"From Print to Podcasting: A Media Journey Built on Storytelling That Connects with Cindy Mich.”

Why Choose Podcasting?

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Every great storyteller starts somewhere. Sometimes it begins with a notebook, sometimes behind a camera, and sometimes it begins with a microphone. In today's episode, Gabe sits down with Cindy Mitch, an award-winning journalist, media personality, filmmaker, publisher, and founder of the independent film festival, Art is Alive, and host of her podcast, Sin's Chat Corner. With a listening audience of more than 200,000 people, and a career built across journalism, publishing, film, and podcasting, Cindy shares what it means to evolve as a storyteller in a rapidly changing media landscape. From print journalism to podcasting, this conversation dives deep into authenticity, storytelling that resonates, building platforms that matter, and why human connection will always outlast trends and algorithms. Whether you're an aspiring podcaster, a creator trying to find your voice, or someone passionate about meaningful media, this episode is packed with insight, honesty, and inspiration. Let's dive into this conversation with Cindy.

Gabe Leal 2:05

The purpose and genesis of this show is to help new podcasters or aspiring podcasters who want to jump into the seat and get started with creating their own podcast. So the first question that I usually ask everyone that comes on the show, every host that I've I've ever had on, I've asked them, you have an idea. It's great. You sit down with your friends, or people have told you you need to talk about this. Why choose doing a podcast? Why, why a podcast other than maybe saying just creating YouTube videos or writing a blog or writing a book or along those things? Why, why talk about it and put it out into a medium like an audio podcast?

Cindy Mich 2:42

Well, for me personally, um, honestly, my I started as a fluke, actually. I had no idea that I was going to get involved in podcasting. Someone came to me and said, Hey, we've been following your work, meaning print, because I've been a writer for a significant number of years and a journalist. And so they liked my work and they said, you know what? You have a great voice. You'd be good for a podcast. And I was like, no, there's no way anybody's gonna want to listen to me. Well, I found out very quickly that I was wrong on that one. I always say to folks, the biggest reason to start a podcast versus doing something in print per se is three ways to look at this. First off, it's incredibly comfortable. I'm not gonna lie, folks, I'm 56 years old. Would I love to sit on camera all dialed up like I am right now and do an interview? Yes, and I do that regularly. But when you are on radio or podcasting, 90% of the time, if it's not virtual, you're in your pajamas. So, what better gig is there is to get paid to sit in pajamas and sit and talk to people and do a podcast? That's number one. So comfort and also ease, meaning that anybody that has a laptop and decent enough equipment can start a podcast, right? So there's that component to it. From my experience, what I have found is I am noticing more people listening to podcasts now than they ever did before, which is also another good reason to get into this because you're on a popular medium right now. You don't have to have experience. Let's say somebody like myself who's a journalist, you need years of experience if the Times or somebody in newspapers are going to hire you, right? So if you lack experience, if you have a lot to say, if you are open to opinions, love to ask questions, and most importantly, make an impact. There are tons of people that I know in the podcasting world that do shows, and people will come and listen in and they'll say, something I heard or something I learned made a difference in my life. So the biggest thing for me is always saying to folks, if you want to make a difference, if you want to do something creative and out of the box, that's also inexpensive, podcasting is a great outlet for you.

Gabe Leal 4:36

Oh, I love that. You know, because there is a lot of resistance, like you said, when jumping into other types of mediums. And this one is one that you can pretty much, if you have an idea, you have the, you know, you have the the drive or the passion to learn a little bit, you can really dive dive in and find yourself an audience and find yourself a niche that you could actually grow in. And and eventually at some point for a lot of podcasters, the idea is to monetize.

Cindy Mich 5:05

Yep.

Gabe Leal 5:05

So to get to that point, right, is starting out, but you gotta start, right? That's the job.

Cindy Mich 5:10

You gotta actually get going on it.

Gabe Leal 5:13

Yeah you do. So I I love this when I was doing a lot of the research, and I try to do as much research as I can. So you said that every interviewee is a celebrity. I love that. Okay. That's a philosophy. That's just not, you know, that that's that's a great way to look at it. So how let's just say, how's holding that position changed the way you've

Authenticity in Conversations

Gabe Leal 5:39

been able to pull out, you know, authentic, really genuine conversation and you know, for doing it for a podcast, how much does that act, how much have you actually seen that, you know, using this formula pull out a lot of really raw conversations that say other formats wouldn't be able to, it wouldn't translate as well.

