Harry Duran 00:00:00:
So, Marilyn Ball, host of Speaking of Travel, thank you so much for joining me on podcast Junkies.
Marilyn Ball 00:00:05:
Thank you for having me, Harry. I'm excited to be here today.
Harry Duran 00:00:09:
So we're just chatting a little bit before we started recording about our environment. And I was finishing up shoveling some snow here. I'm in Minnesota, and we just got six inches overnight. So it sort of changes your priorities when you have to get up and everything you think you had to do in the morning. Like, I had calls scheduled. I had to meet my bookkeeper. But, you know, when Mother Nature kicks in, like, other priorities come to the forefront, and I had to cancel some stuff and move stuff around. And it's also interesting how that happens. And I feel it's related to some of the stuff we're going to talk about here. So if you want to share where you're from and obviously some of the stuff that your town has been going through this past year, well, thank you.
Marilyn Ball 00:00:52:
I live in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is in western North Carolina for a little geography lesson. North Carolina is a very long state. We have an ocean coast. We have a middle section of city, Charlotte and more. Piedmont, they call it. And then we're in the mountains. So it used to be back in the day that when you looked at a map of North Carolina, it ended in Asheville, North Carolina, and the rest of the state just looked like a vast wilderness, which it is a vast wilderness. However, it is populated with small towns and is considered very much a tourism destination. And the end of September, we were aware that there was a disaster headed our way. This is a very safe place. A lot of people come here for that reason. It's where the Appalachian Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Great Smoky Mountains all converge. So there's a lot of waterfalls and wilderness and whitewater rafting and trails and beautiful vistas, and just a beautiful region of our world, not just our country. You know, mountains as old as 10,000 years old. The Cherokee live here, the Eastern Band of Cherokee. So right at the end of September, there was a hurricane coming into the Gulf. And because of the warm water there, which has been happening over, you know, many years, when that hurricane hit that warm water, it kicked. It literally pushed it up like a pinball machine. Bing. And the ball just went up. And as it went up, it started to curve off to the left. But the elbow of that hurricane system hit these mountains just hit it. And what that caused was a natural disaster. In fact, they're calling it a geological event. It wasn't Just biblical flooding and landslides, wind. It was a geological event that caused probably about 40% of our force to be gone.
Harry Duran 00:03:17:
Wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:03:18:
So being a tourist destination, Asheville and the county surrounding for three days, we had no contact to the outside world. None. We had no water. Our water system was completely ripped apart. People lost their homes. It was hard. You were talking about shoveling snow. We were shoveling other. Yeah, we were taken out. Yeah, taken out. And so what's happened since is what we hear so much now in the news, the resiliency of the people coming together and looking at rebuilding and rethinking. How can we be smarter? How can we be more mindful and being able to witness true compassion and true empathy, which is what I talk about a lot in my show, speaking of travel, because as we travel the world, we try to bridge barriers. That's what we're looking at doing.
Harry Duran 00:04:22:
So was this the first time you had experienced an event of this size? And were you in your lifetime?
Marilyn Ball 00:04:31:
I can assure you, Harry, that nobody has ever experienced what we experienced, even. We have a speakers program here of people who are coming to help, and we have a lot of speakers from New Orleans who have been through Katrina, of course. Yeah. This is like a Katrina, but even worse in some ways, because it was such a geological event in the way that it actually shifted the Earth.
Harry Duran 00:05:02:
Wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:05:04:
And when you think that the people were on that earth as it shifted.
Harry Duran 00:05:09:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:05:10:
There's a lot of. It's almost like imagine if you were shaken up in a snow globe and then just let out. All the people who survived this event never would have ever. We have seen flooding here. We have rivers, and everybody was prepared for that type of flooding or more. But this was. They have called it biblical proportion, and that's really what it is. So, no. I would say no. And the level of being terrified of knowing, you know, because we could see it coming. It was on the Weather Channel. It was like, oh, here's a hurricane. It. It just hit warm water in the Gulf. That we know doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out these storms are getting bigger and more fierce and being able to recognize. My feeling is if people don't recognize that global warming is a thing, after an event like this and what happened in California not long after us, I think it's time to get on the bandwagon.
Harry Duran 00:06:22:
Yeah, for sure. So were you, Marilyn, were you born and raised there?
Marilyn Ball 00:06:26:
No, I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. so very cosmopolitan. Back in the day, when I was growing up, we could walk Right by the White House and, you know, see people waving in the backyard and go to the museums for free. And it was a wonderful. You know, I identify as a Washingtonian because I was actually born in the District of Columbia, but I moved to the mountains 40 plus years ago pretty much as a homesteader, like, looking to get out of the big city, seeing the writing on the wall as far as what was happening around the world and feeling that maybe it would be best to kind of live off the grid and live up in the mountains.
