Kevin Martin

Full transcript: Kevin Martin on London Real

1:09 This is London Real, I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Kevin Martin, recent graduate of the Broadcast Yourself accelerator. Welcome. Thank you, Brian, it’s great to be here. I’m privileged to be here, really excited. Tell us a bit about you. Where are you from, what do you do? So I was brought up in Fulham, I was brought up in a council estate in Fulham,

1:32 so that is a really different experience. You learn to be streetwise very quickly. You have to just, you become sort of like, there’s a sense of being hyper-vigilant, but you sort of learn to mix and make friends and make decisions very quickly. But really diverse, really diverse cultures. Around my teens I’ve got into the hip-hop culture and aspect, so I was mixing with a lot of black guys, black friends and aspect.

1:56 But the thing I loved about, we had a commonality, was we had no money, and that was the fingers together, and that was the way we sort of created that community. And that’s, that was a lighter bond, and it saw it breached all the cultural differences, which I found really, really interesting. And we had to get out of there, and it just got, they got too dangerous; drugs got in, people getting stabbed, and it got really quite violent.

2:20 So we eventually got out, and when the difference raised, we were quite lucky. Most people don’t get out of them environments. Wow, interesting. And has that shaped you as a person? Yeah, it’s made me very conscious of different backgrounds, different upbringings and how people develop. And I think a lot of my life I saw it as something not to cherish, but now looking back and saying it was part of my development, how it’s made me,

2:44 and to get out and learn and then to give back and understand that aspect is really, really important for me. In terms of streetwise, that whole hip-hop feeling when it all first come out was just absolutely fantastic, really fascinating. That message was absolutely fascinating. Really, really exciting times, difficult times, but I think it gives you a really different perspective.

3:11 I’m a trained therapist now as well, so I’m at physically as well. So what I found in that aspect is a lot of therapists are white middle-class that don’t come from council estate backgrounds, and don’t get into therapy or then get into depths or teaching, so they don’t really learn that aspect. So I think I’ve got that extra edge, especially with clients who come from that sort of background as well.

3:35 And why Broadcast Yourself? What was going on inside your head to make you seek us out to get your message out there? It’s always, I work in broadcast telly for a living, so I’m a live, what we call a live video editor. So I turn around replays, slo-mos, angles on football. So if you see a goal go in, you’ll see like a sequence of angles, so I may be across one of them angles, quick turnaround.

4:01 But I tend to do more the press, which is that build-up to the show where you have the pundits and they’re talking about analysis and they’re talking about videos, and I’ll be the one turning around the interviews really quickly, because a lot of it isn’t live. Everyone thinks it’s live; a lot, most of it’s on 10, 15, 20 seconds of delays. Okay. So yeah, and it’s all sort of rolled out on that sort of basis,

4:26 and it’s like a continuous roll of EVS machines making it look live, but there’s a sense of, it’s got an element to clear it up so there’s not so many mistakes. Interesting. Okay, so you’re already in the broadcast space, but that’s very different than broadcasting yourself. So why do this? I was always interested in creating my own podcast. There’s always something in the back of my mind.

4:49 I was listening to a lot of podcasts, listened to a lot of people I was really interested in, but for me something was missing. There was an element, maybe one, that I was also my own individuality I wanted to do. And then obviously I was looking for courses online, and I found you guys. I watched some of your videos, I watched the David, I watched the Christian band and the Dorian Yates, and as I sat there, this is totally different.

5:05 This is like a total notch up in terms of podcasting video. For me it was like live broadcast level, to that degree in terms of studio element and production level. So that’s what I found really interesting. And then when I was looking and just listening to yourself, and the social proof and the name and everything else, yeah, this is the course to take.

5:30 It took me a while to make the decision. I think I’ve gone to your payment thing about four or five times and gone back four or five times, but eventually made the choice, and I’m delighted I’ve made the choice. And why London Real? Why trust us? You’re there, the proof. You’re pushing the boundaries, you’re interviewing great guests, you’re giving so much back to all of us. So in a way, why not work with the best?

6:03 Why not work with people actually out there doing it, proving it? And what I found, and of course I didn’t realise, was just how brilliant the course has been. It’s just made us accountable, responsible, but also created this space where the team’s, the camaraderie, it just feels like an extended family sometimes. And that, for my background, that’s really important, because belonging, it’s really difficult.

