Dr. Aisha El-Amin: And so, what I hope for all of us is that
our podcasts make people better.
They make people feel more affirmed.
They make people feel more knowledgeable, and that's the power that we
use with the words that we have.
Neil McPhedran: Welcome to Continuing Studies, a podcast for higher education
podcasters to learn and get inspired.
I'm Neil McPhedran, founder of Podium Podcast Company, and Higher Ed Pods.
Jennifer-Lee: And I'm Jennifer-Lee, founder of JPod Creations.
Podcasting is broadcasting.
We want you to know you're not alone.
In fact, there are many of you higher ed podcasters out there, and
we can all learn from each other.
Neil McPhedran: That's right, Jen.
And on that, we're gonna try something a little bit different today.
We're gonna throw in each episode a question out to the audience, and
hopefully we can hear from some of you.
So this is how we can learn from each other.
And so you can submit your questions as well.
But Jen, we're gonna start off with one that you and I had a
conversation about with a podcast that we are helping to launch.
And we had a conversation around do you launch with one episode,
do you launch with two episodes, do you launch with three episodes?
What's the answer?
What do we think?
Jennifer-Lee: I don't know, because there's always so many
difference in opinions out there.
And usually a lot of people say three, but now it's kind of changing.
So we want your feedback because podcasting as we're learning
is not a one size fits all.
Neil McPhedran: I'm kind of in the launch with one and then move into your cadence.
I think, Jen, you're in the camp of launch with more than one.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, I think maybe not three now.
And, and again, I think it's podcast dependent.
I think launching with two, especially if you're not gonna have another
episode for a little bit, like say you're gonna do it biweekly or monthly
or wherever, I think it's important to have two because people will get more
of a taste of what you're all about.
Neil McPhedran: What you're saying is if you're being introduced to
this brand new podcast, having more than one, like obviously you have a
trailer there, but having more than one episode out of the gates, it
gives you, oh, kinda like the Netflix.
You start watching a show and it moves into the next episode and
you just kind of keep watching.
So that's your thought on that front, right?
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
Because if you get excited about a podcast, like for example, I, this
podcast was established and I didn't find out about it till later, but I
listened to the kill list and I feel like if I only listen to one episode, I
probably wouldn't have kept listening.
Neil McPhedran: There you go.
Okay, well, let's throw it out there.
Both Jen and I have our email addresses in the show notes.
Send us a note.
We like to hear from people.
If you have a question, you want us to throw it to the audience, send it our way.
We would love to hear from you and your experience on this.
Do you launch with one episode?
Do you launch with two episodes?
More than two episodes?
What do we think?
What have we seen?
Love to hear it.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, and feel free to reach out to us on LinkedIn.
I've been contacted by a lot of higher education podcasters recently
that I've never met, or they're just finding us and it's nice to
all be connected to each other.
Neil McPhedran: Yes, do please.
That's great.
Okay, so Jen, today we've got a great episode.
We are interviewing Dr. Aisha El-Amin, and she is the executive Associate
Vice Prevost of Student Success and Belonging at the University of Illinois
Chicago, which is where we hosted the PodCon, PodCon number one, right, Jen?
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
And she did the intro.
We're very grateful for her and everyone at the institution
for allowing us to be there.
Neil McPhedran: That's right.
Now Aisha is also the host of, and this is what we get into a bunch in
this episode, of the Black Excellence Podcast, which features the powerful
and inspiring stories of University of Illinois, Chicago black students,
faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.
So I won't keep going.
We'll just save it all for the interview.
Why don't we just jump into it?
Jennifer-Lee: Let's jump in.
Neil McPhedran: Welcome, Aisha.
It's great to have you joining us here on this episode of the
Continuing Studies podcast.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Well, thank you Neil, and Jen and Katherine for having me.
I certainly appreciate being in community with you all and
having some conversations.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, we met you at a Higher Ed PodCon and you are, as we
introduced you off the top vice provost at the University of Illinois, Chicago,
where you hosted the PodCon and, and you gave just a wonderful opening remarks to
the audience, and I know that was really well received, so thank you for that.
And thank you for hosting what is the first of, we thought quite a
successful event, and it was lovely having you attend as well too.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: No, I absolutely agree.
It was great to be in a space with so many higher ed podcasters, right?
