Ep. 15: Award Winning Radio Personality "AJ" Machado on Connecting with Your Audience
In this episode, Darren Reinke chats with "AJ" Machado, award winning radio host and host of The AJ and Sara Podcast. AJ discusses how his quick stint in stand up comedy led to him to pursue radio hosting as a full-time career, why vulnerability and authenticity are the building blocks to creating a more compelling story, and why every business needs to identify their niche.
AJ is an award winning radio personality with a winning ratings history in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area. He served as head writer for the "House of Blues Radio Hour" hosted by Dan Akroyd and served as fill in host for the nationally syndicated "Hollywood Hamilton's Weekly Top 40." His podcast "The AJ and Sara Podcast" is consistently in Podcast Magazine's "Hot 50" list.
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SHOW NOTES
How Stand Up Comedy Led AJ to Radio Hosting [1:15]
The Mindset AJ Developed to Thrive in Stand Up Comedy [2:38]
AJ’s Best Experiences Being an On Air Personality [3:47]
AJ’s Tips for Crafting More Engaging Stories [5:20]
Why Practicing Vulnerability Leads to More Authentic Experiences [6:31]
How Telling Your Story Promotes Greater Authenticity [9:04]
Why Surprises and Vulnerability are the Key To Telling a Great Story [11:53]
Why Leading with the Headline Sparks Engagement [11:58]
AJ’s Tips for Better Connecting with Audiences [13:33]
How AJ Maintains a High Level of Energy During Performances [15:01]
Why Active Listening is the Key to Deriving More Energy [16:20]
AJ’s Shift from Radio to Podcasting [19:09]
How AJ Balances Being Both a Content Producer and a Business Owner [20:29]
Redesigning a Radio Show to Thrive as a Podcast [24:18]
AJ’s Advice to New Podcast Hosts [28:32]
The Focus of the AJ and Sara Show [31:05]
Why All Good Podcasts Start with a Niche [34:15]
SHOW LINKS
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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Darren Reinke: Welcome to The Savage Leader Podcast, where I interview leaders from all walks of life so that you can walk away with tips to apply to your life and your career. But this isn't your traditional leadership podcast because I believe that leadership tips come from successful entrepreneurs and business executives, of course. Still, they also come from unexpected places, like Navy SEALs, successful professional athletes, sports coaches, musicians, entertainers, and more. So let's dive right into today's episode; my hope is you walk away with something tangible that you can apply immediately to your life in your career. Today's guest on the savage leader podcast is AJ Machado. He is an award-winning radio personality and has hosted shows across the US, including in San Francisco and most recently in San Diego. He's currently the co-host of the AJ and Sarah podcast that is consistently in podcast magazines. Hot 50 AJ, thanks for being here today.
AJ Machado: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Darren Reinke: Great to be heard your voice over the air many times for many years. So excited to hear your story.
AJ Machado: Well, I can't wait to share it. Thanks for giving me a platform to share it.
How Stand Up Comedy Led AJ to Radio Hosting [1:15]
Darren Reinke: So just take us back, rewind the tape a little bit. I think it's interesting. You've had a long, I think about a 27-year career in radio. What was that spark like what really prompted you to want to get into radio,
AJ Machado: it actually started with stand-up comedy. At a really young age. It's really weird story. But I don't know if you remember the group Friday Night Live, I don't know if it still exists. But back in the day, it was all about giving kids cool things to do. So, they don't take drugs and drink. Similar to dare at any rate in Sonoma County where I grew up, one of the activities they came up with is a teen stand-up comedy night. And I started doing that. And they would always have professional hosts. So at least someone didn't suck. And one of the professional hosts kind of took me under their wing, and I started doing professional stand-up comedy at about age 16. I thought that was it, man, I graduated from high school. And I won a big comedy competition. And that got me a bunch of work. And I was working comic. And after a couple of years ago that I realized, I only really liked my half hour onstage and everything else I hated. So at that point, I had to kind of brainstorm, and I had done appearances on a lot of radio shows to sell tickets to whatever comedy club I was at. And I said, You know what, that is similar. It's creative, and its fun. But you don't have to live out of a suitcase, and you have a regular paycheck. And I think we'll give that a shot.
Darren Reinke: Man, stand-up comedy, I think about overcoming fear all the time. And I think nothing would spark more fear. I mean, public speaking is what the number one fear of people but stand-up comedy. You mean talking about just taking live ammo from the audience and tomatoes chuck to you? Like, what was that? Like? Like? How did you get up there on stage? Like, what kind of mindset do you have to be in to perform on the spot?
