Behind the Mic: Exploring the Passion Behind Podcasting and Essential Equipment

Welcome to Podcasting Tech, a podcast that equips busy

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Today in the show, we are gonna take you to not one but 2 studio

setups. We are chatting with Brooke Robichaud and Nate Kelly,

the host of Podcasting Tech for the Digital Entrepreneur, and

they both host some other Podcasting beyond that, which we'll have links to all that

in the show notes. Nate and Brooke, thank you for joining us today.

Thanks for having us. Yes. And and

the way Nate says, hey. We've we've worked before. We've, been on each

other's podcast more than once. So there's a little bit of a reunion going

on. Way back. So way back. So,

Nate, I know you started with, the sobriety

diaries, but take us just a little bit quickly. Like, what

has been the evolution of your podcast journey since then?

Yeah. So, you know, by

God's grace and, I think, the universe working

in my favor and a lot of hard work, I had some

traction with the sobriety diaries right away and,

you know, really started to realize

my passion in the industry. And Brooke and I have

very similar stories and

sorry. Brooke and I have very similar stories, and we laugh about

it now because both of us kind of played talk show

in our bedrooms growing up and always, you know,

wanted to be behind a microphone and interviewing

people. So when I look back at it that way, I think

it was just part of my my destiny to, you know,

be, sort of helping others to

find their voice and tell their story. So when I had that success with

the sobriety diaries, I I kinda started to develop a

framework and develop outlines

and resources to help others to to achieve that

success with launching a podcast. Brooke and I were introduced to

one another through the sobriety diaries. She came on the show and shared her

story and, you know, found ourselves really drawn to

one another and have collaborated over the years,

within our own businesses and on other shows.

And finally just decided a few months ago to kind of put our

heads together and help other and help other digital

entrepreneurs, utilize podcasting as

a, you know, a stream of revenue

or a way to market their business,

tech, kind of all of the above. And, you

know, we had success with this show as well. So,

we we like to think that we're in the right spot and, are

are very grateful to be sharing our our story today with you.

Nice. And, Brooke, I I know you do more

than just, Unplugged. Tell us a little bit more about your,

like, expansive, you know, podcast career right now.

Well, my podcast career really started, after

nights of drinking with my friends. And, like Nick was saying, if it's something I've

always really loved doing. It's like being behind a camera, being behind a mic or,

you know, creating things, making films, just trying to create

worlds outside of myself and and find new ways to share. I don't know

why I was given that passion, but it was given to me. And,

yeah. So I started with my friends. We just, like, goof around. We'd make little

mix clouds Podcasting, and my grandma would listen. And,

I would, like, you know, give a shout out to my grandma every time we're

doing a podcast. She's like, how did you know I was listening? Can you see

me? Like, no. But I just

Samson. And, you know, that passion

really exploded when I got sober. I just wanted to find a way to get

a message out into the world. And, you know, I tried my hand in blogging

and different, content creation tools, but podcasting became

a little bit more easier to get into. There were some

new software that came out, Podbean being one of them,

that was like, you just use that software and you can get your message

out there. I didn't have any fancy equipment or anything to start, but I,

had gotten a real big health and wellness journey. I had gotten sober

and I lost £80, and everyone was asking me, like, how did you do this?

So I started sharing tips and tools and and stuff through that, and then that

transformed into a podcast called Seek Purpose,

which was about finding purpose after addiction and trauma. I

met incredible people through that. And,

unfortunately, after showing that pen the pandemic

happened, everything shut down. Fortunately for us, because we ended up going online and meeting

people from all over the world and not just in our little area. But, during

that time, my little brother passed away and, you know, it got

really hard to share stories of

overcoming trauma and addiction, all that kind of stuff when I just lost my brother

to addiction. He was, like, 23. So I've I put that

down and I started helping entrepreneurs in recovery start

their own businesses. And I started the Sober Biz Collective and

the Sober Biz Collective podcast where I Tech to sober entrepreneurs. I Kelly

Nate with his website and helping him, like, just, you know,

feel really confident about his brand and what he's putting out there. And, through

that, I've just met so many incredible people. And now me and my girlfriends have

gotten together, and we're starting a show that's all it's called the Nate Girls Club,

