In January 2020 I had an idea to start a Podcast, a specifc one, I wanted my podcast to be about facial differences. Diving deep and talking about all the things I think people should know about. Moreover I wanted to make something I wished had been around when I was growing up.

The phrase “nothing about us without us” is something that rings on so many levels. I’m always advocating for represntation but I know I’ve not always been proactive in my approach. I have horrible sense of self and I always feel like I’m not good enough, that no one will care, that no one would understand, that I will be laughed at. And even if all thouse things are true I need to try to be better at just being. Being me and trying new things.

I knew I didn’t want to do a solo podcast, I have nothing against those who do, but the subject matter I wanted to explore would work best with more than just my voice. I had wanted to do it with a friend who is local but it just never panned out, which is fine. I dropped the matter but continued to think about it.

About a month or so ago I approached my friend Kelsey and asked if she had wanted to join me. I was SO thrilled to learn that she also thought about doing one, and even had an outline and all this detail sorted out. I was very impressed and knew I found the right person.

I did a google search for podcasts that were about/for/from those with facial differences and I only came up against one with the last episode being released back in Oct 2019. There are not a ton of voices out there that really represent me or my expereince. Who better to be a voice in the void than Kelsey and I. We can offer a unique voice, tell our truths . We hail from differnt parts of the country, she is younger by 9 years, our expereinces have been vastly differnt yet similar, and our conditions are not the same. I know that we will not have the same views on all the topics we discuss and I think that’s why I think having Kelsey with me along this journey is a great thing. Not only for me but for our audince. It will continue to foster that just because you share a giant thing in common you won’t always see eye to eye.

In terms of making the actual thing a reality our biggest obstcle is that She’s in Calgary, AB and I’m in Waterloo, ON.; a time difference of 2 hours. Our next obstcle was editing…how does one go about editing. We knew we wanted to do both an audio as well as a visual version of our podcast. This means editing a video, something neither of us had done. I’ve done basic editing for my own YouTube channel but nothing as involved as editing a podcast. I’ve watched quite a few videos and practiced on a practice video her and I shot togheter. Lets say my editing skills are thus far not on fleek (as the kids say). But it’s something I’ve wanted to learn so I figure best to jump in two feet in the deep end and just learn.

It’s not ging to be easy, the editing I mean but it’s a skill that I don’t think anyone is really good at until they actually just start doing it.

We hope that this podcast will be popular, that it will find an audiance not just with those who have lived this shared experince but with the wider public as a whole. To breakdown the barriers that currently exist for those with facial differences. We plan on launching a patreon to help us continue to make content and my hope is to find and pay an editor who will be MUCH better than I! 🙂

I hope you will join Kelsey and I on this journey. You can find our YouTube channel here.

You can find our Facebook page dedicated to our podcast here.

When we do set up a patreon we will let everyone know most likely in the podcast and Facebook so please like, subscribe, share, all the things! Our first podcast should be dropping this coming Monday as long as I can edit the thing…wish me/us luck.