The first step is often the hardest one to take when chasing your dreams. The decision to pursue something you are passionate about is usually weighed down by feelings of inadequacy. Venturing into podcasting is no different, and since this is a fairly new concept, there aren’t enough reliable sources of information to guide new podcasters on how to navigate this field. To address this concern, Melissa Mbugua and Josephine Karianjahi teamed up and created Sema Nasi Podcast.
Sema Nasi shares authentic takes on African podcasting with the world. It is a roadmap that can be used by both emerging and established podcasters to find solutions to some problems they might encounter. Through conversational style episodes, Melissa and Josephine give insights into the work that goes into creating these platforms. Both co-creators are knowledgeable about the potential pitfalls awaiting budding creatives since they each host podcasts related to issues that they are keen on addressing. Melissa hosts Pros & Possibilities, a podcast that highlights African imagination, while Josephine hosts This I Can Do, a podcast focused on social change around the world.
“We wanted to share with our global community the unique perspectives from the people who are building African podcasts and to extend the conversations that we are part of during events. We wanted a way to connect with our brand audience that we could make our own and give it the same community feeling that is characteristic of African podcasts,” Melissa says.
The first episode of Sema Nasi went live on 1st May 2021. In this pilot, Josephine spoke about her experience in making her first ever podcast episode. The feedback received from this episode was overwhelmingly positive, and this assured the two that there was an audience that was hungry for these kinds of stories.
As for upcoming Sema Nasi episodes, Melissa and Josephine have a lineup of conversations from other African podcasters about their journeys. Every story will have a takeaway for its listeners as each episode will expound on specific aspects of curating audio stories.
Want tips on how to start or grow your podcast? Tune in to Sema Nasi on Substack, where you can listen and contribute to conversations by sharing your comments. In case you want to keep up with this crew and have new episodes sent directly to your inbox, you can do so by subscribing to their mailing list.