Join the half million other lesbian listeners to this free podcast!
The Lesbian Romantic is a podcast with lesbian romance stories in an audio drama format. It’s available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other podcast apps.
I just launched my third full-length story: Connection Concealed. It’s a story about a cyber warfare officer who falls in love with the charismatic rebel leader she is supposed to bring to justice. My previous stories are also still available for binge-listening! The podcast is free because I think it’s important queer women around the world have access to stories that make them smile and hope.
How it all started.
The idea for the podcast came to me after attending a college reunion. I have a degree in radio journalism and, after the reunion, felt sad I was no longer working with audio. So, back home, I started playing around with sound effects and came up with a story along the way. That’s how I created the first episode. And the ones after it, to be honest! But after a few months, I started to step up my game. That was two years ago. I’ve been constantly working on my skills as a writer and producer since. I write, record, edit and produce every weekly episode myself. I also built the website and its community. My wife has encouraged me every step of the way. She’s my biggest fan and my biggest critic. I have never released an episode without letting her listen to it – and approve of it – first!
Fellow Romantic community.
The podcast’s audience has been growing slowly, but steadily. I’m actually grateful for this. It has given me the time to think things through, keep focus and decide on the values I want to live and work by. For example: when I noticed listeners wanted to get in touch with each other, I started the ‘Fellow Romantic’ community with some clear guidelines. These were inspired by Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability and connection. I didn’t want to create another echo chamber or a platform where people troll each other. I wanted it to be a safe space for everyone and I’m happy to hear community members see it as such. I’m very active there myself.
It’s now my job!
Rather predictably, creating the podcast and managing its community started taking up most of my time. Combined with my job as a freelance marketing consultant, it all became too much at some point. It was time to choose. Luckily, my wife urged me to pursue my dream. In October 2017, we decided I would spend the next two years working on the podcast and try to turn it into a profitable full-time living. How? I chose not to include ads or work with sponsors. The Lesbian Romantic relies on voluntary financial support from its listeners. In the future, I would like to publish and sell books and possibly some stand-alone audio productions as well.
Most fulfilling thing I ever did.
I’ve been self-employed for over eight years now. I have to say it has been an absolute thrill to go from working in advertising to being a publisher of listener-funded content for queer women. Writing romantic stories and bringing them to life is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I have no idea how things will turn out and if I will succeed with my business. But I am going to keep giving it my all.
