Hello!
Oh shit.
Already about to go to sleep.
Love that.
Hi.
Hello.
I am Kawell.
No I'm not.
I'm Kana.
Oh my god.
Often it's a strong start.
I'm Kawell.
This is Kana and this is DAK Live with Lainey.
Hello.
Hey.
We're already embarrassing ourselves over here.
Yeah.
So.
That's a professional show.
We are extremely excited to have Lainey on.
If you do not know Lainey is the co-founder of the True Crime and Paranormal Podcast Festival
that we have been lucky enough to go to once and are super excited about going to again
this year.
So we wanted to bring you on Lainey and just kind of chat about anything and everything
and just kind of have a an easy episode going.
Yeah.
Like easy peasy.
Well thank you for inviting me.
First of all I'm very thankful whenever anybody reaches out and invites me to their lives.
I don't get to do them very often but I am super appreciative.
Yay.
Tell us a little bit about you Lainey what you do and maybe how you got into what you're
doing now.
Okay well so I'm Lainey Hobbs.
I have been a podcaster since 2016 and I started my first podcast then.
It was called True Crime Fan Club which I then rebranded I think in 2022 to True Crime
Cases with Lainey.
As you can tell I am very creative in my name format for my podcast.
And from there I kind of built this creative spark of just wanting to create more and more
podcasts because I am a crazy person.
So I have a paranormal podcast.
It's called It's Haunted What Now and then a live format podcast called True Crime Convose
which streams first on YouTube and then goes to a podcast feed afterwards and I have also
hosted two podcasts one on Spotify, one on Acas, one on Spotify was Crime's Passion,
True Crime Podcast and then Tracing Darkness a True Crime Podcast as well.
I'm a voice actor and a festival co-founder.
A bunch of stuff that I do on the side that really feels like my creative spark and stuff
so my whole drive and mission with what I do as it relates to the podcast community is
really building a community for independent podcasters.
Not just True Crime podcasters although that's how initially it started for me but really
also for any independent creator out there who's looking for resources or somebody who's
listening going hey I want to do that I just don't know how to get started and giving them
kind of those resources to be able to either build a community around themselves, find
like minded creators, et cetera and how to get started because that's how I was supported
when I first started and I like to pass along the same good energy that way.
Absolutely.
That was a great explanation there but that's I think kind of I mean that's how we met
right?
That's exactly what you did for us which is really cool.
Being able to give us a tiny little podcast with like 8,000 downloads and get approved
to go to this festival.
We're really excited about it and we're about 100 downloads away from 50,000 now.
That's amazing.
Congratulations.
See I think that's really wonderful honestly.
It makes my little heart happy when I hear things like that because it demonstrates
that the point of TCPF is to give everybody an even playing field.
Your show means just as much in this room as somebody who has like 5 million downloads
right and they like 50,000.
Wow.
You know?
To me every milestone needs to be like celebrated so I remember when I first started it was this
thing you would always like post like I only hit like 10,000 downloads and stuff like
that and I was like you got to really reframe the way you're thinking that because somebody's
looking at your numbers going man I wish I hit that.
You know even 100 like there are people who are getting just 10 downloads like just 10
downloads in a month right.
Maybe because their podcast isn't easily discoverable and as you guys know entering within the true
crime you know creation space is it's super saturated with creators you know a new true
crime podcast either from a network or from an independent creator is popping up literally
every day so you have to find a way to stand out and part of that is within the content
that you're creating right like is it meaningful is it different right or are you just there
reading off Wikipedia like some people do you know it's and not really kind of investing
the time and the sad part of it right is that people give up so quickly because I think
they want to start a podcast they don't realize the effort that goes into not only starting
it right you think you launch it and you're like wow that's it that's great but then oh
yeah I have to create content and do it weekly which I never recommend I recommend honestly
yeah I never recommend that.
Crazy I honestly like my best advice for when people are interested in starting a show is
create 12 episodes have a full like season ready right like even if you're going to do
weekly okay you have 12 weeks of episodes ready to go and if you can maintain that schedule
and do it consistently then you're good to go you won't pot fade you understand like
do it without even building an audience create the episodes and then schedule the content
out so then you can start working on the next 12 because if you can do that without the
pressure of oh my gosh how many downloads does this get should I stop should I go like you
didn't you didn't pause on your creativity right you you kept it going because people
will get down and out about the feedback that they get or like that the fact that they're
not getting enough downloads from their perspective because they're seeing other people you know
posting their numbers and everything that's my biggest advice is like first create the
content do all of that first and if you can maintain that schedule and you can do it consistently
then you're ready and you won't pod fade I truly believe that.