Harry Duran 00:07:16:
It's something that I've been thinking about recently as well. I grew up in New York City. I mean, I grew up in New York. I lived in Yonkers, just outside New York City. And then I moved into the city and I just, you know, fell in love with the city that, you know, this cosmopolitan life that you spoke of, just having so many options when it comes to museums and restaurants and culture is something that you really enjoy and experience and you sort of deal with the trade off of living in a box with no access to, you know, water and nature. Thankfully, we have the beautiful Central park and, you know, and there's beautiful parks in Washington as well. But I was in New York for Hurricane Sandy years ago and that was a bit of a wake up call because we lost power from 57th street down. And we just. I was with my ex wife and I, we had our. All we could do is ride our bicycles. We lost water for a day and we lost power for a week. And we were hanging, you know, the groceries that were in our fridge in plastic bags outside the window because it was October, so it was just very jarring. And you'd have to go to a supermarket that was above 57th street and clearly, like, the shelves have been pretty, you know, wiped clean. And so it's been interesting to think about it. And I know that, you know, you mentioned homesteading. So now I'm here in Minnesota now and we're in the house that my partner grew up in and her father was big into hunting. So you have a feel for like, what it's like to have food that's been hunted, you know, by someone. We have our own well, which is extremely something you don't really think about, but access to fresh water is really important. And then we're on a marsh that's thankfully all her parents and their neighbors pulled in together in the 80s to buy it and they donated it back to the state of Minnesota. So there's one side of our property that will actually never get Developed. So I'm curious, like what was the, you know, when you think about the driver for you, you did mention homesteading. What's that experience been like for you, moving out of the city and starting to realize it comes with its own set of challenges? For sure. We just got five chickens this past spring and with the price of eggs lately, people are calling us up. But I'm curious what your experience has been.
Marilyn Ball 00:09:17:
Well, like I said, 40 years, which is a long time. And we were very fortunate at that time to be able to buy a little old farm and had beautiful views and water that came right out of the spring into our home. Like you, we had chickens and had organic farm, you know, gardens and, and we, you know, we were quite high up on the mountain, so it took a little bit of time to get down into the town, but we always felt like if there was a natural disaster or something bad happened, we could be self sufficient. Right. And so at the same time, part of the appeal of coming here is the Appalachian Mountains. And the people who live here in Appalachia, you know, are very humble people, they are very community minded people. So we felt part of a growing community in the little town of Asheville. Back then had been in the twenties, quite Gilded age place. It was George Vanderbilt came here and built his home and Frederick Law Olmsted, who you know, from Central park, designed George's house and home on 8,000 acres that's right in our town and donated the rest of the land, the forest, to Park National Parks. And actually the School of Forestry was created right here in western North Carolina because of George Vanderbilt and Frederick Law Olmsted. So we have a very rich history here in Asheville. But then when the Depression came, when the market fell, all those rich people who had been putting so much money here left. So really all that was left was the Appalachian people who had always lived here. And the city at that time decided to not rebuild, not do any revitalization because they had taken out so much debt. When all those rich people were coming, they were gonna pay off the debt. So when we moved here and were homesteading, we were coming into this little town that was starting to have little coffee shops and there was a little vegetarian restaurant and you know, a bunch of hippies. But then they paid off the debt and the city was suddenly opened back up. And so over time it started to grow. So our homesteading started to merge and re merge emerge with a growing community that we all helped to build. So there's something very special about our town and Our region here. So as far as how did that work out for me, I don't live on that farm anymore. And actually it was pretty well damaged in the storm because luckily there was so much beautiful water there. But the water was very powerful during the storm and took out roads and things. So where I live now is just a little bit further into. Closer to the town. So I have, you know, still a bit of wilderness, but a lot of. There's a lot of development creeping in and growth, as you can imagine. So. But overall, a community that is vibrant in farming, in making cheese and being makers and creators. Of course you would want to live in an environment like that, for sure.
Harry Duran 00:12:58:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:12:58:
Right.
Harry Duran 00:12:59:
And I have a special place in my heart for Asheville. I'd been there a couple of times when I lived in Atlanta, actually, again with my ex, we drove up for Mokefest, which is the. For those that don't know, it's the festival dedicated or built around the creator of the Moog synthesizer, who I believe made Asheville his home. I don't know. I don't remember if he grew up there.
Marilyn Ball 00:13:20: Yes, he was a homesteader. In fact, he was part of our emerging town. So his kids and our kids, everybody, all, you know, but we knew who, you know, we knew there was something special going on. In fact, I'll just give you a little aside and I'm so glad to hear about your experience. So Moak had a factory here right on Broadway. Beautiful. The people had bought a beautiful building and actually were still building the synthesizers and everything.
Harry Duran 00:13:51:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:13:52:
And just recently after the storm, they decided to move the factory out of that building.
Harry Duran 00:13:59:
Okay.
Marilyn Ball 00:14:00:
And I just received an invitation to an opening there at that building.
Harry Duran 00:14:06: Y
eah.
Marilyn Ball 00:14:07:
Where the Mo people have given that space to artists who had lost. We had a river arts district where all our artists were that got wiped out. They're going to now be in that building. So it's again, you know, that spirit of being able to give back to the community.
Harry Duran 00:14:28:
That's really nice. That's really nice.
Marilyn Ball 00:14:29:
I know. I'm so glad you came up. Our paths might have crossed as I was there too.
Harry Duran 00:14:34:
Yeah. I remember just the. It was one of those festivals where the town itself is sort of like, you know, the campus and the map had you like go. You know, it was just things going on for, I think, two or three days. And it would be. One event would be at a bar and another one would be at a shop. And you're just walking crisscrossing across town. And I just remember all the little shops in there. We had a really, really, really fun time in there. So how do you see. I get the sense it's a very resilient community. So, you know, after everything that's happened with the disaster, you know, we're now in March of 2025. What have you seen that gives you hope for, you know, where you are on the path to rebuilding?
Marilyn Ball 00:15:17:
The story that I just told about the art going into the Moog building is very proud, you know, makes us very proud.
Harry Duran 00:15:26:
Sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:15:28:
Being able to see how there is so much fundraising. I mean, that's the thing, people. If you've never been through a natural disaster, it's hard to even believe that people care. And people were here within three or four days from all over the world, helping, digging out, rebuilding already. I mean, I can't even begin to give you an idea of the amount of devastation that happened. I don't think as human beings, we really have full capacity to recognize that something so horrible could happen.
