When you go on a journey to improve a skill, there are likeminded people who will support you, and there are people who will do the same as you. You either choose to treat them as competition, or treat them as cohorts.
Over the past two years, I’ve communicated and even worked with people who have their own interview podcasts. These podcasts follow the same vein as My Food Job Rocks. Interview food experts and chronicle their life, advice and predictions. However, each podcast I’ll be sharing is focused on a specific type of the food industry. From Research Chefs, to Clean Meat Scientists.
Some of these podcasts I am proud to say, credit My Food Job Rocks as a source of inspiration. Others, I’ve had the pleasure to help improve their podcasting craft.
I do this because I can’t tell everyone’s story, and everyone’s story needs to be told. By having a support network which motivates people to share the stories in the food industry is very important to me.
And hopefully, by the end of this series, you might also take on the reigns of a podcast.
I’ll be keeping their guests a secret, but here is who will be on in the next 5 weeks:
Paul Shapiro and Toni Okamoto from The Business for Good Podcast
As many know, Paul Shapiro has been not only a guest on My Food Job Rocks, but also has been my business partner for more than…half a year.
Paul and his soon-to-be wife Toni Okamoto (who runs the very popular platform Plant-Based on a Budget) decided to do this small venture called The Business for Good Podcast, a podcast that focuses on the buisnesses and people who are doing good in the world.
Though the podcast is not just in the food industry, there are some great gems in regards to how food business is impacting the world.
Paul and Toni are both influential figures in the plant-based and animal welfare movement and use their connections to bring in awesome guests. This Wednesday, we’ll be launching their episode with a guest that’s pretty famous around these parts.
Kim Schaub from Peas on Moss
Kim and I started our platforms at the same time. We actually met in a facebook group called Podcaster’s Paradise, an online course which helps build your own podcast. We had one mutual connection, another guest, Andrea Zeng, who worked under her.
Kim created the Peas on Moss Podcast, a podcast that has different types of guests which mainly focusing on R+D and innovation. There are also many Research Chefs and regular chefs on the show, so if you are into that field, Kim goes more in-depth on that.
Peas On Moss still regularly launches episodes and the guests are always insightful with a slight entrepreneurial flair. I usually see Kim in almost every expo and we have a good time just chatting over good food.
Lin Carson from Bakerpedia
Past guest and sponsor Lin Carson created the Bakerpedia platform through her own sweat and blood and has built it into a fully sponsored masterpiece which houses a wiki that has all the baking knowledge in the world. And this is not just the simple stuff like gluten or ascorbic acid, but maybe you want to know what’s diastatic malt or how garbonzo bean flour acts in your product.
Their podcast Baked In Science takes on multiple formats. They not only do interview podcasts, but they also do Q and As, and more technical focused podcasts.
I’m always amazed on how much content, from writing to podcasts, the Bakerpedia team dishes out.
Katie Jones from Good Food Heroes Podcast
Katie Jones has a pretty amazing story. She got laid off after an acquisition, traveled around the world in an RV car, then decided to go into copywriting for the food industry. I met Katie through her content on LinkedIn and she was very engaging the way she talks with her peers on the platform. Much better than me engaging on LinkedIn posts.
So Katie decided to start her own podcast and I had a hand in helping her a bit set up the format. Her podcast interviews food businesses that have a bigger mission. Whether that’s food waste or ethical sourcing, that’s what she loves to do and that’s what she focuses on. If you’re into learning more about food businesses that are mission-driven, then this podcast gives great insights on how it works.
Katie Mleziva from the Real Food Brands Podcast
Katie is a food brand consultant with whom I also met on LinkedIn. I think it first started when we coincidentally launched Carrie Arndt’s podcast on the same week. We’ve had some over lap in guests ever since including the executive team from Soom Foods.
Katie generally focuses on branding and not only does she bring in some really awesome guests with practical advice, but she herself does solo episodes that talk about the tactics in branding.
Alex Shirazi from the Cultured Meat and Future Food podcast
Paul shared with me an interview that Alex did with Lisa from Stray Dog Capital. This was episode 4 out of 4, but seeing his guest list be top GFI brass and Paul himself, I wanted to reach out and help him with his podcast, because I didn’t like his design or audio quality. Surprisingly, he was happy to take my advice and even better, I was able to meet him during the food funded event and we’ve been friends ever since.
Alex Shirazi is what I’d call a cultured meat enthusiast. He’s a managing director at a software development firm at his day job. Not a scientist or CEO, but he cares so much about the topic, he not only did a full-fledged podcast where he interviews CEOs of cultured meat companies, but he also did a full-on symposium in the heart of San Francisco on a small budget and impressive marketing. I was honored to be a moderator at one of the panels, and I can’t thank Alex enough for giving me opportunities to publically speak in Boneville Labs and Indiebio.
I love the topic of cell-based meat. Everyone knows this but if you really want to learn more about the many companies behind it, Alex’s podcast has some really impressive guests from all over the world.
If I were to map it out, My Food Job Rocks is considered a broad podcast. It’s a podcast about career advice and showcasing the food jobs that are present today. The podcasts listed here are part of this, but are much more specific and also have their unique twist on things, and maybe you want that type specificity in your podcast library.
And if there isn’t a podcast that fits your need, perhaps this will show you the opportunity to create your own.