On Podcasts and Ted Talks

In a previous episode, we spoke with Shereen about her stand-up comedy career. Now, we get to focus on other elements of her career, including her podcast Creative Breakthrough. On her podcast, Shereen speaks with successful creative entrepreneurs to help people turn their creative passion into their full-time careers. Her work on the podcast earned her an International Women’s Podcast Award last year, sponsored by Shure.

Shereen also talks about her upcoming Ted Talk, and how she made sure that opportunity came to be.

About Shereen Kassam

Shereen Kassam is an internationally touring stand-up comedian and host of the top-rated Apple podcast, Creative Breakthrough. She has performed worldwide, from New York to Saigon, and has appeared on HBO and NBC. Shereen's comedy draws on her unique background as an East-African (Kenyan/Tanzanian), South-Asian Muslim woman who grew up in the United States. She has won awards such as Florida’s Funniest Female and has worked with renowned comedians like Arsenio Hall, Preacher Lawson, and Carlos Mencia. In addition to her comedy career, Shereen enjoys acting and has appeared in commercials and web series. Off-stage, she helps people live their best lives at My Pain Center and has a background in roles at JPMorgan, Deloitte, Disney, and Amazon. Shereen holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from The Wharton School. She currently resides in Orlando, Florida, where she has a serious problem saying no to chicken wings. Connect with Shereen on Facebook and Instagram @funnybrowngirl.

Make sure to listen and subscribe to the Sound Connections podcast on your favorite podcasting apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

Welcome to another Sound Connections podcast. Clinton and Shereen continue their conversation, this time diving into Shereen's podcast career. Shereen is the host of the Creative Breakthrough podcast, where she interviews successful creative entrepreneurs with the goal of helping people turn their creative passions into a full-time career. Last year, Shereen was honored with an International Women's Podcast Award, winning the award for moment of bad-ass business advice. We also learn more about Shereen's upcoming TED Talk and her love of chicken wings.

Clinton

So let's talk about your podcast. So you have this comedy thing happening. And so what, Creative Breakthrough is your podcast? Can be found on all the podcast platforms.

Shereen

Apple or creativebreakthroughpodcast.com or funnybrowngirl.com.

Clinton

Right, funnybrowngirl.com. We'll do all those plugs too at the end to make sure that people get those. So how'd you go? So what made you want to start that, I guess? How'd you like—so there was a time like…podcast was just an Apple thing, if you remember,

Shereen

Yeah, and I don't have an Apple phone.

Clinton

It's just an Apple thing and I'm like, eh, podcast, I don't read books that much. But now, and then of course, you know, it became very popular over the past maybe ten years, but then the past two, podcasting exploded. So where are you in that timeline, and what made you want to do it?

Shereen

Yeah, sure. So I started my podcast in 2018, I think. I don't remember. It was a while back, but I've always known, I don't have an Apple phone, so when podcasts came up, I didn't even really understand what that was, right? Because you're just like, what is this? And then I started doing radio, and then from radio, I learned about what is a podcast. And so I always thought I wanted to do a podcast, but I just didn't know what I wanted to do it on, because I feel like with podcasting, and I'm struggling with this today too, is like you pick a topic and a niche, right? And you have to find a niche because then you can't find people to listen to you, because if you're too broad, there's so much competition, and like, how do you get people to find you, and all this stuff, right? And then I was doing radio, and I was on this radio show, and then I left the radio show, and I was really bummed about that, because I was like, now what do I do? Because I'm an attention whore. Who's going to listen to me? And when I left the radio, that's when I realized what I wanted to talk about. So I left the radio, and it was over the fact that I'm Muslim, and radio listeners wanted me to apologize for being Muslim because they found it offensive. And my host, my co-host, wanted me to apologize as well. And I was like, you must be kidding me if you think I'm going to.

Clinton

So that's why you left the radio.

Shereen

I was like, I am not apologizing for what—it's not like I sit on the radio and preach and speak the Quran, but the only time I ever speak about being Muslim is if I'm doing a joke about it, like there's comedy related, or somebody's making an inappropriate or ignorant comment, yeah, I will talk about it.

Clinton

Or it comes up in conversation, right?