The Mindset AJ Developed to Thrive in Stand-Up Comedy [2:38]
AJ Machado: Well, you really are up night after night crafting an act that over time, you know, gets hopefully pretty decent. So, you have a lot of proven material. It's not as scary as people think. And then when you do have a rough night, if your jokes were 10 nights in a row on the 11th night, a couple of people blow your head call you disco. It's always amazed me that when I was a comic, or when I tell people I used to do stand-up comedy. They go, Oh my God, that's I could never do that, or it's so scary or whatever. And literally no one in the history of my radio career when I said I talk on the radio said that no one ever says Oh, I could never be on the radio. And here's something, here's the secret radios way fricking harder. Radio. If I say something on the radio today, it's done. I can never say it again. If I say on stage at a comedy club, it kills, I can say it every night for the next three years. So, it's an interesting way people look at things.
Darren Reinke: Well, at least with radio. I guess it's in people's memory, but not in digital record. I guess perhaps they're they're being archived now. But hopefully people can forget and give you a pass. Yeah, absolutely. So, what was that first radio gig like, how did you go about landing it and what was the like just to be an personality.
AJ’s Best Experiences Being an On Air Personality [3:47]
AJ Machado: So I did an internship again in the town. I grew up in Sonoma County, and then parlay that into I got hired as a night DJ at a tiny little radio station in Healdsburg, California that was so small. It was literally in a what had previously been a two-bedroom house, this tiny little house and a tiny little radio station. They hired me to be the night DJ. And I think a week into being the night DJ the morning DJ took a week off, and I filled in for him; it's kind of one of those horrible radio stories, but I was on the good side of this one. They just hired me to do more things, I took over from there that like 21 or two years old.
Darren Reinke: Wow. It's pretty young for radio hosts. But what was that like in terms of just being on air in the morning obviously, at night and playing music, but now you're actually on air host in the morning and people are driving to work and whatnot. What was that experience like for you?
AJ Machado: Well, luckily for me, I didn't know how bad I was at it because I'm really coming from a comedy background. I thought I was going to do comedy bits and write characters and parody songs about horrible morning radio stuff that actually people hate. But luckily, I quickly started realizing, gosh, when people come up to me in the store, and they say they liked this thing. It's never any of those things. It was always just a real story. From real life, oh, I can't believe that you talked about that fight with your girlfriend. That's my girlfriend always fight like that. And I kind of quickly realized that connecting with people is number one. And then if you occasionally can make them laugh, that's almost secondary.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, I mean, storytelling, you mentioned a couple things, storytelling, also connecting with your audience. So I know leaders, all the leaders that I work with are constantly thinking about how can they craft a better narrative that really lands with people? How can they connect with their team? In broader audiences? Can you give me some thoughts in terms of how do you go about crafting a great story that lands is not the bit comedy pieces are probably as as public speaker, even those jokes are those moments you're trying to shock and awe the audience, but like what goes into creating a great story?
AJ’s Tips for Crafting More Engaging Stories [5:20]
AJ Machado: I think the number one ingredient to connecting is authenticity. It's so don't tell them the story that you think they want to hear, tell them the story that is a great story, get oh, and I, over time got to the point where I just kind of know a couple of kind of key moments in the story, I'm going to get to the kind of pivots that I certainly never planned it all out. I just know what, I thought, was interesting about it or funny about it, or whatever, you know, have a goal in the story. And it's really, one morning radio, you have to unlearn the goal is not always to make them laugh, right? You get just as much passion out of making. I was never shocked, shocked, shocked. But you know, you make a mad, they're going to walk into work talking to you about it, you make them sad, are you really any emotional reaction is a success when you're telling a story.
Why Practicing Vulnerability Leads to More Authentic Experiences [6:31]
Darren Reinke: But you talk about authenticity. I mean, that brings up a word that I hear and think about a lot is vulnerability. If you're being more authentic, you're sharing more of yourself. I know, for me, in writing my book, initially, it was, hey, I'm going to tell other people's stories and have that be anecdotes about leadership. But I ended up telling more of my own, which required me to be more authentic. But along with that, it's almost like the twin behavior, which is being vulnerable, like, what was that like for you in terms of just becoming more authentic and sharing more of these stories that connect with people?
AJ Machado: Well, once I kind of got that that was important, you know, I just didn't tell it came naturally. I think the diversity now is, is more gold than ever because everyone's seeing everyone else's lives. They're all these filters and their Instagrams that everyone is trying to show people what they think they want to see that I think it just shoots through whether, you know, it's a social media post, or anything you're doing to be real. I was kind of gifted with a bad story that ended up being a huge gift, right? So, I was engaged to a woman when I first moved to San Diego, which was my big break, boy, it was a huge deal to come to San Diego. And about two weeks after I moved to San Diego, she dumped me. And you know, of course, I was bummed. But I went on there the next day, and I was like, You guys are going to believe this. I got dumped by my fiancée last night. And people were coming with me in the hallway. I can't believe you talked about that. And I was like, Well, it happened. And I covered the whole saga, we almost got back together, and I would build up to you know, we're going to spend the weekend. And that saga really, you know, I had all these big plans of these big stunts I was going to do in these big radio things. But being vulnerable, like as a dude, it's already kind of embarrassing, but not only bummed that you aren't going to marry the person. But it's embarrassing that you were the one who got dumped, you know, but that was probably what accelerated my quote. And catching on in San Diego was having that crappy story turned into a relatable soap opera.
