Podcast Growth Strategy
Scaling the SFAA Podcast Project Through Purposeful Leadership
Led the revival of the SfAA Podcast Project as Chair by re-imagining marketing processes, coordinating a new team structure, and growing global listenership by 300% through strategic leadership in a post-COVID, student-run environment.
Role
Chair and Strategic Lead
Timeline
8 Months
Team
6 Graduate Student Volunteers
Approach
Strategic goal setting, Cross-functional team leadership, Budget Negotiation between two parties, Podcast audience analysis
Objectives
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Revitalize the podcast in a digital-first post-COVID context.
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Set team goals and structure to increase accountability
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Re-imagine marketing practices to increase visibility to the archive
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Increase listenership and pre-conference engagement
Outcomes
Listenership increased by 300% across 18 countries. Team roles and a schedule were established to support ongoing growth. The podcast brand was revitalized with a new social content strategy, user survey, and conference marketing materials. We also enhanced transparency by tracking metrics and celebrating both successes and misses, which helped keep the team motivated.
01| SITUATION
The SfAA Podcast Project, launched in 2007 to share conference recordings, had transitioned from downloadable audio files to streaming platforms. The SfAA Podcast Project needed a strategic reboot to thrive in a post-COVID digital environment. As a student-run initiative, it had experienced high volunteer turnover and inconsistent promotion.
The challenge was to re-build sustainable systems that would outlast leadership changes and reconnect the podcast to its academic audience.
02| TASK
As Chair, I was responsible for revitalizing the podcast’s presence, establishing sustainable production workflows, and re-engaging both the SfAA community and broader audiences.
My goal was to modernize the initiative while preserving its mission of accessible anthropology.
03| ACTION
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Developed project objectives, meeting schedules and a role-based team structure to increase clarity and accountability
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Recruited new volunteers and led a team of 6 student volunteers
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Reimagined our social media content strategy to reflect consistent visuals, tone, and messaging
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Introduced new outreach materials including QR codes, conference flyers, and branded handouts
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Facilitated a user feedback survey through social media to understand listener interests and represent their preferences in the podcast materials
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Coordinated diversification of content by introducing 15-minute interviews with key conference participants
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Collaborated with SfAA leadership and UNT stakeholders to improve alignment and visibility
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Fostered a sustainable partnership by maintaining continuous communication between all parties to
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Negotiated the annual budget agreement between SfAA and UNT
04| RESULT
We built goals and surpassed them by scaling listenership by 300% across 18 countries, built a replicable leadership structure, refreshed the brand identity, and expanded our digital outreach while maintaining long-term collaboration between SfAA and UNT in the process.
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How I Grew...
Leadership Growth — Strategy, ownership, and leading by example.
I learned that successful leadership means laying out a clear roadmap with goals and timelines, while also empowering team members to lean into their strengths. It's equally about stepping up when extra work needs doing and stepping back when it's someone else’s moment to lead.
Skill Learned — Managing a creative team through transparency and shared wins.
Setting shared goals while allowing team members to choose their roles gave everyone ownership—and kept us nimble across a busy academic year. Tracking growth metrics and routinely reporting them, including both wins and misses, helped build trust and motivated the team by showing real progress.
Personal Discovery — Leadership feels different when you're invested.
I realized how deeply I cared about this community when I found myself thinking three steps ahead—not just about tasks, but about the people and possibilities we were shaping together.