Why Diversity And Inclusivity Needs To Be Amplified Now More Than Ever With Erica Courdae Of Pause On The Play

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell, and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazzard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all noise with the binge factor.

Hey everyone, Tracy Hazzard here from Feed you'd brand center of Influence feature. I've got a new podcaster for us today, Erica Corday. She is an entrepreneur, coach and consultants and dedicated to expanding how multicultural professionals, managers, lawyers, coaches and creative small business owners interact in the world. Through powerful conversations meant to create dialogue and connection, Erica seamlessly challenges them to perceive the reality through different lens. I really like that, Erica. And your topics include diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion, which make for the awareness that she uses to create mind shifts for impact in life and in business. Erica Belize. Talking about the important and necessary topics in a safe space creates change and helps people feel comfortable, honest and forward focused. Her podcast just launched earlier this year and it has, I think you're like 15 episodes or so, Erica, right?

That's about right.

And it's called Pause on the Play. Interesting title. I love it.

Thank you so much, Tracy. I appreciate that.

Yeah, glad to have you here and really glad. I'm so excited about the she podcast event, which is how we connected, which is coming up this fall in 2019, because who knows when somebody's listening to this, but the first one's going to be in October 2019. And so we got connected to it. You know what I really loved is that I've finally gotten way more women on the show than ever before. And so there's a bit of diversity going on here as well. And with that, I've had great cultural diversity as well. And you are one of those. So I'm excited to have you on.

Thank you so much for having me, Tracy.

So tell me, what made you start a podcast with all you're doing and all that you've got going on?

It was kind of funny. It definitely wasn't planned. And the funny part is I don't know who actually plans it anymore. It almost happens.

You got dragged into it. You don't even know, just a little.

And it actually kind of did happen that way. I had a friend and we recorded for a blog post and it was literally just the two of us within conversation, but the conversation works really well. It was very fluid, and it addressed some really great things, and I think we did it maybe twice. And she was like, well, this actually really fits where Erica Corday is going. And this sounds like a podcast. I think you have a podcast. And I was kind of like, I have a who, a what? And then when I was like, okay, well, let's try it and let's see what happens. And I absolutely love it. I love it.

You know what's so interesting, though, is, like, sometimes we fall into it and we're just like, we. Absolutely. It just fits us.

And.

And so you discovered that exactly as you were supposed to. So were you a podcast listener before that?

I was. I'm definitely someone that likes to take in information that way.

Yeah. So you kind of knew what was happening. So you just were surprised you were one of those?

Yeah, pretty much.

Well, I love that. And so, you know. So how did you launch? How'd your launch go? Was it complicated? Did you find it easy? Was it stressful? Like, how did that go for you? Because for so many, it varies. It's so all over the place in terms of, like, it's simple for some and really hard for others. How was it for you?

It actually was pretty simple for me from the simple point of view that I had already done some of the recording with my friend, who she actually is my co host, very often on my show. And so I was already in the mode of being able to do it, and I wasn't nervous to, you know, just kind of sit in front of the microphone and talk. I do like to talk, so that part is easy. And I didn't create a lot of preamble around it. I literally just kind of decided, okay, I am going to record. I'm going to go through my process of uploading it, simply creating show notes, nothing crazy, and I just kind of did it. And the beautiful part about it was that I had people that I was already working with and a little bit of an audience kind of there. So it simply just became another way for them to take in content. For me, that, for a lot of them, was one of the ways that they were already taking in content. And so I did not overcomplicate it because I just simply said, all right, I'm going to do it. I didn't make it a huge launch thing. It was just, here we go, we have a podcast.

But you already had an audience. So how have they responded to it?

They absolutely love it. It's been good because it has prompted Some people to come to me and say, hey, I'm looking for some coaching, or I'm looking for some consulting within my brand, my business. They're coming to me and giving me feedback, which for anybody that's doing a podcast, they understand how important that is. So, one, you know the audience is listening, and two, you can actually address what they want to hear. And it's been helpful to either have that additional point of view to add in or to be able to have that confirmation that I am on the right track with what I am delivering, content wise.