For sure we actually were talking about that yesterday on our live we had a listener was
talking to us about you know he thinks he wants to start a true crime podcast where
does he start and we essentially gave him the same advice you know and I was like he was
like is there anything that you guys wish that you did differently and that's exactly
what I said I was like I kind of wish that we would have created a bunch of content all
at once and then mass release that because it did take us a little while to get our feet
wet you know we started in August of 2021 and we really didn't see us like a huge spike
in our downloads until the end of 2023 so we were kind of in a lull for two years essentially
not waiting but you know waiting I guess for something to happen to get those downloads
up right we've essentially doubled our downloads within the last year.
And I think especially at this point we have so much content that is out there that once
we are discovered by a new person they tend to binge it.
Yes lovely.
Yes that's always a blessing I'm like please don't listen but also thank you.
My early episodes I mean like I said started in 2016 so really if you're listening and
you're wanting to binge like you have to start on the website first because my feet
only goes back to like a certain number like I think 150 or something or something like
that.
Oh yeah.
So I'm like yeah I'm not putting everything out there because like my first episode is
the most cringe worthy one to me but I'm not taking you down because there are people
who liked it right like who like it.
No definitely.
It's not the way that I would do my show anymore which is why you see like that change in growth
but I also am like the person who always recommends starting with the most recent episode unless
it's a serial podcast in which case yeah it makes sense to start at the beginning but
I'm always like give your give the podcast a fair shot and start with the most recent
because I've gotten reviews like a long time ago like last year and the year before where
it would be like started listening to like the 2019 episodes I hope it gets better I'm
like it does but why would you start there.
No seriously because that's like.
Not great.
Yeah that's when we didn't have any experience right.
Yeah.
But then I also when I'm sorry I'm a person that listens to podcasts a lot and Koel's
been honest about it she does not listen to podcasts very often.
I listen more now only because I love faces to voices.
Yeah.
Like meeting people like Jason Astry I'm like oh god.
Isn't it weird?
Right.
Oh my gosh.
I'm in love with Richie Buck.
Yeah.
Yeah I mean getting the I actually listen ladies years as well before we met you and so it's
kind of like that same thing.
I'm sorry.
No it was good but.
She started in 2019.
I don't know.
Right.
It was like that was actually my review so I'm glad to.
I'm glad you get better.
Glad I could get it off my chest.
No so I do listen when I start a new podcast and I'm actually still in the process of looking
for new ones like you know all the time I will listen to the most recent one because I'm
like okay if I like them now I can get past maybe if they had any errors in the beginning
or maybe things that they had to work out like it's easier for me to look past that
when I know what they've accomplished like since then you know but I'll watch the most
recent one and then I'll start from the beginning after that and then I'll binge it all the
way through.
Yeah.
I love that.
It's important to see the growth.
Yeah.
I'm all like that's true like if I'm binging I'm binging backwards right I'm like unless
it's again episodic and if they're doing like a three-parter then I skip around like
for instance smart list right not in Andy Fodds as Ari but I listened to that one because
it's very rare for me to step outside of listening to true crime really because I'm a true crime
like content consumer like I agree to show that I like for myself and then I go okay
and I listen to like literally everybody show mostly because I think it's beneficial for
me to understand like the content right because we have kind of a screening process as it
relates to TCPF right.
We want people to come who have the right mindset in terms of being ethical creators.
