In conversation with Leah Angela, founder of The Young Blood Podcast
#Episode24#podcast#youth#inconversation_series
When I started this newsletter, I never thought of featuring stories from around the world that can inspire people but one fine morning I decided I should try this out. In the past couple of days, I have had so much fun interacting with people, interviewing them and listening to their stories that have seriously inspired me to the core. When for the first time when I got the opportunity to interview Steve sir, I was thrilled and a little anxious at the same time. Preparing the questions to interview someone was a first-time experience and I wasn’t sure if I did well. But the response after publishing was overwhelming, and that made me realize I am good at this (That’s how I feel for now) and decided to start this new series I call, “In conversation with_____”.
Like podcast guests, TV guests and so on, I present to you my Newsletter Series Guests!
Today I virtually travelled all across the Philippines and had an interesting opportunity to feature this story about Leah Angela Cioco, the founder of The Young Blood Podcast.
The Young Blood podcast has an amazing motive that you can see right on the page when you visit. The motive of this podcast is indeed interesting and is dedicated to the youth across the globe. It’s true when we are young, we know everything and I am sure most of my readers feel that way too.
“The funny thing is that the act of growing up maybe isn't about knowing or not knowing. Growing up is about search and discovery. We search for truth, we search for pleasure, we search for ourselves”- The Young Blood Podcast
When for the first time I stumbled upon this podcast, I really enjoyed the entire episode. I came across Parcel Bear which is the first eco-friendly courier service. After listening to the podcast and getting to know more about it, I couldn’t resist but wanted to invite Leah to my platform for a short interview. Finally, I approached Leah and we were all set for the coffee chat. The entire call was an amazing experience and I can honestly say that Leah is a remarkable and confident girl, empowering and inspiring the youth across the globe. So let’s dive into the Q&A session with Leah!
Before we begin, let’s start with a small introduction and a brief about your work. How would you describe yourself in three words!
My name is Leah Angela and if I were to describe myself in three words it would be like, I am a five-foot-tall, Filipina, who never lost hope. I really consider myself very persevering. I think I also consider myself a super annoying kid on the premise of my childhood. I was editor in chief at my high school. I am currently a rising sophomore at the University of the Philippines studying Mathematics. I am going to concentrate on a specific field called Actuarial Science. Currently, I am also interested in computer science. I am also working on the COVID-19 research project and working on my podcast, The Young Blood Podcast.
The Young Blood podcast is dedicated to the youth and empowering them. How did this all start?
Oh wow! Every time I get asked this question, I always try to make it short because every time I go back to it, it brings me so many memories. So I was supposed to study abroad but because of the pandemic, I had to step back and I was pretty sad about it. During that time what felt comforting to me was The New York Times Modern Love podcast. The stories are intense and very well written. This motivated me to think about why we can't have such podcasts in the Philippines. It all started then and with my first guest from the University of Oxford. So my podcast was launched on August 15, 2020, and as of today, we have 4000 listeners. It’s so amazing to see that conversations that we have on our podcast are touching people’s lives. Initially, I had started this podcast individually but now I have a team of fifteen amazing talented individuals. When I started doing this individually, I used to spend hours on this podcast, the editing, the preparation and during the Christmas break one of my guests pointed out to me that if I had a team I could grow so much faster. Eventually, my team kept building on and recently we also won a seed grant. So yay! This is how it all started and where we are now.
What was the biggest challenge when you were working on your podcast and how did you overcome it?
I guess there was a point when I had literally 3-4 hours of sleep like every single night. So it might not sound like a very big challenge but it was one big challenge for me because I forgot about myself. I had no social life at that time, it was just school and my podcast and it didn’t seem like a negative aspect to me until during Christmas break when my friends pointed that out and I realized that it was truly frustrating, so I guess that was my biggest challenge at that time during the first six months. But now specifically the biggest challenge was when during this year my two grandaunts passed away due to COVID-19 and that was pretty intense and this was the first time I had experienced a real loss, since one of them pretty much raised me since I was a baby and she was like my mother, so it was really hard for me because I would see her every day, talk to her and spend most of my time with her. This was really intense and I was off work for ten days and I was not doing any podcast and that’s when I realized that I was so lucky to have my team because if I didn’t have them, the podcast would have stopped. So I guess for the first six months my challenge was time management and finding that time for myself because I couldn’t sleep well due to work overload whereas most recently, it would definitely be losing my grandaunts. Losing my loved ones is one of the reasons why I was drawn towards doing Covid research because my grandaunt passed because of Covid-19. I am super adamant about trying to end this pandemic through my work with novid.
