[00:00:00] From the Crossroads of America in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is Get IN the Show, focused on the unfolding stories and most extraordinary innovations happening in the Heartland today. I’m Matt Hunckler, CEO and co-founder of Powderkeg, and on the show today CEO and co-founder of Casted Lindsay Tjepkema. 

It’s not about the podcast. It’s not about the podcast. , it’s about everything it can do for the brand and for the business. I believe that conversations that are being had on podcast, can be the center of the entire marketing strategy.

Lindsay Tjepkema is a marketing maven turn software entrepreneur. She’s a first time CEO leading a company that has raised millions of dollars and serves well-known software brands like HubSpot, Salesforce, PayPal, and Gong. Her company Casted is based in Indianapolis and is the first amplified marketing platform and podcasting solution for B2B [00:01:00] marketers.

Lindsay is a leader, a speaker, a marketer, a podcaster, a learner, and a founder. She’s also a mom to three young boys, including twins, which means she can really do anything. In our conversation with Lindsay, we will explore how creative companies are increasing the impact of their content marketing. Why businesses that podcast are closing sales 30% faster than other businesses, and what you can expect from podcast.

In the future. All that is coming up on this episode of Get In. 

 Hey, thanks for having me. Yeah, we’re really excited. Obviously we love working with Casted Cast is what hosts our podcast here. But I figured we could get a little bit of the story behind the software behind the founder. Mm-hmm. . And I’d like to start just by taking it back where you grew.

And that wasn’t in Indiana, was it? It was not. No. Tell me about it. Lansing. Michigans, you have to be careful that, say, Lansing, Michigan with my [00:02:00] nasal Michigan accent. Mm. But yeah. Lansing, Michigan. It’s kinda like Louisville. Louisville. You can’t say Louisville. It’s Louisville. Can we, can we get the mitten for the, for the camera?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re on the mitten is Lansing, Michigan. Well, you have to do both. Peninsulas, Uhhuh, . And. Like here, right in the middle. Oh, right in the middle. Right in the middle of the palm. I have not been to Lansing, Michigan. What’s, oh, what’s it like there? I’m missing out. What’s it known for? Everyone thinks that I grew up like on a lake.

I did not. Right. , I’m sorry. It’s not even close, but Lansing is I mean it’s the capital, so there’s a lot of government things. It was a GM town and I think my family was the only family that did not have anybody that worked for the state of Michigan or for gm. Oh, wow. What did your parents. My mom was a teacher and my dad drove kind of local delivery truck type situations.

And yeah, we grew up right by Michigan State, so we bleed green in my house. I, I remember I woke up to vinyl of the Michigan State fight song, amazing blaring during every Saturday morning during football season. Do you still have that record? My dad does. That’s amazing. And actually, we on, on my [00:03:00] Instagrams, see, we’re going social already.

Yes. I was home at my parents’ house a few, couple months ago, and I reminded my dad of that and he fished it out and played it much to my mom’s chagrin, and that’s awesome for, and it, it did not stop. It went for like two hours and it was like, do you use that as your walkup song now? Every time you go speak somewhere should a walkup song?

I should, except I, I didn’t go there like I, and funny, nobody in my family went there, but we’re all kind of insane about it. So yeah, that’s where I grew up. What, what do you think? , Lansing, Michigan, your family kind of how you grew up with a teacher. Mm-hmm. and delivery driver. How, how do you think that kind of impacted you and just overall your career arc?

Man, that’s a big question. I know. Well, my husband and I both grew up in Lansing. We actually went to high school together um, high school sweethearts. That’s true. Wow. What was your meat? Cute. Oh, this is funny actually. We were, so he was two years ahead of. and so I was this freshman. We did not start dating then.

It was much, much later. But how I I met him [00:04:00] was we were both in the Sound of Music musical, fall musical, and I was a freshman. He was a junior, and the first time I ever saw him, he was wearing Leader Hoen because he was Friedrich in the Sound of Music. Classic. Amazing. Yes. What were you wearing? I Normal clothes, I was normal, was wearing list of Peter and That’s great.

I was a party attendee. Can he still fit in his leader housing? Absolutely not. No. He’s, he was like six inches shorter than so, but yeah. Do we get a sample of sound of music from you? Absolutely not. All right. All right. We’ll try again at the end of the podcast episode. Yeah. But I think to answer your question, yeah, you talk about that a lot.

Like we. . Michigan is very, well, specifically Lansing is very blue collar. We grew up ex extremely middle class in a great way. I went to an extremely diverse racially, ethically, socioeconomically school and, and district. My mom was a teacher and it was, I don’t know, it just, that’s, that was my normal and hard work that Midwestern work ethic.

Real, very, very real [00:05:00] and you know, very not material, very go out and get what you want. That was just a, a given. And I’m the first person in my family really did be in business. Mm-hmm. . So I think very grounded. But at the same time there’s been a lot of figuring it out as I go. Cuz I didn’t have like a parent that was a CEO.

So did your, did your parents talk about, so, so you say it was just expected, right? So did they ever, was it ever outwardly spoken that you know, you’re expected to go and go to college and like they said, try to say, well, you should go be a doctor, you should go be a, an attorney. Like, did they ever like kind of push various occupations or was it just, Hey, after high.