Shereen

Yeah. Like I'm not sitting here like, you know, power to God or Allah, you know, like, so anyways, I was like, what am I going to do this podcast on? And that's when it came to me, like, how do people of color like myself, who don't have connections in LA or New York, like how do we be successful, especially when we have all these barriers and challenges against us, like apologizing for our religion, right? And so that's how Creative Breakthrough came about. I only interview successful creatives of color to share their strategies on how to win, how to be successful, how to overcome these barriers and these challenges. So yeah, it was kind of a selfish motive for me to also figure out how to be successful.

Clinton

Right, well, why not interview, right, successful people?

Shereen

So I made a list of all the people I wanted to talk to, and I just went down the list and talked to them. The only one who never called me back was Michelle Obama. Still waiting on you.

Clinton

Yeah, yeah, right. That could happen. That could totally happen.

Shereen

Michelle Obama and Trevor Noah, but.

Clinton

Well, yeah, that could happen too. And then you could be on his show.

Shereen

I know, right?

Clinton

So you started maybe back in 2018 and how long did it take you to get through all your list?

Shereen

I put the podcast on hold in 2021 because at that point I had interviewed everybody on my list that upset Michelle Obama. And I said to my listeners, I said, “Listen, I accomplished my goal with this podcast, upset this one person, so we're gonna put this on pause until she calls me, and then we'll start this back up." But I feel like I miss it. I wanna take a different route with it now. Here's where I struggle with podcasting, and you probably feel this too, because there's so many podcasts now, it's hard to find guests. A guest is like, why should I do your podcast over this podcast? Back in the day, people were all excited, and now people wanna be paid for it, or want a reason to do your podcast. What are they going to get out of it? And it's not about helping people anymore, or spreading your brand or your message, it's about monetary gain now. And so I'm at a crossroads, because I don't wanna start paying people, but I also don't wanna lower the quality of people I have on my podcast.

Clinton

Yeah, that's... So I don't know that I can help you there. But I would agree. I mean, I think the only reason to pay people to be on your podcast... I mean, so I think in a case where there's some kind of exchange like that, it's gotta be a win-win. I think in any business exchange, both parties have to get something out of it, right? So if we were paying you to be on our podcast, what are we getting out of it? And maybe it's because you're a celebrity and it's gonna get us more followers on our podcast. So depending on what that payment is, if we find there's value in it, then hey, yeah, we should pay. But for our podcast, we're not necessarily.... I guess it depends on the goals of the podcast, right? And the goals of the guest, so far, like I said, most of the people we've had on I kind of know already from somewhere. There's another person that's gonna join our podcast, or it's actually a duo and a couple there, a couple and a duo. But again, we met them through... Actually, I met them at a bar. I forgot about that. But they were playing at a bar and they were incredible musicians. And I went and got their card. I'm like, “oh, one day I might wanna hire them.” And one day we did. And for an event here, but they're gonna come back and do a podcast because they both got these crazy stories. And they're actually, they get paid quite well to do their gigs because they do a lot of corporate work. And Sharon used to tour with CeeLo Green. Oh, okay. And she's got like, I don't know, 75k followers on one and 100k on another. So they could charge me to be, I mean, I probably wouldn't pay, but. But, cause we're…but I could, so they're gonna be my next guests, I think. And their popularity could help my podcast, and I could see why. But anyway, so yeah, so finally, guys, so what's your new, well, let's start with, what's your new podcast gonna be? Is it gonna be the same thing and just a variation? Create a breakthrough?

Shereen

I don't know yet. I'm like debating it. So I have an e-commerce website as well. I do have a small business. It's around the cannabis business.

Clinton

Oh, okay. So I've been thinking. I heard you're, I actually, I was listening to one of your podcasts and I heard the sponsor ad. I'm like, oh, that's interesting. Like, I wonder how she got them.

Shereen

My one entity paid my other entity.

Clinton

Yeah, gotcha, okay.

Shereen

So I'm debating, I might wanna start something in that space because there's not a lot of females in that space. And there's not a lot of people who are just trying to educate people per se more than selling their products.

Clinton

Right.

Shereen

And I'm not a stoner. So I'm gonna come at it from a different perspective. I've been thinking a little bit about doing that, but it would be way shorter episodes because I don't have time to edit one hour episodes anymore. I gotta outsource that stuff.

Clinton

I agree, and neither do we, because we all have day jobs, right? Us here, and then even the marketing firm we work with, I mean, it makes no sense to pay them what we pay them per hour to edit, right?

Shereen

Editing, it takes you time, but I find that when I give it to someone else to edit, I gotta listen to it, tell them what to edit, then they edit it, then they give it back, then you gotta listen to it again, and you're like, well, I could have just done this myself.

