushed me down the road to this podcast world long before there was even podcasts.
SSpeaker 1
04:24Well, and that's a big jump to right I think like, you know, being a professional musician. I just thought brand new walk by in the background dance. That's funny there. Yeah, for those of you're watching right at this, we we we always go back and forth people right. It's like we get some of the best introductions from kick Katherine. Oh, this is an aside from from the show here. But like we get some of the best introduction from kick couch because like people come in and like I really want to podcast I really want to be a guest. I really want to talk about what I do. So it's like, that's what the whole show is about right is having good people on it. So that back to your story, like, you know, going from a musician that kind of like, hey, let's you know, try to make it make a few dollars and being in the network. I think you build that Community, right? You build a community of people who want to help you, you want to help them and kind of go from there. How did you make the jump from musician kind of doing your thing over to podcasting? Because that's like a, you know, similar but still pretty different.
SSpeaker 2
05:12Yeah, totally. So I spent probably, you know, 10 1015 years in music industry, you know, as an artist, I ended up going on to having a bunch of bands, and I put out records and toured and did that whole thing. But also as a music director to a famous jazz club here in Denver called Dazzle, and just kind of worked on the periphery of the music industry trying to put together a career in music. Back when there was such a thing. I managed a warehouse, music record store, you know, so figuring out trying to figure out how there was a How could, you know, make a living in music? Well, then I had kids, you know, and music is not necessarily the fulcrum of commerce, you know, I'm saying on a local level, that's one
Unknown Speaker
05:55way to budget. Yeah.
SSpeaker 2
05:57So I had to make some tough decisions. And I was also at a point in my musical career where, you know, work until 4am, to get paid and getting paid half of what the contract said, I just didn't have the temperament for it anymore. And so I really was like, I got to put this music thing behind me. So I did, broke up the band, I packed up my guitars and didn't look back. But I did a little, you know, at first I was a little a little blues. And, you know, I didn't, I thought it was like, I missed the music. But it really wasn't that it was the Hey, it was the guys my band and like we practice on Tuesday nights and Thursday nights, and I just missed the hang and drinking beers and hanging out. So what I did is, at this time is probably iPhone to era. This is before the podcast app on iPhone, you know, and you could you could download podcasts into your, to your phone, so I was doing that. And then I realized, like, oh, wow, I don't have to download this at all, I can actually stream it, you know, it's like 2g, you know, but you could stream it pretty good. You know, so I started listening, just tons of podcasts. And I was like, You know what, I'm gonna do a podcast, because this is a way that I can get the band back together, and we're not going to be, you know, obstructed by trying to make music. We're just gonna, you know, talk shit and drink beer. And so, I started, that was my first blog as called eighth grade ball, and probably my most popular one I've ever done. You know, and this is probably, you know, as a while ago, and then kind of just developed over the years, you know, the, the flagship show I had for a long time was the Denver business podcast, which is how I met Brandi, she worked in PR, and would bring her clients to me. And then, you know, maybe two and a half, three years ago, we're kind of getting coffee, like a sewer project together, as do some in podcasting. And kind of landed on this idea of a booking agency. And we both liked it, because we're both kind of coming from, you know, SAS and tech startups, and, you know, lean and mean with 90% margins. But, you know, thinking about an agency like this, and the way that we wanted to do it, which is like, you know, hire people, you know, create a culture have, have a headquarters, you know, and do it like that. So we kind of set out to do that. We also liked the idea, because we felt like we could be the best in the world at this. And so that's been the goal ever since, you know, we're officially launched about two years, and you know, growing really well.
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