You kind of feel like when you're talking into the microphone that you're talking
into a void, you know, you don't know how it's being received and it's not
like, you know, live and you've got an audience and you can see reactions.
And so to be in community with other folks doing that is really good.
And I'm the Executive Associate Vice Provost of Student
Success and Belonging at UIC.
I've had such a great, I think I've been here 21 years in different roles.
Neil McPhedran: Wow.
Congrats.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Yeah, so I got my PhD here and I kind of never left.
That's the story, right?
You know, it's like, okay, why leave a good space, right, so.
Neil McPhedran: Well maybe that's a good jumping off point.
Like maybe you could just sort of explain for us your role, because I think that's
interesting how your podcast, which we're gonna get into, plays into that role.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Absolutely.
So my role really does oversee the Student Success enterprise at UIC, and
that includes seven different units.
We have the CHANCE program.
We have Latino American Recruitment and Educational Services Program,
Native American Support Program, our Asian American Student Academic
Program, our African American Academic Network, our Academic Center for
Excellence, and our TRIO program.
And all of these spaces are spaces where students can go and get the supports that
they need and have those barriers removed.
We have about 36,000 students.
And so we wanna make sure that each of those students have a space where they can
go to talk to an advisor, to get coaching, to find out where there's mental health
resources available to answer a question around housing insecurity or food needs.
So these are spaces that do that.
Also offer tutoring, academic support, high impact practices.
And so that is part of the work that I do.
The funny part of this story is.
I started the podcast when I was Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and
Belonging in the Office of Diversity.
I started it because what I heard from students and the, the podcast
is UIC's Black Excellence Podcast.
I started it because what I heard from students was that they really needed to
see and hear more of how it looked to be a black student at UIC and to succeed.
And one thing that kind of pushed me to do it was a student was graduating
and said, it's really funny.
I had this series that I started where I was highlighting faculty members and
their scholarship and giving out free books to their works to students, right?
So that they can kind of have some interdisciplinary
understandings of different spaces.
And a student came up to me after and said, it's funny, I didn't know
we had black professors at UIC.
Neil McPhedran: Oh wow.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: And I said, what?
Like where?
Where have you been?
Like, they're all over, right?
And so what I realized is that there could actually be a student that went
through and did not get that connection.
And so that's what made me start the Black Excellence Podcast.
And of course, I get the best ideas at the very last minute.
And so it was December of 2021 when I had this idea and I said, we're
doing it for Black History Month.
We're doing it every day, 28 days.
I'm gonna have somebody else highlight it.
And so we did it.
It was a huge success and we continued it.
We did it for the next year as, as monthly.
And then we went to quarterly one year with all of the things that were going on.
And in between that time I switched into this role and this was an
inaugural role, so they, it, it was not before, so there was a lot of work
to do and now we're back to monthly.
We have won awards for it.
And it really, you know, it's really just them giving advice, them
telling about their career paths.
Them also saying, I had a child when I was in school.
And this is how I navigated that.
I did have housing insecurity and this is how that made me go into social work.
And so hearing those stories and knowing that, you know, all
the paths are not straight, but they can lead to great things.
So that, that's a little intro into what started me.
Jennifer-Lee: And they're very honest here.
Like I was recently listening to the Ashley Blackwell one and she was, my mom
was doing her education while I was in the womb, and then she's like, I'm now
doing my masters while having children.
And she also admitted too that she, at one point she dropped a program and
she didn't wanna tell the person that was like, you need to do this program.
And she's like, I was too scared to be, I'm actually out of it.
And she said it was great.
He was all of a sudden like, oh, that's fine.
Let's pivot.
And I was like, that's so relatable to everybody, because I think a lot of
times they're like someone that believes in us so much, and then we don't wanna
tell them that we think we failed.
They're like, no, let's help you.
Let's go for another one.
So I thought it was great.
So I could see why it spawned after 28 days.
Maybe you guys could have kept going every day after.
Neil McPhedran: Wow.
Jennifer-Lee: Oh no.
We could not have, I was
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: already a saying.
I was like, what did I do?
Jennifer-Lee: 28 days is a commitment.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: It is, you know, because when I came up
with it, then I talked to my partner in strategic marketing.
I'm like, okay, we gotta partner on this.