Clinton

Yes, yes, exactly. So, but it's still, yes. So we're, and I experienced that, right? So hence when we talked about our setup here, we're trying to streamline it. And I think that's important. And I think, honestly, I think the other thing I like about it…when I listen to things that are probably better than ours, but when I listen to things, is if it's uncut, so to speak, I kind of prefer it. If it's good content, right? So if the content's good, and I know that it was just like a couple of people talking and versus some edited, overproduced, I think people dig that more. I know I do. So therefore, everyone, no, I'm just kidding. But so if you can get it like that, right? If we can, and I think once in a while, somebody says something maybe inappropriate, like, oh, do you know what? Like we had this one guy on here, and he was talking crap about his past employer. And then afterwards, I went and listened to it, and I'm like, hey, do you want to cut that out? He's like, yeah, we should. It was funny at the time, because it was funny, but we took it out. We don't want to.

Shereen

Yeah, jeopardize.

Clinton

Yeah, like relationships. So yeah, so I think that's, I don't think that's a bad idea. And I think the other thing, just from a marketing, like my brain, is education is a great way to sell a product, right? So oftentimes, maybe it's an electrician or a plumber, we were talking about them earlier, and a plumbing company might put all these free tips on their social networks, on their YouTube, and on their Facebooks and things. And all these free tips, things that they might even be able to charge for, but it builds this trust in it, and then you wanna do business with them, right? So it just creates a relationship. So I think that's probably a good approach. So I don't know much about any of those products. I actually have a friend, “friend,” I'm just kidding, but really I do, I have a friend who's been taking some edibles, some gummies, and then there was this other thing that this person was talking about, about Delta 8. And I don't even know what that is, but so someone like me would need to be educated before I'd ever eat it, use it, whatever. But it is interesting because, you know, I have sleeping problems from time to time, and I heard your little ad, see it worked. So your ad about, you know, sleeping better, I'm like, oh, you know, but I don't know much about it. Right, so if I had the education from your podcast, I would listen, right? So maybe you've got something there.

Shereen

Yeah, and I just need this set up in my house.

Clinton

Yeah, well, and the other thing that we haven't actually, I don't think we've actually talked about on the podcast, and we can always edit this part out if we want, but you know, when we have like Shure friends, right? And that's kind of how we met, we met through the brand, the Shure Microphone Company. You can come and record here anytime you want. Okay. And we're not gonna charge you, right? So maybe you plug Shure and you thank Shure, and you know, so your followers see the brand. I mean, so there's that, you know, so now of course, we can't open it up to the world, which is why we might edit this out, but you know, so for industry people, we can do that, right? So as long as, you know, you can have a guest here, book it, or you could like come all day and have, you know, a guest, you know, every couple hours. So that would be the most efficient way to do it. And then you've got four episodes in the bag, and then you come back like a month later and you know.

Shereen

That's what I was already thinking. I was like, I know one person, we would just sit here and do an hour or two hours, and I would just post like 10 minute clips, 10 minute podcasts.

Clinton

Yeah, yeah, there you go. So.

Shereen

Yeah, I'll totally take you up on that offer. You just, let's work that out. It's a far drive, but I'll make it work.

Clinton

Yeah, but it's, and then, you know, we have our entertainment space. If you, you know, at the end of the day with your guests. So, you know, yeah, we can work something out there. So.

Shereen

We take one too many edibles. There's snacks.

Clinton

Yes. So at the end of your podcast, at the end of the day, all the Doritos are gone.

Shereen

Yup, exactly, and the water. Yeah, and the water.

Clinton

Yeah, all the beer's still there. It's just all the water and the Doritos.

Shereen

You asked for it.

Clinton

That's funny.

Shereen

We'll get you on here too, trying some stuff live for the first time.

Clinton

Yeah, there you go. I'd be up for that. I'll try it. So So. yeah, I mean, I dabbled with the real stuff back when I was a teenager, and I didn't dig it. It just made me sleepy, right? So it just made me sleepy. So we'd be at a party or something, and I would just kind of want to just curl up in the corner over there and just go to sleep. So, you know, alcohol became more of my thing where it makes me, you know, a little more outgoing and, you know, inhibitions and, you know, you less self-conscious, whatever. And you're just having a good time, and then before you know it, you're dancing and I'm a horrible dancer. And so that just became my thing. And I just never, you know, my friends do it. Some of them, you know, less of them now probably, but, or they just don't talk about it. But yeah, so it's just never been my thing. So that's kind of why I think I just don't know much about the whole edible and Delta eight thing. So yeah, I'll listen to you when you start your podcast, I'll listen to it.

