Rosa Linda Román: 00:00 Hey everyone, before we get started, a quick note. This is one of the early episodes recorded back in 2015 before we left New Mexico and moved onto the sailing catamaran Dawn Treader and before we became a fulltime traveling family. As you can imagine a lot has happened since this was recorded but I do hope you enjoy hearing this backstory. If you want to stick around until the end I will share how to find out what we are doing now. But first, a step back in time before we went from New Mexicast to New Mexi-Castaways. Enjoy! Theme Music: 00:03 Rosa Linda Román: 00:28 Hello and welcome to New Mexicast, the enchanting show featuring interesting people and places in New Mexico and beyond. This is New Mexicast audio edition and I'm Rosa Linda Roman. I'm the host and creator of New Mexicast. I'm a former mainstream television news anchor and reporter and I now do independent work and I've been doing it for about 10 years on this show called New Mexicast. This audio edition is really a chance for brainstorming and sharing as some people like to call, which I really don't like this expression, uh, what opening up the Kimono, which I think is kind of a rude expression, um, to see what's inside, right? So basically the magic behind New Mexicast, if you will, um, or the fact that it's not that magical and a lot of hard work and perseverance. Uh, and so I'm sharing it here on the audio podcast because this is the, uh, easiest way for me to kind of express thoughts and kind of process through all of the work that I've done on this show over the past, almost 10 years. Rosa Linda Román: 01:41 And also to share with you guys some of what I've learned along the way. Now as you will know if you've listened to some of the past audio episodes, a lot of it is just sharing where I am in that moment and what adventures my family happens to be going on. Um, but I also share kind of the thought process behind how to make things work, not just the balance between home and work, but also between old school journalist that I am. I'm a, if you will, classically trained as a broadcast journalist. I have a degree from the University of Florida in telecommunication, a bachelor's degree and uh, many, many years working at local TV stations. So this is kind of a place for me to share some of the ups and downs and trials and tribulations of what it takes to go from the mainstream. And I really do have, uh, as I've said in the past, I see myself as a journalist first. Um, but also that, that independent spirit, I loved all the independent filmmaking I've worked on and many independent project. So I kind of use this here, New Mexicast audio edition as a chance to share of those experiences in case maybe someone else's trying to figure it all out at the same time that I am doing this. And what this is currently is I'm the TV show that I created, New Mexicast, took a long hiatus. I finished season two of New Mexicast about a little over a year ago and have not done an episode of New Mexicast, which it was a half hour TV show. I have not done an episode since then, but I have been doing a lot of broadcasting if you will. The new medium is live streaming a video through an app called Periscope. Rosa Linda Román: 03:42 And now there's another, um, there's several, probably other possibilities, something called Meerkat, which I have not tried. And even Facebook is doing live streaming video. Um, for someone like me who created a video podcast way back when, um, in 2007, uh, this is exciting because it changes the dynamics and it's really opening up possibilities that didn't exist before. So I have been Periscoping or scoping as they call it, uh, which all it is, is you open up this app, you give it a title, and then you broadcast out into the world. You do not have control over who is watching, except you can block out anyone that says something inappropriate, which people in periscope land call trolls. Um, inevitably when I do a live broadcast, especially in a very public place like Walt Disney World, someone will say something that, uh, is a bit disturbing to say the least, whether it's asking me to, uh, show my private parts or, um, or there's certain comments that make you think of scary terrorist attacks. Rosa Linda Román: 04:58 Um, so needless to say, there's an element that is kind of wild and a bit scary, but from not looking at that perspective, because that's really something out of my control. Um, I just really love the thought that we no longer have a middleman. We can communicate with our audience directly. And when our audience decides they like what you're doing and they want to follow, they don't have to go through a TV station and they don't have to check in and watch ads and sit through things that maybe they don't support or they don't want their kids to see. Right? So all of a sudden I feel like there's this brand new freedom, but it is a new frontier. Uh, there's, there's really no owner's manual for this or you know, user manual for this whole process. And so a lot of us are just figuring it out as we go. Rosa Linda Román: 05:50 So one of the things I've come to discover through working on NewMexicast, um, way before live streaming is that it's really hard when you're working on work that you, that you care about to find the balance and really find a way to share. Uh, in my case, what I like to share is people's stories. Um, I certainly, you know, I've gotten comfortable over the years talking about me and my story and I like to share of course things about my kids and my life. But, um, and that's really what social media is. Everybody, it's sometimes feels like everybody is saying, look at me, look at me, you know. But