Feature Friday: Dr. Asia Lyons

Highlighting Our People in Podcasting!

It’s Cinco De Mayo 🎉…but first…Feature Friday!!

“"The more podcasters there are to create space for the lived experiences of Black folks the better.

Yes…..flood the players….create a space for the black experience. I love that, in fact that’s why platforms such as this are important…a space to tell our stories ourselves. I see you, Dr. Lyons. ✨🦁

Dr. Asia Lyons is the feature for this week and I gotta say, I’ve really enjoyed learning about the content our community is putting out! She’s the host of The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators. And just as it sounds the mission of the podcast is to be a place where former Black educators can tell their story of why they left the field of teaching.

🤫 Side note…what a great show title…it caught my attention immediately.

For 12 years I was an educator in a Denver area school. In my last year of teaching I experienced racism related stress from my administrator, some of my colleagues and parents of some of my students.

Whoa thats pretty tough 😲 and I’m sure there were so many emotions for Dr. Asia as she transitioned from being an educator.

It’s so crazy where inspiration for podcasting can come from. When she left from that position she requested an exit interview with the superintendent of the school district. During the interview she shared her racialized experiences. After leaving the conversation that’s when she realized that a vast majority of Black educators leave the field of teaching without people hearing their story.

I decided at the moment that I needed to be someone to create a platform form to amplify the voices of former Black educators.

But how did she go about creating or even finding a platform to tell these stories? After the exit interview with the superintendent she knew she wanted to start a podcast but didn't know where to start. Then the hosts of Too Dope Teachers and a Mic reached out to her about coming onto their show.

After sharing my story on their show I pitched the idea of having my podcast (now a collaboration with one of the hosts, Kevin Adams) as a special feature of their podcast once a month. They agreed and that's how it all started.

Podcasting is so dope 💪🏾 I’ve said again and again and again and I’m going to say it again because community and collaboration is so important!

That’s was so awesome of Kevin to not only share his platform but to also create a platform for Dr. Lyons to create a show all her own! So, hey don’t be afraid to reach out to podcasters, hosts, creators, producers or anyone. You never know how we can all help each other. Now we have a great podcast to check out, because 12 years as an educator, I know there are a lot of things to unpack. There is a great deal of conversation about hiring and retaining Black educators but where is the focus on finding out why educators are leaving education? That’s the question The Exit Interview answers and more.

But where to start? Maybe check out a host favorite the episode The Origins of Racial Battle Fatigue with Dr. William Smith - They talk about about how racial battle fatigue impacts them.

It has been quite a journey iwith great interviews along the way, though Dr. Lyons has been on this journey since 2021 she still has some wisdom to share:

Reach out to people who you would like to be on your podcast even if you feel that they won't want to be bothered or are too "important". There are way more podcasts out there than I thought. Collaboration is key.

Major Key 🔑 ( in my best DJ Khalid Voice)

Podcasting it gives us the ability to pull from our own lives and like Dr. Lyons amplify our experiences, create a community, and help others and even in a way heal ourselves through that journey. 💫

As a proverb I read somewhere says…."Many hands make light work”

So until next Friday… I gotta go…”but It’s alright cause I’m Saved By The Bell🛎🚌”

Psst…by the way if you’re interested in being my next Feature Friday fill out this form …by the way…it could also mean an additional feature on my other newsletter Your Podcast Playlist as well! If you run into an issues email me coleman@dcpentertainment.com

Feel free to follow me on IG @sky_kiss3d and Twitter @skykissed too!

Oh and if you’ve been a regular reader….I got a new headshot ya’ll! I think for this I found a winner, thanks for joining me on this journey! 💕

---

Oh and a little about me…this is the hard part, talking about myself!

I’m Adell Coleman Chief Operations Officer of DCP Entertainment. I’m a multi-award winning podcast creator, producer, and host. I host and EP the podcast Say Their Name. I like talking so you may have seen me around at a few conferences!

One of my favorite things to do is to amplify and uplift those BIPOC and marginalized creatives who aren’t just hosts but are doing many different things in the podcast space.

At DCP, we distribute podcasts that share stories, podcasts, interviews, and insights by and for underrepresented voices. Feel free to check us out!

Check out our website dcpofficial.com, IG, and Twitter @dcpofficial to learn more!

Feel free to follow me on IG @skykiss3d and Twitter @skykissed too! It’s just me sharing, my fav podcasts, my adventures, my husband, and a little of our two daughters we lovingly call CoCoBean.

Chat soon!

Adell C