Episode 8 | Building a Successful Podcast | Interview With Todd Hedges of "Middle Aged And Creeped Out"

The host of Middle Aged And Creeped Out, Todd Hedges, joins us today as we talk about his podcast and the dynamics it took to build a successful podcast.  Todd tells us how him and his crew initially got involved and why they chose the paranormal arena as their niche.  The hosts of Middle Aged And Creeped Out look at their following as family and treat them as such.  They also contribute to anti-bullying and mental health awareness.  YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS EPISODE.  Be sure to check out the podcast "Middle Aged And Creeped Out" on any podcasting platform.  Also be sure to follow them on all their social media, so that you can be updated on their podcast, haunted tours, merch, and more.

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Transcript

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Welcome to Mosaic Minds podcast. Today it's just me and Jason, and we are going to be interviewing a guy named Todd Hedges, and he is the host and the founder of a local podcast here in Indy called Middle Aged and Creeped Out. Um, it's a successful podcast. We're going to ask him a little bit more about it, but I believe he's been going on with it for quite a while. And I think kind of the, um, I think kind of the premise of the episode today is going to be about how to kind of start your own podcast and how you can go about that, how to be successful at it, how to, how to get followers and how to get people to download your, download your podcast. So I'm going to be asking him some of those questions and then I'm sure I know Jason has some questions of his own for him. So should be a great episode. Welcome to Mosaic Minds, the podcast where every episode is a colorful blend of perspectives, Ideas and conversations each week. Our diverse team of hosts brings their unique backgrounds, experiences and interests to the table. Mosaic minds is your invitation to join the conversation to see the world through a kaleidoscope of viewpoints. So, grab a seat, tune in And let the mosaic unfold before you. Okay. So we are here with Todd Hedges. He is the host of middle aged and creeped out. I said that correct, Todd? That's it. Yep. Okay. Yeah. First of all, how did you get started doing that, Todd? Oh, about, I don't know. I started listening to podcasting about 2017. And, uh, I, before that I never even knew podcasts existed. So I started listening to podcasts around that time. And what happened was a friend of mine that he's kind of, we call our, uh, I mean, he's a good friend. We call him the podfather. So he and his wife, they lived, they lived in Lexington before they moved to Florida recently. And, uh, they've got a popular paranormal podcast called Hillbilly Horror Stories. And so I heard they were like the second paranormal podcast I started listening to. So we got to talking and we both love, uh, UK basketball, uh, too bad they lost the other night. But anyway, uh, we, we started talking and chatting through Instagram and Facebook. And then, uh, yeah, I mean, I became a diehard fan of their podcast. What happened was about 2019, I reached out to Jerry and I said, Hey, do you mind if I. Come out, uh, to your house. Cause he had offered before to people are, you know, if anybody's interested in, in, uh, podcasting and they want to kind of see what, how that happens and you know, what goes into it, uh, you're more than welcome. So I reached out to him knowing for a couple of years and said, uh, Hey, I want to pick you up on that. You mind if I swing by and kind of watch you guys, you know, how you do a podcast. And he said, yeah, absolutely. So I left, uh, got there about, I don't know, maybe five or six o'clock Saturday evening, uh, they fixed me dinner and then they're like, okay, let's do it. So we went up. When they had their studio up in their bedroom, he and his wife, Tracy. And so, um, I just thought I was going to sit there and just take notes and just kind of watch it. And they had, you know, they sit across from each other and then I was kind of in the middle. And they had a microphone, but I didn't know it was for me. And so when he was, they were introducing themselves and they were like, you're going to speak. I'm like, Oh, I had no idea. I'm, you know, so they kind of let me be on there a little bit. I shared a personal story and man, I got hooked. I was like, this is it. I went home the following day and I was like, I got to do somehow. I got to do a podcast, whether for myself, but friends, whatever. So I milled around thinking about like, okay, do I want to do a paranormal? I love sports. Do I want to do a sports podcast? Um, You know, I love business. Do I want to do a business podcast? So a buddy of mine, Sean, who's my co host of our podcast, he was like, Oh, you totally ought to do a podcast, man. You love to talk. You'd be entertaining. And, and, uh, I was like, yeah, you know, so he was encouraging me. And then I was like, okay, I think I want to do a paranormal podcast. Something that's light. That's, you know, I don't want to do politics. I don't want to do anything like that. So just, we said, yeah, we, we said the same thing. I thought I'm not, I don't want to do it by myself because I could, but it's going to be, it's gonna be boring. So I want somebody to interact with, talk to. So I asked Sean, cause he and I discussed it and I said, you want to do a podcast with me? And he's like, Oh man, you know, he's married. He's got four kids and he's like, I don't know how I'm gonna find the time. I said, Oh, I get it. I totally get it. I said, I've got two kids and a wife and work. And. You know, if you don't want to do it, that's fine. And so he, he thought about for a little bit and he's like, I'm in, I'm in. I said, okay, cool. So he and I, uh, were thinking about, uh, you know, what are we going to name it? So I came up in middle age and creeped out cause I'm 53 and he's 44, 45. And then. So it just kind of fit, you know, we came up, his sister and I worked on the logo. And so then we brought Nate on. I had no idea who Nate was. They've known each other for a while because their wives are best friends. So. Neither one of us know how to edit. We don't know how to record. We just know how to talk. And so Nate has been in a band, been in a few bands, so he knows how to run a soundboard and, and hook up mics and all that. So he came on board and off to the races, and that was, uh, March 13th, 2021. So we just passed our three year enterprise. Nice. Nice. So where are you guys at? Kinda how we started and how it came all together. It's been, it's been a blast ever episode. Where you guys at As far as, uh, as far as like downloads or, or, um, do you guys do the video podcast too, or is it just. Just audio. Just audio. Okay. Just audio, yeah. We haven't, we haven't delved into the YouTube or anything like that yet. Um, the only thing as far as video is when we post, like Sean will post on Facebook what, what the topic is going to be that night, and then I'll screenshot it and I'll make a video on, uh, TikTok and I'll post it on Instagram, but we don't do, the podcast itself isn't on video. Um, we just, uh, we're about a day or two away from 550, 000 downloads. Wow. So, we're in the top one and a half percent of Awesome. All the download or all the podcast. Yeah. So we're, we're pretty happy. We