How Abbey Harrison Built a Thriving Podcast Community and Got Signed by iHeartRadio
From maternity leave side project to iHeartRadio signing, parenting podcaster Abbey Harrison is proving what’s possible when you mix passion with purpose.
When social worker and new mum Abbey Harrison couldn’t find a relatable, New Zealand-based parenting podcast, she created her own. Why Do You Parent Like That? launched while Abbey was on maternity leave and within weeks she’d landed sponsorships, built a highly engaged community, and attracted the attention of iHeart Radio.
I sat down with Abbey to find out how she did it, what she’s learned along the way, and why she believes podcasting can be a powerful force for good.
Starting a Podcast to Fill a Gap
Abbey has loved podcasts for over 15 years, but after becoming a parent, she struggled to find local content that reflected her experiences.
“I kept searching for parenting podcasts in New Zealand, and nothing was coming up. I thought — if it doesn’t exist, I’ll just make it.”
Armed with a budget mic, Canva, and her social work interviewing skills, Abbey launched her show within a week of having the idea. Her unique concept, asking every guest the same set of questions, created a consistent format while leaving space for authentic, unscripted conversation.
Building Community Through Connection
While many creators focus on growth strategies, Abbey says her audience grew organically thanks to genuine connection:
“I love people. Responding to comments, DMs and voice notes didn’t feel like work — it felt like chatting to friends.”
Her target audience, mainly mums on maternity leave, are naturally engaged and seeking connection, which helped accelerate community growth. Abbey also credits her social work experience for helping her build rapport quickly and hold space for vulnerable conversations.
Overcoming the Hidden Work of Podcasting
Abbey is refreshingly honest about the workload:
“Anyone can make a crap podcast. If you want to make a good one, it takes time.”
She recommends batching recordings in advance to survive life’s curveballs, being realistic about your release schedule, and understanding that consistency matters more than frequency. Abbey is moving from weekly to fortnightly episodes in Season 2 as she returns to work.
Using Her Platform for Good
In July, Abbey led a social media fundraiser for Gaza, inspiring other creators to join her and raising over $8,000.
“I’ve always known if I had any kind of audience, I wanted to be values-led. If I can’t donate money myself, maybe I can encourage others to.”
Abbey isn’t afraid of losing followers over her values: “If people disagree, they’re probably not my audience anyway.”
Getting Signed by iHeartRadio
Just eight weeks after launch, Abbey was approached by iHeartRadio. After sending host Ben Boyce her podcast outline, he passed it on and iHeart invited her in for a meeting.
“I went in thinking I was pitching myself, and they said, ‘No, we want you.’”
Abbey retained full creative control and says having a supportive team behind her has been a game-changer.
Sponsorships From Day One
Abbey secured her first sponsors before launch by sending tailored cold pitches to brands she genuinely used and loved, like Behr & Moo.
“I only approach brands I can genuinely stand behind. I’m very protective of my audience — they’re constantly sold to, and I won’t be part of that unless it’s a product I truly believe in.”
She started with low rates to get her foot in the door, then gradually raised prices as her audience grew.
Abbey’s Advice for Aspiring Podcasters
Be prepared: Have a clear outline of your podcast’s purpose, audience, and goals. It will help with pitching guests, sponsors, and networks.
Respect your listeners’ time: Make sure your podcast is valuable, engaging, and well-produced.
Focus on connection: Be vulnerable, listen deeply, and treat interviews like two-way conversations.
Stay consistent: Choose a realistic release schedule you can sustain long-term.
Lead with your values: Don’t be afraid to take a stand. The right audience will find you.
“There are lots of podcasts in the world. Make sure yours is going to be a good one.”
-
Abbey Harrison (00:00.248)
But hopefully she won't wake up well. But if she does, she'll join us.
Maxene (00:02.295)
Okay, all good. yeah, totally fine. And you know, there's a podcast that will be edited. So, well, I'll do a little intro and then we'll get into the questions. But if there's anything that you want to need to like stop and start again, or if you don't want to answer anything, or if Max wakes up and you need to go and tend to her or whatever, totally all good. It will be edited afterwards. So.
Abbey Harrison (00:31.726)
Yeah. Sweet. Great. Take it away, mate.
Maxene (00:32.771)
Good to go. Sweet.
Today I'm chatting with Abbey Harrison, host of Why Do You Parent Like That? Why Do You Parent Like That is a parenting podcast with one set of questions. The idea is that there are a million different ways to parent, so each guest will bring their own unique perspectives, experiences, and feelings to the table. Abbey is a social worker with a postgraduate diploma in counseling, currently on parental leave from her job in maternity and women's health.
We connected on Instagram through her podcast and quickly discovered that we actually have quite a bit in common, including the fact that coincidentally, my brother-in-law is her mum's cousin. So Abby, what she's been able to achieve through her podcast in such a short period of time has been absolutely inspiring and she has been able to... So I'm just going to start that little bit again.
Abbey Harrison (01:27.192)
You're good.
Maxene (01:28.545)
What Abbey has been able to achieve in her podcast in such a short period of time has been inspiring. She's been picked up by iHeartRadio, she's had multiple sponsors, she's featured... I'm gonna do it again. Sorry.
Abbey Harrison (01:44.494)
All right, do whatever you need to.
Maxene (01:48.663)
What Abby has been able to achieve with her podcast in such a short period of time is inspiring. She's been picked up by iHeartRadio, she's had multiple sponsors, she's featured some amazing guests, and she's built a really solid and highly engaged audience. And today we're here to chat about how she did it. We'll discuss her podcast journey, why she started, what she's learnt, and what she hopes for the future of her podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today, Abby.
Abbey Harrison (02:15.661)
It's so nice to be here. It's very strange being on the other side of an interview. I'm like, hang on, I meant to be doing an introduction, like just sitting here like, oh, I guess this is what my guests feel like when I'm introing them.
Maxene (02:25.816)
Yeah, I totally get that. And it's also really nice to actually meet each other. Like we've been talking on Instagram a little bit, but now we're like really face to face.
Abbey Harrison (02:35.667)
Hmm. I know. It's funny. It doesn't feel like this is our first time meeting because I feel like we've talked a lot. I'm like, yeah, that's just Maxine. That's fine.
Maxene (02:42.452)
Yeah, I totally get that. especially because, you know, with your podcast and social media and all of that, you're quite face to face and we're both like on the camera and we're in the chat and the voice notes. you know, it feels like just catching up with an old friend.
Abbey Harrison (02:57.399)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, it's basically just, it's funny, it's been a lot like that and sort of making connections through the podcast. It's often by the time you get to talk to a guest, you feel like you've already talked to them a lot before because you've had so much back and forth with them. So suddenly when you're seeing them, you're like, I feel like I already know you, but this is technically our first time talking. It's very strange.
Maxene (03:13.184)
Mmm. Yeah.