Shereen

I'll keep you posted.

Clinton

Learn more about it.

Shereen

I'll go home, add it to my list of things that I need to start doing.

Clinton

So, so tell us, so we met through this thing with Shures. So, you know, it was a competition, right? So for women in comedy, no podcasting.

Shereen

Yeah, the International Women's Podcast Awards.

Clinton

Yeah, so how'd you get involved with that?

Shereen

Yeah, sure. So the entity, oh my goodness, I'm blanking. It'll come to me while we're talking. The woman who started this program or this, this award ceremony, she actually had me on her podcast maybe two or three years ago. It's called Smashing the Ceiling—Naomi. And we had a great conversation and I've just been following her on social media since then. She's been following me. And then she posted about these award ceremonies and they were in London, which is like during COVID. So I was like, meh. But I was like, if I get, if I'm a finalist, I'm going to London. Somehow, yeah. I'm going.

Clinton

Triple mascot.

Shereen

And then I also, and I became a finalist and I was like, I'm going to London, yay. And then of course I couldn't get in because there were some like, they weren't letting Americans in.

Clinton

Yes, I had the same problem. I was supposed to go, and I couldn't go. And I had to cancel the trip, yeah.

Shereen

And I was so upset because I love London. London's like my favorite place, and I couldn't go. But then I won and now, yeah, it's been cool.

Clinton

So you won, but you couldn't go to the ceremony. No. Yeah.

Shereen

But I'm kind of glad because when I saw the pictures, and I saw how everyone was dressed, I was like, oh, that is not how I would have been dressed at the ceremony. Like they came in their ball gowns and like they were dressed to the nines. And I was like—

Clinton

The Grammys.

Shereen

I was like, oh, I was just going to show up in like red carpet, black pants.

Clinton

You might've set a whole new fashion trend though.

Shereen

They would have been like, she's American, isn't she? Yeah.

Clinton

So I actually, I'm actually British. You wouldn't know. Really? Cause I'm also an international spy. I'm not really, but no, I am British. Grew up, born there, grew up there, British parents. And my mother remarried when I was young to an American. So I moved here when I was 19. So I'm very familiar with England and London, and we try to get there, well, every few years or so. But I went for my high school reunion back in 2017, and I had to go back again, like, I think it was the same year for a funeral. And I think that was it. So that's the last time I was there. So, and then cause of COVID happened. So I had a trip, a business trip with some customers planned and we were gonna go to London and we're gonna do this Land Rover experience thing. And like this closed course where you drive Land Rovers through mud and on rocks. And we had it all planned for 2020. And summer of 2020 and of course, it didn't happen. So I'm like, oh, don't worry. Let's plan it for summer of 2021. And that was the year, I don't remember back in 2020, but 2021 was when Americans couldn't go in. So when was your, that might've been the same time. So we couldn't go in and we were waiting until the last minute. I don't remember when we pulled the plug, but because there was this news that was going to come out, Boris was going to come out and announced lowering restrictions on certain countries.

Shereen

So he could have his wine parties.

Clinton

Yes, he could have his parties.

Shereen

That he thought no one would find out about.

Clinton

That's so crazy.

Shereen

Right, isn't it? And it is so funny how it's like headline news.

Clinton

That's even funnier, like, okay, who cares? Right, I mean, so, but, so we waited until the last minute and we thought we were going to go from—I think at the time we were a red country, like we couldn't go at all. And we were going to get dropped down to amber, which would allow us to go under certain conditions, I think, or maybe it was going to go down to green. I don't remember, but it was going to allow us to go in. And everybody was speculating that the US was going to be allowed to go. And it didn't, we didn't make the list. Some other countries did and the US didn't, way partly because just the it all went down here with, you know, and so we had to postpone the trip again, and now it's planned for summer of 2022, and I'm hopeful that this time it will happen because they've just pretty much abandoned all restrictions in the UK.

Shereen

All of Europe almost, they're pretending it doesn't exist anymore.

Clinton

Yeah, exactly.

Shereen

So it's like night and day now, how they're acting.

Clinton

Yes, so, and so unless some other crazy variant comes and starts.

Shereen

There is a new one.

Clinton

Oh gosh.