Darren Reinke: And what was it like that morning? Was it something that just popped into your head? Like you just decided to go for it? Or do you actually think about it? All right, yeah, I'm ready to actually divulge this. Or maybe it's just that's the only thing was on your minds, you had to get it off your chest.
AJ Machado: You know what I knew when it happened? I was like, well, this sucks, but it's going to be great radio, like I knew it. Like when I hung up the phone. And the best thing to do with that kind of stuff is don't tell the morning team, you know? So does the head 7 30 with a drop a bomb on you, just do it. So, you get their actual, real reactions. Wait, what? And then it's you know, it's way more real?
Darren Reinke: And what was the response of people of audience members and people that may come up to you in the grocery store and whatnot? Like, how did they receive that authenticity, that vulnerability?
How Telling Your Story Promotes Greater Authenticity [9:04]
AJ Machado: I think there was a real connection there with the audience from that I learned, you know, everything good and bad that's ever happened went on the air. It not in a way that makes it all about you because that's a horrible show. Right? But in a way, that kind of, by telling your story people are relating to you, you know, and then you surround it with all the other content.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, so important is being relatable, through authenticity, vulnerability, and it says, Yeah, you look at these icons of business and entertainment and politics and whatnot. And you think people only about politics, but you view them through this lens, like the Instagram lenses of perfection, but you realize, if you peel back the layers a little bit that, you know, we all have flaws, we all have faults, and I think just connecting in a real and meaningful way is so important.
AJ Machado: It really is I had a couple of times when I consulted would come to town and listen to my remember one specific title there was a really big consultant and his feedback after listening to my show was on a top 40 radio stations, which is the station that kids listen to, and it's cool when that all the latest hits. And he said really, you know, I like the show in general, but you keep talking about like you're a nerd, and you play video games. You read comic books, like you're on a top 40 station, and you got to you got to be cooler, and I was well, I've got bad news for you. I'm not cool. These are the things that I like. And I think there are plenty of people. I mean, that's it. Think about all your favorite. You know, I don't know what kind of genre of TV shows you like. But if you know, like, if you look at the office, everyone on there as a maniac, no one is the cool guy. The only way to actually resonate with people, I think, is to be who you actually are.
Darren Reinke: So is that a consultant who was just in town for business? There's as a consultant for the radio station, the consult for the company, he worked for these giant companies. And yeah, just when you get your program director to stop kicking you around, some consultant will come to town and tell you what he has a lack of magic.
AJ Machado: Yeah, I mean, being interesting, I think is more important than being cool. In this case. Yeah, be relatable. There are plenty of people in terrestrial radio, trying to be cooler than they are. And I don't think it resonates with anybody. Yet. My kids see these YouTubers that I guess look cool to them. To me, I'm just shaking my head for time what they're doing, but it's it's all from your own lens, right?
Why Surprises and Vulnerability are the Key To Telling a Great Story [11:53]
Darren Reinke: Absolutely. Absolutely. So what else? So from a storytelling perspective, talking about authenticity talks about relatability? What else does it take to be a great storyteller?
Why Leading with the Headline Sparks Engagement [11:58]
AJ Machado: That's an excellent question. You know what I think it's like, if you love cooking, you probably become a really good chef. I mean, I wish I can give you some X's and O's out of that. I know, you want some actionable items for your listeners. But I think a lot, I love a good story. Like if I'm at a party, and someone starts telling me a great story, that's like, the best thing in the world. I can't like, Oh, this is gonna be great. And so, I just said, when something happens to me, and I go, Oh, God, it's gonna be a great story. I just identify it in the same way other people might go, Oh, I love music. And that's a great song. Right? Love. Again, food. And this is a great meal. I love the story.
Darren Reinke: Well, you're a natural storyteller. So, how about this, then, what makes a good story? Like when you hear something, how do you know it's a great story besides just that, like natural intrinsic boom, I know, we got a winner there.
AJ Machado: A great story, maybe has a couple of surprises in it. It has vulnerability in it most of the time. And truly great story captures you with something that you need to get paid off. Like, you know, when you start hearing what someone's telling them, like an old school joke, something needs to capture you at the beginning of that joke that you care, you know, and it's the same with anything else, there has to be something, some itch created with the setup that needs to be paid off, maybe not with a laugh, but you got to pique that curiosity pretty quickly.
