Owner, Splice Studios, SingaporeKenn Delbridge has been in love with the art and science of sound since his early days in broadcasting and working with MTV. His studio is where ‘A Life in Travel’ is recorded and produced and, in this episode, we get behind the scenes of what makes a successful podcast as well as how travel has influenced his outlook on life and his profession. In this episode: Want to start a podcast? Here’s some advice“The most important thing for people who want to do a podcast is to understand why. If a podcast is viewed as part of a marketing tool, then you have to say, ‘Well, why not just do a Facebook ad? Why not do traditional advertising? Why not do print?’ It has to be that your audience is in podcasts, and they want to hear you. As long as you commit to delivering something that's either entertaining or informative, and you do it in a nice narrative manner, then I think it's a win-win. And it's worth doing.” What makes a successful podcast?Storytelling & preparation“It’s the storytelling…the preparation before the recording (is also important), almost everyone underestimates how much they need to prep… also, when you are in that interview – which I think you're very wise to let someone else do the recording – is you have to listen. Sometimes your guests will say something, which if you're just steamrolling away through, you will miss the subtlety.” Marketing budget“We did something a while back, talking to some musicians. One guy told me that the big mistake that independent bands make is they make the album and then they just say, ‘Let's put it out into the world and what happens will happen’. His point was like, ‘No, that album is 25% of your overall budget, you need another 75% to market it to get it to people’, because there's just so much stuff out there. How do you get discovered? A podcast is another (similar) message.” Tone of voice“It’s the tone of voice, how you talk to your audience. There's an old saying that TV is one to many, but radio is one to one. It should feel like you're there as the third person in a conversation. I think you get that with experience as you know your audience. Most podcasts cannot be super generalist. If you try to be everything to all people, you'll be nothing to everyone…laser focus on what your audience wants is hyper critical.” Being involved in A Life in Travel. What’s the experience been like?“It's humanised travel for me in the sense that when you look at all those websites and you go to hotels, you perhaps perceive it as just a big industry. But ‘A Life in Travel’ has shown me there's a lot of people behind it who are really passionate about it, most people probably don't realise that. It is quite a small community of people who provide this hospitality and travel services and are very dedicated to it, but you never hear the stories. You're bringing the stories out.” How has travel changed your life?“It opened my horizons or understanding of what the world is. For the longest time, I lived and basically just wanted to be in urban cities. Since meeting my wife, I now have been brought to these places which aren't big bustling cities. It's sort of like, what life can be, has changed. You can just enjoy sitting on a train for seven hours, going through mountains and this sort of wonderful scenery. And that's an experience, which I think if I hadn't allowed that to happen, I'd probably be a different person.” Note: This interview was recorded at the beginning of the year before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted life. In the early days with more people working from home, Kenn said there was a drop in podcast downloads with the disappearance of the commute but as the crisis evolved, people did switch back to podcasts, looking for alternative sources of entertainment and information other than the perennial onslaught of depressing COVID-19 news. Recording equipment also sold out as podcasters were forced to record their episodes from home.

An affinity with sound has followed Martin throughout his life; from the discovery of his love for the guitar following the passing of his father, to becoming a music producer today. The Managing Director of Meesta Production experiences the world through sound, and translates thoughts and emotions into lines of music. Tune into this episode to hear what the soundscapes of places like Berlin, Singapore, Tibet and Nepal sound like to Martin. “People think that in order to meet society’s standards, you need to do something you don’t love…the older I get, the more I discover…that you maximise those things, (not only) financial success but also personal success throughdoing exactly what you love, and not the other way around.” Martin Reiher (7:30)

Having achieved many firsts throughout her illustrious career, the woman who wears many hats is still to date, best known as the first woman and the first Singaporean to be appointed General Manager of Raffles Hotel in the city-state. This trailblazing hotelier who grew up in a family that went from rags to riches, and then to rags again, shares on what her childhood experiences taught her about life and her thoughts on the hospitality industry.   “I am not a perfectionist, because I understood (from when I was) very young that there is no perfect life. You cannot be 100% in everything you do, whether it’s (being) very successful 100%, and you’re also a successful wife and a wonderful mother and so forth. Some people call it realism…I take life as it comes.” – Jennie Chua (7:20)