Harry Duran 00:16:13:
Sure, right.
Marilyn Ball 00:16:15:
So anything is going to give you hope if it's better than that. But to see the amount of people who have come in to help the restaurant people and how the restaurant, I mean, we just went through a pandemic. Right. So to be able to see these restaurant owners who are so dedicated to their employees in their communities, offer up so much and provide so much and be there, you know, that level that I was talking about of empathy and compassion and fundraising and money going to grants specifically for artists, specifically for people who are musicians. You know, there were stories of people who lost all their instruments, and within days, musicians coming from all over with instruments to give them like that gives me hope. Right.
Harry Duran 00:17:11:
For sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:17:12:
And then the music begins and it doesn't end. And there's a small town just north of where I live called Marshall, North Carolina. It was a very hip, you know, little town that was starting to. They took this guy, took the old Marshall jail and turned it into a little bed and breakfast, and there was a little bar on the river and a lot of artists up there. That town literally got washed away. It sits right on a river, and it just literally was washed away. So the people who lived there came out, you know, in shock to see their town full of mud and ruined. And the first thing they did was have like a bluegrass concert in the mud. And then it became bigger to where they took it on the road and they started raising money. And now the town is re emerging in a different way.
Harry Duran 00:18:06:
Yeah, of course.
Marilyn Ball 00:18:07:
But in a better way, perhaps.
Harry Duran 00:18:09:
Yeah, it's so inspiring to see the human spirit at work and what people are capable of in terms of coming together and supporting each other.
Marilyn Ball 00:18:17:
And once you've seen it, you really don't want to go backwards.
Harry Duran 00:18:20:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Marilyn Ball 00:18:22:
Yeah.
Harry Duran 00:18:22:
So let's talk about your love of travel. Like, how did that start? You know, because it seems like I'd get the sense if I was following your trajectory from Washington to Asheville, like, you'd be starting a homesteading podcast, not a travel podcast. So talk to me about that.
Marilyn Ball 00:18:39:
It's funny how that unfolded, but when I grew up in D.C. as a child, young child. Imagine being able to roam through the Smithsonian.
Harry Duran 00:18:51:
Oh, yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:18:52:
As a kid. And seeing display after display after display of Eskimos and Native Americans. And, you know, they had those beautiful. It was almost like a wax museum, you know, when you think about it, of displays. I was always curious and had a wanderlust. But my parents didn't travel. My parents were pretty. They were immigrants, actually. They had traveled already on the big trip, if you know what I mean.
Harry Duran 00:19:25:
Where did they come from?
Marilyn Ball 00:19:26:
They came from Ukraine, which was Russia at that time. But then there was persecution. They came over to Ellis island with my dad, who was a six month old baby. Their names are etched in Ellis island. And so that's where my parents actually and my family lived.
Harry Duran 00:19:46:
Did you ever make it to Ellis Island?
Marilyn Ball 00:19:48:
Oh, yeah, I've been there many times.
Harry Duran 00:19:50:
That must have been an experience to see when.
Marilyn Ball 00:19:52:
We mean, there it was. And my cousins and I did one of those pictures where you dress up like an immigrant.
Harry Duran 00:19:58:
I'm an immigrant as well. I actually was born in El Salvador. I was brought here when I was a year old, but we didn't come through Ellis Island.
Marilyn Ball 00:20:06:
Well, one of my best friends owned an island in Bermuda and I used to always joke with her, your family came over and landed and on the island of Bermuda, I get the island of Ellis.
Harry Duran 00:20:17:
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:20:18:
Yeah. So I didn't really travel, but we did do a lot of road tripping. My parents liked going to. I mean, we had so many places outside of D.C. yeah. That we could go to. And this is a cute little story, but when I was a kid growing up, every year from childhood we would take a field trip to Mount Vernon. Right. If you've ever been there, it's the home of George Washington. And it looks out when you're on the big veranda there, it looks out over the Shenandoah Valley, which eventually becomes the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and When I moved to Asheville, not knowing and lived in this mountain little farm, one day I was walking down my driveway and there was smoke coming out of the fireplace, you know, out of the chimney. And I realized that all those years, my childhood years sitting on that veranda, suddenly I was there living.
Harry Duran 00:21:15:
That's great.
Marilyn Ball 00:21:15:
Like foreshadowing or something was happening, Right. But it really wasn't until my friend who owned the island in Bermuda invited me to go there with her during the summer. So that was really. And I'd been to California. I mean, I'd done a little traveling as a teenager, but not like that. But then I went to Italy with a friend in Croatia and that was the big aha moment. And I think it was because now that I've been able to go back there so many times that, you know, when you think about your family, yours is El Salvador minus Ukraine, but they come all different places, you know, they didn't just get there. So sometimes when you travel, you feel like, oh, this feels like I've been here before, or this feels like home, or this feels. That's when I really started realizing travel is more than just going to visit a place. It's going to find yourself a little bit. Right. And I was very fortunate because my background, while I'm homesteading, I also ran an ad agency. So I had a downtown me and a country me for 18 years. And we had clients who were all in the travel and tourism industry and hospitality, and these were all emerging industries, Right. So I had a position at the table, if you will, of what was going on as we created our own travel destination. And so I did a lot of work in the media. And this friend of mine was starting a low powered community based radio network, right. So he was creating content to run. And I thought, what if I did a show and talked to my friends who all traveled? You know, I had friends who were in the Peace Corps when they were in college, or friends who had been to Israel, or friends who had been other places that were very exotic. And so I pitched the idea, he bought it, he said, yeah, let's do it. So that's how speaking of travel started. It was just a 30 minute show where somebody, he had a hotel suite, I would leave my office, go up to the hotel, I had a producer and a whole crew. And then it just grew. And a couple of years later, I went over to iHeartRadio and I've been there on that platform for the past 10 years.