Darren Reinke: So, any tips you would have for people who are obviously my frame is with leaders and people trying to have greater impact anything they can do beyond some of the things you mentioned, you have to try to deconstruct it a little bit in terms of giving some of those tips, anything, any suggestions you would provide.
AJ Machado: Go ahead and lead with the headline, you know, don't build up to it. Don't give it away. But if you know what you want to build up to, you know, if the story is I was at my kid's Little League game. Some clown was in the back and there was a confrontation, but you can like, you know what that 10 minute story is gonna be, but you have to leave it with. I will tell you I almost got arrested at my kid's Little League game this right this Saturday, you know because that's like, oh, people are gonna listen to that, you know, do your best to really set the table right away with here's why you want to hear this story pay off.
Darren Reinke: Sounds like a real story. Now, that's not so we were talking about earlier love to go back to you in terms of connecting with the audience. So what's really the key to making that connection? We talked about storytelling and relatability, and authenticity and vulnerability, and seeing themselves in your own stories, or even seeing some vulnerability in a while, you know, I'm not this perfect person, either. You maybe have been dumped before. But how do you go about connecting with the audience?
AJ’s Tips for Better Connecting with Audiences [13:33]
AJ Machado: I think you have to, again, authenticity and vulnerability are the top two things. And then after that, I say, I mean, a big thing is been willing to share your actual opinion, not the opinion, you think they want to hear, you know, even if you think they're gonna kick the crap out of me, for this one, it's authentic. And those are probably the two things I would have to work with new people on when they join my show, is quit saying what you think they want to hear, and quit being the person you think they want you to be?
Darren Reinke: I think that's so important. It's just, we have these tapes in our head, especially people earlier in their careers and their lives as you try to be somebody else you try. You see somebody try to copy and paste what they do. They're mimicking their style, or the words that you use, I think it's its being who you're who you want to be versus whom you think people should be. I know for me, it took a long time to not some of those things. Hey, be the smart, Accenture, Haas, Berkeley, Darren and then now it's like, I just want to be me and tell my stories and sharing some of those things. It's just and by the way, it just feels better, at least to me.
AJ Machado: Yeah, it's there's a Mark Twain quote, if you tell the truth all the time. You don't have to remember anything. You know, if you're consistently you know, coming from the same place, you don't have to pretend that like football last week college football last week, and I don't you know, we think we make a lot of concessions even just in conversation and our desire to fit in.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, absolutely. So one thing that I think about is I know you hosted on air for four hours at a time. How do you go about just bringing the energy consistently, and I know you drop off drop on just given that, you know, go to commercial break, but how do you maintain that level of energy?
How AJ Maintains a High Level of Energy During Performances [15:01]
AJ Machado: You know, I think it's just been focused on the work, right, you know, the harder jobs interest or radio or the Sports Talk, guys, when they just talk guys that are just filling for hours that no songs in between and mostly talking about sports or the news of the day. But, you know, most of my career when we were still doing more content-driven shows, the second you say, alright, we're doing this in 15 minutes, we'll be right back, and you hit that song, you're immediately going to the phones, and you're taking phone calls, you're recording them. And if you get good when you're editing it up, and you're telling your producer get this ready for the next thing, and you're much more busy than a listener would think they probably think you're just sitting there, staring at the clock until your next official break, but you're constructing that break, get your rear pretty onto the whole time. That's kind of interesting.
Darren Reinke: I know, for me, just doing public speaking and getting from, you know, it's basically a one-way conversation with hopefully some questions and some dialogue, but being the emcee of an event, or even have a meeting, think about that. It's so different because you have to get up and sit down and just energize yourself. And I find that to be a struggle, you know, at least at first in terms of bringing that energy. But I love what you said in terms of you're busy between you're not just sitting there just waiting for the guy to give you the signal, say you're back on the air. Yeah, absolutely. Any tips, you know, you'd provide to people because I think just, I think about people wanting to be better speakers and leading better meetings and having lots of energy, anything you could impart on them in terms of wisdom about how to do that more effectively.
Why Active Listening is the Key to Deriving More Energy [16:20]
AJ Machado: You know, I think I have always said that the master skill for interviewing is listening. You know, it's like, you could sit there all day long, and plan out all your questions and do your research. But if you're just if the person's talking and just waiting for them to breathe, you can ask your next pre-planned question. It does not sound like a conversation that sounds like an interview. And it's probably going to be bad. I think that would probably apply to meetings and stuff as well, go in there with an agenda. But going in there ready to pivot on that agenda, depending on reading the room and how things are going, would be a big one.
