How the Girl Scouts Tackle Tough Topics on The Girl Talk Podcast

Remember a few episodes ago when I was talking to podcast editing extraordinaire Steve Stewart? We chatted about how to create your podcast editing side hustle, and he talked about finding clients at conferences.

Well, last year at Podcast Movement I met Idelle Erickson, who works for the Girl Scouts, and now I produce her podcast Girl Talk.

I love the Girl Scouts’ mission, which is to build girls of ‘courage, confidence, and character,’ and how Idelle supports this, so I invited her on Podcasting Step by Step to:

talk about what a podcast producer does,
share ideas for engaging your audience (Girl Talk offers some really fun ways to increase listener involvement — which leads to more downloads), and
have Idelle walk us through her process of creating a Girl Talk episode.

Idelle also gets candid about how uncomfortable she felt moving from behind the scenes of the show to becoming one of the hosts.

“I knew that if I got into the conversation, there were a lot of things I would have to share about myself that I wasn't sure I was ready to share with this huge audience,” Idelle says.

Listen to the Podcasting Step by Step with Idelle to hear how podcasting shifted her comfort levels with putting herself out there, and how she is helping girls feel better about being themselves via the Girl Talk podcast.

Subscribe to Podcasting Step by Step for free (click a button below)

Idelle Erickson grew up in the Girl Scouts and has made it her mission to help develop the female leaders of the future. One way she does this is by producing the Girl Talk podcast for the Girl Scouts. Photo courtesy of Idelle.

“Our target audience is girls 14 to 18, and our sort of accidental audience is younger girls,” Idelle says. “It was my idea to have this podcast that was for girls by Girls Scouts, not about Girl Scouts. So, talking about tough topics that not everybody is talking about in a way that girls want to listen to or engage with. Things about race and culture and advocacy, bravery.

“And lighter stuff like video games and nature as self care. We did a two-part episode on leadership and what that looks like. And we try to get really diverse guests and bring in a lot of new ideas and new perspectives, and we do. Most of our episodes are more like experience episodes rather than somebody speaking for a whole group of people.”