I AM Radio Ep 2: Breaking Down the I AM Docuseries

Last week we told you where we've been, and this week, it's all about where we're headed next: The I AM Docuseries.

I AM: The Series is a six-part docuseries mapping stories to systems across the six most pervasive and tension-inducing themes permeating modern womanhood: Storytelling, Pleasure, Motherhood, Abortion, Money and Power.

All the topics guaranteed to make your next family holiday wildly entertaining!

Listen along as K+K give listeners a front row seat to what it's been like going from first-time entrepreneurs to first-time filmmakers - holy vulnerability hangovers and ego checks.

Join us next week as we sit down with Producer and Collaborator, Ciera Thompson. Oh yeah, did we mention, she was the woman who originally conceived turning the pod into a show?

Honorable Mentions + Helpful Resources

• Elizabeth Lesser - "Cassandra Speaks"
• Diamonde Williamson - Third and Wonder Productions
• Professor Loretta Ross - Social Change Academic and Activist
• The Highwomen - "Crowded Table"

This is an IT ALL Media Production. If you like what you hear, follow along at ITALLMedia.co and @itallmedia on Instagram and TikTok.

We are a women-centered media company rewriting the narrative on modern womanhood through story and collaboration.

We're glad you're here.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to I Am Radio. I'm your cohost, Kacie Lett Gordon. And I'm your other- one might say better- half, Katie Louise Mullins. We are the creators of the beloved FIA Podcast and the women behind IT ALL Media. Join us every Thursday for your weekly dose of I AM Radio. We'll be joined by fellow creatives, experts, organizers, powerful women in media, and our favorite of all, real women as we chronicle, our journey as two first time entrepreneurs turned filmmakers. With that, cue the dancing hot dogs and concession ads. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. We are week two of I Am Radio. Week one, I'm not gonna lie, it felt, it felt good to get back in the, the recording seat, but it felt a little rusty. It's been a little while. We were, it took us three goes. That's better than the 72 on our first episode, so. Um, we are so thrilled that you all have followed along, obviously, for the FIA podcast. Many of you have come back as I Am Radio followers and subscribers. And today we are not just talking about where we've been. We're talking about where we're going, where we are right now with the I Am docuseries. I'm really, really excited to share with you guys. And I think we need to start off with a story because that feels, I don't know, on brand. Um, so when we first started the podcast, um, gosh, almost three years ago now, um, we were over three years ago. Isn't that insane? Yeah. No, that really is. Um, yeah. Yeah. We were approached about six months into having the podcast early days. Yeah. Early days regarding a narrative series. Um, and that's just, I guess what you might compare that to is if you guys are, if you know the FIA podcast, well, um, it was really just an opportunity to focus in on individual FIA moments. And tell the story, we were thinking actors and actresses, uh, vignette style, kind of like modern love on Amazon, um, for those of you that have seen that. And we loved the idea when it was first pitched to us, um, by our producer, who was actually with us on the IAM Docu Series, and we'll hear from her next week. Shout out, Sierra Thompson. Yeah, shout out. Um, but it was an idea that we absolutely loved, but we kind of say that the jacket that just like never quite fit. Um, we must have done. Seven different pitch decks and talked to multiple advisors, um, and we were dreaming the big dream, but it just never seemed to quite click until last year when we were at South by Southwest. So, I don't know. Kate, do you want to tell a little bit of that story? Yeah, it's so funny because when I look back at the narrative series, a lot of it makes sense now as to why it wasn't. To use your line, the jacket that wouldn't fit, but at the time it felt so shiny and new and glamorous. And we had so many advisors around us saying, that's the thing, that's the thing. But we were sitting at South by, we had just spoken and you know, we like to call those vulnerability hangovers where you've been in front of a big crowd or done something that just puts yourself out there. And we were eating pancakes as we often do. And Yeah. I, I jokingly and lovingly call it Katie's Creative Blackouts and I'm fortunate enough to just be there and capturing notes, but during our week at South by, um, we had incredible opportunities, if you follow us on social, shout out, go over and do that, uh, we feature these interviews with both feminist celebrities and everyday women, and the feminist celebrities, many of these who are thought leaders and whose content we adore and reference all the time, they have reached a level of excellence. Not by their own fault, but by the structure of unrelatability. Either they are so much on a pedestal that their lives look so different than ours, or out of self preservation, they have a talk track, right? They can only, uh, say what, what they are approved to say from the media folks. And we get that having been former