By Madisyn Hahn
Aug. 16, 2019
Elevating girls’ voices and showing their unique paths of leadership is the topic of the newest podcast by Renae Ninneman. Featured as part of KZUM’s Podcast Partners project, this is the first year “Be You, Be Heard” is being produced.
The host of “Be You, Be Heard” Renae Ninneman explained how it all came together. “I work for Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska and I wanted to create a podcast for girls and about girls and I knew that podcasts are hugely popular. I’ve been listening to podcasts for over 10 years, so I already knew the basics of how to operate a soundboard and interview people. I was able to jump right in seamlessly and start producing my podcast.”
This podcast is a program of Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska. When Ninneman came across an idea to start her own podcast, it was important to her that it allowed girls’ voices to be heard since there seems to be such a lack of representation in the podcast industry.
“It just struck me one random day last year that it would be cool to do. We know that women are not represented well in positions of power and in the media, and that problem originates with our culture’s treatment and understanding of girls. I wanted girls’ voices to be heard, and for them to be seen as valuable and capable,” Ninneman said.
The podcast will be featuring a variety of girls from grades K-12 with an occasional appearance from an adult who is a part of Girl Scouts. It spotlights the perspectives and voices of these girls that are specifically doing recognizable deeds for their community.
“They’re participating in civic discourse and they’re creatively solving community problems. It’s really remarkable when you get to see it. What I’ve been impressed with, so far, is that the girls who have been interviewed for the show have a lot of wisdom. Quite often I will find myself agreeing with them, and relating to the life lesson they’ve already learned, but they learned it at a much younger age,” Ninneman said.
Girls of Nebraska will always be achieving and leading and this podcast will help them tell their stories to continuously inspire young girls and older women.
“I’m excited to demonstrate how important girls are, how amazing they are, and highlight their successes and achievements. Girls are the future. When you talk about preventing climate change or building strong economies, the topic of women’s and girls’ rights is always at the top of the list of solutions. They need more venues to share their voices and to be told they are important. They need the world to hear them. I just hope to keep on producing one podcast per month for as long as I can. I want to pile voice upon voice upon voice to show how remarkable and important they are!” Ninneman said.
For information on the series, email marketing@girlscoutsnebraska.org.
Listen and subscribe to “Be You, Be Heard” on these platforms: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Anchor and RadioPublic.
Madisyn Hahn is a multimedia intern with KZUM.