We don't want people who are just like blood and gore aren't these cool serial killers
amazing like we don't know that or anything like that or anything you know of that nature
so you know it's beneficial to me a and I get exposed to new content that I normally
wouldn't have found right just on my own it's because I see them on the website or they
are registering and I'm like oh yeah let me check them out and see you are creating a
playlist of you know the best episodes in my opinion of what I've listened to thus far
and stuff and so yeah it's to me it's really important to be a podcast consumer regardless
of the content you're consuming right like if you're like I love self help podcasts great
but you're a true crime creator amazing it's still you still need to be in that world to
understand it like creating a podcast and listening to a podcast completely different worlds
oh yeah and you converge those two right because I listen to my show even after I publish it
because when I'm recording it I'm not listening to it in that same manner with the same year
that I would exactly I was just a consumer so it's really important to kind of have both
so even if you don't listen frequently at least you listen and so you're like yeah I
can see the improvements that I could make in my own show just by listening to this and
what they've done or like oh man I remember when that happened to me you know where I
repeat in an episode that I thought I deleted but you know it's just learning how to edit
and I've been editing for a whole day and now I can edit you know and now we're episode
in like 30 minutes or 20 minutes whereas it used to take me forever editing was like you
get to do your job the hardest part yes I'm very happy that's over now I'm glad I've been
able to pass that on because I was like oh my god if I had to do that now I would never
get an episode out yeah we would record like an hour and a half long episode and I would
sit there and listen to it and it would take me three and a half hours to edit it and now
I don't know why people might think we're crazy we just edit as we go now like as we're
recording if something messes up we pause we start over and then we all I have to do is
just join all those clips put our ads in post it and then you know it takes like 10 minutes
to like what I think of this before yes I know so people do differently like I don't
do punch and rolls for my podcast because it disrupts my flow of like the story telling
piece but like if I'm doing for instance an audiobook I will I'll stop and go no I didn't
like that I'm gonna go and re-record like double yeah and make sure you know so I think
it's just it depends on the format right and if I'm doing my live show I'm not gonna be
like hold on let me go back and do that again I'm like I don't care but yeah I mean I think
it I think it varies and stuff like that and there are people who like swear by punch and
roll and others who are like no I record straight through me now because I have the luxury I
screw I go straight through I'm like yeah that's what I pay him for to go through and
deal with that that's very true you know yeah but if I'm recording an episode that I'm like
I've you know I've edited my own episodes but in the past and more recently too just
because I've I've put myself on a weird deadline and I was like yeah I'm just gonna do the
first pass of it or something and I'm like okay I still got it I still have this the
snack to be able to not you know take forever like four or five hours with an hour long
episode but people don't realize the the time investment that goes into this like if you're
working a full-time job well welcome to your next full-time job because exactly on social
media you're on you know you're building out your website you're editing your episodes you're
getting you know your sources and researching like this is an additional full-time job that
does not pay well there's no loss that you can talk to about getting a raise you're like
okay and sometimes it can be you know it can you have the slumps and in podcasting every
successful show does like we're not immune to that because of how long we've been around
like we know notoriously in the winter time it is not ever a fun time in the next two
weeks the downloads will obviously go down a little bit because of spring break with their
kids and they're doing this so in the summer same thing so like it's an ebb and flow kind
of situation excuse me deal with that and if you can deal with the feedback that you're
gonna get unsolicited then you're good excuse me yeah I oh excuse me gosh I'm kicking the
table over here and that's the beauty of the live we don't pause yeah say all that again
I although I don't listen to a lot of podcasts I tend to listen to a lot of junk reality TV
podcasts because it's mindless sometimes oh my gosh and Scandival just and everybody has
a podcast now you listen to the bracket that's my favorite oh my gosh favorite things together
leaps the law and brother TV yeah yeah and I also listen to that chapter but sometimes
the the episodes are really really long and you can tell where they've pieced together
like maybe they began recording the rest of it the next day where their voice kind of
sounds a little different and so I I love the fact that you know you okay I got a tickle
yeah I don't want to interrupt you okay she's crying yeah but yeah I I like the fact that
this is like a concentrated maybe two hours will be in the closet together and just like
not necessarily knocking it out but like getting it done like we set it aside that time then
in there and but I understand on on you know sometimes I listen to a lot of YouTube channels
like dreading or like IWU and they have sometimes three four hour long episodes of stuff yeah
it's like man and it's all like interrogation videos and they're like pausing to talk about