Cindy Mich 6:02

Sure. Well, first and foremost, um, I stand by that philosophy. So typically when you have any guest that comes on, aka celebrity, what I classify any celebrity as is any person that entertains, educates, inspires, or informs someone. So 99% of my guests typically do that, almost all of them. So one of the main reasons for putting them on a podcast and getting out good material is most people do not want to be on a camera. I have come to find that out. Not everyone becomes as comfortable as I am and sitting and having a conversation like this. So, first off, it allows people to be vulnerable. It also allows them to feel comfortable, and most importantly, they can make mistakes. Meaning, let's say, for instance, if I am doing something live on camera, there is no editing in that moment. It literally is live, there's no way to change it or tweak it, et cetera. And it's it, it's out there and that's the way it is. Also, with print journalism, there are certain liberties that one can take sometimes because clearly at a certain point, I can only cut so much and that it is the way it is. So I think people can be more of their authentic selves when they're on a podcast because they're not seen, they're not judged as much. And moreover, I think a lot of times the questions that I have phrased to them are purposely made in such a way to where I will get information out of them that will educate my audience or entertain them or want them to stay tuned. One of the biggest issues I find with podcasters is I'll watch a modern podcast or people will have me evaluate it. And at a certain point, I'm like, it's good, but you're losing people. I feel like at some given point in time we're going somewhere. That's why it's so important to pick the right people. Like I said, celebrities for one, people that will get you educated and entertaining. Third of all, most of the people that come on my podcast have had a bit of experience. I don't require a ton. Like I do require that on the other mediums. But when it comes to podcasting, you do not need to do 50 different podcasts to be able to come on here. You know, it's a medium that allows you to be able to kind of cut your teeth on it, if you will. Meaning, like, let's get on a podcast, let's try this out. You know, we don't need extensive media training, you know, to do things like that. So I think by maintaining that philosophy, keeping it on a podcast that's consistent, where my audience always knows I will be thoroughly researched, I will have some form of celebrity, and I will also have individuals on that I know will keep the interest of my audience. Those are key components right there. And I think the formula has worked pretty well for the last 10 years.

Gabe Leal 8:23

Yeah, absolutely. And coming seeing that you have a background in doing this, in doing radio, doing television, you know, the transition for a lot of people, it's like, well, you know, it's it's a little bit easier for me because I do have the background or I do have the experience. But something that touched on that made sense is that for a lot of people, hopping on a podcast, like hopping on a podcast and having a conversation is a very easy way to kind of say, you know, wade your wade your toes in the water, get them warm, and just see whether or not, you know, this would be something you could probably put yourself doing or see yourself doing um as an everyday or excuse me, an every week or however often that you want to create your show, but putting yourself out there to be able to do this.

Cindy Mich 9:13

Yeah, absolutely. You betcha. And I also noticed one of the things I hear a lot of times when I get done with the podcast is literally, I was nervous about this, and this is just two people having a simple conversation. And I'm like, basically, that is what it is. I try to make that for television too. You always want your guests to be comfortable,

Building an Audience from Scratch

Cindy Mich 9:30

you want them to feel like this is an easy transition from oh my gosh, one question to another. What's she gonna ask me next? How is this gonna go? So I try to ease them into this and I try to make them feel like they are sitting in my house with me and we are having a conversation that matters.

Gabe Leal 9:45

Yes. You know, part of part of wanting to do this is I wanted to get podcasters who are afraid to make that jump because they they fear the idea of, and I've I don't know if I could do this. I don't know if I could sit down and yeah and talk or have interview somebody. I'm like, well, have you ever sat down with a friend and just had a heart-to-heart conversation? Have you ever just had a point where you could just ask questions of a teacher or a counselor or somebody? You you can look at it in the same terms. Like if you can do that, you can find yourself the ability to have and sit down and create a podcast and have a conversation with, you know, somebody you've never met before, but yet you're interested in what information they have to share. And you have to look at it from the point of saying, I want to extract something out of this conversation because I too want to learn something from having a talk with someone like you, Cindy, because it with your background in in doing this, there's so many things that people don't even know or experience in doing, say, something like doing radio or doing media, because they don't see the behind the scenes, they just see the finished product, uh the finished product, and there's so many more steps that go into that. So that's kind of what I'm doing with this podcasting thing, is to pull back the curtain a little bit and say, okay, look, here's what's really involved. Here's what you can do, here's the difficult parts. This is probably where you're gonna find a little bit of uh a little bit difficult, but you can get past it. But anybody's people who start doing these shows, some of these people who've gained monetization, a lot of their stories, a lot of the hosts that I've had on who've created, you know, 1200, 1300 episodes, they they didn't have a background in doing podcasting. Right. It was a passion that turned into something that they really found a niche in creatively and said, I love doing this, I can do this over and over and over again. You bet. Yeah. So I love when you have people on, when you bring people on with celebrities, or just even having a normal conversation, you treat very much most of them the same. You have a very even kill, and I really like that about you.

Cindy Mich 11:51

Thank you.

Gabe Leal 11:52

So seeing that you've had, you know, over 2,000 radio 20 that excuse me, 200,000 radio listeners, millions of TV subscribers. You didn't start from again from silence, but most people listening to this show, you know, they're starting from ground zero. What's one of the one honest thing that you would tell someone building an audience from zero with no numbers that you can't teach them that that you can share through your lived experience?

Cindy Mich 12:20

Well, there'd probably be a couple, not just one. I would say probably one of the most fundamental things that people need to remember, and it's the one thing I hear over and over again. If you listen to any of my shows, what people say to me is, I've never heard those questions get asked to me before. That's a unique and interesting perspective. I bring something to the table that other people do not, and that is fundamental in 2026 when there are so many podcasters doing this. If you really want to build an audience, three things have to happen. First off, again, you have to set yourself apart from any other podcaster. You cannot do the exact same thing as someone else, and you can't do it in the means and the way that they do it. That's one. Number two, it is a business. And yes, I believe all of my endeavors are artistic and I treat it as an art and I can't live without my art. But I also spend 10 years building that art as a business. And most people that get into podcasting, and that's fine, if you do not want to make money and you just want to be heard, nothing wrong with that and go at it. That's a hobbyist. But most of us actually do this as part of our profession, which means you need to look at it as a business. You build a following, you do interviews, you get reviews of your product, and you get your name out there. That means when they Google you, they know who you are. That's two. And third of all, under no circumstance should you ever continue or start a podcast if it ever becomes a chore. I say this to people all the time. Oh, I gotta keep doing this. No, you don't. There isn't a person alive who's saying to you, you better get on there and do that podcast. That's a hard no. You know what? If you're not digging it, if it's not fun anymore, don't do it. If you get annoyed, if you're sick of gas, if it's too tedious, stop doing it. It's that simple.