PR people in past lives. And, but we sat down with these everyday women, people that we just, as we told them our story and what fuck it all moments mean to us. And they. were so willing to, to give their account of redefinition of reckoning with having it all. And across so many of the themes that as we get into what is the series you'll hear come up, um, in itself. So we were sitting there and Katie just, it was literally like, as if you could see a light bulb moment pop over somebody's head, like a cartoon. She said, it's not. Actors and actresses. It's not a narrative piece. This is actually a documentary. Like we have to put real women at the front of this, at this narrative change, letting them be the mouthpiece of their stories. Because the minute we put actors, actresses, entertainers in that place, we're, we're cleaning up the mess. So to speak. Like, we, you know, you polish that stone over time and what we are, have always been about and really is our, I think, secret sauce is asking women to do the thing that they are never allowed to do. Talk about the shit without first cleaning up the mess. Without the disclaimer of like, the house is still really messy. It's like, come on in. It is. Yes, and. And here's my truth. And it was, it was such an affirming moment because to Katie's point, we spent two years and seven pitch decks trying to work on this narrative series. And in, by the time we flew home from Austin to Atlanta, had so much of the series already structured out on paper. We knew who we wanted to go after. And as we look back now a year later, literally almost a year later, we could see all the names that we listed there. They're walking with us like they're here and so it's, it's a very, you know, we, we said this episode promises equal parts entrepreneurial journey meets creative vision, a little woo woo and this process, it truly has been divine timing of those creative ideas you put on the shelf, but come back to you right when they're meant to. Absolutely. And I feel like when we had the idea at first, I shouted out it has to be a documentary. And then we realized we had entirely too much content for that and that it had to be a series. Um, so we were considering with the podcast, because that really has become our research arm of this company. What were six of the most pervasive, um, subjects that were really, you know, rising to the top. Um, and with that, our whole thesis around all of this is that stories really how they change and affect our systems. And so we believe that stories inform our beliefs, beliefs inform our actions, and actions build the systems that run our lives at home, at work, in our communities. And with that, we really wanted to make our very first episode storytelling so that we could lay the groundwork for what we're going to talk about throughout the series. Um, and then the rest of the episodes to follow will be individually themed around pleasure, Motherhood, abortion, money, and power. Um, and the framework for each of these, and I don't know if you guys have heard us a million times talk about the, uh, book by Elizabeth Lesser, Cassandra Speaks. Um, but this was super important. Here's a million and one, baby. Here's a million and one. Absolutely. Um, but it really was so influential for Casey and I when we started the business. And I think it was an aha moment around origin story. Um, why do we believe what we believe? And so many of these stories that were told are age old, they literally have existed for millennia and we think we're just told them from childhood, but in reality, like our parents, our grandparents, um, have all heard them and we want to unpack that. Um, so we're going to start each episode really talking about the origin stories of each of these themes. Why do we believe what we believe? And what are the stories that we've been told over time? And then we want to invite in our main characters, uh, who is really your mother, your sister, your friend. These women that Casey was just referencing that we spoke to on the street. And we want them to tell their story. And then almost in a Netflix explained way, we want to map back how those stories ladder up to the larger systems at play. And because we are at all media, we must end with conversation because our store, our products are stories and conversations. And conversation is really the meaning making we could. We could both hear a story and Casey and I like same story. We would walk away with maybe two very different understandings of what we just heard. And so being able to sit down and talk about that in a very organic way is really how we make meaning and share perspective. Um, and creating a safe space in order to do that is, is really What we do best in the world. Um, and so that's what we're looking at for each of these individual episodes. And we're so excited to welcome in many of the guests that you've heard on the FIA podcast, as well as so many new individuals and influencers. Um, that we've met just in the last three years of building this business. Yeah, we say that this podcast, you heard it in the intro, but this special edition as we go into I am radio, it's really your front row seat of entre first time entrepreneurs becoming first time filmmakers and the process