started out with 29, 800 the first year, which was 29, 800 more than I thought we'd ever get, because you just never know going into this thing. You know, we just did as a creative outlet, something to do good guy time. And, uh, that was pretty much our goal. And, um, Had no idea like who's going to listen to us if they're going to you know, if we're going to stick around And so I said as long as we have fun, you know 10 people listen if one person listens, that's all it is You know, that's all it matters. So, uh, so we grew from twenty nine thousand eight hundred I believe to over two hundred thousand the second year and then we just reached Uh as a february 1st five hundred thousand so it shows you how we've grown in the last three years So yeah, it's it's been a blast. So it's still it's great to get downloads, but Uh, as long as we're having fun and we're entertaining and we're, you know, giving somebody an hour and a half to, you know, if they're listening at work or whatever, um, just to kind of escape the craziness of this world and we're doing our job. I appreciated your accountability throughout the basketball season. You know, our sons hooped together there and, uh, I don't know if you know this, but I got a broadcasting degree about 25 years ago, so I never got to be behind the mic. Just some, uh, Stuff. I'll kind of tell you off the podcast, just, uh, decided to not go into the media because the media is negative. I think we can all agree with that. They don't want to talk about the fun, good stuff. But, uh, I think it's rewarding to actually be doing it, talking about it. Um, what, what is your advice for someone that really hasn't, uh, maybe they have a topic, but they don't have the technology or you're, you're similar to me. It sounds like our skill sets are similar. We like to talk. Nick's kind of the brains of the operation crystal does a great job bringing her Uh expertise to the board. What's kind of your general advice for someone just kind of starting out? Yeah, I will tell you this don't go into debt. You don't have to because you know, you can i've heard you know, there's there's all these different microphones and sound boards and computers and all this and you can spend thousands of dollars and Jerry, like I said jerry from hillbilly horror stories. He's like just get some mics off of amazon for 20 bucks You know, he's like when you're starting out don't Don't go into debt. He's like, because you don't know how long it's going to last, if you're going to like it, whatever. So we took his advice, we bought a, I don't know, like a sound board for maybe 150. Uh, I bought three mics for 20 each. And then, you know, we used Sean's used computer, his laptop. Um, so I would say, first of all, just if you want to do it, I mean, unless you want to spend a ton of money, I would advise not to. Um, you know, you can do quality work. You can produce a good quality product without spending a ton. Um, figure out where you're going to do it at. We do it out of our buddy Nate's house. So we did start out at Sean's. Um, so we don't have like a, you know, we don't go to a professional studio and then we now we go to Nate's house. So throughout the last 2 and a half years, we do it at his house. We got plenty of room. We set it up at a table. We got our mics and our soundboard and computer and our little paranormal stuff around us. Kind of get the vibe going. Um. Yeah, and then just do it. You know, just just take a chance. Go into it not having set expectations. Like I said, we went into it just for something to do. We have a good, you know, we do it once a week. We have good guy time. Get us out of the house. Our wives can, you know, have their break from us. And, um, I would say just don't take it too seriously. Don't, don't, uh, You know, don't obsess over the numbers right off the bat. I, I, I'm a numbers guy, so I look at the numbers and I have sense. But, you know, a lot of people are like, just, just do it. Just do the podcast and figure out how many times you want to do it a week. How many episodes you want to put out a week, how long they're going to be, you know, kind of write out the plan and then stick with it. And then if you need to adjust, then, you know, cause we were just going to do it every two weeks. To be honest with you guys, we, we started out thinking, man, we got You know, family, you know, and jobs and all that. I don't know if we could do it once a week. And then we quickly, like, you know what? We can, we can do this, uh, once a week. And so just kind of see how it goes. Just adjust to what is needed, I'd say. And then, and then just, um, go in with a good attitude, you know. Yeah, um, I know that there are a lot of people that say, you know, you can easily just start a podcast with your, you know, with your iPhone, you know, or, you know, just open up, open up sound recorder and start something like that. So, yeah, I think that's the biggest thing is actually just, you know, just getting started, but. I don't know about you, but I, when you were talking about trying to find whatever your topic was going to be, for me, that was the hardest thing, you know, like to try to figure out because, and I think we're at a little bit of a disadvantage because we don't necessarily have a niche, you know what I mean? Like ours is just kind of like, We talk about whatever the topic is that week. And I know that kind of, you know, that doesn't really hone in on a specific crowd. So do you think that was a, was that a difficult part for you to try to figure out? Um, I know you said that you kind of went back and forth between, um, the paranormal thing and, you know, sports and business. Was that, don't you think that was probably one of the more challenging things when you were starting was trying to figure out what you wanted to talk about? Yeah, I would say, um, I was probably, I was leaning towards the paranormal, but I thought, man, is it saturated? You know, is there too many paranormal podcasts out there? And I'm like, I wasn't worried about the content, the topics cause it's, it's, it's never ending. So I wasn't worried about that, but I just thought, man, do we really want to do another paranormal podcast? And, you know, all the ones ahead of us, they've already got their, their fan base or whatever, their listenership. So I thought, well, you know, maybe do a sports one. And then I thought, you know what? Let's I know. Yeah. So it was, it was hard at first, but I thought, you know what, the paranormal just kept pulling me back. I'm like, that's it. I want to do paranormal. Uh, I thought about, like I said, thought about the business kind of quickly got rid of that one. So it was kind of bouncing sports, paranormal sports, paranormal. And then I thought, nah, let's just do, do paranormal, you know, I, and I was thinking about doing a sports one on the side for myself anyway. So I thought down the road, I can do something like that if I want. So, uh, but it, it, it was for about the first couple of weeks I was trying to decide what, you know, which one do I want to do? What type? So what was like, With your, um, what, what was it that interests you? And cause it sounds like you must have, I'm assuming you were already into paranormal stuff before that. So like, what, what's some of the, some of your paranormal background. Did you guys go and do like the haunted tours and different things like that? Or what