Carolyn is the host of the Beyond 6 Seconds podcast. The Beyond 6 Seconds is a society & culture podcast that goes beyond the six seconds we typically take to make a first impression by featuring the extraordinary stories of everyday people.
In each episode, Carolyn interviews people from all walks of life whose creativity and entrepreneurship make the world a better place. Guests talk candidly about the challenges they’ve faced, the ups and downs in their journeys, and how they’ve achieved their goals. Listeners are inspired by their uplifting stories of life and creativity triumph and struggle and appreciate the lessons learned that they share.
Carolyn Kiel is an experienced training and talent development leader who helps global companies prepare their employees to succeed in changing business environments. As the Host and Producer of Beyond 6 Seconds, she has created a platform where entrepreneurs, creators, and leaders can showcase their candid and inspiring stories. Carolyn has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Vassar College and a Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University
Katie: 00:01 Hi everyone. Thank you for tuning into the Hustlenomics Podcast. I’m your host, Katie. And today, I am so excited to be talking with Carolyn Kiel. She is the host of a podcast called beyond six seconds. I always love having fellow podcasters on the show. It’s always a treat for me. So do you mind kind of telling us a little bit more about you and your podcast and everything that you do?
Carolyn: 00:20 Absolutely. So as you mentioned, I am the host of a podcast called beyond six seconds. I started it in early January of 2018, and it covers the extraordinary stories of everyday people. So I interview entrepreneurs, technologists, community volunteers, artists creatives, just a whole wide variety of people who are creating something special, meaningful in the world. And we talk about their stories of what inspired them to get started. We, you know, and they always share with me. They are very candid and open stories about the challenges they’ve overcome and the goals that they have and what they’ve been able to achieve. It started out as kind of a hobby and a creative project for me. I also work full time at a corporate job right now. I work at a large fortune 500 company in New Jersey, doing employee training and learning and development. So this was kind of an interesting way for me to try out some new talents kind of as a hobby and an interest. And over the past year or so that I’ve been running the podcast, I’ve really gotten some great responses and met a lot of really great people. So that is starting to evolve into a bit of a, a side hustle and you know, hopefully, a well run a business venture as time goes on. So that’s sort of a, a quick intro to the podcast there.
Katie: 01:42 Yeah, that’s awesome. So you’ve been doing this for about a year, you said, and so what made you decide to start a podcast in the first place? Cause everybody says, Oh, I want to start a podcast, but actually doing it, it’s still a whole nother story.
Carolyn: 01:53 Absolutely. So it’s funny. My decision to actually start the podcast was a pretty quick decision. I had been thinking for months in 2017 that I really wanted a creative project of my own where I could, you know, kind of just try different things and create something of value for people by using my talents in a way that I could be creative and kind of try things out. And I had a lot of friends who I knew on social media and in my offline life who were looking for jobs or just trying to get their new business opportunities off the ground. And I saw so many talented and creative people who, you know, maybe weren’t as prone to go on social media and brag about all the amazing things that they were doing. They were sort of more on the subtle side about it.
Carolyn: 02:43 But just from talking with them on one-on-one, I just learned about all these incredible things that they were achieving. And I thought, you know, maybe I could create a platform to help them share with the world, the, you know, the challenges that they’ve overcome and the really great things that they’ve achieved to make the world, to kind of help them and then help inspire other people who were listening. So the podcast, you know, I had started listening to podcasts in 2017 more regularly. And you know, I also, as part of my background, I’m and I’ve been a singer for many, many years, so I had some experience with audio equipment and recording and performance and voice training and public speaking. So I thought, well, you know, podcasting kind of seems like it could translate well with the music and performance quality.
