From Stage Lights to Sound Waves: Saying “Yes” (and Pressing Publish) on the Diamond Defense Podcast

Episode 1 is officially out in the world—alive, breathing, and already vibrating in a few earbuds. Find the episode here on muse + echo, where I’m gathering my creative projects under one roof and linking to all the places the show lives. You can also listen at Diamond Defense Podcast.

The podcast seed was planted at brunch. Lisa floated the idea right as I was buttering sourdough toast. Everything good happens when sourdough is involved. Add butter? You're golden! We landed on taking her short film that she produced, "Three Things," that focuses on awareness, confidence, and destination, and building a podcast people can carry with them. I felt that pre-show electric hum, except this stage is invisible and the audience shows up in sweatpants or ball gowns, dog-walking shoes or ballet slippers, or whatever they’re wearing while doomscrolling or planning global peace. The vision clicked: Lisa’s self-defense insight shared through storytelling—what I call strategy supported by sparkle.

I’ve spent a lifetime telling stories—as actor, director, playwright—but podcasting is a fresh script. I’m still learning mic technique, convincing waveforms to behave, and reminding myself an RSS feed is not a snack. In the last few months, I’ve voiced, written, edited, produced, and published two very different shows—this one with Lisa, and my language-and-art love child, A Gather of Gatherings—and I’ve learned an immense amount…with a ton more to go.

Also real: I work full-time and I’m caring for my mom. Imposter syndrome stops by with pillow hugs some mornings. Time occasionally wears tap shoes on my last nerve. But both podcasts keep teaching me to collect my storyteller instincts and practice the A-C-D facets in my actual life: Awareness of my limits, Confidence to try anyway, and a Destination plan for where the work is headed. In other words, I’m learning to be my own hero—one edit, one boundary, one breath at a time.

What you’ll hear on the Diamond Defense Podcast

• Story First. Each episode opens with a true, cinematic moment—streetlight jitters, unexpected bravery, or that heartbeat before a boundary is drawn.

• Insight Always. Then Lisa—owner of Diamond Defense in Sacramento, CA and my friend, collaborator, and favorite lead safety gem-cutter—translates adrenaline into action: stance, voice, options, and more.

• Collaboration Forever. Our theatre shorthand sneaks into everything: we do vocal warmups, we get nervous, we improv, we think of the audience, we tell a story, we celebrate when the final edit clicks. It’s equal parts craft and friendship—a love creation from both of us.

Publishing episode 1 felt like stepping into a well-lit stance: feet grounded, chin up, voice ready. There were (and will be) popped plosives, Wi-Fi mood swings, and the occasional rogue room level gone awry. But if even one listener pairs a story with Lisa’s training and walks across a dark parking lot feeling steadier, every late-night edit is worth it.

Curtain up—or rather, play pressed. Here’s to shining a little brighter, standing a little stronger, and telling stories that help us all move through the world with more awareness, more confidence, and a clear destination. Saying "yes," and pressing publish on the Diamond Defense Podcast feels awesome when you do it with a smart person who happens to be your friend.

Lisa Thew (left) and Me (right) during one of our production meetings.