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Your Chattanooga Podcast Listening Guide

Amanda Ellis


Last month, the Chattanooga Chamber launched the Chattanooga Works podcast featuring Chamber member businesses. It got us thinking about other great local podcasts, so we’ve put together a guide to Chattanooga podcast listening for business owners and professionals. Read on for details about five local podcasts you should pay attention to, whether you need listening material for your last road trip of the summer or just need a little #MondayMotivation, even if it isn’t Monday.

Being Boss

Authors and ‘business besties’ Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon

The longest running podcast on our list, Being Boss is for entrepreneurs, freelancers and side-hustlers. Hosts Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon focus on helping you make money doing what you love. Their episodes range from 10 minutes to more than an hour, and cover a wide range of topics from routines and boundaries, to branding and marketing, to business strategies and interviews with gurus like Melissa Hartwig of Whole30.

“Being Boss started from a desire to share conversations about business between two working creatives – Kathleen and me – and it turned into a movement of entrepreneurs all over the world who desire to get more out of their work than money and credentials,” Thompson says. “We desire fulfillment and flexibility, in work and in life. And because that path is long and windy, we find that the conversations, inspirations and motivations are plentiful and necessary to keep all of us hustling along.”

Great sample episode: “I want to be an entrepreneur, but I don’t know what to do”

(Spoiler: entrepreneurship isn’t all glitz and glamour)

“Rejection and Resilience with Jessica Lauren” and “Figure It Out as You Go with Cathy Heller” are good recent episodes too – bottom line: lots of good stuff here.

>> beingboss.club/podcast

The Camp House Podcast

The Camp House

This one’s been around awhile too. Chattanoogans know and love The Camp House for great coffee, food and space to work and collaborate. In addition to stellar coffeehouse favorites, The Camp House produces a podcast exploring the culture and community of Chattanooga with new episodes every other week. Their topics vary the most of any podcast on our list, featuring local election candidates, businesses and nonprofits, art and music and social issues like homelessness.  If you listen on a regular basis you’ll hear the host, Matt Busby, repeat over and over the mission of the podcast: to be a resource to connect, inform and inspire you about what’s going on in Chattanooga.

Great sample episode“The Legacy of the Big Nine”

With several community guests, this two-part episode explores the establishment and growth of Chattanooga’s Big Nine area (historic downtown African-American business and entertainment corridor) up to the Civil Rights Movement.

>> thecamphouse.simplecast.fm
 

Chattanooga Works

The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce

Produced by the Chattanooga Chamber and co-hosted by the Chamber’s President & CEO Christy Gillenwater and Creative Projects Manager Jeremy Henderson, Chattanooga Works tells our community’s business stories, highlights local startup activity and gives career, hiring and talent advice straight from local experts.

The inaugural Chattanooga Works episode features Chamber members Bees on a Bicycle and The Bitter Alibi.

“It was with supreme joy that I completed my first big interview as owner and operator of Bees,” said Cath Shaw Truelove, owner and founder of Bees on a Bicycle. “I've given hundreds of speeches and must say that the hosts of this podcast did a tremendous job of pulling out good stories, and one very dear announcement from me. I'm so proud of the result.”

Listen to our first episode here.

>> soundcloud.com/chattanooga-chamber

InfoSystems

InfoSystems brings us several IT and technology-related podcasts designed as resources for businesses and communities in Tennessee and the region:

Business and Technology in Tennessee with Josh Davis

A podcast to spotlight local businesses, community groups and technology providers through shared stories. This one highlights technologies that may impact businesses and helps them avoid predatory sales tactics from technology providers and gain perspective about IT skills needed to deploy and manage technologies.

Great sample episode: “Economic Growth Initiatives by CHATECH with Carla Askonas” 

>> infosystems.biz/josh-davis/

IT Coach for Business Leaders with Aaron Swann

An educational podcast to provide small and mid-sized business leaders with practical advice on IT strategies and best practices. IT Coach for Business Leaders offers interesting perspectives on a range of IT topics. As IT becomes more specialized and more important for the success of small businesses, company leaders need a trusted partner and source of information to help make crucial technology decisions.