A lawyer by training and an entrepreneur by nature, Loh Lik Peng saw an opportunity during the Asian Financial Crisis which spurred his first foray into the hospitality industry, as well as the F&B industry eventually. The founder of Unlisted Collection delves into how he came to open Singapore’s first urban boutique hotel before it became a trend, and the models that drive his businesses. “Travel industry is a people industry; you’re always facing customers. Some of them will be nasty to you, some of them you’ll love, you’ll make the best friends of your life. But all of it requires a certain mindset, a certain feel for. So, I always encourage people who want to be a hotelier, a chef, go work a few weeks, few months and get a feel for it. If you find your true calling, you’ll have the happiest career ever.” – Loh Lik Peng (33:56)

The hardcore music-loving man of Syrian-British mixed heritage is at home everywhere, and yet does not call any specific country home. The travel technology specialist and CEO of HotelsCombined shares on his dynamic background, his perspectives on travel as a service provider and as a leisure traveller himself, as well as his perspectives on technology.  “I see my phone as an extension of my mind…I don’t think it makes me dumber, it just frees my mind up to do other things. Maybe to think differently, or to be a bit more objective about stuff, rather than having to store information that I used to. I think it’s important that the mind is thinking and processing, and I don’t think that (has been) taken away.” – Hichame Assi (15:27)

One Kind House, the Airbnb experience run by the Soh family, is inspired by the sense of community and togetherness of kampung living. This father and daughter team share on the motivations behind establishing this experience, the things they learned along the way and their thoughts on travel.   “…I think the most powerful thing that travel could be… if all the young people could travel to a different place to experience a different culture and to understand that people are different, but deep down inside we’re so much the same, and find those similarities. Travel can be so powerful in building this sense of empathy and understanding.” – Calvin Soh (25:23) “How has travel changed my life? I think a lot of the things I learn in school is a one-sided story. It is nice to know what is the other side of the story and to know the perspective like why they made this decision to do certain stuff and be a certain way.” – Ava Soh (33:00)

Stephan’s love for adventure and the unconventional has chartered his life – from being a teenage deejay way before it was cool, to starting an online travel agency in South Africa before big players took interest in the continent. The founder and CEO of Travelstart shares on what drove him to migrate from Sweden to South Africa, inspirations from music and the motivation behind his persistent pursuit to impact the face of travel in Africa. “…I think the world is your stage and you don't look at a country as your home. You look at the culture, the civilisation. You look at the people around you. You look at the tribe basically, as your home.” – Stephan Ekbergh (6:25)

After leaving her corporate job in 2008, Chef Shen launched into the Singapore F&B scene by setting up shop at a hawker centre to sell Nasi Lemak. With 11 years of experience and a slew of lessons learnt along the way, the Ownselfmakechef private home dining chef shares her guiding philosophy on food and interesting food facts in relation to the history of the world. "Fusion in cuisine does not exist. When was the tomato introduced to Italy? In the 14th century. When were chillies brought into Asia? Where were they from? They're not from Asia…There is no line…I think to be relevant as a chef, in any field actually, we have to keep an open mind, that we constantly look ahead whilst remembering the past and being in the present." – Shen Tan (15:07)

A passion for people has seen Michael through his career, from his first days as a dishwasher to now the Chairman and CEO of Accor Asia Pacific. That same passion continues to fuel his excitement for travel and the big job ahead. “(Hospitality) is still a people industry, that is without question, its greatest attribute.” – Michael Issenberg (10:33)   

Founders of film production company Bananamana share on how they found their groove, and on how asking tough questions led them to discover what they truly love to do. From being a doctor and a rock band member to now being filmmakers, the positive reception for Jason and Christian’s feature film Jimami Tofu taught them the importance of finding their own voice and the courage to be true to themselves. “It was a piece of philosophy we followed and we sort of adapted it, which is would you do it for free? That's how you find your passion. So, we took that a notch up, which is would we pay to do it?” – Christian Lee (10:26) “So that's when we started to change our mind about what a market means, and if a small percentage of that buy t-shirts and some CDs, we've got something going. We don't even have to look beyond our borders.” – Jason Chan (34:15)