"Get Together" Podcast Roundup
Interviews led by our correspondents Marjorie Anderson and Whitney Ogutu with Onyango Otieno of Nyumbani and Jodianne Beckford of Noire Girls Plant
The Podcast Roundup shares the ordinary people building extraordinary communities we've featured recently on the “Get Together” Podcast.
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Issue #7
Hi there friend,
By now, I’m sure you know that team People & Company’s philosophy is that you build a community with your people, not for them. We coach people and businesses on how to approach community building as progressive acts of partnership—doing more with your most passionate people every step of the way.
But the truth is that up until this year we weren’t practicing what we preached.
The “Get Together” Podcast has been making this transition.
For the first year of our podcast, we did a whole lot of talking at an audience that felt anonymous to us. All we could see were data points, not your names or stories.
We changed course when we announced our podcast correspondent program in July. Over one hundred of you shared your community experiences and told us about the leaders that inspire you.
From those applications, we brought on two official correspondents (Whitney and Marjorie, whose first interviews you can tune into below), as well as a few more special guest hosts (you’ll hear from them soon). We also began hosting more intimate events and creating a space for ongoing conversations with our most passionate listeners.
This building with brought even more meaning to our podcasting, and expanded the stories we tell. I’m also happy to share that together we’ve also fueled the podcast’s growth. In 2020, our listeners grew by 3x!
While reflecting in our end-of-program celebration last week, I shared that working with our correspondents brought me a welcome reminder of how powerful it is to show up for others. It took faith for with Whitney and Marjorie to show up like they did. But doing so has transformed them both into podcasters, and shifted us all from strangers into collaborators and friends.
Whitney and Marjorie, we’re grateful for you and are so proud to be sharing your interviews with the world today.
Enjoy.
Onward ✌️
Bailey
PS - Our team will be reflecting on this past year in our next Get Together Live next Friday. Join us!
🔊Podcast Roundup
The Podcast Roundup highlights the ordinary people building extraordinary communities recently featured on the “Get Together” podcast.
Meet Marjorie Anderson 🎙
“Get Together” correspondent Marjorie Anderson is playful, diligent, and sunshine-energied. By day she leads the community at Project Management Institute. In the evenings, she runs her own community and blog, Community by Association.
In her own words, Marjorie “makes a great dinner party host but a terrible dinner party guest.” While an introvert, Marjorie is an orchestrator of connection who gets a natural high from bringing people together.
“Community doesn't require that you have the same opinions. It just requires that you share a passion.” - Marjorie Anderson
Meet Marjorie in our special, short introduction episode with her:
🎧Listen on your favorite podcast platform.
Apple, Google, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, RSS.
Meet Whitney Ogutu 🎙
“Get Together” Correspondent Whitney Ogutu brings her cerebral, sincere, and kind-hearted energy to the podcast from Nairobi, Kenya. She leads Community Engagement and Programs at Mettā Nairobi, a community, and innovation hub that supports startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
In our interview introducing Whitney, she takes us back to her first memories of local chamas, a Kenyan community format for brainstorming and taking actions on local problems
“Listeners should expect refreshing and new voices from me. The plan is to put Africa on the map.” - Whitney Ogutu
Meet Whitney in our special, short introduction episode with her:
Apple, Google, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, RSS.
Growing a restorative community 🌱
Marjorie’s first interview on our airwaves is with Jodianne Beckford. Jodianne created Noire Girls Plant, “from a dark place of feeling numb.” At a low point, she found plants were giving her joy.
When she couldn’t find the space she craved to connect with other plant lovers, she decided to create it herself. She stood up an event and designed it with all the elements she would have wanted--yoga, spoken word, meditation, a plant gift, and a goodie bag.
People left that first event with more than just goodie bags and time well spent. Attendees both had fun and saw each other, as people of color, being vulnerable. They asked, “when’s the next one?” and so Noire Girls Plants began--a community of growers, in aspects of health, prosperity, and nature.
Editorial note from Marjorie:
The biggest thing I took away from the conversation with Jodianne is that you just need to start in order to find your people. Community isn’t rocket science, but it does take passion and the desire to care for others to create experiences that cultivate a sense of belonging. When Jodianne was looking for that in her own life, she created it, and it turns out others were looking for it, too.
Apple, Google, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, RSS.
Room for reimagining masculinity 🤝
Whitney’s first “Get Together” interview is with Onyango Otieno. At twenty years old, Onyango was the victim of sexual assault and found he had nowhere to turn. In Kenya, as in many other societies, the patriarchal structure turns a blind eye to the sexual experiences of men. Men are socially conditioned to hold in their pain.
Because of his background as a storyteller, Onyango began writing about his experience. In sharing his story on Facebook and Twitter, he found “some kind of liberation.”
Onyango continued exploring African masculinity and advocating for mental health, and eventually put up a post sharing that he was starting a WhatsApp-based mental health support group. Today they call these groups Nyumbani, which is Swahili for “home.”
Editorial note from Whitney:
What stood out was how Onyango spoke about the importance of checking in and taking care of yourself as a community leader. It’s what ensures you are not projecting anything that’s unwanted back to the community. Only by doing that can we better serve our communities.
Apple, Google, Spotify, Soundcloud, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, RSS.
📅Get Together LIVE! Holiday Spectacular
People & Company’s theme of our last year was to refine the process we use to teach community building. How did it go? What did we learn? What will 2021 hold?
Join Kai, Kevin, and Bailey for a no-holds-bar reflection with our friend and “Get Together” correspondent, Marjorie Anderson. She’ll interview us, Kevin, Kai, and Bailey, on our coaching process, then open up the mic to you to ask about our learnings with clients going virtual, and what is ahead for 2021.
Who: You! Leaders and community builders who have built with us in 2020 or have been following along.
When: Friday December 18, 2020 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM PT / 12:10 PM - 1:00 PM ET
Where: Private Zoom listening room
More on all things People & Company and Get Together here.
We published a book, host a podcast, and coach organizations on how to make smarter bets with their community-building investments.