Maxene (03:20.948)
Yeah, yeah, I totally get that. So what inspired you to start Why Do You Parent Like That?
Abbey Harrison (03:26.527)
Well, I have been thinking about it for a long time. I love podcasts. First and foremost, I've been listening to podcasts for about 15 years. First listened to the Ricky Gervais podcast, which is not my cup of tea now, but at the time Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and Carl Pilkington were sort of like my go-to podcast. And then as I became a parent, I obviously sort of naturally lent towards parent-focused podcasts and found that there was quite a lack of them in New Zealand.
And I think with parenting, as much as we can pull from the UK and we can pull from Australia, there is a lot of like, from country to country, the cultural differences are quite big, just in the way that systems work and in the way like, anti-natal education works and all those sorts of things. And so I sort of felt like that itch wasn't being scratched of finding stories that were relatable to me. And while some things could be transferred from other countries and advice was good and there were lots of great podcasts out there, I sort of...
was still looking for a New Zealand based parenting podcast. And I was searching for, I wanted to hear someone answering specific questions. And so I searched Googling for these questions, know, like parenting style plus New Zealand plus podcast and nothing was popping up. And so I got to maternity leave with Max and was like, oh, I guess I'll just give it a crack and see what happens. And yeah, it sort of took off, which was exciting.
Maxene (04:50.954)
Yeah, that's so cool. I feel like a lot of the time, some of the best podcasts come from finding those real gaps and like knowing there's a real lack here and this is something that I'm looking for and it's not here. So, you know, I'm just going to do it myself.
Abbey Harrison (05:03.511)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (05:08.737)
Yeah, totally. And I've always been like an extrovert and always found myself leaning towards making things and I'm not afraid of like being on camera and being a social worker I'm really used to interviewing people as well so it didn't feel like it wasn't something I could achieve. There was a bit of imposter syndrome for sure but yeah I was kind of like...
Why am I still looking for it or waiting? I was even messaging other people like stiff monks. I messaged her and was like, you should make this podcast. And she was like, well, I just don't really have time for a podcast. And I was like, okay, I'm just going to do it. yeah. Yeah.
Maxene (05:36.184)
Love that. So once you decided, okay, yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to just start my own podcast. What were like your first steps that you took to creating it and taking it live?
Abbey Harrison (05:44.887)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (05:49.518)
I started googling cheap podcast microphones because I am on maternity leave so the money is tight I had to do it cheap and found like a little yeti nano you know the classic the classic everyone's first podcast mic which I'm still on now and it's treating me okay and then started looking at for
Maxene (05:57.197)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (06:14.611)
names, like reached out to a few friends that I have in the social media space and started sort of workshopping names with them and told them what the plant, like the idea was and came up with the questions and sort of said what do you think, what could I name it and originally it was going to be called Made From Scratch, that was the first name for it but everyone was like that's quite Narrow Smith adjacent and if you don't know who Narrow Smith is she's a very different person to me, she's you know not not everyone's cup of tea but certainly not like
someone that I see myself aligning with at all. that was sort of, once I sort of got over the made from scratch idea, I was like talking to my friend Cassidy Skelton and she said, why don't you just say, why do you parent like that? Because that's essentially what you're asking people. And I really liked that format because it lent itself to so many other things. So like my sub stack is why do you reflect like that? I've got a mini series coming out called, why do you heal like that? Like it's really lent itself to a lot of sort of different.
ways that still have that really consistent branding. So I really liked that idea. So once I had the name, I found it really easy to do the branding and I literally just bought a Canva Pro account. Like it's not anything fancy, but I'm very lucky that a few of my close friends are graphic designers so they could kind of give me some guidance along the way. But it was very much me in a Canva account figuring it out. But from the idea of deciding to do it to launching the Instagram was a week. So I just...
decided I was gonna do it and did it, didn't give myself time to back out of it. And I think that was the key, I didn't give myself time to talk myself out of it, because I'd thought about it a lot and had always talked myself out of it, but this time I just did it. Yeah, so from, and then from there it was very easy to source, well easy, I was lucky with the connections that I already had in terms of like...
Maxene (07:45.569)
Mmm.
Maxene (07:50.68)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (08:00.139)
I already knew Sonia the baby-namer, I already knew Sophie Moskowitz from Imperfect Parents, I already knew Renata from Rome. I was just really lucky with the people that I had in the space already. So those first five guests felt very easy to fill. And because they were quite prominent guests in the space, it was easy to get sponsorship as well. I was just quite lucky with the connections I already had. But yeah, that was basically all I did. And I Googled like, easiest podcast recording.
software and Riverside popped up and I was like great okay I'll do that one.
Maxene (08:31.032)
What did you find surprisingly easy or surprisingly hard about starting?
Abbey Harrison (08:39.155)
I I was very lucky with how things fell into place. I'm a big believer in like the universe and you just kind of like if you're meant to be on the right track there's not too many roadblocks and everything felt like it was falling into place in terms of sourcing guests, coming up with names, finding the branding.
getting quite a bit of following and excitement from really early on and so it was easy for me to feel take that as a sign that I was on the right track so I always kept having that motivation which I was surprised about because I thought I might continuously try and talk myself out of it so that was quite easy was finding the motivation what I found hard was editing and just like how much how much hidden work there is how much hidden admin how much time it takes to get
a real figured out how much time it takes to edit out ums and ahs and likes and pauses and coughs like all of those things take so much more time than what you're expecting and I think that's what I found hard was how much time it takes especially if you want to do it well anyone can make a crap podcast but if you want to make a good podcast it takes time
Maxene (09:44.896)
Yeah, and I love the phrase you use there, the hidden work, because I think that's really a, when a lot of people are like, yes, I'm going to start a podcast. Most podcasts actually fail after the third episode. And I think that it is because of that hidden workload. There is a lot more to it once you actually get down and dirty and get started. And it can be difficult to overcome, especially if you've got
Abbey Harrison (09:49.741)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (09:59.726)
Abbey Harrison (10:03.735)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (10:12.205)
Mm.
Maxene (10:13.513)
other commitments in your life. So how do you, how did you kind of find that internal motivation to keep going?
Abbey Harrison (10:22.635)
I think I always call it a passion project because I'm not making an income from it. It's not my primary job and I think it's really good that it's a passion project at the moment, that there's no stress attached to me making money from it because it means that I can be really particular with the product that it is. I'm not having to sort of bend the will of other people or bend to the will of...
what people will like, like I'm really protective over what it's gonna be and what it looks like. And I think the internal motivation came from how much I was enjoying the conversations and the feedback that I was getting from people that were listening about how much they were resonating with the conversations as well. So I personally was just enjoying having these conversations. I always said like, no one needs to listen, I'm just loving having these conversations. That's fulfilling enough in itself. But then there were people listening and they were enjoying it and...