Well, Erica, you're really lucky because for a lot of podcasters who started who don't have an active and engaged community to begin with, like you must have already had, then they don't usually hear back until they reach about 25 episodes. And so it can be really like isolating and frustrating and makes you feel like you're not doing a good job. And so you're lucky that you've heard back sooner than others.

I think what's important is that I could easily have inboxes or DMs through social media flooded. I'm getting more of the targeted conversations with people versus just tons of things that maybe aren't as pertinent or it's just to check the block. So it really is kind of just popping up as conversation and that I'm continuing it. But I think the other side of it is, is that even with me having that, that doesn't always happen every single time.

Of course it doesn't.

Right.

Sometimes you hit a more touchy subject.

Mm. And especially because what I do isn't. It's not all rainbows and butterflies. So there are gonna be times that people may be quiet, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're not engaged. So sometimes you have to still just kind of keep going. You kind of just have to speak into the ether and know that somebody's listening, somebody will pop up, somebody will interact and not take that as the need to shut it off because you didn't get that feedback because you don't know who may have heard it. And they just simply either didn't have anything that they needed to say at that moment, or they weren't at that point in their processing of it to have anything to say.

I'm going to deviate from some of my sort of more podcaster focused questions and just talk about something that you and I probably experience more. So because of the types of podcasts you do, and for me, the types of articles I write So I write a column for INC Magazine in addition to Authority magazine.

And.

And it happens invariably that I write about women in diversity, getting more cultural diversity, into artificial intelligence and into our technology, stem and steam and that kind of thing. And whenever I write about them, I'm trolled on Twitter, like, in a nasty, horrible way. And I was like, did you read the article? It was really positive. Like, it was not negative at all. I was talking about how we can, you know, be a part of the solution. But it happens invariably. And that's, you know, you're stepping into a territory in which you can have people who don't. Don't even really listen, but are reacting to just the headline or the topic. So you're putting yourself out there in a very vulnerable way. And that can be hard when, you know, everything you do is so personal on your podcast. You're making yourself very vulnerable there.

The interesting thing, I think about anybody that does anything, and I think you're a really good example of that, in that you're going to have people that are going to disagree or just have a variance of opinion, regardless of, you know, how far it may. May go. You can't prepare or act for those, because there's always going to be somebody, even if it's just someone that feels as though you have a platform and they don't, and therefore they're going to manifest the platform for themselves by trolling. There's nothing you can do. And if anything, it's more of a reason to not allow your voice to be silenced, because it's too often that marginalized groups, women, minorities, is this reason to try to shrink. And I absolutely advocate for people not using that as a reason to contract, using that as a reason that what they're doing is absolutely needed and necessary and that they're doing the right thing. When they do get those kinds of things, it's like, oh, well, somebody's listening. So therefore, that's my indication that I'm doing exactly the work I should be.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that you're all for moving forward. But, you know, you have a really interesting title here, and I want to touch on that, because people get really hung up. Aspiring podcasters get really hung up on how to name their show. And your show's not named what you would typically expect for its topic. It's called Pause on the Play. How did you come up with that, and how did you decide it was right for you?

Strangely enough, I have an amazing friend whose daughter is just great with words. And she was actually the one that came up with it.

I love it. Let someone else name it, because I can't do it.

That's who I am. Right? And it was literally where we were talking about it. And this was when it was in its very first iteration. It's kind of just a blog, kind of special. And she said it, and it was kind of like, that's it. And it made perfect sense from the point of view of, if you think about sports, it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Pause. Wait a minute. Pause on the play. Because. No, no, no, there's a problem. There's something going on. We need to stop. We need to address it. We need to redirect.

I keep doing that with the news and other things. I'm like, pause that. We all need to talk about this, because you're really onto something there. And it absolutely fits what you're talking about and what you're advocating for.