Carolyn: 03:33 So I figured I would just give it a try, and I literally just took it step by step. So I laid out, well, you know, I’ll, I’ll do a lot of research upfront first. So what kind of equipment do I need? What are all the different pieces and, and different players and different parts that you need for a podcast, like your podcasting host and your equipment and your domain name? And how do I get guests? So I asked some of my friends who I am [inaudible] stories I admired greatly to share if I could interview them so that they would share some of their stories on my first couple of episodes. And then, you know, I as, as I achieved each step, I was like, all right, I’m like one bit closer and one bit closer. So that actually I was able to get everything together in about two months. When I first started recording the first couple of episodes and then know that I just started launching them and putting them together to see what how, how things would come together and what the response would be. So that’s literally how I got, how I got started. It really was just, you know, I kind of got the inspiration and just decided to run with it before I changed my mind and chicken to out son da. It worked out well for me.
Katie: 04:39 That’s awesome. Yeah, I love that you kind of mentioned the step by step process because I didn’t realize how much and how much went into actually creating a show, and you know, producing it, editing, marketing, all that stuff. And you know, we could definitely talk about that process a little bit later on, but I’m curious, how did you come up with the name beyond six seconds?
Carolyn: 04:57 The name of the podcast was one of the last things that I was trying to figure out before I could launch it was you know, I, I kind of agonized over it a little bit and I couldn’t think of the perfect names, but what made me think of that name was that there was a study done. I think by the ladders, like one of those career sites that recruiters when they get your resume, they only stand it for a maximum of six seconds before they make a decision. Whether you’re moving forward in the hiring process or if they just kind of, you know, dump your resume in the trash. So I always, and that statistic gets pulled out and discussed a lot on like LinkedIn and a lot of the job boards where people who are looking for jobs just feel like, you know, how could anyone possibly make a decision that quickly.
Carolyn: 05:40 And you know, I understand the whole volume and trying to get through, you know, piles and piles of resumes as a recruiter. But you know, that kind of gave me the inspiration to say, well, I really want my show to go beyond those first impressions that you get from the first six seconds of whether it’s a resume. And even beyond that, we have like six-second ads on YouTube now, and everything is just like sound bites and really quick, quick stories. And, and certainly, there’s a place for that. You need to be able to be succinct in your messaging. But at the same time, I really wanted to create a place where people had a little more time to share their stories and what they learned and the reasons that they did what they did. And just to truly share the true impact of challenges they overcame. And, and what that really means in terms of, you know, how people are still able to achieve great things despite enormous challenges, whether they be business-related, personal related, health-related, a whole variety of things. So that’s where the name beyond six seconds comes from.
Katie: 06:41 I like that. It’s really a cool story, and I’m sure you get asked about all the time. So I think that’s really cool. Yeah, it took me forever to come up with a name, I think. Yeah, that was one of definitely the hardest things for me too, well it’s just you go through so many options, but I think what you landed on is wonderful. Was there a show that kind of, that you started listening to in 2017 when you first started that kinda got you into podcasting and kind of got you excited about the medium?
Carolyn: 07:04 Gosh, I think the first podcast I started listening to on a regular basis was revisionist history by Malcolm Gladwell, which is just a really amazing sort of very well researched that, I don’t want to say story-based podcasts. Still, it’s on a specific topic, and it takes a kind of a second look at a particular event in history that people kind of has one judgment on. This is how it turned out and kind of takes a look at it and, and an alternate way and says, well, you know, let’s, let’s research, let’s interview people and kind of let’s learn about maybe, you know, there was something else going on here. Maybe there’s a different way to look at this. So I really got very, very interested in those types of those episodes and was just in such admiration of the production and the the level of research that really goes into it.
Carolyn: 07:52 And you know, certainly if, you know, I, I really liked that type of podcast, although as you well know, even just doing like one on one interviews with people takes a whole lot of time to put together. So I figured I’d just get my feet wet and start with interviews. But really it was Revisionist History that got me into it. And then I just started looking for more and more podcasts and trying out different, different shows and different genres and then eventually felt like, you know, I might want to try something out here and cause I feel like I have a message that I want to share. I know a lot of other people who, you know, maybe don’t have the appetite to start their own podcast but certainly have really great powerful stories that they can share as well.