You’re expected to go to college. You figured out where you’re gonna go, how you’re gonna go, what you’re gonna major in. Yeah. Or did they kind of push different types of careers? It was definitely expected that I was gonna go to college, which I, I loved school. Like I was a big nerd. I loved school, so that was a given to me too.

You think that you got that from your mom? Possibly. Possibly. . My sister was not as big of a fan of school though, so , [00:06:00] so I don’t know. But so I knew I was gonna go to school to go to college. It was also very like, but don’t get too big for your britches and think that you’re gonna go to like . I really wanna go to Northwestern.

Yeah. That was like, add on. What planet are you gonna go to? Some, you know, expensive school. So I was like, go get your scholarships, go to a state school. and get it done. And I’m really creative. I, I mentioned before we started recording, I, I wanted to do music and theater and design and become a graphic designer.

And I was kind of nudged away from that where it was like, maybe you do something that’s a little bit more like likely to have a paycheck, . And and so naturally marketing and marketing is very creative. I mean, the way that that was gonna pitch to me was like, you know, creativity and people. , it can go so many different directions.

So that’s, that’s how I ended up here. So yeah, I think I wasn’t nudged into any specific career, but it was like, go do something. Go do something. Yeah. Yeah. Go, go do something. Was entrepreneurship part of your life growing up? Absolutely not. ? No. No. I, I think this was I, [00:07:00] my parents, I still don’t think.

I know they don’t get no idea. My dad’s never had an email address. So , seriously, he is a smart man. Yeah. . I’ve been thinking about doing a moratorium on email. I like that. I don’t like that. And he, he has a flip phone, like he doesn’t know how to use a smartphone. Amazing. And so, and my mom doesn’t know the difference between texts and emails.

So tech, seriously, I’m not making fun of it. It’s a truth. Like, so when I said, you know, I’m starting this podcast company. What’s, what’s, what’s a pumpkin, what’s a pop? Yeah. That’s amazing. And so entrepreneurship, it was that part of it. I’ve, I’ve talked to my parents about it. They’re like, that’s not surprising at all.

Like, you going and doing something that makes total sense, but like a tech company, like, we don’t, like what are you even doing? So yeah. I, it’s, it’s, it’s. Interesting. , what are some of the things that you learned in the performing arts that you still apply today as a ceo, as a leader in your community?

Yeah. And on your team. Thinking on your feet. Mm-hmm. Storytelling is, The foundation of [00:08:00] everything. I think quite often people think that storytelling the relationships between the air quotes characters, yeah. People on your team the, the vibe that you give, the brand that you portray is often seen as I’m starting to see this turn, but has often been seen as something soft.

Mm-hmm. like you have the business. and then Sure. Then you have like the brand, but like the brand is the business. Yeah. Storytelling is the business. Yep. What we’re doing right now is it, that’s the foundation and when you become confident in telling a story and creating a story in portraying a story, confidence, even just being on a stage and like doing things like this and knowing that people are pulling for you, people want to see.

you succeed whether you’re on a stage playing a character or on the news, you know, talking about your company. I think that’s, that’s real. It’s a lot more important than people think. It’s, it’s ev at least every bit as important as a spreadsheet or any other function of a business. Was there anything that you learned from like an [00:09:00] early mentor on how to tell a good story or how to build that confidence?

You know, quote unquote on stage, you know, and in high school it was literally a physical stage. Yeah. But now it’s more digital stage. You know, I’m sure there’s, there’s lots of things, but The first thing that came to my mind was I had a choir director in cause I was a big choir nerd, and she was the first person to, and she trailed it into all of our heads.

Like stage, present, what, what grade is this? Starting in seventh grade. Mm-hmm. And then all the way through high school. And she was really big on stage presents. Mm-hmm. . So like and she always said, and she was really hard on us. And so not always a good experience, but like But she was like, your performance begins the second you walk on stage, not the start, the moment you start singing, not like any other part, like the second anyone can see you and it goes until the moment they can’t see you anymore.

And that I, I guess that now that you ask me, I guess that stuck with me because it’s like every moment matters. It’s not just during the board meeting. It’s not just during the pitch. It’s not just during the sales call. Like it’s [00:10:00] literally every single. Moment. And that that’s absolutely true with, with storytelling and, and storytelling is not just stories and what you say in a podcast.

I mean, it’s board meetings, you know, it’s, it’s investor calls. It’s, it’s everything. It’s how you show up to your customers. It’s how you show up with your team. It’s everything. . Couldn’t agree more. Yeah. I love that. I think it’s interesting that you pick a story, you pick a mentor or someone who had an impact that was hard on you, right?

Yeah. I I I love that. What, when you, so you went to Western Michigan Sure did. Right? Go Broncos and then is the West, I think Western Michigan beat Purdue once and I remember being really upset about that. That sounds right. , you probably knocked us out in the NCAA tournament like around two . So so you go to Western Michigan and, and then are there, and we’ll then we’ll kind of back up.

I’m curious if there’s like 1, 2, 3, 4 steps that are like direct linkages to you starting casted. [00:11:00] Hmm. And then I wanna kind of work backwards and kind of find out what happened at those steps that like, were catalyst for you to go, oh, maybe I wanna take this turn. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I wanna step through this door next.

And that door led to the next. Okay, let’s do that. Where’d you start your career? Oh, man. First. Job I had first like, you know, real job I had. Yeah, right. I started as an intern my junior year of college at an organization called Southwest Michigan First, which also came up before we started recording.