There are some amazing stories out in the TYB podcast. So what kind of stories do you look for and what is the motive behind bringing such stories?
I think what we are really sharing is the kind of stories that are most effective for the current times. So the kind of stories we have, revolve from love to loss to inspiration. We try to share stories that empower and inspire the Filipino youth. It’s amazing to know that podcast is now global and it’s not just the Filipino youth but globally we are able to connect with a lot of people. We're here to share diverse personal stories that spark a human connection to educate, empower and inspire our listeners, or at least, to make them feel a little less alone.
PS. I also have a youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LeahCioco/videos
Finally, what is your message to the present generation youth?
First off, before answering the next question I would just like to take a moment to thank you for giving me this platform to address the rest of our fellow youth, Ganga! I appreciate you coming to me for this but know that I can give merely another person’s perspective, equal to yours, and in many ways inferior when it comes to making decisions relating to your life, let alone that of others. Still, I’ll try my best.
To the reader, if you’re reading this newsletter, I hope you’re safe and okay. The times we’re in right now are extremely tough, and simply being a teenager or a young adult coping up with online classes, mental problems and the like makes it tougher. So literally staying alive and waking up every day is a huge step already so it only goes to show that if you’re reading this or doing other things, you’re in a great place. And I’m proud of and happy for you.
On the other hand, while I do understand the heaviness that this pandemic has caused us mentally and emotionally (not to mention, physically), I think one should not let that tip the scales too much. After waking up and perhaps wallowing in some sort of emotional way like I do, find something (anything!) that lights you up, find the time to do it, and try to help others feel that same joy or at least happiness. If you’re not too sure what you want to do yet, don’t be afraid to try things and to stay up till 3 am to figure it out. Keep an open mind. And this cannot be stressed enough: don’t be afraid of making mistakes. It’s a sign of progress. Most of life is trial and error, so one must go about it efficiently and without dwelling on the error part. Finally, trust yourself to make the choice that’s right for you.
Everyone can give their two cents, some of them making more sense than others, but at the end of the day, you will make the most sense to you. Only you can surely know what makes you happy and fulfilled. If you know what that is, pursue it, and if you don’t, start looking. Once you have, don’t forget to help others do the same. In either case, I wish you the best on this crazy journey called life.
And have some fun!
XOXO,
Leah Cioco
Amazing right? I am sure Leah has inspired you the same way she did the Filipino youth. During the conversation with Leah, I was really inspired by her work. When you get to read stories of different people you gain lot of new insights, new experiences and of course all this will motivate you to get the next gen revolutionary idea!
It’s important no matter what you do or where you are, you should be able to give back at least something to your community. It could even be the smallest act but remember it counts so don’t walk away if you get the chance. Bringing the story of Leah, I never thought I will be able to learn so much. The podcast is insightful and amazing but the fact that the interview was beyond it is the one that I loved the most about this interview. The three important takeaways I learnt from this interview are,
Start doing what you love, take that one step and see what happens.
Give back to your community in any way you can.
Challenges are part of life but that shouldn't let us down completely, we need to bounce back and find the solution to our challenges.
If you dreamt of running your own podcast, or a business or a newsletter, don’t hesitate to start working on it. Take small steps and eventually, this will be the start of your amazing journey. Inspire someone and get inspired that is the most beautiful thing you will experience in life!
I hope you had fun with this new series and in case you would like to sit for coffee chat and would like to feature your story, thoughts and ideas here at HoP feel free to email me at gkhop1729@gmail.com
See you soon! Bye for now!
Cheers
Ganga
Disclaimer: All the thoughts and ideas discussed are exclusively the author’s individual thoughts and do not represent any association/foundation/individuals the author is related to. Anything that may have hurt the sentiments of any group or groups of individuals is inadvertent and without malice. The author at no point means to demonize or insult any religion, practice, gathering, or individual.
Great work! Very inspiring