Darren Reinke: Yes, great advice. But obviously listening, but really listening. I know for me, as a consultant forever, I was always constantly trying to ask that smart question and trying to be make sure you're the expert, obviously paying you fees for that. But what I learned through shifting into coaching was, it's less about thinking that next question. It's more about truly listening. And they said, Yeah, you'll come up with better questions. I definitely found that to be true. And obviously, you've had great success as an interviewer in terms of just being there being president listening actively to people.
AJ Machado: Yeah. And then they feel engaged. You know, you can see when you're interviewing people or talking to a person, and they're almost expecting you to just go on to the next generic question. And you actually asked something based on what they just said, you know, this person is actually listening. Yeah, we're having a conversation now. It changes everything.
Darren Reinke: Yes, definitely. Versus people just talking past each other, which doesn't sound very interesting. Not at all. Yeah. It's something that's interesting, I think, unique to radio. And I'm just imagining being a listener, and you guys in the studio, people are driving around people dropping the show coming on coming off, like how do you go about engaging people in that kind of environment? Like, how do you maintain any sense of rhythm and storytelling?
AJ Machado: That's a really good question because it is a super unique medium. In fact, now that I'm doing podcasting, I love the fact that I can actually construct my show I can have, I can decide what they're going to hear first and second and third of the podcast work differently. With radio, you just you try to bring people in at the beginning of a break, if you're just tuning in, this is what we're in the middle of. And you know that becomes a kind of skill in and of itself. You always have to be remembering even you know if you, you don't hear this much on podcast, but if you, if you still are a sports talk or news talk listener, you'll hear the host many times during an interview go. We're talking to Jon Gruden, the host of the Raiders, you know, like every 90 seconds or so with that in mind that people are just tuning in, you're constantly reminding people what's going on.
Darren Reinke: I think that's helpful, too. If you have these ongoing meetings, obviously, I'm thinking more from a business context, or people are coming in and coming out. You're constantly reviewing, you're constantly bringing it back. But in engaging ways, you're not losing the rest of the audience. You're still engaging with them. You're doing it in short, bite sized snippets. Absolutely. Yep. So, what are you doing now? So, I know you made a shift about I think last year in 2020, from terrestrial radio, as you call it, to podcasting. Like, tell me about that shift? What was that? Like? That's a pretty big shift for someone who's been in radio so long.
AJ’s Shift from Radio to Podcasting [19:09]
AJ Machado: Yeah, so radio is a pretty insane business, as I think a lot of people know. And I was part of a massive downsizing right before COVID. My show is actually number one at the time had nothing to do with my performance. But you know, you're just numbers on these spreadsheets for these big companies at this point. And I did have offers to go back on to terrestrial radio in San Diego that weren't attractive. And that was it. I'm not moving across the country to talk on the radio at this point in my life. So, I decided, You know what, there's not a bright future for everybody. People interested in radio that doesn't have the last name secret star, you know, a few a handful of people, Bobby bones. And I thought, You know what, it's just a delivery system who needs a big tower on a hill with an antenna on it. If you know how to make content. I'm just gonna make my own. So, I have relaunched my show. And I'm part of a couple of other endeavors. And I mean, the future for content creators is as good as it's ever been because we have so many platforms and ways to reach our audience. You know, it's a pretty exciting time.
How AJ Balances Being Both a Content Producer and a Business Owner [20:29]
Darren Reinke: Yes, definitely so many different opportunities, I think, just still so much Greenfield in terms of podcasting, but something that's almost implied in what you said, as you went from being an on-air radio host to know you're essentially a business owner in terms of not just the content for the podcast, but growing your listenership? Obviously, you do that as a host in terms of, you know, having good engaging content, which will attract more and more listeners, but that's a pretty big shift. What's that been like in terms of being going from the On-Air talent? Now you're the On-Air talent and the business owner?
AJ Machado: That's a very good question. And my honest answer is, creatively. It's the most fun I've had in years because my last few years of radio, we were literally doing four, three-minute breaks per hour, it's just the one where everything's going. So, I had, I haven't been able to do content that I wanted to do. And that wasn't creatively, it's the best, the part you just talked about is the worst. I don't like I was lucky enough during my career, I'd be like, Hey, this isn't working, let's call an engineer over, hey, this needs anything handed to my producer, you know, and so I had a lot to figure out. And I did that was how I put it to people. I didn't wake up every day with a to-do list. It was a to-figure out list, you know, how do I set up an email list? How do I build a website? How do I get the podcast? How do I, you know, I knew how to create content. And that was the fun part. But I had a ton of learning to deal with that stuff.
Darren Reinke: Well, that's so relatable. And I think just whether you're talking about subject-matter experts, they're you know, consultants, authors, etc., trying to build a business, but even just for entrepreneurs, I mean, I think, you know, there's this perception that people just have all the answers, maybe some do, but most don't, right? I mean, they're, they're active learners are constantly just talking to people, like, what do you do in your situation to learn all these things?
