A media executive for over fourteen years, Kristin Verbitsky has written and produced broadcast and streaming content for media companies as well as founding the podcast media company, Storic Media, a division of United Stations Media Networks.

Under Kristin’s direction, Storic has leveraged a roster of talent along with shows dedicated to sports, lifestyle and entertainment to build a platform of creative content that audiences demand. Through establishing an executive team along with leveraging existing content through United Stations Media Networks, Verbitsky has posited a new media player in the streaming space to compete with legacy media and established podcast companies.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Ihave been a media executive for over fourteen years in radio and film. I most recently founded Storic Media Podcasting Network (a division of United Stations Media Networks). The company launched a year ago and features over 15 podcasts and growing quickly!

At heart, I’m a writer. I’ve always been passionate about the freedom to create. To me, podcasting is like the new frontier — there are no rules and I find that incredibly exciting.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Storic is a disrupter in the growing podcast medium, we are 100 percent about uninhibited creativity — we encourage non-conformity and outside the box thinking.

Our podcasts are about having something to say and the passion to say it. My vision was to create an opportunity to give unique talent and forward thinkers a safe and creative space to be themselves — and to share this open thinking and dialogue with others. Ultimately, podcasting should be about having fun — it is entertainment and information sharing. We’re letting creative energy flow here, there are no boundaries. Because of that, Storic attracts unique talent across multiple platforms. This is something I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I’ve learned the hard way a few times! Even most recently I made a pretty big blunder — I forgot to include the SD cards in all the kits sent out to some of our high-profile podcast hosts so they can get started recording. Of course, without an SD card nothing could be done. I was most definitely embarrassed — what a rookie mistake — especially when you’re launching a network and you want everything to be as professional as possible.

But what I have learned is to move on and not overthink things. I’ve also learned to delegate more, I can’t do everything myself, a solid support team is valuable.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

My father. He is a radio industry entrepreneur and icon. I learned a lot about the business from him and I’ve seen how is always been a man’s world. But his belief in me has never foundered. I’ve been lucky enough to watch and learn from him. The biggest impact was that he taught me solid work ethic and to “just get it done.”

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

To me, podcasting is a medium that is a disruptor. What interests me most about this new medium is the freedom of speech aspect, it is an uncensored platform. You are giving talented hosts and forward thinkers a place to put their ideologies out there in the world.

However, if you take that liberty too far it can end up putting censors on the medium. A good example of this is social media — and how it can be misused to insight a surge of negativity.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Stop worrying about what other people think: it’s human nature to care how others perceive you. We always worry and impose self-doubt: am I doing the right thing? is there’s something that I could be doing better? What do they think? The first person to trust is yourself and I’ve learned to not concern myself with what other people think.

Just get it done: The second-best piece of advice — and so valuable, no matter how many no’s or obstacles you come across — just push forward and get the job done.

Learn from your mistake and move on: You can’t go back and change things, but you can surely not make the same mistake twice!

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I always have new and exciting things in the works in different mediums other than podcasting and I think the new areas are going to be really fun for us and will go hand-in-hand with all of the content we are currently creating with Storic.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think women are challenged with getting the respect that’s deserved. I’ve met quite a few people throughout my career that would rather deal with men than women. I think in any type of business a woman has to have extra thick skin, you can’t let it get to you or stop you from your goals and ambition. Eventually, you will command the respect that’s deserved.

Still there is that stereotype “oh he’s a man he can do it,” and subsequently with a woman — everybody kind of pauses — and you have to prove yourself. But I think at the end of the day, you just have to persevere.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

“A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara — this book had a very deep impact on me. It’s an incredible novel and profoundly moving. It depicts how beautiful, and yet how ugly life can be. I remind myself every day how lucky I am.

Storic Media’s How to Tickle Yourself Podcast is one of my favorites — we just released it a few weeks ago. Hosts Duff McDonald and Matt McPherson are two incredible people with a strong vision of self-realization. It’s all about being your best self and how to get there. We’re all lucky to be alive — it makes me think about what I want in my life — what I need to do in the time that I have — but it’s also a puzzle — each of the 16 episodes is a piece to be put together. I happen to be a huge puzzler so, of course, I love it.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I think it’s most important to be kind. My first rule is to be the nicest person I can possibly be (without letting anyone push me into a corner.)

I’ve had several people I work with ask, “How are you so nice?” Well, I like having a positive, fun attitude. I feel lucky to be doing what I’m doing so why not enjoy it. Life is hard as it is, I think we could all use an extra dose of kindness. As my mom always told me growing up, without kindness you won’t get anywhere.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“No regrets.” And I have a lot of regrets, don’t get me wrong — but I try to move past them and remember that I’ve learned something from everything that’s happened to me, and if those things didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be the person I am today — and today, I’m happy and where I want to be in life.

My other favorite quote is, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

To me, this goes hand in hand having no regrets. You can’t keep turning around and harping on the things that didn’t go the way you thought they would. But you can look at the future and forge the path you want. Life is a series of lessons, right? So, if we can’t look to the future and make what we want out of it, what’s the point?