Harry Duran 00:23:57:
So talk to me about those early days. Marilyn like, how much did you prepare, train, or have experience with, like hosting a show like this? And what were those early days like?
Marilyn Ball 00:24:09:
I think because I was in the media so much on the outs, on the other side, I was doing a lot of media buying for my clients. I loved radio especially. You know, I always felt radio was an important foundation for any marketing plan. Public radio, country radio, it just. The radio was kind of our thing. So in those early days, I really felt more like I was a radio show because it wasn't really a podcast at that time. And iHeartRadio at that time, they had an app, the iHeartRadio app, where you could upload your radio show to this app and people could listen.
Harry Duran 00:24:52:
What year was this?
Marilyn Ball 00:24:54:
This was 2013, 2014, 15, kind of in that area. So the only training I had was being in the media, knowing people who were DJs and other. But I was very lucky because the radio network that I'm on right now in western North Carolina is the oldest radio network. In fact, it started in Atlanta. It's one of the oldest radio stations in the country called WWNC. And their programming over all 50 plus years, you know, started with people who literally read the newspaper and people would listen. Right. So I would sit in on some of the shows as they were being recorded and I would watch how they did it. And I just always was that kid too, who liked talking to people and, you know, so it wasn't hard for me to do it. As time went on, I felt like I needed to be more polished. And they. All the people at the radio station were very helpful in giving me tips. But then I started doing improv. Have you ever done improv?
Harry Duran 00:26:06:
I took a couple of classes, funny enough, when I lived in Atlanta, and it was fun. I never. I did study acting. I studied acting for about three years when I lived in New York. So.
Marilyn Ball 00:26:14:
Yeah. So acting, improv, you know, being able to recognize being a good listener, being able to connect with people, being in the moment.
Harry Duran 00:26:25:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:26:26:
Really helped me move forward in the way that I do my show.
Harry Duran 00:26:32:
And so it looks like you're closing in on 500 episodes, is that right?
Marilyn Ball 00:26:37:
That's what I'm closing in on, that platform. I've probably done way more than that, because I do sometimes I do two or three shows in a week and just put them in my, you know.
Harry Duran 00:26:51:
In your queue.
Marilyn Ball 00:26:51:
In the can, in the queue.
Harry Duran 00:26:53:
So when did you start to become aware of, like, this growing world of podcasting? Because you were coming at it from this world of the radio. Right. And it's a different mindset. You know, growing up in the 80s myself, you know, it's the DJs, it's the commercial breaks. It's a whole different way of programming, even the way people speak. Right. Hey, it's Harry from wwcs. It's so funny because, you know, when I first started this show, I interviewed a couple of people that were coming from radio, and. And it's so funny, it's hard for them to switch out of that voice, that radio voice. And they would be like, hey, Harry, good to see you. And then you could see that, you know, it's almost like an affectation that they just can't shake. And so you're in that world of radio. And then how did you start to become aware of what was happening? Because, you know, podcasting has been growing. I started my show in 2014, you know, and I thought I was late at that point. And so much has changed since then. So how. What was your like awakening to, you know, what we now see as this big medium that's podcasting.
Marilyn Ball 00:27:50:
I love that question. Because coming from that radio side, I never even really identified as a podcaster. I identified as a radio show host.
Harry Duran 00:28:02:
Sure, sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:28:02:
It was my producer who actually said, you know what, you need to look, this was years ago, having a platform where you can upload the shows and then you can put them out there to all the platforms. And that's when I started doing that and putting the episodes up to be spread out all over the world and over time, because I'm in marketing. As I started to kind of recreate my brand of speaking of travel, I suddenly realized I kept getting these invitations to Pod Fest, right?
Harry Duran 00:28:39:
Oh, yeah. In Florida.
Marilyn Ball 00:28:40:
Yeah, In Orlando. Florida.
Harry Duran 00:28:43:
Yep. I was just there. We were just there in January. Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:28:46:
Yeah. So I finally. I. After all those years of being invited, I said, I'm gonna go. That was last year. I went last year.
Harry Duran 00:28:55:
Okay.
Marilyn Ball 00:28:56:
In January to Orlando. And it was the first time that I'd ever really identified as a podcaster.
Harry Duran 00:29:03:
Wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:29:03:
And I was just take it aback, to be honest with you, that this industry is what it is, and there's so many different ways to look at what podcasting is as an industry. So I was a little shy, you know, I didn't feel that I wanted to kind of jump in and. But I went to the sessions and I went to some of the after parties and was able to do a little schmoozing with people and met some really great people. I just haven't quite felt, you know, I want to do that more. I want to be a part of it, and I want to grow. And I want more people to listen, obviously, to my show.
Harry Duran 00:29:52:
Sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:29:52:
Because I have such great guests and it's about them. So as a marketing person, I want to promote their stories.
Harry Duran 00:30:00:
Of course. Of course.
Marilyn Ball 00:30:02:
And yet I also want to be able to learn more about the industry. And I'll tell you real quick, because this is kind of real time, but I interviewed this guy years ago who's a really wonderful man. He had a couple of kids, and he and his wife traveled, and they had a YouTube channel where he was the dad with the kids. And after a million followers, I contacted him and asked him to be on my show. Well, it turns out he's a college professor at the University of Illinois in marketing and pr. So at the end of last year, he invited me to throw my name in my business and a hat, so to speak, for interns. For an intern. To get an intern.