was some of your, what was some of your paranormal interests? No, actually, so So, you know sean like i said sean's my co host nate's our sound guy. We call him the tech engineer Uh, we've all three since we've grown up. We love horror movies, you know, my dad He was born in the 30s So, you know, he grew up watching the original wolfman and you know the long cheney and bellow the ghost of dracula That was his heyday, right? So he always liked horror films and when I got you know, uh old enough You know, we we watched his family's the scary movies. So I was always into the scary and then You I would say probably in my late 20s early 30s. I started getting into the paranormal as far as like ghosts and and and and so forth, um I was still new to I never did investigations. I never went on a ghost tour or anything that anything like that so when sean and nate and I got together man, we were like And they hadn't either you know, just as far as like the commercial haunted houses is all we had done but uh They grew up liking horror movies and and uh interested in it So when we start our podcast, that's when we started doing like hey You know, you start learning this, these different, uh, entities and creatures and whether they're, you know, you know, you always hear about the Bigfoot and ghosts and all that, but like black eyed kids and skinwalkers and, uh, you know, all these different types of craziness. And so you, you dive into these stories from all over the world and, and, uh, you start really get hooked and you, and you learn. So we've learned a lot. And, um, so from that, from the podcast, that's when we started doing, you know, we've gone on three or four tours. We've gone on, I think, four or five investigations, so it kind of started from actually the podcast. So, yeah, we like the horror, we like the paranormal, started the podcast, and then that, we went a little bit further. So, that's kind of how that worked. We didn't. We weren't doing investigations or tours before the podcast. It kind of was the reverse. So it just spun off the podcast and just, we just, we're hooked, man. And once we did that first, uh, investigation, we're like, yeah, this is, this is awesome. And so you kind of, you learn from that, you go to these real places that whether anything happens or if anything's real, they're still real. You know, say it's a haunted asylum. It's a real asylum. It was right. And the people were there and there's real unexplained things that, that happens, you know, you're, you're checking out a place that has history. Yeah. Oh, and so, uh, that's the cool thing about doing a paranormal is we learn a lot of the history, whether it's a castle asylum, a sanatorium, uh, just a regular haunted house. So that's kind of the, a really neat side benefit from doing the podcast. We, we learn a lot, not just. Todd, just a quick step into your lane a little bit. Um, Ironically, I was interviewing someone at a medical and a business school about 15 years ago in the college industry, because I've been in administration guy walked in with, uh, you know, basketball looked like a Bill Walton with red hair, slicked his hair back, kept that kind of, you know, weird, uh, weird gate to him. And, uh, I got to the career section. I said, what do you do for a living? And he said, I'm a ghost hunter. And I started laughing, of course. And I, you know, I, I didn't believe him. I thought he was trying to be humorous. And he's like, no, I'm a ghost hunter. Legit. And, uh, I said, well, tell me what that looks like to you. And, uh, very similar to kind of some of your casting. Um, he basically put together six to 12 people in groups. He told me what he charged and he made a lot of money at the time. He was making more money than I was. And I think the guy was only working about 12 hours a month, but he would basically go on with the recorders. Uh the military, you know equipment or whatnot that you can see in the dark and stuff and kind of navigate around So I thought that was interesting. And then another another example that I have is over by my wife's where she grew up over in illinois Um, have you ever heard of a place called mud la via by chance? No, you should look into it. It's over by the champagne. I believe danville illinois area and from what I understand Um, it was kind of a resort area And it had been burned down and kind of rebuild a couple of times. And, and people claim that that's kind of a, um, I don't know what to say on that scale, but just kind of some weird stuff has gone on, uh, with, with kind of the paranormal and stuff like that. So I just, those are two personal examples that I've experienced in my life, you know, over the years of, of things that's kind of on your topic or, or what you, you like to talk about. So when you, um, when you're getting ready and you prepare, are you preparing material, like Months in advance. Are you kind of researching the week of how does that look like for you? Like an upcoming topic that you're going to have, let's say next week or the week after. Yeah, so what we do is, uh, the three of us, so I'm in charge. I keep, I keep track on my phone, a list of all the topics we want to talk about. So we do full episodes. We drop those every Wednesday and we do what we call middle aged minis. They're just, you know, like the full ones are hour or two, an hour and a half, you know, unless it's like a special anniversary or something like that, maybe a Halloween special, they could get into the two hour range, but they're usually hour, hour and a half at the most. And then the middle aged minis are 20 to 25 minutes, maybe 30 minutes. So I try to keep track of, I'll say, Sean, Nate, give me some topics, you know, give me some mini topics, give me some cool. And I do the same. And so we rotate. So we're not using mine or Sean's or Nate's. We try to rotate, you know, and, um, we. So we'll, we'll pick out a full and we'll pick out, pick out a mini and we record both of those the same night. So every Wednesday we record and then we try to be ahead at least a week, maybe two. So like right now, we're a week ahead. So what we record this coming Wednesday, we'll drop the following Wednesday. Um, we're so we're a week ahead on the, on the fulls. We're just when we record the mini. Um, that drops the following Saturday. So we're really not ahead on the minis. That's kind of what we do. We, uh, so like, you know, the, what we're going to record this Wednesday, we've known for a week. So, you know, I'll remind the guys, Hey, this is what we're doing. Uh, this is the full, this is the mini. So, you know, do your research. And then when we come together, we kind of just go with it. Yeah. So, um, and we try to keep it, even though we're. Telling story or trying to tell information. We still try to keep it conversational. We don't want to just we're not reading from a script, you know, um, well, we'll read a story, but but we still try to interject as like, we want people to think they're listening to friends at a sports pub, you know, or at a restaurant, you know, we don't want to just read a story. Yeah, because it would get boring. So we interject, you know, humor and and our own spin on things and our takes on what we're discussing. So, but yeah, that's kind of what we do. We just pick a topic and we try to rotate. And then, um, and if we have guest chats, that's what we call our interviews or guest chats. We've got 1 actually