And so we just kind of got together.
Alumni give us some good folks.
In no way was it me alone doing it.
It was so many different partners, and I know the work that you all do.
None of this could be done without partnerships, right?
In the collective understanding of, okay, this is your part, this is your section.
If you could do this.
I even had my husband who does podcasts as well.
Because we had no one that did podcasts at the university, so
I was like, I need an intro.
I need an editor.
So he is like, okay, pro bono, I got you.
Now we have a whole podcast team.
We have several podcasts that have launched recently as a university, so
it was really kind of on the cutting edge of that space for our university.
Jennifer-Lee: So when you say podcast teams, are there different roles that
people have within the university that are actual, like positions or is
this also like side things in addition to other jobs that they're doing?
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: This is a great question, Jen, because
for me it's in addition, right?
And it's additive and this, I think it's affirming.
I think it's, you know, it, it does a lot of things, but my partner, Grace
in strategic marketing communications, this is what she focuses on.
This is her job.
And so I, I just saw one is, this is UIC as a new podcast that it's come
out, then they announced another.
So she is building on those and also seeing where are the other spaces across
the university that people are already doing this on their own so that they can
get the supports, you know, in doing so.
Because once she started editing and she's giving me people to,
to interview, I'm like, oh, this is how I should be doing it.
Neil McPhedran: That's great.
Your story, where you started it and then you reached out to your husband
is not dissimilar to other stories we've heard from three, four years
ago, which is what you're talking about, where there was less of a push
on a lot of campuses with podcasting.
You know, we're seeing that changing now.
At Think Fast Talk Smart with Matt Abrahams, which he's five years in now.
When he first started that he had both of his sons helping him edit that
back then, and then the communications department at the Graduate School of
Business at Stanford helped him out.
So I think that that's a regular path where you sort
of reach for other resources.
So that's great.
But partnering with the marketing and communications
department makes a lot of sense.
They've got the skill sets and they can help someone in a role such as
yourselves, because I would imagine there isn't someone in your direct
department who would be able to help you do this normally, right.
So.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: No, and I think because you all did so much work in
getting folks together for the conference, you really intimately understand
what it is to kind of the history.
You are making me think as you talk that there needs to be kind of a
history article to mark the time, right?
Because when you are trailblazing and when you're amongst the first, you have
to cobble together some things, right?
You have to figure out, okay, my son and my husband over
here, we get this person right?
And 10 years from now, people won't know that it didn't look the same.
It's kind of like with my daughters, they're like, what do
you mean you had be on the phone with a cord and stay in the room.
Like, what are you talking about?
So that will be the world of podcasts.
They're like, what do you mean you were at a whole university and there
wasn't like a team of folks who did this work in editing and everything, right?
And so I think it's, it's a good piece of history there.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
Jennifer-Lee: Well, and that's the thing is because podcasting is still so young,
and because I come from a traditional background in radio and stuff, which has
been around for so long, it's interesting because even now with Neil and I have
businesses where we help different podcasts and universities are part of
that, there's not really people that have a background in podcasting yet.
You're starting to find one or two of those people that
have been in it for six years.
But like students can be like a normal career where people are
like, oh yeah, I've worked on a podcast for like six, eight years.
So it will be really neat.
And like a lot of students who are in communications or broadcasting,
they'll probably start lending their talents too, I guess.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: It is really funny.
I have a friend, you know, I'll shout her out Tenia Harris, who just opened
a bookstore Beyond the Literature in Homewood, Illinois, and she put a
podcast studio in the back of the store.
And when I say she's got it laid out, she just did a grand
opening this past weekend.
Like the best top of the line microphones, the cameras, the setting with the
fireplace, and like all of the things.
So, so I think in line with what we're talking about, the world is shifting,
leaning in towards that, right?
Where we see radio is different now 'cause you know, when I, I
was growing up with radio, you had to turn it on and listen to it.
Now it's like, I'll listen to AHA radio, I'll listen to, you know,
like it's all of these spaces.
And so we have to use the spaces that we have to pivot and respond in ways
that make sense to our current times.
And so bookstores, having podcast studios or you know, like all of the things,
newspapers have podcasts now, right?
I just listened to NPR this morning and they were saying how audio
podcast is shifting to video podcasts.
