We recently connected with Candice Mack and have shared our conversation below.

Candice, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I have been honored to be apart of so many meaningful projects such as the soap discussion podcasts “Soapparty411” and “Take2Radio ” however “Forever and a Day” has been the most meaningful projects I have worked on due to the fact that growing up I just admired the whole soap opera community,they have been for me to have something to connect with people from my great grandma to meeting my friends and some of them are in the soap opera business.”Forever and a Day” is the brain child of creator/Co -executive producer,Co head writer who also is the narrator,Casey S.Hutchison who took his text based idea and went to content creator,James Lott Jr who was just starting his own media network JLJMedia in 2020 as they decided to try “old school audio in new school world” so the text based became and an audio soap opera and both thought I would be a good add on and five seasons later with an Indie Series Award for Best Ensemble along with other nominations and praises…it was a good decision (laughs).Just to have grown up watching soaps,wanting to be apart of a soap someway,somehow whether it was acting or writing and meeting the people in front and behind the scenes I mean that is an amazing honor as well and now I am doing that I am apart of a soap writing,Co executive producering and working with the same people I grew up watching…it means alot.

You can  find Soappparty411 and Take2Radio on all streaming platforms and follow us @soapparty411 on Twitter and @take2radio on Twitter and you can find The Email under JLJMEDIA on streaming platforms.

Candice, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a passionate soap opera fan and child care teacher,which makes my role as co-executive producer,co-head writer,and co-star of the award winning audio soap opera “Forever and a Day” as Danielle Fraser a perfect fit.Additionally,I am a voice actress on the audio series “The Email” as The VP on JLJMEDIA and Dr.Mackenize Foster on the audio soap “Heritage”.

My journey into the audio podcasting industry started with co-creating and co-hosting the weekly soap opera recap and discussion show “Soapparty411” and co-hosting another soap discussion show “Take2Radio”.It was through these experiences that I caught the attention of the creator of “Forever and a Day” who is also one of my best friends ,Casey S.Hutchison,who approached me (along with James Lott Jr founder of JLJMedia) about adapting his text-based soap idea into an audio format and wanted me to help executive producer.Without hesitation,I accepted the opportunity,despite not knowing exactly what to expect.As a longtime fan of the soap genre and having the chance to collaborate with top talent in the industry,I have found my footing and has been enjoying this crazy ride.

“Forever and a Day” is an audio soap opera that follows the lives of three families in the fictional town of Augustus,Illinois: The Harpers,The Marshalls,and The Bennetts,along with a host of colorful characters.The show explores themes of love,loss,betrayal,and greed as the characters navigate the ups and downs of their lives.

As we gear up for our fifth and final season this August,airing on all streaming platforms,I am incredibly proud of the journey we have taken and the success we have achieved.Being a part of this talented and dedicated group of individuals has shown me that dreams can indeed come true.It has been a priviledge to work alongside such amazing talent and to bring these characters and stories to life.I hope that our listeners will continue to be inspired by our work and believe that anything is possible.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Ooh good question because the teacher in me will also answer this question as there are many ways to do this such as:

1.Provide funding and resources for our upcoming artists and creatives by providing grants,scholarships,other financial resources to help them pursue their work.This also includes funding for projects,exhibitions,and performances as well as access to affordable studio space and materials.

2:Promote education and training:Seriously wish I had this when I was younger but I am lucky to say I do have mentors (honorable mentions to Candi Furlow,Tina Coleman,the late Donna Money,Jill Hurst,Michele Val Jean,Sally Sussman Morina,Thom Racina ,Anthony Anderson,James Lott Jr,etc) that I can talk to and who has helped me along this journey.Society can support artists by providing opportunities for education and training in the arts including funding for arts education programs in schools (which is a must needed part of school education),workshops and classes for emerging artists and a mentorship programs with established artists

3.Create opportunities for exposure and networking:By creating opportunities for support artists for them to showcase their work and connect with other artists (Shout out to Baltimore Next Media Web Fest,Capital City Web Awards and Indie Series Awards for being three of the many networks that I have connected with to showcase and to also introduce me to other artists),curators,and collectors.This can include organizing,exhibitions,festivals,and events,as well as providing networking opportunities through artist residencies,conferences,and online platforms.

4:Advocate for fair compensation and recognition: I don’t think this need much of an explanation but society can support artists by advocating for fair compensation and recognition for their hard work because it’s not easy and it’s apart of their souls that they are putting out into the world and it’s not fair if they don’t get the proper recognition and compensation.

5.This is the one of the most important ways..is to encourage them! Don’t be a sad miserable person and put a damper on their creativity instead foster partnerships,help promote them in community engagement.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When we started with “Forever and a Day” we knew that our target audience was the soap opera audience so we (Casey and myself followed by our writers Emmy Morgan and Erik Andrus) started promoting in various soap opera groups on social media and including comparisons to the current soaps on air as well as mention the actors and actresses that were from other soaps that were no longer on the air or that they were no longer on as our target to get people to tune in and since we are an audio soap opera we had to make sure people would see the cast on video to match their voices when they would listen to it,we create engaging content by making social media pages we also did an after show to recap and interview the cast so our audience could not only see the performer behind the voices but also get a better understanding of the show and engage by letting us know what they (the audience ) thought about the characters and show.Since we also have actors and actresses from the world of daytime and digital content we make it a point to self promote at every turn as recently we had a tiny name-drop in an EW article which was amazing because those little things can help gain a listener or two.

My advice is be prepared to spend a lot of time maintaining a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and interested.Post regularly on different social media platforms to reach a wider audience and stay top of mind and interact with your audience by responding to comments,messages,and mentions from them to build relationships and foster a sense of community,

Contact Info:

• Website: faadseriesblogspot.com
• Instagram: @faad_podcast
• Facebook: Forever and a Day Podcast
• Twitter: @FAADPodcast
• Other: You can find us on any of your favorite streaming platforms just type in “Forever and a Day” podcast