BOCA RATON, Fla. — Storytelling is in the digital age as podcasts continue to grow. So too is the medium's growth. It's an uptick that's only continued during the pandemic.
"I'm convinced that we have our own Mr. & Mrs. Smith in the neighborhood. Mia, I believe you, darling," Tiffany McDonnell said.
When Mia Ferosh and Tiffany McDonnell slide up to the mic to record their podcast "Crazy Rich Neighbors," good times, funny stories and lots of laughs ensue.
"Everyone can relate to having a crazy neighbor and so it makes people chuckle," McDonnell said. "And then when we tell them what we're doing they say, 'Oh, I have a story for you.'"
The narratives come from living behind a gated community in South Florida.
"We thought this is really the perfect time to just let everybody know about what happens behind the gate," Ferosh said.
Feorsh and McDonnell had the concept and the name but no idea how to podcast. They needed help looking to join a platform that is now estimated to reach 100 million listeners every month.
It's an industry that is podcaster Brian Howie's career.
"I thought we needed to open a full-service retail podcasting experience right in the heart of communities where there are big personalities and stories to tell," he said.
Pod Populi is a podcast recording studio now open in Boca Raton. It's the latest location nationwide.
"The fact that we're able to handle all of the parts that people don't want to do or really explain the concept of your show and how to market your show and how to really find your voice and connect with an audience," he said.
It's content that Ferosh and McDonnell are now creating weekly -- one of the newest of the nearly two million podcasts now on the market.
"We're only two episodes in with no real promotion or marketing and we're on most platforms now," Ferosh said.