Buckle up.

This is long but I had to do it.

Bonjour.

my new headshot

Four years ago today I hit send on a press release announcing the news of Tink Media, my company that at the time, was a place that booked authors on podcasts to talk about their books. Getting authors on podcasts was something I did when I worked in book publishing. I wasn’t on the PR team but the people who were would ask me for help, because they knew I was obsessed with podcasts. (I had a podcast called PodcastPodcast and a newsletter that I wrote purely to get my family and friends to listen to podcasts, Podcast the Newsletter.) 

I had been fired from my job exactly one month before. At the time, I had a foot injury that had me limping (this was an ongoing pain that nobody could diagnose, and I was at the point where I thought, I guess I just limp everywhere now. The pain stopped shortly after I was fired so I’m assuming it was stress related.) I also had a broken arm that I refused to get checked by the doctor. I had broken it because I fell limping on the way to work. I am pretty sure it was broken because it was black and I could not move it.

I left my office that day with my head down, carrying everything I owned in one arm (my other arm was…black) and went home. Later that day I was in shock, limping around the East Village in Victoria’s Secret pajama pants and a Mickey Mouse t shirt, arm hanging at my side. I live near a homeless shelter and someone came over to me and asked if I needed a place to sleep. I said thank you but no and hoped I had hit rock bottom.

I played Nintendo for one week straight and then put down my controller (forever, I haven’t played since) and opened up my computer and started Tink. For a reason I won’t get into right now, there were a bunch of people staying at my house working on a cannabis business and I remember that the shades were drawn and there was weed smoke hanging thick in the room, five people I didn’t know sitting on my couch. One of them helped me set up a Tink email account. I called my mentor Nicole Dewey (I was high) and asked her if Tink was a stupid idea. She said no. I almost called the company Grandma Joyce, after my Grandma Joyce, because I didn’t think it would last. I went with Tink because of this and because I love Tinker Bell, who is both bitchy and magical. (So is Grandma Joyce.)

I kept trying to get a full time job, I still thought Tink was fake. But I couldn’t get one. Even a really bad one. Well I did get one, Door Dash accepted my online application and sent me a refrigerated bag in the mail for my deliveries. One day my husband got home and saw the bag and was like, “I don’t think it has to come to this.” (There’s nothing wrong with working for Door Dash, it’s just that I had been working in media for 15 years and was hoping for something in that field.) I didn’t even get the job at my local Japanese restaurant because I couldn’t speak Japanese, and when I applied for a job at a TBD restaurant opening on 2nd Avenue they said I wasn’t a good fit. (I’m a vegetarian and it ended up being a BBQ place, Mighty Quinns.) I spent my ample free time going to open mics in the East Village. 

Then I got my first client, an 80-year-old retired businessman who wrote a fiction book based on his life, it was about a magical car, I think? I worked hard but booked him on maybe one thing but I appreciate him taking a chance on me. Thanks, Mitch.

One woman was hitting on my husband at the gym, he told her about me, and she ended up hiring me. That was a huge deal and got the ball rolling. I started not having time for open mics. I didn’t have time to go to job interviews. The Tink work started to pile up.  

One day I got a huge project and knew I couldn’t do it alone. I had met Arielle Nissenblatt for five seconds at Podcast Movement Evolutions before the pandemic. She had sparkled and hugged me and in the brief time I was with her she introduced me to 10 other people. I called her and said, “I know you don’t know me very well, but I have this big project and I think you’re the only one who can help me do it.” We've been working together on projects and speaking gigs ever since. 

I want to thank everyone who got me here, gave me a chance, listened to me, partnered with me, shared my newsletter, passed Tink along to a friend who needed some podcast help. The company has evolved in so many ways (I now work with almost all podcasters but still a few author clients) and it evolves every time someone calls me. Usually they say, “I have this problem. Can you help?” And I’ll figure out a way to help, even if that means inventing something. It’s fun. 

We have done a lot of cool things but instead of focusing on that, I want to focus on the people who made it all happen. I am grateful for them:

Anne Baird, the second person I hired. I knew they were good (they founded Hug House) and asked if I could set up a call with them to talk about the job. “I can’t,” they said. “I’m in Disney World with my mom.” “Say no more,” I said. “You’re hired.” Anne is bright, both because of their sparkling personality and sense of humor, and because they are so smart it scares me. Anne puts me and the whole team to task, organizes my messes, makes me feel calm, and reminds me to stand up for myself. I love talking to them because they always have the best stories. They love numbers and data more than anyone I know. Everyone feels better with Anne around because they’re holding us all in a warm but stern hug, making sure things don’t slip through the cracks. Their heart is in the best place, the kind of place that makes you remember there are really good people in the world. They post horse and dog pics in the Slack channel, will talk to me about Disney World for hours, and they always have the perfect comeback when someone is spouting off nonsense. 