And part of that shift, uh, Netflix is teaming up with Spotify.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
They have podcasts on Netflix.
Disney Plus has podcasts already on it too.
It's like rewatching the podcast with the celebs of those TV series.
There's so many different avenues, which is really neat to see.
And so, but now you have a new podcast space to go into.
You think that maybe you'll be using your friend's podcast space
for video podcasts in the future?
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Well, it, it's, it's opened up a lot of thought for me.
I'm like, okay, this might look different.
This might be really cool to try something different.
And I think that's also when I do hear and meet different podcasters,
I think there's something that's pretty amazing about 'em, right?
To be able to get on and talk to folks, have dialogue that will bring
the level of awareness, the level of knowledge, the inspiration, all
the things that these spaces do.
I think it's pretty amazing, right?
And I guess some people who I want on the podcast like,
yeah, I don't really do that.
I'm like, do what?
Talk.
Like it's not, it's not a thing.
Neil McPhedran: So you, I mean, you sit in the administration office.
I'm speaking metaphorically there.
But you know, we've chatted with a lot of, Jen and I have been doing
this for a little over two years now.
So we're up into our 60th episode.
So we've chatted a lot with different higher education podcasters.
We haven't chatted with a lot of folks like yourself who are actually, who sit
in that administration office, which I think is a really interesting opportunity.
Maybe you could speak a little bit to that of other administrators out there
that are sort of thinking about using the podcast channel as part of, you know,
the voice from your office, if you will.
I just think it's such a powerful opportunity for folks such as yourself.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: I, I agree with you, and this is something
that I have thought about.
I have, and most folks in that administrative roles, leadership roles
they have open office hours or open door policies because they wanna make
sure that folks have an opportunity to talk to them and hear from them.
What I have found is that people don't very often take advantage of that,
and so I think there's a space for administrators to talk and inspire
and inform in a way that someone may not click on that email, right?
And so even a weekly team podcast, right?
I got 63 members of my team, right?
Like if, if I wanted to tell them all something, could I do a segment on, okay,
here's what's going on in higher ed.
Here's how it's impacting us.
Here are the things that, you know, some inspirational quotes,
like what does that look like?
As opposed to, here's an email, or let me at our all staff
meetings say these things, right?
And so people, the ability for people to pop into a podcast when
it's convenient for them, when they can listen, I think there's
something pretty special about that.
And it meets people where they are.
And especially in a space where we talk about meeting students where they are.
How do we as leaders and administrators meet our teams where they are, meet
our students where they are, when oftentimes we are multiple levels
away from touchpoints with the daily lives of those students, right?
So I think there's a lot of utility in podcasting for administrators as well.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah.
I've got two sons that are in university, and one of them
just started in first year.
And he's taking calculus as a prerequisite to a program he wants to get into.
And he didn't get a very good mark on his first calculus exam.
And so I'm encouraging him to go see his professor about it.
And he's like, well, what do I talk about?
Just talk about what you just told me.
I tried to study and this is what it is.
Like, what am I doing wrong?
At the very least, you're gonna get face time with your professor.
You're in a room of multiple hundreds of people.
He's gonna recognize you and you'll have a bit of a connection point there.
But as an administrator, you're that many more rungs removed.
And I think your point about meeting them where the students are, it
also speaks to the fact that the written word is less and less read.
And I think that we've got this younger generation now that is more used to
alternate forms of media, and I think this is the challenge of academia,
that academia is based on this.
I went to a talk at a symposium at NYU a couple of weeks ago about
this, but just basically about the currency of academia is really the
written word, it's publish or perish.
Um, not only is there a level here of, as an administrator, how can you
connect more with the students and have more sort of connection points.
But there's also, I think, a challenge we have in academia that it, it, there's so
much of a focus on the written word, but there's less uptake on that written word.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Yeah.
And don't add AI into it.
Neil McPhedran: Oh, right.
Yeah.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: So what is the written word, right?
And whose word is it?
Yeah, that's a whole other layer and challenge and complexity and dynamic
that, uh, spaces that do have such a huge value placed on the written word, how
do we adjust to that shift, you know?
My nephew, he's in Delaware at school, and he said, first he started hating
this professor because he, no computers, no phones allowed in this classroom.
