🤬 What brands misunderstand about podcast creators (and vice versa)

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🔥➡️ Press the Advantage

Too many creators pause to celebrate the spark instead of fanning it. The truth is, creative rhythm is fragile. Once you’re in flow, hesitation kills it faster than failure ever could.

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🎙️ Signal Flow: Jeremy Westphal

Industry game changers and valiant minds share their wisdom, adversities, and paths to innovation.

Jeremy Westphal is the Director of Partnerships at Gen-Z Media, focusing on marketing, creative services, advertising, and business partnerships, and previously worked in audio and podcasting for 10 years at Comedy Central, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and more under Paramount Global.

Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for flow and clarity.

I didn’t plan on working in podcasting. I started in theater, studying every corner of the craft. Acting, directing, stage management, box office, design. Back then, it felt like a generalist’s education. Now I see it for what it really was: training for a 360-degree brain.

Theater taught me to understand the whole system, not just my place in it. And that way of seeing is the through-line in everything I do at Gen-Z Media.

These days, my title says partnerships and ad strategy, but that barely scratches the surface. I work across ad sales, distribution, business development, creative, marketing, operations. Anything that touches a show or helps it reach its audience. I like knowing how every department works, what they need, what slows them down, and what helps them thrive.

It’s the same lesson I learned from a great assistant director on a film set: your job isn’t to know everything, it’s to know enough to help everyone.

Curiosity is the engine behind all of it. I hope I never lose it, even though I constantly feel like I’m not curious enough.

I admire people who live with that beginner’s mind, the ones who ask why, how, and what if without apology. I try to borrow some of that from them. When I hear something magical in a podcast, I think, How did they do that? Then I start pulling on the thread. Sometimes I can catch a little of that lightning myself.

But curiosity isn’t just a craft tool. It’s relational. It’s how you understand what someone truly needs, whether it’s a creator, a colleague, or a brand. I ask people the same question over and over: How can I help you? It cuts through ego, guesswork, and hidden expectations. And honestly, it makes the work more fun.

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Some of the best ideas I’ve heard in the last year came from conversations with no agenda. Just two people following a thread because it felt good.

That’s what people get wrong about partnerships. Creators sometimes misunderstand what brands actually want. Brands often misunderstand what creators actually need. But when you get everyone talking honestly, about goals, audiences, hopes, and guardrails, you can build something that works for all sides.

The worst thing you can do is rely on emails alone. The best thing you can do is get someone on the phone and actually talk like humans. You hear their tone. You catch nuance. You discover what they’re really trying to solve. And sometimes you walk away with an idea you never expected.

Working in kids and family audio adds another layer: COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). As someone who grew up on ‘80s cartoons and now has two kids of my own, I take that seriously.

We’re intentional at GZM: we separate ads clearly from the content, we keep things honest, and we aim our messaging at adults who are co-listening. Families experience our shows together, in cars and kitchens and living rooms. That matters.

And when it’s done well, it hits. I remember when I was at Nickelodeon, helping guide an early Blue’s Clues podcast. Not writing, not producing, just helping shape the podcast strategy and release. When the promo aired on TV, my son saw it and jumped up and down on the couch yelling, “Daddy, they like your work so much they put it on TV!” That moment cracked something open for me. It made the whole world of family audio feel bigger, softer, more meaningful.

That’s the gift of this field. In a moment when creative jobs feel scarce and uncertainty is the norm, I get to collaborate with wildly inventive people and make stories families can enjoy together. I get to help shape work my kids actually listen to. I get to be curious for a living. That’s more than I ever imagined.

🎧 Podcast of the Week: Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work

If you want a podcast that feels equal parts creative masterclass and behind-the-scenes magic, check out Drive to Work. Hosted by Magic: The Gathering head designer Mark Rosewater, each episode is a quick, thoughtful dive into creativity, iteration, world-building, and the messy joy of making things people love. It’s surprisingly inspiring for podcasters, proof that great ideas often take shape in the most ordinary moments…like your commute.

🥾 Further Exploration: Video podcasts become next streaming battleground

TikTok, Netflix, and Spotify are quietly turning video podcasts into the next streaming arms race. Here’s what that means for creators who want to stand out. It’s a smart snapshot of a rapidly shifting landscape, and a reminder that format experimentation isn’t a risk anymore. It’s an advantage.

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💡 The Quiet Spark

A weekly question to ignite fresh thinking, stir self-reflection, and fuel your creative process behind the mic.

What would your next episode sound like if you approached it with a beginner’s mind?