You know, I've got this folder full of screenshots of these amazing messages from people who have listened and any time I feel a bit like crap or a bit stagnant or a bit unsure of myself I just read through that folder and it keeps me going because the way people have responded to the podcast and the way people have talked about it being quite like a space of connection or a space of like a friend in a dark more lonely moment it's like
that's enough for me to just keep going every time I start to falter a little bit.
Maxene (11:45.601)
Yeah, I love that. I think that's so important for overcoming that imposter syndrome as well, is like having some really nice positive feedback that you can go through and look at and really remind yourself and encourage yourself that actually, no, I'm doing this for a reason.
Abbey Harrison (11:55.669)
Mm-hmm.
Maxene (12:08.19)
I'm doing this because I love it, but also it's being received really well and other people are loving it too. I can do this. So I love that you've got that system going for yourself. That's absolutely amazing. And you have actually managed to grow a very well-engaged community through your podcast as well. Did you have any intentional strategies around growing this?
Abbey Harrison (12:16.203)
Yeah, totally.
Abbey Harrison (12:21.165)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (12:29.111)
Hmm.
Abbey Harrison (12:33.801)
I wish I had a good answer. I wish I could say, yes, this was my strategy and these were my steps and this was my plan, but I really didn't. I think one of my strengths is that I am a connection-based person. That's who I am in my job as a social worker, but also in my life I pride myself on my relationships and the way that I can connect with people. And I think one of the strengths in my job is that I can build rapport very quickly.
Maxene (12:37.446)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (13:02.305)
But also I just love people, like I'm a real people person and so when there people engaging with this project that I loved doing and responding to it, I was responding back. It wasn't like a hardship for me to be responding to comments or tagging people or following people and you know, just building that community, started quite quickly. And obviously like when you're making a parenting podcast, a lot of the people that are engaging with your work are...
mums on maternity leave and so they are at home and they are on their phones and so they're actually really engaged audience because they're able to engage with your work a lot more or you engage with your content a lot more than most audiences who have nine to five jobs or you know a sort of traditionally not able to be as online as mums are so it's actually in terms of an engaged audience if they like your content they're really engaged naturally because they're sort of like looking for that connection whilst at home with a baby.
Maxene (13:44.415)
Mm.
Maxene (13:55.737)
Now you touched on your work as a social worker, being able to really inform a lot of the work that you do in your podcast. How have have your skills as a social worker transferred over into your interviewing skills?
Abbey Harrison (14:05.538)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (14:14.561)
I mean, I think social work, in whatever area you're in, there's a lot of sort of like assessment-based, interview-based work. Lots of like the way that I work, I'm based in a hospital and I'll be referred a patient and then I will go and meet with that patient and often it's having to cover a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. And so I think I've honed that skill of being able to make people feel very comfortable with me very quickly. And in terms of like...
often having to share quite vulnerably very quickly because I work in, often work in the termination space. So that is like a very vulnerable space to work in and often involves people telling me very personal stories very quickly. And so I think that skill transferred quite well in terms of people are very happy to open up on the podcast in a way that I was even surprised people were happy with how vulnerable people willing to talk on sort of like a.
public platform about their experience of parenting, their experience of being parentaged, like the hardships, the good stuff. But I do think that is a testament to practicing that skill so much in my career as a social worker.
Maxene (15:28.182)
What do you have any sort of tips or advice on how you can.
Abbey Harrison (15:32.109)
Oh sorry, I have lost your... I have lost you in my ears.
Maxene (15:37.272)
That's okay.
Abbey Harrison (15:40.0)
Okay, talk.
Maxene (15:41.762)
Hello, hello, hello? Testing, testing, one, two,
Abbey Harrison (15:44.631)
lost you.
there you are, you're back. That was bizarre. Sorry, go for it.
Maxene (15:48.309)
okay.
Maxene (15:52.938)
good.
sorry, what was I gonna ask? no you're fine, you're fine, let me, it's just, this is just an example of my, brain is not quite there yet. Like I'm still on the tail end of the sickness. Why? Yeah, I can hear you. Urgh! I haven't changed anything, let me, hold on.
Abbey Harrison (15:59.656)
Yeah, don't know what the question was, sorry.
Abbey Harrison (16:07.36)
I you again.
Abbey Harrison (16:11.841)
I can't hear you.
Can you hear me? yeah, I can't hear you.
Maxene (16:25.688)
I'm just talking. It looks like I can see the green. Okay.
Abbey Harrison (16:29.277)
two seconds let me just go turn off my other headphones
Abbey Harrison (17:03.841)
Okay, let's see if that works.
Maxene (17:05.368)
Okay, hello, testing, testing, can you hear me? Cool, perfect. All right, yeah, that's all good. I had this, just as a small tangent, I had this experience when I was working at my last job where I had my Bluetooth keyboard plugged in and it just kept typing the letter K and I couldn't do anything, like I couldn't put passwords in or anything because it just kept KKKK and I made
Abbey Harrison (17:08.023)
Gotcha, you're there. Sorry about that.
Abbey Harrison (17:28.893)
my god.
Abbey Harrison (17:33.677)
That's crazy.
Maxene (17:34.891)
I made my work replace my entire laptop because I was like, I've taken the button out, I've been on tech support, nothing is happening. And I went through such a process with them trying to fix the keyboard and then they just decided to replace my computer and it kept happening. And I was like, why is this happening? And I realised it was my personal Bluetooth keyboard.
Abbey Harrison (17:50.37)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (17:58.382)
no! And you were like, thanks for the new laptop!
Maxene (18:03.48)
Yeah, thanks for the new laptop. I'm going on maternity leave now and then I'm gonna quit.
Abbey Harrison (18:08.041)
Yeah, and then I'm not coming back. I love it. amazing. That's so funny. Yeah, sorry about that.
Maxene (18:14.112)
Okay. No, that's fine. Okay. Have you got any sort of tips or advice on how people can build this rapport quickly if it doesn't like come naturally to them?
Abbey Harrison (18:28.577)
Yeah, I think put yourself in the perspective of the guest and think about how vulnerable you are asking them to share and don't be afraid to offer up the same vulnerability. Because I think it's all about inherently already as an interviewer and an interviewee, one person has the power because one person's directing the conversation. And so you're finding ways to balance that relationship out so the interviewee feels safe to talk and safe to...
Maxene (18:54.264)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (18:55.817)
reveal things about themselves, especially if you're working in a space like parenting, where there can be a lot of stuff that comes up. I think naturally when you're asking someone about their life and their experience, this stuff is gonna come up. And so I think it's about being mindful of that inherent power balance that exists in a question and asking sort of format and balancing that out. And I think also like...
Maxene (19:15.329)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (19:20.001)
I don't know about you, but for me, when I listen to a podcast, I care as much about the host as I do about the guests. Like I want to know about the host as well. And I've had feedback about that from audience as well that they like when I'm sharing about my life too. And so I think figuring out where the balance is of offering up your own anecdotes and your own experiences to create that relatability, but also so that you're showing, hey, I'm sharing vulnerably in this space too. I'm not just asking you to do this alone.
really creating that like we're in this together kind of mindset yeah
Maxene (19:50.009)
Mmm, yeah, I love that and I love that perspective. think, yeah, you're so right. Like if you're asking someone to be vulnerable, you can't just come at it being like, right now, tell me all your deepest, darkest secrets. You need to be able to be open.