AJ Machado: Well, the timing wasn't great because it was, you know, really, once COVID hit, and I started having program directors go, yeah, we'll probably put you on but call me after the pandemic, I kind of realized, like, even if I go back to Radio, I'm gonna have to do my own thing for a while. So, when I was, literally the first thing I did was built a streaming radio station, I didn't screw it, I'll build my own radio station. And I had to figure out how to legally play music without being a bootlegger, and how to get that music and how to automate it, and how to literally set up the equipment I went. And in regular times, I would have just called one of my engineer friends and said, Hey, come set this up. But you couldn't get someone to come in your house and do anything in April last year, May of last year. So, I watched a lot of YouTube videos, I, you know, I Googled a lot. And I figured I just figured it out one thing at a time.
Darren Reinke: I mean, the power of so many tools, I talked to a professional golfer is part of the interview for my book. And he talked about he didn't have a Swing Coach, but he had YouTube. So, you almost have your YouTube teacher. So, it's pretty powerful that the amount of tools that are out there, yes, you really can teach yourself, Gosh, darn near anything, if you just put your head down and stick with it long enough.
AJ Machado: And you're pointing to a lot of the pains of entrepreneurs and a lot of people that when they're surrounded by in your case engineers or, you know, different contexts you got support, it's way different, you know, you're suddenly dealing with a lack of resources, you know, maybe a lack of investment to put the certain things, but it's a huge challenge as an entrepreneur, right. And if I'm going to be totally honest and vulnerable, I was actually wrong. At first, about well, I know how to create content. So, this will be easy. Because what I learned as I slowly started, kind of pulling the radio broadcaster parts of my brain out, and replacing them with pocket and podcasts is a different animal. And I had to kind of step back and go, Okay, you know how to create content, but you're just creating a radio show and putting on our podcast platform, which is insane because podcasts are used differently. They're just totally different beasts. So, I had to go out and bring on a consultant to, you know, help me figure out how to get it right for an actual podcast. And there's always a lot to learn.
Darren Reinke: I'm sure just even the nature of how people consume it, right radios, probably people in their cars, maybe in their garage and their yard, but I definitely never had a radio attached to my hip that'd be walking around walking the dog or his podcast is, in some ways, or maybe equally intimate, but just it's just different moments, right? Whether you're at the gym, you're doing housework, you're working in the yard, walking the dog, like what was that like for you? How did that really impact the way that you build the content and tell your stories?
Redesigning a Radio Show to Thrive as a Podcast [24:18]
AJ Machado: This seems so insane. Now, I'm almost embarrassed to admit it. But whatever, it seemed reasonable at the time, where I felt like my only barrier to reaching my audience was a delivery system. So, I'm just gonna basically do my radio show, put it on a podcast platform, and that that'll do it. And then I started seeing the data come in, you know we were literally waking up in the morning, you know, talking about, you know, what was happening that day, you know, doing, offering the things a radio show offers, and the data starts coming in. It's like, wow, most people aren't listening in the morning and a lot of them are listening to three day old episodes. And then the longer we're doing it like a lot of people are listening to a two-week-old episodes, right. All right, no more topical stuff. And then we kind of did that with each thing like Yeah, we were doing a lot of interviews, and then we just slowly were peeling away things that worked for radio that weren't optimal for podcasts. But, you know, podcasting is a super exciting space, it's where so many things are going. And it's where so many tools are coming out every day that are going to give us more abilities to talk to listeners and even interact with them. And yeah, now that I've spent this time learning this, I'm obviously continuing to do my show, but I'm founding it, I have a partner who has created some new like 2021 versions of entrepreneurship or apprenticeships, I should say apprenticeships, so you know, the classic apprenticeships are you'd learn how to be a plumber, or a Mason, and those are all great. And those are all well compensated positions. But he's created a place where you can learn how to do cybersecurity there, how you can write code and how you can do these more useful things. We're creating a separate wing of that for content creation. We're teaching kids through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Los Angeles, how to create a podcast How to Create a YouTube channel, how to create a streaming show, and so good. That's where all it's going. And that's, that's pretty exciting.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, I think there's obviously so much interest, I think about, you know, my kids, and just, you know, they always jump in the car. And they're like when they turn off the podcast and listening to, but they love the YouTube stuff. But I think what a relevant thing and skill for people to teach and just, there are so many benefits of obviously, I'm predisposed to this in terms of love the love in the platform medium of a podcast, but what a great way to get your message out to people, whether you're a brand, whether you're a celebrity, or whether you run a business, or just even want to put more thoughts out there, or even just more on the fictional entertainment side as well.