It’s an economic development corporation in southwest Michigan in Kalamazoo, which is a real place. And I was an intern there doing marketing communications stuff and as internships often do, that turned into stay and. You know, why don’t you do instance turn into part-time. And my senior year of college, I was doing like two days, two or three days a week there and two, two or three days a week of school.

And then when I graduated, it turned into a real job and I left there with the title Associate Vice President and director of communication. So I had, again, [00:12:00] a mentor that was really hard. . I, how so? So I was, when I was graduating I was engaged cuz again, had met my, my husband and I had been together a thousand years at that point.

And we were getting married that summer. And the outgo what became the outgoing ceo. That had been there during my internship days was like, Hey, before I leave, I wanna get it buttoned up that you have a job here, like you belong here. You’ve done so much. I wanna get you a job. It was very modest. It was, looking back, it was.

Barely, barely an offer , but $7 and 50 cents an hour. Exactly. And but it was, it was a job and he wanted to, and I love that he, that was important to him. His name’s Barry Broom. He was wonderful. And great alliteration. Mm-hmm. . So he, he he left and then the new CEO came in and he came in a week before my wedding.

So he started like July or two weeks. My July 16th was when I got married. And he came in like 1st of July or something. And he didn’t like that he inherited. You know, [00:13:00] 21, 22 year old person that was running literally all of marketing and decided to test me. And so he was like, before I get there, so this is like June, he’s like, before I get there, I want a new website.

Oh gosh. I was like, oh boy, come. So not knowing any better. I was like, okay. And I did it and I launched it from, I launched it in the couple of days between my wedding and my honeymoon. Oh my gosh. Like I just by myself, like we had eight people on the team, the whole team, so like the entire company. And so I was all of marketing.

I didn’t know any better. What platform did you use? Oh my gosh. Oh gosh. It was like droople or something. It was probably something like Triple or jula. No, it was. Yeah, it, I actually used dream Weaver to like make it, oh, that’s how I built my first website, you know? Yeah. Macromedia. Exactly. , this is, this is all over my head there.

And so I just did the thing and you know, went on my honeymoon and then came back and I was like, I have a job, right? And he was like, well, and just kept like, raising the bar, raising the bar. And he was like, we need [00:14:00] new brand standards. And I was like, okay. And I just like made a new. design and I just kept meeting the bar and exceeding cuz I, you know, I, I just didn’t know any better.

I didn’t know that this was like borderline, like not okay. Yeah. And at one point he was like, okay, wow. All right, let’s do this. And he gave me a really big raise and was like, let’s do this. Like the, I, I don’t care that you’re 22. I don’t care that you’re green. We, we’ll make sure it doesn’t stay that way.

And he, he brought me in like, on all of these big things. We had these big, huge media tours and I was, it was me and him and I was in, you know, I was at Bloomberg with him. I was at Wall Street Journal with him. And I learned a lot because he, he tested me, which we could argue whether or not. , the way he decided to do that was okay.

But then after that I, I got brought into things that I had no business, like in, in lots of other situations I would’ve had no business being in on. And therefore I got the exposure. I got the confidence of like, okay, this is Wall Street Journal, but it’s just Wall Street Journal. Mm-hmm. like this is, [00:15:00] this is Ink magazine, but it’s just Ink Magazine.

Yeah. And it became, I think forever after that’s been attainable and like why not? You know? So. That’s right. I love it. Yeah. So that was one. What did you learn from him that you still use today? in how you’re leading casted. Oh man. I think it’s both. I mean, a lot of what to do and what not to do, like you take from everybody.

Sure. He was a very early as on time, on time as late and late as unacceptable person, and so I find that I carry that with me, but it’s also like, okay, that everybody’s that weight. It’s okay. . It’s all right. Lindsay, I kind of like, as you talked about these, launching a new website, talked about brand standards, it’s kind of like, and I just.

Like looking back, I feel like it’s easy to kind of brush over that and it’s just like, oh, it was whatever. But in the moment, how did that, how did you feel being a recent college grad with this immense amount of work? Like how did that make you feel back in those days while you were going through it?

Man, I bet my husband and I remember this very differently, . I mean, I remember being overwhelmed and excited at the same time because I [00:16:00] think the further you get into your career, the more, I mean, I had, I had I was naive. You know, I, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and I knew that I could just, I. Do it.

You know, I think you get further into your career and, and you realize more of what kind of, what you have to lose. Everything that could happen. The red tape that you should probably go through as opposed to just, you know, circumventing it all together, . And I think you, you start to become bogged down by it sometimes, which is one of the cool things about being an entrepreneur and about working in a startup, is that there’s a lot more of that.

Let’s just do it. Let’s just, you know, I’m just gonna do it. Or you should just do it. Whereas a large corporation you don’t have, that’d be a good slogan. Just do it. Just do it. That’s a great idea. Someone would’ve thought of that. , speaking of brand standards, that’s a good one. Write that down. Yeah.

Yeah’s always coming up with great ideas on this podcast. I think that’s a good mindset to have, right? Yeah. Cause a lot of times you. Weren’t compensated super well. It’s your first job. You’re getting all these opportunities and people get caught up in the, well. I’m doing the [00:17:00] work of someone who. A senior vice president or director, or I’m doing all this work, but I’m paid, like, I’m just outta college.