I really, for me as a journalist, I really love the chance to tell other people's stories and shine a light on other people and the amazing work that they are doing or something that they're passionate about. Rosa Linda Román: 06:46 Um, and that's what I've done with New Mexicast the TV show. And before that, the video podcast. I find an interesting person and I record, I would go to their house or their place of work or, or wherever they're doing, whatever they're passionate about and I would interview them and I would follow them and I would record. And then I would spend probably weeks, um, going through the footage and editing that and really putting it all together in a finished piece, which took a lot of work. Uh, every episode took weeks to produce and I did everything myself and I built the website and you know, all of those things. I called myself a one woman band, but I'm working really hard to call myself a former one woman band because while it seemed like a great idea back then, I now know in order to do what I want to do, to tell people's stories in a way that honors them, but also honors myself and my family. Um, I definitely need to work with a team. Plus I'm a social person and, and working solo isn't really the best plan for me. Some people are great when they work alone. That's when they get their best work done. And I certainly can work in isolation when I'm editing or, or writing. But when it comes to the storytelling, I want to be with people and I really enjoy the process of interacting with people. So I wanted to share this with you because Periscope brings people into the equation. All of a sudden I'm interacting with people live in a way that I haven't done since I was the main anchor in Monterey, California at KIO, KION46. Uh, that was back in 2005 when my first daughter was born then. And it's been a long time since I've done any kind of live television or live reporting and it's really a game changer. Rosa Linda Román: 08:42 I really find that it's getting me thinking about the medium again, getting me really, um, you, you have to, here's the thing about Periscope. You can put anything out there that you want and you probably will get a few who see your, your live broadcast pop up on a map and they click on it and they check it out. But that doesn't, that's, you know, that doesn't pay the rent. Let's put it that way. There's, that is one thing and certainly it feeds our ego. And let me tell you, I'm the first person to admit that I love an audience and I, it's, it's, it always, I always think back to this movie Chorus Line where this dancer had had some work done, if you will, like, um, you know, chest enhancement and I think a face lift or something or maybe, oh no, her, her behind enhanced as well. And uh, anyway, the character gets up there and they said, why, you know, why did you do all that? Why did you, um, you know, go through all this for your looks? And she said she got her dance card after an audition once and everybody said she had a 10 on a scale of one to 10. She was a 10 when it came to dancing. But when it came to looks, she was a three. And in this song that she's singing about why she did that, made this, you know, drastic change, she says, "dance 10 looks three, you know, that ain't yet kid dancing for my own enjoyment, no." And basically she saying, I didn't want to just dance for me, I wanted to dance for an audience. And I know that's a kind of a extreme example because, you know, of course I don't want to do that if I can help it, although I am getting up there in age. Rosa Linda Román: 10:27 But, um, you know, I, what I'm trying to say I guess is that of course, if you are putting stuff out into the world, you want an audience and it feels good to have an audience. But I worked in New Mexicast on these stories for at least eight, no, nine years now, about eight years. I worked on these stories day in and day out. I mean literally like I would be watching TV with my husband and I was editing at the same time and I would be, um, you know, going to the beach in Mexico with my family and I wouldn't go down to the beach cause I was upstairs editing. I mean I put a ton of work into this stuff and really tried to make quality stories true to my broadcasting background, uh, and my training as a journalist. But I felt like I was dancing for my own enjoyment. Rosa Linda Román: 11:20 I mean, I had some awesome viewers and if you guys are still listening, please do not think that I'm putting down those of you that stayed with me throughout because you are the reason I'm still here. Like as far as doing this kind of work. I would have, I would definitely would have thrown in the towel on New Mexicast way long ago if it weren't. For those of you that have been with me from the beginning and I just want you to know I absolutely appreciate that. And the sponsors that came on board early. I mean they didn't, you know, I had no proven numbers back then. I had no, I had very little to show except for the fact that I was putting quality workout. But again, dancing for my own enjoyment where you don't have an audience after a while, you, you really, if you're in, you know, you come from mainstream media where you have um, who knows hundreds, thousands of people watching every broadcast and frankly not necessarily stories I am proud that I did, but it was my job and those are the stories I had to do. At least that's what I thought at the time. Even then I had hundreds or thousands of people always watching and you would get feedback in the form of email or calls or whatever. But working independently, it often felt like you were working in a vacuum. That there was no one watching. And you