Join me on this episode of Audio Signals Podcast as we virtually hike with Darren Mass, creator of "I Took a Hike," exploring the trails of storytelling, business insights, and the wilderness philosophy.
Guests: Darren Mass, Host of I Took a Hike [@itookahike]
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmass
Website | https://itookahike.com/
On TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@itookahike
On Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/itookahikepodcast/
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Hosts:
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast & Audio Signals Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Introduction
Join me on this episode of Audio Signals Podcast as we virtually hike with Darren Mass, creator of "I Took a Hike," exploring the trails of storytelling, business insights, and the wilderness philosophy.
I stride forward, virtually, boots crunching on the trail, stepping into the unfamiliar yet intriguing world of storytelling. On this episode of Audio Signals Podcast, hosted by yours truly, Marco Ciappelli, I'm taking you on a journey not just through the tales but the art of telling them. This isn't just about narration; it's about understanding the minds and souls behind the words.
The trail winds and twists as I prepare to converse with Darren Mass, a Business Therapist and part-time Wilderness Philosopher, the creator of the podcast "I Took a Hike." Maybe we will take a hike and record a podcast together when the occasion arises, but for now, what better way to grasp his philosophy than to virtually put on the hiking boots ourselves, to delve into his approach of combining business insights with the rustic embrace of Mother Nature?
Why hiking? I wonder as the conversation begins. Darren reveals that the great outdoors serves as a catalyst for genuine, raw conversations. There's no room for fabrication when you're facing nature's unpredictable twists. One misstep and you're in poison ivy; one wrong turn and you face a cliff's edge. Just like the trails he hikes, Darren's podcast brings the unknown, the uncharted, into focus. And in these untamed conversations, the truth is uncovered, the real emotions are laid bare.
As we talk, Darren's concept resonates with me. We are all navigating through trails of our lives, some smooth, some rugged. But it's the unpaved paths that often lead us to the most profound realizations, the deepest connections. Is there a greater metaphor for life? These trails, both real and metaphorical, tell stories, and Darren has turned them into an art form.
"I Took a Hike" isn't just a podcast; it's an experience, an adventure. It takes you out of the well-trodden paths of everyday life and leads you on a journey where your mind and soul can wander. Whether it's an encounter with a snake or the eye-opening perspective of a boulder placed by aliens, each hike is a tale of discovery and revelation.
I find myself reflecting on the storyteller's role. Like a guide leading you through the wilderness, a storyteller helps you navigate the complex terrain of human experience. Sometimes we lose our way, but the story always brings us back, reconnecting us with our essence. As I'm talking to Darren, I realize that his hiking trails are more than just physical paths; they are philosophical journeys that explore human nature and emotions.
So here I am, Marco Ciappelli, inviting you to listen to this episode of Audio Signals Podcast, as we virtually take this hike together with Darren Mass, exploring not just the stories but the essence of storytelling. It's a new turn, where it's not just about the narratives but about those who dare to tell them. Come join us on this adventurous path; you never know what we might discover together. Subscribe, share, and stay tuned for more stories at the intersection of society, technology, and beyond. This is about more than just tales; this is about life, passion, and the art of connection.
Till the next trail, keep musing on stories and storytellers.
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Resources
Website | https://itookahike.com/
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Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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[00:00:00] Marco Ciappelli: Here we are, another episode of Audio Signal Podcast on ITSP Magazine with Marco Ciappelli, which is me. If you're watching the video, you'll see, as usual, I'm not the kind of guy that does podcasting on his own, because I feel I couldn't hold half an hour on my own. And I know a lot of people that are really good at it, but I'm all about the conversation and audio signals.
Again, it's about conversating with people. If you're watching the video, as I started to say, you'll see there is Darren Mass with me. Hi, Darren. How are you doing?
[00:00:34] Darren Mass: Hello.
[00:00:35] Marco Ciappelli: And for those listening, you heard, you heard hello. So that's, that's good. I'm not lying. Uh, next step, next step before I pass the ball to Darren, and it's going to be a fun conversation.
