Drive With Us – Bhavneet and Taranjit
Experience is an intrinsic motivator to tell your story. And that is what we found out when we learned about the Drive With Us Podcast. The day-to-day experiences of two friends, and long-distance drivers sparked a travel podcast where they are able to tell their stories of the commuter road.
Thank you to this co-host team for joining us this month!
Tell us about yourself!
We’re Bhavneet and Taranjit, the hosts of Drive With Us Podcast. We are often confused for being twins, and we might as well be because we have done some things the same way and are similar in so many ways, but in reality we are about two years apart in age.
We are Asian-American sisters who were born and raised in Maryland to immigrant parents from Punjab, India, and we both work in the cancer therapeutics field, one as a research associate and the other as a data manager.
Growing up in America, we had to learn pretty early on how to properly balance the two cultures, and although it may have been difficult at times, we were lucky to have each other to get through those tough moments. The same determination is what helped us in pushing cultural boundaries and step out of our comfort zone to pursue our passion of creating a podcast, and hopefully a travel YouTube channel in the near future.
What inspired you to do your own podcast?
Fun fact, we both have about three-hour round-trip commutes to and from work, and that is actually what inspired us to create our podcast.
Since we spend a lot of our day and time on the road, it is fair to say we have seen a lot of crazy things happen while we have been behind the wheel. Some scarier than others, but you name it, we most likely have seen it. Those experiences led us to create a unique podcast where we can share driving stories, the good and the bad, while providing driving advice and learning more about the driving cultures around the world. Because no matter where you are, we have all experienced the craziness that is driving.
How do you prepare for an episode?
Initially, we had started just the two of us sharing our crazy driving stories on a weekly basis, but after a while we realized that we wanted more. So we took a small break to rebrand the show and prepare to start bringing on guests. Now, from Season 2 and on, we bring on guests to come share their crazy driving experiences, who they are as drivers, and how they became the driver they are today, while providing driving tips to our listeners.
As for preparation, working a full-time job in combination with a long commute, time is very tight. So we have a plan laid out for the entire year. We have dates of when our seasons are going to be released, and based on that we start reaching out to guests about four months before the start of the season. Then about three months before the start of the season, we batch record all the episodes for that season. And then that gives us the two months before the release of the season to edit, transcribe, create audiograms, etc.
Since we are unable to do a small video call with our guests prior to the day of the recording, we have a small intake form we have them fill out that provides us with a little more information on who they are and what driving stories/experiences they have. Based on the intake form, we prepare specific questions to their experiences, in addition to the general questions we ask all our guests.
What advice do you have for someone just starting out?
I know everyone says this, but it is something you should follow and that is to just get started. There is no such thing as perfect and you shouldn’t wait until you think everything is perfect enough to get started. We put it off for several months before we got started because we thought we weren’t ready, but now that we have been doing it for a year and half, I wished that we had gotten started earlier. Because once you get started you will start to learn the little things that you need to improve on as you are podcasting. And the more you do it the better you will get at it.
Another piece of advice I would give is to join the different podcast support groups that are out there because you are not alone and it is a great community where you can get tips, advice and feedback on your own show. Whenever you feel lost or stuck, you have this wonderful community that is so willing to help you out because they have either been through it or are going through it, too. And don’t think that you need to spend lots and lots of money on equipment and editing software because you don’t. We podcast out of our bedroom, and a lot of the programs that we use are free. So it can be done on a budget.
Connect with Drive With Us Podcast…
Interested in being podcaster of the month? Email MacKenzie@Blubrry.com to get started.