Not Just a Podcast with Sandy Ciaramitaro of The Good Eggs Podcast

Speaker 1 (00:02)

Hi and welcome to Cause bods. I'm your host, Matthew Passy. Here at Cause Bods, we have one simple mission to highlight the amazing folks who are using podcasts as a way to raise awareness for good causes and make the world is a better place, whether it's in their own local community or they're taking on global issues. Please visit us@causepods.org where you can learn about our guest show their favorite charitable cause, join our Facebook group with resources for Cause based podcasters, and find a link where you yourself could be a guest here on Causepods. Again, that's all@causepods.org.

Speaker 2 (00:40)

All right, we are taking you to.

Speaker 1 (00:41)

Just outside Detroit, Michigan. We are chatting with Sandy Charmataro.

Speaker 2 (00:46)

She is the host and the creator of The Good Eggs podcast. And this is one of the few times when we're talking to someone who has a podcast aimed at elementary age children. So we're excited to get into what she is doing, as well as her nonprofit, the Good Eggs Foundation that helps children in need. Sandy, thank you so much for joining us here on Causepods today.

Speaker 3 (01:05)

Thank you for having me, Matthew. I've been looking forward to speaking with you.

Speaker 2 (01:09)

Oh, we are looking forward to having this conversation as well. So I guess my first question before we get into the podcast itself is what is your background that kind of led you to this place of working in this foundation and working with children in need?

Speaker 3 (01:23)

Well, I'm actually a high school teacher, but my foundation is geared toward elementary age kids, so I always kind of had this in my mind to write books. Usually with teaching, you're kind of into the realm of literature and things of that nature. So I've always wanted to write books, but I actually found the passion when I was in elementary school and we always had an assignment of writing stories with our spelling words, and that just always sparked me to want to keep writing stories for young people. So that's kind of how all that came about. I actually, once I got out of college, went into teaching high school, but still had that passion to write a children's book when I was throughout my teaching career.

Speaker 2 (02:07)

And that children's book is kind of the basis of what The Good Eggs is.

Speaker 3 (02:10)

Exactly. So I actually intended just to write one book, and I wanted it to teach goodness and kindness. And actually, once I was done with that book, I wasn't finished with the characters. So I ended up writing a second book where I took them around the world and they learned about diversity and they meet other eggs around the world and they go to ten different countries and they learn language and customs and culture. And when they came back from that trip, I still wasn't finished and I kept them in their hometown and they learned the importance of community service. So they helped the elderly, they helped children, they helped animals in a shelter. They went to a nature center and a food bank, all things that are part of a community. So it's a three part series that teach virtues, diversity, and service. So out of that I grew the podcast and the nonprofit.

Speaker 2 (03:01)

Awesome. I want to get into that a little bit more, but I'm curious when it came to writing and publishing this book, I know you said you sort of have this interest in a young age and wanted to do it, but did you get a lot of help as far as maybe working with a publisher or other writers or copy editors.

Speaker 1 (03:16)

Or anything like that?

Speaker 2 (03:17)

Or is it all just you on your free time and self publishing?

Speaker 3 (03:20)

Yes, it was all me on my free time. I did ask a few teacher friends, my English teacher friends, to critique it and change some whatever paragraphs around, verbiage around. So yes, I did have some proof readers, but other than that, it all just kind of came out of my head and heart.

Speaker 2 (03:39)

So you have this book, right? You put it out there. What took you from having this book to deciding, let's put this out in audio form?

Speaker 3 (03:51)

Well, it went on for a while. I did book shows and I would go into schools and do presentations and things like that. And then I thought, podcast me, anything so big. And now actually children's podcasts are fairly new market. So I thought, audible book, why don't I do that? Why don't I make a podcast for kids that maybe want to just listen, or parents in the car can put on a podcast for their kids and they can listen to the stories of the good eggs. So I'm already up to the middle of book two, so I already have half of that book and then book three to finish. So it's going well. I'm getting listeners from all around. It's been fun.

Speaker 2 (04:35)

That's awesome. And I mean, you don't have a background in podcast production or audio editing and things like that?

Speaker 3 (04:41)

Well, my brother actually has a studio in his home, so he puts in all the sound effects and equalizes all the wording, I guess. I don't know how the lingo for that, but he fixes it up.

Speaker 2 (04:54)

And so I'm curious again, you don't have a ton of experience of trying to market and grow a podcast, a regular audience, but I'm just curious, what have you found to be some of the interesting challenges to creating and marketing a podcast with an audience that is so young?

Speaker 3 (05:13)

Yes, because you have to get actually to the parents because the parents will preview it, obviously, and then decide if they want their children to listen to it. And I've been trying to appeal to parents as well as children and that's actually been going well through schools and I'm connected through schools so I know people. I can put this out to social media has been getting a good response for it. And then just on the platform that I'm on, I'm actually on nine platforms now, but my host, they also do a bit of marketing as well. I really would like to get sponsors for that egg companies or farms or something of that nature that would love to get in on this. But I know that you have to reach a certain amount of listeners, I believe, for sponsorship. So it's been a learning process.

