From Kevin Hart to Bill Gates to Dave Portnoy, podcasts have found their way into all aspects of pop culture. It seems like everyone has a podcast in today’s day and age, including Loveland High School. Now a quarter of the way into its second year, Budding Business, is becoming the official podcast of Loveland.
Last year, Sean Kuhn and Alex Wolf, two class of 2022 LHS graduates, had the idea to create a podcast produced by Tigers Inc., the student-led nonprofit organization that runs out of Loveland High School. Tigers Inc. gives students the opportunity to manage their own investment portfolio, digitally market local businesses in Loveland, and attend charity/community events all around Loveland. One specific aspect of the community outreach side of Tigers Inc. is Budding Business. Kuhn and Wolf had the chance to speak with local artists, community and business leaders, music producers, and more. They kept up with the podcast throughout the entire school year, but both Kuhn and Wolf were seniors, so they graduated, leaving Budding Business behind without hosts. That gave way for Michael Dakoske (12) and Chase Gibson (11) to take their place.
This year, Dakoske and Gibson designed the podcast to highlight successful people and dig into those skills that allowed them to succeed in their given fields. Despite the name, Budding Business, they bring on people of all walks of life. So far, Dakoske and Gibson have gotten the opportunity to talk to Loveland High School’s new athletic director,, the owners of RP Diamond Printing and Embroidery, the President of the Little Miami River Chamber Alliance, a former Tigers Inc. member and a fellow current Tigers. Inc member, as well as two experienced police officers.
When Dakoske and Gibson started planning their podcast, they wanted a general goal for their podcast to be centered around. On one of the first days of school, Craig Murnan, the head of Tigers Inc., presented to the entire Tigers Inc. class about soft skills. Soft skills are the general, universal skills that facilitate success in all aspects of life. So, Gibson and Dakoske decided to pick guests who highlight these particular skills and succeed as a result. For example, their first episode with the new athletic director focuses on the ins and outs of leadership, their episode with the fellow Tigers Inc. member focuses on passion, and their episode with the owners of RP Diamond focuses on perseverance through adversity.
Not only are the podcasts informative, but they are also entertaining. For example, in their latest episode, Gibson and Dakoske talked to Mike Dressell, the captain of the Indian Hill Rangers. Towards the end of the podcast, Jake Steinkoenig, the new resource officer at LHS, joined in and talked about his past as a stand-up comedian and voice actor. Both Dressell and Steinkoenig ended up doing voice impressions for the rest of the episode.
Gibson and Dakoske intend to continue Budding Business for the rest of the school year. Stay tuned for their next episode, featuring John Kennedy, the owner of Vibe Fitness, and his roommate, Griffin Williams, who is also a basketball coach at Loveland. You will be able to find this episode, along with the ones already uploaded, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Give it a listen!