Harry Duran 00:30:49:
Okay.
Marilyn Ball 00:30:49:
So as a. And they picked. It wasn't like they just picked the name out. They had to. I had to send a lot of information about my show and what my business is about. But I got picked by a team of five young college women who just sent me. I'm reading it now. Their first draft of a strategic marketing plan around the show.
Harry Duran 00:31:16:
Wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:31:17:
But the first part of their research is all about podcasting and what it is today. So I've got five college students.
Harry Duran 00:31:26:
Wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:31:27:
Doing this research for me, which is so eye opening because they're the generation who's coming in who don't even understand themselves what podcasting is.
Harry Duran 00:31:40:
Sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:31:41:
So I just started reading. It's 20 pages.
Harry Duran 00:31:44:
Wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:31:46:
Well, just this first draft.
Harry Duran 00:31:48:
Okay.
Marilyn Ball 00:31:48:
That they'll present to their professor with all their findings of the research they've done just over the past three weeks.
Harry Duran 00:31:56:
Well, I definitely want to. I mean, the marketer in me wants to hear. See the whole 20 pages. But obviously, given the time constraints of this episode, what stood out from you?
Marilyn Ball 00:32:03:
From that first pastor that they got me, they understood what my mission is about and my unique selling proposition and what that's about. And like I said, I've only touched on starting the full on reading, but basically they get into a lot of information about what podcasting is today and how it's changing the way that people get information. I'll fill you in.
Harry Duran 00:32:35:
It's helpful for you when you think about actionable next steps for you and your show.
Marilyn Ball 00:32:41:
Well, that's part of their assignment, is to Find those actionable steps and they've already recognized that. What I lack is, you know, I'm pretty straightforward. I have a radio show that's then a podcast. I don't do YouTube, you know, I don't have a YouTube channel. I don't come on and say, oh, here's Maryland, and I'm in Vienna.
Harry Duran 00:33:05:
Or do you record your episodes on tape?
Marilyn Ball 00:33:07:
My show? No, I don't.
Harry Duran 00:33:10:
Okay, so it's all audio, but it's all done.
Marilyn Ball 00:33:13:
I do mine via Zoom. Like, you're in this. I'm in Zoom because that makes it. For me. It's just always made it easy because my guests are so varied, you know, I mean, I have guests who might not be so tech savvy. Zoom they can get. And then I have a whole. So I used to record the show at the radio station. I had my producer and the. But then at Covid, we couldn't go there, so we set up our own home studio. So now I. And that's what I actually went to college for. My background was in video and audio production in mass comm. But I ended up going to work for an ad agency for 18 years and hired people to do all that. Okay, now. Now it's like, oh, yeah, now I'm back where I started. So I love.
Harry Duran 00:34:05:
And the tools have changed a lot because I never used to touch video when we started our agency because we. I own a podcast production agency and we help clients launch their shows. And we were just focused on audio, right. And I dabbled in like a couple of the Adobe programs. It was just too overwhelming. But now there's a new tool called descript where they'll. You can upload your video, it'll transcribe it, and then what you do is you delete the word in the transcription or the phrase, and it'll edit out the video. Okay, so you're not even messing with like these timeline. You could mess with a timeline view, which I've learned how. Now how to use to tweak because sometimes the cut is very, you know, it's very abrupt and you have to leave a little space for breathing, for what humans normally do. I think people get too excited when they do their first edit, even on audio. I did. You would cut out all the silences, and some of those silences were actually people breathing.
Marilyn Ball 00:34:56:
It's funny, I had that very distracted. Just today, I had lunch with my producer and we were talking about how far my edit skills have come because I've brought in tech people to help me to learn how to do better. And now I feel like I really get it. And he said, yeah, remember when you used to do just what you said? I would see space and I'd think, oh, that's way too much space, you know, and then it would be, oh, like a little jump cut almost. And I don't do that anymore.
Harry Duran 00:35:30:
Yeah. And so, yeah, the new tools and some of these AI tools for writing summaries of the episodes and even the clips. Like now Descript does a great job with clips. So It'll take a 30 second. It'll watch the entire video. Watch it is probably a weird word to use, but it'll analyze the entire video and then pull in a 30 second snippet that's like a highlight. And now we use those from a marketing perspective. So, you know, I'm sure, you know, there's so many, it's hard to keep up sometimes, but they are making things easier for creators.
Marilyn Ball 00:35:59:
What these lovely young women are going to be showing me is, look, you can grow, you can learn how to use these new tools, you can do more things. And here's what we would suggest you do and how to do it to get more. And I love that idea. I still am from the old school, though. I think of, you know, people are listening to. It's like StoryCorps. I think of my show sometimes like StoryCorps or, you know, I want to capture your story. That's the depth of what it's all about. And the other part is kind of the bells and whistles that go with it. And I do want to bring people in.
Harry Duran 00:36:46:
Yeah. And I think what's important, and I've talked about this a lot, is this idea of helping people find their voice. Right. And that's why I keep doing the show. It's not like it's a profitable or wildly popular show, but I get to, like, highlight voices that are doing interesting things in the podcasting space, which in turn inspires my listeners and viewers who are also podcasters to see how many different ways there are to podcast. And there's no one single path. And to your point of like highlighting these stories of the people, it's an interesting thing to think about because not only do I want to take the time to, you know, capture their story and let them tell their story, but I feel like I have a responsibility to also make sure as many people as possible find it and hear it and see it. So I think, you know, that's where we as creators who are, you know, doing the work of Finding the voices, which is already hard enough, right? It's already hard enough to, to find the person with the story, then to get it recorded and to get them to be a good enough interviewer to get the story out of them. Like already you feel like, wow, phew, done. But then it's just like, it's almost like that's step one. Because then you're like, okay, now how do I share this story? What's changed now in the marketing landscape, you know, how do. Maybe it is, you know, important to. YouTube is the number two search engine. So now we've been conscious of us in the agency, like to really think about even, you know, if it's just starting with audio only content. I just had a session with one of my students. It's audio only content. But we're looking at creative ways to leverage the YouTube algorithm. Because YouTube is a search engine, right? It's looking at titles of episodes, it's looking, it's reading the description in there. And people may come and find it and realize it's only audio. But then they're like, at least they know about this show. So a lot of things. And it's nice to have some help that you have some help from a younger generation to who can, who.
