We were lucky to catch up with Emmy Olea recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emmy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

Being a podcaster was never in my plans. In 2017, I wrote a memoir that was supposed to be for therapeutic reasons, it wasn’t intended for anyone to read it. After a painful breakup in 2019, I traveled to Barcelona and rewrote the ending. I let my friend Jeni read it, and she said “Em, there’s something special here. You can help so many people if you let others read it”. When the world shut down, I set on a journey to try and get the book published. As I was gathering testimonials, one of my friends asked if he could pass the book proposal to someone who would be “riveted” with these stories. I said, “Sure, why not”. A week later, I received a phone call from that someone, and he asked if I’d be interested in taking my dating stories and turning them into a podcast. The thing is, many people don’t have visibility into what it’s like to date as a trans woman. Dating is already complicated, being trans, in my experience, added another barrier. The world was shut down, I had nothing to do, so I accepted the offer. What was supposed to be a fun and flirty podcast series, turned out to be something so much more meaningful. The story of Emmy. It was then that “Crumbs” was born, a show about the things we settle for and the bits of ourselves that make us who we are. The title “Crumbs”, came from a meeting with my producers, as we were brainstorming, I made a comment along the lines of “I’ve always settled for crumbs, with my family, with work, and in my love life”. One of my producers’ face lit up, she said “that’s the name of the show!”

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?

Anything positive that has ever happened in my life, has been the result of getting sober. I got sober in 2007, after running my life into the ground, it’s one of the things I am most proud of. I was kind of young when I got sober and joined a 12-step program. I always say that I grew up in the program, and it was there that I learned about accountability, awareness, discipline, how to love myself, and how to show up for others. I have a huge network of like-minded individuals who have become like family. You meet one person, they introduce you to another, and so on. This is how I got to the testimonial part of my book proposal. Some I had been introduced to, thought my life story would be an interesting podcast series. I laugh about it, because my story to me, is just my story, it doesn’t seem very interesting. To others, my life is considered “colorful”. Little did I know, that my life story would be turned into a podcast, much less a Webby-nominated podcast.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In the end, it’s all about helping others. My goal is to tell my story authentically and provide hope for anyone who is struggling with gender identity, addiction, or mental health. We don’t have to go through anything alone.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I was recently traveling for a work conference, and I was visiting a city where one of my listeners lives. She sent a DM and told me how much my story has helped her become a better parent. She had been a listener since day one. She shared how my story has given her and her family different perspectives on gender identity. She asked if I’d be willing to meet her and her son. I was in a very public place, and I agreed to meet them. I was so touched after meeting them. I talked to the little boy, and let him know that he could do anything he ever wants to do in life, that he could be himself freely, how lucky he was to have such loving and supporting parents. These moments remind me of the power of community and the impact our stories can have.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @emmyolea11