Speaker 2 (06:09)

It depends, right. There are certain folks who need 25,000 people to listen before they'll have a sponsor willing to talk with them. And there are others who, if they know who their audience is, it's an engaged audience, or honestly, even if it's just somebody with parallel audiences, they can absolutely find the help that they need to or the support from somebody who wants to reach that audience or frankly just be part of a good cause like the one that you are working on right now. I also noticed that you are part of the Kids Listen organization who we interviewed way back in the beginning of Cosplayers a long time ago. And I'm just wondering what kind of support and what kind of help you've gotten from them and how they've been instrumental in the podcast.

Speaker 3 (06:56)

Yeah, it's a great community. The Kids Listen, they really look at categories of kids podcasts. So what's yours about? What's yours about? Maybe there's little mysteries or maybe there's bullying or whatever the case may be. They go into categories, but then you can put yourself into whatever category or community room you want to and interact with maybe just those podcasters or other ones as well. You can get tips, you can promote each other. So yeah, it's a really nice community.

Speaker 2 (07:26)

What has been the response to the podcast specifically? Right, I know you go to schools and you do a little bit traveling, right? Pandemic aside, but have you had any anyone specifically reach out to you because they only found out or they've only heard about you through the podcast itself?

Speaker 3 (07:46)

No, usually the podcast comes about through the books and the foundation. So that's actually really interesting. So marketing the podcast first, it actually could all work the same way, right? Oh hey, there are books to go with this podcast and there's also connected to a foundation. So that's another marketing avenue. I could take marketing the podcast first. Usually I've been marketing the book sales first because through the book sales is what funds the foundation. And then there's all these extras, the podcast. I have videos of book one as well. There are twelve episodes on YouTube, so there's videos, there's a newsletter, there's a parent blog, so there's a whole package that goes along with the good eggs. So yeah, I could take that path as well.

Speaker 2 (08:36)

Let's talk about the foundation a little bit. So it's the good eggs foundation, you can find it@thegoodigs.org foundation we will put a link, of course, to the show notes so you can check them out and support them in any way that you can.

Speaker 1 (08:50)

But what is it?

Speaker 2 (08:51)

That the Good Eggs foundation. What's the mission over there and what is it that you're hoping to accomplish?

Speaker 3 (08:56)

So what I do once the books were out for a while, I really wanted to put them into action. So this project, like I said, it's just been getting bigger and bigger. And I started the Good Eggs Foundation. So the books are structured on a monthly basis. The kids go back to school in September and each month they learn something new. So that's how I structured the foundation month to month. What I do is I egg an organization or a family that might be in need for that month. And it's different every month. So, for example, I just egged a man here. He builds beds for kids coming out of homelessness. So I egged him with those bed in the bags with comforters and sheets. I gave him a whole bunch of those so that he could give them along with his beds that he gives out. I'm going to be egging a woman who started a nonprofit here for teen moms and they are in desperate need of diapers all the time. So I'm going to get those big packs of diapers and egg her with diapers. We've done baby monitors for foster closets each month it's different, which I really enjoy.

Speaker 3 (10:02)

We've started, we've helped with math tutoring programs. We've done lending libraries, whatever the need may be. And sometimes people reach out to me as well. I just had a woman here who started a nonprofit for backpacks for kids. So she said, would you be able to help us with that? And I said, sure, I can make you my next month egging. And got a whole bunch of backpacks for her so she could start her nonprofit too. So, you know, whatever the need may be, I'd like to help where I can.

Speaker 2 (10:33)

I know you kind of said trying to think about this little bit more, but are you using that audio audience to try and solicit more help, solicit more volunteers, solicit more donations to help egg these?

Speaker 3 (10:47)

Causepods that is something I've thought about. Should I say that on the audio? Because it's for kids. However, chances are parents are listening as well. I've gone back and forth. I haven't yet. I suppose I could add that. What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 2 (11:07)

I would say you absolutely have the opportunity to chat with your audience, to reach out to them and say, hey, thank you for listening to the Good Egg. Here's what we're up to this month. Here are some of the causes that we are supporting. And if you'd like to be a part of that in some way, shape or form, you know, go to the website, go to the donate link or send us an email and let us know that you're interested in doing it and we can maybe talk a little bit more offline about some strategies to do that very effectively. But yeah, I mean, why not? You have an audience and you have a marketing vehicle that you should absolutely use to market the good work that you're doing.

Speaker 3 (11:42)

I mean, that has come into my mind, but I thought, well, children are listening, so I don't know if I want to be doing a commercial for children in that form.

Speaker 2 (11:50)

You're not selling kids a product, right. It's not like you're trying to encourage kids to say, oh, I really need that box of Oreos, or Mommy, mommy, mommy, buy me this toy. Like right. You're not soliciting for greed. And I think especially because what you are doing is trying to encourage kids to be generous and civic minded and community oriented, then it's probably a good lesson for the parents to say, oh, hey little Timmy, that's a great idea. Would you like us to send a donation or could we throw a couple of dollars from your allowance?