And that was why, when it did come about, it lined up perfectly. And it could be very easy to go with something that was very literal. But I actually love the fact that it's not literal because it allows me to speak. Speak about, you know, what it is that I'm speaking about. But because a big focus of what I specialize in is dei, diversity, equity, and inclusion, it gives me a lot of places that I can go with it without pigeonholing myself, because I have seen people that I know that will have a podcast, and they feel like they outgrow it and they have to start all over again because they've gotten themselves into this place where it's like, I've niched down so far. I can't do anything else with it.

Oh, I'm so glad you said that. You know, there's two schools of thought in how you title your podcast, and one is that you title it in the digital marketing world so that it hits the keywords, and you're going to show up in search. But the reality is you have more in itunes and in Google and all the other directories out there and all the AI that controls the search. Right. That you have the Description and it's 4,000 characters long, and you can use that to fit in all your conversations about diversity and equity. Right. And you can do, you know, put all of that in there so that when someone's searching for those topics, you show up anyway. But when they hear the name, they are like, this is going to be fun. This is going to be interesting. I got to check it out instead of, oh, this is going to be, like, on topic and maybe boring. So given it a personality already. So kudos to you. That is awesome choices at the very beginning.

Thank you.

What funny or interesting thing has happened so far? I mean, have you guys made some big mistakes and, you know, and you learned from them already? Like, I'm never gonna do that. I'm not gonna record that way again. Anything happened to you yet?

Let's see. Well, I have learned that now, having been led by, you know, my strategist for social media and all things kind of marketing and strategy. Now having an actual mic, I have learned that don't record with your headset. It sounds like a good idea until it doesn't.

And it doesn't.

When you go to listen to the playback and you're like, oh, no, it's wasted. I can't use this. It sounds terrible.

And if you're like me, I can't say the same thing twice. So, like, rerecording is just not that good an option.

Oh, and some of the first episodes, they were that way, and I didn't know in the very beginning, but then the more I did it, I was, you know, and then, like, when I started to actually have, like, an intro and things like that, and then I would pop in the other audio, the interview side. I'm like, ooh, it's so different. And so then I could very audibly tell why having my mic made such a difference. I learned I can't share the mic without my headphones. So, like, if you have a pair of EarPods, you can go ahead and sync those and you can share AirPods and you can share the mic that way, but you can't share the mic without earphones because. Hello, background noise. How are you? Yes, it doesn't help. So it's. There were definitely some learning curves with that and just figuring out, you know, what were the locations that did work well, what were the ones that maybe weren't my favorite?

Because, you know, that's so interesting. It's not just your equipment. It's the location that matters too. Where you record. How. How much hard surface do you have around you? So, so interesting. Well, good. Well, thank you for sharing those.

Those lessons.

And so what advice do you have for someone who wants to start out podcasting? What should they look at first? What should they consider?

Number one, do it. Don't give yourself reasons to stop. And, well, if I don't have this part, then I can't do it. You know, the first thing that I always say is literally Just do it. Because the worst thing that's going to happen is you realize it doesn't work or you don't like it and you don't do it again. But there's only one way to truly find that out. So just to simply get started is always going to be the first, second, do buy a mic. It makes sure, like, the mic is helpful. Great.

So, well, let's do some other lessons. So have you been booking guests yet?

I have. I've found that it's helpful to have your. A kind of a loose template for being able to get the information and things that you need communicated to your guests as well as the things that you need from your guests. I find that being able to have that already ready to go is very helpful. I find that you want to kind of have an idea of who you want to pitch or maybe who you want to talk to. But I definitely find that it's easier to simply make connections with people and from their podcast interviews with you being the interviewer or being interviewed, it comes so much simpler that way. Versus the cold calling kind of thing.

Yeah, absolutely. Do you have a big guest you'd like to get?

That's a good question. I don't know.

You got to think about that.

I know. I'm like, I don't know. Because the interesting thing for me is that I am finding so many people around me that are so interesting, and it's not one of those like, oh, I want this celebrity. I am honestly, truly having so much fun just finding out about all of these amazing women that do this thing that I do in the way that is their zone of genius and just feeling like we're all standing shoulder to shoulder and being determined to make our mark on the world. So every person that I interview just kind of lays the groundwork in this beautiful melange of all of the people that I'm interacting with that are influencing me, and I am thoroughly, thoroughly enjoying it.