Gabe Leal 13:59

You know? No, you're you're you're spot on. And that's one of the that's one of the touch points for a lot of podcasters who come on here with the idea of saying, I do want to monetize, I want to do business, but they they pick a niche or a subject or something or topic that you got to remember, you got to be able to do this over and over and over. It's a long game, it's a marathon. Yeah. So you have to be able to talk about this at nauseum at times because there's going to be points where you feel like, I don't want to do this. Sure. Because life is showing up, you know, whatever the excuse that comes into, whatever the circumstances, whatever the situation is. But you still, if you're really passionate about it, and that's the work through that most of the podcasters I've had on have told me is that I was lucky that I was talking about something that I knew that I could talk about, even at my weakest points, that it wouldn't drive me crazy because I've had other podcasters who've talked to me on the side and they didn't want to be interviewed with. They talked to me on the side, and they were like, don't, I I I've I've picked I started my first podcast talking about a subject that I really wasn't very knowledgeable or really cared about, but I saw that there was a money grab in trying to do it, and I got burned out. So that was one of the examples when I when I talk to new podcasters, is like, make sure it's something that you really, really want to talk about, and it's something that you share that you're joyous and passionate about. Like you said, at some point won't become a

Navigating Personal Loss and Grief

Gabe Leal 15:27

chore, even in doing all the behind the scenes stuff. The fun part is what you're getting to do, the talk, the interview, the conversation, have it when that becomes the chore, it's over. You're done. You're done. It's probably time to walk away at that point. Agreed. So have you ever found yourself in one of those situations where you're like, man, I am so I and I'm just bringing this up because of what we were talking about before the show. But have you ever found yourself in a situation where you're just like, ooh, why do I keep doing this sometimes? I love it. I love it, but why do I keep putting so much on my plate with this?

Cindy Mich 16:07

Yes, I feel like um there are plenty of times, like public access TV. Now that I have done this for a while, what I am finding is that sometimes I'm not as excited. But, you know, I never really wanted to be on camera regularly all the time. That was more of a wish of the the love of my life was an actor. And so he thought I would be terrific in front of the camera, et cetera. And I still get nervous and I'm still like, oh my gosh, why am I doing this? From a cosmetics perspective, for one, I'm 56 now, and I'm like, okay, now you have to worry about how you look, the way you present yourself. Unfortunately, with real journalism, people get very caught up in presentation and they forget that all they have to hear is what comes out of here, which they don't pay attention to sometimes. So yeah, so there are moments where I have not wanted to do TV. When he passed, I stopped doing everything for a year and a half. When I deal with when I get pitches from publicists, I expect individuals to be media trained to some extent. And and so sometimes interviews are just it's challenging. You know, like you get an interview where they just are non-stop talking. There's no error, they're not coming up for air. They're just gonna go, go, go. That's tough. Or even worse, when people actually don't appreciate what you do. That's the number one reason I want to quit sometimes, is I feel sometimes fellow colleagues, sometimes people that come on the show, they don't appreciate your efforts. I don't think media as a whole is really embraced as much as they should be, whether it's business owners or individuals in the media. I think that people just assume, well, if I have a business, I don't need the media. Wrong. Everyone needs the media for something. We are the hub of getting your message out to everyone. And so for me personally, I feel like that's really the only time when I get fed up and I'm like, you know what? I'm done. People just don't appreciate what I do or they don't take it seriously. And then I just want to say, all right, fine, go find someone else to do it. That's fine, you know? So, yes, I've wanted to quit like every couple of months, but you know, I mean, let's see, it's 10 years for radio, and then I've had two magazines and I've done TV for the last two years, and it's been like, I guess I'm not quitting, but there are days when there are pencils thrown in this house and I just have a good scream and I'm like, why am I doing this? You know, because I love interviewing people, I love talking to people and getting to know them and getting those jewels out. You know what I mean?

Gabe Leal 18:22

Yes, because there's sometimes look, um, this is just for my eye statement here, but there are times where I might not be in the throes of the best part of my life, but sometimes having a conversation with somebody and seeing the world from their perspective really, really grounds you and opens your eyes to like saying, you know, my situation is bad, but it could be worse. Let me just be okay with what life is throwing at me right now and move forward with it. Because that that's probably one of the offshoots that I've figured out by doing this, by having these conversations that I wouldn't realize would happen to me because I've again not having a background in it, I never knew that having these conversations, there would be points where like again, I would find a moment where there was clarity in my life because of somebody else's life story. Because of somebody else's journey, somebody else's life experiences. So how was you said you took time off? Um I don't know how comfortable you are talking about with the passing of your sure. I mean how much of a shift was that for you, you know, having something like that and and then trying to continue forward and grind through um, you know, doing the publication that you were doing, uh that that had to be pretty hard.

