alright welcome back everybody this is a a special update episode with just Jonah and myself so uh you got to listen to us for a little bit sorry but we'll be back to guests very soon we have we have a lot of stories coming up that's part of the reason why we're here so we did a big push on giving Tuesday uh we wanna thank those that were able to get um who did donate we did receive some donations but we're doing a big push right now for giving uh for 2025 just to update everybody
as you know Sacred Wilderness which is our parent company bodies behind the bus is under Sacred Wilderness so we are a non profit we have been a non profit since the middle of this year so all giving is tax deductible which is great and our main focus as a brand Sacred Wilderness or as a non profit is to really push the stories of bodies behind the bus to continue to do that work but we'd also like to continue to provide resources free resources if we can
like we have been doing throughout this year with at the bus Stop episodes we'd actually like to do more of those so we got together with our board we have an amazing board we tried to come up with a number uh to try to help us to continue the work of bodies by the bus and we're gonna kind of walk you through what that is that we need and why uh and what we will be doing next year and we're gonna kind of give a preview of that so um let's talk about what we need what we're trying to raise uh
we are trying to raise a total of about $36,000 uh roughly about $3,000 per month which yeah that seems like a lot right to some people to all of us really cause we all we all especially feel the crunch right now but where would that money go so the money really is gonna go to two things first as most of you may know some of you may not bodies behind the bus started with uh two families so four of us total volunteering our time to not only do the stories to listen to the storytellers
do the intake process but then also to edit and produce all of the content so that has been falling on two families basically to manage that whole process and we've kind of hit a place where it is a lot we are doing a lot uh part time and we all work so a lot is going on to where we're still kind of managing that flow and we're actually seeing an uptick in stories and we want to be available to our storytellers we want to continue to produce content as long as there's people out there
that want to share their story so we're looking for two things 1 we're trying to hire a part time editor slash producer son of some sort for the podcast we have been relying on Jonna and her husband to do 100% of the editing and they do a great job but we just like to bring on someone part time because we're getting so many stories that we need a resource that we can have content edited and created in a timely manner so that we can potentially go to a three
month release schedule so three episodes a month we'd like to release two stories and one at the bus stop which would be free resources for our audience so we're trying to bring on a part time producer uh which I'm sorry part time editor uh which we at think probably roughly is about 50 to 70 hours of editing uh a month does that sound right Jonah about fifth yeah it does and just so people know I think that if you're not in editing you maybe don't understand how much goes into
podcast editing and in particular we are a very intentional and surgical team that's editing so when we are editing these stories there's up to 3,000 edits in an episode sometimes and that takes time and it takes skill and it takes taste we'll tell our storytellers like I I'll do the first edit and I'm listening like your biggest hater and your biggest fan at the same time like how do we get this sounding the best possible while still being authentic and honest to your story
um and that just takes a lot of intentionality and a lot of time and a lot of skill and to be Frank it's just overwhelming the amount of work so that is part of us being able to sustain and maintain our own mental health in this is needing you guys to come alongside of us and help us to to fund this position so that we are freed up a little bit more from really the burden that is editing on the back end that that burden of time and effort and John and Aaron have done
I mean you guys do an amazing job with editing so it is a it is a it is a it's a great I mean listening to other podcast I think John and Aaron just do an amazing job with editing so and that is purposeful because we want these stories to really that we want the storytellers to have a platform where their voice is heard and a good edit it really helps with that process so that is really priority one like most of these funds are going to be going toward bringing on that part time editor so that a
we can not only continue to produce well crafted great sounding stories but we can do more of them we'd like to go to three episodes a month for releasing releasing three episodes two stories and one at the bus stop and with at the bus stop we're really focusing on trying to continue to bring resources free resources for experts uh that we can share with our audience to talk about not only spiritual abuse but recovering from spiritual abuse of wide range of topics that we really like to get into
not just authors but people that really are doing the work I think you know when we looked at like Eric's uh study this year I remember Eric who he came on he's part of our board his thesis that he did and his study we'd like to do more of that if you remember Perry's episode where she also wrote something about spiritual bypass which was a very interesting topic so we'd love to continue to dive into other topics and bring other other resources and we feel like if we could do that once a month
