What I Learned from Season 1 of My Podcast: 'Guards of Eden' Recap

With season 1 ofGuards of Eden coming to a close in style with one of the most influential people in my life in Joe Wicks, I've been very reflective knowing that it was coming to an end. I felt that it could be valuable to share my experience with you all and talk about what I've learned since I decided to start Guards of Eden all the way to this point.If you're considering setting up a podcast, I would say the best advice that I could provide you with is that you're not going to get everything right the first time around and that's okay. You cannot allow the idea of "not being good" stop you from getting started. My first episode with Adam is a reflection of that as I made the silly error of not using both tracks that I recorded with so his audio is too quiet (I'll be re-editing that during the season break). The greatest teacher throughout this first season has been experience and I'm so thankful that I didn't let my fear of not being perfect get in the way.

I used a H6 Zoom recorder which is an amazing piece of kit, but is not pivotal to recording a podcast. Episode 4 of Guards of Eden was with Bridget Hunt who has her own podcast: In Bed with Bridget,and she records hers with her phone and uploads it using the platform, Anchor. The H6 Zoom is expensive, but I've loved how simple it is to use in terms of plugging in mics, adjusting audio levels and transferring them to my computer for editing. If you're willing to invest then I cannot recommend it enough.

Editing was a completely new process to me and it's taken some real time to learn the basics that allowed me to get the episodes where they needed to be. I started off using purely GarageBand (free with my Mac) and ended up also implementing Audacity (downloaded free online) to get rid of background noise. It takes some getting used to and there are lots of great YouTube tutorials to help that process. For me, it came with time and it's a process I've managed to grow more comfortable with as it's gone along.

Now that the procedural stuff is out of the way, let's get into what I've learned as a human being from season 1 of Guards of Eden.

When I first envisioned what I wanted from this podcast, I simply wanted to build something that shed light on good people doing good with their lives. I didn't have many other expectations outside of that. I would've never had imagined how much it would provide me emotionally as well as just how amazing the stories of the men and women who I sat down with were. It's truly been one of the biggest blessings in my life.

The most interesting learning point that I've had is that even though I'm very appreciative & grateful for the feedback from people on the episodes, my mindset on that has really changed after watching the Netflix series When They See Us and listening to the director, Ava DuVernay, speak about her experience with the feedback from the series. I took an important lesson from her words and that has now impacted my own perception of feedback I've received with Guards of Eden.

Ava mentioned that as long as the five men who the story was based around enjoyed and were satisfied by the project then ultimately the project was a success. That's what I came around to an understanding with this first season of the podcast; as long as those 11 guests were happy with the way that their story was told, then anything on top of that was an added bonus. As far as I know, we have 11 happy customers and to me that's all the satisfaction that I need.

I've been a lot more emotional the final few weeks knowing that this season is coming to an end. I understand the responsibility that comes with someone sitting down with you with the purpose of answering your questions about them as best as they can and hoping that you represent them with the best intentions. There have been easily over 100 hours put into the past 11 episodes on my end from thinking of questions all the way to uploading the episodes and everything in between. A big financial, time, & emotional investment into something bigger than myself and the payoff has been huge to my very spirit and faith in the world.

I thank the following people for their time, energy & trust in me:

• Adam Crompton
• Jessica Homer
• Miss Mosely
• Bridget Hunt
• Ollie Baines
• Haley Justice
• Annie Buckland
• Alex Mann
• Ben Davie
• Trammell Logan
• Joe Wicks

I also want to thank anybody who's listened to Guards of Eden. This podcast symbolises and represents hope that no matter how much negativity there is in this world, there are some beautiful souls that walk amongst us who are protecting paradise. I say that as it's helped solidify my faith in man & womankind along the past few months.

This cannot be stated with enough emphasis. This is not the end, this is the beginning. I'm already writing up questions and talking to people about sitting down for season 2 (no launch date in mind yet). I believe that this will be what I look back as the foundation & building blocks of which my legacy will be built upon and all I hope is that it's one I can look back with warmth and peace. If you have anybody in mind that you think their story should be told, then please reach out to me. In conclusion, for those of you who've listened to any of my podcast episodes, you'll notice that my last question to my guests is a weird one and I thought this would be as good as time as any to explain what inspired that question. In the book Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, I read a passage that changed my perception of life and death going forward. After a friend of one of the antagonists passes away, Dan describes this wildly profound reaction from his friend.

"His face grew more somber before he spoke again. 'Death is not sad; the sad thing is that most people don't really live at all.' That's when his eyes filled with tears. We sat, two friends in silence, before I headed home."

Season 1, thank you. Season 2 release date: TBD.

Love Luca :) x