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Real voices in your ears: Human-centered podcasting with Amelia Hruby
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Real voices in your ears: Human-centered podcasting with Amelia Hruby

"Your voice brings your body to the conversation"

“Podcasts are made to be listened to, and the more people that listen to them along the way to being published, the better every episode will be. That's my opinion.” - Amelia

The act of podcasting - recording it, editing it, and listening to it - is one of the most embodied acts in content creation. Because no matter how good the AI bots sound, there’s something simply human about listening to someone else’s authentic voice in your earbuds.

Today’s interview is with

, founder of Softer Sounds podcast production studio and host of the Off the Grid podcast. Softer Sounds is a production studio that works with women and non-binary artists, writers, entrepreneurs, and creatives to create podcasts that express their creative vision (and hopefully make them some money in the process). And the Softer Sounds podcast network is home to Amelia’s own podcasts, including:

  • Off the Grid (leaving social media without losing all of your clients) - and upgrade to the

    to support the pod!

  • Pleasure Reading (a bookish podcast about the pleasure of reading) - this new podcast and Meg’s

    podcast is the total source of Jessica’s TBR list right now

  • - a brand new podcast/Substack between Amelia and

Amelia has an aggressively human point of view about AI in the podcasting industry, and the power of a human-oriented podcast process. We cover the tools and tech flooding into the podcast production industry, what tools Amelia and her team use (or not) and why, and how she markets a higher-touch service. We dive into why Softer Sounds is an audio-first studio, including some reasons that might surprise you.

“I could make bank if I became a video podcast studio, and... I would hate every second of it. And I just stay true to my values but also my desires on a deeper level.”

In today’s episode we dive into:

  • The power of podcasting to bring our ideas to life and build trust in a way that is distinct to writing

  • Why Softer Sounds leads with the voice in all aspects of the creation and production process (not just in the editing process)

  • What happens when you take your magical, unique, sparkly creations and run them through AI processing and show notes (hint - they become dull, generic, choppy, and overly polished)

  • How Amelia leads with her human-first and audio-first values - and how that is a powerful filter for the clients she works with

  • The less obvious way you market and sell a higher-touch - and higher-cost - level of service

  • The unexpected benefits from having multiple people on the other end of the podcast production process

“I built a lighthouse in my business that isn't really about podcasting, but brings to me people who are willing to ask hard questions about how they're willing and want to show up in their business” - Amelia

About Our Guest:

Follow Amelia

Softer Sounds

Off the Grid Podcast

All of Amelia’s Other Podcasts!

Connect with Us:

Subscribe to the Substack:

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Meg Casebolt

Jessica Lackey

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