maybe body language or something and so I definitely understand that it's it's it can
be worth it to take breaks in between those big episodes I don't think we've had anything
that long have you ever had like an hours long episode Lainey where it's like three
four hours absolutely I would listen to that yeah no and I would break it up anyways I
would never it's harmful to your voice like I'm a like I said I'm a voice actor so I
take great care and consideration as it relates to my voice health and everything so yeah I
only record like even when I was working with Spotify and with a cast my heart and fast
was like a maximum of an hour and 30 minutes like that's all you get because I'm also I
also work full time and I literally talk for a living yeah I have to talk for a living
so I'm like I can't and this is performative right so my voice that you're hearing now
is not the voice you hear on my podcast right it's more fine-tuned it's more you know it's
it's meant to be immersive so my voice is the least like captivating part of it right
there's certain nuances you have to it when you're reading and stuff like that and especially
like audiobooks and stuff there's I would never go longer than an hour and a half if
I'm performing anything hmm you can I mean you can honestly hear it at that point I feel
like you're talking for that long you know we've done episodes that are almost two hours
at the end of it I'm like oh my god and then I go to my like hang out with my boyfriend
he wants to chat I'm like just I don't want to talk to anybody today yeah exactly and
you get worn out like it physically is draining on your body to do that absolutely even yesterday
we had our first Instagram live I know that you liked the post but we did that for it
I mean it pretty much took us three hours because we prepped for like an hour and then we were
on it for an hour and a half an hour and you know a 45 whatever and then immediately when
we hung up we went straight to the closet and recorded an hour long episode and by the
end of that episode I was like oh my god I don't know what I've done it was like a full
time job on top of a full time job and it's like you know you clock out and you go to
the next job and then both of us log off and then we still have homework and it's like
oh my god because we're both still in school oh it's just a lot you're so right it's like
a second full time job but you know what it's what we're passionate about and that's why
we do it we don't do it for anybody but ourselves honestly because we love it exactly I mean
that's what drives you at the end of the day that's what drives me it's like I need to
have two parts right like I have I could never quit working full time in a like corporate
America job I just the way I was raised the need for stability and all this stuff like
I've tried doing content creation full time and I was like I hate this like this sucks
it took all of the fun and the creativity out of it when I had to see it as a job yeah
and so being able to see this as a fun thing that I get to do was really important to me
like I had I knew that I was probably going to have a baby at some point and it was I
think insanely far ahead right probably thanks to my anxiety and depression where I'm like
hmm I could die baby who knows so I know I definitely will be so that's no longer a
mystery I definitely will be dead at some point salt it was like there we go but it
was really important for me to have to to have an identity outside of being a mom right
because I didn't want to be this person who was like you know you hear those like stories
of women in their 40s or 50s who are like I put all of this work and effort into being
a mom and being there for my kid and now you know they've gone on and started living their
lives and I don't know what I like what I do what I want and more and I was like I'm
not going to be that person I want to have this full person identity and add on being
a mom like I can do that too as long as I can have this and this and have that balance
in creativity and then also have the stability to say like I can provide for my family and
I can have this creative outlet and now I can be I can be a full person because I have
both of those things and now I can be the best mom you know yeah it was really important
for me to to have that and so being able to balance those things has been tricky sometimes
and it's it's not always been easy but part of being able to build that community around
yourself is having your friends step in for you so like when I had my baby and I was on
maternity leave I had already planned out you know like six episodes and made it for
all of my friends who were going to come on and host an episode based off of like where
their podcast was located their stuff or like if they were like a Texas podcast and it would
be a Texas crime my friend lives on the east coast in the Berkshires and so I was like oh
we'll do a Massachusetts case you know so getting them to kind of come around and rally
for me while I'm out and not go okay what are you going to give me it's like it's not
one of those situations it's always kind of very supportive and that's what I want other
people to find like I want people to find and get what I have in the creator community
that I was able to build around me when I first started yeah I think it's it's really important
to to have that for me personally being a parent myself yeah I had one person I'll never forget
the way that she said it to me but you see you just want to be a mom when I said I wanted
to have my kiddo and I'm I wasn't I mean to me every baby is important right but yeah
I was 26 I was married at the time I was very much in a position financially that I wanted
to have a baby that is something that we planned for and we had our son and when I had said
that for many years I said I want to be a wife and I want to be a mom and she's like
