I didnt mean to start a webshow but

i didn’t mean to start a show

but last year i found myself in a

position committing to something i

didn’t completely understand but has led

me to this stage to share what i’ve

learned

everyone has a story

i had no concept of what it meant to put

a live show on

social media with friends across the

country

meeting new people and entertaining an

audience

i had zero experience

no expert or advisor to call on

and no manual this sort of sounds like

parenthood

i had no realization of where this

journey was going to take me

and the impact it was going to have

and all from the basement of my home in

central illinois

many many years ago a buddy from my

hometown of lubbock texas

thought we should start a radio show

together

at the time we loved listening to the

kid craddock in the morning show

a popular raider program out of dallas

it was superbly funny and the hosts

worked well together

they had entertaining guests and we

listened to them

every morning we thought we were just as

funny and could make people laugh with

us too

well my friend thought that more than i

did

it was one of those things friends say

but you never really take it seriously

know what i mean fast forward

15 years to a phone call

on a chilly holiday evening in 2019

my friend his name is joe baker once

again tells me

that we should have a radio show or even

a podcast

this time i get a little frustrated

i like to make things happen instead of

just talking about it

especially after the length of time that

he had been saying this

as he’s speaking i look up what is

needed to make a podcast

in under 15 minutes i set up everything

and within the next 20 minutes joe and i

co-hosting

accomplished our first podcast

it was pretty fun but after a few more

attempts

over the next couple of weeks we decided

on doing a live

show on social media instead

we were both set up and ready for our

first taping

we got the technology working the

backgrounds

not so nice but that’s okay and our

topic for the run through

cats the movie

oh and this was all unrehearsed as well

the episode was 30 minutes long and if

you’d watched it

you’d have thirdly thoroughly enjoyed it

it was funny we were brilliant there was

a vibe going back and forth between us

our cameras were sharp and clear the

audio

was crisp it felt like we were

professionals and knew exactly what we

were doing

no issues whatsoever

after we signed off we both were on

cloud nine

feeling great we felt like we were on

top of the world

i started looking at our software and i

noticed only one really small

issue um guess who didn’t hit the live

button

this guy

ah i didn’t realize

that would be the start of something

special though

in march of 2020 something fell on the

world that

no one was prepared for a question

presented itself to me

what if friends who are extroverted

social butterflies do

when the world says you can’t be near

people

my answer was what would become known as

the social

and distancing show

joe and i had ramped up the efforts to

put a show on social media

the heart of the show was for us to just

sit and talk about whatever we wanted to

talk

for an hour every night

we had so much fun doing our first real

and live episode

where i actually hit the live button

that we thought we should get a guess

for the next episode

since that is how kid credit ran his

show we thought

we could just imitate that too

we convinced a longtime friend of mine

in lubbock sandy abbey

to be our first guest

we had such a rocking time the joe and i

asked sandy to join us

as a co-host she agreed and we have the

host

of the social and distancing show or

suds

the t is silent by the way

i’ve been in illinois for 12 years now

since my wife and i had our first

daughter

my wife wanted to get closer to family

after being in lubbock

we moved to bloomington normal as a good

halfway point

to family in chicago and in dayton

choosing friends from my hometown as

co-hosts

helps me feel close to them

we can bounce thoughts off each other

every day

just like when i was still in lubbock i

feel comfortable with

and get along great with joe and sandy

they make me laugh and can handle my

personality

and my isms

they’re like a brother and sister to me

at this point an epiphany occurred to me

that there are a lot of people out there

the three of us considered ourselves

social butterflies

who no longer could go out to meet new

people but maybe

we could bring them to us

and our viewers after all

everyone has a story worth sharing

meeting new people became one of my main

reasons to produce a web show

since airing the first episode we’ve had

hundreds of episodes

with guests appearing to share their

stories

guests from central illinois all over

texas

even as far as the uk people from

all walks of life and with interesting

niches

joe sandy and i often say that when god

was sprinkling talent on people

our guests were showered with it

let me tell you about a few episodes the

there’s

the therapist episode dr dekisa pina phd

came on to talk about the emotional

dimension of wellness

she answered some excellent questions

from our audience

that were related to their emotions the

doctor shared

insight into different aspects of mental

health and taught us about

emotional regulation she also taught us

about the four basic emotions

anger sadness

fear and happiness

the mermaid episode i will admit that