Cindy Mich 19:45

Yeah, I mean, I feel like the most difficult part, and I think this holds true for anyone, and depending on the the person who passes away, in this case, you know, one of the biggest challenges I had is well, why should I do it? He's not here. He's not, I mean, he was probably one of my most biggest fans. And he was my advocate, and he was the one pushing me to go to these places that I didn't think I could go. So I asked myself, well, we ran the magazine together, so of course I knew that without him I did not want to continue it, so I created a new magazine. And so it took a long time for me to just want to write. I I don't think people understand that most of the time when I do a podcast, I will write out a script, just like I do with the magazine, etc. You know, when your words are gone, it's very hard to find them because you know, sometimes it's not just this. I think people don't realize it's this too. So when your heart is broken, you don't care. You you feel like you have nothing to say. Uh it took me a very long time to do any interviews about him or speak about him because it's such a traumatic experience, of course. But I think one of the biggest things is I have a really great support system. Some of my followers or people that first listen to me or read my work have been such good friends, like have become personal friends, and they would follow me a hundred yards, and they kept saying to me, People want to hear what you have to say, or you have words. And when I cover, let's say, certain events, I will ask people, I'm not sure I'm still good anymore. I mean, do you think I should still do this? Now I've yet to hear

The Power of Sharing Stories

Cindy Mich 21:14

anyone tell me, nope, you know, you're not the same anymore. You know, I thought when he, you know, when you were the best version of yourself, and then that part part of you leaves. It's like, what if I'm not good at this anymore? So I think the biggest apprehension I had was, can I do this as well? You know, because I really was at a really good place at the point when he got sick. And then of course, when he passed, I thought, nobody wants to hear what I have to say. I'd like to believe that I am wrong because people tell me that I'm wrong. I want to believe that he can see this. So every time I do something that he can still see it, I want to also touch lives. It's very important to me that whatever I do for the rest of my life, brokenhearted or not, because grief stays with you forever.

Gabe Leal 21:56

Absolutely. But I want to be able to say what. Sunday, you know, I know that you two are sitting at home and you're a widow and you're feeling awful and it hurts and you can't breathe. But there are still things you need to do for you. And that's what I'm learning now, is he would have never wanted me to spend four years not really doing everything that I want to do. I'm really disregarding his feelings by doing this. So that's kind of the way I looked at it. And then I was able to get up and say, all right, we're gonna give it a shot. Do I think I'm doing pretty well at it? I guess so. You know, I mean, I'm probably too hard on myself. But I think for all any person that watches this today, if you are stuck in a situation or feel like you want to give up, I'm the number one person to say, you take all the time you need to breathe, but then when you're done getting your breath back, now it's time to really look at, okay, how can we make this what we want it to be? You know what I mean? Don't let that just break everything for you. You know what I mean? Yeah, oh, absolutely. Because there's power in what you just shared for anyone listening, because here are people that I've had conversations with who say, uh, you know, I have a really deep personal story of loss and something like that. And I want to share what got me through it. And I and I say, well, why not chronicle that in the in terms of say creating a podcast or putting it out there because there's somebody else somewhere who's going through the same struggles. They don't know exactly where it's, you know, they don't know where to find exactly what's going to pull them through. Right. It's sometime hearing someone else's story similar to yours or somebody else's that resonates and it gets them through that point and it lets them continue on through life and let them find the tunnel on the other side, the light on the other side of the tunnel there. Because it's hard walking through darkness alone. And and just having somebody, even a voice coming through your headphones. Yeah. That that can really enlighten and and again give you hope. And sometimes that's what I say. Speaking and saying and sharing and doing what we're doing here, creating a podcast, and and and and people always say, I don't know what I would talk about. Well, if your experience is is grief, or if your experience is this, there's power in sharing that story and finding others to bring them together. You're building community simply by having that conversation and putting it out in the world. Yeah. But you never know if you don't open your mouth, you don't know what you say. Like you said, if you don't wait till you catch your breath, give life a moment, and then figure out what the next step and how to move forward is because it's tough. So thank you for sharing that though. I love that you were able to share that because I it it shows anyone listening, and the reason why I wanted to ask anyone listening,

The Importance of Preparation in Podcasting

Gabe Leal 24:42

you hear those kind of circumstances, you still find the ability to work through them. So if you're creating a podcast, you run through something along those lines, it's okay to hit the pause button, but if it's something that you love and you want to go back to doing it, guess what? It's still here, the medium's here, people will still come back and find a listen. So let me ask you when you say you write your scripts for your both your podcast and say for your publication, uh, how do you approach writing a script for say a podcast as you would oppose to writing it for a publication? Because there are people who don't like using AI. There are people who want to write out their own thoughts. Yes. So when they get started, they're like, hey, I can write a lot, I can do a lot of things. How do I build this out to format as an outline or a summary that I could talk about in creating my own podcast episode?

