We were lucky to catch up with Rosa Ragoonan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rosa, thanks for 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.

Being a co-host of a podcast was something that I learned partially through research and trial and error. I don’t mean just trying to figure out what to talk about for each episode. I did have to do some research on the best microphones to use for when it’s just me and my husband to when we have guests. I also had to learn how to connect the microphones through a mixer to my laptop and figure out what gives out the best audio output. Since some guests appear virtually, I’ve had to learn some basics of Zoom to help out with troubleshooting if it occurs. Besides all the technical stuff, finding my own voice and standing out from other podcasts is something learned over time. It didn’t happen over one episode either. I’d say it took a couple of episodes to find something that works out for a married couple talking about things that they are both passionate about.

Speaking of my own voice, writing was something that I love to do. I’ve always kept a journal or a diary for various things that I wanted to talk about. It was in my college years that I was wanting to learn to be a better writer. I felt that I chose professors that gave fair criticism when it comes to writing. I always took any feedback that my professors gave me to try to improve my writing. Nowadays, I share my writing through the podcast or social media.

Rosa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

On the Internet, I go by Skittie. I host a podcast called No Latex Needed with my husband, Shane. I share my writing on both the podcast and on social media. Although the podcast does not have the biggest following, we do have our own dedicated listeners. Something that sets us apart from other podcasts is the chemistry Shane and I have. We do a lot of things together as a couple and I enjoy talking about various topics with him as well. We have the tagline “uncensored, uncut and undeniably entertaining” because we believe in being as authentic as possible even if it means we swear a lot in our episodes. We also encourage our guests to sit back, relax and speak their mind without judgment and also swear if they choose to.

Aside from podcasting, I consider myself a writer. This comes from me and my love for reading. Two of my biggest inspirations are Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. I have tried writing my own stories in the past but the thing I find myself writing about the most are things that happened in my life and working through some of my thoughts. I put my writing out there to potentially help someone else that may be going through something similar. To let them know that they are not alone and that they will get through the situation they are currently in.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing would be someone telling you they enjoyed or resonated with what you put out there. That goes for both me as a writer and a podcaster. It brings me joy when someone tells me they listened to an episode of the podcast or they read a post I made on Instagram. One of our best episodes titled “The Job from Hell” has taught some of our listeners what to look out for when finding a job or signs that indicate that you’re in a toxic work environment.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve had to unlearn being so hard on myself. Back in my college days, I’ve had people including a few professors telling me to be nicer to myself. I’m not entirely sure how but they could tell based on my writing. If I had to take a guess, it probably showed that I was trying to be a perfectionist with the things I did and wrote. It also did not help that I was with someone that was not very supportive of my writing either. It did take some time (and also getting rid of that person from my life) but I had to just let myself go and have fun with my writing. I try to tell myself there is no test to be taken nor am I trying to impress someone. I write what I want to write without me criticizing every word I put on the paper.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nolatexneeded
• Instagram: instagram.com/skittie
• Twitter: twitter.com/skittie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nolatexneeded9883

Image Credits
Shane Ragoonan, Phil Roche