Yamini Ranjan wants to spotlight the extraordinary in the everyday. Since moving to Wayland in 2016, she has been inspired by the accomplished women in her community and aims to share their stories on her “Women of Wayland” podcast.
“I wanted to show the world that these are next door women” who also can do amazing things, said Ranjan. She recalled she was inspired by her next door neighbor, who “had three boys and would do so much with them, but also had a Masters in Audiology.”
“Women of Wayland” is beginning its fifth season and resonated beyond anything Ranjan could have foreseen. Her first interview subject spoke about fostering a child from Ukraine during the holidays and Ranjan did not expect to get such a great response and said thoughtfully, “I think it struck a chord with a lot of women.”
With a marketing background, Ranjan initially planned to just market and organize the podcast but took on the role of host when the original had to back out. Initially, she would spot the stories and approach women she knew but now “I’m approached by women and do a pre-interview to assess if the story fits into my design, if as a host I can get the best out of the subject.” Pre-interviews are very important for an interview-style podcast – “I take them out for coffee and chat with them. Basically, I love meeting and getting to know people.”
When asked about her favorite episodes, it was difficult to choose but settled on Pam’s Run, a 5k run or walk to raise money for Neighbor Brigade, a non-profit to help families facing sudden crisis. “I interviewed a member of the board, that episode is still listened to whenever there is a Pam’s Run.” She goes on to say, “the stories are not just meant for our community, they’re meant for every community – we don’t need celebrities [on the podcast], we have so many beautiful stories here.”
Promotion, marketing and the inevitable expansion are some of the major challenges. “With multiple shows, promoting each of them takes time, and I’ve been asked by other towns to open similar podcasts nearby because they have fabulous women too, but I will never run out of stories here.”
About the future, the theme for Season Five is women in governance – “usually the design happens after you have collected a few different stories and a pattern emerges,” said Ranjan. However, it is different this time with her decision ahead of the season. When two local women were defeated in the elections back to back, she began to think about “how do we make running for office more accessible to women who are raising kids.”
Creating soundscapes is one of her specialties, “I want to transport the listener so mixing sounds and editing episodes creates a production value that is really high.” Growing her wings with the Allston Podcast garage workshops and educating herself beyond YouTube, even as she worked on the show, she said, “I used every single thing that I had learned along the way to go into the podcasting field.”
Her father, an engineer from India, built her recording studio and sound system in her house by himself – even the speakers. Ranjan Shukla’s fascination with technicality helped and she proudly labels herself an early adapter – ready to try out new technology as it comes out.
Through “Women of Wayland,” Ranjan is building a community, for herself and for others in Wayland. “I walk into a grocery store and know people who will wave – it’s a village – this town is a community and we can provide that safe space for each other.”