well you don't want anything more like you don't want and I just I've that always sat
so gross with me I was like no like this is what I want to do and I can do my life however
I want to and then when I chose to go back to school it's a very real conversation that
me and my son have he's in school and so I'm like I'm doing homework you're doing homework
like it's a vibe right yeah and then also he knows about the podcast and what we talk
about and we talk about mental health he thinks we're famous he's yeah when he told our knees
that she's like oh he's he said my mom and Kenna are famous I was like oh baby but I
I like that because I was able to do it in a way that made sense to me and there's never
you know people like oh well you know you did life backwards well what is forwards what
is backwards I mean yeah it never has but yeah I think definitely being able to feel
like I have it all but at a pace that made sense for me and was like really important
to me and I find it so much more rewarding now yes I mean that's just kind of the same
thing that I do as well excuse me oh my gosh do as well I'm gonna be 29 and a few months
and you know I'm in my master's program I didn't get my bachelor's until I was 26 and
now I'm in my master's program not engaged you know not even living really on my own
but I don't care you know like I love my life like the way that it is like and everyone's
like oh you and Casey have been together for so long like why aren't you guys married I'm
like none of your business because we're not ready to get married you know financially
we're not gonna put ourselves in a situation where we're broke and just because we're married
like no we're together I would love to get married I'm excited to get married but it's
just not right now and that's okay you know like to rush exactly everyone can do what
they want and honestly like I said the podcast is super important to us and that's why I
feel like we focused on it on the right at the right time and right when we started I
feel like it was like getting really really big I feel like if we had waited a couple
of years we might not have been as successful as we have been.
Well I mean it is one of those things that right like you can't really look at it like
that.
It's true because we wouldn't have created the content that we created when we created
it.
Yeah.
It's all butterfly effect right?
Right.
But yeah the festival Lainey Do You Mind talking a little bit more about that we definitely
mention it every episode that we put out but because you're the co-founder definitely
want to hear from you how that got started and everything.
Oh man okay so it started in 2018 I was at another criminal conference if you will we
were brought on as the inaugural for the inaugural one and it was so funny to me because they
like podcasts podcasts are great podcasts are wonderful we're gonna have this whole room
for you guys and we're like dang that's awesome this is amazing and then when we get there
they're like everybody in attendance I kid you not like you cannot imagine the more like
surreal thing being like okay I've bought all this stuff for my table I have stickers
like they're gonna be my listeners are gonna be here I've been talking about it like this
free advertising and then everybody walks in and is like what's a podcast what do you
do what is this and you're like oh this is literally a room created of no one.
Nothing but podcasts and you guys are literally have no clue so communication I guess to the
general audience about like what it was everybody was there to like see Nancy Grace and all this
stuff and Nancy Grace had a table which was also interesting but so we were set up with
like with these like celebrities and stuff if you will and then the people would just
come around and you'd be like so I have a podcast like oh how do you listen to it or what is
that like is it like I'm like it's like a radio show without commercials now that's not true
now it's like a radio show with commercials.
Just get these if you want to or pay extra and get more sorry that was my chair.
Something like that you know so I was really disappointed with that experience and then
as time went on I was kind of just like I don't really like this I want to do something
like this but like not at the same level where the creator gets lost in it like where it's
focused on this like celebrity of a person versus the people who create the content that
people want to listen to right.
Like people who would create the content for Nancy Grace for instance to have a podcast
that she has now.
So I was sitting at the hotel bar with a bunch of my friends and I said I want to do this
I just want at first I was like I just want to host a meetup you know like I wanted you
a big meetup with all of us and find a place that'll host us and everything and I was like
okay do it like that's amazing and so we got another person to help on the planning side
to be like oh hey actually I know how to do things like this so I can help you.
So we did the 2019 event in Chicago completely grassroots no marketing no like awareness
at all and 500 people showed up and that's so cool.
Yeah we were completely out of our depth right like we were very fortunate that it was great
and amazing but we were completely like I mean if you can imagine now that you've been
to one having the sessions in the same room as the podcast row like you'd be like mmm
not a good idea probably more choice right.
It was it was so we just like had no clue what we were doing right but people trusted
us enough to be able to come and go like yeah this seems like fun overall the event was
great but it was just like not done well at the end of the day like from a programming
standpoint it's it was from a numbers perspective amazing huge success.
Yeah.
But from my own perspective of what people got out of it I was like I am surprised anybody
wants to come back to this because it was a shit show.