He's a podcaster himself. On top of other things before that, I don't think everybody was just born as a podcaster. We all have some other lives before we do that, or even parallel to that. And that's probably what bring us to, to do podcasting in first place. But again, I'll do signals new turn. This is the second episode of the New Turn, where it's not just about stories, but it's about storytellers.
What motivates them to tell the story the way they do, the kind of story that they tell. And in this case, Uh, it's gonna be good because it's actually the how It's a it's an interesting, uh twist on podcasting and I found it fascinating and that's why I invited Darren to be on the show So we'll get there enough about me Darren again.
Welcome to the show A little bit about yourself. And, uh, yeah, that just start with your podcast and then we go from there.
[00:01:42] Darren Mass: Sure. A little about me. I am a tech person. I started my career in telecommunications, which is, um, we all communicate through telecom rather, right? It's voice or it's internet. And that quickly morphed into starting a company, selling that company, uh, feeling bored and irrelevant after that sale of the company and trying to figure out what the heck do I do next?
I've always been a believer of following your passion, which is why I started a podcast. I love hiking and I went on a hike with a friend.
[00:02:18] Marco Ciappelli: With a friend or non friend or you become a friend eventually after a hike, I guess. Uh, I think you bond, right?
[00:02:26] Darren Mass: Yeah, I mean, especially if there's some dangerous element in there, right?
Oh, really somebody's life and you're their best friend for a while. Um, but yeah, I went on a hike with a good friend and he had recently sold his company and the conversation that came from that was pretty powerful. We talked about. How he felt after he sold this company and, and the highs and the lows and the complexity.
And, you know, you reach that Holy grail, that moment that we all have been striving for as business owners and entrepreneurs only to find out you're bored and you're depressed and you're no longer the CEO of a company. But you're some rich guy, but you're supposed to be happy. Anyway, got back home and I said, Hmm, I should make a podcast about this.
And I did. And that's how the idea of I took a hike came about.
[00:03:16] Marco Ciappelli: I love it. I love it. And, um, so we kind of talked a little bit before starting the conversation, but I was wondering, my first question was, do you always, and only. Have this conversation on a hike. So people need to make this commitment. You said yes, and I think I think this is fascinating because it filters.
I think a lot of people right there. It's not just going to be somebody that doesn't know what he's talking about. Or maybe it's kind of like not too motivated. I mean, you, you, you force them to. How does it go? You, you, you bring it somewhere on your territory. Do you move around? You meet in the middle?
How's that work?
[00:03:54] Darren Mass: Oh, it's all this mystery. Um, so I do apologize. I would typically be on a trail with a camera in my face doing this, but we had a little bit of rain. I'm not afraid of the rain. I love it. But recording gear does not. So I didn't want to be under a big tent and an umbrella. So yeah, it is what it is.
So give me this pass. Uh, but essentially you have to be hiking with me. We go on a trail. It's anything from an easy to an extreme hike. It really depends on the skillset of the guest. And if they've been hiking before. Now, a lot of people have never hiked before. Um, that's okay. I find it to be actually more fun and exciting if you've never hiked before, because I get to explain all the cool things about the trail and how to follow a blaze.
Uh, some of that makes it into the edit. Some does not. I typically pick a trail that's equally distant between me and a guest. If they're a local guest, uh, I picked the trail based on again, the skill set and the personality of the trail. So trails have a lot of personality and where I live in the tri state area, New Jersey, there's well over a thousand trails to choose from a lot of them.
A lot of my favorite trails that I've hiked more than once. So I get to know the personality of the trail. And I know that sounds a little kooky. But no, it's, it's true. Um, for instance, in two weeks, we'll be releasing an episode with a LinkedIn, uh, marketing person, call her an influencer, I guess. Um, and, uh, and there's this trail that I took her to that's equidistant between us from her house and my house, where there's a rock, a boulder, a huge boulder that was dropped off by a glacier.
And it's sitting on top of three small stones about yay big, just floating there. And I knew when she saw that, that would have just blown her mind. And it did. And I'll give you a little teaser. She's very convinced aliens. Put it there, .
[00:05:55] Marco Ciappelli: All right, so we got, we got some, uh, extra ter extra activity on the, on the next podcast.
