A Q&A with Megaphone Partner, Lipstick & Vinyl

For those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about your program(s)

There is not one program but over 20 that make up Lipstick & Vinyl. We are a podcast network made up of independent podcasters. The hosts are all dynamic and accomplished women in a variety of fields. The network supports the shows by representing them for advertising sales, helping with audience growth and providing the hosting platform, Megaphone!

Tell us the origin story of your podcast, how it all came together.

I spent a decade in advertising sales before starting Lipstick & Vinyl. Half was spent in radio at Westwood One and the other half was with the major podcast networks. Working at Midroll, Acast and Podcast One I learned how to build a podcast network from the very best in the business. Each company was at a different growth stage from bootstrapped to Series B funded. I got a great education.

At what point did you start thinking of this as a business?

Early in 2018 there were no networks focused on content made by and for women. The huge blue sky of opportunity coincided with the time I was ready to build something. I started the network with one show and built from there.

What’s your audience? Who are trying to reach?

Our audience is women and other people who are under-represented in traditional media. Print and TV and radio have a long history and have looked homogenous. The people who run the business, the people in front of the microphones are largely the same.

We have more than one audience. First, there are the podcasters who are telling new stories from new perspectives. We want to show up for them when they are ready for representation. We work hard to make sure our brand is one that speaks to them and shares values. We value the female and other under-represented groups’ perspective. We value respect, transparency, collaboration, community and the ability to earn a living by using our voices.

The listening audience is served by the podcasts more than by the network directly.

The other audience we serve is the brand and advertising agency community. We take pride in being a network that offers a female audience in a variety of categories and is always a good partner.

Talk through the creative process for how you choose your topics and themes for your programming.

We choose the people rather than the topics for the podcasts. When someone comes to pitch us, we are drawn to the experts, the rabid fans, the teachers, the sharers. Then, we look for a real passion to make a podcast. Being an expert or believing in something is not enough. Podcasting is a long marathon and you have to be ready and unafraid of the commitment.You have to have empathy for your audience. And of course, for us you need to be a good partner to advertisers.

What’s next for you and your podcast?

We continue to help our shows earn audience and revenue. We are also adding to the network new shows all the time.

Name a podcast you love.

The Only One In The Room. The podcast exemplifies who we are as a network. The purpose of the show is essentially to help people understand that they are not alone. The show makes you feel like someone out there understands you. And to be understood is one of the greatest feelings we have.