The No Surprises podcast was designed as a thought leadership and internal cultural showcase for Week of the Website. While not intended as a marketing tool, it highlighted how WOTW approaches projects and fosters creativity.
The audience included industry peers, potential clients, and other female founders curious about WOTW’s meteoric rise. Squarespace and other observers in the industry were paying attention to understand the cofounders’ philosophy and values.
The challenge: creating a podcast that was authentic, strategic, and operationally smooth while building internal brand cohesion.
The podcast needed to be:
A misstep in tone, structure, or execution could have misrepresented WOTW’s values or failed to clarify the brand’s direction.
I led production, editing, and content strategy. I also co-hosted episodes, wrote questions, created artwork, and handled recording via Riverside.
Episodes were recorded via Riverside, edited in Premiere Pro, and distributed on Buzzsprout. I created all episode artwork and developed a workflow that made the podcast repeatable while staying true to the brand’s values.
This work also helped clarify the upcoming brand refresh, shaping the way WOTW presents itself visually and philosophically.
While AI wasn’t part of this project, the workflow highlights opportunities where AI could streamline production or assist with content planning in future episodes.
While listener numbers were modest, the podcast successfully influenced internal culture and brand cohesion.
The project reinforced that humor, empathy, and heart are not weaknesses in professional environments. Podcasting revealed how storytelling shapes both internal culture and external brand perception.
Lessons learned:
Always plan for cofounder transitions in content featuring individuals
Storytelling can shape a brand as much as visuals or marketing campaigns
If you want help using storytelling, humor, and strategy to make your brand values
visible (internally or externally) I’d love to collaborate.
