Why we need women in leadership positions in the podcast industry

In May, I traveled to St. George, Utah for the first-ever Outlier Podcast Festival, hosted by Outlier HQ. In my ever-expanding search for in-person podcast meetups, I came across this festival’s website in February and immediately reached out to it’s founder, Ever Gonzalez, to learn about press passes for the event. Instead of just inviting me as an attendee, Ever asked if I would moderate the panel they were planning on women in podcasting. I was honored, and I accepted the role.

I took this responsibility seriously, as I felt it was a platform I could use to discuss inequality in the podcast industry. We’re still at the beginning stages of the industry, and while there are many factors that will ensure that the experience of women in podcasting will never be as bad as it was elsewhere, we are still at a critical point. We can be very transparent in this day and age; calling out unfair practices as we see them and holding people accountable for their actions/intentions.

Outlier Podcast Festival was a really well-planned festival, with sessions spanning all aspects of the industry. Speakers came from near and far to share knowledge with attendees who were both new to podcasting and veterans of the trade.

I prepared a number of questions for my panel, which consisted of 5 extremely talented, experienced podcast producers/entrepreneurs. My questions were:

• Can you share any instances of sexism that you’ve faced in this industry?
• Has anyone told you or remarked that someone close to you had a sort of irksome voice?
• Have you been warned of vocal fry?
• Can you share instances of empowerment you’ve experienced as a woman in this industry?
• How can we hold men and other women accountable for making the podcast industry an equal space?
• How can we look to intersectional feminism to note that we all can’t progress until women of all colors are able to progress at the same rates?

The women on my panel told amazing stories, shared their experiences, and definitely helped the men in the room become aware of some inequalities they’d previously been unaware of.

I write all of this to say that we can’t move forward unless we are all able to move forward. I was listening to This American Life’s “LaDonna” episode last night and something stood out to me. LaDonna, an airport security employee who successfully shook up (and out) some of the sexist practices of the office and, who was the subject of the episode, looked to Sheryl Sandberg for career advice. LaDonna read “Lean In” and learned that the reason changes were made at Google and Facebook was because there was a woman in the [deciding] room: Sandberg.

What is the equivalent for this in the podcast industry? How can we make sure that, in this relatively new industry, we are leaving behind the factors that have, in the past, held women back in their work?

When my panel was finished, a podcast attendee rushed to my seat to tell me the following: she was so grateful that I made the points that I did about vocal fry and how women are often put down for their voices being “annoying.” She said that earlier that day, at a break-out session, a man told her that her voice was too annoying and that she should consider not starting a podcast. I stared at her in disbelief. THIS is why we need women in leadership positions in the podcast industry… in all industries.

Outlier Podcast Festival is headed to Los Angeles for a partnership event with Village Workspaces’ Village Podcasting Studio. This time, I will continue to talk to women about podcasting in another panel, AND I am helping to plan the entire festival with Ever Gonzalez. Our goal is to create a superb podcast festival with top quality talent, workshops, entertainment, and more. We want to make sure we have representation from all communities of Los Angeles and beyond. Please reach out if you’re interested in helping to organize. We want to hear from you.