Jake Pearson  00:00

Are you trying to figure out the secret to happiness, we're here at "What makes you happy" with Jake Pearson, we want to make that happiness more accessible for you in your life. So stick around as we interview everyday people, inspirational leaders and your favorite celebrities on what makes them happy.

Welcome back to the podcast where we ask the one question what makes you happy. My name is Jake Pearson. And today we have with us Sam Blacker, who is a Podcast Producer, which is fitting because we're on a podcast, Sam, how are you?

Sam Blacker  00:37

I am fantastic. Very happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Jake Pearson  00:41

Thank you for coming on the show. Where are you coming from today?

Sam Blacker  00:43

I just moved to Newcastle of December last year. So I'm in Newcastle at the moment, but I've moved-- I was literally up in North Queensland and Mackay for a few years before here. So I move around a bit.

Jake Pearson  00:54

Beautiful. Well, thank you for joining us today on what makes you happy. And what makes you happy?

Sam Blacker  00:59

Podcasting... And I know that seems a little like, 'Oh, we are on a podcast.' And I'm just going to say that podcasting makes me happy. It seems like the easy answer. But it's literally everything I do, it's what I sort of-- I used to be in radio before this. And it's what it was, you know, things weren't great, radios dying as an industry. That's my opinion. But anyway, it was my escape. It was when I had some dark times in radio, it was an creative outlet that helped me revamp and re change things up. It's just made me happy. I've talked to people about podcasting. And I have to check myself because I'm like, I'm sorry, I've talked for an hour. I could just keep going forever and ever and ever. I think even before we started recording mate, like, I was just talking random things about tech and stuff. And if we hadn't checked ourselves, I feel like I could have kept talking to you even then before we started recording for an hour.

Jake Pearson  01:50

But that's great. And that just shows that what tech and podcasting means to you and that that's what I want to know what is podcasting mean to you, that makes you so happy in your life?

Sam Blacker  01:58

I love it. It makes me happy for a few reasons. One is as a content creator, I love just how broad it is. I believe it's truly the most easily accessible content form that also has the greatest breath for what it can cover. And I tell so many of my clients, there's an audience for everything. And it's true, and in so many different ways. There's an audience for a finance podcast that goes for 10 minutes, there's an audience for a finance podcast that goes for an hour and a half. There's an audience for a podcast, that's four hours of D&D Dungeons and Dragons. There's everything and I love it. It's so cool. So I think I was saying there was two points. So for that-- But then also, I just love just that you can make it whatever you want it to be, I guess it was just the same point I was making. I don't really know what my second point was? 

Jake Pearson  02:54

You having sort of that control to do what you want.

Sam Blacker  02:58

And as someone who worked in commercial radio, who is very used to having daily Air Checks where your boss was like, not that, not that, do that do that, to be able to sort of come in and be like, just have a crack. Let's do it is a lot of fun.

Jake Pearson  03:12

So you the listener may be sort of sitting here wondering, well, how does podcasting and all of this kind to me being happy? Well, Sam, what advice would you give for someone from what you've learned in your life who was struggling to find happiness?

Sam Blacker  03:27

I think the thing that I learned from podcasting and why it makes me happy, and I reckon how other people can apply it is that I had some times where I was feeling pretty trapped in radio, I'd spent 5, 6 years working at this career. And I didn't have other skill sets that I thought I had, I was like, radios it and I'm seeing a lot of walls coming up, a lot of things. And I was, you know, getting sidelined and stuff. I had a boss-- Not a boss, I had someone in the industry, I just been sort of downsized in a job. So I turned to this other guy. And I said, What can I do? And he said, 'Oh some people just don't have that X factor.' And I was like, oh, the industry was being toxic. Everyone was being difficult. And I was finding myself so fixated on that. What podcasting provided for me was an outlet to create separate from that. And just the moment I was able to creatively remove myself from that space, even though, I was still doing it for work, but just find a new space to put myself in, it made me happier, it changed my outlook. It gave me things to look forward to, other things to focus on rather other than just the dark stuff to focus on. 

So for me, podcasting just represents that I had that ability and I had that for the mind to make a shift and that brought happiness for me. 

Jake Pearson  04:47

I love that you know giving yourself an opportunity to put yourself in a different space and have that creative control. Sam, that is beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that with us on a What Makes You Happy Podcast and where can our guests find you on Instagram?

Sam Blacker  05:02

Okay on Instagram it's just the podcast Butler, same on Facebook. I've got a website the podcastbutler.com Those are where my business stuff is. I do have set at @blackersam on Instagram where I just put some random stuff but yes, if anyone hit me up I'm always keen to chat podcast.

Jake Pearson  05:19

Beautiful. Fantastic, and I knew the listener can go and connect with Sam by checking out the episode description below. So Sam once again thank you so much for coming on the podcast to share what makes you happy. 

Sam Blacker  05:28

Thanks. Podcasting makes me happy. So even five minutes of this made me happy. Cheers mate!

Jake Pearson  05:34

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope it gives you something to think about on your quest to discover what makes you happy. Don't forget to leave a review or a comment and follow us on all our social media platforms so you can see our upcoming guests calendar. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.