this Wednesday. So then, um, we'll record with the gal. She's a fellow podcaster. And then, uh, whatever the mini topic is, um, we'll, we'll do that afterwards. And then, yeah, then, then Sean drops them and, or he'll, he'll, um, he'll schedule them to drop and, uh, that's kind of how it does. Yeah. So. Started doing when we, when we started, we did the, we tried to have like, what was it, was it four or five? Yeah, we had like, we had five in the hopper when we started. So that way, you know, we'd be okay. But what we're, what we're starting to realize though, is, you know, when you go that far ahead, you know, it's not that we're talking about anything that's so re you know, so relevant that it has to be discussed right then, but when you go that far ahead, it gets, it can start to get a little confusing. So I think, I think we're, uh, we're kind of talking about either eventually going to like two episodes a week. Or just trying to record, you know, like two episodes every time we, you know, every time we do that instead of going so far ahead. Um, yeah, yeah. That's what we did too. We, we wanted to get like, cause again, Jerry, like we relied on our friend Jerry so much on, you know, what, what to do, what works best. And he's like, when you're starting out, yeah, I'll have five or six, seven episodes recorded before you even dropped the first one. And I'd say we had like three or four, but man, you know, Nate's got two kids. I've got two. Sean's got four. They're all in sports or in band competitions, and we got wives, and I've got, I work full time during the day and have a cleaning business at nights and weekends, and so you start kind of, at least us, start kind of slipping away, and so as long as we can stay at least a week ahead, we're in good shape. So it's, it's just what it is, you know. Um, but yeah, but if you can do it, have three or four ahead, you know, because then if somebody gets sick or you need to call off for a week, You know, you've got topics ready to go, but it's whatever works for everybody. You know, everybody's got crazy schedule pretty much. So it's whatever works. Yeah, I mean, that's already, it's already happened to us, you know, so it was nice to, it was nice to have those little extras. I think you probably realize that with us, you know, I talk sports. I mean, that's not a surprise to you. Sports is all I've ever known. I mean, I've. From three to 45, I've tried to stay competitive. I'm not as competitive as I used to be at the fully athletic stuff, but I still stay competitive. And, uh, Nick's your music guy. Uh, Crystal's the artistic side, uh, very business oriented. She's, uh, very sharp at what she does. Tattoo artist does a very good job there. So we, you know, Nick was saying it's kind of a disadvantage. It's kind of an advantage, I think, because you can pull different people, but let's be honest, they're not excited, real excited about sports minded people all the time. As I wouldn't be excited about, you know, a person from a different realm. So I think, I think your topic is limitless, which I really like. Do you focused, um, like Indiana, central Indiana, anywhere in the world? Like what's your. What's your typical, I guess, footprint as far as the top anywhere and everywhere. I never wanted to be, I didn't want it to be just Indiana or even regional. I didn't want it just to be Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, you know, the surrounding States, I told the guys and said, we got to pick topics from, I mean, if it's from, you know, Indiana and the next one can be in England, the next one could be in Germany. The next one could be in, you know, wherever, uh, we try to, I told the guys, I don't want to do. Well, I never want two or three episodes in a row that's from the state of California, you know, like I, one episode could be a, you know, uh, the Winchester house in San Jose, California. And then the next one, it could be in Florida. Then the next one, like I said, we could have haunted Alaska. So we, we try to pick topics. Whether the, for the full episodes or the mini, uh, you know, we try, we try to bounce around, uh, the world, not just regionally, not just around the U. S., but wherever we can find creepy stuff to talk about, you know, we, you know, Nate's big into cryptids, so that's your Bigfoot, that's your Loch Ness, those are your creature, your monster type topics, you know, I'm, I'm a ghost guy, I'm a, I like the demons, I like the, you know, You know, uh, like I said, the black eyed kids, those type of things, you know, and Sean is too, you know, but we've talked about vampires. We've talked about leprechauns. We've talked about, like I said, haunted castles, sanatoriums, asylums, haunted prisons, you know, so we try to balance. We don't want each topic like from one topic to the very next one. We don't want it to be similar. We want it to be a different place. Like, as far as the, you know, it can be a haunted house and the next one better not just be a haunted house and it can't be. The same state or the same, you know, it can be in the region maybe, but we try to do our best to bounce them around. So people are from one episode to the next. They're getting a variety. That's a, that's a great way to get reach and get and get, um, you know, get. Fans, you know, is by, by going around the entire country because, you know, you just, someone finds out you're doing something in their hometown, you know, they're going to, they're going to probably spread the word. So that's, that's pretty cool. I used to run a, like drive a route, you know, third shift and I'm, I'd almost guarantee, you know what I'm going to say, but like there was a, there was a radio show. Uh, called Coast to Coast. It's still on, I guess. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You heard that? Yeah. Yeah. So I used to listen to that all the time and learn, you know, learned all kinds, you know, all kinds of stuff about like Mothman and, you know, they talked about conspiracy theories and, you know, shapeshifters and that kind of thing. So, yeah, I think it's really cool. Do you ever have, um, Anybody, any guests on that are promoting, like, say a book or a show or anything like that, that have some kind of an expertise in any of any of the specific topics. Yeah. So since we've done the podcast, I mean, I'd have to count, I asked Sean a while back. I can't remember what he said, but we've had, we've had a ton of paranormal investigators. We've had, uh, authors that write. You know, fiction and the paranormal. Uh, so yeah. And then we, and then we've got fellow podcasters. So, uh, and it's kind of nice that, you know, we've met so many, the cool thing about this podcast we do is we've met so many friends. So like going into it, like I said, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if anybody was going to listen. I didn't know if we were going to stick with it. I had no idea what the future held for the podcast, but the 1 thing I didn't know is how many friends we've met. So we've got friends all over the U. S. and a few abroad that are, like I said, authors, podcasters and investigators. And so, yeah, we've had a good variety. And, uh. We, I mean, we've been, I mean, we got, you know, and then what we do is then we learn somebody, like, say we have an author on, they're like, Oh, hey, you ought to have a, so and so they're a friend of mine, uh, they wrote a book about