But you need to bring a notebook and a pen and all papers are due, handwritten, whew.
Lots of time in class to write your paper, but he said, I want
you to think, I want you to write.
I don't want you to depend on anyone else.
I don't want nobody else spell checking you.
I don't want nobody else giving you thoughts.
I want you to be able to do the work.
And he hated it at first, but now he's at the point where this is
the best class I've ever taken.
It has stretched me in a way that I didn't know I had, right?
Because there's muscles that we, if we don't use, we lose them.
So handwriting used to actually be a class, right?
Like and writing things down and what that process and that thought looks
like as opposed to asking ChatGPT to give you a summary of something.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah, I just feel like written word and communication skills
is something lacking so much and it's something that we need to change.
And university and podcasting is great because more people wanna do it.
It is kind of strengthening that communication skills.
And they're saying podcasting is helping with this, that a lot of
students don't know how to communicate with their teachers and that that's
affecting when they're going for a job and they can't communicate with
their manager and anything like that.
So I think it's very important.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: No, it's, I was telling my daughters, I have three
daughters all in their twenties, all in school at different levels of
schooling and I'm like, where you going?
Oh, so and so's out.
I'm about to, you know, we're about to go here.
And I'm like, I remember when the person had to get out of the car,
come to the doorbell, ring the doorbell, they would usually speak
to everyone and then, you know, but now, you know, I think technology and
it helps us not have to communicate.
And so again, with that muscle, if you don't use it,
how do you know how to do it?
We know that, you know, practicing something and doing something
allows us to perfect it, and we are in a time of loneliness.
And the time that we're most connected, the level of loneliness
is the highest it's been.
And so that tells you something like, we need to find points
of connections in varying ways.
What do they say?
If you wanna hide something, put it in a book.
Unfortunately that is ringing more and more true today.
And so how do we get the same information to the folks that
we know would benefit from it?
And so podcasting is definitely one of those spaces.
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
And everyone that you have on your podcast is such a great communicator
and a natural communicator.
Like it's such a relaxed environment, like I said, authentic.
So I think more of us have to learn how to do that and to show our stories.
Because that will help us communicate in the future too, and, and
realize that we are all human.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: You know what's interesting too?
And, and I, I tell all podcaster, you know, participants this in the
beginning, I, I say, you know, it's a conversation with me and I want
you to share anything that you feel comfortable with sharing, but knowing
that your story will resonate with someone and will allow them to continue
their educational journey in ways that maybe they didn't think were possible.
And so if you bring your full, authentic self, that possibility
is drastically increased.
What I found initially is that people, when I would push the record button
there would be a different posture and then I would stop the record
and they get a lot more relaxed.
And you know, Grace, who edits for me now and is phenomenal and our
strategic marketing communications, she said, I wanna change this a bit.
When they come in, have the recording on, when they leave, have the recording on.
And so don't have it, okay, ready, set, go.
Instead, it's just the flow all throughout.
And I think that also helps people just to feel like I'm talking and
not to feel like I'm performing.
So I think that, that tweak for me did help my participants feel
a little bit like, okay, I can be a little bit more relaxed.
Neil McPhedran: I like, yeah, I think that's a really great tip.
And back to the video thing, this is where I think that video isn't always
the solution either, because I think just to your point about hitting that
record button, there's a certain level of I'm performing now and it's hard
to have just a natural conversation.
I think video complicates that even more, that I'm gonna now be
self-conscious about how I'm looking.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Yeah, no, it is true.
It's true.
And, you know, when you can just hop on a podcast and not have to do your
makeup, you know, it's a different kind of calm that you come with in the space
and the ability to, to just talk, right?
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, you're right.
Have you found that through your podcast, you know, beyond the great
conversations and sort of the output, I guess, of the podcast itself, which is
connecting with the community, have you found your role of having the podcast
has opened up doors as well for people with different conversations that you
might not have had the opportunity to if you hadn't had the podcast.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: You know, I do.
It's very interesting because I oftentimes welcome groups of students,
you know, orientation, some of our president awards program scholars, you
know, just kind of doing the welcome.
I had a student that came up to me after the welcome.
And said, I knew I knew your voice.
I just looked, looked it up.
And I was like, what?
They said, I listen to your podcast.
I was like, what?