And like, I think that the way you didn’t get caught up in that and it’s just like, Hey, put your head down, get this work done. And like saw that as an opportunity is special. I was literally why you were saying that. I was thinking the word opportunity. Like I, I just, we talked about Lansing, Michigan, we talked there it is Lansing.

We we talked about, you know, steps along the way and I honestly, looking back, I, I didn’t know any better. Like I just knew. Knowing it in so many words, like, this is an opportunity, like this is not a test, and yet it’s, it’s crap. And maybe I, I probably complained about it and I felt like I was working a lot and I was, I was, I was working around the clock, but like, this is an opportunity, if I do this, I’m going to, you know, win this guy over and I did.

And if I do this next thing, I’m gonna get this next opportunity. And I think that’s always been my mentality. And I think today as we are in. , you know, recession, downturn, whatever we’re calling it. [00:18:00] There is so much of that, and we can get frustrated about the way things should be. We can get frustrated about the way things are.

We can get frustrated about what’s not happening and about what’s not available to us as individuals or as leaders or as companies, or we can just see the opportunity and just. do it and, and take whatever comes out of it. Solution. Mm-hmm. you part of the solution, right? Mm-hmm. not the problem. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Love it. So you’re in a, you’re in a leadership role there, were you? Wait, I am. Oh, no. Oh, you don’t mean now. Okay. No. Well, no, no. But you left as like an associate vice president Yeah. When you left there. Mm-hmm. , were you managing people at that point? Did you have a team? I had, I had one, one person who was like a year younger than me who she and I both felt really weird about her reporting to me.

So, kind of not really. Well, can you talk about that for like being young and in a leadership position and mm-hmm. , how do you be a good leader, but also like, you know, like own up to the fact that, hey, I am only a year older than you and I don’t have that much more professional [00:19:00] experience. Mm-hmm. , but I was selected to be the leader.

And how did you manage that relationship? Goodness. I, I mean, there was that situation, I don’t, I don’t know that we did there, but other situations since then, I think. just trying to be authentic and trying to be like, I don’t know what I’m doing. This is weird. , you know, this is a weird thing. How can I serve you?

How can I help you? How do you wanna divvy up responsibilities? What can I do to like, break down barriers Still today? I mean, like, I, that’s how I do with my team now. It’s like, you know, this is, nobody has, has been on day whatever we are of casted. Yeah. This is the first world we’re making it up as. Yeah.

So so you know, what do we, how do we wanna do this? How can I break down walls? How can I, how can I best support you and help you get done what you need to do and make you feel supported? And I don’t know if that’s right, but that’s, it’s worked so far. How do you end up in Chicago, Lindsay? We wanted to be there.

Yeah. Yeah. What was it about Chicago that kind of drew you in? I have always wanted to live in Chicago. Hmm. I remember I went there. [00:20:00] I don’t know, when I was 10 or 11 or something and the entire time I was there I was like, I’m gonna move here someday, . This is my home. That’s awesome. Yeah. Wow. And yeah, , I love Chicago.

I am the biggest Antico guy, unfortunately. Well, do you like, do you like New York? No, I mean, I’m, I’m, I mean from a town of 1200 people in rural Northern Indiana, I’m just like, why have this theory that like if you, you like one or the other? Like you either like New York or Chicago, cuz they’re so different.

Yeah. I don’t really like New York, Mesa region. Rat . No. Whoa. I wouldn’t go that far. . I would like Chicago if I was from the region. Uhhuh. . I like New York to go see a Broadway show or maybe do little GR was shopping, but I feel like I suffocate if I stay longer. It’s like Vegas. Mm-hmm. . It’s good for a. Yep.

It’s too much. It’s Italian. I I love that Chicago, you can, you literally can walk from like one end to the other. Like it’s, you can get your arms around it. Yep. And I don’t know, I’ve just, I loved. Forever. Yeah. So I always get ticked off as soon as I get like drive up there and it’s like, oh, now I gotta find parking.

And it’s . I’m angry from the second I get out of my car when I finally find a [00:21:00] spot. And then I get back in my car and there’s traffic trying to get out of there. And it’s just like, it’s a journey. It’s just a journey. It’s just like a bad experience. But the middle time is fun. , so. So you made it to Chicago, the promised Land.

Oh man. From Lansing? Mm-hmm. . You made the pilgrimage. Chicago. Oh yeah. How did you end up in Indiana? So we lived in Chicago for. Seven years, something like that. Yeah. And we were in Chicago when we were, you know, young, married, no kids. And then we had a kiddo and then we had more. And when we thought one was on the way, it turned out to be two we’re on the way.

Oh, wow. Yeah, we were like, well this is no longer sustainable because we’re just not going anywhere. We’re doing anything. , it’s very expensive, . And so we, we looked to try to get back to Michigan to family and I was working remotely and my husband was working in sales and asked about Michigan territory.

And they were like, not Michigan, but how about Indiana? And here we are. We didn’t know anyone. We didn’t have any family or friends [00:22:00] or, I remember we found a realtor online and. My friend, whether she liked it or not. That’s awesome. Yes, she unloaded me a little. She was like, you’re a little clingy, . I’ll meet some people.