Katie: 08:32 I definitely love revisionist history. That’s the O favorite of mine. And you mentioned that you know, you have a message that you want to share. If you had kind of, you know, one or two sentences to sum up what you hope people get or take away from listening to your show, what would that be?
Carolyn: 08:46 I mean, for me, gosh, a couple of things, but I guess the biggest thing was that you know, inspiration and leadership are really everywhere in the world. So watching the news these days or looking on social media, a lot of the news is kind of negative and depressing, you know, in part because one, that’s the stuff that sells and gets clicks and likes and shares. But two is that it’s just, you know, sometimes it’s a, you know, if you listen to the news, it’s kind of depressing and you kind of wonder if there are any good people left in the world. Sometimes if you, it’s a little overwhelming sometimes. So I just felt like, you know, that’s just so different from my day to day experience with people who are generous and just incredible role models, and you know, really demonstrate things like integrity and grit and resilience.
Carolyn: 09:38 But you know, don’t go out and necessarily, you know, share it with the world. Like, you know, like, like all the negative news gets shared. So my message is that I really hope people listen to my podcast and you know, not just feel inspired but you know, maybe feel a little bit better about the state of the world and also feel like they can make connections with people who are doing great things, who have things in common with them. And then maybe if my listeners themselves are going through challenging times or if they’re trying to achieve a goal and they haven’t quite made it yet, hopefully, they can find some comfort and inspiration in the people that I interview on my show.
Katie: 10:15, Yeah. That’s wonderful. Well, speaking of your interviews for an interview show, you need guests. And so how have you gone about finding guests then? Do you have any criteria to, you know, who you have on the show? Talk to me a little bit about that process.
Carolyn: 10:27 Let’s see. So at first I just asked my friends. There were a couple of people whose stories I knew were very powerful. I just knew through talking with them, you know, either in person or on social media. So I started out with you know, a couple of good friends who I, I figured would also be very understanding if like I screwed up the recording or the first time, or I forgot to hit record, you know, just to make sure that I knew how to use the equipment for the very first episodes. And then, you know, from there I would say maybe starting with, even after about six episodes, I started getting referrals from people. So either my friends who had been on my show would suggest somebody else who they thought would be great for the show food. You know, said so-and-so person has like a really powerful story, or they’re in there working on a really interesting project that helps, you know, better the world or better society.
Carolyn: 11:18 And then, you know, as I did more and more episodes, I started getting cold reach-outs from people who you know, I guess a lot of people who are writing books and doing speaking tours are interested in being on podcasts. So I started between like people referring other people to me, like even listeners starting referring guests to me. So between the referrals and the cold reach-outs, I actually I’m very fortunate that I have many, many guests to choose from and a lot of people who were interested in coming on the show. And for me, the biggest criterion is if someone’s really willing to share their honest and candid story about how they overcame challenges and or are creating things and achieving goals to make the world better. So, I mean, that’s pretty broad, but it rules out a lot of the pure, like kind of pure business play.
Carolyn: 12:08 If someone literally just wants to go on a show to only sell something or only pitch a book or something like that that I’m less interested in. I mean, of course, my guests can pitch whatever they want, but I want most of it to be a focus on their story and their journey and such. And I guess the only other criteria is that I try to, you know, stay away from businesses that may not, may or may not have a good impact on the world, which, you know, fortunately, there aren’t too many of those who reach out to me, but other than that, anyone who’s willing to share a really powerful story on the show, for the most part, I, I welcome that.
Katie: 12:43. That’s awesome. And, and it seems like people are opening up and sharing very intimate stories and personal things with you. So how, what’s your interview process like to make people feel comfortable opening up about sometimes touchy subjects?