You know, I like that. I like that idea where, you know, a lot of them want to get celebrities on for various reasons. But I. I like the idea that it's just. It's an exploration and you're along with your audience in doing that. That's a kind of great approach. It's a really down to earth because, you know, it's. We can all learn from celebrities. We can definitely learn from our more successful neighbors, though.

Exactly. And I find a lot of value in talking to someone that is where I am, someone that is beyond where I am, and someone that isn't yet where I am, I think someone that isn't there yet still has some of the rose colored glasses that you can lose with things sometimes. So I think there's this beauty in still having that. It's all beautiful and yet the person that's done it and maybe is a little bit beyond you has that experience. So there's that knowledge there. And someone that's with me, we're in it, so we're both here, but we're also looking at it through our individual lenses. And there's always value in considering a reality that doesn't look like your own and also understanding that it is also real. I love that.

So how about increasing listeners? Have you done any kind of campaigns or done anything to try to ask for listeners or.

I have not done any campaigns. I've been considering up the possibility of possible Instagram ads or something along those lines. What's really worked well for me is the kind of share with a friend kind of thing. If you know of someone that this would benefit, send this over to them. Or if I'm working with somebody and they're talking about something, I'll say, hey, you know what? I actually have an episode that might work really well with that and it's something that they can share with their audience or with clients. So that's been really beneficial.

A little more grassroots like that. And so you talked about producing in a professional way. Get a microphone, get a better space, so we don't need to cover that one again. But how about once you have that audience, you seem to be already really good with your encouraging engagement. What do you do to get people more engaged?

Honestly, I think that's one of those things where, like when we talked about the difference of say, having like a celebrity guest versus someone that does feel a little more approachable, that's more of a real person. I really think that it's important to keep a piece of that realness, a piece of that grounding where things aren't so perfectly polished to a fault that it can feel unapproachable. So if I were to show up and it's just every photo and every caption and everything is so produced to perfection that could make people feel as though I can't show up here and talk. And that's a really important thing for me because some of the people that I've seen that do the work that I do or similar work, some of the spaces aren't as welcoming.

That's so true.

And for me it's very important to provide that space that people feel that they can come in, they can speak, their voice can be heard, they can ask questions. There is no, oh, you're going to be skewered because you asked something that you should have known or any of those types of things. So really fostering that, hey, it's cool, come on in the room, let's talk. And I'm not talking at you, we're talking with you.

I love being approachable. Such good advice. That's wonderful. So what about thinking about monetizing your show? Obviously it's helping your coaching, your coaching programs and other things, but have you thought about that?

It's funny you mentioned that. I have and I'm actually interested in when I do come to she podcast. Really just kind of exploring that a little more because as you mentioned, I am newer to the podcasting game in comparison to people that have hundreds and hundreds of of podcast episodes under their belt. And so with that being said, I want to kind of find out what do the options look like to monetize? What does it look like to have sponsors? What are some of the options that maybe I'm not aware of or haven't considered that aren't necessarily sponsors? Because that's one of the main things that kind of comes to mind for me and I know that that's not the only way to do it. So I'm actually really interested to see what does that specific area kind of hold possibility wise for pause on the play?

Well, and you know what, there's a lot of options out there, so that's such a great way to approach an event. So not only are you going to go there, speak there, and get exposure and publicity for your show, but you're also going to go there with an intent to learn something. And, you know, 98% of the podcasters out there don't make money off of advertisements or sponsorship. So, you know, it's only 2% that qualify for that. So, wow, you know, there's gotta be a lot of choices out there, a lot of ideas that. And something's gotta fit you and your business.

