Why I Interview So Many Locals for Creating Your Own Path
As you can imagine, I get quite a bit of feedback from my podcast listeners and, I must say, it's awesome. I love when you all offer up new ideas and suggest potential guests. One thing I've noticed, however, is that several people have mentioned that I interview a lot of people from Sacramento. I've even received feedback noting that the show might be more popular if I interviewed more people outside of my fair city. This feedback—while I'm sure was offered up with no ill will toward me, the show or Sacramento—surprised me since some of my most popular episodes feature guests who live and create here in the area.
But here's the thing: I've honestly never thought about my guests that way. In my mind, I'm simply tapping into my extended network of insanely talented individuals and many of them just happen to live in or around Sacramento. If I were in... say... New York, Chicago or L.A., I'm not sure geography would even come up as an issue. Admittedly, I love interviewing people face-to-face and local guests make that a possibility. I'm also very proud to have so many creative people living here who are making Sacramento a better place and I think their work and their stories transcend location.
I believe that every city has at least a small group of creative souls doing amazing things. I hope I get to interview people from all over the globe, eventually, but why wouldn't I start in my own backyard? To take it a step further, why wouldn't I choose to interview people who might not be super well-known in the blogging/podcast world—people who aren't necessarily making the rounds on the interview circuit? Aren't their stories worth sharing too?
So next time you listen to the show, I urge you to listen for the overarching themes, the incredible stories and the amazing bits of wisdom within each episode. I think supporting your local community is important when it comes to being a successful creative business owner, but I think we can learn a little something from everyone—no matter what town they decide to call home.