WAIM #055 - Pete Dominick

Pete Dominick was an inspiration for me when I began What Am I Making. Before I started publishing, I reached out to Pete and asked for his advice. He encouraged me to begin the work and figure out what it all meant afterward. Pete encouraged me to stay in the moment and to enjoy the process. I took his advice and I ran with it. It was hard not to take Pete’s sage wisdom seriously. After all, this was a man who had hosted a national radio show for fourteen years and one day found himself without a contract. In Pete’s other appearances on the pod, we discussed the pain of that job loss in depth. Instead of lamenting his loss, Pete set to work building an independent podcast network. That work has been going on now for more than four years, and has more than a thousand episodes as proof of its own success.What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Pete’s work, at least in my estimation, is the community that he has built around his show. It’s a group of hilarious, intelligent, diverse, and empathetic souls that are a direct reflection of the kind of person that Pete Dominick is, and the sort of people he brings together. Later this month, that community will gather in person for the first time at an event in Las Vegas called the Stand Up Pod Jam. We talk about Pete’s feelings around the big event on the horizon and what it means to him to have built a community like that.During our chat, Pete and I also discuss the importance of a morning routine and how it has transformed each of our lives. Pete sings the praises of meditation and of journaling. We cover the unfortunate nature of folks preening at the gym and on vacation. There is also a story about how we both use humor as a weapon, but in surprisingly divergent ways. Recently, Pete has also stood up to a bully in his local town. We talk about the act of actually being the change in the world that we want to see, and what it takes to make that happen. It’s a moment where Pete has put the name of his show, Stand Up, into action in his own life. This is a great chat with a podcaster and interviewer that I admire and appreciate. I am proud to call him a friend and to welcome him back to the show. Cheers,Matty CWhat did you think of my chat with Pete? Get full access to What Am I Making at whatamimaking.substack.com/subscribe