And they said, yeah, I was trying to decide on where I was going
to college, and my counselor sent me a link to your podcast.
And I listened to them and I was like, what?
And so just that interaction and knowing like actually, there was two
people that listened to me, you know?
That means it's the counselor thought enough to give it to a student to
help in their decision making process.
And so I think those things, you don't know the rippling
effect it may or may not have.
And so it's always a pleasing moment to know that you had an impact, right?
I don't look at helping someone make a decision on where they will go to
college as a small impact, right?
That is a huge moment in transition and decision.
So yeah, that was pretty cool.
Jennifer-Lee: That's great.
Yeah.
Again, a lot of times when I talk to people and they're like so focused
on how many lessons they're getting, and I'm like, you don't realize who
you're impacting, and that's the really cool thing about podcasts.
You touched a little bit, upon it at the beginning because you were talking
about like it's mainly alumni that are on your podcast, but how do you
find the guests to be on your podcast?
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Well, really good question.
That first 28 days, crazy, but I also graduated from UIC and so
I started calling folks that I know that had graduated and were
out there to, to get started.
And so I'm a researcher too, right?
And so part of my, my research for my dissertation, I use a snowball method.
And the snowball method is essentially you get the people,
there's a first ring of people.
And so those are the folks that I knew, and then I asked them, can you
refer some folks that you know as well.
And so I always ask folks that I do have, have as participants, can
you tell me anyone else who you think could be beneficial to the
community and then join the podcast.
And so they also give me folks and I have a wonderful assistant who keeps track of
all of these things and sends out invites with links and answers questions for them.
And also, you know, we will Google popular or famous black alum from
UIC and we'll reach out to them.
And surprisingly, they respond and they wanna tell their stories.
I think that's the other piece that I did not expect.
That people appreciate having a space to tell their story.
They appreciate being able to have an infectious space where they can inspire,
they can be truth tellers, they can give advice, they can be looked at
as you, you kind of made it, right?
Like we don't, we get the diploma, we start the job.
Then it's like, wow, someone has asked me to come back and talk about my journey.
So I've gotten a lot of gratitude from folks just happy that
they could share their story.
And so the people on both sides of the microphone need connection and inspiration
and a space to be affirmed, I think.
And I was just looking at the people on the, on the receiving end.
And not people who were talking and in dialogue.
Neil McPhedran: What a win-win example, and I love how you put that all together
of not only the listening audience that is receiving all the benefit of
those stories that are being shared, but the opportunity for a proud UIC
alumni to be able to tell their story.
And we kind of forget that they're all out there and they would really
like to have that opportunity because even if they haven't set foot back
on that campus in years and years, it's still part of their makeup.
It's still part of who they are.
So yeah, that's a great lesson to share with the audience too.
Plus you're, like the snowball effect.
That's a really good one.
I'm gonna use that one.
That's a good way to think about it and to keep the ball rolling as far as
your next guest, that, that leads to the next one, that leads to that next
relationship, and so on and so forth.
It must just be also a great reason to be reaching out to some of these folks at the
institution overall, would beyond sort of a financial ask, is just another way to
reach out to some of these alumni as well.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: No, I think that's a, that's also a really good point, Neil.
We know that we reach out to alumn for money, right?
So it's nice to have these different spaces, right?
Where they can be value added beyond the money that they can give, right?
And so, that also makes them wanna give, if we're being honest, you know,
they feel more of a connectivity.
They have been remembered as part of that community that was memorable
enough to come back and share.
And so I think it's a set up an recipe for success on all ends.
Jennifer-Lee: I agree.
Neil McPhedran: I was gonna ask if your advice for another person out
there who is an administrator or university, if your advice would be to
launch a podcast with 28 straight days.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: If you are insane like me, absolutely, because it's exhilarating
to me to do something new and go all in.
One thing about me, I'm a all in kind of person, so if I focus on
something, I'm like up to midnight, I'm putting all that I have in it.
And so for me, that was the only way to do it.
What it meant for us is that we needed to start immediately in December.
So I did not take the Christmas holiday break.
I did not do that.
I, I actually did recording over that timeframe.
Because one, I needed enough time to get it out so that they can edit.
Two, I didn't wanna mess around with people's schedules
and not being available.
Most people are off during the same period of time.