That's cool. Yeah, I mean, it's possible. So, you know, I don't think it's cuckoo at all. And we're all a little bit cuckoo when we are in storytelling anyway. We need some creative, uh, vein. Right? But when you said that the trailer has a personality, I, I, I believe you man. I like the outdoors myself and, you know, uh, it puts you in a different mood.
Um, I'm around LA, so, you know, there are some that are popular with the celebrities and, you know, everybody needs to go there. Others, they're a little bit more complicated and then if you want to get the car, you go in the mountain, in the forest, and that's another completely different story. And it does put you in a different mood.
Yeah. So yeah, I'm on with that. And tell me, tell me about what do you see changing? Because I want to connect to the fact that on your profile, I see like a business therapist as one of your qualification. Um, so how do you think this therapy works and how it changed the trail? The whole environment, the whole mechanism of recording changed the tone of the conversation.
I believe it changed the person's attitude as well.
[00:07:16] Darren Mass: Oh, so you said before, we're all a little cuckoo. We absolutely are. To live in the world that we live in today. We're all just a little bit nuts and, you know, myself included, um, you know, like I said, I went through all these machinations of depression and not feeling a sense of purpose that hiking was my outlet.
That was my therapy by being surrounded in nature. You're literally bathing in, you know, good vibes, so to speak. Right. And, and you get this energy that you wouldn't have gotten from just walking down a street. Same thing happens when I bring a guest out, whether or not they're experienced or not. Just being side by side someone else in nature, having a conversation.
It flows more naturally, and you are far more open. Now, obviously, we are recording this. There is no overdubbing. There is, uh, there's, there's editing for the sake of the fact that a three hour hike would not make a great episode. So we have to cut clips out, right? But we put it together. It's, it's raw.
It's real. It's an authentic experience told by the guest of the show or that week's show. It's their adventure journey. And what I noticed, you know, I didn't put all this plan together, but it just unfolded, I noticed when Marco, you and I are hiking. If I'm asking you a really pointed question, you're not fabricating an answer.
You can't. You're worried about where is that foot going to go so you don't trip down the side of a cliff or walk into some poison ivy or possibly step on a snake, which almost happened in an episode. You're not worried about any of that or about fabricating the story. You're worried about everything else.
So the conversation that we have is truly your impression, your experience. And it's also therapeutic because when we have to memorize fabrications, I won't call them lies, but we all do that. We embellish, we're human, right? It's the Instagram effect. We, we went to that concert and we were in the first 10 rows.
Weren't we all right? That doesn't happen when you're on a trail in nature. And because of the microphones and the equipment I use, it's so small. I'm carrying most of the gear. All you have is a little pack and a little lav. It disappears with the conversation. The only time you remember we're recording is when I stopped to take a selfie.
Because I have some evidence we hiked, right?
[00:09:54] Marco Ciappelli: Well, you have to prove that you are living in these times.
[00:09:58] Darren Mass: That's right. That's right. You see my arm every time. It's great.
[00:10:03] Marco Ciappelli: Um, I love it. I, I, I agree. And it makes me think on how you, you do that. I mean, already, like the, the big change of recording virtually remotely, you're on the East coast among the West coast.
Um, when I go to conference and I'm doing things, There, sometimes, you know, we just put up a camera and took up a label, Smikes. We were in London not too long ago. If you go on the website, you can see it. And me and my co founder, Sean, we just choose the big band as a background. And we just talk about what happened during the day, or we do an interview outside, it's completely different.
And I'm thinking. I agree with what you said, especially when you're walking, I think you get more open. So tell me about, um, yeah, the kind of guest that, that you bring on the show. I mean, the kind of conversation that you have, but you go all over the places. So you have a theme and if that's the case, why?
[00:11:02] Darren Mass: So I look for guests that are people that I would say are successful, whether or not it's life success or business success. That's up for the audience to determine. I want to be surrounded by positivity, right? And no, I'm not foo foo and kooky. I'm just saying that, you know, this was my therapy. So I wanted to be uplifted myself.
I wanted. inspiration from others that have been there and done that. So it's obviously a business inspired adventure, which makes it kind of a challenge. So I have to look at people in the business world. Were they entrepreneurs? Did they have some great success with a product or a service team? Do they have this great career at a big company, a small company?
