As a part of the Lehigh Valley community, one of our favorite things at YMI is the people from all over the area that we get to interact with. We hear fascinating stories and incredible advice from such a wide array of people from different walks of life, and it’s part of the joy of being a member of this community! On our new pet project, we’re going to be doing exactly that– talking to some of the most interesting people in the Lehigh Valley area in the form of a podcast, hosted by Jimi Honochik, that everyone can enjoy!
This podcast is titled YMI Talking, and that question is exactly the premise. We want to find people who have such interesting things to say that you wonder why Jimi’s ever talking instead of them! The podcast will be perfect for anyone who loves business, culture, and people, and is sure to feature lots of all three.
“One of my favorite things in the world is to grab lunch with someone and just learn their story: why are they doing what they’re doing? How did they get here? What makes them tick?” Jimi said about the podcast. “There’s something sacred about spending that hour breaking bread and learning about a person. I also have a background in media production and love doing interesting things with video, etc. So I figured, why not combine those two things?”
“It’s so much more work on the front-end than I anticipated,” he continued. “I got a fancy mic and thought I’d be good to go, but there’s a bit more to it than that; you need a hosting service, editing capabilities. Are you going to have an audio intro? Artwork? Arrange for guests? All of that takes time and effort.” Thankfully, we’ve been making progress towards creating a polished final product. “I feel like we’re over the hump now and I can focus on the conversations.”
We’ve been working hard on finding interesting people to host, and have finally built up a backlog of episodes to help us be prepared for schedule changes! Some of the interviewees you can expect to see on YMI Talking will include George Wacker from the multimedia company Lehigh Valley with Love, Ernie Thomas Stiegler from the advertising firm SWBR, and Pete Reinke, whose Friends of Pete group is probably the largest networking group in the Valley!
Notch Modern Kitchen and Bar is one of the sponsors of this podcast, and they have been a huge help in getting it off the ground. Their owner, Jeff Virojanapa, has been encouraging and supporting us, and it’s made such a difference!
The future of YMI Talking is something we’re really looking forward to developing. “I just love excited people,” Jimi said about potential future guests. “Some people seem great because they’ve lived all over and done lots of crazy things but when you talk to them there’s not that spark. I don’t care if you’ve spent your whole life focused on honing your craft as a knitter, if you light up when you talk about knitting, I want to talk to you. The more passionate and excited people get about what they do, the more I want them to be my guest!”
YMI Talking is something we’re incredibly excited to bring to all of you! If you’re a fan of podcasts like How I Built This and HBR IdeaCast that have inspired us, you’re sure to be a fan of this one. You can listen to our first episodes here, and if you or someone you know might be a good future guest for the podcast, please make sure to let us know!
