Summary4 min read

Coffee with a Podcaster: Love Your Podcast Again

Host: Matthew Bliss
Episode: Avoiding Toxic Podcast Teams and Improving Your Relationships
Date: January 26, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Matthew Bliss delivers a heartfelt and candid solo reflection on the challenges and lessons learned from working within podcasting teams, particularly focusing on the importance of healthy relationships, transparency, and communication. Drawing from his own experience with a difficult client, Matthew explores how to recognize toxic dynamics in podcasting collaborations and shares practical advice for maintaining positive, fulfilling connections with podcast clients, co-hosts, and team members.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Relational Nature of Podcasting

Building Connections at the Core:
Matthew emphasizes that the foundation of podcasting is relationship-building—whether that's with listeners, interview guests, or between team members. Healthy relationships lead to more successful podcasting outcomes.

“Relationships are the baseline of podcasting...It’s about creating a connection.” (01:36)
The Ripple Effect Across Roles:
The importance of relationships extends beyond hosts to editors, producers, writers, and anyone contributing to the show.

Transparency & Communication

Necessity of Transparency in Remote Teams:
Since most podcasting work happens remotely, clear and transparent communication is critical. Without regular updates and open channels, team members can feel isolated and uncertain about their role or contribution.

“If you are a podcast editor...it’s more than likely you are dealing with your clients via emails, via text messaging, video calls occasionally, maybe. So it can get really easy to feel sectioned off, particularly if the communication doesn’t come thick and fast.” (04:05)
Clarity Eases Anxiety:
Matthew notes that being transparent about project status and individual roles relieves anxiety and helps everyone feel valued.

Warning Signs of Toxic or Dysfunctional Teams

Lack of Transparency as a Major Red Flag:
When team members or clients fail to maintain honest and open communication, it undermines trust and effectiveness—regardless of the project’s apparent success or polish.

“If there is no transparency, it doesn’t matter what the state of the podcast is...if you are not working directly and informing and transparently communicating with everyone in that team...then you’re doing something wrong.” (09:11)
Don’t Be Swayed by Appearances:
Even a show or client with a “great mission” can be compromised by poor internal relationships.

“Even if the fruit has a sheen to the front that makes you want to buy it, if it’s rotten on the inside, then there’s nothing you can do. You have to toss the fruit out and start again.” (10:20)
Efforts to Fix vs. Need to Move On:
Sometimes, despite best efforts to adapt or implement systems, there comes a point where it’s healthiest to walk away.

“I’ve even tried to work a system around this client to try and make it work. But it hasn’t worked and I’m done telling them. So I’m telling you.” (09:53)

Advice for Podcasters and Podcast Professionals

Know Your Value:
Stand by your professional worth and prioritize relationships that respect and acknowledge it.
Proactive Connection:
Whether you’re an editor, host, or team member, make the effort to reach out and forge real human connections.
Don’t Be Afraid to Walk Away:
If relationships and transparency aren’t happening despite efforts, it may be time to let go and move on.

“Don’t be afraid to let them go if they don’t [meet the standards of transparency and good relationships].” (13:29)
Take the High Road:
When conflict arises, conduct yourself professionally—no public call-outs, no drama.

“Take the high road, don’t throw your toys out the pram...It is a really simple thing for you to stand up and do the right thing.” (12:12)

The “Unspoken” Hard Stuff

Industry Taboo:
Matthew recognizes it’s difficult—but necessary—to talk about uncomfortable dynamics in podcasting.

“There’s a lot of stuff that people don’t talk about in podcasting that’s hard to talk about because it can put people on the spot. But it’s in those areas that people need to be put on the spot, and you need to call out the things that need to change.” (15:16)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Podcasting’s Foundation:

“Relationships are the baseline of podcasting...creating, maintaining, upgrading that relationship is going to be super important.” (02:00)
On Transparency in Teams:

“Transparently understanding what anyone else is doing as part of your podcasting team, that relieves some anxiety.” (05:10)
On Letting Go:

“Even if the fruit has a sheen to the front that makes you want to buy it, if it’s rotten on the inside, then there’s nothing you can do.” (10:20)
On Being the Change:

“If that change comes for you, I’ll be incredibly happy. And if it comes about as a result of this episode, then let me know.” (15:46)

Timestamps for Important Segments

[01:36] — Why relationships are the core of podcasting.
[04:05] — The importance of transparent communication in remote podcast teams.
[09:11] — How lack of transparency ruins even well-funded or high-profile shows.
[10:20] — The “rotten fruit” analogy for toxic team dynamics.
[12:12] — Taking the high road and dealing with conflict professionally.
[13:29] — Knowing when to move on from unhealthy clients or collaborators.
[15:16] — The need to talk about tough topics in the podcasting industry.

Final Thoughts

Matthew closes the episode with encouragement for podcasters to prioritize genuine human connections, strive for transparency, and courageously address the hard truths in their professional relationships. He offers an open invitation to listeners to share their own experiences and lessons, and promises future episodes with a lighter tone.

