Hello everybody and welcome to another interview on Chatsunami! This week I am joined by an amazing podcaster from Egypt who discusses a wide variety of daily thoughts on her podcast Illegible Scribbles. Here today is the person behind that. Gigi, welcome to Chatsunami how are you today?
Oh I like this intro haha I'm good and so excited.
That's always a positive start haha! Glad to hear that though. So out of curiosity, what got you initially into podcasting?
Well I actually started another podcast right before this one. It was called "My indoor night". I was inspired by my little sister she started one herself. But my first trial was a failure. It's not that easy to put yourself online & share your voice especially with an introvert like me. That's why I deleted the podcast but I didn't wait much to start all over again promising myself not to think twice about sharing myself because it really do me a solid.
And speaking of the reason for podcasting, I listened to some Egyptian podcasters and I liked the idea of venting which gets you to know yourself more.
Oh wow that's awesome! Yes it seems like a lot of podcasters are using their platform to talk about their own experiences, particularly with the pandemic in 2020. Do you feel that putting your own thoughts and feelings out there is the main challenge of your podcast?
I believe yes because you're really now ready to be judged for a content purely made of you.
Well it’s amazing that you are still able to put yourself out there. What are some of the topics you discuss on your podcast?
It's a real collection of scribbles. It's more like a voice diary where I share my love to learning languages as I did with English & Turkish. I also tell people about my mistakes at doing it along the way. I share my reflections on love, loneliness & depression. What I hate about my line of work. The books I read. The movies I watch. Not really professional reviews but I can say I immerse in what I like and unintentionally I kind of produce something I may call it a content or not but's something can be heard.
It seems like you put value on being a very honest content creator. There are a lot of creators, podcasters too, that may choose to put a persona on to distance themselves from their content. Do you feel like there’s an importance to be yourself when talking about such topics?
It's really a good question. I didn't meant it to sound this way. Maybe I chose the seeming easy short path. But it depends on choosing the mask you're feeling comfortable with & it happens that this mask is your real face. Sometimes I think it would have been better to use a nickname or a character to speak for me but no matter how it's done I'm now on the interent haha.
On the plus side it may also give those listening something that they can relate to which I think is a fantastic thing. Have you had a positive reception to your work from your listeners?
So far not really. I told two of my friends about it and they said it was nice. But real listeners didn't really reach out to me. Sometimes I feel abit down about it thinking what if the numbers I get are only bots haha.
Oh I know what you mean it can be really tough trying to promote your podcast. Do you feel like promotion is one of the hardest aspects of podcasting?
It really is. Whatever you say about you just enjoy the process of sharing your voice, it really means a lot to feel that you are heard. I mean look at you, podcasters like you put much effort on podcasting, their work should be paid off.
Speaking of honesty, I try hard not to share the podcast with anyone I know to keep feeling okay talking because whether they know it or not they could be a part of an episode haha.
Oh yeah that’s always the worry of sharing it with people you know haha! But it’s great to hear you’re being honest with your audience it’s a tough thing to do. Of course being an Egyptian podcast your podcast is of course mainly in Arabic but I noticed that a few of them have been translated into English. Do you think this is something you’ll continue doing in the future to share your awesome podcast?
Thank you for calling my podcast awesome!! :D
I tried to make episodes in English but what's hilarious that they get less "plays" haha. My audience are from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey & USA. So I believe Turkey & USA plays come from Arabs living there. Anyway, I'm still interested in making more episodes in English.
I can imagine that! As an English speaker with an interest in language learning I know that pain all too well haha. And speaking of that you are a language learning enthusiast as well aren’t you?
I think I am :)
What would say your dream language to learn would be out of curiosity?
Mmm let it be Italian this time because I haven't tried learning it before. I did some Spanish & French learning but I didn't really stick to it.
I used to learn French in school and can confirm it is a nightmare haha. But Italian is beautiful though!
What other languages would you like to try?
Oh gosh there’s so many! Mandarin is at the top, followed by Spanish and Arabic as all of them are beautiful in their own ways. Just need to find the time to do them.
Glad you mentioned Arabic! What about Japanese?
I have a love hate relationship there. If it wasn’t for me learning mandarin then I would be lost with their kanji. But three separate alphabets is pretty tough. The real question is when are we going to do an episode on language learning? Haha
Hahaha I'm an expert on doing mistakes while learning languages so I know a lot. I'd really love to do an episode with you. I believe we can make a good thing out of it.
Oh absolutely! And speaking of the future what kind of things are you hoping to work on in the future?
I'd like to create MORE episodes and maybe do more research & preparation to produce something of a good quality. And I'm really excited about the way you lead your podcast. You're just a great inspiration to me! So I'd love to know what's your plan?
I can’t wait to see what you do next with the podcast whatever will come next I’m sure it’ll be amazing! As for Chatsunami hopefully we will be organising more collaborations and talking to more amazing podcasters along the way. :)
Yaaaay!!
As a final question, what is your advice to any podcasters out there hoping to follow in your footsteps?
Well my advice is to start right away. The equipment & experience will come along the way. Start small & keep learning.
Sounds like some fantastic advice! Gigi it has been an absolute pleasure than you so much for taking part in this interview.
It was really nice to have my very first interview with a podcaster I'm actually a fan to. So thank you so much! I really loved it.
Before we finish up, where can the lovely readers at home find your content?
They can type Illegible Scribbles خربشات غير مقروءة on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, etc. I believe I'm on many platforms haha
Thank you for that! As always it has been great talking to you.
Thank you, Chatsunami!
