How I Podcast: In conversation with “Growing Up Halal”

24. September 2021

Wir sprechen mit Podcaster*innen aus allen Gesellschaftsschichten über ihre kreativen Prozesse und darüber, warum Audio eine der coolsten Möglichkeiten ist, eine Story zu erzählen.

There’s no recipe for starting a podcast, but for the creative team behind “Growing Up Halal,” six is the magic number. While Sulphia, Hanan, Amena, and Aisha rock the mics, Malak and Ashiyana work behind the scenes to handle art direction and social media. One peek at these creators’ busy schedules—from fencing, to bullet journaling, to helping foreign students with their English skills—and you’ll understand why strength in numbers is integral to the show.

The podcast (which caught our eye in Spotify’s Next Wave Student Podcast competition) is dedicated to making space for young Muslim-American girls who feel unheard, underrepresented, and deprived of a relatable platform. “My Muslim identity has always been a vital part of my life,” says Amena of the podcast’s importance, “and I love getting to delve into that part of myself.”

We caught up with the entire “GUH” crew about recording in closets, listening to podcasts on the school bus, and finding confidence.

Was hat euch dazu bewegt, einen Podcast aufzunehmen?

Sulphia: To be honest, this podcast started off as a fun little passion project at the beginning of quarantine. Then I realized that we could make a real impact on representing our community and giving a voice to young Muslimah like me. As a first generation Indian-American, I’ve wanted to change the narrative for Muslim American youth and creating this podcast became a way to do that.

‍

Was ist das Format eurer Show und wie habt ihr euch dafür entschieden?

Hanan and Sulphia: We’ve tried a lot of different styles and we’re still working it out. It started with just me and Sulphia as co-hosts, talking about life in quarantine. Eventually we tried interview-based episodes, chatting with guests about their own stories and experiences. Since Amena and Aisha joined as co-hosts, we’ve moved away from traditional interviews, and instead it’s more of a big discussion. In the new season, we’re planning more full-team episodes where we delve into relatable topics.

‍

Was benutzt du für die Aufnahme?

Hanan: It’s quite simple. I remember recording our first episode with absolutely no equipment except for a pair of AirPods and an iPhone 6. Now we record on Zoom using portable microphones, and we use our phones or laptops to upload to Anchor. To block out noise we either go into our basements or a closet in one of our rooms.

Wie macht ihr Werbung für den Podcast?

Sulphia: We use Instagram posts, stories, reels, IGTVs, and guides. Malak (our talented art manager) and I work together to create posts for our episode covers. But the biggest way we’ve been able to grow our audience is through our “Muslimah Monday'' series, where we feature an inspiring Muslimah and her story. These women vary in ages, careers, and backgrounds, which is exactly the point—Muslimah women are excelling in so many areas of life! It’s allowed us to create a vast network of young Muslimah across the country, and inspire Muslim girls to pursue fields we often don’t see Muslim women in.

Gibt es eine Sache, die ihr im Vorfeld gerne übers Podcasting gewusst hättet?

Amena: I wish I knew beforehand that my opinion and experiences really do matter. At first, I was pretty quiet. I’d let the other co-hosts take the wheel during interviews and discussions. But I soon realized that one big purpose of podcasts is to let your personality shine. Nobody is judging me, so why not say what I’m thinking? I wish I understood the value of my words sooner.

Warum wolltet ihr eure Geschichte im Audioformat erzählen?

Hanan: Growing Up Halal is a story of growing up Desi-American Muslim (or just Muslim) and the nuances that experience comes with. By using audio to tell that story, we felt it brought our audience closer to us. I think working on this podcast has been able to unite our listeners, helping them realize how much they had in common. It even helped bring our team closer, too.

Welcher Podcast inspiriert dich?

Sulphia: The first podcast I ever listened to was “Teenager Therapy” my sophomore year of high school. I remember listening to it on the bus and feeling comforted by their relatable conversations, especially because I was the same age as the hosts. These days, I’m inspired by “Get Real w/ Ashley, Peniel, and Junny” and “How Did I Get Here w/ Jae and AleXa”, which are both under Dive Studios. Aside from having some of the wittiest and authentic hosts ever, they have such creative promotional content. To whoever is editing Dive Studios’ YouTube videos and Instagram reels, I am your number one fan!

Welches Feature mögt ihr bei Anchor am liebsten?

Sulphia: Definitely platform distribution. Most listeners have a preferred platform, and so being able to distribute our podcast from one place helps us reach more people!

Aisha: I love how easy it is to edit episodes on the fly! Wherever you are, if there’s an intro you want to add, or a comment you want to remove, the Anchor app makes it super easy to do so.

Was gefällt euch an eurem Podcast am besten?

Malak: My favorite thing is helping people through experiences. Usually I work on the artistic side of the podcast, but whenever I’m able to join an episode, knowing that even one person is benefiting from my advice is so rewarding. It makes me feel like I’ve achieved what I wanted to through the podcast, which is to help Muslim women feel heard, and to give them what I wish I had when I was younger.

**Welche Ratschläge könnt ihr anderen Podcaster*innen mit auf den Weg geben?**

Ashiyana: Podcasting is all about effective communication and forming an emotional connection to the audience. This happens in a few different ways, both behind the scenes and during episodes. When you have guests, it’s important to plan topics ahead of time, as well as the overall narrative you want to present. On the social media management side, it’s important to maintain consistency and find your theme, which allows you to build a brand. For Growing Up Halal, our focus is being the podcast we wish we had when we were younger. Find your focus and the rest will follow.

Die oben geäußerten Meinungen sind die der Befragten und nicht die von Anchor oder Spotify. Wie gestaltest du deinen Podcast? Schreib uns auf Twitter und Instagram.