Tell us a bit about yourself and your podcast
My name is Chidimma (the Chids part) and I'm 24 years old. I graduated from Nottingham University after doing my masters. I studied International Relations and Politics, which was a pretty heavy subject so I needed an outlet.
After uni I got into Telecoms sales, which is what I do now on the B2B side (business to business), I really do enjoy my job but occasionally it can be a bit mundane which is why I needed a creative outlet, that led to this podcast.
In terms of the podcast, I wanted something that would reflect me and my personality - I can be quite silly and I laugh at pretty much anything so I wanted my podcast to be a fun, lighthearted place. I talk a lot too but overall I have a shy personality, the podcast has helped ease that in a way which has been amazing.
I also wanted a space where a black woman could hold a podcast that didn't centre solely around race.
How did you first get into podcasting/what inspired you to do so?
This sounds weird and completely made up, but... it came to me in a dream. At the time I was doing my masters and my dissertation (my fourth and final year at uni), my mental health was at its lowest. I was having a difficult time and I needed to do something that made me feel more like myself again. So the name and podcast derived from that.
I properly got into it in the first lockdown, I was furloughed at the time and had already ordered a microphone from when I thought I'd do it the first time. I'd tried and failed to get into it before but with all that was happening in the world with coronavirus, it was a much needed escape from the world. I then used Youtube to help me pick up on how to set it all up etc, having a MacBook definitely helped - and here we are!
Does podcasting take a lot of time?
It really just depends, Sometimes I go to record an episode, this usually takes about 40 minutes, and because it's an easy topic I can have it all edited and ready to go live in under an hour. If I'm recording an episode with a guest, these can be easier to record purely because you're bouncing off someone else, but much longer to edit overall.
On other occasions I can be really picky about how I'm speaking or I've been rambling quite a lot, so those times it's really hard to edit. I'm really self critical and I do want my work to be as perfect as possible. But really it can be anywhere from an hour to a couple of days to have an episode ready..
My thing is, I never want an actual script, because I want to make sure my podcast is easy to listen to. I don't want it to come across as staged or anything so this can make the editing process much harder.
Who are your podcast inspirations, who do you listen to?
The Receipts Podcast by Audrey, Tolly and Milena (fave of mine too)
Say Your Mind Podcast by Kelechi Okafor - she does it on her own, and it's amazing how she's structured her podcast (not in the sense of predictable) it just flows well. She's amazing, clever and to top it all of beautiful too.
Hey Bitches Podcast by Karly Polkosnik - she does it on her own too, and she does it so well that you barely notice.
The latter two inspired me the most with my podcast. I love recording with other people, it's so much easier to bounce off them but Kelechi and Karly made me realise I can do it on my own. I don't always need a guest for my podcasts to be better. What's amazing too is how different they both are, Karly is very sexually open and can talk about that kind of stuff on her podcast, whereas Kelechi focuses more on current affairs and does tarot.
How do you come up with subjects for your podcast?
General life really, a lot of my episodes are based off of personal experiences.
I'm also on twitter quite a bit too (who isn't at this time), so I take inspiration from that. And I'm also on Clubhouse (an invite-only app that allows you to drop in to and contribute in to conversations with people across the world) so I get points of discussion from that too.
{At this stage she points out that she's actually been on hiatus for a while}
I've actually taken a long hiatus, for a mixture of different reasons. If I had a pie chart it would be 50% of my mind just letting me down and being self critical, the other 50% would be social media getting into my head. I can compare myself a lot sometimes, and the doubt starts to settle in. I'm able to motivate my friends with no issues, but it's so hard to use that advice on myself.
Also if we're being candid, the weather is awful and that definitely doesn't help! Luckily I have a really great support system, they all make sure to hold me accountable and get it all done.
Favourite episode to date?
The ChidChat episodes are always my favourite. I get to work with my friends and family and it's just so fun and easy. For example episode 14, The Friend(ship) Has Sailed, I did that with my friend Tori and I laughed throughout the whole thing. I even relisten to them when I'm down and need a pickmeup.
I think one that I also have to mention is the BLM one (episode 7), it was really hard to do and I haven't even listened to it again since editing, but I was so proud. It's hard for me to open up usually and even though I don't have the biggest following it was good to share my experiences and I felt like it was important to do so.
Would you want podcasting to become a full time job? If yes why, if not why?
Yes, absolutely - or at least have more time to dedicate myself to it. It's hard to juggle it around with work but if I can one day then yes.
What do you do outside of podcasting?
Telecoms industry - I work at a fibre start up, so we dig up the road and put fibre down, used for things like TVs and wifi. I've been there for about a year with a focus on business to business sales. It's a hard job but I work for a really good company, quite small and intimate but they're starting to upscale.
Dream collaborations?
I'd love to go on to the Receipts Podcast, maybe not host them because I'd be too excited. Really everyone I listed earlier - Karly is super funny and confident so I think we'd have a proper laugh.
Kelechi is Nigerian too so we'd have a talking point there, and she has so much knowledge it'd be amazing to properly pick her brain.
Beyonce would also be a dream of mine but i'd absolutely drop dead.
Finally, any advice to give those thinking of starting something similar to yourself?
My key message would be don't overthink it. If you listen to early episodes of your favourite podcasts they're not perfect, so don't compare yourself to how other people are doing compared to you.
Start, find your feet, but don't think this means you're not allowed to change.
Don't be hard on yourself, be your biggest fan and make sure to celebrate the little milestones.
The 'Blog to...' series is a new series, created to understand the processes of those with creative hobbies. If you'd like more information from the person in the post, let me know and I can direct you to them. If you'd like to be a part of this series, feel free to message or email!