Authority Magazine

Kanika Chadda-Gupta: 5 Things You Need to Know to Create a Fantastic Podcast

An Interview With Jason Hartman

Assemble a team so that you are not comprising on production quality. I am eternally grateful to my manager, publicity team, production assistant, podcast audio editor, video editor, graphic designer, web developer, web designer, and social media coordinator to keep this operation going.

Aspart of my series of interviews about “5 things you need to know to create a very successful podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kanika Chadda-Gupta.

Kanika Chadda-Gupta is a wife, mom of three [including twins], journalist, and entrepreneur. A creative thinker and born storyteller, she began her career as a CNN Anchor/Executive Producer and has made her mark in new media through her on-air interviews, marketing &branding, video production, and podcasting.

Parenting is tough, especially during an ongoing pandemic. That’s why Kanika has made it her mission to support parents and help them realize there’s no substitute for their superpower of intuition, “mom sense.” (and “dad sense.”)

She is the Founder/Host of the top-rated podcast, That’s Total Mom Sense, where she interviews industry experts on all things parenting. She has been featured on the Today Show, Good Day NY, Elle India, and India.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory”? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?

Sure! Let’s start from the beginning. I was born in Bombay, India and my parents immigrated to the US when I was two years old. Watching the news together was a daily ritual in my family and I grew up feeling most inspired by the women of color on TV — Oprah, Lisa Ling, Connie Chung — who helped me believe that I could pursue that career path too!

For fun, I competed in beauty pageants (crowned Miss India Maryland and Miss India East Coast) and loved that I could put my Indian classical dance training and public speaking skills to good use on stage in front of a large audience. What was most important to me was utilizing a platform where I could share my opinions and perspectives on society’s most pressing issues. And I liked the thrill of thinking on my feet.

I later earned my BA from Boston University in International Relations and MA from University of Miami. After my internship at NBC, I moved to India on a whim where I worked for CNN. Life came full circle. I worked as an Anchor/Executive Producer and hosted a show called “E Tonight,” where I covered the gamut of events from the 26/11 terror attacks to Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars. I felt most compelled to unearth stories that were rooted in humanity and touched the heart.

Upon moving back to the states, I worked as a Director of Programming for a leading international network, then as the Editor-in-Chief for an online fashion retailer, and finally launched my digital marketing firm (Kronologie Agency).

Shortly after, my husband and I had our three kids. I had boy-girl twins and my youngest son in the span of a year and a half!

“I was thrown into the deep end [motherhood] when I had my three kids within a year and a half. It was drown or doggy paddle my way to the top. As a journalist, I’m hardwired to ask tough questions, so I found myself seeking answers about life as a parent from my pediatrician to the friendly Amazon customer service rep over the phone. I knew others were in the same boat.
With no time to read mountains of self-help books, I was yearning for tools to simplify daily life, as well as an outlet to feel part of a conversation and community. Just like that…my podcast, “That’s Total Mom Sense,” was born!”…

Read more here on Medium.com