Surf Coast’s entrepreneurs take to the mic in new podcast

A TORQUAY couple who lost their jobs at the end of March have founded a podcast that spotlights local entrepreneurs.

The Surf Coast Creatives podcast will today (Thursday, May 14) launch the first of its weekly episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and iHeartRadio, with host Ben Hucker interviewing Al and Imogen Roberts from Freshwater Creek furniture design business Al + Imo Handmade for the pilot.

Mr Hucker said he and partner Jessica Mellington landed on the idea of a podcast about three weeks ago.

“We built a website, an email list and the social media pages within three weeks.

“We wanted to do something meaningful and stay connected with the community that we’ve connected with on the Surf Coast over the past two years.”

The pair’s combined background in content writing, small business and marketing made for a promising start, and was strengthened by Mr Hucker’s former managerial role at Rapid Ascent, where he spearheaded a podcast he helped grow from zero to 10,000 downloads within the space of 12 months.

But Mr Hucker said the decision to broadcast conversations with successful businesspeople who have built their brands from the ground up was a no-brainer.

“Every second person I meet on the Surf Coast has some sort of hobby or side interest going on.

“There’s also a lot of city dwellers who move down here and try pursue a more creative life, so we just wanted to tap into that and build on the legacy from Rip Curl and Quiksilver.”

The duration of each episode will range between 45 to 60 minutes and be recorded via either Squadcast or at Mr Hucker and Ms Mellington’s home.

Mr Hucker said the couple were humbled to have been contacted by a number of creatives who had expressed their interest in getting involved.

“It shows that we’re on the right track. People wouldn’t write in if they had no interest.

“There’s definitely a demand for it. There’s a lot of podcasts out here, but there’s not many where you can find local stories.”

If the idea takes off, the podcasters will consider expanding their demographic.

“We want to stick to interviewing the creative entrepreneurs on the Surf Coast initially, and if it proves to be quite popular then we’re going to think about hitting the road and heading to other coastal shires like Byron Bay or Margaret River and interviewing people in those regions.

“I think we should end up with a pretty large audience even though our guests will just be locals.”

Next week, listeners will hear from Jeff Crow of Bells Beach Brewing, followed by Jesse and Sam from Built For Advanture in episode three and muMEcations’ Alison Smith in episode four.

To learn more about the Surf Coast Creatives podcast, head to surfcoastcreatives.com or follow @SurfCoastCreatives on Instagram.