Name: Becky The Poet
Company: Unspoken Words Podcast
Title: Host
Instagram: @beckythepoet
Website: beckythepoet.com
Location: DFW metroplex
Favorite Quote: “When you stop taking care of yourself you get out balance and you forget how to take care of others.” -Jada Pinkett-Smith
Poet Becky Lavarn, professionally known as Becky The Poet, has created a unique podcast that allows her to touch on topics that are outside the realm of the usual podcast. Both deep and vulnerable at times, she is able to connect with listeners on levels she was unaware were possible, particularly through this medium. An entrepreneur under the on-air and on-stage talent, she’s created her company infrastructure to push forward her podcast and poetry.
Who is Becky Lavarn? What’s your story?
Becky Lavarn, she’s a regular Asian girl who is crazy as hell, loud, obnoxious and weirdly awkward, who loves Wale and J. Cole. Now, Becky The Poet is different. She’s filled with emotions inside but tries to be emotionless on the outside. Cautious with every move she makes, because she’s too worried about what people think of her, whether it’s family, friends, or outsiders. She is still a ball of energy, shy at first, always goofy and is a poet; discovered poetry and depression in middle school. College was when she found out about open mics and from then on, she just wanted to save the day with her words, struggles and happiness. That’s honestly who I am.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I never really had an idea of what I wanted to be, but I was told being a pharmacist would make me a lot of money. So anytime anybody would ask, I would say pharmacist. Over time, things changed and it stopped being about the money and it became all about, “What makes me happy?”
Why did you create the “Unspoken Words Podcast?” What void does your podcast fill?
“Unspoken Words Podcast” was created because being in front of the camera was a challenge for me. I write poetry so I wanted to share my words. Along with poetry, my conversations with my friends were always more in depth, speaking about life. My podcast honestly fills the void of being silent. I hardly ever would speak about things in my life and I would let it build, as it built I would get more and more emotional, but had nobody to really talk to or explain what was going on in my life.
What was your blueprint to launching/creating “Unspoken Words?”
Honestly, I had a lot of help. At first, it was all words. “I want to start a podcast,” then I attended a podcast event and reached out to the hosts speaking about how I wanted to do this and how I am a poet, pretty much speaking of my overall end goal. [I] Got lucky to have Wolfe Nation Studios reach out to me, to help me get started. It was first content, name, logo, intro then formatting. I knew I wanted to share my poems, talk about my struggles and triumphs and motivate people. After all the ground work, it was launching time. I just made the decision to launch on a specific day every other week, after the show was getting popular, I decided to launch once every week.
What value do you believe you bring to your listeners?
I truly believe my listeners get really motivated. I also know that they have some relief when listening because they may be going through the same thing I am.
Tell us some of your pain points as a podcaster and how you overcame them.
Being a podcaster with no co-host is tough at times because I have to come up with new content all the time. I don’t have anyone to piggy back my ideas off of and sometimes I ramble, but to solve that I add guests to my show. Something else I struggle with is making sure that I am staying true to why I started this podcast and most of the time you want to accommodate to your listeners, so you want to add stuff about pop culture or whatever it is, but I learned that there are other podcast shows who talk about these things, so why not send my listeners to them? Another thing is, I struggle is saying “Yes” a lot. What I mean by that is I have people who reach out to me and want to be on the show, but sometimes they don’t fit my show. So I have to be that person that says “No” or maybe another season.
Since launching your podcast what are three things you’ve learned about yourself?
1. I learned that I have a business mentality and that comes in handy when working with other people and trying to keep it professional.
2. I learned that I am a go-getter just ’cause if I want something done, I will always find a way to get it done.
3. I learned that I am genuine person, just by hearing this from friends and people who I barely just met. Which makes me feel really good about myself.
How has a #COSIGN has impacted your business?
#COSIGN has impacted “Unspoken Words Podcast” by the hustle. The team who is a part of COSIGN Media, all #COSIGN each other, and that hustle mentality from each person creates a unique platform for others. Just seeing that behind the scenes has me dreaming of having my own dream team. Where “UWP” is nation wide.
Where do you see your company in 12 months?
“Unspoken Words Podcast” will be creating live shows for people to attend. Slowly drifting into motivational events with live poetry showcases all over the DFW metroplex.
Who do you #COSIGN?
Photographer @mufasa_image
Videographer @chriss_swavey
Model @akiraowens
Poet @amor__theartist
Artist @_kjetson
Podcast Host/Content Creator @built4anything
Podcast Production @wolfenationstudios
Music Blogger @auditory_aura
Laotian Noodle Shop @khaonoodleshop