-Kent Student Radio-hosting multiple types of shows, mostly music but filling in on some talk types of shows

-WJCU-doing a ‘Unsigned band’ show. Did artist interviews and collect unsigned material-…didn’t have the engineering background so it was difficult to adjust to the technology side-was kinda thrown into it because I was traveling and scouting bands on the weekends.

tried to start podcasting 2009/2010 but it never really grabbed ahold.

my band started a podcast around 2010 and did a few episodes, I appear on one but never really followed through on “doing my own”

AMERICANROCKSTAR Podcast w/Scott Sykora

-by this time I was becoming engrossed in podcasts. I spent a lot of time traveling and driving and needed to cleans my palate from music—-I wanted to expand my mind, learn about things, explore things I had always been interested in but never searched out.

Some podcasts that I subscribed to at this time were:

Podcast Ufo-w/ Martin Willis

The Kate Valentine UFO Show-w/ Kate Valentine

Random Alien Brain Droppings-w/ Suzanne Chancellor

The Unexplained with Howard Huges

The Other Side of Truth-w/ Paul Kimball

Radio Misterioso-w/ Greg Bishop

Binnall of America-w/Tim Binnall

Open Minds UFO Radio-w/ Alejandro Rojas

The Paracast-w/ Gene Steinberg and Christopher O’Brien

Hidden Experience-w/ Mike Clelland

The Gralien Report-w/ Micah Hanks

As I listened to all this content I felt like I was becoming an expert myself of the topics of UFO’s and alien abduction. All of these podcasts I found because of any of the ones I listened to before, They are all interconnected and have a lot of the same guests. After listening to the same content over and over, I needed new blood. I then discovered new content providers, and kinda traveled off the paranormal track and widened my horizons and explored a few other podcasts such as:

SasWhat: A Podcast about Bigfoot- w/ Seth Breedlove

Into The Fray w/ Shannon, Ryan, and Sam

Where Did the Road Go w/Seriah Azkath

The Rogue Planet Podcast w/ Jason, Maureen, Ryan, and Caleb

I needed to find some other stuff to listen to, the paranormal world was starting to depress me…I could never find any answers!!! I started looking into music, another passion I have had since I was young. I listened to a whole bunch of different podcasts about the music industry but only 2 stuck…

The Jasta Show w/ Jamie Jasta

Music Business Facts w/ Rodney Holder

I knew I needed to podcast, but what about??? I figured I would try my hand at a paranormal podcast, why not-it isn’t over saturated yet??? I made a plan about my content and how I wanted to present the info so now I needed to learn how to podcast. I thought about trying to consume as much information about podcasting as I could, learn everything I could as fast as possible. I found a bunch of podcasts and subscribed and downloaded as many episodes as possible. These are some of the podcast I subscribed to to help me learn about podcasting…

The Podcasters Studio and Podcast Quick Tips w/ Ray Ortega

The Podcasters Roundtable w/ Ray, Daniel J Lewis, and Dave Jackson

The School of Podcasting w/ Dave Jackson

The Podcast Producers w/ Corey Coates and Jessica Rhodes

The Feed w/ Elsie Escobar and Rob Walch

Podcast Method w/ Dan Benjamin

Podcast Talent Coach w/ Erik K. Johnson

podCast411 w/ Rob Walch

The Audacity to Podcast w/ Daniel J Lewis

Speaker Live w/ Rob Greenlee

I learned A LOT from all of these people. Any time I had a question about anything all I needed to do was send an email to any of these people directly and I would get instant answers. Between these people, and their YouTube channels for the visuals, I was able to build the confidence to launch my podcast!