Speaker 1 (12:28)

Right?

Speaker 2 (12:28)

Something that gets kids involved with it too.

Speaker 3 (12:31)

Yeah, I like looking at it that way. So I could add I mean, I have several episodes up, but I can always add onto those. Hey, don't forget go to thegood eggs.org, right? Check us out. There's books available, there's videos, there's all kinds of word searches, there's a playlist that the eggs recommend. There's lots of things on there for kids too.

Speaker 1 (12:53)

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:54)

And maybe it's not even part of the episodes. Maybe you just put out some separate little bonus episodes out there so that it doesn't have to interfere.

Speaker 3 (13:03)

You give me all kinds of ideas. Good.

Speaker 2 (13:05)

So again, if you're hearing this, by the way, and you are interested in helping eggs some of these great causes, again, it's the Good Eggs.org Foundation. And of course we'll put a link right here in the show notes. You can easily find it. And because you've had a little bit of help. But because you've put together this podcast based on the book and you're reaching out to audiences. Growing this foundation. Doing good in the world. I'm just wondering if you have advice or any suggestions for somebody else out there who might be in a similar situation who was thinking. Either I've got this content that is for kids. Or I want to do something that would benefit kids. Like anything in terms of that content creation and marketing and distribution for kids that you can suggest for other people who might be thinking about it.

Speaker 3 (13:47)

Yeah, I think that you need like a good sound effects person for sure, someone that's going to bring it to life because kids can lose interest. And with kids too, I've read that 15 to 20 minutes max is all they can handle really at that age, because then they'll start the attention span. Isn't that long. So a 15 to 20 minutes max podcast episode for kids. A couple of mine have gone like 22 minutes. So I try to be really cognizant of the time and putting in the fun sound effects and just getting it out there, it's a lot of work. And getting people to help you market it is also very important because especially, I know me, I still teach full time and that's fulltime job, right? And just marketing is a fulltime job as well. So it consumes a lot of your time. But be dedicated if your heart is in it and you know it's worth it and you know it's going to really do some good in the world, you have to keep at it. You have to follow the right age.

Speaker 2 (14:51)

Group for the good eggs, both the audio and the chat with the world.

Speaker 3 (14:55)

Why not? So I have on there five to twelve. It just depends. As for the books, the reading level of the child, so I've had teachers read to their classes, I've had parents read to their kids, or I've had the older kids read on their own. I had teachers email me that the kids group of fifth graders did book three and they read it on their own. And then they wanted to emulate all the service that the eggs did book three. They actually tutored kids in their own school. They put together welcome baskets for elders in their senior care center. That's exactly what I would hope to happen, is that the kids would hear these things and want to do them in their own community or even in their own interactions with each other. I have five to twelve. Again, depending on the listening is any child right, but the reading is depending on their reading level.

Speaker 2 (15:52)

All right, Sandy, before we let you go, anything else that our audience can do to help you out?

Speaker 3 (15:56)

Sure. We have a newsletter if they want to go to thegoodache.org and sign up for that. And also there's a parent blog starting in September. Again, on thegoodigs.org they can go under blog and fill out the subscribe form. Everything's free and they'll get on the list so they don't miss a post. So it'll be just real short, one to two minute reads, just little nuggets that follow along the books, but on an adult level.

Speaker 2 (16:21)

All right, so again everyone, if you want to check out the podcast, check out the book, get on that newsletter, find out what's happening, donate to this wonderful organization, check out some of the apparel. They've got some really cool stuff that you can get that has the good.

Speaker 1 (16:34)

Eggs right there on it.

Speaker 2 (16:36)

All of that is@thegoodeggs.org sandy, thank you so much for joining us here on Causepods today.

Speaker 3 (16:42)

Thank you, Mathew, I truly appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (16:45)

Thanks for listening to this episode of Causepods. If you've been inspired by the work of our guests, please check out the show Notes to this episode in your podcasting app or@causepods.org there you will find links to their show, their website, their podcast, links on Apple, Google, Spotify as well as a link to support the charity that they highlighted here in this episode. You will also find a causepods.org, a way to subscribe to this show on your favorite podcasting app, how to sign.

Speaker 2 (17:12)

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Speaker 1 (17:13)

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Speaker 2 (17:19)

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Speaker 1 (17:21)

And I can tell you right now we've got one great deal from our friends at Pod page but you're only going to learn about it and get that special deal if you are a member of the Facebook group for Cause Pods. And before I go, I should say thank you in particular. This show is edited and produced by Ben Kilowatt of the military veteran Dad's Podcast and what a great job he has done and all this is made possible because of the great support that I received from Shannonrohas here@the.com. Once again, if you want to learn more, go to causepodsorg. Thank you so much and we will see you next time on Causepods.