Abbey Harrison (20:05.805)
Yeah, yeah, tell me what you love about being a parent. Tell me what you hate about being a parent. I'm going to show you nothing in return. Like, yeah. Yeah.
Maxene (20:11.496)
Exactly, I'm poker face all the way. yeah, that's such great advice. it's like when you say it like that and you joke about it like that, it seems like, well, obviously, but it's actually not that obvious, especially if you're not used to interviewing people, maybe you don't feel so comfortable. And it can be really easy to just get into your, I'm in the zone, I'm in the zone, I'm in the zone. And you're so internal that you're actually...
Abbey Harrison (20:22.733)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (20:27.575)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (20:35.436)
Yeah.
Maxene (20:38.292)
not necessarily listening to the conversation, you're not necessarily engaging and that can make your guest feel really kind of stale as well.
Abbey Harrison (20:41.249)
Yes.
Abbey Harrison (20:48.141)
Yeah, and I think something that is like a real quick way to kill a conversation, especially if you're a set questions kind of person, is to just ask the questions that you've got written down, because that just ends up being like, I will ask you a question, you will answer, I will move on to the next question. I think you need to be really open to the idea of tangents and being okay with letting the conversation just go where it's naturally gonna go.
Maxene (21:13.388)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (21:13.803)
And then I think the art is in the edit at that point of what you're gonna keep in and what you're gonna take out.
Maxene (21:19.583)
100%. And Abby, I'm going to be completely honest when I heard the concept of your podcast that you had one set of questions, I was like, Oh no, because of that. And I've heard other podcasts before where they just ask every guest the same questions and it's very question, answer, question, answer. Um, and it just, I've also been a guest on that sort of podcast before. And as a guest, just feels like, Oh, okay. I just told you something very vulnerable and you are just moving on. Like you just, it just seems like they don't care. Um,
Abbey Harrison (21:28.191)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (21:35.212)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (21:45.261)
Yeah, yeah, 100%. Yeah, it's like, okay, well, moving on, and you're like, okay, great, I'm glad I shared that with you. Yeah.
Maxene (21:50.453)
Yeah, exactly, exactly. And then when I actually listened to your podcast, I was like, okay, no, hang on. So you've got your list of questions, but you're actually actively engaging in the conversation, you know, you're listening, you're involved. And so yeah, that's, really powerful. And it's very clever as well, I think.
Abbey Harrison (22:10.199)
Thank you. Yeah, I think just naturally because of my job, I'm used to having a sort of baseline of something that I'm following when I'm asking questions or in a conversation. Like as a social worker, you're always in a conversation for a purpose, whether that's information gathering or doing an assessment or whatever it is. Usually you're sort of working off some kind of structure. So I feel quite comfortable sitting in that kind of conversation when I'm meeting someone new in terms of having.
Maxene (22:23.8)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (22:36.469)
a list of something or a goal of something or information that I'm trying to find out but also knowing that the person in front of me is going to tell me whatever's sort of sitting at the top of their brain with them or whatever's hard for them, you know, like knowing that the conversation is going to be what it's going to be because that person is a unique person. And I think that's sort of why that structure felt so natural to me but yeah, definitely aware that it wasn't exactly a recipe for success.
Maxene (22:52.408)
Mmm.
Maxene (23:00.088)
No, but you came into it though with that, like, I mean, you've got five questions, well, secretly a sixth one as well. And, you know, five questions is not enough to make up a whole hour of podcast, you know. So, you you came into it with this plan and like, you've obviously got a lot of experience in your work as a social worker as well to back this up. like,
Abbey Harrison (23:07.671)
Secret sixth question.
Abbey Harrison (23:15.373)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (23:19.5)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (23:26.349)
Hmm.
Maxene (23:27.318)
I don't think you can say it's not a recipe for success because clearly for you it has been.
Abbey Harrison (23:34.926)
I guess so. Yeah, I always my like podcast idol is Elizabeth Day from How to Fail. Like she's just in my head like the coolest woman in the whole entire world. just like I want to I always say I want to be her when I grow up. And she in her podcast asks guests to bring three failures, like three life failures that they discuss. And I always think like if you're looking at that on paper, someone
Maxene (23:42.07)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (24:01.185)
bringing three things that they've failed and talking about it and that's all that they've got set for the podcast and they often talk for an hour. That looks like it's gonna be a really boring or weird conversation but because Elizabeth brings so much vulnerability, she's an active listener, she's asking really pertinent and interesting questions that you're often thinking as a listener, that's what the secret sauce is and I think it's quite like a similar thing of that. It all sort of relies on how engaged I am, how present I am and like...
Maxene (24:19.607)
That's what the secret sauce is.
Abbey Harrison (24:30.391)
how I'm asking questions, which no pressure. Yeah.
Maxene (24:33.257)
Yeah, no, 100%. And you're doing a really great job at it, Abbie. Now you've had a few personal challenges which you've been quite open about, including like mental health and the loss of a loved one. How do you keep consistent while you've got stuff going on in the background?
Abbey Harrison (24:38.989)
Thank you.
Abbey Harrison (24:46.753)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (24:53.985)
Yeah, yeah, I was lucky that I had managed to bank up a lot of records. when my, it was my granddad passed away recently and when he, he was already sick and we could sort of see the writing on the wall a little bit. So I did a bunch of records knowing that there was going to be a time coming up that I was probably not going to want to be actively engaging in really like energetic conversation with people and that.
Maxene (25:02.839)
Mmm.
Maxene (25:17.943)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (25:19.455)
ended up being the case so I was really lucky I had about six or seven records banked up which saw me through to the end of season one which meant that I was able to have a break from the sort of person forward aspect of the job and that really saved me and I think has been a really good lesson for me in terms of banking records and it's something that I know that you talk about a lot too of like as much as you can like have that sort of content prepared and ready to go
Yeah, that really saved me. And then in terms of like editing and reels and content and bits and pieces like that, I think I just knew that that needed to be done. So as much, it was more of like a drag than it probably usually is. But it was a thing of like, if I want people, because I love every episode so much and each guest is new and I want everyone to hear.
Maxene (26:05.56)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (26:14.999)
this perspective that each guest is bringing, it's easy for me to be like, I need to do them their justice and sort of respect this guest by putting as much effort in because I care so much about each story. So it is easy for me to, if I'm feeling a bit like, I've got so much work to do, it's easy for me to kick myself out of that mindset, which is nice.
Maxene (26:26.584)
Mmm.