Carolyn: 12:56 Yeah, I guess it kind of depends on how well I know the person and if they approach me or if I approach them because it’s there. The other pieces that there are some people who I meet online or hear about and that I will invite onto the show and about a half to three-quarters of the time, they are interested in that. So sometimes I will have a pre-call with them. If it’s someone who I really don’t know very well and don’t have a good understanding upfront of what their story might be, we’ll just have a short phone conversation where they’ll tell me a little bit about their story. They’ll ask any questions that they might have about the show, particularly if it’s someone who hasn’t really been interviewed on a podcast before. So I’ll kind of talk to them about what that experience is like and what to expect.
Carolyn: 13:43 And then beforehand, I usually try to send some of the questions that I’d like to ask beforehand just to help people prepare and give them a clearer idea of what I like to ask them. And usually, I tailor those questions to whatever their particular story is. I mean, I kind of have a basic template and a basic structure of questions I asked, but it always varies depending on the person’s story. So I try to send those ahead of time at least like a week just so people have a general idea of what to expect, and it helps them prepare. And then, you know, on the day of, you know, we just we, we connect, we have kind of a chit chat to get settled and get used to our equipment, make sure all the levels are working and just kinda get comfort comfortable and settled in. And then we record from there. And for the most part, that seems to work pretty well.
Katie: 14:35 Awesome. And since you’re interviewing all these amazing and inspiring people, I’m sure you’ve learned a lot about them and about business and life, but has there been something that you’ve learned about yourself since you started the show that maybe surprised you?
Carolyn: 14:48 Yeah, I mean, gosh, there’s, it really has an incredible experience for me. I would say that for me, one of the reasons I started the podcast is because I wanted to practice being able to ask good questions and practice interviewing people. You know, and practice learning more about their story and practice listening. Cause these were, you know, I figured this would be a great opportunity for me to really, you know, talk with a lot of new people and to really understand and help them tell their own stories. And one thing that I heard from a lot of people first was that people actually thought I had a really great voice for radio, which, and I heard that many, many, many times. And it’s not that I didn’t have a great voice, but I just didn’t think of it as like a particularly standout quality.
Carolyn: 15:35 So I thought that that was actually pretty cool. So now I kind of think of that like, Oh, okay, well I guess, you know, maybe I could leverage that and eventually do some more voice work or, you know, it seems that that fits really well with the type of things that I’m doing. And two people seem to feel very comfortable when, when they’re talking with me when I’m interviewing them. So which is good. Does that was definitely my goal? And going into it, I had no idea if you know, if that would be the case or not. But I feel like partially that’s proof one because a lot of them will tell me afterward as to sometimes people are nervous when you start out the show and then at the end there, they’re relaxed, and they feel really happy. They feel heard, you know because they got to talk about themselves and they got someone who was listening to them and asking them questions about themselves. And now, some of my guests are actually interested in coming back on the show to talk about different topics. So I feel like that’s good, that’s the best endorsement of all when they actually want to come back. I’m like, okay. So, they really did enjoy themselves because they’re seriously interested in coming back. So those were some things I learned about myself.
Katie: 16:39 And you mentioned when we first jumped on the recording that you’re also working a full-time position and as we both know, podcasting, it’s, it’s a lot. Yeah, there’s a lot that goes into it, as I mentioned earlier. So how, how are you balancing all that and finding time to be creative while you’re also working full time?
Carolyn: 16:56 Up a lot of nights and weekends. So I do spend a lot of time, you know, I’ll schedule my interviews, you know, in the, on the weekdays sort of towards the evenings or you know, on the weekends I have certain times on Saturdays and Sundays that’ll open it up for interviews. And all of my interviews right now are done online. So I wind up interviewing people from all around the world. So I’ve done everything from like the town next over to mine where one of my friends was on my show in the town next door all the way to Singapore, which was the furthest one that I’ve done so far. But it actually works out because of a lot of times, you know, you’re dealing with different time zones. So, you know, I can be up at like 10 o’clock at night talking to Singapore and like, you know, I was going to be awake anyway, so I might as well use that time to talk, and that’s during their Workday, so that works out.
