In search of an idea for a podcast, I wanted to showcase one of the many powerful women that have influenced me in my life. My sister came to mind immediately, and particularly the selfless ambitions that encompass her everyday life. Kiersten has the dream of becoming a foster parent with her partner, Hunter Hartley. The process was a strenuous one being that not only is my sister currently living in Alabama, and lives a very busy lifestyle, but the flu crept up on me and has made even talking a struggle. I was lucky to be working with someone as caring and accommodating as Kiersten through this podcast. My first plan was to do this piece as a normal interview is conducted, simply have a conversation with my sister about her motivations in becoming a foster parent and present it as such. However, trying to record a phone conversation interview and make it feel as organic as though she was in the room with me proved to be very difficult. I decided to do two things in face of this, act as a sort of narrator showing a spotlight on my sister, and find ways to add music to mimic the emotional sentiment I was trying to convey. I enjoyed leading the story as a brief and subtle narrator, I didn’t feel like I was clumsily imposing on Kierstens story quite so much as I was when I recorded our regular conversation. I asked Kiersten, who is not always comfortable speaking publicly (or knowing it will be shared), to act as though she was interviewing to become a foster parent, where the interviewer was her best friend. I wanted her to be able to both hone in on her motivations and inspirations as well as be comfortable enough to share genuinely. On a number of occasions I found myself wanting to capture the expression on my sisters face, as I am often accustomed to portraying the emotions of others through photographs. Sorting through the different audio files from our conversation, I tried to seek out the ones in which I could truly hear my sisters emotional connection to this topic breaching the calm tone of her voice. Using soothing music with dramatic undertones, I hoped to enhance the sentimentality of Kierstens words. My tone is kept rather balanced and straightforward throughout the podcast, yet gentle. I wanted this piece to be easy to listen to as listeners take just 3.5 minutes out of their day to explore what drives one of the most giving, empathetic people I’ve met in my life. Feeling so inspired by her in this piece, I wanted to continue on this trend and give Kiersten the opportunity to discuss who it is that influenced this commitment of hers. As you will hear, she chose Maria Cortes, a woman with whom she taught a class of children in Port Chester, New York. I felt compelled to add a lighthearted clip at the end to both highlight the happy couple taking on this venture, as well as leave the listener on a happy note.
While I would still like to work on where music starts/ends, maybe even change songs I have, do any pieces of music stand out as distracting or out of place?
I didn’t talk much, or even introduce myself because I really wanted to focus on Kiersten, is this a problem, should I do an intro for myself?
Is there any particular point you’re feeling bored/losing interest so that I can try to throw in some excitement/ effect?

https://soundcloud.com/emma-lavery-564068955/kiersten-taylor-on-becoming-a-foster-parent-1