vampires or they wrote a book about whatever we're like, Oh, okay. So then they lead us to another possible guest, you know, and same with investigators, you know, it's kind of like a community of everybody's looking out for each other. And we've met some really good people. And, you know, people have told me about. Hey, you ought to have this, uh, you know, this so and so does a great podcast. And, uh, I think you'd mesh with them. Okay, cool. And then, then they have us on their show. And that's the cool thing about it is we've met so many great people and we call them friends, you know, friends with a show and, and, and friends of just us, you know, and so we've done a couple of live shows and. Like people come out actually don't want to listen to us. And I'm like, and just listeners to, you know, listeners, uh, you know, that joined our facebook group and our instagram pages, they're friends of ours too. So, but yeah, to answer your question, yeah, we've had authors on there that they talk about the creepy stuff and uh, you know, and then, and then especially investigators, you know, we've had some that man, they're from New Jersey to California. We've got a good friend, Aaron eggnatz, that she was our first guest. She's in northern Indiana in the region, you know, um, Yeah, Ohio. We're doing our second live show this coming September. Uh, he's from Ohio. Uh, yeah. So he's an investigator and author. So we even get that we kind of get some people that do both. They, they write books and they investigate. So that's even better. Hey Todd. So it's, uh, it's a March Madness, man. Take you a little bit off the beaten path off the trail in your world. Right. Um, let's talk a little basketball, man. Um, you know, they always say, what is it in 49 States is basketball, but this is Indiana. I think indiana's known for it. My first court man was on grass We fed some chickens and I used a shovel to make it dirt And I thought I was big time because I had a dirt court Uh, but I guess let's talk a little kentucky basketball man, believe it or not. Kentucky is actually my second team Uh dad dad grew up about 20 miles outside of lexington. So like, uh I saw Bob Macy shoot free throws when I was growing up Kyle's dad, which is a little bit before your time. But, uh, Rex Chapman, Kenny Skywalker, Jeff Shepherd, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, those are kind of my era, Kentucky players. And now Reed's playing come full circle. I mean, talk about a stud player that plays like his dad, but, uh, what's kind of your influence or why are you a Kentucky fan, I guess is what I would ask you. Yeah, so I grew up watching and playing sports since I was probably five years old. You know, I played baseball and of course, basketball, that was always my, my main sport. And, and so I grew up in an IU household. My dad, diehard IU, Bob Knight, you know, uh, my brothers, my two brothers are IU fans. My sister's an IU fan. I've got uncles, they're all IU fans. And so what happened was, and I love that at 87 team that, you know, Steve offered that, you know, key smart hit the shot. But why I became a Kentucky fan is because of Rex Chapman. So I followed him his senior year in high school. And fell in love with him in his game. And so when he went to UK in 87 and then 88. So 88 is when I really say his sophomore year is when I really became, that's my team. So 37 seasons later. Uh, still a UK fan, but yeah. McCarty, Antoine Walker. Yeah, Jeff Shepherd, all those guys in on the 96 team and you know, but yeah, Kenny Skywalker in the early eighties, early mid eighties. I know all the players, man. I just, oh gosh, I just, yeah, I was devastated that night. Me and Elijah, he's, he's into it. I've created a monster. He's a, he's a UK fan now. Uh, it was, it was a tough loss. So it's, uh, it's fun. It's all fun though. He still gives homage to Kentucky that he still gives a little bit homage there to Kentucky. If you watch him, uh, cause he's a announcer, he, he wears those blue, like Kentucky blue rimmed glasses. Like if you see him on TV, he's still wearing those. I think that's pretty cool. So I think I want to walk back into your lane a little bit. The thing, the thing that I thought was funny, but 25 years later, it's kind of stuck with me. I did a persuasive speech, my senior year in high school, Nick, believe it or not on the Loch Ness monster. And, uh, I gotta be honest with you. I don't think a lot about it. I'm not saying I believe it or don't believe it, but the Loch Ness monster, I can actually get behind because to me. Creatures that are down there in the, in the depths of the water can live. I don't want to say limitless, but I think they can live a hundred, 150 years. I mean, it's incoming for snapping turtle to be, you know, biologically 125, 150 years old and sometimes so. If I, if I could get behind something, I'm not going to debate, especially being someone that's, uh, that fishes, I think that I'm sure you've heard all kinds of, you know, what they say, fish stories, right? Like, like, uh, man eating catfish and stuff like that. And you know, that kind of thing. So I'm sure you've heard all kinds of that kind, but I was going to say, Jason, you know, it'd be fun as if we did some kind of collaboration with. with Todd and his crew and, uh, actually went on a real life, uh, some kind of a haunted, you know, tour of a building or something like that. And maybe we could, we could provide video and, uh, Then we could come on, you know, come on your show and talk about it or vice versa. That'd be a lot of fun. I've never been on a haunted tour. So I'll tell you this much. Uh, I'm not saying everybody, but we, we're, we got hooked, man. We, we went on our first. So, um, let's see, I'm trying to think it was Bobby. Matt, you ever heard of Bobby Mackey's just over the border from Ohio for like from Cincinnati. It's a, it's a, yeah, it's, I think Bobby Mackey bought it in 77, 78, it's a honky tonk bar, and it stuck in 1978, like the, yeah, so we went there for Jerry Pauly's, one of their live shows, and then, uh, they, we did a tour, so after the, their live show, they, there was like 40 of us, I don't know, they took 20 of us, And we stayed in the main part. So they took us around, told us all the, you know, haunted history. And the other 20 went down. You walked out, you actually go walk outside to the basement, because it's underground. And then you take a tour of that. And then, then they switch, you know, they flip flopped us. And then that same night, we drove to Whisper's Estate, which is in Mitchell, Indiana. And it's a famous haunted house. And so that was our first investigation. And that was with our good friend Aaron Eggnatz from Northern Indiana. And that was, uh, I don't know, we were there six, seven hours. And so, man, we were like, this is it. We want to do this again. So then we went to Waverly Hills in Louisville, which is, I mean, that's, that's a huge, uh, famous place. Uh, it's an abandoned sanatorium. It used to be for tuberculosis. And so we did an all nighter. So we went from 8 o'clock at night to 8 in the morning. And, uh, she had like, I don't know, 25, a group of 25, but kind of everybody kind of goes their own way, you know. It's awesome that we've done Indiana State Sanatorium. We've gone on two different tours on that, like self guided. We also did what we call an on location. So. Uh, we, we did our, um, we did