Compiled by Jasper Baumann and Tess Connery
Behind the scenes of Darling, Shine!
The Darling, Shine! podcast was born when Chloe Fisher and Ellidy Pullin found themselves facing earth-shattering life events including widowhood and fertility challenges.
In each episode, the pair share the experiences of womanhood, grief, fertility, friendship, and everything in between.
Behind the scenes steering the ship is producer Karly Nimmo, who spoke to Podcast Week’s Tess Connery about what it’s like running the podcast.
The funny thing about podcasts is that on the surface it sounds like two mates sitting down and catching up. Can you tell me a bit about what goes into making it sound like that?
Nimmo: “When you’re working with two co-hosts, you’re often dealing with two people who are very different to each other. It’s unusual, but the show wouldn’t do as well if you had two of the same person – if you had two Chloes or two Ellidys, it just wouldn’t be the same. You need some salt and pepper.
“One thing that I find really unique about this show is that who they are on the podcast is who they are. They don’t jump into character to record, the way they come across on the podcast is who they are in real life. I think that’s part of the success of the show, their authenticity. They own who they are, and that seems to really resonate with the audience.”
Darling, Shine! has cracked the top 50 of the Podcast Ranker. I imagine that must be quite gratifying?
Nimmo: “It’s nice to have the hard work recognised, because it is hard work. Producing 52 episodes a year is quite a gruelling schedule, anyone who’s produced a podcast themselves knows the level of work that goes into getting an episode out every week. It’s not easy
“Getting those kinds of results, like where we’re sitting in the charts right now and how we’re performing is a good payoff for some pretty hard work behind the scenes.”
That schedule must be particularly interesting with the hosts travelling around so often.
Nimmo: “That’s another really unique thing about this show. Chloe spends more than half the year overseas – she does a stint in Spain for three months, they’re in LA for a good portion of time, they’re in Bali. They’re all over the place, because FISHER’s [Chloe’s husband, musician Paul Fisher] schedule is hectic.
“So our show is really the only show on the network that’s fully remote. We’re not based out of the studio, we’re based out of wherever those girls are. Sometimes we’re recording from FISHER’s studio on the Gold Coast, sometimes we’re recording from Ellidy’s house, sometimes we’re recording from a hotel in Bangkok.”
You’ve got some momentum behind you now, is there anything you are really working towards?
Nimmo: “The girls have been with us now for over a year, with me as the producer. We’ve gone through a lot of different areas of focus – where we want to improve, what we want to try. Last year we went through a lot of getting the systems and processes and the workflow right, and figuring each other out.
“This year has been about where we want to go, and part of that looks like really coming back to being on brand. What does Darling, Shine stand for? What are the things that are in our wheelhouse? What are the conversations that we want to be having? What are our key themes?
“We knew all along that fertility was going to be a key theme. We knew all along that grief would also be a key theme. Friendship is another massive theme, because the whole show is on the premise of the whole idea of a chosen family. We want to be talking about unspoken issues when it comes to womanhood, so we’ve come back to that focus.”
[Listen to Darling, Shine! here]
Nine’s Road to Paris podcast highlights the glory and heartache of Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic legends
Road To Paris is an exclusive podcast series from 9Podcasts and Wide World of Sports that celebrates the achievements of Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic legends.
Hosted by Wide World of Sports Olympic swimming commentator, Mathew Thompson, the 16-part podcast series lets listeners be a fly-on-the-wall to candid conversations with some of Australia’s greatest Olympians and Paralympians including Anna Meares, Kieran Perkins, Ellie Cole, Curtis McGrath, Andrew Gaze, and Ariarne Titmus as they discuss their own trials and triumphs, glory and heartache – all in the pursuit of Olympic excellence.
The first episode of Road to Paris is available now and features four-time Olympian cyclist, and Chef de Mission of the 2024 Australian Olympic Team, Anna Meares OAM, as she reflects on her career.
The Road to Paris is sponsored by Woolworths, Toyota, and NRMA Insurance.
[Listen to The Road to Paris here]
Entrepreneur Steven Bartlett launches podcast media and technology company
Steven Bartlett has announced the launch of Flight Studio, a global podcast media and technology company.
The new company is working across every component of the podcast development, creation, growth and monetisation process.
At launch, the first podcasters joining Flight Studio include;
• Davina McCall
• Paul C Brunson
• Dr Tara Swart
• Africa Brooke
• Kristen Holmes
• The Diary Of A CEO
FLIGHT STUDIO LAUNCH SHOOT
Photographer: Tom Harrison
Alongside Steven Bartlett, Flight Studio will be led and co-founded by Georgie Holt, Acast’s former regional managing director for the Americas, and former US head of sales and brand partnerships, Christiana Brenton.
Flight Studio will have global production studios based in London, Manchester, New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
Bartlett said: “I truly believe that we have every core component ready to redefine the global podcasting industry with this new company. We have done this in our own tiny way already with the Diary of a CEO, but I’m haunted by the potential that we see to scale this globally, for the people and the voices who will change the world.”
[Listen to The Diary of a CEO here]
Secrets of a Self-Starter with Mim Rizvi returns for a second season on LiSTNR
LiSTNR has announced a second season of Secrets of a Self-Starter with Mim Rizvi, which takes listeners behind the closed doors of mentor sessions with Australia’s top entrepreneurs and self-starters.
In the new season, Rizvi continues to facilitate conversations between top performers and participants from the Accelerator for Enterprising Women Kickstarter Challenge, giving listeners the chance to be a fly on the wall and be inspired to turn their passions into a profession with real advice from self-starters in a range of industries.
This season will see Rizvi speak to Steph Claire Smith from the successful KIC wellness empire; Hailey Brown, who founded Vacayit in 2020, the world’s first audio tourism platform for the blind and low-vision community; Doug English, founder and CTO of the global employee experience platform, Culture Amp; Sara Bell, CEO and Founder of RIISE global marketplace and editorial platform; and LVLY gifting service co-founder Verity Tuck.
Secrets Of A Self-Starter will have five episodes in season two, released fortnightly on Wednesdays.
[Listen to Secrets Of A Self-Starter here]
‘I felt like I was really letting them down’: Uber’s Nicole Bardsley on work-life balance and leadership
Nicole Bardsley, the new head of marketing at Uber, Uber Eats, and Uber Car Share ANZ, has opened up about the point in her career that she “found really tricky to manage.”
“I started that year [2015] doing the Marketing Academy and getting married, and I finished it having my first son.
“There was a lot of growth and personal development that happened over that period of time. I really got to a point where I was like, I need a new challenge when I come back from mat leave, but is it the right time to do that?”
Bardsley was speaking to News Corp Australia’s director of the Growth Intelligence Centre and independent think tank The Growth Distillery, Dan Krigstein on The Growth Distillery vodcast.
Those experiences shaped how she leads her own team. Bardsley told Krigstein that soon after she started as Cashrewards CMO, a team member came to her with news she was pregnant.
“They came to me and they were almost apologising, that it was an inconvenience that they were going off to have a baby. I don’t think anyone having a baby should ever see it as an inconvenience.
“I imparted the same piece of advice that I was given, which is ‘don’t be sorry, take as long as you need’. It’s important to realise that it’s not just about what we do during the day and what we do for work, it’s about our full self and I think as a leader, it’s very important to bring that full self to work.”