Marilyn Ball 00:38:28:
I'm very excited, I really am, because I know that all this is there and it's available. And for me to be so privileged to have a group of students who are looking at it from an outside research point of view and then to be able to make recommendations and then whether I do it myself, which is, you know, that in itself is very challenging. As you know, where's the time in the day to do all this or being able to be self sustaining enough and revenue sourcing enough to have money to then turn around and bring in other people to do it for you. Like, that's what my ultimate goal is. And I've always been able to, you know, I come from an ad agency background. I, after the agency parted ways because, you know, my business partner retired. I took the opportunity to start my own company doing marketing and pr. So that's always been a revenue source. You know, a couple of years ago I made a decision, you know, I'm just not. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to do marketing and PR for other people. I want to do it for me. I want to focus on me. It's all about me and this show right now. And so, you know, part of the hustle is going out and getting sponsors who Believe that my show is worthy. And I've been, knock on wood, very fortunate to have the Asheville Regional Airport, you know, the Subaru dealership, the largest tourism membership organization in our region. Supporting. Speaking of travel. At the same time, that gives me even more responsibility to keep the show growing. And that takes more money and more time and more this and more that. And what it all comes down to is how deep is your passion and purpose in doing what you're doing with your platform and your voice.
Harry Duran 00:40:32:
Yeah. And you have help right now with this intern team. But other than that. Is it.
Marilyn Ball 00:40:37:
I always have. That's where I was going with this because I come from an ad agency, you know, head. I always have team. A team.
Harry Duran 00:40:46:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:40:46:
Like, it's hard to just do anything all by yourself. So it's always good to have, you know, you're good bookkeeper, you're a good attorney, you're a good plumber, you're good graphic design person. Of course, your. Whatever I like to pull in. What I tell people. Cause I teach marketing too. Is, you know, you have to hire to your weakness. And so when I look at, okay, where am I stalled? Where do I need to be? How can I get more help to be able to first identify what are my weaknesses? And then I can start focusing on. Do you know somebody who could fill this? Fill in the blank?
Harry Duran 00:41:32:
Yeah, I've heard that referred to as finding. There's a good book by Dan Sullivan who. Not how. Because a lot of times entrepreneurs, as they get bigger and they grow their businesses, you know, they keep thinking that, like, I'm just, how do I do this? How do I do this? And they try to figure out, like, how to get things done. But sometimes the right question to ask is, who can do this for me? Because, you know, who's got the skill set to do this that's better than mine? And I could probably figure it out, but it's not my genius. Right. And it's not where I should be spending my time. So that's a good question to be asking yourself, like, who's the right.
Marilyn Ball 00:42:02:
Absolutely. And we have to be able to be logistic thinking. You know, the whole logistics is another new, you know, supply chain logistics. Being able to look at is becoming a little bit more mainstream now. And I think that's something that we can focus on too, is looking at it from a flow chart kind of thing. Okay, here's me doing this. And then here. Here's the team doing these things.
Harry Duran 00:42:36:
Yeah. So, Marilyn, I'm curious, you know, since you started the show. You know, there's a lot you've probably learned along the way. But if looking back now, I know it's hard to measure progress as you're going through it year after year, but now, looking back to when you started the show, how have you grown as a host?
Marilyn Ball 00:42:53:
You know, it's interesting what you said just before about being inspired by the podcasting community that you are with. My community are people who travel, and my show is the people that I bring in. Sometimes the topic is, okay, it's travel related, but it's not really about going to a destination. It's about maybe an inner journey that they've had or some mindfulness that has happened. But more than anything, that sense of risk, taking a good risk, being able to step out and say, you know, there was something just not right about going to work every day in a bank and having to go get clothes to wear that we're always uncomfortable when I could be backpacking through Tibet, you know, I could be hiking the Himalayas right now. So how can we take the steps? Maybe just little baby steps to get us to that place? Well, imagine me hearing these stories week after week after week when I can't even change the furniture in my living room. Seriously. So the show, for me, I feel like I've had a decade of therapy in a lot of ways, that people are so intriguing in the way that they go about their lives, to recognize, say, I'm done here. This doesn't serve me anymore. I'm going to do this. And then going, you know, I thought Covid would be the end of a travel show. Who's traveling? Everybody's landlocked or, you know, locked down. And yet what I found were people wanted to talk about the quiet, what it was like not to travel, what it was like to think and go deeper, and what are we going to do to come back out better people? And me having that longevity to be able to speak to those same people four years later who are now doing their own podcast or they're doing art or they're doing something that was totally out of their comfort zone four years ago, that is what we all need to hear. Those are the stories we need to hear. Right?
Harry Duran 00:45:29:
That's great.