Shereen

But I can't remember, it was like QA or QD or something. It's a weird name. It's a variant of Omicron.

Clinton

Okay, well Omicron wasn't terrible.

Shereen

But this variant says—I'm not gonna scare people because I didn't read the whole CNN article about it today. But it was just like, the vaccine doesn't protect you against it, and you can get really sick. Oh no. I need to stop reading because I have a show tomorrow.

Clinton

Oh man, that would be a bummer. That would be a bummer to go through another round of that.

Shereen

I don't think the US is gonna go through another round of anything, I think people are done.

Clinton

Well, but then I also don't wanna get sick. So when I say another round, even if the whole, the rest of the world's done, if it's that bad, I don't wanna get, I don't wanna die. So I'm gonna, I'll be wearing my mask, not going, sitting indoors at restaurants, not going to comedy shows, but I'm hoping the people who write that article are completely wrong or he misread it or something.

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Clinton

Well, actually, I'm actually curious about the TED Talk thing. So how did that come about? So when I think TED Talk, and I don't really watch them, so let me start by saying that, but the ones that I have seen, like clips of, are like ridiculously famous scientific or like CEO, blah, blah, blah people. So how did you—did you invite yourself? Did they invite you? Like, how does that work?

Shereen

So there's two types of TED Talk. There's TED Talk, what you're talking about, which is like famous people and celebrities. They get invited to come and it happens in…there's different locations, but it's Vancouver and California. And then there's TEDx, which is what I did, which are grassroots organizations across the world where it's like part of TED, but it's like independently organized. So I did a TEDx. So I wasn't invited because I'm not a celebrity yet, but I will be one day.

Clinton

You will be, I know it, I can feel it.

Shereen

So yeah, I applied to do it. It was one of those things, like I'd put the podcast on hold in early 2021 and I was like, I didn't know what I wanted to do anymore. I felt like I had lost my purpose and some guy was trying to sell me a TEDx program on LinkedIn. And I was like, what is that? And then he told me the price is like $12000 And I was like, you're on crack. I mean, it can't be that hard, can it? And so again, on a challenge, because I love challenges, I was like, I can do a TEDx talk by myself without paying you money. And so that's how I get it. I submitted an application, they picked me, then I wrote a talk and presented it.

Clinton

Awesome.

Shereen

And now I'm a TEDx speaker.

Clinton

Yeah, that's cool. What was your talk on?

Shereen

The title was How Chicken Wings Made Me Unstoppable.

Clinton

That's right.

Shereen

So you've seen my Instagram. You know I love chicken wings. It's in my podcast intro too. I'm like a chicken wing fanatic. And so it's all about chicken wings, and this whole idea of when we order chicken wings, and we don't like them, we can always send them back and they'll re-sauce them for us, right? Put a new sauce on it. So why is it in our lives, if we mess up or we fail, we don't just pick ourselves up and re-sauce ourselves? Yeah. So it's this whole concept of—

Clinton

It sounds messy.

Shereen

Let's be a chicken. Well, it is messy. But I'll have to add that into my talk. So yeah, it's about chicken wings.

Clinton

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's a good analogy. I like it. So your love for chicken wings, you've kind of incorporated it into your—

Shereen

Yep.

Clinton

Yeah. So where did the love of chicken wings start?

Shereen

You'll have to listen to my TEDx talk.

Clinton

Oh, okay. All right, I will.

Shereen

It's got a whole section devoted to it.

Clinton

All right. So do you talk about, because I've got some things here. So I'm not a chicken wing connoisseur, right?

Shereen

Oh no.

Clinton

I do enjoy them. And if I go to a place where they sell them and I feel like wings, I will order them. Now, when I order them, depending on how I'm feeling, usually I try to be good and somewhat healthy. So I'll order them grilled and typically with nothing on them. And then I'll get some things on the side and—

Shereen

Like dry roasts?

Clinton

So that's how I get them, yeah. So—and I don't mind. I actually like the flats. Okay. And I like to twist it and pull the thing out. And then, you know, so, because somebody taught me that once years ago, that if you take that thin bone, and you twist it, it'll slide right out and then it's much easier to eat the remaining. So I got a couple of questions here. So for your chicken wings, flat or the drumette?

Shereen

Oh, flats all the way.

Clinton

Okay. Grilled, fried or baked? I didn't know baked was a thing.