uh that would be just beneficial for everyone anything else Johnna for that yeah I also just think Eric and Perry are both voices that are not getting platformed in the space really like they are fresh new perspectives but it takes a lot of behind the scenes intentional relationship building on the part of Jay and I and the platform as a whole to to build those relationships with people who are on the ground doing this work I think that's something that sets us apart
so I want to toot our horn a little bit that there is really like a circuit of voices that just kind of jumps from podcast to podcast when it comes to recovery spiritual abuse or even deconstruction and while we really appreciate that work that those voices are doing we are looking to go even deeper into people that are doing like data driven studying surrounding these subjects and that's what we're hoping to really bring to this platform and just bring a sense of empowerment through education
we don't have to keep having the same conversations we're actually getting those tools real time with you and we're able to adjust how we move forward and what the next step forward looks like based on data which excites me so much but again takes a lot of work so hopefully if we can start adding another episode in and get more of that out there it's gonna be really helpful for the whole community and I think we'll really see a lot of health come from that on like
a large scale because people will be be having those resources to be empowered to be making healthy next steps um in their journey whatever that looks like I think that kind of leads us into yeah the next thing right the second part so um as we mentioned you know we started there's there was four of us there still is four of us that are that are volunteering our time to to not only edit and talk to storytellers and and an interview but we're also managing lots of intake
lots of phone calls scheduling we have a pretty active inbox and that that inbox has been has been held down mostly by my wife who volunteers her time to do it she does work as well I step in also during that process and managing scheduling so we're trying to bring on someone my wife recently took a job well she does work outside but she took a job that she has more responsibility and she just can't manage it as much so we're actually trying to bring on someone as a part time I would say
more like a podcast manager who can help us not only with the intake process so receiving receiving the initial email from someone who would like to share the story scheduling the calls to discuss that story with the storyteller walking them through the process and then also help managing once we record what that process looks like keeping in contact with the storyteller following up once their episode is ready we go through an extensive editing process with the storyteller so that individual
this podcast manager would do that as well manage that whole process from start to finish uh and really be a part of this uh each story which is critical all right now it's kind of everybody all hands on deck between the four of us to do that so we're really looking for a part time I would say podcast manager help with that but then most importantly like planning you know John and I would would love to do you know first off I think we do you know we do get uh supports from Patreon
which we're so thankful for so if you donate through Patreon we cannot thank you enough I mean that really killed the what we get through Patreon really helps pay for the expenses of the podcast so you you're hearing us right now talk through on online but we're talking through an app that we pay for every year there's just so much that we do just to manage this thing and those patron funds go toward that and we're just so thankful I don't know if people even realize that or know
like we have microphones we send yeah back and forth to all of the storytellers yep it's a decent expense a month just to do this well but you guys are covering that yeah every storyteller I don't think people know this everybody really unless you have a microphone we send you a microphone to record with and we manage all of that the logistics of sending it out and getting it back to us we manage the whole process because we want to make it easier on the storyteller and yeah that is an expense
but that's also something that that we manage and it's you know right now I have six headsets in my closet and it's sometimes not lying I'll have four to five headsets all throughout the US going to different storytellers so that's part of the process as well but we'd also you know John and I'd like to do more live events we've done a few um and and we've really enjoyed them we enjoy connecting with the audience our plan is to try to do three next year uh
if we can this podcast manager will really help not only set those up uh but execute those as well and get everything going and then we've also kicked off possibly doing like a live couple live actual podcast uh where we show up and we do a podcast and we invite an audience in so we we'd love to do that next year that's part of our goal the burden of of managing that on top of everything else prevents us sometimes from getting that work done we have great ideas