Where can I learn from you and where can the audience learn as well? Where's that challenging story of, you know, when you were growing up, you had to overcome something and then you rose to the top against all odds. That's what I'm looking for. It's hard to find that in everybody, but I really believe we all have some challenge that we had to overcome.
That led to success. And if we have a great conversation, we're going to pull it out of you. Uh, we've had guests that are in rock and roll. Uh, for instance, Chad Taylor was the founding member and former lead guitarist for the band live. Lightning crashes for those that are not in a generation that knows, although you should.
Um, last week's episode was the head of global security for TikTok, Kim Alvarela. She gave a great interview. Um, this Tuesday is the general counsel for NJ Transit, which is our metropolitan transit line in New Jersey. Uh, he was also a former town prosecutor and a mayor. I had the mayor of my town on. And the list keeps going.
We have future episodes with other rock and roll hall of famers and then other influential individuals. So, you know, it's the fact that we're tying business and life together has been something that I know I've been in search of for my entire career. And that's the fact that we all work the 60 hours plus, had no time for life and realized that, yay, I got paid.
I made money. Well, why am I so miserable? And it's because that balance didn't exist. So I also want to find guests that find that balance, whether or not they found it just now where they found it along the trail of life. I want to hear that, and hopefully we can inspire others to think the same way, or motivate themselves.
[00:13:41] Marco Ciappelli: Yep. Uh, so, I mean, you already gave up quite a bit about yourself, and, you know, the struggle after you sold the business, and, and, uh, and I love this angle of connecting life with loving what you do. Uh, you know, I, I'm going to sound predictable, but as they say, if you, if you, if you do what you love, you don't work a day in your life now, yeah, in an ideal world, but you know, a balance of the two, I think, um, it's, it's, it's where the truth, uh, The truth lies.
And so, uh, the approach is great, but because now my show is becoming a little bit more inquisitive about storytellers, I want to go there. So you told me about the story, how you tell them you're your guest. Tell me how this experience has changed you. I mean, do you think you've been maturing as well? Do you think like, I'm curious, like you say, you lose the guest and make it loosen in the answers and how does it work with you?
Do you have like preset questions or you're going freestyle as well? So what, what is it doing to you? Is it good? I think so, but I want to hear it.
[00:14:57] Darren Mass: So from the physical, I can now hike and have a full on conversation without breaking a sweat or getting out of breath. So I did notice I'm one of the last ones we were deep in conversation and I.
I wasn't struggling through it. So physically it's like any other activity after a while, you just get used to it. Um, my hiking skills, skill points have improved. Um, you know, I went on a hike, uh, I usually go between two and four times a week now, uh, so we can make sure that winter time we have enough guests to, to get through the winter.
Um, but I noticed my technique, uh, instead of going straight down a, a declining path, I was taking a zigzag. Now I had no thought behind that until I put thought to it. And the person I was with was asking why I keep zigzagging back and forth because. The best way to go down a hill is in straight lines where you're not falling down the hill.
So, uh, so yeah, physically my skills have, have increased. Mentally though, you said it before I am living in a passion, right? There's, there's no big revenue stream coming from this, right? The business minded entrepreneur and myself, I know this is a very bad business model. The ROI is not there, but the bank of just great feelings and inspirational stories and motivation, the happiness that I've been able to achieve from being outdoors, from being in that environment, from having great conversations with guests, mostly people I don't know, um, pair that with the physical.
I'm personally in a much wealthier place than I ever was in that sense. Right? The passion bank. I, I, you mentioned before, I'm a business therapist. I help small and medium business clients, entrepreneurs, business owners, partnerships, kind of navigate their own path, get out of the thumb that's holding them down.
And I've listened to my own advice more often than not. This is one of the pieces of advice I listened to. If you follow a passion, if you really love what you do, you're not working a day in your life. But, revenue follows passion. Will I turn I took a hike into a business with real revenue? Perhaps. If I continue doing something I love, maybe I can marry the two.
Right? The hobby and the passion with a business model, right? That's what this whole thing has done for me is it's opened up and expanded my, in a way, altruism to help others, including myself, as far as where my mental health has gotten. Now, I'm a very open book. I always have been. Pride myself on not lying so I don't have to remember lies.