I hired Devin Andrade next because she randomly tweeted that she “wished someone would hire her to write about podcasts, lol.” I didn’t know her but I DMed her and hired her on the spot. It was the single best decision I made for Tink. Not only does Devin loves audio more than anyone (sign up for her newsletter here,) she is an internet genius (she is behind all of Tink’s funny memes) and talented designer, and thinks so clearly about everything. It’s like she’s looking down at the industry from the sky, able to see how it all fits together. She is so good it often freaks me out. She thinks of things before I think them, she has things done before I know they need to be done. She is always fifteen steps ahead of me and will say the thing I said before I said it. It just takes me a little longer to register her genius sometimes. I am so much louder than her, I’m trying to learn how to shut the fuck up so I can learn from her. She is positive, chill, and kind. Everyone on Tink says, “I want to be like Devin someday.” Same. Same. Same. Clients tell me she is the best on an everyday basis and I always agree and then threaten to kill them if they try to steal her from me. Devin is empathetic, kind, calm, and under control. Seeing her face on Zoom is enough to turn down my anxiety, she’s stronger than my Lexapro. Nothing gets past her.

I found Aakshi Sinha through Arielle and have never met someone with so much heart. If you’re a client reading this, please know: she cares about you too much. Her work is a labor of love. She thinks so carefully about all of our shows and she is tireless in making her ideas (which are brilliant) come to fruition. She has the best questions. (She’s always like “um Lauren, I have a question.” And then asks something I absolutely need to explain.) She is a helper. She will drop everything to join someone on a project, perfectly explain something, offer ideas, or make something less of a mess. She’s a team player. She was living in New York City for awhile so I got to hang out with her and hug her a lot. She instantly became mayor of the city, doing absolutely everything she could do, attending podcast events, dipping into bars and making friends and a huge mark on this place. (It really misses her, and so do I.) I can’t imagine anyone saying a single negative thing about Aakshi. She is love embodied and has the voice of an angel. She serenaded the Tink team once with a ukulele, it was a song she wrote. We all cried. When I said goodbye to Aakshi (she was moving back to India) I was randomly interviewing the Prest sisters. She met me in their hotel room and gave me a gift and a letter and I lost my shit, babbling like a baby, never wanting to let her go. The funny thing is, my recording device was saving this whole thing so I have on tape our tear-filled goodbye, with the Prest sisters in the background saying, “go ahead and cry! Let’s all cry! Let’s hug!” It was so The Heart. 

Holly Brown was working with my podcast bestie Courtney Kocak when I picked her up. Courtney said she was hard working and she wasn’t kidding. Holly picked everything up instantly and never leaves a thing unchecked. She’s a talented designer and is absolutely hilarious (literally…she’s a stand-up comedian in LA.) When I talk to her I feel like she’s my boss. She’s so together. She comes to our one-on-ones with the perfect questions and I never have to tell her anything twice. She reminds me of someone who worked with my dad, also named Holly. I’m always telling my dad that my Holly is the best Holly, but his is pretty good too. Both Hollys are sharp, funny, no bull, and completely trustworthy. Holly is a good storyteller and always has the perfect thing to say. When life throws her something hard she is unflappable. She makes my life easy and good. Better than good. I can’t wait to dance at her wedding in October. 

I was in awe of Shreya Sharma for years. I connected with her by tricking her to be in my newsletter and we stayed friends. One day she told me she had been reading Amanda Palmer’s book The Art of Asking, which had inspired her to start asking for things. She said she wanted to work with me. I almost passed out. The Shreya wants to work with ME? One of Shreya’s first jobs was leading (with Devin) a campaign for Whetstone, a complicated project that included launching an entire network full of shows. I hardly had to explain anything to her, she just got it. Shreya makes me giggle and feel loved. She loves fantasy because she is living in one in the best way. She exists in this goddess-like realm where things come together magically. (She’s also smart as hell…she studied engineering.) Her writing makes me weak in the knees (she writes a newsletter you probably love, this one, as well as Audio Currents and Shreya’s Audio Affairs.) We always text each other at the same time and I learn something new and beautiful about her every time I talk to her. (She’s always down to talk to me about Disney. She’s the kind of magic I associate with Disney.) She’s thorough and funny and peaceful and calms me down and makes me feel like everything is not just okay, it’s great. I love when she Slacks or texts me, “Can I tell you something?” I know it’s going to be good. I just got to meet her for the first time IRL and I have never been so excited to meet someone in my entire life. I love how Shreya says “Sweet.”