But that’s how we ended up here. Make sure to mark your calendars for August 29th through 31st for rally the world’s largest cross-sector innovation conference, featuring pitch competitions, demo arena, interactive experiences, and a whole lot more. Join us on August 29th through the 31st in Indianapolis, and visit rally innovation.com to secure your tickets.

Today. So you landed in Indiana with your husband? Mm-hmm. . Sounds like you had an amazing realtor. We did. . Yep. What’s her name? Do you remember? Jennifer Wolf. Jennifer Wolf. Jennifer Wolf. Jennifer Wolf. You’re out there? Yeah. You made a big impression. You’ll see my wife as a realtor, so I hear these names all the time, you know?

Oh, I was talking to so-and-so on the phone the other day. Like, I’ve seen their name on a sign or a bench. Yeah. That’s awesome. She was lovely. Amazing. Mm-hmm. . Well, what were your first impressions of Indiana? Well, [00:23:00] okay. Honestly, yeah. When keep it real. I think this is, this is good because of like how it started, how it’s going.

So, and what year is this by the way? So, 2013. Okay. 2013. Uh, Almost exactly. 10 years ago. Yeah, that’s Wow. Weird because it was like January, 2013. Well, that’s why we asked you here today, very anniversary. Literally exactly what day. That’s, that’s why it’s almost exactly 10 years. That’s, oh my gosh, that’s really strange.

We really do our research here. . Yeah. What else is gonna come up? Who’s gonna walk through that door? This is gonna be very weird. Oh, did you hear about that? It’s Jennifer. Woo.

Like, I didn’t even remember you. Oh my goodness. This is amazing. Okay, so first impressions. I mean, first impressions when we were looking for, like, we, we did one, it was like hgt d like we came here one day. Amazing. And it, it was fine. It was great. It was, this is gonna work. And then I remember I came for the inspection.

I had more flexibility than my husband, so he stayed in Chicago with our kiddo and like, I came here to do the house inspection and it’s no longer in the middle of a cornfield, but it was literal, [00:24:00] literally the neighborhood was. A cutout in the middle of a cornfield. Oh yeah. And that’s how the best neighborhoods are made.

Yeah. Midwest. And so coming from very efficient Yes. From downtown in, from downtown Chicago to a cornfield. And I was like, what are we doing? Mm-hmm. , what are we doing? But you know, the, the way that both, that area has evolved and like, what? And then, then, then I got to know Indianapolis. Right? Yeah. And so I was so.

I’m amazed with everything that was already here. I mean, this was right around the time that the exact target sales force Yeah. Whole situation happened almost 10 years ago as well. Yeah. And just walking into that was honestly kind of pleasantly surprised. We didn’t come here for my work. We came here for my husband’s.

And so being able to pick a place that worked for our family and for his, his job, and then be like, oh, there’s a huge martex scene here. This is gonna be okay. This is [00:25:00] gonna be just fine. Yeah. So yeah, it was, I feel like we took, I feel like we, it’s like coming to a party where you come in the back door mm-hmm.

and you’re like, I think we’re in the wrong place, . But then like you walk in, you’re like, oh yeah, this is, this is great. That’s a great analogy. Yeah. So you said you didn’t, came here not knowing anyone except Jennifer. Literally no one. How did you meet people? Well, well I was working, like I said, I was working remotely, so it’s not like I met people at work until I actually started working at Relevance.

Yeah. A couple, a couple years later. But at first our neighbors church and daycare honestly became a really. happen in place cuz you’re seeing the same parents that drop off and pick up. And for a while I was the largely, hugely pregnant with twins lady walking around with a two year old. And so I had a lot of nice people holding doors for me.

And then I’d be like, do you wanna be my friend ? I love it. That’s awesome. So yeah, that’s, that’s I’m serious. That’s crazy. Some of our, some of our dear friends we met basically that way. Yeah. And. . Yeah. So, well, I, I do [00:26:00] think there’s a, a lesson there mm-hmm. that like, you could have very easily stayed isolated.

Yeah. I noticed myself even doing this after several years in isolation. You know, it’s, it’s really easy to kind of fade into the background mm-hmm. and just like, kind of let things go. But there is something about just saying, Hey, do you wanna be friends? Hey, do you wanna grab a cup of coffee?

Mm-hmm. , you wanna grab a beer? Yep. Is that something you’ve always done naturally? . Well, so my mother would tell you that when I was little at restaurants, I would like be the kid sitting backwards in the booth to the people behind me, and I’d be like, hi, my name’s Lindsay. Do you wanna be my friend? But as I got older, I don’t know, I just, I, I think I speaking out and like, like saying a thing has always been easier than like, do you.

Be my friend though, . We were talking about vulnerability. Yeah. It takes a lot of vulnerability. Yeah. So, so no, I think when you, when you don’t know anyone and you’re in a place where it feels like everyone knows everyone, it can be tough. But I found, and then you realize that people don’t, all those people talking, they don’t know each other either.

No. Well, and I was actually gonna say something that I noticed about [00:27:00] Indiana and is that people are really nice, like shockingly, I dunno if it was coming from Chicago or what. in the, the grocery line. Like, I had people being like, I really like your shoes, . Like, do you wanna grab lunch sometime? And I was like, yes I do.

And like, Hey, we’ve been standing next to each other at all these kids’ birthday parties so long. Like, do you wanna grab coffee sometime? Yeah, I do , I really do. But yeah, and I think also just, I tried to do that now too, cause I know how, how alone I was and. how much it meant to me when people reach out.