of this, I know, right? Just casual. Um, the process of this has felt, I think anytime you start something new and especially when I'll put an air quotes, like a new industry, um, It feels like, what if I'm behind? Oh my God, we're starting so much later than everybody else. What if I embarrass myself? Is there a right way to do it? And how do I learn that? Are there videos I can watch and people I can talk to? And I think we did spend a period of time sitting in that place of trying to get it right. But also we were looking at different series or, you know, both scripted and unscripted, different movies, um, documentaries. out there and we found ourselves borrowing from so many creative elements of these that this series itself finds itself being a little genre bending like it is a docuseries but we leverage art and we leverage a nod to these origin stories and these narratives and we bring in other artists and it's something that, um, Diamond Williamson, she has Third and Wonder Productions and just recently launched channel nine. And we are such huge fans of her work as a documentary filmmaker. And she, we were talking to her and she said, you know, I am now in this, in my era to quote, like a Taylor Swift style, but like I'm in the era of creating content that allows me to go deeper. I know the rest of the world is saying like, we need 60 second tick tock bites, or if it can't be digested and you know, this amount of time, people aren't going to watch it. But she said, I know for me and the people around me. We actually want to go deeper. We are looking for a yearning to, to hear more depth. And Katie and I both felt like kind of smacked in the face by that, that one, sometimes it's our own experiences, our own preferences that can make us quote unquote, right. Because we know like we are consumers too. And so when we think about this series, it's. It's a calling in to, to quote professor Loretta Ross, who has come on as one of our experts and just a prolific activists and organizer and writer around this as a social change framework is that so much of our media today is focused on calling out right hook that gotcha moment. But when we actually want to create change, it's safe spaces to call in. And so for those of us that are familiar, if you've read Cassandra speaks or consider yourself, you know, up on the feminist movement or, um, how systems are at play. Like, this is going to be your answer to go deeper. This is going to give vocabulary. This is going to make you feel, to Katie's point, like you hear these stories and we call it the great remembering, like, Oh, I'm not crazy. That has existed forever. But for those that this is new to, and we see it in our own lives with our parents, with our partners, with, you know, former colleagues, with ourselves. It's experiencing this content in a new way because it is genre bending, because we do are great entertainers as well as, you know, sitting at education and activism is this is like joy as activism. It's meant to make you laugh and shake your head and cry and feel the spectrum of the human experience. experience while also feeling refueled to, to keep the conversation going. I don't know about you and Katie, you've taught me so much of this, but in the social change world or systems change world, nonprofit impact. It's very easy to go to the world as darkness. My singular voice or vote doesn't matter. My, you know, my one person trying to make change. But what we found is that this is a marathon, not a sprint. And how do you sustain your energy, your momentum, your hope, your joy? Because that also, in a world that wants you to stay obsessed with what's wrong so that they, you can continue to be left out. That is one of the most bold acts of defiance. that we can do. And that is like the ethos. It's, it's meant to make you feel all the feminine things that we do, but also like a, fuck, I gotta like do something. Um, you can, you can hear the energy building as we're talking about this. Yeah, I think we're like, I mean, again, the storytelling as Casey was mentioning, like the conversation piece of this, um, and creating those safe spaces is actually kind of what inspired our distribution model, which is a little bit different than I think most. Um, we honestly think like, you know, you create a series or a film, a feature film and streaming. is like the automatic thing of that's where that film goes once it's created in whatever capacity that might be youtube all the way to you know netflix and hbo um and so of course we've been approached by so many advisors creatives people in the space asking kind of what is our plan around that and yes And we would love, we would love to do streaming, of course, and I think with some of the EPs that we all attached to this project was very viable, but I think what's more exciting to us, and I had, we'll call another creative blackout moment, um, and I call Casey when she was actually at swim lessons with her daughter over last summer. Um, I was reading a book, and I think it's entitled, What Am I Looking At? Um, and it was all regarding the modern art movement, and it kind of dawned on me that like, what we were doing was actually a nod to the modern art movement, because the modern art movement really elevated