When Atlanta-based podcaster Jennifer Lind heard about a new Spotify initiative to open free studio spaces in communities across the country, she knew Atlanta would be the best place for it. So, via social media, she persistently suggested that the city should be the company’s next stop for the program.
“Atlanta has a thriving podcast community, especially for Black podcasters,” said Lind, the host of “Telling Herstory” podcast. “There are a lot of big name podcasts here and there have been a couple of festivals that have been here as well. I believe it was 2022 when I went to the Blk Pod Festival, which was here in Atlanta. I volunteered, but ended up making friends with other volunteers and we meet monthly now and chat and talk to each other.”
“Telling Herstory” is a podcast Lind started in 2020 to honor the legacy of her late grandmother, Rosa T. Beard. Beard was a longtime educator who created the Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club in 1963 to mentor Black girls in Augusta. She died in 2010. Promoting more stories like Beard’s laid the foundation for Spotify to team with Nourish Botanica, a Black-owned plant shop in south Atlanta, to open its third free studio for the community.
The new studio is a part of Spotify’s Making Space initiative, which brings professional podcasting equipment to local business for free to make podcasting more accessible for underrepresented communities. In October, the first studio launched in Greenville, South Carolina, at a queer-owned plant shop, Savereign. Spotify brought its second Making Space location to Curia on the Drag, a coffee shop in Gainesville, Florida, that regularly supports the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier this year, Spotify partnered with Spelman College to launch a new audio curriculum and scholarship for students interested in podcasting
“After interviewing podcast creators around the world, we learned that having access to equipment and a space to record was a common theme,” Anna Sian, director of marketing for Spotify for Podcasters, said in a statement. “So we decided to build local podcast studios in inclusive small businesses to inspire more people to get behind the mic. For aspiring creators looking for a sign to start their show, Making Space is it. For existing creators, Making Space is an opportunity to collaborate and connect with other local creators.”
Local podcast creators can start booking appointments to record at Nourish Botanica’s studio starting tomorrow. The space is open to anyone in the community.
Quianah Upton, owner of Nourish Botanica, said the new studio aligns with original purpose for her business. The greenhouse and cafe officially opened last year, but Upton conceived the idea in 2013 to center conversations and events that addressed food insecurity.
Credit: Courtesy of Spotify
Credit: Courtesy of Spotify
“One of the things that is important to us is to provide a space for storytelling, and that’s something that’s always been really important since we, before we did the plant shop,” Upton said. “Before all of that, the original programming was around food justice and food access through dinner parties. We would have these storytelling dinner parties all around Atlanta at mostly art galleries, highlighting different food access organizations, so we provided these spaces over food to gather together and listen to their stories.”
The studio is housed in Nourish Botanica’s cafe side of the building. Upton said she hopes the space will allow more people in the neighborhood to be creative, especially given the community’s historical significance. Nourish Botanica is located in Joyland, a small historically Black area. It’s named after a former theme park that was created for Black residents in 1921.
“I’m looking forward to seeing this, our corner of the city, get a little bit more active and more joyful and more, you know, just lively again. ... I’ve kind of found my joy and my passion in creating space, so that’s what I want to continue to do is create that space, to have that space for people to find their own healing and tell their own stories.”
For Lind, who started her podcast in her bedroom closet with her cellphone, she hopes the space will help encourage others to create their own podcasts. Lind launched her podcast while using free resources from Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor), a hub where podcasters can upload and manage episodes. In 2021, “Telling Herstory” won best Black history podcast from the Black Podcasting Awards.
“Even though Atlanta has a thriving podcast community, I do feel like there are still individuals who are intimidated to step into the podcasting space largely because of the lack of resources,” Lind said. “They think ‘I have to go get this expensive mic’ or ‘I need the best equipment,’ so to have a free podcasting studio in our community is I think a huge win.”
The studio will be open on Thursday and Friday from 12-6 p.m. Starting tomorrow, appointments can be booked via Nourish Botanica’s website nourishbotanica.cafe.
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