But you know it's nice again that I've built this reputation like this positive reputation
in this community that people trust me enough to go hey I'm gonna give this another shot
and see and each time we've gotten better right like we take it in unfortunately right
we had COVID so we had to skip one year and then we had the gathering restriction so
we literally coincidentally hosted essentially a meetup in a giant hotel room for the 2020
or 2021 festival that was in Kansas City.
And so when 2022 came around I was like listen you know we don't have the same audience at
all that we had and things have changed I mean since 2019 to 2022 the economy had changed
and all this stuff so I wasn't expecting the 500 again to me that was a fluke right I was
like that rarely happens like we were so lucky.
So in 2022 we came back to Dallas I chose Dallas truly because I just had my kids so
I was like I'm not going anywhere that requires trouble and I have all this shit to bring.
So I didn't realize I was in Dallas.
Yeah so the first one was in Dallas in 2022 and that was great it was still a great learning
opportunity for me because it was basically all alone without on the planning side I was
solo right and then I had my friends helping with the scheduling and with the tables and
figuring out that stuff because I was like oh I'm not I don't I don't know.
What I can do is get people there what I can do is connect with creators and what I can
do is this and then I had all my other friends who had great strengths and in planning on
that side helping with that but there were still opportunities for improvement there
and so 2023 in Austin and to be candid and very honest with you I have never enjoyed
a festival I have never like experienced it in a way that I was like oh my god this was
the best I'm always like this was crap right.
Everybody hates me and now they're like you're terrible at everything you do why do you keep
doing this to yourself.
I'm like I don't know I'm really passionate about it.
I'm really passionate about looking like an ass in front of everyone.
Well it makes you feel any better when we saw you we freaked out we were a little star
struggling.
You're like a slainie.
I'm like a slainie.
No so 2023 in Austin I mean I went in with I go into these things with terrible anxiety
like I am always the worst person to myself like I'm like you guys can say whatever you
want you can be like hey you're terrible piece of shit and I'll be like thank you I know.
Thank you for the criticism.
And also I'm like nobody can be meaner to me than myself like you got nothing on me
as it relates to me in that capacity so going into Austin I was so nervous I was so like
oh my god I can't believe you know I was I was worried about everything I always worry
about money because I'm like how am I going to pay this eventually I always do so it's
not everything I should worry about it's but I do I always am like hey I haven't hit this
goal I haven't hit this milestone this is what I wanted to see this is what I wanted
to do and I can't do it or whatever so when we finally walked into Austin and I had everything
kind of lessons learned from 2022 implemented 2023 I was like okay and then getting the
real time feedback from people of like this has been great this has been amazing this
has been awesome I was like holy crap like I think I actually like being here like I
think this was great and it was like it's still opportunities for growth in that sense
of of audio and making sure we have XYZ and diversity and paneling and creating two tracks
which is what we've changed for this year is that we're having a podcasters education
track and then a attendee track right so if podcasters want to learn from their peers
about hey how did I get started what's good marketing techniques or things that you can
do well you get to do that here right how can I start a YouTube channel because I have
no idea how YouTube works I only know the podcasting platform and the rules that you
know are different like nobody's going to take my podcast off the air or demonetize
my podcast right that's completely up to me but on YouTube it's left to somebody else
to go yeah your content violated our policies so this video is demonetized like how can
you avoid that how can you work around that to create content that can serve both platforms
or any platform without violating any policies or whatever they have in place so we should
go to that I know we'll be there so you know it's things like that like this is something
that people can learn from as like you know from a educational perspective of how do I
start a podcast well great here's how you can do it and learning from the people who
have done it successfully or continuing to learn how to do it successfully and then
the other side which changed a lot for me and Dallas which was the focus on ethics and
advocacy right sorry lady I'm so sorry there was not anything you said it was ethics and
advocacy is pretty funny haha something happened on our microphone it sounded so
freaky sorry it sounded like I don't know I tried my absolute hardest to not laugh
and it was like when you're in the classroom with your friend and you can't laugh you know
what I mean we just made eye contact when we started laughing so sorry that's so rude
go ahead it is it's fine it may mean I may never come back but that's okay you had your
chance so we're good but you know we had the focus and shift on ethics and advocacy which
is super important to me and it's literally changed my life and so I'm just like I have
no compromise there like we are not here to glorify to do anything like we are here to