Marilyn Ball 00:45:30:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Harry Duran 00:45:33:
It's an interesting perspective in the fact that you're able to have these conversations and you can see the journey that people go through, even on your show or even through the course of the interview as well. So you mentioned a little bit about monetization. I'm curious. You know, and a lot of people are interested that listen and watch as well. What has that journey been like for you? And is that something you thought about early on, looking for opportunities to monetize? You did mention sponsors. I'm curious if you could just kind of give a snapshot of what's working or what you've tried.
Marilyn Ball 00:45:58:
Coming from a marketing background, I'm always thinking marketing, right. I mean, so. Right.
Harry Duran 00:46:07:
Same here. Yeah. I worked at e Trade and JPMorgan Chase in corporate marketing and so I learned a lot being a flying company.
Marilyn Ball 00:46:12:
So you kind of know what you want and what your goals are and you think about how am I going to strategically create that to happen. So basically what I did was, you know, in those early years I had to think who would be a good match for a travel show. And I also had to recognize how do I sell it when I have got nothing to show, nothing. I don't have any return on investment. I don't even know what I'm doing here. All I know is people are going to tell me their stories and it's going to be really great. So I called it faith based marketing. You have to have faith that you know me and I'm so cool that whatever I do, you're going to want to be a part of it and endorse it. And it took a couple of years, a lot of perseverance. But remember, I was also, I hadn't quit my day job, right. So it wasn't like I have to have a revenue source. My long term goal, however, was I want my show to be a revenue source and I want to be able to travel and have someone else pay for it. So how do I get to those end goal? Right. I had to take little baby steps. So I created a little one sheeter of what I thought my show was about. Took me a couple of years to kind of perfect that to a point where I felt I could go out and sell, speaking of travel, and sell it more as a community based type of show because it was on our heart and it was regional and local here and eventually it would grow to be a global podcast, global listenership and that. And so I just basically went door to door to people who I thought were a. My friends or colleagues, people who I felt were a good fit, that I did some trade. I have to say that was good to begin. I found a couple of businesses that I wanted to utilize their product and did some trade. So it was kind of a mixture of all of that to getting to a place where I actually, when you talk about hired, your weakness, hired a business coach, like, help me. I want to. I knew my goal was to wean myself out of my company and doing marketing and PR for other people and just focusing on me. How do I do that? What steps do I need to take to be prepared financially, mentally, the whole bit. So with all that said, the sponsors, she finally said, because I was just doing like a three month. Oh, just come on, for three months. I only did three. I didn't do one month. It had to be at least a commitment of three months. Yeah, right. But she, the best practice coach that I was working with said, why do you have to do three months? Well, why can't you just do annual. They either buy it for the whole year or you don't want them to be. You don't need them, of course. And I was like, oh, my God, I can't do that. That's a big commitment right there. You know, that's asking a lot of money up front. And, you know, but I did it.
Harry Duran 00:49:33:
Sure, sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:49:34:
And guess what? You know, you have three annual sponsors, then at least I know what my revenue source could be. And it can fluctuate. Life changes, expenses change. It's not my end all like it was when I was a young marketing executive and wanting more and more and more money. It's now about, all right, how can I live the lifestyle that fits me, do what I love to do, not really have to leave my house if I don't want to. I do. I have to do one a week because I have the show and it has to be done for my producer. However, I have started to travel again and last year I was gone for a month. So I learned how to do two per week some weeks and like I said, put them in the queue. And then I learned how to schedule them. My producer would have them all done and approved, scheduled. So when I'm gone, they just show up. So that's. Now I do. Like this week I'm doing three. So it just depends. But I'm trying to figure out how I can do enough to then take more time off.
Harry Duran 00:50:59:
Right, yeah, but who are you hosting with?
Marilyn Ball 00:51:03:
And when I started with Buzz Brad, I'll just give Buzz Brad a little shout out. They were just really emerging as a platform and I started with them and I've been with them ever since because I've watched them grow. It's really been fun watching them grow and adhere to this industry. And then I met them at the podfest. Yeah, all of them yeah, they're all so sweet.
Harry Duran 00:51:30:
Did you meet Alvin?
Marilyn Ball 00:51:31:
They have great customer service, which I always.
Harry Duran 00:51:33:
He's been on the show a couple of times. He's a great guy.
Marilyn Ball 00:51:35:
And I've actually, over the course of my podcasting career, I've done four other podcasts. I did a children's podcast during COVID I've worked with a veterans organization doing a podcast for the veterans and their stories. So my producer and I can produce other people's.
Harry Duran 00:51:55:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:51:56:
Podcast. But I put them up on buzzfroad too, so.
Harry Duran 00:52:00:
Nice. So, yeah, that's very inspiring. Maybe you can share that one sheet because we'd love to kind of give people examples of things that are working.
Marilyn Ball 00:52:06:
For you for the sponsorship.
Harry Duran 00:52:08:
Yeah, yeah, I'd be happy to.
Marilyn Ball 00:52:10:
And again, you know, I just started a new sponsorship is starting right now a county here in western North Carolina. Getting money through a county right now is very challenging because of everything that's happened. But what this county is doing is. And I've had them on my show a number of times to talk about it, but they have a leave no Trace program. You know, half of their county is wilderness and waterfall, so they do waterfall safety programs. This is a perfect match for them. And I said, why don't you come on my show as a sponsor? And they were like, oh, we can't afford that. And I said, well, look, what can you afford?
Harry Duran 00:52:51:
Yeah, exactly.
Marilyn Ball 00:52:51:
And that's what we're doing. I'm giving them what I would give somebody else.
Harry Duran 00:52:56:
Yeah.
Marilyn Ball 00:52:58:
So, you know, I think that's important for people to recognize that you have to be able to be flexible and expanding and giving so much of it. And for us especially.
