139: How I Scaled My Podcast to the Top 1.5% Globally featuring Laura Cathcart Robbins

Laura Cathcart Robbins is an avid reader and dreamed of one day penning her own book. In 2018, she arrived excited at a popular writer’s retreat, only to leave dismayed when she realized she was the only black person there. A few days later, an article she wrote about her experience went viral on the Huffington Post. It led to a movement that eventually grew into a podcast. In this episode, Laura chronicles the behind-the-scenes work that it took she and her team to scale her podcast to the top 1.5 % in the world. Hint: you’ve got to be in it for the long game.

Special Guest: Laura Cathcart Robbins, Podcast Host & Creator – The Only One in the Room

Location: Studio City, CA USA

Air Date: March 7, 2021

Resources

I Was The Only Black Person At Elizabeth Gilbert And Cheryl Strayed’s ‘Brave Magic’ Retreat: Laura’s 2018 Huffington Post article that went viral and jumpstarted the movement behind #TheOnlyOneInTheRoom.
The Only One in the Room Podcast: Laura’s YouTube channel featuring videos of different recorded podcast interviews, including celebrities like Mario Van Peebles and Jon Cryer.
Meet Laura Robbins of The Only One In The Room Podcast in Studio City: a VoyageLA article profiling Laura.
Listen Notes: a Google-like search engine for podcasts where visitors can conduct research on a particular person or topic as well as use their API to build a podcast app. They also provide a scoring system for the all podcasts that exist on the internet based on popularity.
Libsyn: a podcast hosting, distribution and monetization platform.
Anchor: a podcast hosting platform, now owned by Spotify, that’s designed to be a one-stop shop where podcasters can record, distribute and monetize their podcasts.
Cleanfeed:
Riverside.fm: a web-based recording platform that allows podcasters to record remote interviews with high-quality audio and video calls.
Lipstick & Vinyl: the podcast advertising agency Laura works with. They represent a network of podcasts focused on underrepresented and diverse voices.
Shure microphone: the website of Shure, the company that produces some of the highest quality microphones.
Apollo interface: audio interface equipment by Universal Audio offering high-resolution music production with classic analog sound.
Scarlet interface: audio interface equipment by Focusrite designed to produce studio-quality recordings from any location.
How to Make a Podcast: a free online tutorial on the ABCs of podcasting written by Misha Euceph, “…a Pakistani-American writer, podcast host and producer, on a mission to make things that inspire awe.”
The Extraordinary Negroes: a podcast hosted by Jay Connor and Alex Hardy. Each week they, “…delve into humorous explorations of pop culture, current events, and relevant issues with some of your favorite media personalities.”
Join Clubhouse! Umm, What is Clubhouse? a New York Times article by Steven Kurutz offering an introduction to what is currently a new, invitation-only social media app still in beta phase and only available for iPhone.

Why Misha Euceph Feels Like Public Enemy #1 (a video clip from The Only Room in the Room Podcast, Ep. #48):

Related Episodes

056: The One Thing You Need to Know About Podcasting – Doug Sandler

100: Podcasting with Purpose featuring Jared Easley

123: Let’s Design a New Podcast Setup Process with Deborah Bailey, Cynthia Culbreath, & Karen Mills

Credits

Producer & Host: Alicia Butler Pierre
Podcast Editor: Olanrewaju Adeyemo
Sponsor: Equilibria, Inc.

Bios

More About Guest, Laura Cathcart Robbins:
Laura Cathcart Robbins is a freelance culture writer and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, living in Studio City, California. Her recent articles in the Huffington Post and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She currently sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast festival. Find out more about Laura on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

More About Host, Alicia Butler Pierre:
Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc.. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu™ framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Façade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world’s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 38+ countries.

More About Sponsor, Equilibria:
Equilibria, Inc. is a 15-year-old boutique operations management consulting firm. We build the business infrastructure necessary for fast-growing businesses to scale with less pain. With a range of services and products, entrepreneurs can get the operational support and resources they need on-demand.