and we're just talking about things that are,

relevant today to our community around, like, self esteem and self

worth and dating and relationships and marriage and just

all that kind of stuff and sharing our friendships with the world and

these deep conversations that we get to have as a community of women that, like,

heal together. We just wanna, like, share that openly. It's

so funny how many people, once they have a single

podcast and they find just a little bit of success, how

quickly they are into their 2nd, 3rd, 4th. You know? They're doing

That's true. 7 shows, every day. They're, you know, recording a different podcast, and

they just get seriously into it. So, that is very, very

cool. So take us through now

your Tech stack. So what are you using? What's the microphone?

I know for this call, you're using your microphone a little bit differently, but what's

your normal setup like, Brooke? Well, I just

got the Rodecaster Pro 2 because our our warranty

was actually up. I'm gonna give Rode a big shout out right now because our

warranty was far beyond, what it was supposed to be by

beyond the 2 years. And, our power button stopped

working on our original Rodecaster,

pro. So we sent it in, and they sent us a brand new Rodecaster

Pro 2. The reason why I'm not plugged into it right now is because

we're still figuring out all the, maybe, great details on how to make

sure it functions properly. But I absolutely love it so

far. I've been actually taking it on the road with me when we're doing the

nice girls club. I've gone to a couple of my friends' house, and we just

plug microphones in there. I can record right onto the board. So it's

been a really cool tool. And then I've got the

Shure MV7. I absolutely love

this microphone. It has the XLR input, and it can go right into my

computer, which just saved my butt today. So

it's pretty phenomenal. And, yeah, I think they're just a g

headphones. I I I've had these since I just started

podcasting, and they've lasted forever. They're I love

a good set of headphones. It just changes the

experience. So Yeah. As someone who works in radio and have to

wear headphones all the time, the right pair of headphones is

great. Although, more recently, I've decided to just go with, like, these,

you know, in ear monitors. Just Yeah. I just felt less claustrophobic,

than when I was wearing huge cans around my head. And I I believe earlier

you said you're just using your laptop built in camera,

but you have some lights helping you out there? I do. Yeah. So I'm

I love Elgato. They my husband's a video game streamer,

so he he, put me on to them. And now

I wanna buy all of their stuff. I have, like, the arm holding up my

little fancy camera. I've got a Canon RP as well that I use for the

nice girls club, and my husband uses for streaming. And so we've got

one of their arms there, and then I've got 2. I've got a lights. I've

got the ring light and the key light set up as well. They're phenomenal,

and I I really just like sticking to one brand so I can just have

one app to control them. You know?

Tech. So smart. And and I know you said when you

first started, you didn't even have a microphone. What was the first mic you ever

got? It was the first mic I ever bought. Yeah.

Ah, that's a great question. We we Brooke

the Rode Nate t 1 a microphone because

yeah. I was doing a lot of,

Kelly karaoke singer as well. Sings too, Mathew. No

no bounds. They're endless. I have endless talents. I can make up,

parodies of popular songs. I can it's pretty, magical.

That is that is an expensive first mic, and and my experience with it is

that it sounded so good. The problem was it was too good, and it was

just picking up noises from, you know, 3 blocks away in my

little apartment at the time. So, yeah, I had I had to move on from

it. But, yeah, that's a that's a quality first, Mike. And, Nate, what about you?

What are you using today for, your podcasting purposes?

We have the, the RODE PodMic

USB. So they just upgraded

I don't know if it's upgraded. They've enhanced, the

first rendition of the PodMic was XLR only.

And, you know, it Brooke so

cool. I always wanted it, but as I think Tech came out

when I was very a very new podcaster and wasn't really

sure about connections or, you know, the

Cloudlifter and all that, so I never bought it. So when they came out with

the USB version, I jumped on that. And to Brooke'

point, I love the sort of compatibility of it,

you know, to be able to kind of evolve with it if if you

do transition to the XLR side of things. It does have

the headphone jack and, built in

volume control on the back of the mic as well.

Brooke and I, she mentioned Elgato. We both have the low

profile boom arm that we're obsessed with for the

mics. It it is, you know,

as opposed to a boom arm that Tech comes down and kinda takes

up your vertical real Nate. Really

obsessed with the Elgato low profile.