Cindy Mich 25:33

Be bad. Well, in my case, of course, as I mentioned, because I have a journalistic background, I'm very, very detailed. So typically what happens is it's usually more in the outline form, you know, where it'll put down, and it does look like a script. You got obviously there's no answer there because I can't fill that in, but it's like a QA that goes all the way down there. And I do this specifically for a reason because I'm human, which means because I balance multiple things in my career, I get tired or I forget about things. Oh, and I had cataract surgery. So guess what? I can see far away, but I can't see close. So guess what's gotta happen? When grandma can't see properly, she's gotta have her notes, right? So I'm like, okay, so that's another good reason why we do the script. But most importantly, I think the big difference between, let's say, if I do a script for public TV where I'm on live on camera, it's even more crucial for me. And in that case, I usually use cue cards because you're live on camera and we don't have the luxury of having all that, right? So I think the neat part about having a script in place is number one, most of your research is accessible to you. Number two, you never know on a podcast the well could run dry. I could just sit here now and

Navigating Conversations and Keeping Engagement

Cindy Mich 26:35

be like, and you know how fun that is, folks, and someone's like this, and there's quiet. There's dead quiet. That's like not good. Okay, just so you know, folks. So you never on a podcast do we want quiet. I was letting it be quiet. Yes. So I'm like, you need like what I'd call ad libs. I'm like, worst case scenario, if I ask all these solid questions and they still run out of answers, and we've only been in 15 minutes, what do we do? Then there's those little attaboys there where it's like, okay, let's go to those. So there's it's super important to maintain if you don't want to do a script, even just a small outline, cue cards, little notes for yourself, even like posting notes. I've seen some people do that where they're like, okay, now I can remember this subject, this subject. There is nothing worse on a podcast than not only dead air, but really two people that can't communicate well with each other because one is either not researched enough or the other one is just not interested enough. You know what I'm saying? So there has to be interest, there has to be knowledge, there has to be research done. And moreover, and most importantly, don't forget, folks, not only does the script go hand in hand, but part of preparing with the script is check the audio, check your background, make sure everything is looking okay, sounding okay, because without that, again, poor presentation, people are gone. That's it. I learned that the hard way. So yeah, hopefully it answers the question. But I mean, when it comes to podcasting now, not so much anymore because I've been doing it for a long time, but you can bet that I always have some kind of notes around because we're not perfect and we forget stuff, you know, and you're busy and you're tired, and I'm like, wait, there's all this, you know.

Gabe Leal 28:10

Yeah, that that's what looks so I always try. So this is again, I've so again having a background in doing this, I've I've I'm very much like you. I try to do I try to overprepare and not undersell when it comes to having a conversation. Yes, because I have found myself in a situation where it is like pulling teeth with somebody on the other end, and if there are a lot of one-worded answers or very quick, you know, short answers, and you're blowing through all your questions or whatever, it's it's difficult to find yourself and going, man, I scheduled an hour-long conversation and I'm I'm done with and you're like, great.

Cindy Mich 28:53

Where do we go from here?

Gabe Leal 28:56

Yeah,

The Evolution of Podcasting Careers

Gabe Leal 28:57

exactly. So, you know, it's good to have a good amount of research, at least by your side. I've been trying to train most of the new podcasters when they sit down to have multiple things, even if you don't totally use everything. Sometimes you can get into a great conversation with someone and not even touch a lot of the questions. You know, you start having a conversation with somebody and it just flows for whatever reason. There's a connection.

Cindy Mich 29:22

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Gabe Leal 29:23

And you and you don't realize I've been talking for an hour with this person, and I haven't even hit on a lot of the points. I just recently did this with somebody. We talked for two hours. I didn't plan for two hours, but we talked for two hours in one of these interviews. And I was like, man, I have two hours worth of uh like stuff I can use now. But it wasn't I know it wasn't the intention, but in in doing an interview and sitting down and talking with somebody and having the ability to not only have, say, research at hand in case you need it, but then also to actively listen to the conversation and go, ooh, there was a touch point there that I didn't realize my guest shared. Let me let me dig deeper into that because that that I think that would interest my audience. So I think as far as when you're creating and putting together a show format and when you're creating and building a show, your show outline, your template, or whatever you want to call it. Some people call it their run of show. Yeah. However, you put it together, it's good to have that in front of you and readily available because you know, for whatever reason, again, let's just say your audience, your, your, your guest, I've had this happen. I don't know if you've ever had this happen. Your guest just drops off bad connection. Or you know, and you're like, what do I do now? Yeah, exactly. Um, and and I've I've had to do these on not just recorded, but I used to do live streams as well. So it's even tougher, even tougher on a live video stream when your guest drops off and all of a sudden it is just you and whoever's watching. Can you be entertaining enough to sit there and talk about or have something to share that'll keep your audience engaged in case your guest does come back? Or like you said, if you got a punt and say, hey, listen, look, we're gonna change the subject here, we're gonna talk about this, roll with this idea. So let me ask you, um, as far as you know, doing podcasting and doing media, what do you how long do you see yourself like doing this as far as a career? Like, is it 10 years? Are you looking to say, hey, because there's some point we all say, look, we gotta it's time for us to step away. I always like an athlete, an athlete has to eventually come to a point and say, It's time for me to hang it up. And then they jump into media course.

