O ver the last two and a half years, student-run podcast GC Bizcast has recorded three seasons of interviews with wide-ranging and elite business professionals.
 
For three of the podcast’s eight student hosts and producers, it’s been more than a side project—it’s changed who they are.
 
“As a college student, you think you don’t have much to say—but of course you do,” said Sruti Sajja, senior marketing major and co-host of the show. “Our professor was one of the first people that told us we have something important to say, and people should hear it. So, we started from that seed.”

That professor? Dr. Ward Risvold, lecturer of business communications at Georgia College & State University. Using his connections to the business world, Risvold has brought guests like London professor of finance Dr. Alex Edmans and Brooke Deterline, CEO of Courageous Leadership, to the podcast.

“Our students learn to network," Risvold said. "They learn to engage in conversations with corporate and academic leaders; but most importantly, they learn they belong in these conversations."
 
To help with editing, the podcast partners with Evelina Galova, media lab coordinator. Also a part of their collaboration with the Department of Communication, Jonathan O’Brien, ’22, a graduate of the department, helped each member on the team learn sophisticated recording equipment. 

But the work, from researching guests and developing questions to recording episodes and publicizing their podcast, is all students. 

Senior management major Maura Foreman and senior marketing major Charlotte Joiner are president and vice president, respectively. 

As president, Foreman does a little of everything. She’s always loved creating media and jumped at the chance to work with Risvold on the project. 

“It’s been something bigger than myself,” Foreman said. “And it’s been a really fun way to combine all the things that I love: creating, talking to people and putting things out for people to experience. To me, it’s been a full-circle moment with everything I love put into one project.

Joiner, on the other hand, has seen herself grow from the ground up. She works alongside Foreman to manage the duties of producing podcast episodes, especially providing direction and guidance to newer members.

“Finding confidence within myself was a big thing for me,” Joiner said. “I think my freshman and sophomore year, before the Bizcast, I was searching for that. It really made me feel like I belonged here.”

“I think it’s really easy to feel lost at a new school,” she said, “but I think the Bizcast has definitely created a tight-knit community. We all push each other and we’re all good friends.”

The Bizcast works every semester to release new episodes. Season three of their podcast is live now, and their newest episode that talks about the future of artificial intelligence with Promptmaster CEO David Taylor, has just been released.

You can find the GC Bizcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get podcasts. They’re also on YouTube.

“There’s something so human about sitting with someone else, and talking to them about their dreams, their goals and where they started,” Sajja said. “I think that’s really important for a college student to hear, just that it’s not as far off as it seems.”