Meet Kayla Coleman and Bethany McMillen of Grandview/Lee’s Summit

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Coleman and Bethany McMillen

Hi Kayla and Bethany, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We met and became good friends freshman year of college at Rockhurst University, but it wasn’t until after undergrad that we bonded over BTS. Bethany first discovered BTS through her sister who was learning kpop songs for one of her patients. It didn’t take long before she fell completely in love with BTS after watching their “Dope” music video and had to share their music and videos with Kayla. Our typical monthly meet ups quickly turned into hanging out multiple days a week just so we could fangirl and talk about all things BTS with each other. It wasn’t until a couple months later that Bethany had to move to St. Louis for her clinicals and our biggest concern was how were we going to fill the void of no longer hanging out and obsessing over BTS together. It was then we decided to make a BTS podcast so we could continue to still have fun chatting about BTS. At the time we didn’t have much connection with the BTS fanbase ARMY, but the moment the podcast came into fruition, we felt instantly a part of the truly incredible community of ARMYs around the world. The podcast became much more successful than we ever imagined because we had no idea that there were so many other ARMYs seeking exactly what we were – connection and a safe place to be excited over BTS’s music, videos, content, personalities, looks, and more. Over these last 6 years of creating the show, Stanning BTS podcast has joined the Consequence Podcast Network, reached over 240 episodes, gained its own listener community called the “iconic” ARMY, has organized several listener meetups, collaborated with other podcasters, and continues to bring us an abundance of unique opportunities and a close connection with the BTS fandom.

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?
Creating a podcast takes a lot of work. It hasn’t been smooth sailing the entire time as there was a lot to learn about the podcasting world – sound editing, audio equipment, pre and post production, formatting, hosting sites, content creation, and much more. We also were slightly oblivious in the beginning on how time consuming the creation and consistency of podcasting is while also juggling our education, careers, and home life. And also, sharing a creative outlet together as a duo had its struggles at times as, naturally, our ideas haven’t always 100% aligned. But over the years we’ve really overcome a lot of these struggles. It took a lot of trial and error, time management skills, clear communication, and delegating tasks before reaching the strong level of collaboration and teamwork we have today. We’re proud of overcoming these challenges and creating such a strong and creative collaborative relationship outside of just being friends.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Stanning BTS is our biggest passion project and most rewarding hobby. Our mission for the podcast has always been to expand our own understanding of BTS, share our love for them and their music, and connect with other fans in the community. Our listeners enjoy our attention to detail in research, friendly and fun conversation, and sharing in the genuine love of BTS through our episodes. We are most proud of our Album Review episodes, in which we deep dive into the production and lyrics of BTS’s discography, showcasing the vast depth and meaning of their music. Of course, we also love to fangirl out over their looks and choreography, and empower others to do so, too! We’re not your average music commentary podcast; we run a variety of series and will cover any BTS related topic with both thoughtful and entertaining commentary.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has definitely been on our side many times over the years. We always say that we lucked out with the best listeners, they really are the coolest people we know. Getting discovered by Consequence happened at just the right time, when the stress of the podcast was becoming a bit too much. It was so lucky that our goals aligned and now they help us out so much with production. Even snagging concert tickets (often a bloodbath event in Ticketmaster) takes quite a bit of luck, and we are forever grateful for the BTS concerts we’ve attended purely by the luck of the draw. We had one of the luckiest weekends of our lives when we traveled to LA for the weekend to see BTS at SoFi just after Covid restrictions were lifted. During that weekend, we planned our first in-person meet up with listeners, celebrated Bethany’s birthday at a rooftop bar with our new friends, navigated LA traffic with ease, and had one of the best concert experiences of all time. It was a weekend where we felt luck on our side, where many things could have gone wrong they didn’t. It felt like everything fell into place like it was meant to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://consequence.net/category/consequence-podcast-network/stanning-bts/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanningbtspodcast?igsh=MWRwNGZyOXo2Y2NoNg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/cMHy6tpDaBRUwAmo/?mibextid=WC7FNe
• Twitter: @StanningBTSpod