The camera, you know, we were talking a bit before we started

recording. I have not fully committed to

a DSLR or mirrorless camera yet. So,

the best webcam that I found that I'm on right now is the

OBSPOT 4 k Meet, and it does have

some AI capabilities as well, some facial tracking.

And if you download the app, there are,

some temperature controls and some autofocus

and white balance options that you can control through

the app on your desktop as well. So a little more advanced

than your your typical, you know, Logitech or or a typical

webcam that you can find. So it's a little pricier, but I I

really like the crispness and,

kind of the personalization that you can do with the

HubSpot. So big fan of of them. So that's

my setup for today. Still have my

Samsung q 2u very close by. I will never

part of it. It's more of like

a a comfort, that I have there for

for always, forever and always.

Well, when I was in broadcasting, we had an engineer. I I don't think

he was in the armed forces, but he always kinda stole the thing that

2 is 1 and 1 is Nate. Meaning, you always have to have a

backup. Because, you know, in Podcasting,

if something goes wrong, you have a problem. And we, you know, we could not

not be broadcasting. So I like the idea that both of you kinda

have backup situations for yourself, you know, with the m b 7

being able to switch over to USB, you having your secondary mic

there. I mean, if they're on camera, I can't tell what you know, I've got

a few hanging up here that, I could plug in in a in a pinch

if I need to. And I love that low profile arm. If I

wasn't so invested in this road one, that's really good, I would definitely try and

get my hands on one of those. So, really nice

Tech. And just the overall aesthetics of both of your studios are really nice.

It seems like you kinda match the vibe a little bit with each other when

you were doing that, or is it just coincidence? It was not a coincidence.

No. We definitely don't. We

wanted it to feel Yeah. That was actually something we thought about. Thought about it

a lot. We are an international podcast, Mathew. So we wanted

it to feel though as if we are in a studio together or, you

know, that we did put some thought into it and, it's cohesive as

a Brooke. And, yeah, it there it was definitely

not a coincidence. Very cool.

So, we'll have some pictures of their studio setups. You can check

it out. We'll have links to all the equipment that they're using. You can obviously

see and hear their setups, and, they are really, really great.

So thank you for that. Before we let you go, just a couple of questions

we're asking everybody on the show, and I'll kinda have each of you

answer. But is there any tech

that's on your wish list? In other words, is there a piece of equipment that

you're like, oh, I cannot Nate, or I'm saving up to get this,

or I cannot wait till they produce that. Brooke, what anything you're

looking looking forward to? Yeah. I'm really wanting to

upgrade my videography situation.

Love the medium of video podcasting of, of

creating content and all that kind of stuff. I have a pretty good little mirrorless

DSLR. It's full frame. It's the Samson RP, EOS

RP. It's amazing, but it is like

the entry level version, and I'd really like to get a step up, maybe get

the r 6 or the r 5. It'd be a little bit more

pricey. It'd take up almost my entire budget if we end up getting a

grant. But but the r Tech is really nice. So the Canon

r six, I really wanna get. And, I would

probably add to my microphone collection. I actually really love this this microphone,

the f the m v 7. I would like to get a couple more of

them. I have some other mics for my guests and stuff when we do in

studio stuff, but just to have everything sound the same, I definitely like to

pick up a couple more of these. They've been amazing. Like, this mic is

it's been phenomenal. So, yeah, liking it. Yeah. That m v

7, when they introduced that, that was a a real game changer, especially because

everybody wanted that SM 7 b, that iconic look. And,

you know, it's a great mic, but it often requires a little bit

more tech and know how and knowledge to be able to use it correctly.

And then they come out with that. That's just, you know, plug and play or

still excellent. I still love that, you know, classic Brooke. And, yeah, it's a it's

a really nice product. What about you, Nate? Anything on your wish list? I mean,

I know, you're mentioning camera as well, but is there anything else out there

that you're, eager to get your hands on?