Maxene (26:34.428)
Yeah, yeah, totally. I totally understand that. I think, yeah, like you say, batching your episodes so that you've got some up your sleeve for if something happens. Like, even if, you know, the kids are sick, you're sick or whatever, and you're like, no, I just really have to get this done. If you've got something up your sleeve, that can be really helpful. But in saying that, it doesn't work for every podcast and every format to do it. So
Abbey Harrison (26:39.629)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (26:45.822)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (26:54.561)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (27:02.282)
No.
Maxene (27:04.128)
If you can batch, it can be helpful, but then you also need to be willing to be agile and on the fly as well, I guess.
Abbey Harrison (27:08.301)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (27:12.905)
Yeah, definitely. I'm lucky my husband actually did a Bachelor of Communications and he majored in radio. He works in TV now, but he majored in radio. And when I first told him I wanted to start a podcast, that was one of his biggest pieces of advice was like batch create content. So you've always got something ready to go. I think he just knew the nature of like life and busyness that there would be times where I would need that sort of banked, those banked episodes ready to go. And he was right. He was proved right very quickly.
Maxene (27:27.757)
Mm.
Maxene (27:39.796)
Yeah, yeah, well it can feel a little bit, sometimes like you've started this content machine and now you're just constantly feeding it. Especially if you're doing weekly episode drops. I think that's another reason that sometimes podcasts tend to fail is people are like, yeah, I can talk about this. I'm passionate about it. I've got lots to say. And then they realise,
Abbey Harrison (27:42.593)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (27:51.103)
Mm-hmm.
Maxene (28:04.235)
wait a minute, I've got to say something about this every single week, even if the kids are sick, even if I'm facing something in my personal life, even if I just am too tired and can't be bothered, I've still got to turn it out every week. My audience is there waiting. So yeah, is a, yeah, I like to have something up my sleeve all the time.
Abbey Harrison (28:05.751)
Mm.
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (28:18.509)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (28:27.359)
Yeah, I think it's like it's quite I've had a lot of people messaging me recently asking about starting a podcast and I I really struggle to Like verbalise or put into words how unrelenting a weekly release is Like I don't think you can understand until you're doing that turnaround each week actually how? difficult that that sort of time frame is in terms of like
Maxene (28:47.895)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (28:55.701)
Record, edit, release, reels, record, edit, release. That's like a very unrelenting schedule. And so that is my advice to people starting a podcast, thinking about starting a podcast is be really realistic with the amount of time you have and whether or not like what your timeframe is gonna be because it doesn't have to be weekly. It just needs to be consistent.
Maxene (29:01.324)
Yes.
Maxene (29:12.023)
Yeah.
Maxene (29:15.743)
Yes, someone's been watching my Instagram. That's what I say all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It just has to be consistent. You're, you're exactly right. And it really, it really depends on you what you can take on a, because if, if you're like, yep, well, you know, I'm on maternity leave at the moment and I've got time and I want to have a creative arm. and I want to do something creative for myself and yet maybe weekly is right for you.
Abbey Harrison (29:18.894)
Hehehehe. Mmhmm.
Maxene (29:45.336)
Whereas if you're working full time, maybe it's a project on the side, maybe you're thinking about fortnightly, maybe even monthly, you know, and you can build and grow from there as your podcast builds and grows, but consistency is like, cause you know, your audience will be expecting, okay, well, every Wednesday morning on my way to work, I'm going to listen to, why do you parent like that? And if it's not there, they're going to look for something else to listen to. So.
Abbey Harrison (29:53.441)
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (30:09.089)
Mm-hmm. Exactly. And actually that is something for season two, because for your listeners, I'm in a break right now. I'm having a month break. I've just finished season one, which was 20 episodes of weekly releases. And now I'm heading into season two after a month and I'm going to fortnightly releases for season two because I'm looking ahead. I go back to work in December.
Maxene (30:29.655)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (30:30.315)
and I know that realistically I'm not going to be able to commit to that weekly release schedule. So in order to stay consistent, I'm switching to fortnightly from season two onwards. So that has been a bit of a learning curve in terms of the amount of work and being realistic with going back to work, knowing that I'm going to be much more time poor than I am now. has been, it was a hard decision to make, but I think in terms of that staying consistent, it was the necessary decision.
Maxene (30:47.799)
Mmm.
Maxene (30:55.731)
You're totally right and your audience, it will be a change for the expectations, but as long as you set those expectations and they come to know, okay, well, every fortnight, I'm gonna be listening to this at this time. As I say, it doesn't matter how often it is, as long as you set up those expectations with your audience and then are consistent with it, they'll be perfectly fine.
Abbey Harrison (31:01.709)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (31:20.683)
Yeah, and I think I was lucky in terms of that I had like built the audience already in that first season. And so when I started to, I felt like I was gentle parenting them almost a little bit. was like, okay guys, there'll be a break and then I'm gonna come back and it's gonna be fortnightly. But everyone was like, you know, I have quite a, I have a core sort of listener base that I'm in contact with a lot. And they were very kind and understanding and compassionate and like, you do you and we'll be here. And it was really lovely. So yeah.
Maxene (31:25.824)
Mmm.
Maxene (31:31.057)
Hehehehehe
Maxene (31:42.88)
Mmm.
Maxene (31:48.554)
Yeah, and I think that's the thing about having your target audience as parents or mums as well because they get it. They've got shit going on too, you know, so yeah, that's awesome. Now, as see...
Abbey Harrison (31:56.462)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, super understanding. Yeah. And I'm hoping like one day I'll be able to go back to weekly releases in the future. I can figure it out. But for now, we've been kind to ourselves.
Maxene (32:09.513)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You do what you can in the moment. you know, as time goes on, if you learn something new, if you've got more capacity, you can grow and change and let your podcast grow and evolve alongside you. Like, that's really the beauty of it, isn't it? Now, it seems like it's quite important for you to use your platform for good. Would you say that's accurate?
Abbey Harrison (32:19.532)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, totally.
Abbey Harrison (32:33.823)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. Definitely.
Maxene (32:36.915)
Yeah, I mean, in July you did the whole Gaza fundraiser, which was really awesome. You used your platform to encourage other creators to jump on board and raise money for Gaza. Were you ever worried about getting any backlash for that?
Abbey Harrison (32:42.818)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (32:56.215)
for about three seconds. Yeah, I thought what might this mean? But I also like a lot of things I do. I didn't think about it for too long. I just kind of went with it. I'm quite like an instinctive, like gut-led person in my personal life, but also it turns out in podcasting and social media as well. And I had already committed to...
Maxene (32:57.333)
Hahaha!
Maxene (33:06.785)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (33:20.353)
giving my July earnings to Gaza and my July sub-stack, because I have a sub-stack as well. So my combined earnings from whatever podcast revenue I make, I'd committed to donating it to Gaza. And I was sitting there and I'd just read something about how someone had paid 450 New Zealand dollars for a bag of flour. And I knew my donation was going to be around $200. And I thought my donation's only going to contribute to like half of a bag of flour for a family.