6:27 So you don’t trust a lot, so being in a safe space and being able to trust develops that space where you can show yourself, and you’ve allowed me to do that on this course, so that’s been profound. Yeah. What’s been great, having you, talk to me about that first week, though, when I drop you into this private Facebook group, 150 people around the world, I’m asking you to upload a video of yourself.

6:50 You got me twice a week on these live calls, one from here, one from my house, accountability docs. What’s that whole experience like? It’s a real mix of absolute terror and fear, but another part was really exciting, really like, wow, this is gonna be really, you know, greatness. Let’s see what it’s about. And I think what you’ve made me do and develop is action, taking action, going woman, and trust in the process has been really, really important.

7:25 So it was intimidating. I mean, there was a part of it was, you know, choice, it’s just going through the roof in terms of like, you know, what’s happening next. And it was a real challenge for me just to do that simple blog or vlog, whatever. When I’m talking, I look back at it now, I’m not looking into the camera, I’m looking somewhere else.

7:40 And it’s like, but yeah, you’ve helped me develop, being more trustworthy and I suppose better with myself, to be able to sit in front of the camera and go that way. Mm-hmm. Tell me about this community. What are they like, what are these different people like, and what are you learning from them? I’ve never known anything like this community.

8:05 I’ve been in therapy groups, I’ve been in loads of other groups, but this community is so supportive. Everyone’s so generous with their time and effort. You’ve created a really quite competitive space; these little groups has worked really, really well in terms of keeping us on our toes and quite competitive. And the Olympic swimming parties, it’s fantastic. It just adds that fun element.

8:33 You can release the tension. We’re all working really hard, but for us, for our group, it was just a way of releasing the tension and working towards something else as a bonus. And, you know, that elation at the end of the Friday night and winning the gold was fantastic. And you won a few gold? Yeah, we won a few gold. We added like 30 or 40 GIFs after that, where people were just firing off celebration videos. It’s really, really good.

8:56 And what’s it like seeing these people in person in London? Yeah, that’s another totally different experience, because I suppose you have visions, you create how tall they are, what they look like and everything else. But I think meeting them, and like last night, that ability last night just to understand them, we’re all human beings. You get that much more human element.

9:22 And everyone was very gracious last night, very warm, very open, very interested in your ideas. Yeah, I’m looking forward to tonight as well because of that, so more conversations, more understanding people. But yeah, it’s a privilege, I would say it was a privilege to meet them in person and shake their hands.

9:43 What did you struggle with the most on this course? Myself, right, just being seen, my body image. And so you come from that sort of background, you’re not allowed to have an opinion, you’re not allowed to have a voice really. You’re just shamed, all that aspect; you just constantly kept small. So you’re breaking boundaries constantly, over and over again, to be seen on camera.

10:06 Yeah, I just couldn’t explain. I mean, I’ve been in therapy for five years, so to be seen on camera, it’s just, it’s mind-boggling for me. It still all seems a bit surreal at the moment, in terms of I’m actually out there, I’m watching myself and I’m listening to myself, and that’s a process I’m trying to get more comfortable with as that’s happening. But you’re doing it.

10:30 Yeah, and that’s what was so fantastic about this course. You end up with what you’d signed up for. I have my podcast, I have, I mean, guests I never imagined I was gonna interview. I’ve interviewed two people. If you’d asked me 18 months ago, was I gonna interview, not in a million years. So I’ve interviewed them, and the whole fear, the whole set-up, the ritual you taught us was fantastic.

10:54 That breathe, get into a nice place, all that stuff, for me. But then I end up with a conversation with them, and it was just a fantastic conversation, and it’s going to open up different doors for me in terms of other people and meeting new areas of my life and aspects like that as well. What’s the name of your podcast?

11:19 So the podcast is called Mind the Gap. So there’s a quirky element to it, because we live in London, so I think there’s this synchronicity with the world sometimes, because I used to work on London Underground as a telecoms engineer, so I used to actually fix that “mind the gap.” Oh, it’s like, you know, when it comes into Embankment. Yeah, it comes on, “Please mind the gap between the platform and the edge.”

