Most conversations about podcast mentorship focus on how to record and edit a show. Greg Soros podcaster built his program around a different premise, one centered on the business decisions that decide whether a promising show survives its first year in a crowded field.
Through Podcraft Media Lab and his work with the Podcast Academy’s diversity fellowship, Soros mentors emerging creators from underrepresented communities who often lack access to premium studios or industry contacts. His own background, including training at Berklee College of Music and stints inside major podcasting studios, shapes how the podcaster approaches the curriculum he built.
Beyond Recording Technique
Fellows still learn narrative structure and sound design, the fundamentals that make a show listenable. But Soros spends just as much time on monetization strategies and audience development, subjects he says get overlooked in most creative training programs.
“We also teach the business fundamentals, how to pitch to advertisers, negotiate distribution agreements, and build sustainable revenue models,” Soros said. “That’s what transforms a hobby into a career.”
He also opens up his own network, connecting mentees with sponsors, distributors, and collaborators they wouldn’t otherwise reach on their own this early in a show’s run.
Results Mentees Can Point To
The approach has paid off. Several mentees have landed major distribution deals, and three shows built through the program reached six figure download counts within a year. Maria Rodriguez, whose show “Border Stories” recently won an award, is among the creators crediting Greg Soros’s business lessons for turning a passion project into a sustainable venture.
Soros keeps his focus on that long term sustainability, arguing that creative talent alone rarely keeps a show running once the initial excitement fades.
He credits his own early years in the industry, when he learned the business side largely through trial and error, as the reason he now builds it into the fellowship from day one rather than leaving mentees to figure it out on their own. See related link for more information.
More about Greg Soros on https://m.doyoubuzz.com/greg-soros-podcast