We were lucky to catch up with Greg recently and have shared our conversation below.
Greg, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
The process was part schooling, part experimentation, and a lot of YouTube and Google. My degree is in video game design which gave me a base-level understanding of the software needed to produce a podcast. Getting our conversational flow took a while and refining the sound took a bit longer. You have no idea how long it takes to learn not to consistently talk over each other.
I think the only thing that could have sped up the process would have been more time in a day. The podcast has kind of become a second job because it isn’t just sitting down and recording. It’s research, planning, and a lot of promoting our brand by interacting with the community. Time is the only thing that stands in the way so there have been a lot of late nights and work crammed in between the podcast and my day job but it has all been 100% worth it.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
For those who have not heard of us, and that is probably a lot of people since we are so focused, we are The Grind Line Podcast! We are a Metro-Detroit-based weekly Detroit Red Wings and NHL-focused podcast on all major platforms. We started about 5 years ago when the Red Wings were really starting on a sharp decline. But now they are on the rise again and our podcast has the opportunity to put a more positive spin on things which is exciting.
I think what sets us apart is our interaction with the hockey community. We go to all of the major Red Wings events and like to get face-to-face with other fans. We are also big into the hockey Twitter community which has been awesome and have really started to expand our YouTube channel and content. We find that when you foster conversation and reply to people you form a deeper understanding and connection to your base and the community at large. The post and ghost method is only sustainable for so long. You have to be on the ground and in the comments interacting with your audience.
We love to have guests on our show from hockey media personalities, content creators, writers and authors, and former players to get perspectives from every sphere. We have also recently raised money for the Vladimir Konstantinov Special Needs Trust which goes to the 24-hour specialized care of Vladdy, a former player, and have pushed for changes to Michigan insurance laws that have unjustly cut the funding for the care he needs.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think a lot of people will answer this by saying “money”. It’s a lot more than that. I think the biggest thing you can do when you find a podcast, artist, content creator, or whatever is to follow them everywhere. Like their content, subscribe to their channels, and give feedback. Reviews are also huge, it’s how their content can reach an even wider audience.
People don’t realize just how weird algorithms are and how easy it is to get buried under all the other content. So the interaction really helps the creator grow their audience and get exposure to people that may not have found their work otherwise.
Also, shout them out whenever you can and promote them to your friends. Word of mouth does wonders for both engagement and following.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of what we do is when others tell us they listen to us. When someone recognizes us on the street or finds us and tells us they listen all the time or they love our content, that’s why we do it. We have a passion for hockey and the Red Wings so when people tell us they appreciate what we are doing it means the world to us. It’s what keeps us going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.grindlinepodcast.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grindlinepod/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrindLinePod
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrindLinePod
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Yv3vMO3yHCb6ai8y8O_Cw
- Other: You can also check out our merch on RedBubble! https://www.redbubble.com/people/thegrindline/shop
Image Credits
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