I started talking to Fay Mickens when she was at another job. I don’t know why, we were both doing podcast marketing and we liked each other. It was a regular meeting in my calendar I always looked forward to. I dreamed of having her work for Tink one day. The conversations started short, about work only. But then we ended up talking about everything. Fay is one of the coolest and smartest people I have ever met. I get really excited when someone else gets to witness how smart she is (they always tell me…clients have actually texted me to let me know how sharp she is…I’m like duh) and she does so many cool things that I’m always embarrassing her (I think) by bragging about her to everyone. She’s a djay (she’s organizing this event now…if you’re in the NYC area you should go) and the US Consulate sent her to Africa for a month to teach young girls how to djay. It was a program called Rhyme Like a Girl. The best thing about Fay is that she’s the biggest connector. She brings people together. She knows everyone because anyone who has ever come into contact with her wants to be in her orbit, so her orbit is big and beautiful. She is the center of it. I am lucky to be able to call her a friend. Now our weekly one-on-ones are 99% nothing to do with work or podcasts and then with one minute remaining I always say, “shit! Should we talk about work?” Fay always gets it done. I have gotten to dance to her djay sets and hug her and every time I see her on Zoom (especially if she is drinking from her enormous Black Santa mug…it’s ENORMOUS) my face brightens up and I feel this explosion of warmth and gratitude. 

Andreea Coscai is the newest Tink member but it feels like she has been here forever. She came in with the confidence I didn’t have at her age, and she should have it. She’s smart and picked up all the weird things we do at Tink super fast. She is an initiator. She thinks of things we should be doing and then does them on her own. She reaches out to people and sends me opportunities Tink should pounce on and every second she is at Tink, she is making it bigger and shine more brightly. In every conversation I’ve ever had with her, she has spouted off so many good ideas. She’s professional but is also the kind of person you can talk to forever. She sees goodness and potential in everyone. Everyone on our team, everyone we work with. She’s optimistic and in my moments of pessimism I think of her and grab some of her optimism and feel better about the world. She’s one of the least judgmental people I know. She sees beauty everywhere and is beautiful. She is always kind and helpful to everyone and will fly with any assignment I give her. She finds ways to expand Tink in ways I couldn’t imagine. 

Then there is Arielle Nissenblatt (Earbuds Podcast Collective,) my heart. She truly cares about everyone and wants the best for everyone in podcasting. Even when I’m feeling a little bitchy or pessimistic, she puts me back on track. When I want to send a nasty note, I send it to her first and she fixes it for me. I don’t have a sister, Arielle is the closest thing I have. (I think my parents love her more than me.) Our brains are often in the same place…which isn’t always good (we are both allergic to any form of organization) but it sure is fun. If I see something funny, I know she will think it’s funny too. I can text her the most vague things and she will know exactly what I’m talking about. When I hear her talking about the podcast industry I shake in my boots, I’m so impressed. I’m impressed with her ability to go from silly to professional in a split second then back to silly. And she is so silly. When I’m with her I feel like I’m with my best friend playing on the playground. I’m a kind of private person but when I’m with her I can be myself and so I just always want to be with her. I’m a really hard worker but met my match with this woman. I have been able to more than double everything I am because of her. She never says we can’t do something and always pushes me to be better than I thought I could be. She knows everyone and is open to introducing, she doesn’t gate keep. When we go to our favorite restaurant in New York (I totally know her order and she knows mine) we find ten new friends and end the night doing shots with the staff. I know Arielle is a magical person and she makes everyone feel special. But I do really feel extra special that I get to talk to her every day and call her my friend. Oh. She has the best laugh. Sometimes in Zoom calls when she laughs, I have to interrupt and draw everyone’s attention to it. That laugh makes me happy to be alive. I was right to call her that day three years ago, I’m glad I did. I’m glad she said yes. I think someone is watching out for me. 

Final thanks to Justin, who has believed in me and encouraged me and let me be big and weird and loud and just so Lauren Passell. He is my soft place to fall on. Thanks to my parents, Cookie and Dad, who have helped me through every step. Dad always wanted me to have my own company. He loaned me money to get me started, money I didn’t end up needing because Tink worked. I call him often to get his advice, I always trust it. He will talk to me for three hours straight about my problems. Everything I learned about business or working hard I learned from him. Everything I learned about making things fun I learned from Cookie. And I think that’s what Tink is…hard working and fun. So if you like Tink, thank them. Thanks to others…Nicole Dewey who told me this was a good idea and hired me to work for her PR company so I could learn the PR biz, Jason Feifer for always supporting me, Kimi Culp for giving me chances and being wonderful to work with, Rebecca Lehrer and Amy Choi (I sent them a pitch letter years ago and they said they couldn’t work with my client but would call me someday…and they did, years later, for a wonderful project and they have hired me/believed in me several times since) and so many more. If you have hired me, responded to one of my emails, read my work, given me a podcast recommendation, if you are still reading this, thank you. Tink couldn’t be Tink without you. 

xoxo lp

working with Monty the intern