our self guided tour, Indiana state sanatorium, fell in love with that place in Rockville, Indiana, just about an hour west of Plainfield. And then we did a on location. So the owner was nice enough to let us bring our equipment table, our merch. And so what we did is we set up in front of where people come in, you know, to check in or to, or to pay to go on a tour. And so we met a lot of people that way we're able to pass out business cards, bracelets, merch, you know, whatever. And so then, uh, Then we did our self guided tour after we recorded two or three episodes. I'm trying to think. Yeah. So anyway, those are the four places we've been to. Um, yeah, but we're all, we're not, well, we're going to Randolph County asylum. I don't know if you've heard of that in Winchester, Indiana, kind of towards the, uh, Richmond. You know, like in the Ohio border, uh, we're doing that on May 4th. It's on a Saturday. So we're doing a, uh, a meet and greet. So we're, you know, be selling t shirts, giving some merch away from five to seven, and then at seven o'clock, uh, we're doing a tour with them. So, um, yeah, so that's going to be a fun, we've been talking about that place for, since we started the podcast and we're finally getting after three years, we're finally going to get to Randolph County. Um, and that's one of the places that the tornadoes hit a couple of weeks ago. But luckily just one building was a little bit damaged, um, but not, not the actual asylum. So yeah, anytime you guys are down for an investigation, we're not, we, we just go and we just have our flashlights and our phones and ourselves, our senses, and. I don't know how I'd feel going with like a, like a pro anyway, you know what I mean? Like I'm not, I, you know, some of those, I'm sure some of those are like overproduced, you know, some of the shows that you watched, but you know, I don't know how I'd feel going with a pro anyway, where they're like, Hey, you know, crawl into that little, that little black hole there and check that out. I'll bet you that the people at, at, um, Slippery Noodle, if you haven't already, I'll bet you they would let you go in there. They're pretty open to that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Nate. So, um, This was early on, I don't know, gosh, one of our first mini episodes when we started doing those, because we started just to do full episodes, and then I was like, came up with the idea, let's do some mini episodes, right? Just to fill, it was actually just to fill in like a, you know, for, um, if we didn't have time to do the full, but then we were decided, let's just do the full and mini separate. And so what we decided was one of the first few, uh, minis we decided to do, like, local Indiana haunts, uh, local places, and Nate chose the Slippery Noodle, so we, we talked about that on a mini episode, and we talked, and I've never been there, I think Nate has, but, um, and maybe Sean, I'm not sure if he had or not, but yeah, we, we, we've talked about that place, and we want to go there because, uh, There's some haunted history and it's been around for a long time. Yeah, it's, it's supposed to be the most haunted bar in, in Indianapolis is what they say. Um, but it's, it's cool. Never, regardless of the, of the paranormal thing. I mean, like, it's, it's really cool if you haven't been, if you, I don't know if you like blues and jazz and that kind of thing, but it's, uh, yeah, it's always a really cool place to, to hang out. Yeah, that's what I've heard. Yeah, we, you know, what's fun about the investigations or the tours? You go to these places and, you know, whether anything happens or oh my gosh, you got all kinds of activity. It doesn't really matter. It's fun to go. You're actually, like I said, you learn the history of the location of the place. And you're doing it with friends, you know, and then you meet maybe other people on the investigation or the tour or whatever you're doing Um, that's what we found out. It's like nothing has to happen I mean sure it would be great if we saw an actual ghost or Some type of floating thing or flickering lights or whatever, but it doesn't have to have it doesn't have to happen to enjoy That and so I just want to tell people if you want to go on a tour and investigation Don't expect like oh my gosh, there's going to be all kinds of crazy activity because you might not experience any of that Yeah If you do great and we have had we have had at least on our four times. We've had a few things Really? It's just fun. It's just fun. It's just it's you know, go to these places like I said, so it's slippery You know, uh, if nothing happens or whatever so be it but it's a real fun place It's a real place that people gather around a long time It gives you an opportunity to, to use your imagination a little bit, whether, you know, whether anything comes out of that or not. I mean, it's still kind of cool just to, you know, how, how often do we just, you know, work in the grind at our day jobs and just stare at a computer screen. So it's nice to kind of, kind of be able to come outside of that and, and use your, use your imagination a little bit. So I could see that being really fulfilling and fun. Emphasis of our podcast. I think it's nice to take people like we had a guy that was in the NASCAR circuit. For instance He's a tire changer that knows people from all walks of life. And I think yours is limitless I think ours is limitless, but but in all reality, this is just fun I mean, this is cool just being able to talk. Yeah, and that's the point. Uh, I like your entrepreneurship too, man I mean, it's your your logo's cool I mean, I, I think it's a cool logo. Let's let's, let's just say I see your logo. I think your logo is cool. It speaks to exactly what it is. I mean, it, it attracts a crowd. I was fascinated when you would show me, like, I'm just throwing out random cities, but I think you had some audience in San Francisco. I think you had some people in Europe. It just blows my mind that somebody randomly in Europe that you've never seen or talked to. You know, cross references. Yeah. So I think that's a, that's a cool presence. Same with ours though. We don't try to do a lot of central Indiana, if you will. We're looking all across the United States for topics and things. So I think it's a, I think there's some correlation there. Oh, um, like there's some podcasts that they'll stick with, well, whatever their topic or whatever their genre is, they'll, they want to stick with regional and that's fine or local. But I don't know To like you said, you know, like when we first started the podcast and we actually got our first few downloads the other than us obviously, but the first foreign country or uh, Foreign location was kuwait. I'm like kuwait. Wow is listening to middle asian I mean, we're here in plainfield indiana 35 000, you know people and i'm like you got to be kidding But yeah, we've got germany india, you know, we even have we've had china and russia of all places But you know, we get a lot of listeners of course in the uk canada You It is insane. It Philippines, Taiwan. I mean, it's like, it is so wild, but all the other cities, like, you know, Jason, I was showing you like, uh, for, I don't know, maybe six, eight months, uh, Beverly Hills was our largest listenership. Uh, I'm like, Beverly, you know, we're like, we don't know anybody in Beverly Hills, you know? And so it's, it's