Do you think you’re an introvert or an extrovert? I am definitely an introvert that just has breakout moments. As an extrovert, I’m a, I’m a very social, Introvert. Like I The difference to that? Yeah. The difference to me, somebody told me a long time ago that introvert versus extrovert is where you get your energy.

Mm-hmm. . So like, after this, and then I have an in-person meeting after this, I’m gonna be exhausted. Yeah. Like, I’m gonna go home and I’m gonna put on my sweats and I’m gonna like snuggle up with my kids [00:28:00] and like, for a minute. Yeah. You know, and I love this, like, this is so great, but it. It’s gonna drain me.

Whereas an extrovert would be like, no, I’m gonna be ready to go out to dinner and then I’m gonna be three more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s exactly where my head is at currently. Oh my gosh. Love. I can run these back to back to back to back. Made a generator. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Well, clearly what you did and, and getting to know yourself and how you are someone who recharges outside of the microphones being on outside of the in-person.

Has really worked for you because it led you to the journey that you’re on now at Casted. Can you tell us a little bit about how that came to be? Like how casted started? Yeah. It’s over three years ago now, right? Yeah. Almost four. Oh my gosh. Wow. Time plus. Yeah. Can we actually, before we go to the casted conception, because I’m excited about that, but I think even from what I saw, how did you get into podcasting?

Okay. To start, cuz there’s a, I think there’s a snippet between how you got into podcasting. Yes. And then how you got. A podcasting company. Truth. Okay. [00:29:00] So I was working at a company called a Marsis. And before I started there, as I mentioned, I was working at Relevance previously Slingshot, which a lot of people here in in Indy know both.

And when they closed I started working at a Mars. And through that whole thing, the reason I bring that up is, Speaking of getting to know yourself, like I really, really came into my own as like, not just marketing, but like there’s a thing in content marketing and like that’s okay. Yeah. And that’s, that’s where I want to live and be.

And when that happened, this role opened up co, like global head of content at this company that I’d never heard of called Demarius. And they were like, yeah, we wanna change the fact that people haven’t heard of us here. Come on over here and lead content and brand and. , I did that and, and because of kind of the getting to know myself that I did prior to.

I was really excited to come in and not do what other people expected of like, ahead of content, but like what I [00:30:00] really believed should happen. And so I kinda walked in and I was like, cool, we can do those things, but we’re gonna do these things and I’m gonna interview all these thought leaders and I’m going to talk to everybody in the company and I’m gonna like, give me access to customers, give me access to product people.

I wanna learn, I wanna record. And as I did that, this was 20. late 2015. was like, and we’re gonna do a podcast. And so I had to kinda work up to that, but I just, I knew that that was something that I wanted to do and I was like, if you want me to be here, this is what I’m doing. And I had a lot of support.

So it sounds like I had pushback, but I mean a little bit of pushback cuz it was like, oh, podcast, are you serious? And I was like, yes, we’re doing this. And so I launched that I think early 2017. And. fell in love with it personally cuz having conversations. Yeah. And quickly saw both. the possibilities and the, and the potential in what, literally, exactly what we’re doing right now.

Yeah. And also the challenges, because I was this marketer, I know you feel this like, [00:31:00] and I was like, okay, can’t wait to see what it’s gonna do. Like , what, what’s it gonna generate for us? And what’s, what’s the ROI and what are the metrics? And it was like crickets, like nothing. The, the ROI is nothing because the metrics is nothing and.

that’s it. Mm-hmm. . And so, you know, I was sitting across from our CEO who was actually a big fan. Like I would see him in the hallways and he’d be like, I love the podcast. I love it. Listen this morning on my run. And he was a big fan and he was like, I, like, I can’t wait to see what it’s doing for the business.

Like, how much business is it generated? And I was like, , well, 10,000 downloads. Funny you asked . I mean, you know, the last episode generated. DIF listens on the first day , and he’s like, that doesn’t mean anything. I was like, I know. . He’s like, Lindsay, if we don’t, if we don’t, if, if that doesn’t change, like you can’t, like you’re spending too much time on this.

And we’re spending too much money. Like this can’t be a thing if it’s not a thing. And I was [00:32:00] like, gimme more time and let me do some videos in London for two weeks too. And he was like, what? I was like, just let me do that . So sometimes it’s nice working at a big company. . Yeah. So I went and captured more content and just did more things and right around that time Scott Dorsey reached out to me, which again, if we go back in this conversation, you’ll know that I was one of the few people who was not here during the exact target acquisi acquisition by sales.

I never worked at sale at Salesforce or exact Target, but I of course knew who Scott Dorsey was. And he reached out and was like, Hey, we’re thinking about doing something. Like we’re we’re hearing more buzz and B2B podcasting. I hear you have one of those. And I was like, . Yes. , would you like to be on it,

Yes. Please let him subscribe. I know smash that like button. So anyway, he was like, I’d love to talk to you about it. And so of course Scott Dorsey come talk to you about my podcast. Cool. So we of course had this great conversation and I was like, listen, it’s, and I, I’ve been beating this drum ever since of, it’s not about the [00:33:00] podcast.

It’s not about the podcast. And he was like, tell me more. Mm-hmm. , it’s like, well, it’s about everything it can do for the brand and for the business. Like, I believe, and this was back, you know, four years ago, I believe that conversations that are being had on podcast, can be the center of the entire marketing strategy.