amplify the voices of the people who basically gave us this content without them we would
have no platforms like I wouldn't have this success I have without somebody having the
worst day of their life and I have to be able to sleep at night going have I done enough
have I helped somebody have I given you know my platform to somebody who could use it and
thankfully I can say yes I have and yes I continue to do so and now I get to create an environment
where they can come and meet creators who want to help them because you can imagine when
you have somebody who's like lost a family member a family member is missing and they
you know people tell them like oh reach out to this podcast there's millions of podcasts
out there and imagine being able to be in a room and go I have unlimited access to these
creators and now I get to tell them about my case and it's really difficult as a person
being in front of another person who's dealing with this going you know that content doesn't
really fit my show like you're gonna find a way to make it work if you want to if you
want to right like there's sure you can do it but it's a completely different vibe it's
a completely different opportunity for the families and advocates to come in and say
like hey here's my story can we can I get on your show and they would like yeah I'd love
to have you on my show and and then they build connections like there are people in this industry
who have had who have just like randomly decided to help somebody and now they're like celebrating
birthdays together they spend time as a family like they've they've built these connections
because of a common mission they have to spread awareness about a crime that's taken place
you know or a person that's missing and I think that's incredible and if I can have a
part in that I want to I always want to see that growth and be like that's amazing so
for sure that's it that's a long story especially no I think especially I think it's a lot of
it I find it funny that you you said that you guys were kind of looking for a true not
maybe not necessarily a true crime meetup but some kind of a meetup and that you guys
created this because that's exactly what we were doing we were looking for a meetup we're
like there has to be something in the San Antonio area where people get together and do this
yeah and then sure enough it was yeah just a few months before the con and we were really
nervous about it but really excited and we were really fortunate to have it kind of
in our backyard and not across the US somewhere yeah if it was we had seen it in Chicago we
wouldn't have been able to go right financially we just you know so that was kismet I think
that it happened to be in Austin and what I tell you that we like literally shrieked
when we got like approved I'm not even joking when we got registered we were like really
I was like so even this year would like they want us back I'm so impressed by all because
I reached out to you to go hey you know because my job my my goal is to give you like a platform
to like collaborate with other creators and say like I always like pairing newer shows
with older shows and creating that network like kind of forcing that network to be like
oh yeah remember when we worked together and it creates a it breaks the ice there to where
you're not like oh my god Justin from generation why you're like okay it's just it's gonna be
okay just hey Justin you know I love them so much so it's fine but you guys were like
no thanks we don't think we're like ready for that yet and I was like look at you not
just going sure we'll do it and said you were like you know what we'd like to see how things
work first before we consider doing something like that like you wanted to be fully prepared
to like be essentially like your best self and I was like that is I've never seen that
and I think that is so admirable honestly because you know people would be like of course
I'll do it I'll be on you know whatever and and go after that piece as opposed to being
like I want to do what's best for myself and make sure that I'm presenting myself in the
best light possible and I think that's beautiful thank you yeah definitely want to be authentic
authentically ourselves and I think at that time I think not that we've struggled with
authenticity but just having having specific dialogues and and bringing those specific
topics to the table and a really sensitive and and coming from a really and a place of
knowledge and understanding rather and so to have all that now you know maybe not this
year but you know but still I think that we're we're gearing up to that and I think that
it was really important for us to be like let's walk into the space and see how it goes
yeah fortunately everyone has been so supportive and I am not kidding the listeners the way
that Laney is describing this is exactly the way that it feels it feels warm and comfy
and inviting and positive and the connections are there and you can have a drink with other
podcasters and they don't judge you for being new and it's like yeah sorry cut you off again
I was just talking about the panel we had last year it was about you know learning the festival
in itself right not even just the panel but learning the festival so we got to do that
figured out how it all worked we got to meet amazing people and then we realized oh my god
we didn't go to any of the panels last year so now this year we're like now we gotta go
to the panels because we're not gonna just do one if we've never seen one so this year
yeah our focus is gonna be to attend you know most of the panels or if we can and then of