know, I was always grateful for my sister and my mom and my Aunt Binny who, and my mother-in-law, Anne used to always watch my s my stories cause I knew somebody was watching and they'd comment and say they liked it, right? And this is before Facebook and really before anybody knew, like was sharing things the way that they do now. But it really made me go, okay, I'm putting a lot of time in and I'm giving up a lot of time with my family to make this happen. Rosa Linda Román: 13:08 And the money's not there and the, and, and the Kudos are not there. You know, it just wasn't enough feedback. You know, if you go to a job, a regular, like out a regular station, you may feel like, oh, that story wasn't that great, but at the end of the week you get a paycheck. Right. And so at least, you know, okay, I'm doing this for something, I'm doing this to pay the rent, I'm doing this, you know, to continue my skills and, and I get some validation here and there. Well, independently, there is none of that. It's just me and this screen and I'm sitting in my house, you know, trying to squeeze it all in and make it work. So I'm not, I'm really not trying to say this to complain. I'm just saying why now that things are shifting in broadcasting, and I know broadcasting is a traditional term that we're talking about. Rosa Linda Román: 14:03 Traditional broadcast stations is was always what you would call broadcasting, but now people are broadcasting to the world through periscope and through other mediums and because of that, the feedback for better or worse is instantaneous. If I do a broadcast that falls flat, it's just like hearing crickets. There's just no one there. And if I do a broadcast where people really, what I'm saying resonates with people, all they do is tap the screen and it brings hearts right before my very eyes, like magical pixie dust. I get hearts on the screen as I'm live reporting. Well, that never would've happened when I was on regular TV. And so all of a sudden I feel like, okay, well that's kind of exciting, but now what? And the now what is the big question that I think a lot of people are asking themselves. It is nice to feel that validation. I mean, I would be totally lying if I didn't say I didn't have that ego side of me that really, you know, appreciates the feedback because not only can they give hearts on this Periscope app, but people can comment in real time or slightly real time, there's a slight delay, but mostly real time, uh, and give you feedback and ask you questions and interact with you. Um, and that's really compelling. That is something that I've never experienced before and I have worked in some form or another in media since, oh my gosh, you know, 1908, so a long, long time. Um, and so it's really, really been interesting to figure out what to do with Periscope and I've been following some really interesting people that are looking at cutting edge ways to, to make their broadcasts work and monetize their broadcasts. Um, I'm not there yet. Rosa Linda Román 15:59 I'm not pretending I'm there yet, but I do know that I am also experimenting and I'm enjoying it. That's the big thing. I'm enjoying it! I don't have to produce a mega piece that takes weeks and weeks and weeks. I can share a thought right on Periscope and by the time I'm done, I will have interacted with some viewers. I will have gotten some hearts. I will know that I did something. It may not be earth shattering or life changing, but I did something and I got to tell you, when you have little kids, sometimes that's a huge victory because you spend your days taking care of their needs and trying to be the best that you can for them. And sometimes you're like, where am I in this whole equation? So, uh, and speaking of which, I'm actually on my way to a ladies day out, I'm going to go make cupcake decorations or something as part of a girls get together. Rosa Linda Román: 16:56 And, uh, so I really do try to like take care of myself and see my friends as well. So if you're listening to this because you're in a similar boat, you got to make time for you. So remember that. Um, anyway, so I, I'd like to explore some of this stuff with you, uh, here on New Mexico cast. And I'd also like to start sharing stories again. Um, here on the audio edition, it's, it's pretty easy for me to do that. Um, you can't give me hearts on the screen if you're listening to this podcast, but you could send me an email RLR@NewMexicast.com. If you have something in particular you want to see, send it to me. I can't guarantee I'll get it. I mean, I can't guarantee I'll do it, but at least I would like to hear your thoughts. Um, and I really think that this is an evolution and I'm going to take you along for the ride if you want to listen, awesome. If you don't just skip on past, um, there's plenty of options out there, but I just feel like I've got so many years of experience in this area that I, I can at least share, share the, you know, open up the Kimono, um, and share that with you along the way. All right, we're going to take a quick break and then when we come back, I'm going to tell you about a partnership that I'm working on right now. That is kind of the first experiment that I'm doing with New Mexicast in this live streaming social media arena. So I'll be right back. Theme Music: 18:31 Rosa Linda Román: 18:39 All right. Welcome back. Um, so I want to talk about this new venture partnership that I've been working on and I mentioned it in a previous episode, uh, of New Mexicast audio where I was going skiing and um, and this partnership is with somebody called, well an app called My Habit Upgrade and the founder of it is Natalie Goldfein and although I