Here’s how, here’s why. And like, no company needs a podcast tool. B2B doesn’t need a podcast solution. They need a way to harness these authentic conversations to fuel literally every single channel that they’re already doing, and then to measure it and to prove its value to the business and to drive sales and cx.

And he was like, . Well, that sounds cool, . I was like, yeah, it does . Yeah. And by the way, like now I’m interested. And so you were talking about like, did you see entrepreneurship as a thing? And, and I, I didn’t. It’s just that once I saw this, I couldn’t unsee it. Yeah. And was it in that conversation at that moment where you’re like, I’m describing my future business.

[00:34:00] Yeah. And he, I remember he, he, as we were wrapping up that conversation, he said, well, this was great. This was really helpful. Like you know, what can I do for you? And I was like, well, if you build this thing fun, . Yeah. I was like, well, if, if you’re interested and you’re gonna build this thing, like I didn’t go into this, like thinking this was gonna be a thing, but like, if you build this, I wanna be a part of it.

And he’s like, well, that would be great. Maybe, maybe you can be one of the first customers if it’s a thing. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I, I want to do this. Mm-hmm. . And he was like, oh, well, let’s have that conversation. And so we went and we had, you know, casted was born as part of the high Alpha studio.

So that’s, that’s how that started. What do you think the biggest lesson was that you learned in that first year of being a ceo? Gosh, startup ceo. Oh, man. That it was a hundred percent about being uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. It still is. And the second you learn. anything, it’ll change. Mm-hmm.

right? Mm-hmm. , I mean, right. . Yeah. Yep. And I think that’s still the case. [00:35:00] And yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s truly being comfortable with that because it’s, it’s constantly unknown and, and constantly this This is apparent my first year, but it’s much more, much more obvious to me now. It’s this constant push pull with having to do things you’re not good at and also still desperately trying to find the time to do the things you are good at because your business needs both.

Your business needs you to do both. Yep. Which is really hard. Was there a moment that you realized like, okay, we have product market fit, like this is working? I think you think you have it a lot and then it’s like, wait. Wait. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Wait, ? Oh yeah, no, we definitely, wait, hang on. We had it.

Where’d it go? Just a second. Hang on. Yep. There it is. I found it, guys. Don’t worry. I found it. Found product market fit. Yeah, and I think last three years, the markets shifted just a little bit, you know, know, or just a few, couple things. I think for us it’s, and for me it’s always about the customer.

I mean, we have been just so. Lucky, I [00:36:00] guess. But fortunate enough to, to work with some incredible, incredible brands. And it’s, it’s, to me, it’s all about what, what they’re saying and how they’re using the product and how they’re fueling us to fuel them. And I think that’s, that’s where it’s this constant cycle to me of yeah, we have it.

Okay. We need to continue to keep trying to have it. Yeah. So what are you most excited. Now at Casted, we, you know, here we are at the beginning of the year. Today is our first day of our fiscal year. And we have this whole, without going too much down like podcast industry lane we have this whole vision around what a company goes through as they adopt and mature through the process of adopting podcasts.

And that is really coming to fruition this year about not only. what it is, but about how it works and about how casted is uniquely positioned to drive that. And so in many ways, this vision that I and we have had for the last four years is like, ah, it’s, [00:37:00] it’s just, it’s kicking in and it’s becoming real.

And it’s, it’s exciting that, that’s really interesting. So you’re drawing a direct, parallel or analogy between Essence, you start a company, you have different needs on day one, day 2, 3, 4, 5, right? Mm-hmm. . And so you’re drawing that direct. A direct connection between a podcast, which totally makes sense, right?

Because your, your needs when you’re, you first start doing recordings mm-hmm. That changes rapidly. Yeah. As you just deploy those, you learn, you make mistakes, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, again, without going too far down, like podcast lane, you. You start with an idea much like with a company and then you turn it into a thing.

It’s something tangible again, much like with a company. And then that’s stages one and two and stage three. It’s all about, okay, this show I need to grow an audience. And that’s where a lot of people and brands stop. They’re like, it’s all about growing the audience. It’s feel growing the audience. But there’s, to us, there’s, especially for brands, there’s two more stages.

It’s this flipping that happens of, it’s not about using all of your channels to grow the show. It’s about using your show to grow all the channels. And you can’t do [00:38:00] that until you reach this certain level of maturity. And once you do though, , you are just head and shoulders above anybody else that could possibly try to be your competition, and I’m really excited about that this year.

So yeah. Can you give some advice right to all the listeners out there that might be director of marketing, that that has a podcast that might be in that 50 50 listens a week. , what, what can they say to like, paint that picture to their ceo who’s like, why are we putting resources into this thing that gets 50 lessons that doesn’t have an audience?

Mm. How do they paint that picture and tell that story? Yeah. You’ve got to know. who, it’s funny that they rhyme, but you’ve got to know your audience before you can grow your audience. And you can keep throwing things out there to try to say, yeah, but we’re reaching more people. But we as marketers know that that’s for what, who, what are they gonna do, right?

Like, why are you doing this? Who’s it for? And why are you doing it? And so the more you can understand, Who, not just how many, but who are you reaching? Are you reaching them with the right things?[00:39:00] How do you know that? And then, then, and only then, once you start to understand that, then you can start to say, okay, how can I, again, use, use the show that I’m creating to drive other channels, and then how can I start to fuel sales with it?