Cindy Mich 31:52

Well, I was gonna say, yeah, you can always end one and you know, like obviously for podcasting. I mean, now I do podcasting selectively. So when I feel like doing it, I do it. And I only say that because of the fact that my publication is a magazine. So because I'm managing editor, I lately I've been writing about 80% of the content. So it can be very, you know, in time inclusive for me personally to be putting the whole magazine together. So that takes up a bunch of my time or covering live events. I'm also a film judge, so a lot of times I'll be judging films or covering them, etc. So, with that being said, podcasting is on occasion when I feel like it, which could be sometimes a couple times a month. It used to be two, three times a week sometimes. So it's it's very far removed from that. Well, yeah, just because the demand was so high. But once I started navigating, podcasting led eventually to more newspapers and print, and then the magazine started. And then, of course, public access has only been around, I say less than two years I've been doing it. So a lot of my time now is really spent between the magazine and TV. So for me, I've also done, you know, how I mean, hundreds and hundreds of episodes are on Blog Talk Radio that I had done. So I'm like, I had a ton of time when it comes to doing the podcast. So for me personally, do I wish that I could go back to it sometimes? Yes, because it is so much easier for me. And I, of course, didn't do what you're doing. I when I do radio, it was Blog Talk Radio, so you didn't see us. So of course I want to do that because I am not wearing anything but like shorts and a tank top, you know. But nowadays the call is more for the other side. My followers would say to you, Yeah, we'd love to have her go back. You know what I mean? I'm sure that they would love to have me do it full time. It's just hard, you know. I mean, my love is really the written word. So any time that I get to do writing, I'm happy. So is podcast writing kind of, you know what I mean? But like the magazine is really where it's at, the scripts and things like that. But, you know, I'm always evolving. And as I age, I'm starting to find out maybe I want to do this more, maybe I want to do this, you know. So I would ask me that in like a year. Like, where are you gonna be at then? Or I might be, you know, like, hey, the the ultimate is I have said before I was gonna try to get on mainstream media because that's as high up as you go. Like I've done everything else to what's left, like ABC,

Advice for Aspiring Podcasters

Cindy Mich 34:07

NBC. But let's get real. If I go to ABC, unless I get a daytime talk show, we'll be talking for what, four minutes. And then it's like, okay, you're done. Because that's what you get is four or five minutes. Cindy is not a five-minute journalist. So I I could shop around for a talk show. I know that much, but that's not happened yet. So we'll see.

Gabe Leal 34:26

Yeah. And who knows, who knows? Who knows? Again, it might the stars might work out, and podcasting might become part of what that is. I mean, there's celebrities who do podcasts now all the time.

Cindy Mich 34:37

I mean, it's crazy.

Gabe Leal 34:39

They're literally joking, like Netflix itself is actually now creating like documentaries or shows, and then they've got a companion podcast piece that goes along with it. And then, you know, you have people, of course, like uh again, celebrities creating their own podcasts like Rain Wilson has one of his own. They're all there's so many of them now uh that are jumping in and doing this because they understand that like kind of like what you just said, you know, do I want to do the four or five minute you know segment that people see me on and that's great and they know who I am? Or do I want to get the in-depth stuff where you know the and the one that everybody goes and talks to because he was a celebrity when he started was Joe Rogan. Yeah, Joe and how he turned that into you know a big page. He sure did. Everybody knows him now. Everybody knows him now, but you know, before he was a co a course and a comedian, he was doing uh you know acting, news radio on the show. He was he was doing a lot of things like that. And then he's like, you know what, let me get it behind the podcast. I know. Who knows? It might win out work out for Cindy that like, you know what, we really do like you behind a a microphone. Let's see where this goes.

Cindy Mich 35:54

You know, I mean, you never know. I wouldn't be opposed to it. Like, if somebody offered me, like, you know, let's go to like serious radio or or one of those places, I wouldn't be opposed to it. I would never say never. I just know that each year as I get older, I'm like reprioritizing. Like, I'm getting a little older, need some time for stuff, what's gonna work for me? So never say never.

Gabe Leal 36:12

Exactly. And for anybody who's listening, again, you gotta at least start. So, yes, what what would you tell anyone who's sitting here? They're saying to themselves, Man, I have a really great show concept. Like they've shared it with a few other people, and they would go, that would be great to listen to. But then they go, they might even have the equipment ready. They might say, I got the equipment here now, but yet they haven't found themselves sitting down reporting. What advice would you give to somebody who's saying, I have an idea, I I might even have this the equipment to sit down and get started with it, but where do I start? How do I get this moving? What would you say would be the first thing to remove out of the, you know, out of again the path of resistance to get yourself on the air, get yourself out there so people are actually listening to that idea. It becomes something that's again a product at that point.

Cindy Mich 37:09

We bet you I think it takes usually, I think my top four, there's always a top four to everything with me, three or four. First of all, you have to keep this mindset. Never too old, never too underexperienced, never giving up, never taking criticism too seriously. Now, yes, even I, as a professional who's done this for a long time, I accept criticism. I don't like it, but at the end of the day, I'm not perfect, and neither are you. You're not too young or too old to do this. It doesn't take an incredible amount of time to do this, unless you choose to. You do not need state-of-the-art $6,000 equipment to do this either. So you need to keep in mind that budget is not necessarily an issue either. So those are a couple of mantras I subscribe by. Number two, again, it goes back to what I said before. If you think your as I your idea is original enough, if you think you haven't heard it before, and you think that you have the ability to make a positive influence or be a positive influence, I should say, on other people, that's super important. Again, a lot of us do podcasters for all sorts of different reasons, but I'm always on the side of you either have to be influential, educational, or engaging. Otherwise, again, people are gonna tune out. Number three, you need to remember that if you truly want to be invested in this, make the time for it. Not a sizable amount of time, but it has to be on your to-do list this week. You can't say, I want to do a podcast. It's like saying, I want to write a book, but I'm gonna wait nine months. Well, what are you waiting for? You know what? What are you waiting for? This is kind of your wake-up call right now, like hello. And the fourth thing is again, do your homework. I say this all the time to people. I talked about this earlier in our interview. Not only do you need to know the business end of it, get out there and do interviews and get your face and your name out there and build your social media following, understand your market and your audience. What that means is everybody has a great idea, right? But if you only got four people and they're all females and they're only age this to this, that's great. But that's only four. So remember, you can start out small. But in order for you to get to that golden gate, so to speak, always got to be studying, always got to be paying attention. Who's listening to me, who's not listening to me. What do I need to do to get them to listen to me, sort of thing? So just keep in mind that even though all of this is relatively simple to start, once we start getting in the throes of it, it's gonna take a little bit of work. It's gonna take a little bit of homework, and it's gonna take a little bit of diligence and patience and persistence. But I truly believe if you believe in yourself and the concept and you have time and you are patient, you can do this.