Maxene (33:37.047)
Mmm.
Maxene (33:48.31)
Wow.
Abbey Harrison (33:48.686)
And I'd been talking to a lot of creators about them not knowing how to talk about it, where to donate, if they felt like it was too late to jump on board. And so I just posted a story saying, here's what my donation is going to be. Does anyone want to match it? And lots of people asked if I could turn it into a reel so they could send it to their favorite creators. And so I did. And it just took off, like truly just took off. And I think how ending numbers about $8,000. So it's just like.
Maxene (34:13.982)
Wow.
Abbey Harrison (34:16.907)
All these amazing people managed to jump on board and a lot of people messaged me saying it was really nice for them to sort of have that push and a space where they felt like, I can jump onto this. And yeah, it just ended up being like the right thing at the right moment. you know, it just all sort of like worked out really well. And yeah, it's just something I've, I've been, I always knew that if I ended up having any kind of
Maxene (34:26.358)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (34:41.813)
job or anything that had any kind of audience that I'd want to be values-led because that's what I appreciate seeing in a content creator or in a creator in any way, in actresses and celebrities and whatever. I love when people are values first and so I always knew I was going to be quite public with my opinions and my values and what I care about and I think there's a bit of a responsibility if you have people watching you to use those eyes in whatever way you can.
Maxene (34:55.409)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (35:10.409)
And for me, I'm not making much money. am on maternity leave. Podcasting is not a lucrative game to start off with. And not for a long time, you know, it's a really slow build. And so I thought if I can't donate the money myself, maybe I can encourage other people to donate money too. Yeah. So that was my thoughts. Thank you.
Maxene (35:26.55)
Mm, it's amazing. I love that. It's awesome. And yeah, you got such an incredible response from there. $8,000 is nothing to scoff at. That's incredible.
Abbey Harrison (35:35.66)
Hmm.
Crazy. Yeah, yeah, it's just been amazing and it was really like It's just left a really hopeful feeling in my mouth. I think the sort of feeling has been quite bitter in terms of People's silence and I think it was really beautiful to see so many people choosing to speak up and Choosing to do good and choosing to like come together. It left me feeling very like okay
Maxene (35:53.503)
Hmm.
Abbey Harrison (36:05.407)
All hope is not lost here. There are people who want to do good and want to try and want to contribute, they just don't know how. And so, yeah, that was like a really nice reframing for me as well.
Maxene (36:15.382)
So what advice would you have for other podcasters who also want to use their platform as a force for good?
Abbey Harrison (36:25.057)
Yeah, I think just be brave. it's okay if people disagree with you and you don't actually have to engage with the people that disagree with you. They're probably not gonna follow you. They're probably not gonna listen to your podcast. You don't have to convince them. The onus isn't on you to convince them. But you just have your beliefs and be firm in them and know why you have them. Be able to articulate them if you can. And...
Maxene (36:42.326)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (36:51.821)
You don't have to be the smartest person in the room. You don't have to be like have a PhD on every topic that you're having a stance about. That's okay. Just stay firm in them and know that the people that are disagreeing with you probably aren't going to be listeners, probably aren't going to engage with your content. So do you need to spend time on them anyway? You know, like when I first posted about Gaza, people unfollowed me and I wasn't devastated. I was like, okay, that's all right. They're probably not going to be interested in my podcast either if we have such a big
Maxene (37:08.598)
Mm, mm-hmm.
Maxene (37:15.082)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (37:21.57)
misalignment of values anyway. Yeah, so I think just be brave.
Maxene (37:28.074)
Yeah, for sure. And you're so right. I think the thing with podcasts is that it's very niche. And in that, mean, you're very specific about what your podcast is, who you are, who you're talking to, what your angle is, but then also what kind of audience you attract. And if people are going to be offended by something, or if people don't align with those values, then they're just not
Abbey Harrison (37:42.839)
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Maxene (37:57.131)
the right audience for you, you know? So if they move on, great, move on. Hope you find something that you align with and you you've got your village here and your community here as well.
Abbey Harrison (37:58.794)
Yeah, exactly.
Abbey Harrison (38:05.323)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (38:09.941)
Yeah, and I think probably like it felt easier because I already had an established audience and So many of them were responding saying this is amazing. I'm so glad you're talking about, know I was getting for every unfollow I was getting 10 messages saying this is awesome and I actually like gained heaps of followers and my listener cat like my listenership jumped on July and
Maxene (38:14.901)
Yeah.
Maxene (38:24.914)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (38:34.731)
I think it's like I was lucky in that the first sort of controversial thing I spoke about I had an overwhelmingly positive response to with a few negatives. It would probably be different if I'd had an overwhelmingly negative response. But I think I'm at the space now that if I had an overwhelmingly negative response from my audience, I would be stepping back and examining what was going on with me because I'm so aligned with my audience that I feel like they probably would be me doing something wrong. You know, if that makes sense, I think, yeah, it would be.
Maxene (38:42.806)
Mmm.
Maxene (39:01.394)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (39:04.781)
a thing where I reflected on myself and what my beliefs were at that point.
Maxene (39:07.766)
I think that's a really great attitude to have about it as well because you know, I say I said before and as I was saying it I was like, hang on a second. I said if something is going to offend someone then it's not for them. But if you are offending the majority of your audience, maybe you need to have a little look at yourself and you know, yeah. So you recently got picked up by iHeartRadio.
Abbey Harrison (39:27.117)
Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
Maxene (39:37.302)
Will you tell me a little bit about how that process happened?
Abbey Harrison (39:37.421)
did.
Abbey Harrison (39:41.94)
Yeah, it was sort of crazy. I think they'd been on, they're always on the lookout for podcasts, I heart. They're very switched on people and they're always looking at bringing new people and new podcasts that they believe in onto the network. I had asked Ben Boyce to be on the podcast of Johnnwen Benfame, but he also is on the hits.
So he's technically under iHeartRadio and he has a podcast with his daughter under iHeartRadio But basically anytime that someone who's under NZME, any NZME talent wants to be on a podcast they need to let iHeart know Because obviously they don't want them going on a competitor or you know There's lots of reasons why iHeart would like to know So he forwarded I have a out like a podcast outline that I send to every potential guest to read through so they can get an idea of what the podcast is, what the Ko-papa is, who I am
why I feel like I should have a podcast, why I'm qualified to have a pod, you know, all those sorts of bits and pieces. I'd sent that to Ben and so he'd forwarded it onto iHeart to say, hey, just letting you know, I'm keen to be on this podcast, just getting me all clear. And then iHeart read the outline and liked the look of it and listened to a couple of episodes and liked it. And so just emailed me and said, hey, would you be interested in coming in for a meeting?