Sure, I've embellished things like everybody. Right? I have, I have perhaps misremembered stories. I say perhaps, because I have. Right? We all, oh yeah, I heard this story, and it's totally wrong. But, I will say, on the show especially, I'm very open. I suffered from ADHD my whole life. Uh, disruptive in class, class clown, all of that.
I'm very open with it, because there are limitations for the many that do have ADHD. And how they can be held back, but there are also these superpowers that have been dubbed throughout the years by having ADHD. If you really truly can harness it, you can use that to your advantage. The majority of CEOs of business leaders.
Have ADD, ADHD. So why is that? Right? You're being held back. You're being told that you're the disruptive kid. You are. It builds a lack of trust and authority which gives you a little push to want to do things on your own without authority in your way. Where it can also help you is you can task switch a lot quicker.
I can lose interest in something like that and then hyper focus in something else. Whereas the non ADD, non ADHD brain, the normal brain, doesn't want to do that so fast. It wants to finish a task, then move on. Right? So again, this for me has been a very thrilling adventure. And then for our guests, every single guest has finished their hike and thanked me for taking them out in something that was a little uncomfortable at first.
Pushing them through it, guiding them. And then they walked away feeling like they had a therapy session. The honesty effect plus the physical and the mental.
[00:19:39] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. I love it. I'm thinking other occasions and show where you, they create this. I'm thinking like you mentioned a few rockstar. Um, I don't remember the name, but, uh, the one that they go in the car and they singing in the car or something.
Then this is Corbin. Uh, no.
[00:19:59] Darren Mass: James Corbin. Yeah. He. He does karaoke in cars and then, uh, you have, uh, coffee in the parking area. He's good.
[00:20:06] Marco Ciappelli: He puts people in a, you know, in a spot like, you know, I've seen like Metallica sing some Letty Gaga songs or something like that. And they have fun. And I think it's because you put them out of their, yeah, it's hard when you go.
And, uh, in their, in their own environment, the CEO in their office or in their meeting rooms, and they're stuck, they are in that role. And, uh, I'm not saying it's not a good interview, but it's a completely different story. It's more business, it's less, uh, person, character, individual, and less open. So...
[00:20:43] Darren Mass: Well, what makes this interesting is, you're right, if I have the same exact...
episode with a CEO at a board table, the CEO has their suit. The suit is the role that they're playing for the day. But if I took that very same individual out on a hiking trail, the suit's no longer there. The real person is there. And the goal is to make you realize that sometimes your heroes, your mentors, they're just people struggling through a day.
Dealing with depression and anxiety and happiness and sadness and their kids and their parents and everything And then they put this suit on and they're a rock star the next day, right? We're all just people trying to make it. And then at the end, when we have to return that suit, no different than anyone else who's had to return a suit.
[00:21:41] Marco Ciappelli: You're definitely into something with this idea. I'm like, I'm really like going into the idea of different, I mean, we're talking about storytelling, but it's a spontaneous storytelling. You're not scripting. This conversation, you're not telling someone, okay, you show up dressed like this, or, you know, we're going to play this game, but at the same time, yeah, we, we all play different characters in the, in our, in our everyday life.
Either we realize it or not, when we're home with our family, when we are at work, when we are on a hike, when we go to, you know, rock on at the concert. So, you know, we, we are different, different people. And, uh, yeah, what, what, what's your take on that? I mean, you, you come from. Um, media, you said communication technology, um, you know, I come from branding.
I think branding and marketing all the time um How is it happening in your opinion now this merging between? Having to be someone when you you know, you gotta pretend you're in the The first 10 bro at the concert, or, you know, you have the, the pyramid of Giza in the back, or maybe you never went there, but you have to do something cool so you can post about it.
So it's a little bit more, you know, sociological approach, but I think we, we can talk about this because you are disclosing the true, let's say, persona of the people you talk to. How much are we fake? How much are we? The real self. If you want to go there. I mean, I love this philosophical conversation.
[00:23:18] Darren Mass: Yeah, open book. Well, I love philosophical questions and scenarios as well. That's why we're, why I take a hike with you, right? You know, I think a real good balance is 50 50, right? You always want to include some of your personality in everything you do. How much of your personality really depends on your role, right?
