Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Sessions.
Hi Mike, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My family is originally from Watts, CA and I moved a lot as the oldest of three kids. I moved to San Diego in 2016 after the birth of my son, and loved being here ever since. Well, I’ve always been into content creation from the early days of YouTube and Myspace. I was infatuated with the idea of expressing myself, whether if it was through poetry, making parody videos, DJ mixes I would share with my friends, all the way up until I created this podcast called If I Let You Tell It that I’ve been doing for almost four years now. I went to school for Mass Communications, so I guess media has somewhat always been my calling.
My podcast was created in 2020 during the pandemic, pretty much out of desperation. I was working at UPS and hated it and knew if I was going to take a chance on myself, the pandemic was probably the time to do it. So, I borrowed equipment from family and friends every week until I was able to afford my own, and after maybe 10 episodes, I knew this was what I was going to do going forward.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’ve definitely encountered many obstacles, especially being a father of two and trying to find the time every week to deliver a good show. Also, doing the show by yourself without a team means I kind of have to be a jack of all trades. I used to have a cohost, and that was a much easier time because you can bounce off of each other. I’m looking to add other hosts in the future, but it just have to feel right and make sense for the nature of the show.
Also, you don’t really make much money from podcasting unless you have an exclusive deal in place, so doing it every week for the love of the art form can feel a little taxing at times because you still have to rely on your 9-5 to pay the bills.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For the longest, I was into video production. My little brother and I used to make mini-documentaries when we were kids of our day-to-day lives and what was happening in our neighborhood at the time. That eventually led to me creating a YouTube channel where I ended up making these parody videos. People always say I was kind of ahead of my time because that’s kind of all you see today with TikTok and Instagram, but I like to just call it creative expression.
I’m known for being a huge music lover and engaging in vulnerable conversations, which all kind of led to the success of my podcast since that’s what I center the show around. I enjoy making people feel comfortable, having them open up about things they probably wouldn’t normally talk about, and listening to some awesome music while diving into different topics. I’ve been told that has been what has set me apart from a lot of men, especially black men, because of my willingness to open up and speak about pretty much anything. I’m most proud of that.
Any big plans?
I’m planning on expanding the show and making it a grander production. Obviously, things take time, but building a team of people who also reside in San Diego, I think will be amazing. I would love to have a woman as a cohost as well to balance some of the perspectives we speak about on the show and just a crew of really fun, inspiring individuals. The main goal of the show is to open the doors to regular people going about their lives that have something compelling to speak about. At the end of the day, everyone has a story to tell.
Contact Info:
- Website: patreon.com/ifiletyoutellit
- Instagram: instagram.com/themusichomie
- Twitter: twitter.com/themusichomie
- Other: lintr.ee/ifiletyoutellitpod
Image Credits
Rae’nelle Smith
