Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaydn Swailes.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It’s funny because we ask this exact same question to the bartenders and manager we interview now. But we didn’t used to be this coordinated.
Pour people podcast started off in Des Moines, Iowa in my (Jaydn’s) Kitchen nook. Just 4 friends who had nothing better to do on wednesdays. With 2 of us having backgrounds in videography and production, we thought it’d be a good idea to start a podcast. At first we had no idea what to start the podcast about. We did a test run and it was honestly horrible. No ideas, barely a conversation, and not a clue on what to do moving forward. So at some point we ended up breaking it down even simpler. We were all bartenders currently, or had bartended in the past. So we decided to make the whole podcast about that; bartenders with a ton of shit to talk about. And Pour people was spawned!
Slowly but surely we got more and more local recognition, which led us to start doing episodes at the bar/restaurants themselves. That was when we realized we were on to something. We could provide a platform for bartenders to talk about all of the crazy shit they have to deal with on shift. Whether it’s a bad manager, terrible customers, or a “douche of the week”. and all within the comfort of their own bar. We realized that most bartenders don’t work at one spot (for very long) and so the amount of stories that bartenders could tell were limitless.
Eventually we were able to do our first “tour” and we headed right to Kansas City and did a whole week of episodes right in the downtown of KC. Since then we’ve made it to 100 episodes. we’ve had multiple hosts move on to bigger and better things. And we’ve continued to craft and create our brand image. Today Pour people podcast is more than just a platform for people to talk shit about their past experiences. Now we are invited in to bars and restaurants to help advertise their local events, specials, and even just celebrating the employees that work there.
It’s always just a conversation you would have at the bar, we just put it on camera, and say “don’t hold back, we’re all pour people here”.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of our biggest struggles were maintaining episodes each week. Often we would book 2-3 episodes in one week. Since we only post an episode a week, that would leave us ahead for the next month. And by the time it came out we had already forgotten what we had talked about and would end up talking about it again on a future episode. And then we realized that the service industry has a lot of the same problems everywhere. Mean customers, bad managers, awesome regulars, and shitty employees (sometimes). We had to figure out a way to make it different enough each time to keep the viewers watching.
Another struggle we’ve had is that we do all of our own booking, editing, video production, photos, social media posting, and events. There’s only 4 of us right now, so we often find ourselves last minute trying to get an episode together before our 2am release time. It’s honestly a lot to do with only 4 people, so we are also looking for video editors who would like to join our team!
One of the biggest challenges we faced was doing “Pour Wars” which was our first bartending competition. We had an entire production team from the community come and help out. We live streamed it. We had some amazing sponsors, donate prizes for the winners (Pina barware, Iowa distilling, and a handcrafted bar apron from Fontenelle supply co.) and over 20 competitors. We wanted to make this bartending competition unlike anything anyone had seen or done before. so we made it pretty difficult to win. the first round was “most accurate pour” which the winner was .001 away from an absolutely perfect pour, which was crazy to witness. It took months for us to set up and arrange pour wars, but we did it with thanks to our community and friends.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve run a media agency for the last 8 years, Guerrilla Graphics Design Agency. I specialize in video production, but my background is in graphic design and digital marketing. So putting all of that together really has helped Pour People a lot in terms of social media recognition and branding.
I would say that i’m known more now for Pour people Podcast, but before that I was shooting videos and photos for nationally touring bands at music venues around the country. I also ran all the online video production for multiple music festivals, but most notably hinterland in St. Charles, iowa.
I think what sets me apart from others is that i was filming things that i thought was cool. I never worried about whether someone else would like it or not. It was always for me, which sounds very selfish typing that out. But a lot of my coolest videos were from situations i didn’t even mean to be in. I’d get asked to shoot a show for some band i’d never heard of, and then come to find out they’ve blown up in the next year, and i have some of the only footage from a show they did at a local bar, or small venue. Then it becomes something bigger than even me shooting it. It’s a legacy the band had left that helped them to grow and become widely known, and i just happened to be there with my camera. And also a lot of my video effects were from almost destroying my camera, by putting the lens directly into a lazer or stumbling and creating a whip pan effect. Because at first i barely knew how to operate a camera. I took one photography class in college as part of an elective for graphic design, and ended up primarily doing videos for bands and companies. Kinda funny.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Definitely take the risk. When i first got hired to do hinterland, i had no idea i would be allowed to be in charge of a team of videographers. That was all new to me. before that i had done rather small videos and festivals for bands and such. but getting to see and meet a lot of my favorite artists, really humbles you in ways you never thought possible. And then at some point you realize that everyone is just human. maybe a little more famous, but they still do the same things as you or me. So take the risk. Bring your camera. Film a podcast. Make a total ass of yourself, and let people just do what they’re always going to do anyway.
For Pour People podcast, i think the initial risk was just “nobody’s going to watch it” and that was largely okay with a lot of us for some reason. It’s embarrassing to put yourself out there and sound like an idiot most of the time. But it makes it easier if you expect that nobody’s going to watch it. Especially when you don’t really know what you’re doing. But that’s all the more reason to do it anyway. To learn. If you never tried, then what’s the point of daydreaming about it.
I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a risk taker, more of just an optimist. I constantly tell myself “well, worst case scenario we’ll be in the same position we are now, and that’s not that bad.” It makes everything easier to do and then you’ll find yourself 8 years down the road with a whole portfolio of work you never thought you’d have and a podcast that’s somewhat recognizable on TikTok.
Also putting your camera into a lazer is a huge risk and i don’t actually suggest doing that.
Pricing:
- $5/month for Patreon episodes. All new episodes with uncensored Pour People content.
- $20 for Pour people Merch available in our links in our bios.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pourpeoplepodcast.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pourpeople.podcast/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558517867235
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PourPeoplePodcast
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/cw/PourPeoplePodcast