So before you can start to jump, Jump the line and say, okay, I’m only reaching 50 people a week and I need to start generating revenue. It’s like, nope. One step at a time. And if you’re there and you’re doing a show consistently start to ask yourself like, what can I do to better understand who is consuming my content?

And cas, it’s not the only way, but there’s the best way. It’s probably the best way absolutely to do that. Nate, let’s go. Let’s go the lightning round. Ready for the lightning round. Thank you so much for the additional team of. So I’m gonna start off with a few from, from, if I don’t like these questions, I’m gonna pull a to and I’m just gonna leave.

Yes. . That’s perfect. Ok, perfect. Absolutely Perfect. Perfect. So background in performing arts. What was your favorite role? Oh, a st. Ugly stepsister in Cinderella. Ooh, that’s a good one. Super fun. Okay, what was the first podcast you listened to? , I listened to the oh [00:40:00] gosh. Coffee with cmo, with Dave Gerhart and Dave Cancel.

Nice. Good one. Okay. What’s your currently, what’s your favorite podcast? A little bit of optimism with Simon Sinek. Ooh, another great one. All right. Mm-hmm. . So outside of the Amazing entrepreneurs, what is Indiana known for? Oh, Is this like, in my opinion, or are you testing me? It’s, I dunno, your opinion. , I I’m gonna sound like such a, like, tech founder, but I I the talent, I mean the people here, there’s such a concentration of people that, that get it, that get it with startups and specifically MarTech.

All right, perfect. What is a hidden gem in. . Mm. As I don’t, I’m not, I don’t know about a place, but as a, a basically vegan person, there’s a lot of really good vegan or close to vegan food here, which was surprising and it keeps getting better. Like a pork [00:41:00] tenderloin sandwich. Exactly. , that’s exactly what I was thinking of next.

the official sandwich of Indiana as voted into law this year. Yu and I think the, the friendly, the friendly in Zionsville has the best tenderloin in the entire state. I might disagree, but we can talk about that often. There’s some good Satan loin sandwiches and Lindsay’s like, can you stop talking about this on my vomit?

All right. Eggplant sandwiches. Tasties. Yes. Our, our final question to the lightning. Who is someone that we need to keep on our radar? Someone who’s doing big things. Oh, gosh. You mean other than casted person? An individual person. Oh, man. Oh, there’s so many people. I’m just gonna go the first person that ca there’s, can I say two people?

Two people. Okay. We’ll let, we’ll allow it. Okay. Melanie Allen at Green Loop Marketing. She’s just like, we’ve barely even met each other in real life a couple times, but like, I just watch what she does and I’m just in awe with how much she’s doing for business, for marketing, and for just Indiana, Indianapolis.

She’s just awesome. And then over at Indie Maven, Leslie Bailey. She’s [00:42:00] fan frigging fantastic, and we’ve had her on the show. Yeah, I, I, I, well, I got to talk to her about the idea of Indie Maven. Like I just, she just shared it with me before she started it, and it’s just so cool. To, like, I had nothing to do with it.

That’s not me claiming anything. I had nothing to do with it. I just, she told me about it and like, just being able to like sit on the sidelines and watch it all come to fruition for her, it’s, she’s just a badass. She’s great. Totally agree. I’m throwing in a bonus question here. Favorite. Podcasters in Indiana, or favorite podcasts that hail from Indiana, other than this one, of course , obviously

Well, front pager bust is a good one. Over demand. Demand jump. Yeah. Yep. And this one obviously Lev has a great podcast. Bolster is, I think coming up with something. I’m probably spilling the beans there. Mm-hmm. Let’s see. This is the place to do that. , what else can you spill? Yeah, spill those beans come out.

Lev has a great one. Stephanie Cox has a really cool one with Ovate. She’s, she’s done a few different things [00:43:00] over the years. Fabian Rodriguez, everything that he is working on, both, I mean, drink culture is, you can still listen to it and all the things that he’s working on with i, bj and others. I mean, there’s, there’s so many.

There’s a, there’s a lot here. A lot of the businesses and a lot of people have great shows. I listened to your show with Tiffany on her, and that was yes, that was scared Confidence. Oh, scared c. Yeah, I mean shout out to Share Your Genius, which is another one of our partners. They, they’re here and they produce a lot of shows here too.

Like Innovate Map has a show, and Form SEC has a show. And there’s, there’s a, I mean, we could talk, you could do an entire show about. Indianapolis podcast. Well, sounds like we’ve got our next, next episode of Hell, an Idea We’ll have, have to have you back. Okay. All right, cool. Let’s do it. Lindsay, thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank thanks for letting me come babble at you for a while. This is great way to crush it, Lindsay. This has been Get in a Powderkeg Production in partnership with Elevate Ventures. And we wanna hear from you. If you have suggestions for a guest or a segment, reach out to Matt or Nate on [00:44:00] LinkedIn or on email to discover top tier tech companies outside of Silicon Valley in hubs like Indiana.

Check out our newsletter at powderkeg.com slash newsletter. And to apply for membership to the powderkeg executive community, check out powderkeg.com/premium. We’ll catch you next time and next. As we continue to help the world get in, since you just listened to this podcast, you might be thinking about starting one for your company.

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