We know what it’s like to have a passion. That thing that makes your inner particles hum so much that you feel like you’re properly ticking? We also know that we’re way more jolly if we’ve got one to get stuck in to. So…why not do it as much as possible? You could even make it your job?

Well, there are a few good reasons why not. It’s not for everyone; some people like to keep their work and play separate and that’s fair enough. Also it’s frankly a rather terrifying thought. Where on earth do you begin? If you do want to make it your job, how can you possibly earn enough to make a living? But, those worries definitely seem to feel less giant-like when you’re given just a sprinkling of inspiration or a dollop of encouragement.

And that sprinkling and dollop is just what Passion Pods wants to provide; a series of chats with entrepreneurs and Passion Pursuers who were born from a generation of people who love doing their own thing. 2015 alone saw the start of around 608,110 new businesses so they’re in very good company.

Often these passion hunting quests lack one vital ingredient though, and that’s the people to do the encouraging and supporting (other than your ear chewed friends obviously). We know-we’ve been there and so have our friends and their chewed ears. One thing we discovered though, was that hearing tales from others that are actually “there” and doing “that” seemed to be a rather good way of ticking that box. And, in an attempt to avoid making hollow statements, we’ve even got evidence of that box ticking because people sharing those stories of theirs  is exactly how Passion Pods was born.

Passion Pods was set up by me, Emily Chiswell. I’m a broadcaster who, after 5 years of full-time work decided to go Freelance. This happened to co-incide with a lot of other Passion Podders who were also embarking on their own adventures. As I began doing my voice bits here and there, I found their stories a continuous source of inspiration and encouragement. Broadcasters love to share stories and, since that huge big radio show of mine is taking a wee bit of a while offering itself up, I thought I’d record a few of these chinwags and see if anyone else was inspired and encouraged by them. After a few rather epic editing sessions and some memory card mishaps, those shaky first few chats soon became 30, and then 30 soon became half a notebook full of people waiting to have a natter.

So now, moving forward, not only do we want to continue to inspire and encourage young people to realise their passions through more and more of these chats, but we also want to try to support this wonderful bunch practically too. So dun-dah-dah, that’s why we’ve introduced a few new bits.

Our Pollinator. It’s stuffed full of some of the people we wish we’d known about when we started.

So the idea is that once you’ve had a wee listen and soaked up some of the knowledge and experience from our Podcasts, we’ve now got a few practical bits to help you embark on your own adventure.

What are you waiting for?