11:43 Yeah, the audio. So I used to fix it, so there’s a real synchronicity with it. We were quite young, as apprentices, so we used to muck around a tiny bit sometimes, set it off when the train wasn’t in the station. So bit naughty, but just a bit of fun every now and again. But the podcast is about, I ask my guests to pick a film.

12:00 So everyone has a film. Everyone loves a film, everyone’s got that film they resonate with, that really impacts them emotionally. And so we talk about the hero’s journey in the film, the protagonist, his journey. And what I like to do in the podcast is start relating that journey to my guest’s journey. So it’s a really good way of raising their self-awareness,

12:26 trying to understand why. Some people watch films, they’re not even sure why they resonate with that character in the film, so it allows them to start connecting parts of themselves to the main protagonist. And then we talk: how close do you think you are on that journey? Where do you think you are on this journey? What do you think you need?

12:42 So the gap, the gap is what I call that crossing the threshold. It’s that space where we know we have big dilemmas in our life, crisis, losing your job, relationships; you end up in this gap, which is confusion, disorientation. So how do you become more comfortable in the gap? That’s the real place to learn, for me. That’s the real transformational space.

13:10 But some people stay in it, stay in it too long. What do you need to get out of it? And so what I do with the film, we talk about how did the hero get out of it, and is that something you could do? So it’s like a therapy session. So that’s the idea. I want to make it more adult. It’s probably still got a massive stigma to it in this country, still got a very negative connotation.

13:34 So for me it’s a really good way of opening people up to themselves and exploring who they are. I love it. This is a great micro niche, you know, and it’s a great novel idea, and it’s perfect for new media. You can do it your way, so I like it. And if you’ve never seen the movie before, do you go watch it?

13:52 I always go and watch it, because I think it’s not only important what the movie is about, it’s what it brings up for me as I’m watching it. Because I think that’s really important, where I can relate back. I say, when I watched it, it meant this to me; can you see what that means to you? Yeah, that’s cool. What was the biggest win for you on this course?

14:09 There were so many. The biggest win obviously is having the podcast; that was the ultimate goal, to have the podcast and interviewing guests I never thought I’d interview. But also now we can be part of this team, be part of this group, is massive. To be here, to be sitting in front of you now, it’s just unimaginable really. It’s just, this is different.

14:33 And tell me about you. If we walked out on the street right now, I walked out to Fulham and bumped into the Kevin who didn’t take this course, how’s that guy different than you? I just think it’s not the same person, it’s just a totally different person. It’s a person wanting to do things, as a person who has aspirations, that just keeps himself small, keeps himself down, doesn’t believe, doesn’t trust himself.

14:58 I’d like to have a conversation with him and say, you need to get, do this course. Get him on your show. Yeah, yeah. And last question: to someone who’s on the edge, thinking about taking this course but just not sure if it’s the right decision, what would you tell them? This is definitely the right decision. Don’t be afraid.

15:14 The one thing about this course is it’s all about action, it’s all about accountability, it’s about momentum, it’s about pushing you through the resistance. And there’s the set-up, it pushes everyone through, as long as you’re, you’ve got to be committed. You’ve got to be, it’s something you really want to do, I think ultimately; otherwise you’ll fall by the wayside. But everything’s in place for you to get what you want at the end of it.

15:38 How many episodes? Yeah, I have 14 now, so I’m doing two a week. Have you? That’s fantastic. Yeah, on fire. Yeah, well, for the next 12 months, you know, you’re in your group, we’re gonna be watching you, and you’re gonna be holding everybody else accountable. This is an incredible group of people, as you know, so stay in touch with them. Welcome to the family.

15:53 And I’m just looking for you to do big things. I’m super excited, I love your niche. I’ve never heard of anything else like it out there, and I think it’s a fascinating way not to have just a conversation but to go deeper with a guest. And I just see the sky’s the limit for you, Kevin. So thank you so much for the energy you brought on this course and to Team Gunnar and everything. Super excited for you, and great to have you.

16:17 Thank you very much for allowing me to envision my dreams. They’re starting to develop, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget what you’ve achieved for me, to have my podcast. It’s been fantastic. Cool. Well, at London Real we say it’s about the journey, so I wish you well on yours, and let’s do some big things. All right, thank you very much, Kevin. Thank you very much.