And I was like, my gosh I was terrified because in my head I was planning on building the podcast for a year and then starting to kind of like shop it out to Networks because I knew once I went back to work I'd want to be working with a network in order to start to outsource stuff and to help with admin and all that jazz and so this for context was about eight weeks after I'd started and So they sent me an email
I panicked for a weekend, that was on a Thursday. We'd organised the meeting for the Monday. I panicked, I got all my stuff in order, went and bound a little book with all my outline and guest list and dreams and hopes for the future and my current listenership and all that jazz and brought it in with me. And yeah, I just met with a lovely lady named Phoebe and she...
Abbey Harrison (41:49.856)
Yeah, we just chatted about what we wanted the podcast to look like, what it would look like to come on board with iHeart, and they very much left the ball in my court, which was amazing. I sort of went in thinking I was pitching myself, and went into the meeting and they were like, no, no, we want you, and I was like, my gosh, so that was awesome. Yeah, and I told myself that there were a few things that I wouldn't compromise on.
Maxene (42:05.193)
Hehehehe.
Abbey Harrison (42:15.873)
but they never asked me to compromise on those things, like owning the IP and bits and pieces like that that I was like very strict about, but that was never even a question. And yeah, signed with them the next day, so they messaged me on the Thursday and by Tuesday I was signed.
Maxene (42:33.266)
Nice. Has anything changed for you in terms of like your process or how you approach your podcasts since you signed with them?
Abbey Harrison (42:34.572)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (42:43.381)
Not really, was... The thing that I was worried about with signing with someone like iHeart is that they would try and have any kind of creative control because I have like a very particular vision of what I want this podcast to look like and so I was worried that by signing with someone like NZME they would say that I couldn't have any talent from their competitors networks and bits and pieces like that but they have never never said that they've never wanted to have any control or
I've never had to run anything by them. I do out of courtesy, know, if I think something's interesting to them or like when I'm coming on other podcasts I'll flip them a message saying hey I'm gonna be on this podcast just to let them know. The only thing that's really changed is if I have a question I now have a team of people I can message and ask about it which is so nice. Yeah, it's like I as a social worker or just as who I am as a person, you know, being a people person I love working in a team and podcasting is quite a...
Maxene (43:27.016)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (43:38.216)
lonely game sometimes and so having a team of people who are you know there's a social media team there's the promotions team there's like all these people who can help me if i have questions about like i'm about to run my first event and so getting their insight on that or like pitching articles like i've just had an article published in the spin-off so i could ask advice about how i go about pitching articles and bits and pieces like that is just so helpful having people who know the game really well
Maxene (43:40.118)
Mm.
Maxene (44:05.847)
Do you have any advice for any other independent podcasters who are looking to get picked up by a network like iHeart?
Abbey Harrison (44:15.019)
I mean, I wish I did because it came randomly to me, but I think, I think don't like be over-prepared. think treat it like a professional, know, treat it like a job interview, put your best foot forward. And I think the thing that for me made the difference for them was that I had this outline already for potential guests. They...
Maxene (44:18.761)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (44:40.661)
All it took was an email forward for them to see everything about my podcast, about who I am, about what the podcast is, about what the vibe is, the goals of the podcast. You know, I had that already from the outset going to each guest. And I think that meant when it sort of fell across the desk of iHeart, they could get a really good idea of who I was and what the vision was, and they could see where it was filling the gap. And I'd outlined that I thought it was filling the gap in the outline. So.
Believe in your podcast, believe in your product. But I also think like, you know, networks are always looking for new talent. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. If you believe in your product and you think that it's filling a gap on a network, send it to them. Why not? Send them a pitch. Like what have you got to lose by sending a pitch?
Maxene (45:09.367)
Yeah.
Maxene (45:26.249)
Yeah, yeah, I fully agree. And I think as you say, it is important to really have done all of that background work on who you are, what you stand for, what your values are, who your audience is, why you fill a gap, why your podcast is important. Because even if you've done all of this work just in terms of yourself, like for yourself and for your own content and your own reference,
Abbey Harrison (45:33.485)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (45:38.048)
Yeah. Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (45:45.014)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (45:50.893)
Mmm.
Maxene (45:53.024)
You can then use it in so many different ways, like for guest pitches, for network pitches, for sponsor pitches. Now, talking about sponsorships, you had some sponsorship deals from quite early on. How did you go about getting your first sponsor?
Abbey Harrison (45:56.685)
100%.
sponsorship. Yeah.
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (46:08.098)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (46:12.301)
Sent a bunch of cold emails No, I I did do a lot of that in that sort of week before I had launched the Instagram I In that week where I was like, I'm do a podcast. Okay launch the Instagram. Here we go. We're building excitement I also created a pitch for guests. So a guest outline sponsorship pitch and something else as well
Maxene (46:14.111)
Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (46:39.249)
Basically, I created a lot of templates where I was like really mindful with the language I was really clear about who I was but it just meant that doing all of that and it was a lot of work and like Yeah, I think that's part of the work that people don't realize how much work that is. It was a lot of work I was able to send through sponsorship pitch decks basically to a bunch of places that I really believed in I think the
reason that because it was Behr and Moo, the beautiful Behr and Moo who came on board with me for the first five episodes, I think the reason that they came on board was because I was really open with the fact that they are a favorite brand of mine. Like I only really approached brands that I had worked with before or that I liked their product basically. Products that I believed in that I had used that I thought
I wouldn't be afraid to go on my podcast and stand by because I'm never going to be that podcast that gets online and it's like, I use blah blah blah every day when I've never used them before. And so I was able to approach brands that I could genuinely say, I've used this and I love it. And it's something that I use every day. And I think that we really align and our demographics are basically a circle, you know, they're a Venn diagram circle over each other.
Maxene (47:42.103)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (48:01.357)
And I think that made the difference of me being able to be like, actually, I love your guys stuff and that's why I'm approaching you with this. Yeah, so Behr and Mood were like that, Viva La Volva were like that. There were a few brands that I was like, that genuinely believe in your products and genuinely think that there's like a really great natural collaboration here. And they jumped on board with that, yeah.
Maxene (48:07.976)
Hmm
Maxene (48:21.046)
That's the other thing as well. that's the other part or aspect that it's important to be quite values led in. And I know you've spoken before, I think it when you just, remember this because it like it's particularly, it is a particular memory in my mind of you speaking on your Instagram when you signed with iHeartRadio about that there were some sponsorship.
or ads around like gambling or alcohol and you just told them a firm no because this does not align with my audience. yeah, it's really important to be values-led with this because not only is it going to be most effective for the brand that, you know, if your audience trusts you to be bringing them, you know, stuff like sponsorship and products that you
Abbey Harrison (48:53.979)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (49:03.905)
Mm.
Abbey Harrison (49:13.303)
Mm.
Maxene (49:19.562)
have used and you can genuinely recommend that's going to be more effective for the sponsor in the end as well. So it's really bringing all of that together and bringing it kind of full circle.
Abbey Harrison (49:24.797)
Mm. Mm.
