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Your Mic

Your Mic

By: Freddy Cruz
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Your Mic is the no‑fluff, say‑the‑quiet‑part‑out‑loud podcast about podcasting for new, stuck, and almost‑quit hosts. Hosted by Speke Podcasting founder and 25‑year broadcast vet Freddy Cruz, it blends hard‑earned lessons, failures, and irreverent stories with sharp tactics you can actually use. Listen on your favorite podcast app!2025 Freddy Cruz Economics Language Learning Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Cruz Through HTX: How Killing a Good Show Saved a Better One ​

    Cruz Through HTX: How Killing a Good Show Saved a Better One ​
    Mar 24 2026
    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl Cruz Through HTX was a love letter to Houston—stories, people, and weird corners of the city that felt like destiny for a former radio guy turned podcaster. But destiny doesn’t care about your calendar, your bandwidth, or your business model. While hosting Cruz Through HTX, building a production company, growing Your Mic, and trying to be present at home, everything started to bleed together until “important” lost all meaning.​ In this episode, Freddy walks through the brutal question that changed everything: What’s the one show you want to be known for five years from now? He realized Cruz Through HTX was a fun side quest, while Your Mic was the main quest that actually served his people and his business. Instead of ghosting his own show, he chose a deliberate ending, wrapped the chapter with honesty, and redirected that creative oxygen into Your Mic and his clients.​ If you’re juggling multiple shows, formats, or identities, this is your permission slip to stop trying to be all things to all people. You’ll hear a simple exercise to audit every show and format you’re involved with—why it exists, who it’s for, and how it supports your main mission—so you can decide what deserves your best work and what needs a mercy killing.​ Key takeaways 1. Multiple shows can feel productive but actually dilute focus, energy, and story.​ 2. The real constraint isn’t time; it’s misplaced loyalty to projects that no longer serve your main mission.​ 3. Ask, “What’s the one show I want to be iconic in five years?” and let that answer dictate which projects live or die.​ 4. Ending a show intentionally (instead of ghosting it) frees mental bandwidth and builds trust with your audience.​ 5. Side quests are fun, but your main quest—the show that moves the needle—is where your best work belongs.
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    15 mins
  • DIY vs Pro: How to Tell If Your Editor Knows What They’re Doing

    DIY vs Pro: How to Tell If Your Editor Knows What They’re Doing
    Mar 19 2026
    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl You don’t need to be an audio engineer to hire one. You do, however, need to know what to ask. In this solo riff, Freddy breaks down how to spot the difference between a real producer and someone just pushing “remove filler words” and exporting. You’ll walk away with questions to grill any prospective editor on their workflow, their master chain, and how much they lean on AI so you don’t hand your show to a rookie with presets. Key Takeaways 1. DIY your first 5–10 episodes so you learn where you shine and where you suffer—Riverside, Descript, and other AI‑assisted tools are your boot camp, not your forever plan. 2. When you’re ready to outsource, your first filter is workflow: a pro can clearly walk you through their process from raw files to final master without hand‑waving. 3. Separate real producers from button‑clickers by asking about their master chain—compression, limiting, and EQ should be intentional choices, not accidental defaults. 4. AI tools that strip silences and remove filler words can make episodes sound choppy, rushed, or robotic, which is a terrible trade‑off if you’re building a premium brand. 5. Pay for judgment, not geography: rates (US or overseas) should match skill, portfolio quality, and how seriously they treat your show, not the magic of a low number in your inbox
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    9 mins
  • Taking a nonprofit podcast to 100,000 downloads (it's not as easy as you think)

    Taking a nonprofit podcast to 100,000 downloads (it's not as easy as you think)
    Mar 17 2026
    Work with us: https://www.spekepodcasting.com/ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-mic/id1777171203 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1PQNHuqxIVhkLfjGYuWcxl Listen to The Rose’s podcast Let’s Talk About Your Breasts: https://therose.org/podcasts/ Taking a nonprofit podcast to 100,000 downloads is not as easy as you think. Founding CEO of The Rose, Dorothy Gibbons, joins Freddy to talk about building a mission driven show, survivor stories, heavy episodes, nervous guests, and her retirement. They dig into play, grief, legacy, and what it means to leave while the work keeps going.
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    25 mins
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