If you are a rock star, the real person, if you just want to sit on a couch and be lazy... Probably not going to make the best rock star. So you do have this persona of being that rock star on stage. Now how much you travel and how much you tour determines how much of that comes out. Right, so we all have to put our suit on and we all have to play a role.
You know, I'm doing it as well. When I'm hiking, I'm playing the role of a host. I'm listening intently, right? Well, what I tie into that conversation is the real person. So I would say I'm personally probably about 80, 90% the real me when I'm doing whatever I do in life. But if I had to go back to an office, well, that environment itself is going to alter.
How much of the real me you see. So for instance, if I'm working for a fortune 500 publicly traded company, probably can't hear some of the stuff I say in my personal life because it would be an HR violation or a concern. And that's the same for most people. You can't throw out that joke that you could throw around the dinner table with your family and everyone's laughing.
Ha ha ha ha. Right in the office. So you do have to still be guarded. I would say if you could try to find some balance of 50 50 of just being who you are. You know, sharing your opinions. If you disagree with somebody in the office, have a conversation about why you disagree and, and put in your personal values, you're going to be a much more balanced person.
And I think you'll build more respect that way.
[00:25:15] Marco Ciappelli: Good point. We need to, we need to balance the two things. Before we end, uh, this is more of a thing as a, as a podcaster. So I have tried different things. We have tried different things when we go on location and yeah, you go to Singapore to a conference, they're like, do I really want to travel with a big mixer and how am I gonna connect everyth?
So for me, like an iPhone that become my camera and great recording system, it's like, you know, a blessing from from the sky. Um, And I'm a home, my home office. I like, you know, this heavy microphone. So tell me about your, your tech that you're using as a, you know, podcaster to podcaster. Um, any discovery?
Did you start with something? Did you forget to push a play button once? And you were like, I lost that conversation.
[00:26:14] Darren Mass: Um, I don't know if you read some, so I post a lot on LinkedIn. Um, I started that again for therapy for myself. Uh, so I did post something, uh, about lessons that I've learned during podcasting.
[00:26:26] Marco Ciappelli: Oh, no, I didn't. So yeah, I just went there.
[00:26:29] Darren Mass: Yeah. Yeah. So, so I, you know, I had a client tell me that I should write a journal and I don't like to write journals. So I used LinkedIn as my journal. Um, so yeah, so the things that I've learned from podcasting. One, buy the best equipment that you can afford, because if you're going to be good at anything, you're going to upgrade.
So don't start a hobby unless you really want to make it into, you know, more than a hobby in this case. So I did start out buying some lesser expensive gear, and it wasn't quite cutting it. And, well, I couldn't return it, so now I've got that as my backup gear. So lesson one, you're going to do something, buy the best gear that money, that your money can afford because you will upgrade it.
Lesson two, do a ton of research and make sure that you know exactly how to utilize the equipment you have, how it works in certain environments. Test, test, test. And number three, don't forget to hit record. Yes. I went on a hike and I forgot to hit record. And after two hours we, uh, we high fived, Hey, we went on a hike.
Great job. Love the conversation. I looked down and the little red light was not on. My heart stopped.
[00:27:39] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, I feel you're okay.
[00:27:40] Darren Mass: I've been there number four in, in that ties back to number, uh, one and two having a good backup. So luckily the devices that I chose for my labs and the local recording, it works wirelessly.
It also locally records split channel for both myself and the guest, so we were able to save that. Whereas I wear another mic pack up here, um, a Zoom H five. And then that takes the wireless receiver and merges the two. It helps with less editing at the end. So I didn't hit record on the zoom. It's right when I got the zoom.
Yeah, those lessons, those are going to happen. Um, you know, as with anything audio related or new, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. And that's okay, because I can tell you, I've never forgotten to hit record again. It's now ingrained in the fabric of my being to check the red light, then turn the hold switch on.
So I can't do that. Right. I had a mishap the other day where I have to actually hike again with the gentleman. I gave him his local mic pack, the transit transmit. Uh, my pack and I told him to connect the lab into it and he didn't push it in all the way. And these little, they use a normal headphone jack, but if you don't push that all the way in a third click or a second click, yeah, I'm not getting any signal.
