A Chat With The Host and Producer of the "Dear Tyla" Podcast- Nyonbinga Shimbura.

A short while ago I wrote about my top ten Christian Podcasts and “Dear Tyla” was one of them.

I had the good fortune of having a chat with its host and producer, Nyonbinga Shimbura and this is how it went.

Cathy: Hi!

Nyonbinga: Hi

Cathy: What inspired you to start hosting the "Dear Tyla" podcast?

Nyonbinga : The thought of doing a Podcast came from my friend Grace Christos. She had a blog, and I was once interviewed on it. It was a lovely experience. From there she moved into Podcasting and set up an interview for me again to talk about music and God. After the interview, we spoke for a while, and she told me how much she appreciated my perception of life and I should try out having a Podcast. I'm a particularly shy person and just shrugged it off. I started Dear Tyla as a blog to avoid some of these things but couldn't keep up, so I stopped. After a while, during Covid19 lockdown, I decided to give Podcasting a go. I just wanted to share lessons I had learned from personal experiences and those of others. Somehow, I felt I could lend my voice in my own small way to be a source of encouragement and hope to people. My real passion was triggered by my friend.

Cathy: What challenges have you faced producing, hosting, and increasing your audience so far?

Nyonbinga: The challenges are pretty much to be honest. Firstly, I plan, host, and record the episodes on my own. It can be really tasking and energy-draining. In all honesty, there are days I don't have the zeal for it may be due to exhaustion. Another challenge is Podcast equipment. I record all episodes via my phone. This doesn't allow me to do proper editing and sound mixing. I would have to be in an extremely quiet place to be able to record. This also affects the quality of the Podcast audio, but I do the best I can to make it as clear as possible. The most difficult part I guess is creating content and consistently engaging listeners via social media. I am particular about not recycling topics or being redundant with our episodes. I really desire variety and various expressions on different themes. Coming up with these ideas can be tough and it takes a lot of mental energy. For social media, I think handling the schedule of creating and managing is tough. The fact that I host the Podcast in Nigeria means I can't monetize it through the platform I'm using which is Anchor. Payment is only open in the US. Since there is no funding for the Podcast, I can't outsource some of these things which can be quite demanding and of poor quality sometimes.

For gaining an audience it has been difficult some days. There are periods that within a week maybe only 20 people listen…

Cathy: Despise not the days of small beginnings 😊

Nyonbinga: Off course!

… After investing so many hours in preparation it's extremely disheartening when hardly anyone listens. Maybe it's due to poor distribution and awareness of the Podcast.

Cathy: Why have you chosen to use the current format of addressing life issues through a pseudonym called Tyla?

Nyonbinga: So initially the thought was to write blog posts to my future self. In fact, it was a way I journaled my love moments and heartbreaks. Binga isn't a name that seems very relatable so I came up with a relatively common name that can apply to both genders. Getting a general pseudonym would make each episode personal. I didn't want the Podcast to be something that seemed to address a crowd but individuals.

Cathy: What are your highlights of producing and streaming the podcast so far? What milestones are you proud of achieving since the inception of this project?

Nyonbinga: For me, many of the reviews I get are really humbling. I recently found out that someone was suffering from Insomnia and listening to Dear Tyla helped in overcoming it. Then many others take Dear Tyla as their daily or weekly dose of inspiration while others use the Podcast to gain clarity on life's issues is quite amazing. The one thing that stands out for me is people telling me that they are glad to know that they aren't alone in facing life's issues. Most people assume things in life are peculiar to them but through each episode, they can see that we all have stuff we are dealing with. It truly is humbling.

Other milestones like reaching over 33 nations, being number 9 Christian Podcast in Nigeria on Apple Podcast (even though it was for a day), and being an inspiration for people starting their podcast journey are highlights. Also building a community of over 100 people who listen to and distribute the Podcast whilst sharing reviews is really great.

Cathy: What plans do you have for the podcast and its audience and what can we expect from "Dear Tyla" in the future?

Nyonbinga: Plans for the Podcast include getting proper studio equipment to improve quality, work on promoting the Podcast in more regions as most listeners are situated in Nigeria, and also plan to host a physical meeting where we can get to hang out and talk about life and the challenges we are facing. I really desire Dear Tyla to be a global phenomenon and someday the most-listened-to Podcast in the World. It would get there I believe but we would enjoy the little steps we are taking. I also hope that from Dear Tyla we could get so many others who would be bold to share their stories of life and inspire others. In the future, Dear Tyla episodes would be aired every day but many others would get their chance to speak and share so I'm really looking forward to that.

Cathy: Thank you so much for your time. It was a pleasure chatting with you.

Nyonbinga: God bless you!

“Dear Tyla” is available on all streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple, and Anchor.