AJ Machado: Yeah, I think we'll see this more. I'm surprised more business owners aren't doing a podcast, just as a marketing play, right? Like if you're a real estate agent, and you start doing a podcast where you're talking to other local pros and real estate ever, it doesn't matter if no one actually, this is the podcast, obviously, you'd like it if they did, but you take the video and the audio, and you cut that stuff up, and you share it across all your social media streams. And it's a great credibility builder. And at the same time, you're making more and more connections with people you have on as guests. It's made, I think people may think it's harder than it is. I mean, if you can plug in a microphone, and you know, it's there's not a whole lot to it. I'm sure as more people aren't doing it for reasons other than let me hopefully build a huge audience and turn it into, you know, my livelihood or something. There are a lot of reasons why a platform like a podcast or even a YouTube channel can be valuable to almost anybody.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, I mean, there are so many tools, Tim Ferriss has a page on his website, where he shows literally all the gear that he uses, both in studio, and we travel, and he talks about how he mails mics to people. So definitely the contents out there, we're definitely in kind of DIY world. But I think something we talked about before is vulnerability. You know, it's like, there's a big gap between someone saying, Yeah, that sounds interesting. And actually pushing the button and recording your first podcast. You know, I know for me, when I got started, there was really an extension of writing the book where it's like, hey, once I hit publish, on the book in the Amazon Marketplace, like, okay, here we go, ready for my one, one-star review. 321. Here it comes. Same thing with launching a podcast, you record, the one you're committed to you launch it, you see where it goes. But that's a big leap for people.
AJ Machado: It is a big leap. But you know, it's there for people that are interested. And it's you know, again, you can learn anything off of YouTube, the few things you probably don't know how to do, you don't have an audio, or you don't know how to get some art for you, you know, podcast art, you can figure that out with a couple of Google searches. It's pretty easy. Yeah, tons of resources out there.
Darren Reinke: But back to the mindset piece, like what advice what would you say to someone who's considering creating a podcast, it's a nudge them off the ledge to address that thought in their own head of, I don't know if it's gonna be interesting? Others just, you know, are people gonna listen to like, anything you would do to nudge them forward?
AJ’s Advice to New Podcast Hosts [28:32]
AJ Machado: Well, you know, I would just say, you know, if you know, what your niche is, and it has to be specific. I mean, there's no reason not to get I mean, I mean, unless you don't have the time. I mean, time is a finite resource. And certainly, some people don't have the time. But if you have the time, what's the worst-case scenario, you do 10 episodes, and you had some fun, and it doesn't go where you wanted it to go, you'll still learn a lot and have something afterwards.
Darren Reinke: Thing, it's so important, you know, when I talk to people about risk taking, it's like, yeah, you can't guarantee what the outcome is, what you will get guarantee is that you'll learn something, you know, through failures, through trials and tribulations and hopefully, you get some wins as well.
AJ Machado: Yeah, there's a saying I like the two reasons people will tell you not to do your thing is number one, it's been done before and number two, it's never been done before. And with podcasting, you know, I really like to talk about cooking, but there's a million cooking podcast. Well, someone's gonna make the next big one. They are, that's factually accurate. Someone's gonna make the next big cooking contest and I think it's really just, you know, certainly there's a skill set there and everything else, but you just have to find the thing that makes your presentation unique. There's a YouTube show speaking aren't on YouTube but might be on regular TV now. I think it's called hotlinks. Okay, this guy gets A-list celebrities at this point on his show do you know, typical kind of celebrity interview with them while they eat progressively hotter chicken wings. And I'm talking your ear eaters, Elba, Halle Berry, and they're sitting there, and their eyes are watering. And they're you know, and it's fun enough to watch. I've watched a couple of episodes, but that guy's doing a celebrity interview show. If he told his friends, you know what, I'm gonna do a celebrity interview show on YouTube, and I'm gonna have millions of followers eventually get on TV. There was a there's a million celebrity interviews, you're insane. And he would have said, but I'm going to have meat chicken wings. And the chicken wings made all the difference.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, finding that Greenfield for sure. But I think also another point is, is there's always going to be naysayers. You know, I know people in my circles that I almost don't want to mention new things do this kind of go That sounds great. Just no enthusiasm versus people like Yeah, go for it. Because it's just that right mindset, right of taking risks and doing something different, breaking apart from the pack.
AJ Machado: Absolutely. And, and just, you know, taking anything you don't know and just making that the next thing to do with just putting out your to figure it out with.
The Focus of the AJ and Sara Show [31:05]
Darren Reinke: So, tell me more about the AJ and Sarah show. So, what's the focus of that? Obviously, it's different than telling funny stories people come in, on and off the on the radio program, but like, what's the focus then? What are you really doing with that?