everyday people in a world that worshipped religious icons and, um, royalty. And not very unlike our world now, where, like, celebrity status, uh, our own kind of royalty, or actual royalty over in the UK. Right. It's very real. Um, is something that, you know, is, is really just constantly. On every channel that we're looking at. And so how do we elevate the everyday woman? Um, and so what we want to do is partner with modern art museums and cultural institutions and take this damn show on the road. Like, quite literally, we want to go on tour with it and create events and activations where we can Um, create conversation. After all, we are the creators of the FIA podcast and conversation is what we live for. Um, so we want to give an opportunity for brands to come on board with us, uh to travel to different cities to tap into these unique locations and also invite other storytellers along because um We are not the only people out here doing this, and there's so many different mediums. I mean, we started in audio and it became really important for us to bring this to film because we had a larger reach this way and we realized after speaking at Sundance and South by Southwest that really like this, this Language what our messages needs to be out in the world because it was resonating with the crowds we were speaking to. Um, and so this is why we've chosen this medium, but there are so many other storytellers out there, and we would like to invite them into the space and be able to collaborate and speak together. In, um, these wonderful organizations that are, uh, that are doing the work as well. Yeah, that's so innately feminine, isn't it? That we don't have to be the ones to do it all. Instead, we want to collaborate, we want to commune and convene and bring others in. And we see it, uh, there's a great song by the Highwomen called Crowded Table, and we'll be sure to put that in the show notes, but that was a song that continued to play in our minds. Since the inception of this company, and that's what we see is it's, you know, I want a house with a crowded table and looking around like if we have to, if we want to do the work, we have to sow the seeds and looking around at the end of the day, knowing that you didn't do it alone, that this is a space big enough for us all and. In order to, to create sustainable change, no single one of us carries it over the line. And I think that, you know, it's been the ethos of the company, but seeing how it can come to life in actual business practices, not just like creative, you know, sitting in this, uh, this maybe idealistic bucket, but actually providing returns and doing business. Well, it's been so affirming and so as a part of this series, it's not just the what that we're creating, but the how and the how is going to be really. Give it, you know, broken down in great detail over the next several weeks as we bring in collaborators like Sierra Thompson, one of our producers, Kai Dickens and Lisa Cunningham, our two co directors, um, talent like Cindy Gallop and Loretta Ross, um, and so we invite you You know, if you're interested in the how, I think that anybody, one, this is relevant to, to our general audience, but if you're a fellow creative, if you're a fellow entrepreneur and wondering, okay, how do I actually bring some of this sustainable change into my way of being like, this is the show that we're going to start giving you the front row seat. So that's the, I am docu series folks. That's what we're doing. Yeah. And like, this is a very vulnerable journey for us as well. As Casey mentioned, we are first time filmmakers. Um, so when we first started this process, we were like, I'm not really sure what we're doing. And, um, we have had a lot of fear and doubt in that, but we've also realized that we have superpowers from our former lives. We are experts in marketing and communications. Um, and actually. The thing that we think we are most fearful of is because we don't know this is going into the unknown is actually our superpower because we have very few limiting beliefs around what can be Not being part of this industry And so we are bending genres and we are bringing in people that otherwise like maybe have not participated in filmmaking or documentary making before and so we really invite you to join us on this journey as we maybe stumble and fumble our way through but We're excited to do it nevertheless But we're doing it in our ethos because we are not cleaning up the mess. You get to see all of it, uh, and we were joking this morning, we posted on LinkedIn about it. All the fears that I have about going into new spaces, like failing or being left behind or embarrassing myself, I've had plenty of those feelings and moments in spaces that I did know a lot about. So you know, like who cares? Let's go y'all. We'll see you next time on I Am Radio. Join us every Thursday as a new episode drops. And if you're enjoying this content, um, please go like, subscribe, follow. I know it feels so, like, cringed to have to say that, but that's the truth of how this world moves forward. It's to demonstrate influence and audience and it also is a signal to us that what we're doing is working. So thanks for being here. And we'll see you next time. We'll see you next week.