Alessandra Pollina is the founder and owner of Quotable Media Co. She attended Boston University’s College of Communication where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Communications with a focus on public relations, and a minor in anthropology. Throughout her college years she held many internships in the PR field at some of the best agencies in Boston. This vast array of experiences became the foundation of her PR career and positioned her to launch her own company, a full-service boutique PR and marketing agency, in 2012 at just 23 years old.
She is also the founder of the Female Millennial Entrepreneurs Boston networking group which aims to bring like-minded entrepreneurs and business owners together for in-person connection and learning experiences, as well as Quotable: A Female Millennial Entrepreneur Podcast, inspired by the group but with an international reach, and Quotable Magazine, her newest platform for expanding the visibility of female entrepreneurs.
She lives in Boston with her husband and 6-year-old son.
Please tell us a little bit about your podcast – what is Quotable: a female millennial entrepreneur podcast all about?
My podcast is called Quotable: a female millennial entrepreneur podcast, and it alternates weekly between conversations with female millennial founders/CEOs and solo episodes where I talk about PR (which is my business background) and other business topics. It’s all about learning from and being inspired by other women who are creating lives they love partly by creating businesses they love, and the challenges and successes that come along with that.
Tell us a little bit about your personal background – how, and why you started your podcast?
I started my own PR agency when I was 23, and I didn’t know anyone else my age who had their own business. It was really lonely, and I didn’t have anyone to ask about the things that came along with running a business like that; nobody who had a similar background and perspective, at least. This was before Facebook groups were a big thing—not to date myself too much—and there was no real community I could find for young business owners, neither online or off. I ended up starting a meetup group for female millennial entrepreneurs, in hopes of finding some in my city to get to know and connect with. It took a while for the group to take off, but eventually, it did, and I found my support system there. Realizing how lucky I was to have been able to create the support I needed, I wanted to share this feeling with others on a broader scale.
I wanted to share the advice, the conversations, and the inspiration I got from these women with people who may not have been able to find or create a group like this for themselves yet. I live in a major city and had trouble finding even a few women to get together with at first, and I could only imagine how tough it would be if I still lived in the middle-of-nowhere town I grew up in, or even in a smaller city. So I wanted to bring the group to people like that, who didn’t have as much opportunity to meet people in real life. This group is where the idea for the podcast originated. At first, the initial episodes were all business owners from my local group, but I quickly expanded it from there and love getting the opportunity to talk to business owners from all over the world.
What was the biggest problem you encountered launching your podcast and how did you overcome it?
For me, the hardest part of launching the podcast was the editing. I found myself putting off the release of the episodes after I recorded them because I didn’t want to spend more time going through to edit them. This meant I wasn’t as consistent as I knew I needed to be with the release dates. But, I quickly found a podcast manager who could take care of all of that. Ever since then, I just show up to record the episode and she handles all the rest. Finding the right help is key.
What are some mistakes you made as a podcaster?
I think the main mistake is assuming that if you put it out there, people will just start finding it and listening to it. I’ve had to be intentional about promoting my podcast and spreading the word, and proactively making sure that the audience increases.
Do you have any other projects or businesses you are working on?
My main business is my PR agency, which is always my first priority. We’ve grown a lot in the last few years, and plan to grow much more this year as well. We just launched a magazine, based loosely off the podcast, called Quotable Magazine. It also features women in business, though it’s not specifically targeted toward millennials. We feature written interviews, similar to the podcast, and also contributed articles and other types of content in a bi-monthly print edition and online version. It’s a constant project now just to make sure we have fantastic new content for that every month. Personally, my project for this year is to finish writing a book that I’ve been working on for way too long, so that’s another project that I’m working on in my free time. It’s also business-related, and the audience will align with the podcast and magazine.
Do you monetize your Podcast, or plan on monetizing, tell us how or how you plan to do it?
