From Pyramids to Podcasts: Capturing Community Memories In Conversations

Why Start a Podcast Now?

For years, I’ve been mentally hoarding design leadership stories like a squirrel stockpiling acorns. As a design community builder and event producer, I’ve witnessed countless moments where leaders connect, grow, and transform—not just themselves, but their entire communities. These stories, filled with triumphs, challenges, and the occasional strong drink, deserved to be shared beyond the conference rooms and leadership retreat gathering places where they began.

The idea for Cheers & Tiers had been brewing since mid-pandemic. Every time I caught up with a fellow AIGAer and heard, “Remember when…” followed by laughter or a knowing look, I knew these stories had value beyond our small circle. Then, over sushi at Sugarfish in February 2024, while catching up with AIGA leader Phil Hamlett, I had a lightbulb moment: Phil’s got a great story—but how do we catch everyone up?

From Thought to Action (Finally)

What finally pushed me from thinking to doing? A lunch meeting in Seattle with Erik, where we realized something: the era of in-person AIGA leadership retreats had created a unique slice of design history. As the community evolved and new leaders emerged, these shared experiences were at risk of fading into oblivion (or at least being reduced to random anecdotes over cocktails).

Filling the Gap in Design Leadership Content

There are plenty of great design podcasts out there—ones that cover techniques, trends, and personal career journeys. But something was missing: few captured the communal aspect of design leadership and the transformative power of being part of something bigger than yourself.

Design content tends to focus on individual achievements and skills, but in my experience, what really shapes design leaders is the people around them—the mentors who push them, the peers who challenge them, and the networks that keep them afloat when things get tough.

That’s where Cheers & Tiers comes in: a podcast about how getting involved in design communities like AIGA has shaped careers, sparked lifelong friendships, and built resilient networks that still influence the industry today.

From Hesitation to Just Freaking Doing It

I’ll admit, I dragged my feet. Despite my experience producing events and running livestreams, the thought of launching a podcast was intimidating. Would I have time to edit? Would anyone actually listen? Could I justify the time and money for yet another side project? What if our stories only resonated with the people who lived them?

The turning point? Realizing these weren’t just nostalgic campfire tales—they were lessons in leadership, community, and growth, still relevant no matter when or how they happened.

So, over Christmas break 2024, Erik and I finally stopped overanalyzing and just fricken did it. We mapped out the concept, brainstormed guests, and dove into the world of podcast production.

The hardest part? Coming up with a name. We threw ideas at the wall for two weeks, trying to find something that fit.

Pre-Launch Preparation: Keeping It Simple

When it came to gear, Erik and I had one main rule—keep it somewhat budget-friendly and not add to our already massive list of obstacles. I mean, we had plenty of those to deal with already. After drowning in an ocean of “must-have podcast equipment” lists, we landed on a solid mid-tier setup that wouldn’t make our wallets cry.

• Microphones: Although we both own Blue Yeti USB condenser microphones ($100), I prefer the buttery NPR-esque sound of a dynamic mic so now we both purchased Shure MV7X ($180) mics that connect to Focusrite Scarlett 212 USB interfaces ($200) we already have.

• Headphones: Nothing fancy here—Erik and I used what we had. He has Bose Quiet Comfort 35 headphones ($400) and I have JBL Tour Ones ($300). But the cans felt heavy on my head during the first recording, so I went back to my Shure SE215 in-ear monitors ($100) because that’s what I use when hosting live streams.

• Cameras: Both new. Erik has a Lumina webcam ($150). I have a Sony ZV-E10 DSLR ($800) with a Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN lens ($400) on it.

For software, we wanted reliability without complexity (but that didn’t happen).

• Recording and Editing: This part was painful. Recording in Riverside.fm ($29/mo). I found Riverside’s editing tools to be a bit crude, so I moved to editing in Descript ($24/mo). Descript’s editor is more detailed and advanced, but the recording quality is not the same as Riverside, editing in the cloud is very laggy, and… I lost one recording. So I’m back to editing in good ol’ Adobe Premiere Pro ($38/mo) for post-production with an Autocut plug-in ($15/mo) to save time on multicam editing.

• Podcast Hosting: Transistor.fm ($49/month) for its intuitive interface, dynamic ads, and comprehensive distribution. So far, loving it.

The learning curve wasn’t just steep—it was a full-on vertical climb. Deciding between audio or video was already a headache, but editing? That was a whole new level of chaos.

