From 33 Years On Air to Building a Business From Zero
Jay-Jay Feeney · Co-founder, PodLab
About this episode
Jay-Jay Feeney joins Roi to look back on 33 years in radio, from faxing businesses out of the phone book as a teenager in New Plymouth to stunts like marrying strangers on air, years before Married at First Sight, and a Wrecking Ball parody video that won an award and passed a couple of million views.
She explains why she left radio at breaking point in 2024, how a building that came up for lease a week later became PodLab, and what hiring her first employee actually felt like.
It is also a practical guide to podcasting: why a podcast lets you tell the whole story instead of a soundbite, why so many shows stop early, how she planned about 20 episodes before launching her own, and why the quality of your audience matters more than its size.
Key takeaways
- If you're scared of change, do it anyway. Leaving opens you up to opportunities you can't see while you stay.
- To get people talking about you, make them feel something. Surprise them, polarise them or move them.
- Plan before you launch. Jay-Jay mapped out about 20 episodes, a release schedule and the marketing before her podcast went live.
- Keep a few episodes in the bank so a cancelled guest or a sick week doesn't stop the show.
- A podcast's success is in the quality of the audience, not the numbers. One listener who becomes a customer makes an episode worthwhile.
- Clips remind people the podcast exists, but few go straight from a clip to the full episode, so it is a long game.
- Don't argue with trolls. Block them and keep going.
Who is Jay-Jay Feeney?
Jay-Jay Feeney is a New Zealand broadcaster turned business owner and the co-founder of PodLab, an Auckland podcast studio. She started helping out at a New Plymouth radio station at 15, hosted her first overnight show on her 17th birthday, and spent 33 years on air, from 1991 to 2024, including years on The Edge. A week after she resigned from radio, the building that became PodLab came up for lease, and she started the studio with fellow broadcaster Dom Harvey. She also co-hosts the podcast How To Have Sex.
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Questions
Who is Jay-Jay Feeney?
Jay-Jay Feeney is a New Zealand broadcaster who spent 33 years on air, from 1991 to 2024, and is now the co-founder of the Auckland podcast studio PodLab.
What is this episode of The Morning Marketer about?
Jay-Jay shares what 3 decades of radio taught her about getting attention, why she left, how PodLab started, and her advice for anyone starting or growing a podcast.
What is PodLab?
PodLab is an Auckland studio co-founded by Jay-Jay Feeney and Dom Harvey, where people record podcasts, webinars and social content.