it's just a lot of work to get it done so we're looking for someone to potentially do you know we estimate about 20 hours a week uh of of support for a podcast manager so 80 hours a month uh and we'd like to bring that resource on sometimes in 2025 so you know we're gonna post kind of our giving Tuesday slides that that my wife made uh to to this episode so that you can take a look but we we love you know for those who are interested in supporting you know coming alongside us
and daring to listen and support these storytellers to did you know think about becoming a monthly member member if you can I think we estimated we would need like I think like 100 members I think like 125 members just to give or 125 donors just to give $25 a month and that would hit our goal which you know doesn't seem like a lot but we understand like everybody else that giving is especially in these times it's just a lot it's a lot to ask so we're throwing that out there and saying
we want to continue this work but we definitely need support from listeners and those that support the podcast one other thing I was gonna say John before you stock YouTube so we launched a YouTube channel and we want to continue to post content to that channel as well whether it be live uh uh actual interviews that we do where you can see the interview or it actually just be audio availability for our audios recordings as well on YouTube so yeah if that's your preferred podcast listener
like platform listening platform it will slowly be migrating that that will be included in where our episodes post so we're super excited about that again a lot more work to get that back catalog up in there but that is part of what we are doing and working on behind the scenes we really believe in this work Jay and I wouldn't be here three years later giving all this time and effort and having this conversation with you guys if we didn't see the real life
tangible change that comes from these storytellers sharing their stories and really this platform that's been made possible because of people like you donating to make sure Mikes do get to these storytellers so they can share it's really been an honor and a privilege to be able to do this and we like I said we really believe in it and we wanna keep doing it but we just we need your help to continue to sustain and to foster and cultivate a space that really serves these storytellers well
it's scary to share your story people are trusting us they're reaching out to us with really intimate vulnerable things and we really want to make sure that what they are experiencing when they do that continues to be just the most loving kind caring trustworthy space and so these things are going to help us to be able to maintain that and sustain it long term and I think now more than ever stories are so important and us learning to bear witness to them
and to listen to people who we maybe don't disagree we maybe don't even agree with on everything but we are able to see each other's humanity and to value that we are all image bearers I think it's really important so if you're able to give even if it's $5 a month we'd love it to be 25 but haha even if it's $5 a month that helps if five of you are giving $5 a month that covers one of those hundred and twenty five spots like you can make a change and unfortunately
it costs something to do this work not just emotionally but it costs something financially so we need your help yeah and it's I mean like we'd love to you know we'd love to be also be more available to our audience as far as that's why we're trying to schedule some of these events where we have more live events or we have more uh in person events because we we appreciate like I said I mean the the people who have been giving for us for the past years
I can't even begin to tell you how thankful we are for all of you because of you you you've sustained the ability for this podcast to to be what it is today and to be a platform for where storytellers are allowed to tell their story so essentially what we're saying is we we want to continue that work but we see a need that that work needs to actually we actually need to give more time to it and and because of that more time we just need the support I would like to say like
we have a lot of stories coming out so we have been editing like crazy well I Johnny and Aaron have been editing like crazy and we have quite a few stories coming out and we're I mean we're booked right now for the first few months next year with all stories it is like never before we're getting more and more people that want to share their story that that are sending in saying hey I'd like to share my story so you know it's it's crushing because I wish there wasn't a need for this
because I wish the church was just healthy but it's not and we want to be as a a place where people can come and share their story and get their voice back so yeah I think for us even like we hear these stories and we get to bear witness to these people who like just so much courage and integrity and beauty and we record these episodes and then they have to sit while they wait to get edited and like all of us including the storytellers are like come on we gotta get to it we gotta get to it
like there's like anticipation to get these things out so having that help would just be incredible and we'd are like we are stacked up we are backlogged on stories right now and they're not stopping and ideally Jay and I would be out of a platform we wouldn't have to tell these stories anymore because it would stop but that's not happen that's not our right now so as long as there's stories to tell and we're able to do it we're gonna be telling those stories and we would love for you to help us