Shereen

Yeah, baked is a thing. I like fried or air fried, air fryer wings. Grilled, you have to be careful about because sometimes they say grilled, but they're actually fried and then grilled.

Clinton

Then grilled to make it. Yeah. Because sometimes they're really damn good. And I'm like—

Shereen

Yeah, they're fried and then grilled.

Clinton

Yeah.

Shereen

That's I bet you they try to get you. I hate to bust your bubble. But when the guy told me, I was like, what? These are way over my calorie list.

Clinton

Yes. Yes. So but now you've…now I'm going to feel guilty.

Shereen

But fried or smoked wings are really good.

Clinton

Smoked. Yeah. So, you know, there's a place here. Oh, my gosh, I think it was—I think it's there now. Now I’m questioning if it's there, but it was a sushi place called Sado and they make a smoked wing.

Shereen

Do they?

Clinton

Could I be wrong? Like I might have the restaurant wrong all of a sudden. They're really good. It was Domo. You're right. It was Domo. Their smoked wings are really good. I knew it was like some sort of Asian thing.

Shereen

It could be Cito, too. I haven't been there since pre-COVID.

Clinton

So I think you're right. I think it is Domo.

Shereen

They have the Korean wing. It's like a honey sauce, like a soy sauce on it.

Clinton

Yeah, they're very good there. Yeah.

Shereen

And they're like big.

Clinton

Yes, they're really nice. So breaded or naked?

Shereen

Naked.

Clinton

Spicy or sweet?

Shereen

Oh, spicy.

Clinton

Spicy. I figured. Yeah. What's your favorite sauce?

Shereen

I like a hot buffalo or a mango habanero.

Clinton

Oh, I bet that's good.

Shereen

Anything fun that's spicy, though.

Clinton

Yeah. So I like spicy, but it can't be like that spicy that just the next thing you eat, you can't taste. You know what I mean? It has to be—

Shereen

That's the best.

Clinton

Really?

Shereen

Because then you get to have fries. Yeah. Yeah. And a beer.

Clinton

So I love spicy food or like really deep flavor. So like I love Indian food for that reason. Right. Like it's complex, and sometimes it's hot, but you can still taste everything like and yeah, you might need some raita. Right. Yeah. Calm your mouth down. But so blue cheese or ranch?

Shereen

Blue cheese. 100%.

Clinton

Yeah, I can't do blue. I can't. I can.

Shereen

Really?

Clinton

I love cheese, but I just don't like the blue cheese. But I do like ranch. And then celery or carrots?

Shereen

Carrots. The celery is like, well, you know, celery is like you're eating a wing and then you're eating the celery to decrease your calorie count because you know you lose calories eating celery. It's calorie deficient.

Clinton

It just sucks the calories out of you.

Shereen

Well, because it's mostly water. So you burn calories actually chewing it. Oh, gotcha. Celery has no calories, so you're calorie deficient. So you could weigh out like 20 celery sticks to one wing. I mean.

Clinton

I see. Yeah. So if you eat enough celery. Yeah. Yeah. And of course, if you eat that much celery, you'll probably be full and not eat as many wings.

Shereen

Yeah, that is true.

Clinton

That's funny.

Shereen

No, I'll still eat them all. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings yesterday because they did. They have BOGO on what day are we on Thursdays? They have BOGO. I didn't even know this till I got there. But like, I walked in and everybody was eating these big trays of boneless wings, right? Like a lot. And so I asked the waiter, said, “Why is everyone eating boneless wings today?” And he's like, “oh, it's BOGO.” And so I was like, “oh, OK, so I ordered six boneless wings. So I got 12 and I was like, I'm just eat my six. And then, of course, I ate all 12.

Clinton

Of course, I have that sickness. So you could give me a small plate of food and I'll eat it and probably be satisfied. And or you can put three times as much food in there and I will eat it all. Even if I feel full, I just—I might stop eating and then it just stares back at me.

Shereen

That's what these wings were doing. And the guy made me try garlic parm. Because he said it was the best on boneless wings ever. And so I did six garlic parm, and they were not that good, but I still ate them. Still sitting there eating them. And I was like, why am I eating these? Just throw them away.

Clinton

Yeah. Yeah. So it's not they're not that good. Why? Why?

Shereen

Yeah.

Clinton

So I know some people that have good discipline like that. They're like, hey, it's not worth the calories. It's not that great. I'll get something else or not eat it. But no, if it's in front of me, I'm probably going to eat it unless it's just disgusting. You know, but, you know, that's all relative as well.

