BCI had the honor to speak with Podcast of the Year Winner, Paul Calcote, host of Real People Real Talk podcast. Paul is a young adult Pastor and speaker based in Houston, TX. He graduated from Mississippi College with a B.A. in Christian Studies and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a M.Div in Collegiate Ministry. The Real People Real Talk podcast features rich and relevant conversations about current events, relationships, mental health, inspirational stories, and much more but from a Christian worldview.
We had the opportunity to learn more about the mastermind behind it all!
Meet Paul (@paulwcalcote)
What inspired you to start your podcast?
For about two years, I knew I was called to the podcast. I look at my podcast as another way of fulfilling a great commission. This is my way of sharing the gospel and having conversations that we sometimes don’t have on Sunday morning.
What pushed you to start your podcast at the time that you did (May 2020)?
I began to pray, “Lord, what is another way to minister to people in a digital sphere?” Apostle Paul had access to paper and pen, but I'm pretty sure if he had access to the world wide web, he would have been doing ministry in a different type of way. I felt that podcasting is the new pulpit.
What is your favorite episode thus far?
"Shoot your Shot" is to date my favorite solo episode because I was sort of speaking to myself first. In the body of Christ, we can say that we’re waiting on God, when in actuality, God is waiting on us. Stop using “I’m waiting on God'' as an excuse to not walk in your purpose. Sometimes we act out of fear of failure, procrastination, or comparison. I want to take people from surviving to thriving. There’s a new level of peace, joy, and fulfillment that comes from walking in your purpose with obedience. I feel so accomplished releasing my podcast because I feel like I've answered God’s call.
There’s a new level of peace, joy, and fulfillment that comes from walking in your purpose with obedience.
What advice can you give for someone looking to start a podcast?
Seek the Lord. Engage with your community. Do your research. and just get started. Whatever gift God has given you, go for it. You also want to start a podcast for the right reasons. Mine is to minister to people. Ask God where He wants you to go, and check in with your community about what topics they want to hear about.
The main thing is also to just get started. Don’t wait on the right studio or all the right equipment. Give God what you have now. The biggest lesson from working on my podcast came when one of my cousins called me and said that because of my podcast, he was finding his way back to the Lord. It was that moment where I said, I don’t care if I get another download. Somebody is finding their way back to the Lord.
What are your tips on consistency?
There’s so much freedom with podcasts, but I feel whether you choose to release an episode daily, weekly, monthly, be consistent. Name of the game is faithfulness, but there’s a lot of grace with that. There's a grind, but I believe there's a healthy rhythm of rest. If I choose to take a break, I communicate that to my audience which is another piece to that consistency.
Faithfulness + Obedience = Success
What are markers of success in your podcast?
I think people fall off because they don’t get that instant gratification. Defining success is not necessarily the brand sponsorship or having a thousand downloads per episode. I would love all those things, but to me the highest form of success is that I'm walking in obedience, and that I'm being faithful to what God has called me to do now. Faithfulness plus obedience equals success.
If you’re looking to keep up with Paul Calcote, follow him on instagram (@paulwcalcote), and subscribe to the Real People Real Talk podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more!
Editor: Nia Stringfellow
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