Abbey Harrison (49:32.546)
Yeah, and like I have turned down a lot of sponsorship, maybe to my detriment, differently to the detriment of my bank account, but there were just sponsors that I was, I think I'm just very aware that mums and new parents are an audience that are sort of like chilled products constantly and are told like you need this product to, you know, make your baby stop crying or whatever.
Maxene (49:54.55)
Mm.
Maxene (50:00.372)
Mm-hmm.
Abbey Harrison (50:00.734)
And I just completely disagree with that. think it's so predatory. And so I'm very, very, I'm very protective of my audience, basically. like, and I feel very protective of them. And I'm never going to let my podcast become a platform for someone to show a product that I don't believe in, or I'm never going to let it become a space that just turns into an hour long advert for a product or, you know, I'm just like really protective of the, of the podcast as a product, but also of the audience as a listenership.
And so that's always been like something that I really care about and was actually one of my sort of like deal-breakers with I heart if I couldn't Have some say over what was being advertised because if you don't know how networks work for listenership if you don't know how it works basically I heart have like a log of ads that they just kind of insert into every podcast under their network and So it's not
It's often not really like super personalized to the podcast itself. They don't go through and put it into each individual podcast, but you can have a list of things where you say, no, I don't want that being advertised on my podcast. And so for me, knowing that I had new parents following me and as a social worker, seeing sort of the effects that certain ads can have on people. said, a firm no to gambling, a firm no to alcohol, and a firm no to any kind of weight loss products, supplements, dietary, anything like that.
Maxene (51:21.047)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (51:24.619)
Yeah, those were my three that I was very firm on and iHeart were amazing about it. They were like, yeah, we absolutely understand. of course, you know, they never put up a fight about that, even though gambling would be a really helpful one, I think, for everyone in terms of money. But yeah, no, just not going to happen.
Maxene (51:40.215)
Good, love that. So how did you decide before pre-I heart, how did you decide on your like sponsorship pricing and packaging?
Abbey Harrison (51:42.434)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (51:51.8)
That was so hard. I made it really low to start off with because I was emailing people before I'd even launched. So I couldn't even say, I have this many listeners. I had zero listeners because I hadn't launched yet. So I knew that sponsorship would be get sponsorship. So I knew that I just needed to get some sponsors on board. And once I had some sponsors on board, then it would be able to say to future sponsors.
here's what it looks like when I have sponsorship, here's what an ad read sounds like, here's the pricing. I knew I could gradually increase that over time. So for me, the priority was finding sponsors and agreeing to whatever they wanted to agree to and knowing that I could work towards whatever I wanted my pricing to be eventually. But I did talk to my friend Nick Haldisos, who has a content creator marketing agency, he of helps content creators.
find sponsorship and works with creative ideas with them. Him and his partner Cassidy do that. And so I spoke to him and said, what should I pitch it at? And I sent him my outline and he was like, you are really undervaluing yourself here. So I sort of upped my prices when he saw it, but yeah, I really started so low. Like, I can't even remember. I can look back and find it. But I think my first sponsorship pitch deck said something about like a hundred dollars, even if that for an...
three ad reads throughout the episode which for anyone in the industry that is very low but I had no listeners so you know I kind of like had no nothing to stand on with it I just knew that if I wanted to get future sponsors I needed to show them what it looked like when I was being sponsored and why that would be worth their while
Maxene (53:20.779)
Hahaha!
Maxene (53:35.743)
Hmm. Yeah. so what's the biggest thing that podcasting has taught you?
Abbey Harrison (53:43.115)
my gosh.
I think probably self-belief and self-confidence, like faking it till I make it. A lot of just having to go with my gut and stand on my 10 toes about what I believe in and what direction I think I should go in. And I think, like, having my vision in my head and sticking to that, but also being open to others' ideas.
I think it's like the first thing I've ever done that's a really, really solo project. It's sort of been me from start to finish and usually I'm quite like a collaborator. So as much as people have helped me or given me advice or, you know, I have guests every week. it's the actual podcast itself is a very relational based podcast, but every decision that's been made around it has been me by myself. And so I think it's been a lot of trusting myself and sometimes I don't even know.
the why I'm making a decision, I just know that that's the decision that feels right and so far for me that's all paid off in dividends which yeah so I think it's just been a lot of like because this product is so me reflected trusting that whatever decision I'm making is the right one.
Maxene (55:00.503)
Mm, yeah. And what advice would you give to someone thinking about starting a podcast?
Abbey Harrison (55:08.557)
I think there are lots of podcasts in the world. Make sure yours is going to be a good one.
Maxene (55:17.207)
Mm. Yeah.
Abbey Harrison (55:19.179)
Yeah, I think like it's very easy to, like I say, it's really easy to have a bad podcast and it's really easy to have a boring podcast. It's hard to have a good podcast. Make sure yours is gonna be a good one and that it's actually worth all the work you're gonna put into it.
Maxene (55:33.676)
Mmm. What is a good one?
Abbey Harrison (55:38.124)
I think a good one, think remembering that it's entertainment for starters, all podcasts are entertaining, all podcasts are connection. And like, I talk about this a lot, but I know that creators and influencers are getting told to start podcasts because it can be a really good revenue stream. And that grinds my gears a little bit because I think that's gonna lead to a lot of.
podcasts being made that are just filled with ums and ahs and rambly stories and waffle and nothing that's sort of of any importance or value, you know, I'm just like podcasting is such an incredible platform or an incredible medium in terms of it being a space for long form content in a time where short form content is king. So I think the fact that you have people's attention for
Maxene (56:28.407)
Mmm.
Abbey Harrison (56:32.749)
however long you've got it for, know, for me it's an hour at a time. I want that hour to be valued and respected and to actually provide something of worth for them. I would hate to think that I wasn't putting 100 % of my effort or, you know, working really hard to make sure that I'm respecting their time by providing them with a really great product.
Maxene (56:52.375)
I love that so much, you put that so perfectly. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Abby. That has been such a valuable episode and I'm sure many aspiring podcasters will have gained a few tips.
Abbey Harrison (56:58.349)
Thank you.
Abbey Harrison (57:09.709)
Feel free to message me, Aspiring Podcast, can help you out. But also listen to this podcast because this is just, Maxine's been just the best and helpful and answered many a tricky question for me. So very grateful for you as well.
Maxene (57:23.702)
thanks Abby. If you do want to follow Abby on Instagram, she's doing amazing stuff and her podcast is definitely going places. Why do you parent like that on Instagram or do you have any other ways that people can get in touch with you?
Abbey Harrison (57:39.593)
I have a TikTok as well, it's not as exciting. We're building over there. But also my email account is whydoyouparentlikethatpodcast at gmail.com so I'm always open to an email.
Maxene (57:50.815)
Awesome. Thanks again, Abby. And if you love this episode, make sure that you hit that follow button and leave a quick review because it really helps more creators like you find the show. Until next time, keep creating, keep connecting, and keep podcasting.