Carolyn: 17:47 So yeah, it’s a lot of balancing and editing. You know, I’ll do that on the weekends as well. I just do one episode at a time, and sometimes that means that I’ll have, you know, kind of a backlog of recorded episodes that take me a while to get through. But you know, but all my guests are, were very understanding about you know, that might take a little while for the show to come out. And you know, everyone’s been great with that. So it’s really just spending as much free time as I can find on nights and weekends to put the podcast together.
Katie: 18:17 Awesome. And so what are you hoping for, you know, the podcast in the future? What are your goals?
Carolyn: 18:22 Oh gosh, well, I would really love to see where it goes and, and continue to have a grow. So, you know, I’d love to continue to grow my listener base. I’d love to have, you know, more guests from different industries, you know, even sort of bringing in some guests from higher profiles in, in business or entertainment or media or, or different areas just to kind of have a good mix of people in their stories. And you know, this 2018 the first year was really about kind of building and, and seeing what works and seeing what the response is. But going into year two, I’d really want to try to monetize it. I’m a little bit more, and a lot of the time, the biggest challenge is thinking of different ways to do that. And so, you know, I’ve actually started to explore having sponsors on the show. I’m hoping to get more of those as well. And then yeah, just kind of seeing where things evolve from there.
Katie: 19:15, Yeah. I’m glad you mentioned monetizing because that’s something like even bloggers, podcasters, everybody’s there. Like everybody knows that you can make money from it, but don’t really understand how sponsors, so are that somebody that reached out to you, did you approach them?
Carolyn: 19:29 How did that work? Well, actually, that was something that I wanted to try out. So I, there’s a local networking group here where I live in Northern New Jersey, a group of businesswomen and they were having their holiday party, and they were actually looking for like prizes to raffle off for the holiday party to help kind of raise funds for the club. So I figured, well, you know, maybe I’ll donate like a one, like a one episode sponsorship of the podcast and just sort of seeing what the interest is for that. So I’ve recently found out they just had that launch, I think you know, over the holidays. So it’s, you know, I think mid-December. So I learned that someone actually did wind up getting that prize and was excited about it. So that’s going to be the person that will be my first sponsor on the show. And then so which is kind of neat cause then I get to try out kind of what would that feel like, you know, how does that fit with the show and what’s the response of the business that I’m sponsoring with and yeah, and just kind of go from there. So that’s actually, I tried to a kind of a creative and a, a different way of foraying into sponsorship and then we’ll kind of see where I can leverage it from there.
Katie: 20:42 Very interesting. Yeah, there are so many options out there, and I’m even doing my research to out more about it, but that’s very interesting. Thank you for sharing that. And there’ve been an interview or you know, an episode that’s really stuck with you that just was one of your favorites to record or just really inspired you if you have a couple even that maybe the listeners could listen in as their first episode. It’s an intro to your podcast.
Carolyn: 21:06 Well, yeah, I mentioned a couple of years. So one of the ones that I did, I think it was one of my earliest ones, I think, within the first ten episodes. It was someone who I interviewed who I didn’t know beforehand. She had been referred to me, and she had a story that she wanted to tell about herself that she really hadn’t shared anywhere publicly. I think she had told it one time in a small group setting, but this was sort of the first time she wanted to talk about her story on a more public like a podcast. And she basically her name was is crystal Morin, and she was working at you know, you know, a regular nine to five job. She was a leadership coach. He was doing leadership, and she loved her work, and then she wound up being in a car accident that left her with a traumatic brain injury, and that really changed everything for her.
Carolyn: 22:00 She couldn’t continue with her job. She had some lasting health effects where essentially she described losing a lot of her sort of, you know, core strengths as a coach and a leader. So she was a very extroverted person and, and that changed after the injury. She, you know, she, it was everything from just having a hard time going out in the world because you know, her brain couldn’t take the stimulation at first and she would pass out, or so she had to spend a lot of time, you know, almost like as to heal, you literally have to like to sit in the dark with no stimulation, like no, no iPhone and no music and no reading and literally just sit in the dark. And which is, is, was hugely difficult for her, was a big, big change in her life. But you know, she still, to her credit, she figured out how to make that work.
