ShoutOut Live, a podcast festival which celebrates the power of diversity and how new media has allowed people of colour in the UK to reclaim their voices. The Festival is a celebration of how far the podcast industry in the UK has come, as well as it being a showcase of talented individuals who represent the overarching experience of all people of colour. This is the first festival of its kind in the UK and the ShoutOut Network will be making this an international celebration by including The Friend Zone and Another Round as well as UK based podcasts. It will be the ultimate display of the Black experience through podcasts.
Founded by Efe Jerome and Imriel Morgan, The ShoutOut Network is an example of what is possible when purpose meets passion. Having listened to podcasts for years Efe saw a huge gap in the market in the UK. He recognised that podcasting could do for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds what the mainstream media has been neglecting to do for years. The pair met on Tinder and upon starting their romantic relationship they both realised that the ShoutOut Network’s vision was possible and necessary.
Efe grew up in Peckham and was placed in foster care at the age of 14. Following a turbulent childhood, Efe has spent the last year teaching himself audio engineering and is responsible for the significant upgrades in the production quality of the ShoutOut Network’s podcasts.
Imriel Morgan, a Durham University graduate, who up until recently worked as a freelance marketer and writer to help finance her position as the Co-Founder and CEO of the ShoutOut Network. Imriel grew up in a single-parent household in Luton before moving to London and excelling in school. Imriel battled with depression and anxiety at University and still deals with the conditions and has used the Melanin Millennials podcast to advocate for mental health and wellbeing.
The ShoutOut Network is the UK’s first podcast collective dedicated to providing a platform that caters to people from diverse backgrounds. The collective seeks to solve the issue of poor media representation by creating a diverse suite of UK based Podcasts. The number of people of colour entering podcasting in the UK has grown from 5 in 2015 to over 70 in 2016. The ShoutOut Network proudly acknowledges that it has been a catalyst for change in the podcasting media scene, causing a surge in people of colour taking to the mic.
Imriel and Efe have joined forces with an incredible team of podcasters who will bring the ShoutOut message to life at the ShoutOut Live Festival and carve out their path to creating a tech media empire through podcasting.
