Podcaster Profiles: Aileen Merciel & Glenda Pacanins -- Surfing Corporate Podcast

Podcaster Profiles has a simple goal: highlight, spotlight, focus on: the indie podcasters who are the heart and soul of podcasting.

Indie podcasters wear more hats than any network-supported podcaster. They are creator, writer, producer, sound engineer, I.T. troubleshooter, researcher, host, distribution pro, marketing guru, public relations professional, and, most important of all, financial backer for the podcast.

 

In each article, we'll ask the person being profiled why they became involved in podcasting, how did they become skilled, review their public bio, ask them to tell us something not in their public bio, any passions other than podcasting, and their future plans in podcasting.

We are starting with one of the best in independent podcasting. A superb podcast about corporate life called Surfing Corporate. In September 2021, Aileen Merciel and Glenda Pacanins started the Surfing Corporate podcast. 

 Aileen and Glenda define success and hard work. These two women rose to become senior vice presidents in major corporations in an era where corporate life wasn't exactly female friendly. I'm not sure if the workplace has miraculously been remade into a safe and accepting place for women. However, women like Aileen and Glenda have made it better.

 Their podcast's elevator pitch is: "Hosted by Aileen Merciel and Glenda Pacanins, former media executives who have experienced first-hand what really goes on behind fancy corporate doors (and have a slightly evil sense of humor), this podcast aims to entertain as well as provide practical advice to employees who are currently navigating turbulent corporate waters."

The show lives up to its promise. It's engaging, has a sense of humor, describes the incongruities of corporate life, and offers solutions. 

These two former Senior VPs wanted to start and sustain an independent podcast about managing life in a corporate environment.

Aileen A. Merciel (AM) was a Senior Vice President, Marketing & Creative – NBC Universal, Telemundo Enterprise.

Merciel is a Venezuelan-American media executive who started out in Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Latin America Venezuela as an On-Air Promotions Producer. She held corporate positions in Venezuela, Mexico, and the U.S. On the podcast's website, it says: "Coming from a creative background, Aileen was not blessed with a nose for office politics."

Glenda Pacanins (GP) was a Senior Vice President, Programming and Content Strategy NBC Universal, Telemundo Enterprises.

After working in corporate for more than 20 years, Glenda Pacanins is a self-described “recovering suit,” although she still can’t stop wearing heels to podcast recordings and PTA meetings. 

Unlike Aileen, Glenda somehow managed to surf corporate relatively well. Again, the podcast's website says: "She is fluent in English, Spanish, and most importantly, corporate bullsh*t."

Aileen gives us an insight into starting the podcast: "I began developing Surfing Corporate as I was recovering from a life-threatening surgery due to ––surprise!–– work-related stress. [CUE DRAMATIC SOUND EFFECT]. After years of working intense 16-hour days, I was forced to hit the pause button, sit in great discomfort with myself and my life choices, and ask myself the hard questions I never 'had time' to ask before: 'Why had I allowed work to jeopardize my physical and mental health? Why didn’t I set boundaries? Why hadn’t I been able to handle the stress better?' and, 'Why is Ryan Reynolds so dreamy?'"

Glenda chimes in and observes: "From the moment Aileen spoke to me about Surfing Corporate, I knew it was the kind of content that corporate beings like me needed to have."

Glenda continues: "At that point, I had been reading Harvard Business Review and Fast Company for years, but I had always wished there was business/career-related content that was insightful, but also honest, relatable, and, in a perfect world, entertaining, and there was Aileen telling me all about her vision for Surfing Corporate! Clearly, I had to become a big cheerleader for her to put it out into the world!"

When you listen to the podcast, you will hear the bond between these two successful women. 

Glenda says: "I had no doubt that, sooner or later, Surfing Corporate was going to get traction and start gaining a following because I absolutely believed in Aileen and in her vision for what she wanted to do with the brand. I didn’t have Aileen’s perspective of questioning things and finding absurdity in both the mundane and extreme parts of working in Corporate America. So when she asked me to join her in hosting the podcast, I thought she was nuts because I couldn’t wrap my head around what could I possibly add to the equation."

Glenda then admits what many of us are loath to ignore: "I am hardwired to fear failure, so putting myself out there like that was a huge risk. Needless to say, I am incredibly grateful that Aileen somehow saw something in me and knew that I could and should do it, and didn’t give up on trying to convince me."

Aileen discusses their backgrounds: "Glenda and I both come from legacy media, so we knew how to create, develop, and market a TV show, but we knew nothing about podcasts. We had no idea how podcasting worked or what it took to produce, edit, or market a podcast."

Aileen continues: "So I did what I always do in situations like this: I went down a rabbit hole of research, listening to multiple podcast shows and formats, and taking note of everything: Why did I gravitate towards certain hosts and not others? What type of co-host dynamics kept me hooked? What formats are more appealing to me and why? What existing podcasts could serve as an inspiration for Surfing Corporate?" 

Glenda remembers the first episode they recorded: "Expanding my list of go-to podcasts was really important because up until then, I mainly listened to podcasts from NPR and The New York Times. That’s why for the very first episode we ever recorded, Aileen had a moment of panic when I started recording because I was inadvertently channeling a news host. I was not at all being myself, and it was not at all the tone we needed for Surfing Corporate."

"After a few takes of Aileen politely telling me to record the intro again and again, she basically had to ask me point-blank to actually try to speak like I wasn’t dead inside. Thankfully, that was all before our big VP guest joined us in the studio, so I was definitely more comfortable and more myself by the time the interview portion was recorded."

Glenda recounts the dream that all independent podcasters have. 

"I truly believed that if you poured your heart into making great content, the audience would somehow find you. We really underestimated how difficult discoverability is in the podcast space, especially when you have no marketing budget. Luckily, Aileen devoted herself 110% to building the Instagram account while also working full-time on the podcast, so we could try to get some traction going. She even rolled out a Surfing Corporate newsletter to get another touchpoint established for the brand and our fans."

Aileen thanks the fans of the podcast for their positive feedback.

"What kept us going was receiving DMs from people across the globe telling us how much they loved the show, how much they were learning from us, and that we made them laugh. And it was all word of mouth: someone who listened by chance and recommended our pod to their colleagues or friends. After decades of working so hard to hit ratings numbers for a show premiere, this felt so much more meaningful."

Aileen and Glenda have received recognition for their outstanding work, being nominated for the Ambies and winning Best Workplace podcast for the Ear Worthy Independent podcast Awards.

Surfing Corporate debuts a new season on September 18th, and since I was fortunate enough to get a sneak preview, I must say it is their best season so far, with some unique episodes. 

In one episode, Aileen and Glenda challenge the traditional view of categorizing bosses as either good or bad, focusing instead on those who embody both traits. Leaders who can be inspiring and brilliant, but also mean and volatile. Join them as they explore the psychology behind these unpredictable corporate characters.

So, what are Aileen and Glenda doing now? Recording their new season, of course. For indie podcasters, a day should have more than 24 hours because they need so much time to put together the show. Unlike celebrities on Spotify or iHeart who have "people," Aileen and Glenda are their "people." 

It's the whole "buck stops with"... thing.

Finally, Aileen wanted readers to know that she enjoys tormenting her 12-year-old daughter by using middle-school slang in front of her friends. #Skibbidy #Rizz #Sigma

Check out Surfing Corporate, which debuts a new season on September 18th. In this new season, Aileen and Glenda certainly "Left No Crumbs" which is tween slang for someone who did something so well..."