And unfortunately I didn't get signal from his, so we have to go re hike. I will never do that one again. In fact, I've taken three hikes since and each one I said, okay, give me your pack. I'm going to connect it. So, and then we do a mic test after that. So you will learn lessons. You will learn a lot and those are really good.
[00:29:19] Marco Ciappelli: And I think I wanted to go here because I feel like, I don't know, I'm going a little Marsha McLuhan here with the media is the message and support, but in our case, when you have experienced this thing and you're trying to, to find the. The technology, the suite, the suite to you the most, like it's what you in the price point, it's good for what you do.
Obviously, if you do outside as you do, it's completely different from being here in the studio and it become part of who you are. So kind of like the medium, it becomes part of the message and part of the character, I guess, even for the guest wearing. You know the pack wearing the receiver and it already maybe put them in a completely different mood as well.
So Um, it's really cool. I mean, I I hope that this keep Working for you. You turn it into a business sounds like you do have a quite of a business. Uh mentality I mean you already sold the company. So i'm sure that was something good in there And uh, yeah, this sounds that sounds like fun. So let's uh, i'm gonna give you the The mic, uh, for, you know, a, a call to action to come and listen to, to your show, if people are interested.
Again, here's not a paid conversation at all, but I, I'm a big supporter of, um, other people that do what I, what I do. I think that it's important what we do. Uh, we entertain people, we educate them. So I want them to listen to your show as well.
[00:31:02] Darren Mass: Thank you. So, uh, for all of your listeners, if you want to be inspired, motivated, and entertained by successful minded individuals and you want to hear their hiking tails along the trails, tune into, I took a hike on just about every podcast, uh, streaming service, Spotify, apple, Google, and all the other ones, or go to, I took ahi.com.
And if you're not tired of hearing me speak now, you can get another dose of that along the trail. All right.
[00:31:29] Marco Ciappelli: I, uh, I gave it a go and it's actually fun. And we didn't touch on the fact that when you're there, you listen to, you can hear that you're actually walking. It's not a special effect. We're not adding a bed of.
Uh, sound effect after that.
[00:31:44] Darren Mass: So that actually was, was part of a challenge is how do I pick up the ambience and the birds and all that? So making sure you had the right mics and the right labs and the right settings and the gain set properly. Um, it's still a little bit too low for my own. Liking, but there are some big birds out there that you'll hear it's constant trial and error.
You know, we wear the little furries on the lav just to make sure that there's no wind noise, but that does cut down probably about a DB or two. So we'll get it perfected over time.
[00:32:16] Marco Ciappelli: It's part of the discovery. We, we're not, uh, the, the, the BBC podcast production that you can play. The background sound every time you say something it's a it's it's complicated and we didn't talk about post production But i'm sure that three hours to one hour it got You got his own challenge.
[00:32:38] Darren Mass: So that was actually one more lesson is invest in a great editor because Editing can take an okay, anything, whatever your medium is, and just turn it into something great. And when I say an editor, I don't mean adding filler here or there. I mean, taking a boring piece of the content out now. You have to outsource to someone who's had their 10, 000 hours.
You don't need to learn that new skill unless it's a passion right there. But that is a very lengthy process. And, you know, for me, I'm close to these conversations. So there might be part of this conversation that if I listened back, I think that's gold. But someone else might not and might be bored with it.
So that comes out and that's the difference of an okay experience for a listener into an awesome experience, having a great edit.
[00:33:29] Marco Ciappelli: I agree, especially when you're recording two or three hours for sure. That will be a big headache. In this case, this is as good as it gets. People. So I hope you everybody enjoyed this conversation.
There are going to be many more. I hope you get to know the storyteller behind the stories that he tells. And again, I took a hike. I hope you guys go visit then come back here again. And because there'll be more episode, I'll just signal podcast. And of course, in the notes, there will be all the links to Darren social medias.
Thanks. A few that he uses and uh, and his website and uh, that's it Stay tuned more audio signals coming to you from itsp magazine really soon. Take care. Thank you. Darren That was a real pleasure.
[00:34:19] Darren Mass: Thank you