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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.
SubscribeWe caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexandria Miller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alexandria , appreciate you joining us today. 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.
I’ve always loved reading, so much so that my books are some of the most treasured possessions I own. As an avid reader, writing also came naturally to me and I quickly learned how to excel both personally and professionally as I developed my passion for storytelling through poetry, published articles and short stories, and countless essays and academic papers. Upon launching my platform Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture, I aimed to continue this passion for storytelling, this time audibly through a podcast. Though I often listened to podcasts, I had no idea what was required to make one, what equipment was needed, or even how to get a show listed across various platforms. As a true lifelong student, I did my research and asked for help. My podcast mentor and producer Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown and her business Breadfruit Media have been essential in guiding me through those early lessons. I also reflected on what I loved about the shows I listened to and the ways I hoped to convey histories in engaging, interactive, and meaningful ways. This took a lot of practice, especially as I learned how to share what can be difficult moments in history while ensuring voices from the Caribbean region are at the center. These skills and goals together have made podcasting truly one of my creative joys and I hope to continue sharing compelling stories in nuanced ways as long as possible.
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?
I am Alexandria, the founder of podcast and educational platform Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture, as well as a writer, documentarian and lover of all things history related. I am a first-generation Jamaican American and, growing up very proud of my Jamaican heritage, I always sought to learn the stories of my family and our culture. This led me to a deep love of history in my academic studies and eventually propelled me to a career as a budding Caribbean historian as I’m in the process of completing my Ph.D. Along my academic journey, I personally experienced and witnessed the innumerable barriers to education. These barriers inspired my passions for education equity and accessibility. communal learning, and cultural knowledge awareness as pathways to support communities in need and build a more just world.
Outside of academics, I always listened to podcasts and found the medium to be a great teaching tool and way to share stories. I sought to develop a podcast that would share stories and histories about the Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora to others from the region, their descendants like myself, and generally people interested in learning more about our culture. We are such a diverse community made of several nations and territories and people of several races, ethnicities, languages, and religions. This diversity compounds the importance of knowing our history and I sought to share and learn alongside others to transform our cultural empowerment. Through Strictly Facts, I have engaging conversations related to Caribbean history and activism, explore the inherent connections to Caribbean culture with the Strictly Facts Sounds segment, and share additional resources for our audience to engage further through the Strictly Facts Syllabus.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the greatest lessons I’ve had to unlearn as a creative and podcaster is to not compare my show to others. When I first began podcasting and building the Strictly Facts platform, I was very concerned with “the numbers,” comparing my show against major podcasts and using their benchmarks to track my progress. While observation can certainly help improve direction, I always aimed to build a unique platform driven by my individual missions. That being said, I quickly realized that I needed to judge my podcast’s development against my own standards and create benchmarks that monitored Strictly Facts’ improvement independent of others. It is in the moments when I’ve received a moving DM from a listener or a great rating online that further confirm my “why.” I have established trust and community with my growing audience and that has mattered most to me. I pride myself on consistency over comparison and have allowed Strictly Facts to evolve organically as a result.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I began Strictly Facts in the middle of the pandemic, which was of course unprecedented for all of us. I was also in the second year of my graduate studies at the time and have continued in my studies since launching Strictly Facts in 2021. It hasn’t been easy to maintain all of my responsibilities as a creative with my other roles, as I am constantly recording new episodes and managing Strictly Facts’ social media pages. However, I’ve managed to do this work through late nights and weekends because I truly love what I do. Organization has been key, especially to offset the stress of homework and exams, but I preserve with my sincere love for the Caribbean. Being a creative can sometimes feel like uncharted waters, but I push through with the help of precise planning and a strong community. Sharing new content is not only an exciting learning experience for me, but also for the Strictly Facts Family and I love receiving their engagement. Those are the moments that make being resilient worthwhile!
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