Speaker 1: Hi. I'm Holly Fry, host of Stuff You Missed in
Speaker 1: History Class, and as a woman podcaster, I know how
Speaker 1: important it is to amplify women's voices in this space.
Speaker 1: That is why I am so excited to be talking
Speaker 1: with a woman who is on her way to be
Speaker 1: one of tomorrow's leading voices in podcasting. She's one of
Speaker 1: the ten winners of Seneca Women to Hear search for
Speaker 1: the Next Great Female Podcasters, created in partnership with PNG
Speaker 1: and The Card by Seneca Women, Howard by MasterCard and Deserve.
Speaker 1: After six weeks of training at the Seneca Women Podcast Academy,
Speaker 1: she'll be launching her own show on the Seneca Women
Speaker 1: Podcast Network with My Heart. I am so delighted and
Speaker 1: grateful that I get to spend time today with Lola. Lola.
Speaker 1: But Lola, before I say anything about you or ask
Speaker 1: you more questions, I want you to introduce yourself. Well,
Speaker 1: my name is Lola, obviously, and I'm a mom believe
Speaker 1: in Chicago, and you know, dedicate my life to creating
Speaker 1: spaces and the right conditions for women to feel safe
Speaker 1: about telling their stories and just you know, working their
Speaker 1: way to where they can become advocate for themselves and
Speaker 1: creates just you know, joined the party and create a
Speaker 1: better world for everyone. At what point were you inspired
Speaker 1: to take that determination and that mission that you have
Speaker 1: into the podcasting space. At what point where you like,
Speaker 1: this really needs to be a podcast? Uh BEI Something
Speaker 1: incredible happened um in northern Nigeria in two when armed
Speaker 1: men stromed the school and kidnapped close to three girls.
Speaker 1: It started this bring Back our Girls campaign, which caught
Speaker 1: the attention of the whole world. Then I began to
Speaker 1: notice a pattern and that that in the days and
Speaker 1: weeks following that experience went After that news broke, the
Speaker 1: media outlets told the story of the kidnappings and left
Speaker 1: out the names of the girls. I mean, I really
Speaker 1: truggle with it. So it was at that point that I,
Speaker 1: you know, I decided to take my own pain and
Speaker 1: you know, and help women create spaces where they could
Speaker 1: tell their own stories. Because it became clear to me
Speaker 1: that when we're not telling our own stories, we just
Speaker 1: don't exist, you know. So that that I think is
Speaker 1: what fills the gap, what fills in the gap that
Speaker 1: women need to tell their own stories if we want
Speaker 1: to be highlighted and don't want to become footnotes in
Speaker 1: larger stories about whatever else someone thinks has a better
Speaker 1: angle than our identities. And you know, so I started
Speaker 1: a community on Facebook and we have you know, since
Speaker 1: grown to a combine total of two million women who
Speaker 1: live in more than one countries. So we've been finding
Speaker 1: our voice, refining our voice over time over the past
Speaker 1: six years, and it's just the real natural next step
Speaker 1: that we need to you know, leave this private spaces
Speaker 1: and start telling our stories and showing that we exist
Speaker 1: in the larger world. And that that's why having a
Speaker 1: podcast is just the best thing that we can do
Speaker 1: to start getting women out of the shadows, women from
Speaker 1: emerging cultures out of a shadow, and bringing us into
Speaker 1: the larger conversation the rest of the world is having
Speaker 1: about you know, the progress about you know, starting to
Speaker 1: limits the impact of patriarchy, about shutting down and misogyny
Speaker 1: and gender violence. So it is just, you know, it's
Speaker 1: the natural next step to the incredible and massive social
Speaker 1: movement that started about seven years ago. I am glad
Speaker 1: that you mentioned your movement because there is a movement
Speaker 1: going on to create more representation for women in the
Speaker 1: podcast space, and you have been selected as one of
Speaker 1: the Seneca Women to hear. What did that feel like
Speaker 1: when you found out that you were one of the winners? Essentially,
Speaker 1: it was absolutely everything. It felt like the universe lightning
Speaker 1: up to say to me. Yeah, Now, I have to
Speaker 1: tell you, that is a yes, a resounding yes that
Speaker 1: women like me don't often get. It always feels so lonely.
Speaker 1: You feel like you're the only one who's doing everything
Speaker 1: for everyone, and oftentimes that's the case. But Seneca Women
Speaker 1: and I Heart Radio saying yes to me, it didn't it.
Speaker 1: It felt it felt like validation, and it also felt
Speaker 1: like they weren't just you know, saying yes to me.
Speaker 1: They were saying yes to a nation of women that
Speaker 1: I lead, that I'm working with every day, that I'm
Speaker 1: walking beside every day. It's literally one of the best
Speaker 1: things that's ever ever happened to me and the movements
Speaker 1: that I've been creating. So what are you with all
Speaker 1: of this passion hoping to learn from the Seneca Women
Speaker 1: Podcast Academy so you can explode what you're already doing
Speaker 1: into a bigger space. It is one thing to have
Speaker 1: fire in your belly to change the world. It is
Speaker 1: quite a another thing to have access two people, to
Speaker 1: creative sponsorships, and to have access to you know, the
Speaker 1: tools to make it happen. And that is what Seneca
Speaker 1: Podcast Academy can do for me, is to show me
Speaker 1: the right way to bring the message that I have
Speaker 1: about women from emerging cultures to the rest of the world.
Speaker 1: You know, here's the right way to do it, and
Speaker 1: there's a way to accelerate the impact that you can have.
Speaker 1: I think that this has the potential to take my
Speaker 1: hands and walk me through the process. That's a dream
Speaker 1: that I never expected to see happen. Oh, I can
Speaker 1: tell you right now, I will be your first subscriber. Lola.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for spending this time with me
Speaker 1: and telling me about your passion, and I cannot wait
Speaker 1: to see what's next. Thank you. Inspiring words from one
Speaker 1: of the winners of Seneca Women to hear search for
Speaker 1: the next great female podcasters. So excited to hear her podcast,
Speaker 1: launching later this year alongside nine other amazing podcasts from talented,
Speaker 1: up and coming female voices, with support from the card
Speaker 1: by Seneca Women, powered by master Card and Deserve. It's
Speaker 1: the first credit card that rewards you three percent cash
Speaker 1: back when you shop from women owned businesses in the
Speaker 1: marketplace by Seneca Women. The card by Seneca Women is
Speaker 1: issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah Chartered Industrial Bank member
Speaker 1: f d i C. Learn more at Seneca Women dot com.