And that's exactly what I wanna learn about. And that's why being able to, you know, go to this event and learning about other events that are, you know, similar even on a smaller scale, to be able to, you know, share information and opportunities with each other and be able to say, you know, this is what I know, this is what I've learned. These are some of the resources, you know, or pieces of my knowledge that I am happy to Share that, to me, is a huge gift, and I really thrive in that type of environment because I like sharing the things that I've learned, the things that I've learned the hard way, and being able to allow someone else to not have to go the hard way to figure it out, but also the things that maybe they didn't even consider would be able to support them. So I'm really looking forward to. And, you know, monetizing is just one of those things, but it's a really great example of it. What are the options for my podcast? Where can I go? What can I do with this? How can I grow this? How can this be more than just, you know, me sitting with earphones and a microphone and recording in hopes of someone listening? How can I really make this into a movement and then monetize it? Because the reality is that this is something that does cost money, even if all of the things that went into it didn't cost money. Your time is money. So what's the next step?

So besides getting to be a speaker at the she Podcast event, has your podcast already given you higher authority and the ability to do some things that you didn't expect to be able to do before?

I didn't expect any of this.

That's right. It's all exciting. It is.

I didn't expect to have the podcast. I didn't expect to be in this position to where, you know, I am having people, you know, say, hey, I want to have you on my podcast. Me being able to ask people to, you know, guest on my podcast. Me being in this space for people to be able to say, I hear what you're saying, and this is really important to me, and I need your support with this and that, leading to, you know, different types of positions and bookings and things. With my coaching and consulting, it's all really fleshing out and coming together into this beautiful thing that I didn't necessarily plan for. And I just really, just. The biggest thing I'm doing right now is just being malleable and receiving it, being open to what it can become.

I love that. That's wonderful. And, you know, you're not alone. I mean, when I. We started our first podcast back in 2014 and 2014 and yielded a whole bunch of surprises for us as well. So I think it does surprise everyone. It got me my column for Inc. Magazine. It's gotten me numerous speaking events, got me things on stages and places that I didn't expect to ever be invited to. So it became a whole new world that opened up for me. So I'm glad that that's doing the same thing for you.

I love hearing when people have kind of been there in their own iteration of it, and it's kind of like, you know, I didn't necessarily know where this was going, but it's given me all kinds of opportunities, and here I am, and I'm still open to whatever opportunities are still coming, so.

And I'm going to take advantage of them.

Right, exactly. So, I mean, you're a great, you know, example of what can happen if you just kind of just show up.

Well, you know, this is something that occurs again and again with the women that I come across, specifically women, more so than men, that they hold themselves back a little bit. They don't take advantage of the opportunities. They tell themselves they're not ready yet. And I love hearing that you're not like that at all. Because, you know, I reached out to many of the speakers on she podcast, and many of them didn't want to come on the show and promote their business and promote their podcast. They just were like, oh, I don't think that's right for what I'm doing, you know, or I'm not ready yet. Or I just started my show and you said, no, I'm going to play.

I don't think that there's any way to know unless you try. And there is a point to where you never know where things can lead and you don't want to write the story before the story has actually played out. So to me, I'm like, why not?

Absolutely. Well, beautifully said. Well, I cannot wait to hang out with you at the she Podcast event. So it's she Podcast Lives, October 11th to the 13th in Atlanta, Georgia. There are still tickets available, so I'm going to have all the links for the event. And of course, to you, Erica, and to your paws on the play. Podcast will also be in the blog post for this episode and eedyourbrand co make sure that everyone can connect to you so they can listen up before they see you live and check you out.

I am so excited. This has been amazing, and I seriously cannot wait to meet you in person, Tracy. I'm so excited. Good.

We'll have lunch together. We'll have fun.

So, looking forward to it.

Well, thank you so much for joining me today, and thank you for being a center of influence in podcasting. And I will be back, everyone, next week with, and maybe even more often, because I seem to have so many wonderful speakers that I might have to cram them into two a week. Wouldn't that be exciting? So I'll be back very soon with another center of Influence podcaster, and I look forward to sharing their tips and their exciting venture into podcasting. Thank you all for listening.

You've been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. For more information on podcasting and videocasting success tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as featured in Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.