I spent over 40 hours wrestling with Riverside and Descript, crafting an episode template, and piecing together a workflow that wouldn’t make me lose my mind. After all that trial and error, I’ve got it down to a somewhat manageable 5–6 hours per episode—tweaking audio, adding images and lower-thirds, cleaning things up, slapping on an intro and credits, and finally exporting both audio and video. Progress! (I think.)

Content Planning: Keep It Simple (Because Complexity Is Overrated)

For our content plan, we went with a super simple, casual run-of-show—because overcomplicating things is a guaranteed way to not start a podcast. Every episode follows this basic structure:

• Official podcast intro

• Guest introduction

• Catch-up small talk

• A semi-structured interview about AIGA leadership retreats, post-program experiences, and how they shaped careers and lives

• Co-host reactions

We sketched this out in Apple Notes, built an episode template in Basecamp, and set up a running guest list in Airtable with contact info and scheduling priorities.

Then, before even recording a trailer, Erik and I practiced the intro dozens of times and casually knocked out eight episodes with friends. You know, just to make sure we had enough practice before telling the world we were doing this. And, the long-read intro didn’t even make it into the final template.

The Launch Experience: A Mix of Panic and Technical Chaos

Releasing our first episode—a trailer introducing the concept—felt both anticlimactic and terrifying. Sure, we’ve done similar campaigns for employers and clients. But publishing something you made? That hits differently. One second, you’re tweaking every detail; the next, you hit “publish,” and suddenly, your voice is out there for anyone to hear. No take-backs.

Of course, technical hiccups came for us hard:

• It took forever to find the right intro music. We eventually landed on a track by Erik’s band, Silver Ships Plastic Oceans.

• Erik had a Logitech webcam that kept flickering before he moved to the Lumina. I tried to edit around the flickers but gave up after the first episode, so he just got a new webcam instead.

• I, uh, accidentally published our RSS feed three times, which meant we had three different versions of the show, two of which were live for a full 24 hours before I realized. Oops.

Despite the chaos, the best part was the unprompted responses from former AIGA friends who were excited that someone was finally documenting this era of design community-building. One message from Carolyn Colonna stood out: “Just finished this episode and it was awesome! This made me “homesick” for the AIGA community. Miss you all so much.” That alone made it all feel worth it.

Early Metrics & Embracing the Slow Build

We set exactly zero goals for this podcast. The whole point was to reconnect with our design leadership friends and create a space where they could catch up with each other. See? No metrics to worry about.

That said, our numbers are humble but promising: three episodes, 72 downloads in two weeks, mostly from direct links rather than platform discovery. No viral moments—just steady, organic growth. We also had 7 email subscribers (subscribe here if you’d like to get more articles like these).

For promotion, we’re keeping it simple: LinkedIn posts and good ol’ word of mouth. This kind of niche podcast builds through community, not algorithms, and we’re good with that.

Lessons Learned: Humility, Flexibility & Just Hitting Publish

First-month takeaways:

1. Perfect is the enemy of publishing. We spent way too much time tweaking audio levels and second-guessing the intro script. That energy would’ve been better spent recording extra episodes or planning our promo strategy.

2. Scheduling is a nightmare. Our guests are enthusiastic—but coordinating calendars? Brutal. We now schedule and record 4–6 weeks in advance to avoid last-minute chaos.

3. Community > technology. Our best resource hasn’t been fancy gear or editing software. It’s been the people—AIGA friends who offered advice, feedback, and encouragement.

If I could do it all over again, I would:

• Nail down my editing template months before launching and have 3–4 episodes fully finished for a smoother release schedule.

• Spend less time obsessing over balancing audio and video quality and more time making promotional assets.

• Create a better guest prep doc so our guests felt more confident coming into the recording.

Biggest surprise? How vulnerable it feels to put your voice out there. Public speaking? No problem. Running live events for 3,000+ attendees? Easy. But something about a podcast, permanently living in people’s apps, makes it feel much more personal.

Finding Your Rhythm

Whether you’re thinking about starting your own podcast or just curious about the process, I hope this gave you some insight (and maybe a few snickers). If there’s one thing I’ve learned from years in the design community, it’s that sharing our messy, imperfect journeys is how we help others find their own path.

Now, on to the next episode.

Have you started a creative project recently? What unexpected challenges did you face? Have you thought about starting a podcast? Share your experiences in the comments below, and let me know what aspects of podcasting you'd like me to explore in future articles.

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