Gabe Leal 39:41

I love that. You hit on something that I haven't really dug deep in, but it's it's the networking aspect of what it is to get into any kind of media field. Absolutely. You know, that sometimes it's who you know at some point it's it gets you into the door, and it's simply done by having the right conversation or networking and saying, hey, I'm I'm starting a podcast. It's literally how I got all the people that I've interviewed on there. Absolutely networking and just saying, hey, listen, I'm starting a podcast about podcasting, and I need somebody, can I speak to

Cindy's Current Projects and Future Aspirations

Gabe Leal 40:17

anybody who's got experience in podcasting? And then all of a sudden uh the floodgates opened. And there were so many people, and I was like, okay, this is the blessing. Let me let let let me let this pass through. This is great, this is exactly what I wanted. But it was a networking aspect that opened the door. But if again, if you said if it if it's only the four people that you have around there, that's all you're gonna have. So it is having the networking thing. And then the other thing that you really touched on was the feedback and the critique for a lot of podcasters. It's it's a new thing. So it's not nothing that needs to be thinking that somebody's being overcritical or judgmental of you. They reason somebody wants to give you feedback is because they want to see you get better, and hopefully you're open-minded to it to say, yeah, I want to get better. Like that's how I've done better. I I've had people tell me off off-site and offline, hey, you could probably improve in doing this. Wait a minute, before you say anything else, can I write this down?

Cindy Mich 41:14

Yeah.

Gabe Leal 41:15

Because for me, again, I'm a student of learning, I want to get better at it. Why not hear it from other people who've had the experience? And the people, again, the podcasters who've been here and doing it 18 years. Absolutely. I want to learn from them. And if they're sharing knowledge to me for free, man, I uh it's better than anything I could have probably paid for. Absolutely. So having the ability to say feedback, and like you said, sometimes people just it, I don't know, it rubs them the wrong way. Maybe it's an approach it's presented. But I do love having feedback from people because it the way I see it, it only helps me improve as an interviewer, as a host, as a communicator. And those those three qualities are important if I'm gonna be doing this.

Cindy Mich 41:59

Well, yeah, absolutely.

Gabe Leal 42:02

So thank you for sharing that. And this is the fun part I get to ask most of my hosts. So, what does what's going on for Cindy the next couple of weeks, months? Um, what are you talking about? Uh, tell us a little bit about the publication. This is where you get to promote yourself. This is the fun part of for me getting to listen in and see all the exciting things happening in Cindy's world because I want people more people to discover you, not just the people that are. I don't want the the the 200,000 people that are fine. I want 400,000 for you, okay?

Cindy Mich 42:30

Well, let's see. What is going on in Cindy's world? So, for right now, I know that I'm just about to put out the next issue of the magazine that's coming out. So the magazine is called Elegant Expressions magazine, and I cover pretty much everything, really. I mean, it started off as being more arts and entertainment, which I've covered for a long time, but now it's expanded out. We do things in addition to that, like health and fitness. I've got events in there, I've got all sorts of written work, original written work, original pieces of artwork that are in there. I have a product guide now. We also go into things like things for the family, and you name it, I've got it. Bottom line, managing editor likes it, it's interested in it, she's covering it. It's that simple. So typically, the only celebrity thing, because some people call, you know, celebrities, you know, those people from television.

Gabe Leal 43:16

Yeah.

Cindy Mich 43:17

In times past, I have been very meticulous about saying I will interview celebrities and I have, but typically there's a place for them. And normally it's only on the front cover. That's pretty much it. So I have had celebrities on my cover or recognizable people, but by and large, I really want to keep this, you know, something to where small business owners, media, PR, tons of people in this magazine don't usually get seen. Celebrities really don't need me. You know what I'm saying? And I get that. I'm like, they really don't need me. So I'm like, I'm fine with that. So the next issue, the magazine is coming out very shortly, actually, this week. And then of course we start all over again. I try to make it a monthly magazine. As far as my public access TV, after a hiatus, I'm finally going back to it. Um, my family has needed my attention. Yeah. So I'm excited. About that. So the name of the show is called Sin's Chat Corner. It is on public access channels in 17 different states. Typically, when people want to watch it, I say either you can go to my YouTube because public access doesn't work like regular TV, meaning that some will publish a week from now, some will do it two times a month, and you never know. It would be almost impossible to track it down there. So I try to keep episodes in one place. So we have those episodes coming on. I will be in New York City covering Tribeca this year once again for the fourth year. Super excited. I was a judge this year for the World Fest in Houston. So I'm currently considering attending that this weekend. I'm also a judge for Nashville Film Festival. So I will be in Nashville in September uh covering and attending that. I have a screenplay, but I haven't decided if I'm going to finish or not. So I'm not saying too much about that yet until we know whether we're doing that or not. My students just told me I should write a book about um, I just taught four lectures in New York at Hoster University this weekend on how to write a strong play, how to get published, meaning your book gets published, how to get your film part, like how to get your film distributed. And also we discussed just creative writing. And all four of those, all of my students were like, you need to put this in a book so that all the rest of us can learn it. Because you'd be surprised how many students go to school, even to an art school of any kind, but they're not being taught the business end. And so I am meticulous about teaching workshops all the time to students, future, you know, future whomever, to let them know about that. So that might be something that goes on, obviously. And then of course I'm shooting a short film this year.