don't really say it in periscope, she is my husband's cousin and so I've known her for a long time, but this is brand new. She and I are really just exploring how to, um, help. We're, we're looking at like a symbiotic relationship because she created this app called My Habit Upgrade, which this is really cool. You go, you use, you sign up for this app and then, and you get like 30 days for the, for, for free to begin to try it out. But you sign up and you're, you get these daily reminders to do these different techniques that help you become a better person, if you will. It really helps you with self-improvement and, and it really simplifies selfimprovement. So I really like the app. I was kind of helping, um, tested out a little bit with her, not so much. She's got like, it's a professional app, she's got testers and she went through the whole Beta thing and I just, I came on board pretty late and was like, wow, I really like what you're doing. And I really like her. And I thought, okay, so what can we do with this? And right about the same time, Periscope came onto the scene and I didn't know anything about Periscope until I had been going through this thing called Smart Success Academy, which I've mentioned in the past. Um, done by Chalene Johnson, a fitness lady and her husband, Brett Johnson. Rosa Linda Román: 20:27 And in that process I discovered Chalene does these things, these broadcasts on something called Periscope. And I had heard a couple of the other people that I enjoy listening to Pat Flynn and Chris Ducker, I'm doing Periscope and how they kept saying it's a game changer, it's a game changer. And I thought, okay, whatever. Cause it just seemed, again like just like another social media platform for people to um, you know, show what they ate for dinner and just, you know, just a lot more noise. Um, and so I wasn't really that excited about it, but then once I started listening to how Chalene Johnson was using it, I thought, okay, this could work. And with Natalie, we decided to sign up for Chalene's, um, virtual business academy. And in that academy she kinda shows you how to use your broadcasts in periscope or in some other media, medium. Rosa Linda Román: 21:24 Uh, she shows you how to use those and repurpose them and do more with whatever content you're creating. And this really appealed to me because again, remember I'm coming from a place of a one woman band where it took four weeks to do one story or one episode. And here she's talking about doing one little live shot and making it into tons of content. So that's very attractive to me. So I started investigating that. Natalie and I would like talk about how to do that and you know, the different techniques that were suggested and we decided we were going to start Periscoping together or scoping together and what we're doing now. This partnership between My Habit Upgrade and New Mexicast is every Thursday, oh, Tuesday and Thursday we get on Periscope and I introduce, I say hello to my viewers and um, Natalie shares it on it. I don't want to get into all the details of exactly that, just tickly how to do that. We can make that another episode. But the bottom line is through Skype and Periscope, we have a conversation, she shares one of her techniques, which is part of the My Habit Upgrade app. And we talk about it and it's a quick broadcast and it's something positive to put out into the world. But the most important thing for me, because the most important thing for her is different because obviously she's got a business that she's building and, and she is getting her techniques out into the world and really establishing herself as the expert that she really is at some of this stuff. Um, but I'm, it's helping me to really fine tune my own techniques as a, as a broadcaster and get clear on what I want and what I don't want. Rosa Linda Román: 23:12 Because the fact of the matter is, when you think about all the noise out there and all this stuff, I don't want it to be like, I think of like my kids when they, you know, they're all doing something, oh, I'm doing a somersault, look at me, mommy, look at me, I'm doing a somersault. And then all the other two kids are like, no, I can do it better. Look at me. I can do a better, I feel like that's what Periscope is right now. Everybody's trying to one up each other, do it better. Look at me, look at me to grab eyeballs. And that's fine. I mean, who am I? You know, I, I, I got my paycheck because ratings based on, you know, being on television. So I'm not knocking other people and their approach, I'm just saying I want to figure out what to do with it for my brand and also for the balance between my brand and my personal life with my family. Rosa Linda Román: 24:01 So that is what I'm exploring and this partnership with Natalie and my habit upgrade is my first attempt at figuring that out. So I would love to share this process with you more along the way. I'm about to get to my destination. So I'm going to, I'm going to have to wrap this up, but if you are interested in hearing more, I will share as much as I can. Um, that's one of the things I love about the people that I follow is that they're very transparent and they share the ups and downs. And I'm happy to share some of that here. Uh, for those of you that are maybe struggling with it yourself. Um, so until the next episode, I'm gonna sign off, but please go to New Mexicast.com and subscribe to this podcast. Or you can do so in iTunes, or I'm sure by the time this is posted, a, hopefully you can do so in any of the other podcast catchers, if you will. Like, Stitcher. All right, well that's it. I am signing off. I'm Rosa Linda Roman, and thanks so much. Bye.