I don’t focus on monetizing my podcast right now, but it’s something I have been thinking about for this year. I would like to do more sponsorships this year where brands pay to sponsor a full episode, or even a few episodes, to get their message in front of our listeners. I have some options for a multiplatform sponsorship, where a brand could get a spot on the podcast, a sponsored article in the magazine, and space in an email to our email list in order to form a true partnership and have multiple impressions on the same audience. This is something I’m currently trying to figure out, and hope to do more of this year!
Honestly, I have been timid about sponsorships in the past because it’s really important to me to keep the integrity of my platforms, and not make them feel too salesy. I want my audience to find value from my media first; I want to make sure that they love and are getting a lot out of the platforms before they see advertising on it. It’s important that my listeners know I only accept advertising from brands or products that I truly think they would find useful and I want to tell them about, and never dilute my content just to monetize the platforms. My mindset has shifted a bit as I uncover really cool brands that I actually want to share with my audience because I know they would help them and they would like to know about them- so I’m open to that kind of really authentic, aligned sponsorship now.
How do you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business and podcast?
It’s easy for me to stay driven and motivated with the podcast and in my business because of what they’re all about–I am constantly being inspired by the women I’m talking with and working with! I get a boost of ambition and drive every single day when I hear and see the incredible things these women are doing. I’m motivated by their success, the ways that my business and podcast can help them go even farther, and the world we’re all creating together.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your podcast?
I wish I had known to batch content more and record multiple episodes all at once so I didn’t have to think about it every single week. Since I know how important consistency is with episode release dates, and I have a new episode go live every week, it can get stressful making sure I have a new episode ready to go. I find that planning as far in advance as possible and recording multiple episodes at once helps my podcast manager be better prepared since she can edit in bulk. Then, we have several queued up and ready to be released on schedule, which makes things run smoother and keeps me from stressing about it every week!
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your audience?
One of the best things to do to increase your reach is to have a diverse variety of guests from all different places on the show. It’s also effective to have people with large followings on an episode. When I interview a guest from a different part of the world, their audience tunes in and hopefully sticks around for more. A diverse guest profile allows you to attract listeners from different countries and backgrounds, and if they share their episode with their followers, you’re also getting in front of a new audience each week. It’s like the ‘non-marketing’ marketing strategy I guess—very organic—which I think is usually best.
What is your definition of success?
Having the ability to do what I want because I want to, not because I feel like I have to or have some obligation to do it. And having the ability (monetarily, time, etc) to give back to others as much as I want to. For my business, it also means creating a workplace that helps other people live their best life, through a job they love in a workplace that is supportive and fun, or through our services helping them achieve their business goals through our PR work.
If you had to start a brand-new podcast today, what are the steps you would take?
First, I would do some research to make sure my idea isn’t already being done, unless the idea was just for a general talk show to discuss whatever I want. I do think there’s room for everyone’s unique take and perspective, and there will always be some people who want to listen to you just because you’re you. But if my idea was topic-specific, I’d want to make sure it’s not already oversaturated and that there’s actually an audience who needs what I want to put out.
Then I would make a big list of topics and outline a bunch of episodes so that I knew what I’d be creating. I’d also hire a podcast editor and manager from the very beginning. The podcast manager would set up an account on a distribution system like Libsyn. I’d set up social media accounts and probably also a Facebook group geared toward the show, as well as an email list, and create an outreach plan for how I would share each episode and make sure it’s getting in front of my full audience each time it comes out.
Then I’d record the first episodes!
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new podcasters?
Pick a topic or focus that you can talk a lot about! You don’t want to get bored of your topic or run out of things to say a few months in. Also, build up a circle of people who will be your biggest fans and supporters, and will share your episodes and content as you put it out. Having some really authentic supporters who serve as your podcast ambassadors will serve you well!
What is your favorite quote?
She believed she could, so she did.
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can get in touch by emailing me at alessandra@quotablemediaco.com, or by finding me on Instagram, where I’m @quotablemediaco! My website is quotablemediaco.com and the podcast episodes are all on there, too.
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