the idea of having a woman claiming to

be a mermaid

was odd but aj smith

is extraordinary

she had a smile that made you feel happy

she shared a message about possibilities

and believing

the power to believe in yourself in

unlimited possibilities

she also shared how she impacts the life

of women with red tents she puts on

that encourages women to discuss and

confront their encounters in life

that cologne guy episode

dr benjamin schmeiser was the first

guest we wondered

how it was going to be talking with a

professor of linguistics at

isu about cologne and perfumes

we were all captivated by his knowledge

of colognes and perfumes

he taught our audience about the

differences with oil and water-based

sprays he shared about olfactory fatigue

which is what happens

when you don’t even smell what everyone

else obviously smells

it was like interacting with the

discovery channel expert on

fragrance everyone should watch that

episode

all of our guests have made lasting

impressions

without suds i never would have heard

all their stories or knowing their lives

there was so much potential out there in

2020 and i just tapped into a little bit

of it

so can you there are some of you that

have always thought about doing this

you may have already done it maybe

you’re in the process

others of you are content to watch

if you’re someone who teeters on

deciding to do your own show

i say go for it

i found that after doing the social and

distancing show and hearing so many

stories

i wanted to do something first

i wanted to help other people have an

opportunity

to share their story

not only is there a little more time for

folks in this world

but i truly believe the world is a

better place when folks

share their story

second i wanted to create opportunities

for people to shine

more spotlights on those folks with

stories to share

this led me to create suds productions

where i find people to create their own

show

and share not just their story

or their niche in life but also find

folks to share

their story

because of this i’ve produced two

spin-off shows

the first is sandy talk sheet

this is where sandy talks to her

audience about true crime stories

people are intrigued by it and get

caught up in learning about

how the crimes happened and why

sandy is one of them and she attracts

people in that group to her show

the second show involves three strangers

trey dj sound effects stone burner

carrie patton jackson

and gabby gabbs celeste gamboa

whose only commonality was all of them

were guests

on my show they have captivated their

audience with each

of the three hosts steering 10 episodes

on a theme of their choosing viewers

were intrigued with mysteries when trey

led

with conspiracy theories such as aliens

and government cover-ups

and the audience had their heart

softened

when carrie spearheaded her episodes

with topics that matter to the heart

such as nursing home conditions during

the pandemic

and gabby is having the most fun time

introducing the viewers to people that

have cool jobs such as

a photographer and a cruise director

i currently have two more shows i’m

producing debuting in 2021

there’s are some talented ladies both

have a relation to my shows

and unique content they will be

showcasing along with shining the

spotlight on new people with different

stories

at the end of 2020

a charitable arm of suds production was

created to give

back to our communities we call it

the pineapple project

the heart behind this was growing out of

our wanting to use our platform to give

back to our communities

we knew that having the collective

attention

of our audiences we could tap into their

generosity for support

for christmas of 2020 we chose an

organization called christmas is for

kids

they make sure that foster children

between the ages of birth

and 18 have three gifts to unwrap on

christmas morning

we asked our viewers to help us raise

money

my expectations for this was we would

raise a hundred dollars

and i honestly believe that we as the

host

would be putting in our own money to get

to that amount

when we started it i thought it would be

amazing

if we could impact at least one little

child’s christmas morning

by the end of the fundraiser on december

21st 2020

we raised over fifteen hundred dollars

several bins of brand new toys gift

cards for the teens

and a partnership with an insurance

agency that will have a toy drive in

christmas 2021

to help us get more toys for the kids

um and when we donated everything

we could have been turned away because

it turns out christmases for kids

had more than enough gifts for their

children

and to stock their store room for next

year

something i didn’t grasp well from the

beginning was how much

impact we would have on people’s lives

we had viewers send us personal

thanking us for the joy that we bring

into their homes every night

they would say you are the last thing i

do before i go to bed

because y’all are so much fun and put me

in a good mood

others told us that we were like family

in their homes and they felt connected

with us

and never stopped giving to the world

the way we do

if you have a burning in your heart

that you feel like you should start a

web show

do it you have the chance of getting out

your com getting out of your comfort

zone

and growing getting to hang out with

your friends

and meeting new people

why not share your story over a web show

everyone has a story to tell

so what’s yours