By this point I had come to the conclusion that I didn’t need to be a player in a field that already had tons of podcasts. I needed to focus on something I knew more than anything. I needed to focus on something I didn’t think I knew someone else was doing, a podcast about beards. It wasn’t going to be podcast about the hipster “trend” that has been going on, it was going to be about the real people that grew before the trend and those who would still stand after. It was going to be about the contests they all attended, the brotherhood and sisterhood we all found together. It was going to be about the family we created, the new friends we made all because of something we grew on our faces. It was about something that we take into our everyday lives and just “do” without thinking. It is about the styles, and care, the preparation we make, and take, to grow our facial hair. It was about how we all come together to make differences in or communities, or the communities of our friends. It was about our travels to other cities to compete for bragging rights and the battles we have had. It was going to be about the products we use to look handsome, and the tips from experts on how to look the best and take care of ourselves. It was going to be about all the adventures we have…everyday. I knew that having a beard, that was abnormally long, lead to a different way of living life. It is something that draws other peoples eyes and attentions and constantly had people staring or making some dumb remark. It was a lifestyle that made me feel different and uncomfortable at times all because I chose to grow a beard. Because of my beard I found many other people like me who felt the same and had a lot of the same interests. This is what I knew, this is what my podcast needed to be about.

I came up with the name “The Beardcaster”, bought the domain, built the site and launched January 1st, 2016. I was terrified at first that I was doing everything wrong, that I was going to mess up. After time my confidence built and now 9 months later, 17 episodes, I look back feeling silly. Everything feels much easier to do. Recording episodes is much easier. Editing is much easier. Uploading and posting is much easier. The only thing that isn’t easy is growing an audience. That takes the most work. It takes finding them and getting in their faces, or beards! It takes another type of confidence to not be afraid to get out in the world and talk face to face about your “art” and why you believe in it and why they should listen. The more personal you can become with a person the more likely they may take a listen.

Providing content that is rich and advantageous to a listener is also another challenge a podcaster can find. The word “value” comes up a lot in conversations with podcasters. What is the “value” that you provide to your listeners? The value I try to provide to the people that listen to my podcast is this: learning. I want them to learn about something they may know nothing about. I want them to learn about something they have been a part of for a long time that they just discovered. I want them to learn how to take care of themselves. I want them to learn about people that need help and how those of us in the facial hair world help them out. I want them to learn about being free of public scrutiny and the judgmental eyes of so many people. I want them to learn to do something, to be inspired to try something new. I want them to laugh at everything, to not be so serious and just relax in their own skin; or hair.

Pulpo Beard Oils

Waffen Der Whiskerr Oil

Brutal Beard

Groomed Gorilla

Attack Of The Beards

The Drunken Book Nerd

music by:

Sindust

Chris Donley

Tester

Fatman's Invasion 2016 found this bearded guy, with child in tow, out for one fun adventure. Knowing event organizer, Adam "Fatman" Hurt for close to 30 years, made me feel very old and also curious as to these events he has been posting about online, and hosting, for the past 8 or so years. We traveled to tropical Thompson OH, where an event so grand, so exotic, and so flippin hot, was taking place. This was the third year for this event at Thompson Raceway Park in Northeast Ohio where hundreds upon hundreds of "tuned" and classic cars and spectators gathered for a great cause. Not only was it a car "show" of sorts, it was also a day to challenge your friends to a friendly 1/4 mile drag race...to the death. Fortunately for everyone, nobody died and there were a lot of hugs to go around.

We saw lots of really loud cars and heard some extremely smokey burn-outs, something all of my senses have never experienced. This was defiantly far from any type of event I had ever attended but I found it fascinating and a really great time!!! We met up with the Fatman himself at one point and to talk but he was quickly whisked away by tons of his adoring fans. It was easy to see why this event has grown so big so fast-it had a lot to do with this man, and his beard. The Fatman stickers were on almost every car on-site this day as a show of support of the event and the person who has made this event so popular amongst the local car scene. The Fatman logo

is a cartoonish depiction of Adam and featuring his big, bushy beard in all its glory. This year was the biggest yet in the history of the Invasion, not only in record numbers of cars and attendants, but in the amount that they raised to donate to their charity of choice, the Lake Humaine Society. Check out the podcast to find out exactly how much was donated this year. You can also hear the story first hand of how the event came to be and how it has grown to be the premiere gathering of modified and stock vehicles. The Fatman's beard is part of the whole story and a big reason I experienced, and learned, about a whole different lifestyle I probably wouldn't have known about. Listen to the story told by Adam as we met up at Melt Bar and Grilled in Mentor Ohio shortly after they had made their donation to the Lake Humane Society. Adam has a big heart and a great story that I felt needed to be shared. His beard is part of something that has made a large dent in the community and has helped a lot of needy animals. Please take a listen and share with your friends to help spread the message of those who go above and beyond.