Great sample episode: “Creating a Backup Strategy that Works (Part I)” 

>> infosystems.biz/aaron-swann/

The Business of Enterprise IT

An educational podcast to share insights on emerging and business-critical enterprise technologies. As business and technology strategies become more closely aligned than ever before, it is important for IT and non-IT executives to have an understanding of how technology can drive business goals and outcomes.

Great sample episode: “InfoSystems Announces Major Partnership with Cloud Provider APSU (Part I)” 

>> infosystems.biz/scott-davis/

Legal Road Map

Autumn Witt Boyd

Hosted by copyright and trademark lawyer and Hamilton County INCubator graduate Autumn Witt Boyd, the Legal Road Map® podcast helps creative entrepreneurs learn about legal issues that arise when growing a profitable and sustainable business, with case studies highlighting how business owners have handled them. 

Episodes focus on topics such as intellectual property issues, growing your business to the next level, online and ecommerce business issues, collaborations and partnerships, and more.

“I started the Legal Road Map® podcast to provide a resource for business owners who don’t even know where to start with legal issues,” Witt Boyd says. “The podcast’s first 12 episodes are all about the basics that every business owner should think about, and over time I’ve started tackling more sophisticated topics. We’ve had clients come to us just by searching for ‘intellectual property attorney’ in iTunes, which has been really exciting.”

Great sample episode: “Why different kinds of business may or may not need to protect intellectual property”

Witt Boyd breaks down the difference between copyrights, trademarks and patents, and what types of businesses need to know about each.

>> awbfirm.com/podcast/

Made In Chattanooga

VaynerMedia Chattanooga

This podcast by VaynerMedia explores business and marketing trends as well as current events in Chattanooga and business stories from around the Southeast. Made in Chattanooga features a unique format in which VaynerMedia staff members interview a local “innovator” or influential community figure alongside a local “creator” — musician, artist or other creative professional. 

“We're big believers in the underpriced attention of voice platforms like Alexa, Google Home and digital audio formats, and have a lot of thoughts on how B2B and B2C companies alike can utilize podcasts for lead generation, business development, hiring and recruitment and general thought leadership,” says Mickey Cloud, VaynerMedia Senior Vice President. “With 'Made in Chattanooga,' we're eating our own dog food — showing clients and prospects how to strategize, launch and support a unique podcast, while also shining a light on all the awesome talent doing great things in Chattanooga.”

Great sample episode: “Mayor Andy Berke and Swayyvo”

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke talks about our city’s evolution and how he ended up in public office, followed by an interview with local jazz-hip-hop artist Swayyvo. 

Other episodes include “The Chattery and Crazy Flute,” interviewing co-founders of nonprofit adult education organization The Chattery alongside Native American ensemble Crazy Flute; and “Cameron Doody and Tryezz,” featuring Bellhops Moving co-founder Camero Doody and a local jazz musician. 

>> anchor.fm/vmnooga 

The Startup Show

Adam Vazquez, Strafire Media

The Startup Show highlights the Chattanooga startup scene and interviews top-performing startup moguls with a focus on business and marketing lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. With a focus on inspiring people to follow big and small business dreams, this podcast strikes a good balance of combining inspiration with practical tips in every episode.

“We started the podcast as a simple way to connect with entrepreneurs and share their stories, and began by interviewing friends and colleagues,” says creator Adam Vazquez. ”Since then we’ve been blessed to have CEOs, celebrities, entrepreneurs and representatives from both the Obama and Trump administrations join the show.

“Hearing the stories of how these incredible people have grown their careers is both inspiring and motivating to myself and to our audience. If we can help just one person get their dream off the ground, then the work is worth it.”

Great sample episode: “Hustle + Humility w/ Gary Vee”

Another good one: “How Learning to Listen Changed My Career.” Vazquez has also interviewed fitness entrepreneurs Cory Gregory and John Fosco, and locals Tom Rowland ​(WayPoint TV), Steven Vlahos (Bellhops) and Ted Alling (Access America, Lamp Post Group, Dynamo, Chattanooga Prep).

>> thestartupshow.us 

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