Gabe Leal 45:34

Yes.

Cindy Mich 45:34

It's called Saving Fancy Face. And that is the story of Michael and I. Um, and I am doing that just so if any widow or any other person out there who has buried their loved ones, you should hear this loud and clear. One of the things that I cannot forgive myself for, and unfortunately death robbed you of, is they don't really get to answer you when you ask them questions. And for four years I have felt responsible for the death of my partner. So what does a typical artist do? Turning it into a film. So you're going to see us fall in love, you're going to see him get sick, you're going to see uh the ways that I believe that I saved him. And so it's kind of a self-healing kind of film. So that's happening this year. That's a lot. That's enough. There you go.

Gabe Leal 46:18

Hey, but hey, I like the idea of writing down the book, first of all. I like the book idea. I mean, because there there's so many ways that those kind of books really do help out, especially a lot of writers, screenwriters, creative writers. I mean absolutely. I when I first started doing and getting into any kind of media, that was the one thing that I love was screenwriting. So I read Blake Snyder's Save the Cat. I read Robert Robert McKee's Story. Okay. Sid Fields. I mean, I was I really went into wanting to learn how to screenwrite. So those books were like Bible for me for a long time. So if you have that kind of knowledge, I would say just write it down. I'm I agree with your students. I'm gonna be like your students, you need to write a book. Um and then if you're gonna be able to do it.

Cindy Mich 47:04

Let me find time. Okay, I need time. That's the problem here. Breathing room, remember? There is none.

Gabe Leal 47:11

Or or you, hey, you find a uh an assistant, somebody said, Hey, you want to be an intern? Right, start writing.

Cindy Mich 47:18

Working on it, that is on the list. I'm like totally working on it just because I'm like, I just can't do everything.

Gabe Leal 47:23

And I love the movie too, the idea of the movie, uh, the short film, because there's a lot that gets again, storytelling is always beautiful, whatever medium that you fall in love with. And I mine mine is film, so anytime that I get to see somebody share their story, that to me that's the best that you could probably hope for. Yes. And you know, please tell me too when it comes out, if whenever you do put it out, I would love to um talk about it and share it because again, I'm I'm a creative at heart. That's how I got started into doing all of this as well.

Cindy Mich 47:56

Okay.

Gabe Leal 48:11

And you've done it, you've done all of them.

Cindy Mich 48:13

So yeah. I know. It's crazy that you have.

Gabe Leal 48:17

But uh you do have a lot on your plate, but thank you for taking the time, Cindy, to sit down, have this conversation with me. Uh I'll be publishing this uh episode probably in about three weeks from now because I have such an early I mean I have such time.

Cindy Mich 48:33

Yeah, I get it.

Gabe Leal 48:35

Episodes I'm trying to push out right now. I'm doing two a week. Trust me, I'm doing two a week and trying to get them out as quickly as possible. But there was a lot of people.

Cindy Mich 48:41

Do what you gotta do. I'm not that worried. You know what I mean? Like get it cleaned up. Whenever it gets done, it gets done. Like I said, not a not a cake trash.

Gabe Leal 48:47

Okay. Thank you again, Cindy. Thank you, everybody, for listening. I do appreciate it. Uh, we will be back with another episode next week. So until then, thanks again. We'll see you soon. Bye for now.

Eleven Labs AI Generated Voice 49:00

And that wraps up another episode. A huge thank you to Cindy Mick for sharing her incredible journey through journalism, filmmaking, publishing, and podcasting, along with the lessons she's learned from building authentic media that truly connects with people. To learn more about Cindy, her upcoming film festival later this year, head over to filmfreeway.com/slash artistsalive film festival. Check out her podcast at iHeart.com slash podcast slash Sinds Chat Corner. Be sure to follow Cindy Mitch on Instagram at officialcindy Mitch. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure you follow and subscribe to Podcast About Podcasting wherever you listen to podcasts. If today's conversation gave you insight, motivation, or helped you think differently about your own creative journey. Share this episode with a fellow podcaster, storyteller, filmmaker, journalist, or aspiring creator who needs to hear it. Because sometimes one conversation can spark an entirely new direction. Until next time, keep creating, keep storytelling, and keep podcasting. If you've been listening to this show, you already know the audio quality isn't an accident. Those intros and outros? Created with 11 Labs. And no, I didn't spend a fortune or waste hours in a studio to get there. 11 Labs gives you access to a massive catalog of professional grade voices. Or you can clone your own. Either way, you get broadcast quality sound that makes your content feel legitimate from the first second. Right now, you can start a free trial and get 10,000 credits for just $11 a month. That's professional level audio production for less than two cups of coffee. Click the link in the show notes and start elevating your creative process today.