AJ Machado: So, we're actually launching season two, it'll be out as of the airing of this podcast. And that's what we had to figure out. We were having pretty good deal numbers, as he says daily and weekly downloads, and it was going fine. But as we peeled away radio thing after radio thing, it really had devolved into just Hey, what happened to you that last couple days, that was funny, you know, just that's kind of telling stories, which was great for people who had followed us on the radio forever. But we knew that that was, that's not scalable, right, there's, you know, you can't be just looking for people that used to listen to on the radio. So, as much as I adore Sarah, we're from different planets as far as the type of media we consume, and the things that we like, and our hobbies. And so we have almost nothing in common, other than where parents that love San Diego. So the show is now going to be known as all in San Diego. And it's going to highlight the people in places that make San Diego awesome. And that can be kind of local celebrities to some extent. But more we just our first episode has this kid who is in fifth grade, he had a classmate lose hair on cancer, he decided I'm going to grow up my hair and give it to one of the hair for cancer patients charities, grew his hair out for three years, and then went and gave his hair to strangers based on something that happened to a classmate of his so like stories like that are going to be what we're excited to share.
Darren Reinke: What a nice story. Sounds fantastic.
AJ Machado: Yeah. And then, as well as taking deep dives into places, there are so many places in San Diego that we all go to. And it's funny because we kind of randomly chose our first episode ended up being the perfect example of this kind of place. Balboa Park, you know, you go to balboa park, maybe a couple of times a year, and you're always a little bit confused. And you're Yeah, there are things to do here. Maybe got, and you know, we get an expert on with us who knows everything they do there. I mean, there must have been 35 things that this expert shared that you mean, really fun things are treasure hunting with the kids, and they get prizes afterwards. There are secret gardens and trails that have a dog park, there are so many things you don't even know about places that we think we know. And that's that's kind have been fun to dive into.
Darren Reinke: Now, fun. It's like a personal tour guide in San Diego. Yes. So obviously, not all of your listeners are in San Diego. So, I won't go any deeper into that. But that's, that's the pivot, and we're pretty excited about it. Yeah, you make a great point, which is about niching down, you know, finding your niche, not just trying to cater to the broadest possible audience. But it's better to have a fewer number of just, just rabid fans, and who are consuming your content, versus this. I think people generally, maybe not the most shrewd entrepreneurs, but think, Hey, I'm gonna cast this wide net and be everything to everybody. But what you're talking about is being a little bit more of a niche in that perspective.
Why All Good Podcasts Start with a Niche [34:15]
AJ Machado: Yeah, because who you're trying to entertain, that has to be consistent. And it also informs where the people that are your potential listeners are, you know, and shows you what you know where to market and find those people and bring them in. And, you know, a lot of big podcast fans, point just shows, you know, probably the bigger show and podcast, and you mentioned Tim Ferriss, right, he's huge. Everyone knows about Joe Rogan's gigantic content with Spotify. And they go Joe Rogan, he's the biggest podcaster out there. And he, you know, he talks to Elon Musk one day and, you know, some scientists the next day that he does now, but when he started, it was comedians, and it was comedians that were a lot like him in comedy style. And he did that consistently for a very, very, very long time until he built up enough goodwill with his audience that he is, you know that they now will listen to his interviews a rock, but even these, these platforms that don't seem to have a niche, they all start with a niche.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, that's great advice for business building.
AJ Machado: Well, I'm telling you, it's harder knowledge for me because I wasn't doing that with the radio show. I was just doing, you know, like I said, I was doing my radio show and like, and once I kind of focus down to what exactly we're providing And who exactly we're providing for it changes everything because it gives you one filter. Should I book this guest or not? Well, does this specific person want to hear it? Nope. Or Yes. You know, should I reach out to this community for marketing or not? It's once you know exactly who you're going for, and what you're giving them. Everything else falls into place, you have to make a lot less strange decisions. Yeah, what a great tool in terms of acting as a filter, which I think people can apply in so many different situations.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, absolutely. The filter is the right word, give you a filter for everything. AJ, I really appreciate your time and you are busy guy. Best of luck with the podcast. But where can people go to listen to the podcast, learn about everything you're doing, just anything about you. And what's up?
AJ Machado: Find me at our website, allinsandiego.com. allinsandiego.com. I'm obviously all over social media in places as well, but I appreciate it. It was really fun for being on the other end of an interview. So, thanks for having me there.
Darren Reinke: Yeah, thanks for being here. Appreciate it.
Darren Reinke: Thanks for listening to today's episode of The Savage Leader Podcast. My hope is you walk away with tactics that you can apply to become a better leader in your life and in your career. If you're looking for additional insight in tactics, be sure to check out my book titled The Savage Leader 13 Principles to Become a Better Leader From The Inside Out. Also, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and I would truly appreciate it if you would leave a review and also rate the podcast. Thanks and see you in the next episode.