Yeah. I think, you know, an all in one

option, I think, with an XLR input and

4 k video that

is user friendly. You know, I am

not as video heavy of a geek as I

am on the audio side. So I have a little more research to do, I

guess. But I think that all in one option would be a game changer

for new podcasters and, you know, even some

some veteran folks who want to, you know, dive

into the side of of video

Podcasting think it's,

easier to develop something for that, I'll make sure to, see

what I'm doing. So if you need guinea pigs or Tech Is there any

place in podcasting in general in

the trends, the technology, just the space, right, of

podcasting that you'd like to see improvement or, you know,

other maybe software solutions that would that would help you in your

journey? Nate, why don't you go first this time?

Wow. That's a great question.

Let me think. Brooke, do you have anything on the top of your head?

I think definitely with AI, I have a feeling editing is

gonna become easier soon, and I would really love

to see that be streamlined and simplified and just, like, plug and

play, because that can be the most time consuming piece of trying to

get content out there and stuff is, like, sitting and editing and creating content for

social media and stuff. So I know there's a couple of tools out there that

are they're getting it, and I've I've used a couple of, trials

for I wish I could think of the name on top of my head because

I just see them pop up, and then I I do their, like, 7 day

trial. There's some pretty cool stuff where they'll take your long form video off YouTube

and make short form clips for social media and stuff. I love that, but I

can see that it needs to get better. The

output of video quality needs to be better for those, for sure.

And just right now, there's things like CapCut that help

with with transcribing your video and stuff, and they have some cool

I IT IT AI tools where it'll

switch back and forth from the people who are talking, but it's just not there

yet. Like, they it just is very glitchy, and it doesn't always

capture the right person who's talking. So I'd love to see the tools that are

being developed just get so much easier and,

better than they Nate, and I have no doubt by the end of the year,

probably they will be. And I'm really excited just to see how AI

can really simplify this for people that are

finding the editing side being a challenge or trying to

create content from their from their content a challenge. So,

lastly, what podcast besides the ones that you guys produce are you listening to?

Like, what's that go to show every time that one,

downloads or shows up, you're gonna listen to it right away. I have a couple.

Yeah. Someone was embarrassed. The first podcast I fell in love

with and still listen to every week is My Favorite Murder.

If you're a podcast listener, I'm sure I'm sure you know Karen in

Georgia. Still download and listen every

week, and I'm a murderer now, I can

say. I also listen to the

Tech every day.

Totally not in my genre, but, I'm kind of

a fangirl of both of those shows.

What about you, Brooke? Well, every Sunday

night before I go to bed, I'm listening to Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, and

I love that show. So just I just started the archive because I only started

listening this year, and I went back all the way to the beginning. So good.

It's so bad. Yeah. I love it. I love it. I don't know what it

is about Conan, but it helps you fall asleep at night. So he's been my

go to, and then I'll, like, relisten to it during the day when I'm doing

the dishes or something, because I'll fall asleep eventually. And

I would appreciate you saying you fell asleep to him. Yeah. I hope

so. Conan, if you're watching this, thank you for all the good

nights of sleep. The other ones

okay. I'm really there's been a lot of

Podcasting popping up about TV shows I watched when I was in, like, my late

teens, early twenties, like, the early 2000. Like, there's one

about, The OC, and then Nate Tree Hill just started a

podcast where all the old cast are coming together, rewatching shows, and I

am just obsessed. I've been, like, watching everything.

I just rewatched all of 1 Tree Hill, which was 9 seasons and

took me an entire month. I'm not proud of

it, but it was, like, so good. And

then to hear the cast talking about, like, the show and just it was

so nostalgic too because you're remembering watching this. So I I'm really enjoying

that stuff right now. Very cool. Well, once again, we have

been chatting with Brooke Robichaux and Nate Kelly. They are the hosts of

Unplugged Podcasting Tech for the Digital Entrepreneur as well as

several other podcast ventures. We'll have links to them and all the stuff that they're

doing here in the show notes. Nate and Brooke, thank you so much for joining

today. Much, Mathew. Thanks, Mathew. This is awesome.

Thanks for joining us today on Podcasting Tech. There are links to all

the hardware and software that help power our guest content

and podcasting tech available in the show notes and on our

website at podcastingtech.com. You can also subscribe to

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a rating and review while you're there. Thanks, and we'll see you next

time on Podcasting Tech.