Today we’d like to introduce you to Russell & Doris McMurry.
Hi Russell & Doris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Food has always been what brought us together from when we first started dating to when we got married all the way up to now. We travel to find new food, try as much food around the city as we can, go to festivals all in search of new food or dishes to experience. Through all that time, our friends and family always encouraged us to talk about doing a podcast just to talk about food, and after many years of hearing it we finally decided to listen to them! What began as a way for the two of us to share our passion and shared love of food with others has now allowed us to not only share those stories but share the stories and passions of those involved within the restaurant and hospitality industry in Cincinnati.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has by and large been smooth in the sense of obvious challenges. Creating content has been made accessible with the ubiquity of online meeting services, the wide array of video and audio editing software on the market, and the relative ease of getting good quality audio recording equipment. Perhaps the biggest challenge though is managing our daily lives and jobs while juggling the responsibilities of creating regular content! Nothing is done quickly, whether that be performing research on anything we may not know for episodes, drafting topics for podcast episodes, recording the episodes, as well as then editing down recordings, and ensuring the final product is something in which we can take pride!
When it comes to actually recording and creating episodes it’s important as well to find a balance in talking about new topics and presenting stories in a way that provides value and new insight to listeners. By nature, podcasts tend to be extremely niche, and we have to keep that in mind when we look for stories and topics to bring into an episode. Our lives are made a little easier as we’ve been fortunate to have the support of the restaurant and hospitality community around Cincinnati. Many have been willing to make time to talk to us and share their stories as well as help us continue to network and bring more content to the listeners!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The two of us follow very different types of careers! Doris is a teacher for middle and high school, which can mean early mornings and long nights, which certainly challenges us to not look at the podcast as too time-consuming. On the other hand, Russell works within the manufacturing side of the spirits industry as an auditor, which sees even earlier mornings, though lucky for him not as late nights! We both love what we do, whether that be helping expand and challenge young minds for Doris or learning every part of a process and finding ways to manage risks and improve processes for Russell every day is a labor of love both professionally and personally.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
For us, it was hard to see restaurants that we loved and would frequent go out of business due to lack of business and changes in how people would dine out during the pandemic. Some restaurants were ones that we never thought would go away and what they provided to the community in terms of culinary offerings still haven’t been replicated now that the area has returned to a sense of normalcy. It reminded us to treasure those times and opportunities in such a challenging field in which restaurants exist, where a next chance to visit isn’t guaranteed.
In a way as well, the pandemic was a big time of growth for podcasts. In sitting at home for months on end and being disconnected from so many of our friends and family to hear other voices and stories and thoughts on a regular basis helped maintain some sense of connection for the both of us. Now as much as we listen to music, listening to podcasts and to other people’s voices feels just as important. Maybe someday (it could even be today!) our voices will help anchor people feeling disconnected from others in their own times of struggle and challenge.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/cincyfoodcast?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=ac495d8f-a056-415e-924a-75beeba7fea8
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cincyfoodcast/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/CincyFoodcast/100090161140442/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cincyfoodcast?s=21&t=SYuIyAiQgBh3V_-NJ1wS3w
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CincyFoodcast
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1670012869?app=podcast&at=1000lHKX&ct=linktree_http&itscg=30200&itsct=lt_p&ls=1&mt=2