really cool. Right now, Chicago is our biggest, uh, and then any, or, um, Plainfields are second, but we've got right now we've got, we gained, um, I don't even know what the name of it was, but someplace in Kentucky, we've had San Francisco, you know, a few places in Virginia, um, Ohio, Florida, I mean, we've had Miami. You know, like, it's just insane. It's so fun to see these different cities and towns, whether they're in the US or, you know, out of the country. It's, it's really cool. Like, uh, it's really fun to like know that people are listening to our little podcast. So like, who's this? Who's this Vladimir Putin character that keeps commenting on, on all our stuff? You know,. See, I, I think it's. Go ahead, Todd. Sean would say, he's like, I don't know if that's a good thing. Just keep to the topic. Don't talk about politics. Right, right, right. Yeah. We'll keep, we want to play it safe at the same time. Yeah. To me, it's fascinating. Like, uh, in all walks of life, Nick gives me credit, Todd, and you, you, you have this same ability, like to be honest with you, you know, I've talked to Jerry Colangelo, the owner of the sons, and I don't want to throw out his net worth, but I'm going to say it's probably three quarters of a billion dollars and I might even be low. Just a normal dude. Talk to Ernie Johnson guy on TNT. Uh, you know what I mean? I'm not here to brag about who I've talked to, but I guess what I'm going to say is this podcast has given me a passion, like in what walk of life would you talk to a high level author? Uh, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not taking away from you or judging you, but I'm going to judge myself, I wouldn't talk to an author and day to day ops, right? But the fact that that author is interested in you, you're interested in them, they're a perfect topic for you. It's fascinating, you know, like. Um, you know, I'm trying to get well, I've already got a commitment from a Hall of Fame basketball player that I told you a little bit about. Um, it's amazing to think that you're able to connect with those people. And quite frankly, what we've found is, is everybody likes to talk about kind of the topic or what they're doing so that actually adds fuel. And quite frankly, you're kind of doing that person a favor by having them on to get them out there because maybe that author is, um, regional, maybe they're national, but. In all reality, who doesn't want to talk about a project and kind of launchboard it out on, on, on your airwaves, if you're right. And like Todd was saying, you know, like you may, there may be people in, you know, Beverly Hills or whatever, you know, someplace completely different that, that might just happen to stumble across it and then that person's name gets, you know, gets out there. You know, um, exactly. And Jason, you know, like. We had, I don't know if you've ever heard of Jim Harreld. So Jim Harreld has the longest running paranormal podcast going. Uh, I think it's been 15 years, going on 16. So he's like a rock star in the paranormal, especially podcasting world, and we had him on our show. I mean, we, every, he's got two, he produces, he does two shows and he produces one for his daughter. Uh, she, he, she does the narrating and, you know, writes them, but he produces it. But so to get Jim Harreld on our little show, I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, everybody knows Jim Harreld if you're in the, you know, if you know Paranormal Podcasting. Uh, we had David Race. He was a, uh, he was an intern for the Howard Stern Show back in the 80s for a year. Uh, he's a stand up comedian. He's based out of LA. He's from New York, but he lives in LA. He was on our show as a guest, I don't know, about a month ago, uh, fantastic interview, but, and he's in the Bigfoots, and Aliens, and the Paranormal, uh, but we had him, I'm like, who would have thought, yeah, uh, we've had, we had Josh Arnold from the Bob and Tom show, you know, uh, he was, I don't know, our second, third, fourth guest on our show, he was fantastic, because he likes the Paranormal, and he's from St. Louis, so he'd been, To a few places, you know, like on a, on an investigation or tour. And it is, you're right. It's like amazing. Like who would have thought we'd meet these people and actually get them to be a guest on our show. It's it's it's insane. And they've been great. They've been very respectful and they treat us like we're big deals. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, we're just a, you're the cool. Let me ask you a strategic question. If you do 10 episodes, what do you feel like your mix between just yourselves talking about a topic or just a guest? What do you feel like that mixture looks like for you? Wait, I'm sorry. I said again, Jason, I'm sorry. Um, let me queue it up differently. So if you have 10 episodes, uh, you have a guest on or you don't have a guest on, what does that mix look like for you? If you do 10 episodes? Like right. Yeah. So, uh, I would say probably eight to two that we don't. So, uh, so we're trying to like this month. So from March through May, actually going into June, not June, not quite. We're scheduling them, but we don't have them like. Dead set yet on the dates. So from March through April through May, uh, I would say, uh, maybe three out of four episodes. We have a guest on now before that. It was probably maybe every 3rd or 4th episode. And then we go maybe 5 or 6 episodes that it was just us talking about a topic. And then we're like, okay, it's been a while since we had a guest. You know, you just try to. You know, if not, if one's not available, then, you know, you can't, you know, you got to, you just got to schedule it out and everybody's got crazy schedules. So, but it seems like lately we're getting more guests on. So what, uh, we've never said like, yeah, we're going to, at some point, it's always going to be a guest, uh, or at some point we're going to back off a guest. It's just like, if I can, I reach out to them and if they can get, if we can get them scheduled and then come on for an hour, hour and a half, then we'll do it. Uh, and it might be two or three in a row. Or it might be two or three episodes until we get a guest. So that's kind of, so, but like right now at 10, I'd say probably at least maybe half, you know, uh, or guests. And then the other five are just us talking about picking our normal topics. Yeah. All right. Well, I mean, unless, unless, uh, Jason has anything else, I just have one more question for you and then we'll make sure we get all your information so that, you know, we can get your name out there, uh, where people can find you and all that. So what would you say, whether it be at, with the show or outside of the show, what would you say was, has been the most. Paranormal experience that you've ever had. Ooh, uh, let's see. I had a, I had a, uh, an experience. So I'm going to talk about just my personal. Yeah. I've told it on the show and I actually told it on, uh, Jerry's, the Hillbilly Horror Story. Um, so this was about seven years ago ish. And so I work at a local Christian church for my full time job. And I, we have like a, like a first aid room. So we have, you know, somebody sick or whatever. We got a little, you know, sofa ish, whatever to lay down or whatever. And so it was on a Friday and I was beat tired. I mean, I, I didn't feel good and it was getting close to lunchtime. So