Harry Duran 00:53:12:
Yeah, especially if you want to build a long term relationship. I do that sometimes with, you know, either client or sponsors for one of my other shows. And sometimes, you know, they just. They can't meet the budget. And one of the best questions I've learned to ask is, like, what would make this a no brainer for you? And they're like, oh, okay. Well, you know, they have some flexibility. And then I just look and just someone that I want to build a relationship with, you know, and sometimes, you know, you take a cut on the front end and then it turns it into this long term relationship and everyone's happy and we both grow together.
Marilyn Ball 00:53:41:
Well, I teach that as well in my marketing class. That's great if you want to have loyalty and longevity, you know, and now I can actually say, okay, I have empirical evidence to that effect because I have had relationships with clients for 30 years.
Harry Duran 00:54:00:
Wow, that's amazing.
Marilyn Ball 00:54:01:
It is amazing.
Harry Duran 00:54:03:
It's. A couple questions. Thank you so much for your time. As we wrap up, I have a couple questions for my guests. One is, what is something you've changed your mind about recently?
Marilyn Ball 00:54:12:
I would say maybe being able to look deeper into other people's shoes. Like walking in other people's shoes. Yeah, you know what I mean? I think we get a little judgmental maybe, or a little angry and perceptions can enter into. And as somebody who is such a tree hugger and, you know, is trying to bridge cultures and bridge, you know, build bridges and connect people, sometimes it's hard to walk the walk. And so I would say if anything has changed recently, it's being able to put myself in somebody else's story for a minute.
Harry Duran 00:55:04:
I think that's a really important skill, especially in this world that we live in. And it's also this ability to be able to hear a differing viewpoint and maybe not agree with it, but also understand that it's. You can, you know, respect someone's viewpoint. You can be. You can agree without being disagreeable. I've heard that phrase used, which I think is helpful because, you know, we're not all going to agree 100% on everything at the end of the day. And I think it's. We all have to remember that we're all humans and see the little child. And each one of us, I think, is really important. So I appreciate you sharing that. What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about you?
Marilyn Ball 00:55:40:
Well, that's so subjective, of course. I think sometimes, as you would probably recognize in an advertising career especially that, you know, that old imposter syndrome steps in. Right. Like, who am I to be wearing this hat or doing these great things. Things or whatever. Fill in the blank. And I think people sometimes misunderstand me for my accomplishments and what I've really been able to accomplish in my career and my life. And not that I'm looking for that kind of recognition, but sometimes I feel like I was in that imposter syndrome for so long that I was like you were saying, I had not found my voice. And now, especially since COVID and certainly since we went through this storm, I feel more strongly than ever that I have found my voice and I'm strong with that voice. And maybe people just don't recognize yet how important that is.
Harry Duran 00:56:53:
That's great to hear. It's very inspiring. Nice way to put a bow on this conversation.
Marilyn Ball 00:56:57:
Thank you.
Harry Duran 00:56:58:
Thank you so much for that opportunity and for reaching Out Marilyn as well. I think you talked about this importance as podcasters to do the things, you know, little things. And you reached out based on one of my past guests, and that's how we crossed paths. And you found the show and you reached out, and, you know, it's a reminder to me to kind of do the same, because I need to start appearing on more shows, but also reminder to anyone who's watching and listening, who are likely podcasters. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone. And if you're really passionate about sharing the stories of the people that you have on your show, it's almost like you have a responsibility to just get up and do something different. That 1% improvement every day, I think, is really important. And it's so interesting to see how your journey has taken you from, like, your early days in Washington to feeling that pull to get more in touch with the land and now telling these stories of people who've had experience with their travel. It's very inspiring to see and everything you've learned in your career with marketing and radio, how it's all converged, because if you look back, you wouldn't have known that you could have put all these pieces together to get you to where you are now. And it's really inspiring to see. And so I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story.
Marilyn Ball 00:58:01:
Well, thank you, Harry. I appreciate that. And it is true. It's almost like when you live out in nature for so long, you start living like nature does. Patience and perseverance and patience. You. You know, all those things. It just takes time to develop, and you don't really know that that little pine cone is eventually gonna grow into that giant pine tree for sure. Right. So. Well, I applaud what you're doing. I think it's great, and I'm really glad that we've connected, and I look forward to doing more together.
Harry Duran 00:58:39:
Yeah. Maybe I'll come on and share one of my travel stories.
Marilyn Ball 00:58:41:
I would love that. I think we should definitely get that in the. In the queue.
Harry Duran 00:58:46:
Yeah. Yeah. So where's the best place for folks to connect and to learn more about you?
Marilyn Ball 00:58:50:
They can go to my website, which is speakingoftravel.net and on the website, there's a link that will take you to all my past podcast episodes, and you can see who the guests are. I try to put a really good description in the title so you can get an idea. I mean, I interviewed a woman, Jesse, a couple of weeks ago. She's a scientist. The whole show is about microbes.
Harry Duran 00:59:14:
Oh, wow.
Marilyn Ball 00:59:15:
So, you know, who even knows what microbes are and why are they important to travel? But they are.
Harry Duran 00:59:22:
They are. Yeah. For sure.
Marilyn Ball 00:59:24:
So I think people will have fun being able to go in and say, oh, look, here's somebody who's talking about riding a bike in Italy or whatever. There's so many crazy, creative people out there, and I love connecting with them. So.
Harry Duran 00:59:42:
Well, I'm excited for folks to listen and to watch this episode. And we'll make sure we have all the links in the show notes as well. Thanks again for your time, Marilyn.
Marilyn Ball 00:59:49:
Thank you. Thank you, Harry.