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