Shereen

So these were bad, but like I had enough sauce from the other six. So I was like dipping and oh, yeah, there you go. Yeah. Making it work. Yeah, I didn't need to eat all of them. I still feel sick today from eating them.

Clinton

So what's next for you? So, I mean, we know about your potential podcast, or you will be doing a podcast—just trying to sort out what it's going to be about. What else is what else have you got coming up? Anything that we want to tell people about? The millions of listeners we have?

Shereen

No, my next big thing really is waiting. So the TEDx talk is not out yet. They're still finalizing it, editing it. And then it goes to TED, the main TED people, and they approve it. And then they put it out. And then the goal becomes rack up as many views as you can so that you can go viral and then—

Clinton

And then that will help you.

Shereen

And then people will call you so you can do more attention whoring stuff and then you can quit your day job.

Clinton

Trevor's going to call.

Shereen

So that is the next goal is like I literally have been working on when I get that notification that the video is up, how am I going to get the world to watch it?

Clinton

Right. That's a tricky one.

Shereen

Yeah. So that's where my attention is right now. Focus.

Clinton

So what do you think the timeline is? When do you expect to see it?

Shereen

So we could go any—like in the next week to the next month. OK, just drop at any moment's notice.

Clinton

Do they give you a heads up or is just going to just drop?

Shereen

It's going to happen. Yep.

Clinton

So one day you're going to wake up and you're going to be super excited.

Shereen

And you're going to get a text message from me. My TEDx is out. Yeah. And everybody in my phone book, like exes and people who probably have me blocked. Everyone's going to get a text message from me.

Clinton

Do you remember what kind of microphone you're using there?

Shereen

No.

Clinton

You were a lavalier. Yeah, a lavalier or headset. Yeah. OK. So those are far less. Even if it was a Shure, it might not be obvious. Right. So to the to the viewer.

Shereen

Oh, no, you could see this one.

Clinton

Yeah. OK. It's a big one. Yeah. So I'm just trying to think. Well, when it drops, you let us know and then we'll promote it because you're a guest in our podcast and then we'll promote it to our, you know, small group.

Shereen

I'll find out if it was a Shure. I'm not sure because it had a battery pack and everything.

Clinton

Yeah. Yeah. So it might have been. I mean, Shure are the most popular wireless.

Shereen

Oh, really?

Clinton

Yeah. I'm never definitely in the US and maybe on the planet.

Shereen

I'll check.

Clinton

So it might be that the belt pack was Shure. And if I saw the mic when I see it, I'll know if it was a Shure. But but, you know, unlike this, it says Shure right on the back of it. Right.

Shereen

This one did not.

Clinton

Like it's not as obvious yet. So or, you know, in fact—I saw I was looking at your Instagram and I saw a photo of you holding an SM58 as a wireless SM58 But we recognize the mic.

Shereen

Yeah. So that was right. Yeah. Sometimes I take off the cord to make it look like I have a wireless, but it's not wireless.

Clinton

No, that one is definitely wireless because it has a different shape. Yeah, that one you might have been like it was probably somewhere. You were performing somewhere or talking somewhere. So. So is there any desire to go back on the radio?

Shereen

Sometimes, sometimes. But it's just so tricky radio, you know? Yeah.

Clinton

And I don't I don't know much about that world. But, you know, we had a guy from the radio here. Oh, we're going to edit this part out, because I can't remember his name. Scott. Scott, Scott, he's UCF. He's a broadcaster like the sports stuff. Right. So although he was quite funny, but yeah, he was really a sports guy and works on the UCF radio. And so, we were introduced to him through Clarity, who we work with through Craig. And then our main interface with Clarity Creative is a guy named Mike Thomas. And he used to be in radio. So he knows a bunch of radio people like in South Florida. So anyway, you never know. You network with these people.

Shereen

There's an opening at a local radio station. But I'll ask you about them off air if you know them.

Clinton

What’s that?

Shereen

I said there's a radio show here in Orlando that has an opening. So I'll ask you after we turn everything off, if you know anybody there.

Clinton

Oh, OK. I don't know a lot of radio people, but I might know somebody that knows somebody. Right. So, yeah.

Shereen

Well, yeah, radio is fun. Just waking up in the morning thing's hard.

Clinton

Yeah. Like, especially if it's a morning show. Yeah.

Shereen

That's like your whole day gone. And I'm not a morning person. So, yeah, I need a nighttime show.