And will give you 30 minutes, right?
And so I really got most of my things done before we got back for the new year.
That's how, I just knocked them out.
And so that also gave the team enough time to advertise it, enough time
to edit it, enough time to do all the things that needed to be done.
So I had to be light and speed.
Jennifer-Lee: Maybe not 28 days, but for someone thinking, hey, I'm gonna start
a university podcast, what would be your best piece of advice to give them?
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: That storytelling is one of the best ways to both
inspire and to inform, and that every perspective has a matching receiver.
It's like going back to my old phone analogy, every phone had a
receiver at one time, and so you couldn't hang it up without that.
And so there is someone out there with a phone and there's a lot of receivers
out there that need a phone to connect into so that they can make the decisions,
have the information, and feel like there's other people who understand
where they are and who they are.
And so if you are thinking about it, do it.
It is as simple as doing it, and it doesn't have to be 28 days.
It doesn't have to be every week.
It is also, what is your rhythm?
I think, you know, and that can also change because life
changes sometimes as well.
And so it's all okay.
And so, you know, I would say just dive in and find your community.
You have other higher ed podcasters out here, so reach
out, you know, with questions.
Lean in on the community of folks that have been learning this.
I think it's a very open community, very willing to give and talk to you and, you
know, pour into you and applaud you and all the things you need to get started.
Neil McPhedran: Very much so.
Yeah.
That was great.
Jennifer-Lee: Loved it.
That was great and we appreciate you so much.
Did you have like a secret broadcasting career that I don't know about?
You're just so good.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: I love it.
I'll accept that.
I did not, but my background, you know, I used to be in the military,
so I got out of high school.
I was a homeless teen at a point because of abuse in my family,
and I found myself at a crossroads where I was working a Blockbuster
video and I, I wanted something better and I needed a place to live.
I had never left the city.
It was, you know, and so I went into the military to meet my basic
needs, and I stayed in for five years as a military police officer.
I got out, I became a teacher because I did the DARE program, drug abuse
resistance education as a police officer 'cause I was a military police officer.
And across the Department of Defense schools throughout Europe, because I
was stationed there for four years.
And I decided I really wanna teach.
Like that's what I really wanna do.
And I got out and got a, a Master's in teaching and learning and I
taught fourth grade for a while.
And then I said someone who's making policies for this
school does not teach here.
Like I gotta understand policy.
And so I came to UIC as a veteran for free on a VA grant and I, I got my PhD
in policy studies of urban education and that is what led me to higher education.
Jennifer-Lee: That is so cool.
I think you have the best background of anybody that we've interviewed.
I think it leads to why your pockets is so successful, because that's something
that I learned through listening podcasts.
It's like just because you start one way doesn't need to
mean you're gonna end that way.
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And I always share my story, right, with my students, with my staff, with
my folks, because it is absolutely true.
I went to a vocational high school and I was told that I was not college material.
Um, and I believed it.
Uh, and honestly, words and, and this is really in alignment with podcasts.
I, I do believe that words make people.
When I went to the military, the only way I could get ranked is if I went to school.
And so I started going to college to get ranked.
And I had other words whispered to me, you're brilliant.
How did you think of that?
And those words told me I could keep going.
And so what I hope for all of us is that our podcasts make people better.
They make people feel more affirmed.
They make people feel more knowledgeable.
That's the power that we use with the words that we have.
Jennifer-Lee: That was like a perfect way to end it.
We appreciate you being on the podcast.
Neil McPhedran: What a great way to,
Dr. Aisha El-Amin: Yeah.
I appreciate you as well.
Thank you.
Jennifer-Lee: Thank you.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, that was great.
Thank you so much.
I really enjoyed chatting with Aisha.
That was great to dig in and hear all about her experience with her podcast.
Jennifer-Lee: And her army career.
She's just very amazing.
Neil McPhedran: Yeah, totally.
Okay, so it's just to circle back off the top.
Send us your questions, but also give us what you think about launching
with one episode or two episodes or three episodes, like what would you
recommend and what have you experienced?
Jennifer-Lee: Yeah.
Please contact us.
Neil McPhedran: Well, Jen, why don't you read us out?
Jennifer-Lee: Thank you for tuning into the Continuing Studies podcast and
podcast for higher education podcasters.
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