Colin Gray: The Podcast Host/Alitu

"Seek feedback, no matter how bad it is, and use that to improve and iterate"
 
Colin Gray, Podcaster at The Podcast Host / Alitu  speaks about his career in the Creative and Cultural sector.

When did you decide that you wanted to work within the Creative and Cultural Industries and what influenced that decision?
I went to university to study science because I was decent at it at school, but I didn't really enjoy it, with the lack of creativity and control. I got really into games coding at that point though and ended up doing a lot of animation for games. The combination of coding and art really appealed to me and draw me into that world.
 
What did your career path look like?
I worked in a bar full time for about 3 years after university, and then ended up doing a lot of part time jobs through my 20s, from call centres to event companies. I worked to build my own business instead, taking on web design jobs and any drawing / animation work. I ended up taking a teaching job on a web design course at a local college and really enjoyed that. From there, I progressed through the academic world, ending up as a learning technology lecturer at a university. That’s when I discovered podcasting, having used it as a teaching tool.
 
Describe a typical day in your working life...
I’ll often start the day by writing a blog post, or a script for a podcast I’m working on. Then, I’ll meet with some of the team to talk about our ongoing projects – perhaps a big campaign we’re running to promote one of our shows, or a new podcast. I might then do some recording – either video or podcasting. Then, I’ll often get into product development work for our podcast maker app, Alitu. I usually end the day with admin and many other things that just have to be done!
 
What qualifications and experience are necessary for your role?
No qualifications – experience counts. Create things! I employ anyone who can show that they’ve DONE stuff on their own initiative. You need to have created a blog, a podcast or videos, and have shown you’ve done work to build an audience around it.
 
Advice
Start yesterday! Get into it, and start shaping things, right away. Too many people procrastinate and never get anything out into the world. Instead, just do it, create that messy first draft, and put it out. Seek feedback, no matter how bad it is, and use that to improve and iterate. Doing that 50 or 100 times is how you get better and end up with the skills to create something amazing.