Find The Core Of Who You Are
Morning Palsđđżââď¸đ´,
Youâre probably wondering why this coming to your inbox on a Wednesday instead of the usual Monday, and if you want to know why, scroll down to the Polâs Takeaways sectionâŹď¸.
Preview:
Watch/Listen Now
Who Is: Cindy Okereke
Essence of Cin
Pal Quote
Polâs Takeaways
Raffle Winner
Coming SoonâŚ
Watch/Listen Now
On Episode 23, I have a #CreativeConversation with my Pal, Cindy Okereke, Founder of Essence of Cin: a podcast marketing agency. Her podcasting resume includes co-creating and growing the Impact Theory podcast with Tom Bilyeu, producing for the Therapy for Black Girls podcast, and talent booking for the Netflix Strong Black Lead podcast.
Tune in to hear Cindy talk about how she overcame her late-age ADD diagnosis, her journey to marketing and podcasting, and why you should focus first on finding the core of who you are.
WHO IS: Cindy Okereke?
Cindy Okereke is a fellow Nigerian (a theme on this podcastđĽ¸) who resides in Los Angeles (another theme on this podcastđł), but split her childhood between Minnesota (birthplace) and New Jersey (âhomeâ). Although she initially aspired to be a doctor (Nigerian parents remember?), Cindy always felt that she was a creative: she would draw, write, and even perform her own Evening News segments for whichever parent was willing to listen.
This creative interest led her to graduate with a major in English and Creative Writing and a minor in Linguistics and Psychology from Emory University while simultaneously coming to terms with and overcoming a late-age ADD diagnosis.
After graduation, Cindy moved to New York to work for a book publisher. Although she wasnât in love with the admin work, this job helped Cindy realize that she had a passion and talent for marketing, working cross-functionally, and presenting information in a way that captures the desired audience. These skills helped her get books placed in notable publications such as O! Magazine and Real Simple.
Cindy ended up taking her marketing talents to the billion-dollar nutrition brand, Quest Nutrition, where she was tasked with overseeing the Inside Quest podcast that was started by the co-founder of Quest, Tom Bilyeu. In her first 6 months in the role, Cindy was able to grow subscriber counts by triple digits on multiple distribution channels such as Facebook (+605%), YouTube (+335%), and Twitter (+343%)!
After spinning off from Inside Quest, Cindy was recruited by Tom to help him start and grow the company/podcast he currently hosts, Impact Theory. Despite starting with just three subscribers (Cindy and Tom accounted for two of those), Impact Theory has now released almost 800 episodes with over 1 million subscribers across multiple channels!
With all the podcasting and marketing experience Cindy gained throughout the years (and results to back it up), she was inspired to pursue a venture of her own: Essence of Cin.
Essence of Cin
Essence of Cin is a boutique content marketing agency that specializes in all things podcasting. Founded in 2019, Cindy has worked with podcasting networks such as Dear Media, Wonder Media, and Netflix Strong Black Lead (which apparently, I donât qualify forđ).
If youâre looking to grow your podcast or are seriously contemplating starting one, schedule a consultation with Cindy today!
Youâll be in line after me though because Iâm trynna take P&P to the moooonđđđ.
Pal Quote
My Takeaways
Because my interviews are focused on my guests telling their story, I try to give them as much Talking Time as possible. âMy Takeawaysâ is usually a space for me to share my thoughts on the interview, but for this newsletter, I wanted to share some special news.
đĽłPol and Pals 1-Year Anniversaryđ
On April 30th, 2020 I went LIVE on Instagram for the first episode of Pol and Pals.
Iâm now on episode 23, and itâs crazy to think about all the knowledge Iâve gained, the people Iâve met, and the lessons Iâve learned.
I honestly had no idea where this podcast would be after a year, but if thereâs anything Iâve learned along the way: a lot of things seem scary, difficult, or impossible⌠until you start.
For example:
I had no idea how to publish to podcasting platforms
What type of mic to use
How to edit my audio/video
Upload to Youtube
Start a newsletter
etcâŚ
When you consider all these things at once, it can seem overwhelming, but thatâs the thing, you shouldnât consider all these things at once!
If you have a goal to accomplish something big like starting a podcast, going to the gym 4 times a week, or learning to play the piano: figure out the most basic thing you can do to work towards that goal and focus on that first.
This can be recording a Zoom call with a friend once a week, going to the gym once a week, or finding the easiest piano songs and learning one a week.
As someone that tries to be as perfect and as polished as I can in everything I do, this mindset can feel restrictive, but as evidenced by the late send out of this email, when you donât set priorities and focus on the basic things, you get to a point where you feel overwhelmed and unable to do the necessary.
To be transparent, I genuinely just felt a bit burnt out this weekend (although Friday mightâve been due to that second Moderna doseđ¤đłđĽ´), and I didnât feel like doing the things I needed to do. It came from a mix of balancing work, the podcast, and just life in general. It was a well-needed eye-opener though because it made me reflect on how I currently operate and what changes I need to make to ensure consistency.
I feel like I have a pretty good idea of the changes I need to make, but I would love to hear from all you go-getters on how you stay consistent and avoid burnout as well!
In summary, Iâm so grateful for all the love and support Iâve received for this platform over the past year, and Iâm excited to continue growing it [*insert Cindyâs marketing skills here*].
Check out the video below for a cool visual of what Pol and Pals is all about with a little help from some Special Guestsđ.
Shoutout to Juan for the â¨visionâ¨.
If youâd like a little more background on Pol and Pals and how it came to be, check out this interview I did with Victoria Principato and her Yuptown podcast!
Raffle Winner(s)
Congrats to Juan M.* for winning the Raffle Prize (again)!
*I donât want to say this one was rigged per se, but also nobody participated in the raffle soâŚđĽ˛
Coming SoonâŚ
NEXT EPISODEâŚÂ On the next episode of Pol and Pals (May. 13th @ 8 PM EST), my pal and I will be discussing entrepreneurship education, the key to being a scholar, and how to increase your chances of winning scholarships.
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