Carolyn: 22:49 So while she was healing, she wound up starting her own business around coaching where she could be, you know, sort of more flexible and in control of the types of work that she took on. And then slowly she really started to heal. So, you know, I, I’m sure that, you know, things are certainly different for her now, but she made it work, and she has her own leadership company now. And she has clients that love her work. She’s a mother to a young daughter, so she’s taking care of her child. And what one of the things that really struck me about that interview was that, you know, after we were done talking about it, she was like, well, I don’t know, I never really shared that story. I didn’t really know if people would care about hearing about that.
Carolyn: 23:32 I’m like, Oh my God, this is like the most interesting thing, of course, people to hear that you know, because only if you have, you know if you don’t have an experience with that type of a health crisis or you know, you only see what you see on television. Whatever may be where it seems like it’s kind of the be-all and end-all is that it really, I think it gives people hope and, and well models for, you know, how you can get through a devastating injury like that. I mean, you know, it’s different for everybody, but Elisa says one person who managed to rebuild life after a huge, you know, a huge trauma like that.
Katie: 24:04 What number episode is that one? Do you remember?
Carolyn: 24:06 Oh gosh, I, I think it’s seven. It’s within the first ten episodes. It’s one of the earlier episodes, and yeah so that one still stayed with me even though it was recorded a while ago.
Katie: 24:16 Yeah, I absolutely want to check that one out. And you’ve mentioned a couple of recommendations throughout our conversation, but is there anything else, whether it’s a book, a podcast, a course, anything out there that you found helpful in business or just in life you know, that you would recommend to the listeners?
Carolyn: 24:30 I think one of my other favorite podcasts that I have right now is and it’s, it’s really geared towards entrepreneurs. It’s called problem solvers. It’s by Jason Pfeiffer. He’s the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, and it’s nice, it’s sort of like 20 to 30-minute episodes that feature an entrepreneur or a business owner that he interviews and talks about a problem that they had in their business and how they solved it. So it’s really well done. I really like the way that he, you know, puts together the story and the lessons that come out of it. So, yeah, I’ve really, really enjoyed that one too. Gosh, other resources. One of the research, one of the websites I used actually when I was first putting together my podcasts, is called podcast insights.com. I found them online, and they just have a lot of really great like free pod testing guides equipment reviews, which was huge because you know, as you know, there’s like a multitude of equipment you could buy and you know, going in, you have no idea like what’s good and what you need. So that was really helpful. So if there’s anyone thinking about starting a podcast, that’s a great website to check out and just sort of reading up on all the different things you need to do. And just different reviews and recommendations for equipment and other things like that.
Katie: 25:45 Yeah, I’m definitely going to check that out. I’ve never heard about that before, so that’s awesome. I definitely know people are going to want to listen in to your podcast and follow everything that you’re doing. So do you mind telling the listeners how they can find you?
Carolyn: 25:56 Absolutely. So you can find my podcast@beyondsixseconds.com, and that’s number six. You can also search for beyond six seconds. It’s on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, it’s on Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio. Yeah, you can find it on almost any podcast player or a podcast app that’s out there. It’s on most of those. And yeah, if you, if you look at the website, there’s information for how to get in contact with me. There’s a form if you’re interested in being a guest on the show, and also, there’s a whole, all of the episodes are available either on the website or through those podcast players.
Katie: 26:34 Perfect. Can people apply to be a guest anytime, or do you have windows where you’re accepting guests?
Carolyn: 26:38 Right now, it’s an open call. So yeah, the form is out there so you can fill it out. If you go there time and I’m, I will respond to you, and then, you know, at that point, I can give you an idea of kind of what the schedule is like for new recordings and episode releases, and we can go from there. But yeah, in general, the window’s pretty open. Great. Great. Well, thank you so much for sharing all that and thank you again for taking the time to come on the show today. Absolutely. Thank you so much for interviewing me.
Get In Touch:
info@beyond6seconds.com