course build those connections still and then maybe next year we do one I think sometimes
our fear is not being present at the booth you know here's the thing yes I know everybody
so that's the thing we're changing 2024 right because I was like yeah people are gonna be
like well I want to be here but I also want to go in here this and that's also what I
struggled with when I went to that one criminal conference like that actually seems really
interesting but I'm told I have to stay here all day so then I can't go and so we're changing
that for 2024 so we have scheduled times like you're gonna probably be at your table a max
of three hours for the entire festival so then you can go and that's that's like scheduled
time anytime you can stay there all day like some people like to do or you can go to a
you know a passion a session a panel and things like that so you know I was like I heard you
guys loud and clear on that and it's gonna change like it's gonna be something that because
I it's I want you to get something out of it too right you're doing me a favor by coming
and sharing you know your space and your podcast with these attendees so I want to make sure
you get something out of it too because also as any creators newsflash like we don't make
a lot of money if any some of this comes out of our personal pocket like TCPF every year
pretty much comes out of my personal funds like most of it is thankfully through ticket
sales but like the little stuff that I do I'm like I'll do it because I don't want to take
away from the festival and being able to do this just yeah like I can do it so I'll make
sure it's done and stuff and that's because I'm like I want to make sure it's all good
but yeah you know you want to get something yeah you want to get something out of it too
and you also want to maximize the benefit like you're traveling however you decide to
travel air or through a vehicle you're having to spend money for your food for your hotel
like I try to make it as cost effective as possible to keep it low because yes I could
charge three hundred dollars five hundred dollars a thousand dollars but I'm not that
person and it's never been about profits for me it's always like I want to make it accessible
so everybody can come you know yeah like the creator who's like I only have like 50 listeners
and two episodes can I come like yeah dude register this is gonna be awesome for you
and it's a to me it's also a very overwhelming event I tell people if they've never been
on like just prepare yourself because it is a lot yeah you need a day off the next like
when it's all over you need a day off from work like plan for the Thursday through Monday
to be off because exactly what we're doing I was just gonna say the fact that you were
saying that you want everyone to be able to attend so this year is actually a family affair
we're actually coming with both of our boyfriends and our parents because it's my birthday on
Sunday the 14th and so I was like if we're gonna be in Denver on my birthday I'm not
flying home my birthday we're gonna stay on my birthday and we'll go home on Monday
so yeah really really excited for them to be excited and of course for them to see our
little niche niche niche niche or reason trust me I'm a voice actor I know how to pronounce
words I'm good Laney do you have anything else you want to say before we end our conversation
um yes we will be planning a Texas podcast union meetup soon we do as you may know or
may not know the Texas podcast union is made up of all true not true crime all creators
in Texas who have a podcast literally runs a gambit of the type of shows that they have
and it's a lot of fun so we travel throughout the state of Texas so we go typically Dallas
then Fort Worth Austin San Antonio and Houston sometime it's a personal feel like a Houston
if you know you know I hate Houston not the people well sometimes the people but also
the traffic traffic traffic sure desire yeah I have zero desire to be in Houston at any
point on purpose so sorry no hate no hate no shade no you know but also not sorry so
yeah we're gonna be going through we kind of go through the middle right we hit all the
major cities and stuff like that and we find cool bars or like coffee houses and stuff
that will let us just hang out and if we get the opportunity to like do a live show we'll
do one if they have a stage and Mike and stuff some of the some of them do but otherwise
we just hang out drink and get to know each other or invite people there and stuff so
we will be picking those up probably after July so we'll be doing more in the fall months
because it's people aren't traveling as much and they're also it's the summer in Texas
so you don't want to do anything crazy in Texas yeah yeah so yeah so we'll be doing
some of those in the later half of the year and that'll be fun so you guys don't have
to come to the Dallas one you can wait till the San Antonio one I was so excited it's
gonna be a lot of fun yes and it's fun oh my god I know that's gonna be so much so much
fun I'm cannot wait so that's thank you so much Laney yes thank you for loving me yes
absolutely and I wanted to say I think that we did really great having a podcaster on
our live because I feel like the last couple people that we've had there been great episodes
but they don't feel like they can't talk because they're not used to it so I think it was really
good awesome thank you yeah thank you gosh absolutely well I think that's all we have
and listeners we will see you when our next episode comes up yes okay all right ready
you want to say it with us Laney one two three love you bye