5 Best Podcasts For Creative Entrepreneurs

May 23, 2016 | by Hollagully

I am quite confident that most of us who’ve been benefiting from the colossal blossoming of podcasting in recent years are pitying those oblivious. Podcasting is booming and the forecast is an upward gold rush for both its producers and listeners. Looking at Pew Research Centre data from 2015, you’ll see continuous growth since 2006, with more podcasts than ever to choose from and an estimated 46 million Americans over the age of 12 now listening on a monthly basis.

Publishers, entrepreneurs, and organizations of all sorts are amassing huge, dedicated audiences through podcasting. As most podcasts sit on iTunes, it is no wonder why Amazon is ramping up investments into Audible, its audio book company, to play host to this thriving new medium. Well, perhaps the medium ain’t so new. But its success certainly is!

However, one issue many face when browsing through iTunes’ chaotic podcast library is the astounding quantity of programs; a majority of which carry atrocious logos and tacky, rinky-dink titles. It’s a bit of a rabbit hole that may require some reliable word-of-mouth references to get anyone enticed.

That being said, I’ll gladly trumpet that after having discovered certain podcasts, many aspects of my life now resemble the steep upward slope of a hockey stick graph.

Let us consider a popular quote from “some guy” named Jim Rohn that says: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

Regardless of your knee-jerk response to that, give it a try. Start with podcasts! Since I began listening attentively to podcasts while cooking meals, working out, driving or cleaning, it’s as if the hosts and their guests become my intellectual entourage. When your entourage are profoundly successful, highly influential people, your inner dialogue gradually begins to align with theirs. Similar to characters to a novel. You listen to their reasoning and hear their logic chirping in your brain. You then gradually begin to assess your thought process through the lens of many of the prime movers in industry and culture.

Podcasts offer a sense of mentorship. Commonly, when successful entrepreneurs are asked about their success, one answer is they claim that they are a result of the books they have read. The authors had become their mentors over the years. Now their thought process, perspective and attitudes are available to us 24/7 in free, streamable audio.

So let me help you bypass that awful haystack of podcasts in iTunes and share with you our 5 Best Podcasts For Creative Entrepreneurs.

Unmistakable Creative

Unmistakable Media – Founder & Host: Srini Rao.

“Get a window into the stories and insights of the most innovative and creative minds who have started movements, built thriving businesses, written best selling books and created insanely interesting art.”

Or as one fan put it: “If TEDTalks met Oprah…”

Unmistakable Creative is an top choice for a podcast that is highly personal and transformative. In interviews, Srini deconstructs the mindsets, attitudes and successful building blocks of prominent entrepreneurs and artists such as Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Justine Musk, Derek Sivers, Salim Ismail, and many more.

He’s got over 500 episodes in the vault which tackle subjects like the future of technology on creativity and employment, the economy of free content, the roll of gatekeepers in creative disciplines along with sound personal development tactics. All free from New Age or esoteric hocus-pocus.

His questions are effective in drawing a response from his guests which are aligned with the struggles of the listener. Srini gets to the bottom of the key ingredients in his guests success, and together they discuss how these ingredients may be acquired.

The Unmistakable Creative reveals how world class artists and entrepreneurs establish immense degrees of inner and outer success in a way that will provoke sentiments of kinship and belonging in the listener.

Startup Podcast

Gimlet Media – Co-Founder & Host: Alex Blumberg.

Since its launch in 2014, Startup has been a viral hit in the podcasting world and is now well into its 3rd season. The concept is simple, clever and relevant as hell.

Startup is an artfully put together narrative/documentation of Alex Bloomberg starting a podcasting company, now known to many as Gimlet Media. The audience listens though every aspect of the businesses development such as awkward partnership splits with Alex’ co-founder, pitching the business to Silicon Valley VC mogul Chris Sacca, and personal conversations between Alex and his wife discussing the companies failures and complications.

Startup shamelessly air their floundering moments, their times of total cluelessness and despair. Everything all startups go through.

Alex Blumberg’s excellent storytelling, along with his teams engaging post-production skills had me listening to the full 2 seasons in the span of about a week and a half. No other podcasts between episodes to give me my fix.

In season two, Alex takes the listener along in the emotional startup process of an ambitious dating app company called The Dating Ring. In season three, each episode features the failure or success of a different startup with all members present. Some big, some small. Each with circumstances we can all identify with.