I'm like, you know, I'm just gonna use my lunch, my hour. I'm just gonna lay down. I'm going to crash out. I'll set my phone, make sure I wake up. And so I did that. I crashed out and what had happened was my, my phone goes off and I couldn't get up. So I'm fully awake. I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't on any medication. I don't, you know, of course I'm not gonna do drugs or alcohol on work, but I don't do it. Anyway, I could not get up. It's like something was holding me down. And I was fully awake and I was fully aware and I could not even speak or yell for help. So I don't know if you've ever heard like sleep paralysis where you're aware you're awake, you can't move and you can't speak. That's I experienced that. And it was like something was trying to intimidate me, trying to scare me. And I was like, I have got to get up. I've got to break through. So after about, I don't know, 10 or 15 minutes of this, I mean, I was kind of freaking out, but I couldn't speak. And I finally just like broke through and finally sat up and got out of there and I'm like, oh my gosh What the heck happened? I didn't tell anybody until we started the podcast So I didn't tell my wife because I was like, how do I explain that? You know, right somebody's gonna say no You're you're sleeping. You're dreaming. No, I wasn't I was actually wide awake Um, well, you're, I don't know. I mean, they're gonna come up with anything to, to disparage what I experienced. And I'm like, now, I'm like, now we're into what we're doing. I'm like, I have no problem telling people what happened. And so that, that, so that was probably the creepiest thing that happened to me personally. And never had it since too. I've never had it happen at the, at the church. I've never had it happen, like a home or anywhere else. But that was. That was pretty intense just because it not only was it something was kind of keeping me down, but I couldn't speak I couldn't yell to help, you know to help me out. So that was pretty intense. That was a not not fun moment Maybe this is the the appropriate time for me to talk about the time that the the aliens took me and probed me up And I'm just kidding. I'm kidding He's just trying to he's just trying to posture his way into a future episode there I've heard of the sleep paralysis thing. I, I, I hear a lot of people talk about seeing an old lady. Is that a true thing? Like an old lady sitting on, on someone's chest. That's called the old hag, old hag, old hag. Yeah. Where some creepy old stringy hair, old lady looking thing. But it's not a woman, not a lady. It's actually like some type of creature. But they call her the old hag that she'll sit on your chest and hold you down. And, uh, and then the other one is that is kind of associated with, um, sleep paralysis is where you ever heard of the hat man? He's kind of like, uh, a demon. So they, they would describe me as a, just a malevolent spirit to it, mainly a demon or like a devil, and he's, he wears like a fedora and they've said he's actually wears, uh, other type hats, but mainly a fedora hat. And he's, he's, um, he's one of those where if somebody's kind of having sleep paralysis, they'll experience this hat man and he's, uh, not, not good. He's not positive. Yeah. And then a lot of people see like, uh, you know, just other regular spirits or ghosts, you know? Um, Shadow figures are a big, big thing. And that was our, I think ours, our second or our, we had our introduction, introductory, uh, introductory, sorry, podcast episode. And then we did our main, like, not just talking about us, but our first topic was about shadow figures. And so that's a creepy, pretty creepy topic. But, uh, so they say the hat man is kind of like a. It could be like a devil, demon, or it could be like a shadow figure. So, uh, but yeah, the old hag, the old woman is, is pretty creepy. We've, we've, we've talked about her before. Yeah. Yeah, man. Never, never trust anyone on a fedora. You know what I mean? Like you just, right. Exactly. That has a red glowing eyes. Yeah. Right. Yeah. The red glowing eyes too. That's yeah, that's a, that's a red flag. So where can we find you, man? So what we're, um, It's, it's middle aged and creeped out for the podcast. Um, what about, what about your other social media? And of course, we'll, we'll put this stuff on on screen once I, once I post it and everything, but what's, what's your other social media? Yeah, so Middle Aged and Creeped Out podcast. It's a family friendly podcast. Uh, talk about all the paranormal and explain creepy. Uh, I also wanna mention this is very important. To us, uh, personally, but our podcast and the family, we, you know, uh, we call our podcast family. Uh, we advocate for mental health awareness and anti bullying. So awesome. I love that. A strong family of, of those who we try to encourage each other, uh, especially through our Facebook group. So, um, you know, we give out the, the helplines and, and the anti bullying, you know, uh, like. gov, you know, dot org, whatever. Um, so that's important. So if anybody wants to join the group and they, they struggle with any of that, they can reach out to us. They can reach out. They can post on our group. Uh, or we like, so we post the phone numbers. Um, so I just want to mention that, but we're on Instagram. So you can just either type in middle Asian creep out and you'll find it, uh, or Mako, uh, M A A C O podcast. Um, we're on X, uh, Tik Tok. And of course, like I said, Facebook, if you just search middle Asian creeped out, uh, people can reach us through email. Which is, uh, makopodcast at gmail. com. Uh, we drop full episodes every Wednesday evening at 7 o'clock Eastern, and then we drop our middle aged mini episodes every Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Um, we've got a live show in September. It's on September 21st. We're doing the Greenwood Happy Haunts. Uh, we're having Austin Lawrence. He's the author and investigator from Ohio. He's going to be our special guest speaker. Uh, so, and we post all the time and mention on our podcast how to get tickets and all that. Uh, yeah, we're going to be at Randolph County Asylum. Uh, black house cafe. I want to mention there's a horror theme, Airbnb and a coffee shop in Fountain Square. Uh, that's a really cool place that we're going to do a meet and greet there on Friday, uh, April 5th. So that's coming up. So all kinds of ways to find us, uh, you know, catch us on social media and we're pretty, we're pretty accessible. Yep. Awesome, man. Way. We really appreciate you coming on. Really do. It was fascinating. Easy to talk to good questions. A lot of similar things. And, uh, Wish you continued success. If we can ever help you out or vice versa, hopefully we can make that happen. And, uh, we'd like to take you up on one of those, uh, adventure opportunities if time allows. Yeah, definitely. Anytime you guys want to go, like I said, uh, Sean calls us, uh, you know, Ghostbusters meets Scooby Doo. So that's kind of what you're getting into with us on a tour and investigation. But no, anytime you guys want to hook up and get together and do that. And I appreciate the time having me on the show. I wish you guys much success and I've listened to every episode now. So I just keep going, man. Thanks a lot, man. Appreciate it. Take care. Have a good rest of your weekend, man. Go cats. Yeah, that's right. See you guys. All right.