Julia Fedorin, a third year UW student studying communications arts and design practice, will soon mark one year since she started her own podcast called the inspobrew.
The podcast features various inspirational guests, mainly UW students, who are living outside of their comfort zone and building something outside of their studies. Guests so far have included a Tesla intern, an entrepreneur and a chess champion. Plenty of different majors have been featured, including computer science, physics and global business and digital arts.
Episodes are typically filmed in the mornings and on weekends on the third floor of the Student Life Centre, with help from Fedorin’s sister, Natalie.
When asked what she hopes listeners get out of the podcast, Fedorin said, “People have so many awesome ideas, and they have so much potential, but I feel like a lot of times… things stop them from going out there and from stepping outside of their comfort zone, and from seeking discomfort.”
“By seeking a wide variety of guests and all these different skills that they have, I want to inspire people to step outside of their comfort zone and also start building something.”
She also wanted to give guests a spotlight to share their passions, ideas, journeys and experiences.
The inspobrew was started in summer 2023, with seven episodes released to date. Fedorin got the idea to start a podcast from a friend — a University of British Columbia student who started a podcast called The Pradikament. Various guests made an appearance on The Pradikament, including an actress, an artist and a financial advisor.
“I watched those episodes, and I was really inspired by what they were saying, and I felt like I was learning a lot through these different people that he interviewed,” Fedorin said.
She saw many benefits to starting her own podcast, including networking opportunities, honing on-camera and communication skills, learning new software and a complement to her communications degree.
When asked what other types of podcasts she is inspired by, Fedorin listed The Diary of a CEO and the Jay Shetty Podcast.
Fedorin selects guests that she is inspired by, adding that people will reach out and ask to be featured. Her process involves setting up a time to meet with the guest, doing research on them through social media, then coming up with a question list based on their background.
“I really try my best to come up with questions spontaneously. That can be the hard part,” Fedorin said. “I have questions I want to ask, but you want to make it as natural as possible, and really make sure you’re not worrying about the next question.”
“You want to make sure you’re listening to what they’re answering and how you can expand on what they answered.”
Equipment involved in production includes a video camera, along with two microphones. Episode lengths vary from about half an hour up to one hour and 50 minutes.
The editing process takes about one week using Adobe Premiere. Fedorin will rewatch the conversation about three times and cut any filler words, as well as separate portions of the conversation into chapters. She will also choose which parts of the interview to use as the introduction.
Fedorin said she plans to grow and promote the podcast in the future. She added that people around campus have started knowing her as “the girl that has the podcast,” which has encouraged her to continue.
Full episodes are available on YouTube and Spotify. For more information, check out the inspobrew on Instagram.
