Welcome to Starting Out (feat. Kathy Tu and Tobin Low)
Hiya!
Welcome to Starting Out, a newsletter for people entering into the audio industry. I’m Alice, a podcast producer/reporter and former intern. I’m thrilled to partner with Transom on this project. They are the gold standard in training and resources for public radio.
When I was getting into this industry I was anxious all the time. About simple things: What time should I show up to the office? What should I wear? And complex things: How come my pitches were falling flat? What should I do if I witnessed misconduct in the office? Could I ask for time off? And how could I get off the intern track and get hired as a producer?
I eventually learned some of the answers — from late night calls to my fellow interns, frank advice from experienced producers and a lot of tripping up in front of people I desperately wanted to impress.
Since I got my first non-intern job I’ve taken lots of interns out to coffee and have found myself saying some of the same things: you deserve to be here, you’re doing fine, it’s going to be okay, don’t work unpaid overtime.
Consider this newsletter a supersized version of that — a way to get advice from people across the audio industry, hear about paid opportunities and get access to valuable resources.
And if you’re no longer doing entry level work, stick with me. This is a newsletter for everyone invested in lowering barriers to entry and pushing our industry to pay and treat newcomers fairly.
Let’s get started...