Startup is an excellent podcast for anyone or team in startup phase. I also recommend this one to artists. It’s inspiring to see the hustle of entrepreneurs with immense amounts of money at stake who apply even more creativity and intensity to create something groundbreaking out of absolutely nothing more than a “wimpy idea.”

Alex Bloomberg recently put out an in-depth online course through CreativeLive where he goes into detail about storytelling, story composition, and connecting with an audience emotionally. The lessons can be applied to everything down to your marketing.

#girlboss radio

Founder and Host – Sophia Amoruso

Sophia is the founder and executive chairman of $250M+ fashion retailer Nasty Gal which she started with $200 selling vintage clothes off of eBay.

She is also a monumental, unequivocal, bona fide babe and I would just like to make that point very clear from the get go. You understand!?

In 2015, Sophia put our her first best selling book #GIRLBOSS which is her rising story of going from lost mangy teen to fashion retail queen. Her second book Nasty Galaxy is available for pre-order right ova hurr.

If you’re a guy presuming that the name renders the show irrelevant to yourself then you should grow a pair. Her guests include world-class female artists, authors and entrepreneurs such as Charlize Theron, Courtney Love; CEO’s of companies The Muse, Glossier, Bumble and more. Girls be talkin’ shop, moving culture, and having tons of fun. They provide excellent insights into building meaningful, creative businesses with a fun window into the female perspective and experience of entrepreneurship.

To top it all off, Sophia was recently featured on the cover of Forbes magazine as one of America’s richest self-made women.

…And now I need a drink. #girlbossfanboy

PNR: This Old Marketing

Content Marketing Institute – Hosts: Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose

In my opinion, this is one of the most significant go-to sources of information available for anyone looking to gain an overview of the ebb and flow of publishing, advertising, marketing and media. With all of their years of expertise in these fields mingled with their attentive cultural awareness, ‘PNR: This Old Marketing’ is a goldmine for trend-forecasting. Their weekly episodes are fun as hell and are truly a highlight of my week.

Joe Pulizzi, the man responsible for “deciding” the term ‘content marketing,’ and co-host Robert Rose go into explicit detail on how businesses can leverage content to build massive audiences and create radically successful businesses. They discuss the ecosystem of the platforms on which these activities take place, the changes and their effects on people and brands. Their message is sound and is aligned with audiences; how audiences engage, consume, and what they have come to expect of brands. This is marketing for those who hate the very idea of it.

These boys are fun, smart, and engaging. Each episode is filled with profound knowledge, observations and forecasting that is extremely relevant to anyone that has something to offer the world and is looking to capture peoples attention.

Each episode runs just under an hour where they hit three to four content marketing stories in the news and share perspectives and the impact of the news on the industry. They candidly rant and heatedly rave about happenings in business that shape the content marketing landscape. They unapologetically take the piss out of each other and call bullshit where it’s due. They then finish up with This Old Marketing, an example where content marketing was used in the past which still provides valuable lessons today.

It’s a great hang! Extremely rich in insight and THE go-to podcast for anyone looking to understand how to connect with a wider audience in a way that reflects how audiences are consuming. Artists! Take note as well! For those of you looking to “DIY,” this is the “I” in that acronym that you would otherwise leave up to gatekeepers to carry out for you. I’ve tried to translate content marketing for a creative audience in our post Video Content, Personal Branding For Creatives: A Storytellers Survival Kit.

Being Boss

Founders and Hosts: Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon.

These two highly productive creatives have built a network of platforms around their work. Both bosses thrive in design, branding, and online business.

Allow yourself to trail through their content and discover a wealth of knowledge that they share about staying creative and professional.

They have done an excellent job establishing a “tribe” around the Being Boss enterprise and host a Facebook group for followers to join. The community engages in each others questions and issues about their endeavors in offering advice and support.

Their podcast covers subjects relevant to any creative entrepreneur running their business online from site metrics, social media skills, email marketing strategies, and mindset to go at it alone. They provide applicable solutions, insights, and sound tough-love advice. The sheer pleasure they take in their work is apparent across all their platforms. Check them out!

Other notable podcasts to add to your new list are:

Inc. Uncensored Podcast

The Tim Ferriss Show

The James Altucher Show

Seth Godin’s Startup School

The Digital Entrepreneur

Mixergy

The #AskGaryVee Show