Clinton

I mean, I kind of like the—I mean. I don't know. Some people say—we're going to have to edit some of this out because I think I'm going to offend people—but I feel like. Radio, I don't want to say it's dead because I listen to it, I listen to XM on the way to work for all of like six minutes, my commute. And then, you know, especially in the morning, there's this talent that's, you know, having these conversations between a song or two. And I mean, does anybody listen, listen to the radio? You know, I think I would be more likely to listen to you. On demand. Right. So podcast or YouTube or, you know, so if you're doing something super interesting to me, rather than try to catch you on a radio, you know, but I guess the radio has a built-in following, right? Like people that tune in all the time. They're just that my radio is almost always on the same station. Right. So yeah. So I guess I don't know. Yeah. I guess I'm rambling.

Shereen

And then there's people like me. I don't have Bluetooth in my car. So I have to listen to the radio.

Clinton

Yeah. So I have that. I have the Apple CarPlay, the Bluetooth. Oh, that's funny. I just realized what happened. So it went dark.

Shereen

While we were sitting.

Clinton

I wasn't even paying attention.

Shereen

I was like, oh, mood lighting. Is there going to be wine? Yeah.

Clinton

Yeah. I think because we have these lights, but I just looked at them. Now I've got squares. But yeah, our lights in here on a motion sensor. So because we're all over here sitting still, it thought there was no one here and that shut them off. So yeah, so. that's kind of funny.

Shereen

Yeah, no, but I agree with you. Radio. There was a—I'm forgetting his name, but there was a legend, an Orlando legend who was on the radio. He retired a few years ago. And I had lunch with him and he was like, don't do radio. I was on the radio at the time. And he was like, don't do radio. Oh, do a podcast. Yeah. He was like, “Get out of radio and go do a podcast.” Like that was his advice to me. Yeah.

Clinton

And I think you're right. There are a lot of people doing it and, you know, even when you search for a podcast, like somebody points one out to me, and I search for it. Sometimes it doesn't come right up. You have, because there's so many. But I think if you find that niche and I think, you know, the one you're mentioning, especially, you know, with a perspective from a woman, you know, I think that's the way to go to be, I think in a lot of industries. Like I think even in our industry, some of our retailers to compete with the big box stores. I mean, it's painful, but if you can, if you can have a niche, like you're a DJ store and that's what you do, or you're a guitar store and you sell guitars, I think that's, you know, you can, you can better compete and offer something different. And, and I think the same thing goes for content, right? If, you know, we all have our little things that we're into, and sometimes it's hard to find information on it. I was trying to Google information the other day on something. I was surprised I couldn't find it. I forget it was, and I kept Googling it different ways and it wouldn't, and nothing would come up. I just, I wish I remember what that was, but, um, it's probably inappropriate. I don't know. I'm kidding. So anyway, well, thanks for coming.

Shereen

Thank you. Thanks for having me. This was fun.

Clinton

I had fun. I thought it was good. I think this is one of the better ones.

Shereen

Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate that.

Clinton

So, yeah. So normally you don't do this on the thing and we can always, but being that you were part of the Shure, uh, competition thing there for your podcast and you didn't get to go to London, you know, this is not the same. It's not a plane ticket, but you know.

Shereen

At least a pint of beer.

Clinton

But there's a couple little things in there, but, yeah, we appreciate, appreciate you. And, um, you know, and, uh, so hopefully when we see you on your next podcast….

Shereen

I’ll be using this?

Clinton

Yeah, you'll, it'll be a Shure microphone and, um, you know, and it'll make you sound better. And then of course, anytime you want, like we said, you can stop by here and interview your guests and, and, you know, be comfortable on the couch and, uh, you know, as long as you can put up with the air conditioning noise.

Shereen

It doesn't bother me as long as you guys can put up with us.

Clinton

Yeah. Yeah. It'll be fun. It'll be fun. Cool. Well, thanks for coming.

Shereen

Yeah, thank you. This was great. I'm glad we finally made it happen.

Clinton

Yeah, me too. Me too. So thanks for joining us on this episode of Sound Connections. Hope to catch you next time. Thanks.

Thank you for listening to the sound connections podcast. Remember to please leave a rating and review us on Apple podcast, and you can now leave a rating on Spotify as well. That little extra effort to show you like what we're doing goes a long way towards helping others find this show. If you want to be extra awesome, you can share this out to your friends and colleagues as well.

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