Listener Call-to-Action

Matthew invites listeners to send voice notes via SpeakPipe or emails to share their own stories or lessons learned from challenging podcast team experiences.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
This is a boy snoke with Matt here. Hey, guys. This is was going to be one of the weeks where I missed the long weekly episode that I planned together well, because I'm just incredibly busy at the moment again. But I wanted to leave you a voice note because there's something that I've been mulling over in my head about a current podcast editing client that I will soon be getting rid of. For lack of a better term, the work for them became overwhelming. There's very little benefit for me either through value or income or whatever working with this particular client. And I figured this podcast is not just about providing value for you about podcasting, but it's also a way for me to share the important things with you that I know generally about working and working with people and the stuff that can affect you as a podcaster or a podcasting professional that you need to note. And a lot of the aspects of the things we do in podcasting are relational. And I'll tie the beginning with this relational thought in a sec. But relationships are the baseline of podcasting. Podcasts have come about as an incredibly engaging medium because it's about creating a connection with the person that you're speaking to. If it's an interview, or creating a connection with the listener, like I am connecting with you right now, those relationships are super important. So any podcast that isn't looking to facilitate, create, maintain, upgrade, you know, stay consistent with that relationship isn't going to do as well as you expect it to. Now, this also translates across to work that you do for podcasts. It's necessarily a relationship. So if you are a podcast editor, like I am for the client that I mentioned earlier, then creating, maintaining, upgrading that relationship is going to be super important. Now, this is also a corollary to any relationship you have in your life. You know, you have, you have a wife, a husband, a partner, a good friend, a best friend that you maintain a relationship with. You want to make sure that you're doing the things that, that keep things going for that relationship. It might be going to movies that you don't like to make sure that you can hang out with them. It might be telling them what's going on in your life over a coffee and just sharing what's going on. But the transparency, I think, is incredibly important there. Good communication is often about transparently communicating without a vendetta, without anything lying on top. Now, floating back to podcast editing or a podcast profession. Transparency is key there as well, because more often than not these days, podcasting teams they're not in the same office, working in the same space. If you're listening to this right now and you're a podcast editor, it's more than likely that you are dealing with your clients via emails, via text messaging, video calls occasionally, maybe. So it can get really easy to feel sectioned off, particularly if the communication doesn't come thick and fast and you don't keep people up to date. And it's not the fact that you're missing information or don't know what's going on, because as long as you know your role in the entire process, that's perfectly fine. But transparently understanding what anyone else is doing as part of your podcasting team, that relieves some anxiety. The. The thoughts that whether what you're doing is good enough, whether it fits in, if you're delivering it in a timely way, all of those are important things that compound on any podcast editor or professional who's working in with a team. There's always going to be outliers, the people who do it through vengeance or state of their lane and don't care what else goes on. They deliver what they need to deliver when it's due, and that's it. But I think the value of working as an editor or a researcher, script writer, producer, whatever it might be, as part of a podcasting team, looping back to the start, is that relational component now, tying all of that together. Relationships, transparency, maintenance, consistency, all those things together are incredibly important to make sure that all of the team members feel valued, that the work being done and the credit for that work being done is clear. And that at every stage, at every part of the podcasting process, every person knows the stage at which project is before it gets to the stage of delivery or the stage where they need to deliver the thing they need to do. Now, this client that I'll be off boarding, I'm not going to name them, because that is not the place. This isn't the place to do that kind of thing. And it's not a thing that you should do in this industry either. But what I've learned from working with this particular client is that if there is no transparency, it doesn't matter what the state of the podcast is, whether they have enough budget or if they don't. It doesn't matter how many people you've got working for you, what side of the planet you're on, if you are not working directly and informing and transparently communicating with everyone in that team and facilitating the connections within that podcast team to make sure that everything is solid, that no one feels out of place, that everyone feels like they're delivering value, then you're doing something wrong. And this is a message I've tried to tell this client every so often. I have, I have really tried. I've even tried to work a system around this client to try and make it work. But it hasn't worked and I'm done telling them. So I'm telling you. Not as a way for me to complain about having a client. One of those situations in the very few times in your career where you'll encounter a bad client and have to deal with it. Because in fairness, the mission of this client is actually great. What it accomplishes is excellent. But even if the fruit has a sheen to the front that makes you want to buy it, if it's rotten on the inside, then there's nothing you can do. You have to toss the fruit out and start again. So the important lesson that I want to tell you in this voice note, admittedly a long one, so if you've stuck with me this far, I'm really glad you have. The really important thing is that if you're being brought on as part of a team, know your value. Seek to create that relational human connection and seek out the transparency and where you work in to a podcasting team. And if you're not getting it from the podcast client that you have or the co host that you're working with, or even perhaps the guest that you're trying to get on for a single episode, reach out and make that connection. Do the right thing. Take the high road, don't throw your toys out the pram. And just because you didn't do it right the first time, cast them off and then bring someone else in just to make sure it does work. It is a really simple thing for you to stand up and do the right thing. And if you're doing it all the time and you can see the signs and you can make sure that it doesn't happen to you again, then it's going to benefit everyone else as well. And I know it will benefit you. So make sure if you're looking to work in the podcasting industry, that transparency, relationships, communication, all of those boxes get ticked as you're working with your clients and don't be afraid to let them go if they don't. Now that got a little bit serious. There will be more episodes this week with something a little more lighthearted, but I figure revealing a little bit more about myself and sharing some advice probably in the more conflict ridden aspects of podcasting, I think, is an important thing. There's a lot of stuff that people don't talk about in podcasting that's hard to talk about because it can put people on the spot. But it's in those areas that people need to be put on the spot, and you need to call out the things that need to change. So if that change comes for you, I'll be incredibly happy. And if it comes about as a result of this episode, then let me know. Share a voice note on speakpipe.com coffee podcaster send me an email businessbpod.com let me know what's come about for you, what important lessons you want to share with anyone who listens to this podcast, or even yours, and I'll see you next week. That was a voice note from Matt. Come back. Oh yeah.