Samanah Duran is no stranger to brand-building. A Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, the British entrepreneur has worked in fashion, media and entertainment, and is the founder of digital media agency BEYOUROWN.
Under this umbrella, Duran has launched the BEYOUROWN Podcast, focusing on female entrepreneurship and helping bring fresh learnings to women in business. The podcast has featured guests from the worlds of TV, beauty, art and more, and Duran is committed to growing the brand into a content powerhouse.
We spoke to Duran about what drove her to start her podcast, her commercial strategy, and how podcasts help her spur greater creativity.
How would you describe your podcast?
So BEYOUROWN Podcast is hosted by myself as the founder of BEYOUROWN, but we're also in collaboration with Winject Studios who are a broadcasting studio and they fulfil that sector for us. We're on a mission obviously to succeed and lead, and also drive casual conversations that hope to inspire other women in business.
Why did you start your podcast?
It was really out of the need to share an in-depth conversation, that would be authentic and transparent and relatable for our women in business. So they could come away from it feeling inspired and motivated and hopefully take some tips, hacks, pieces of advice, so that they can apply it to their everyday business and everyday lives in business.
What advice do you wish you'd been given when you first started?
Well, that's an interesting one. I would probably say, don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. It's a great saying that my granddad always gave to me, always advised me that until something really happens, it's pointless stressing. And then when it does happen, we'll deal with it at the time. But until it happens just hang fire and carry on.
How many people does it take to create an episode of your show?
Between six and seven. That goes right through to the design team in New York, myself, the guest and also the producers that we've got working on the show as well.
Do you monetize your podcast?
Yes, we do. I'm particularly fond of monetising it and working with PR agencies, or communications agencies or even independent retail startups, small, business owners, that are happy to advertise on our site, but again, with it being female focused and with an audience that are mostly women in business, the partnerships and collaborations that we do have have to serve a purpose. So it's pointless to take on any collaborations or partnerships that don't align well with our purpose and what our brand message is.
How do you promote your podcast?
Across all of our socials - so the typical Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and then obviously online as well. So we've got a great omnichannel strategy in place, but I also use my own platform to showcase what I do as well, as a personal brand.
What have you learned about yourself since starting the podcast?
I've always been interested in hearing other people's stories. I find it so inspirational, especially when I listen to women who have started with very little and just really grafted and worked hard to be in the positions that they are currently. I always find them, personally, very inspirational and I use it as a motivational tool when I'm having a particularly bad day. Because there's always someone that's had it a little bit worse than you. Although all problems are relative at the time. I think that it's just great to listen to other women and then it makes me want to push myself and learn more about myself and, and look at my own strengths and my own weaknesses and how I can evolve from that as a human being.
Who listens to your podcast?
Again, I would definitely say we're more female centric so our audience would be probably What I would like to describe as probably set in three different tiers, you've got the young women who want to feel motivated and inspired; they're probably looking to start a business but they don't know where to get started.
Then we've got the ones that are already running a business and just like to listen in and probably get a few little bits of information, some tips, maybe some resources - or just listen for some advice, to scale and grow their existing business that they already have. And then we've got the others that are just part of the community that we've built at BEYOUROWN. They're probably at C-suite level. They probably have no intention to start their own business, but they love the idea of being part of BEYOUROWN as a community.
What was the last podcast you listened to?
I am always listening to The Win-Win Effect by Chris Ross at Winject Studios. He's the guy behind it, and he's always putting some really great, thought-provoking pieces out there that make you sit back and think, Oh, good God; it makes you reevaluate certain areas of your life, whether it's authenticity, whether it's gratitude, whether it's working on yourself and being the best version of yourself, right over to the professional aspect of building sales, marketing. He's always got interesting things that he's put on his podcast.
