Inside Our Caribbean Podcast Experiment — Chaos Ensued

Hi, I’m Latoya — founder of JOS Productions and the creator behind Caribbean Chronicles by JOS! If you’re new here, welcome. You can catch up on our previous articles on Linkedln to see what we’ve built and why it matters. 

The next step we thought, given the current digital world was to launch a podcast to mirror our newsletter. And launching this podcast has already opened my eyes to something I’ve felt for years:

The Caribbean has brilliance, talent, and influence — yet we’re still underrepresented in global media.  

Why?

Why are our voices still pigeonholed? Why are our stories still treated like niche content instead of cultural capital?

This podcast is part of my attempt to answer that.

The Experiment

I asked myself a simple question:

What would a Caribbean‑style podcast look like?

Sure there are countless of podcast with equally the same amount of platforms to feature them on but I was looking for something that showcased the entire region, not just specific to one or two islands because that is not who we are.

I wanted the podcast however to not be the typical hour‑long interview format.

Not the overly polished, overly scripted, overly Westernized approach.

Something quick.

Something witty.

Something that hits like a good Caribbean proverb — short, sharp, and unforgettable.

So why not put a voice to it — literally?

The team agreed.

And just like that, the experiment began.

The Research Phase (aka: YouTube University)

I challenged the team:

Let’s build this with little to no money.  

If we can do it, anyone can.

YouTube became our unofficial sponsor (@YouTube, if you’re reading this… call me). And honestly? Watching a 30‑minute tutorial is faster than reading 10 articles. Attention spans are short — but creativity isn’t.

We studied:

And we asked the big questions:

Who speaks for us?

How do we make this engaging?

How do we keep it culturally authentic?

Lesson 0: Podcasting Is Not Social Media — Nothing Happens Instantly

One thing nobody tells you when you start a podcast?

It’s not like social media. Nothing is instant.

You don’t hit “post” and see it go live.

You upload… and then you wait.

Platforms process. Distribute. Approve. Sync.

Sometimes it takes hours. Sometimes longer.

And as someone used to the instant gratification of digital publishing, this was a shock.

It made me realize how different the podcast world is from the content world we’re used to — slower, more technical, and definitely not built for people who like things “now.”

But maybe that’s the beauty of it.

Podcasting forces patience.

It forces intention.

It forces you to slow down and trust the process — even when you’re ready to sprint.

What We’ve Built Thus Far

Three key decisions shaped Week 1:

1. Format

Short‑form episodes (10 minutes max).

Caribbean storytelling doesn’t need an hour to make impact — we get to the point fast.

2. Voice

We’re testing AI voices to keep the podcast faceless and focused on content.

This may evolve as engagement grows.

3. Content Source

I wanted conversational audio — with twists, additions, and cultural seasoning.

We also chose @Wondercraft for Podcasters as our first hosting platform because it’s simple and cost‑effective.

What We Learned (Already)

Lesson 1: Podcasting has more moving parts than expected.

Editing, hosting, artwork, distribution — each one is a decision point.

Lesson 2: The biggest barrier isn’t technical — it’s psychological.

I kept asking, “Is our content good enough for audio?”

I replayed them so many times looking for something, which I realized was just my psyche.

Then I remembered: we’ve been writing for months on Linkedln.

If it’s good enough to read, it’s good enough to hear.

Lesson 3: There are too many tools.

Apps for editing, clipping, mixing, distributing…

It’s system overload.

We tested free versions, watched tutorials, signed up everywhere — and quickly realized how easy it is to fall again into analysis paralysis.

The Challenge

Balancing quality with speed.

Do we perfect one episode for a month?

Or ship imperfect episodes weekly?

We’re choosing momentum over perfection.

What’s Next (Week 2)

Lesson 4: AI Voices Don’t Include the Caribbean — At All

One of the biggest annoyance in our research?

AI podcast voices do not represent the Caribbean.

The AI voice options for Caribbean accents are… let’s say… atrocious.

Every platform we tested had maybe two or three “Caribbean” options — and none of them sounded remotely like us.

Not our dialects.

Not our accents.

Not our rhythm, tone, or cultural nuance.

It made it harder to get the message across because the voice didn’t match the story.

And it reminded me of something bigger:

Representation in tech still has a long way to go.

If someone ever builds a platform with authentic Caribbean AI voices — Jamaican, Trini, Bajan, Lucian, Guyanese, Haitian Creole, Patois, Kweyol, all of it — they’d be in a class by themselves. Just planting that seed.

This gap isn’t just a technical issue.

It’s a cultural one.

Oh, and i need my royalties!

Opportunities We’ve Already Spotted

We also need a smoother way to distribute episodes automatically — the manual process is not sustainable. And I get it every man for himself when it comes to profit.

Our goal:

First episode live by the 1st week in January. Not perfect. But real- DONE!

Second episode, live by the 2nd week, it took a scenic route but… DONE!

Listen out for this week’s, its a banger!

So If You’re Thinking About Starting Your Own Podcast…

You Don’t Need Money To Start — Just Momentum

You DON’T need:

You can start with zero dollars. Every tool we used had a free version. Most platform offered a trial. Every workflow can be built scrappy before it becomes polished.

You DO need:

Perfection kills momentum.

Start anyway. Scale when the vision grows — not before.

A Closing thought into Why Document This Journey?

If there’s one thing this process taught us, it’s this:

The Caribbean has always created magic out of limited resources.  

We’ve always built, innovated, and reimagined with whatever we had in our hands — and somehow, it always carried soul.

This podcast is no different.

We’re not just learning tools and platforms.

We’re not just testing voices and formats.

We’re reclaiming space.

We’re carving out a corner of the digital world where Caribbean stories aren’t an afterthought — they’re the headline.

And even in the moments of frustration, confusion, or “Lord, why this so hard?”, there’s something grounding about knowing that we’re building something bigger than a podcast.

We’re building representation.

We’re building visibility.

We’re building a blueprint for the next Caribbean creator who thinks they need money, connections, or perfection to start.

If this journey proves anything, it’s this:

You don’t need perfect conditions to create something meaningful. You just need the courage to begin.

And we’ve begun.

📬 Follow along as we build this podcast in public.  

💬 Thinking about starting your own? Drop your biggest hesitation — let’s figure it out together. Tell us what you want to hear from us next.

🎙️ Subscribe to Caribbean Chronicles by JOS on all major podcast platforms so you don’t miss it.

Until next time!