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Zach Randles-Friedman on Leaving the Corporate World to Podcast Full-Time · Expertly Said

• Expertly Said Team: My guest today is Zach Randall Friedman. Zach is a podcast host, content creator, and corporate communications professional known for blending authentic storytelling with sharp cultural commentary. He is the voice behind two growing podcasts. On Everything and Anything and A Bit Gay, Zach sits down with a wide range of guests for candid, unfiltered conversations about identity, relationships, personal growth, and the moments that shape who we are. On Listen Up Girl, Zach delivers fast-paced Kristen Sweeney: You're listening to Expertly Said, a podcast on the art and impact of communication. I'm Kristen Sweeney, founder and CEO of Every Little Word. Expertly Said Team: LGBTQ plus news and cultural commentary, breaking down the biggest headlines with clarity, personality and perspective. Beyond podcasting, Zach works in global corporate communications where he focuses on digital strategy, brand storytelling and amplifying meaningful narratives at scale. Across everything he does, his mission is to create content that connects, informs and sparks real conversation. Zach, welcome to the show. Zach Randles-Friedman: Thank you so much for having me on. I love your podcast, so I'm so happy to be here. Expertly Said Team: Thank you. I'm really happy to have you. I think we're going to have a little bit of a meta chat about podcasting itself. So that's going to be a super fun conversation today. It's like, me about your microphone. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yes. Meeting with another podcaster is always so fun to me. don't know why. Yeah, you know it's gonna be good quality camera and mic, so you know you're not gonna have to go through all that. Exactly. Expertly Said Team: The lighting, yeah, exactly. So we heard a little bit of the contours, or excuse me, a little bit of the more broad strokes. I'd love to tell us a little bit more about your origin story. It sounds like ⁓ kind of corporate, the career in communications came first and podcasting is a little bit of a later development. So did you always know you wanted to be a communicator? Kristen Sweeney: That's it for this episode of Expertly Said. We are produced by Every Little Word, a boutique content and communications agency. If you like what you heard, you know what to do. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, or leave us a review. If you want to connect with me directly, please do. You can find me on LinkedIn, just search Kristen Sweeney. Thanks for listening. Talk soon. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. ⁓ So no, so I had a psychology degree from university, from undergrad, I knew during an internship in college that I was not going to do psychology and move on with it because I did this internship and we had to go meet this little, with a trained psychologist or psychiatrist. We went to this school and this girl was in the fourth grade and we met with her and she was being abused by her grandmother and her father and her father's girlfriend, like sexually and physically. And I left there and I just cannot stop thinking about it. And I'm like, I can't do this my whole life and like have these sad stories. Like I just can't, this is not for me. So I wanted to, live in Miami and I'm like, I'm leaving, going to New York, got a job as like an executive assistant for this nonprofit making no money. went to New York, ⁓ did the nonprofit job for about nine months and I realized I cannot make it on this amount of money. And so I ended up getting a job at Chase Manhattan Bank at the time and doubled my salary. And then I was an executive assistant there also and this woman was like the highest probably ranking woman at the bank. And she was very much like Amanda Priestly from the Devil's Wear product where Everyone was scared of her when she walked in, she walked in with her big fur coat, and she like, people were, but she was so nice to me. She got another promotion where she was going to report directly to the president of the company and said, do you want to come with me? Cause we're moving down to the executive floor or do you want to do something else? I want you to take a day and think about it. So I came back and I said, I want to do something else. And she's like, I knew this was going to happen. so she, Says, well, what do you wanna do? I'm gonna give you two choices. You can either do HR, I can get you a job in HR, or you can do this new thing and learn how to build websites. And I came back and I said, I wanna do HR. And she says, no, you're not doing that. You're gonna go to NYU, we're gonna pay for it, and you're gonna learn how to build and design websites. So I went to NYU, she sent me that every day, five. Expertly Said Team: Yes. Zach Randles-Friedman: to nine o'clock every day, four days a week. I was going for, I don't know, months I would go and I learned how to build websites and design them. And then she got me a job in this other department. I quickly, after I put this on my LinkedIn, got recruited for Merrill Lynch, went and worked for Merrill Lynch for six years doing all this design, internal communications, like all this stuff. And then I moved back to Miami from New York because I was working for Merrill Lynch, which was attached to the World Trade Center during 9-11, and I just needed to get out because New York changed for me then. And I ended up getting a job at a pharmaceutical company. And it was websites and social media wasn't really a thing quite at that point. And then I went and worked for GSK and then there and then just kind of kept... Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: doing things in corporate communications around mostly digital. And then it was more external comms with digital. And then I've worked at Pfizer and GSK and a company called B1 Medicines recently. And it's been great, but it's the corporate world. When I was at this one company that I was head of US Communications, it was a skincare company, they asked me to do a podcast. And I said, I don't like my voice, I don't want to be seen on camera, like, I don't really want to do this, can we get somebody else? And like, can you do it? And you don't even have to listen to the podcast, which was not at all the case, because I had to approve everything. And so I do the podcast. It went very well. I did like one full season, I ended up leaving the company. And whenever I left, I moved back to Boston and I... I kind of like missed it in a way. And I got used to my voice and I got used to seeing myself on camera, so I was okay with it. So a friend of mine that's really into video and podcasting said, why don't you just do your own podcast? Like you can talk and you can get guests and all this and you know a lot of people, like try it. I'm like, all right, I'll try it. So I did it. I had some friends on it first. There were people that I wanted to interview. No celebrities really, just like people who I thought were interesting. I found them on TikTok or... Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Nice. Zach Randles-Friedman: something, you know, and found them and they would come on and then I got some publicists that started reaching out to me to get guest on and then it just kind of just like kept going and I would only interview people who I thought were interesting and they didn't have to be part of the LGBTQ plus community. was just anybody, psychics, mediums. I have a woman that was She's a true survivor. She was cheated on by her husband for 12 years and she has, she's now got a thriving business and she's just an amazing person. And I've just interviewed all these different people, almost 200 people I've interviewed in two years. And it's just changed my way of thinking about things. Like the way I, what I think about death now has changed because of the people I've talked to. And I just, I stay away from politics on my podcast and I, interview people who I think have an inspirational story, they're inspiring, they're survivors, I've talked to cult survivors. ⁓ I do talk to some people that are a little different where this woman thinks that she's, and maybe she is, I interviewed her and so I go with the flow. She thinks that she talks to aliens and thinks that she goes to their planet and stuff, so. She's got a huge TikTok following and people are into it and I thought she'd be interesting to interview. She was very interesting and I have no judgment. You can do whatever you want. ⁓ and so I ended up just like really loving doing a podcast. And it's like whenever I'd go on holiday or vacation or I was traveling for work, there was moments where I was like, God, I can't wait to get home and do an interview with somebody. Cause I like love meeting all these interesting people. Cause I would never have Expertly Said Team: Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. I feel similarly, you know, I started this podcast in 2025 and I had... Zach Randles-Friedman: exposure to any of these people if I wasn't doing this podcast. Expertly Said Team: I was a year out from having moved out of Boston back to Tampa, Florida. And I mean, it's great. There's a lot happening here, but not quite as much as there was in Boston. And my company has been remote since long before it was cool. And I have young kids. And the fact is, it's not that easy for me for several reasons to just get out and... Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: Go meet people, like actually meet people. And I think that's even harder to really be in community than ever before. And this has been such a great avenue to ⁓ be able to have like really meaningful conversations and walk away feeling like that was maybe one interaction with someone, but it was like, meant a lot more than, you know, a quick handshake or a little bit of like banter about the weather, you know? Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And at my company that I just actually left, they talked about doing a podcast. I'm like, listen, I have a podcast. They're like, yeah, we know. When we hired you, we Googled you and we found all your stuff. So I'm like, I'm glad I didn't do anything bad on my podcast. ⁓ And they're like, yeah, try it for a season and see how it goes. And so I did interviews with our ⁓ CEO and Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: He told a great story about his whole history and it got like 500,000 views, his video on podcast Listen. And then there was just, I interviewed patient advocacy people for oncology patients. And the podcast did very, very well. And I'm not working there anymore and they still have one more episode to release, but I'm not sure what's happening after that, because they don't have anybody else that knows how to do it. But it was a great... Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: It was a great podcast, I really like doing it, but now I have my two podcasts that are my own and that's what I'm doing full time now, which is kind of crazy. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Awesome, that's amazing. And I know we're gonna talk a bit more in our When By Big Idea section about that transition and what it's been like for you on a few different levels. First, because you lived in New York and I have too, and so the first question anyone asks each other is, where? Where were you? I was in a story of Queens, of 36F at the end. Zach Randles-Friedman: I was, I moved a lot. So I started in the Upper East Side and then I moved from a studio to a one bedroom in the Upper East Side. And then I moved to Park Slope and then I moved back to Miami and then I moved back to New York and then I lived in Hell's Kitchen. And now I'm in Boston, I'm in Medford. Expertly Said Team: Okay. Alright. Amazing, amazing. So I would have seen you everywhere except maybe Park Slope. That's a little rough. ⁓ The other thing I loved was that you mentioned Devil Wears Prada. So there's a ⁓ joke in my family because when I moved to New York, I moved as an actor and so it was catering and temping. My very first temp job was for, I was the assistant to the assistant. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: Like just like, yeah, it was for like three days. The second assistant had to get bumped up to first assistant and I was there to cover her. And it was a woman for, like, I don't know if it was Us Weekly, but that kind of a magazine. And she would literally be like, heat this oatmeal for 37 seconds. Like she would tell you. ⁓ Zach Randles-Friedman: ⁓ wow. Yeah. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: I don't know how I made it those few days. I was like brand new to the city and I was like, is this what it's like to live here? David's is horrifying. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the great thing about her is that she would come in with this huge fur coat and she would take the subway also and from the Upper East Side where she lived. She would have me go off to, I don't know, Ferragamo and pick up stuff for her husband's present. And then she's like... Expertly Said Team: ⁓ Zach Randles-Friedman: can you go to Saks Fifth Avenue? I need these pantyhose and this color. And so I was like doing all these like personal things for her. I didn't care. And the thing is, is that she was so nice to me. She wasn't so nice to everybody else, but she knew that I, and she would like, they had administrative assistant day and like all the administrative assistants are getting flowers on their desk and stuff. She comes by and she goes, listen, I didn't know you don't want no flowers. Here's a $5,000 check from our own account. I'm like, yeah, awesome. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. ⁓ my god. Wow. Zach Randles-Friedman: I'm like have no money living in New York so $5,000 like got me a lot. So I was very happy with that. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. Wow, that's awesome. Yeah, I mean, you know, can learn a lot from those folks. Like I said, I was just there a few days and was definitely terrified the whole time, but I made it. I made it, you know? Zach Randles-Friedman: Well, the funny thing is, the funny thing is she shaped my whole life because if I didn't go to NYU and learn how to do websites, I would have been some HR professional probably doing something completely different. And she made me go before the internet was cool and like learn how to do it. And I found her like a couple of years ago online and sent her an email saying, you have no idea the impact you had on my life. And she was so appreciative of it, like she loved it. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. Well, anytime you hear something like that from somebody, even in ways that are so small, and I can imagine, you know, as someone who creates content for a living, that sometimes we don't always know, and it's really meaningful when somebody takes the time to ⁓ just share what it meant to them. And I think it's a good reminder that on the one hand, we're always looking for more, more, more in terms of metrics. But at the end of the day, if you're like, Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: really touching a handful of people or a small number of people in a way that's going to influence them or really make a difference. Like, that's kind of the core of what we're really trying to do. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, I mean, she was a woman working in the late 90s and banking, one of the few women in an all-male world, and she had to like go far beyond and improve herself. And like there were men that were scared of her and I loved that about her. So because she like, she made her place and she was such a strong woman. I just like appreciate her so much. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. tell me, I want to dig in a little bit to on the com side, that transition you made when you went into life sciences and were there any hurdles for you in kind of transitioning from finance? What was it like to move into that space? ⁓ Or were you mainly able to keep like the thread of the kind of the digital experiences, the backbone? Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, it's a farm. mean, banking is regulated too, but it's regulated in a different way. Pharmaceutical marketing, digital marketing is so hard to do, like, because there's so much. It's not just the, I mean, it's the FDA and the US, but then you think about what's happening in the EU and Canada and Latin America and Asia, give all these different regulations across when you're doing things. And the US is actually less restrictive than anywhere else. And so... Learning all that and learning how what you can and can't do from a digital standpoint Plus I was working at GSK at the time and social media was coming out and I'm really dating myself but And I I was working for the dermatology Company or department at GSK and I said we need to do a Facebook page and they're like no you can't do that in pharmaceutical Expertly Said Team: It's alright, same. With you. Zach Randles-Friedman: I'm like, let's try it. We won't talk about products. We'll talk about disease state. We'll talk about things to do for your skin. We'll do skincare facts. And we did it and it was so successful. People were like jumping on it. And then we got like a ride up somewhere about GSK is the first pharma company to do a Facebook page or something. it just, then they're like, all right, now what do you wanna do? And I kind of got more freedom because I proved it. Like you wanna do Twitter? Do you wanna do, like what do you wanna do? I think we did. Pinterest or something like that, which wasn't as successful as Facebook at the time. ⁓ So yeah, I think it was different just because I had to learn all the regulations. I felt like I also, was digital, nobody knew digital. I felt like I was teaching people digital as I was doing it, because no one knew about Facebook. People didn't know what a good website was. Coming in and talking about how Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: social media drives people to your website or drives people to a campaign, nobody got it. And website, do we really need a website? Of course you do. That's the front door to your products. That's what you need. And so it was teaching a lot of executives about why we needed social, why we needed to do paid ads and all this stuff. So it was great. I really loved it. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. yeah did you find the like having to work within a lot of constraints like did you find it really stifling or were you like i love the challenge of here's all these things i can't do how do i find the way like how did it sort of feel to you Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, I push the envelope a lot where I never was going to break the rules, but I wanted to go right to the edge. And I'd have to meet with legal and regulatory a lot to say, this is what I'm doing and this is why it's not going to get us in trouble. And they're like, well, nobody's done this before. like, I know, but let's do it. And because we're not talking about product, we're talking about disease state and we're talking about who we are as our corporate narrative and stuff. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Sure. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: There was times where I was really frustrated because I'd put so much work into it and they're just like, nope, it's too far, you can't do it. And I'm just like, what? I don't understand. But then I got to go to another company, Vertex Pharmaceutical, and I got to like run all of digital and all of video and kind of the branding. And that is where I really got to kind of be creative. Whenever you're doing video, which was a whole new thing, whenever I went there, like, or when video was really taking off. It was just, you could tell patient stories and you could tell so many great things about what they're doing in R &D and just, it was just, the storytelling with video was just so amazing to me and I just felt like it's endless possibilities and I just, I love that job. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, it sounds like you have really embraced kind of what's next like in communications. So I'm curious is AI a big part of what you see coming up next or what's exciting for you right now kind of in the future? Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. I think AI is definitely huge. mean, it's the conversation that was happening at the company I just left like every single day. they are, at first everybody was like, don't use AI. Then it's like, you have to use AI. And they brought in experts that know AI. You have to be careful, obviously, what you put out on these things. But they have an internal version of ChatGPT that they're using now. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Zach Randles-Friedman: what we're putting in isn't necessarily, isn't being seen by the public. So, I mean, they're gonna start writing press releases, the first draft with AI and social content, I think they're probably starting to do that now too. And even when you're thinking about R &D research and development, they're starting to think about using AI or they already are probably for that. I think all these companies are doing this. And I think it's really, it's scary to me. I'm glad I'm... Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: at the age and part of my career I'm at, because I feel like if I was younger, I would be very nervous about what am I going to be doing in 15 years, because AI is going to take so many jobs. And of course, there'll be other things that will come up. if I was younger, I'd definitely be nervous about what jobs are going to be around in 10 years. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah, I think about that too. And I also think about the most successful applications ⁓ that I've found is when I'm able to put tons of context and insight and like, I really have a heavy, heavy hand in the inputs. But that's because I've been doing this for close to 20 years. I have strong opinions and perspectives and all of that stuff that as a junior, ⁓ you don't get. And so it's like, where is that supposed to come from? There's a lot of conversation, but I feel like it is people who are at least mid-career who've built up this base of expertise, who are able to use it effectively. But what does that mean for folks who are? Zach Randles-Friedman: Yes. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: not having the same opportunities to gain the expertise they need to be really effective, like use it effectively ⁓ as a partner. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. What's scary about though is AI that I've discovered since not working. Because I'm like, should I get a job again or shouldn't I not? Like I went back and forth and I kept applying for these jobs and normally I'd get an answer at least one out of 10 and then it was like none. And then I read two articles where people are going in and having AI create a resume for each job description and then sending it in. then so AI... So like all these systems that are receiving like workday and stuff that are receiving these resumes have an AI component where they're going in and finding the keyword matches. And if somebody builds their resume in AI, that's how they're getting the job or getting the interview. It's so crazy. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah, it's, think it's important to remember, like chatbots talking to chatbots, like behind it all, there's supposed to be people interacting and making sure we don't lose, lose that in all of the, the drive for efficiency. ⁓ all right. So I want to talk a little bit now transition to our one big idea. This is a segment on every show where we dig deep into a specific area. So I want to talk about this, this transition you made, ⁓ Zach Randles-Friedman: Yes, exactly. Expertly Said Team: to podcast host, but also a decision to leave the corporate world to exit life sciences. ⁓ What was the tipping point for you that like where you said, Hey, I'm going to really take this, this leap. Zach Randles-Friedman: So I was doing my podcast, both of my podcasts, and I was doing it after work. It was consuming me till about 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock at night every day, because at first I was doing all my own editing. I was doing two podcasts and a new show that I was doing five days a week. ⁓ But it was only like 10 minutes long. And then ⁓ video was an important part I realized quickly after I started doing it. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: And then I finally hired an editor to help me do one of the shows that I do interviews, but finding guests and booking them and ⁓ following up with them afterwards and following up to make sure they're going to show up and then making sure they can get onto the platform correctly and they have the right headphone and mic and all that. And it was just my entire free time after work and weekends was being consumed by this podcast. But I loved it at the same time. I really like. I just, I looked forward to talking with the next guest and telling their story and just being able to kind of share that. And then the feedback that you get whenever you have a good interview with someone, it's just like the DMs that you get or the comments you get on YouTube or in stuff. I'm just like, ⁓ this makes it all worth it. I just, I knew something just didn't feel 100 % right. anymore about doing my corporate job. And I just like, they did a restructuring at my company. They got rid of kind of all the middle management, which was me and a few other people. And ⁓ I just said, this is it. This is the sign. I'm not gonna go look for another job. I'm gonna make this work. And I have an advisor that helps me who's helped some really big Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: podcasters, like just really big people in the industry that I would hope to be like one day. And he's like, you have something that not a lot of people have, keep it up and just do it. And I am doing, it's been three weeks since I've been doing this full-time, just my podcast. And I have no idea how I fit in a full-time job because I still like every day I have a list of 10 miles long. I just redid both of my websites and it's just like you just. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: I'm like, how did I do all this? And now I'm getting better guests because I'm taking time to research people. I'm doing shows like yours and yeah, and I just, this is just like what I was meant to do. And I am not saying I won't ever go back to corporate, but right now I'm not really looking that hard. So, I mean, I have a LinkedIn alert set up and if something amazing comes up, maybe I'll do some consulting. ⁓ Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Zach Randles-Friedman: friend that I may do some consulting with that I'm considering, but I just don't want to be stuck Monday through Friday, nine to five at this point. Expertly Said Team: Well, welcome to the dark side. ⁓ I imagine it's, and I know that the podcast had started ⁓ well before you moved on from your last position, but I imagine it's been, even though you talked about enjoying the kind of the challenge of working within a highly regulated environment, quite liberating to be in this wild West and you just, you can get on and say whatever you want here. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yes. ⁓ Yes. Yeah, I mean, I am, I do not say whatever I want most of the times because I know this is public and if I ever get a job one day, I am like very conscious of what I say. And I share only so much about my personal life because I learned in the first year that people will look for you and want to get to know you and they think they're your friend because they've heard your podcast. So I have been a little more private about just... Expertly Said Team: Yes. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Zach Randles-Friedman: my life in some aspect. It's hard to be though, because when you're talking and somebody's opening up to you about their whole life and they ask you a question, you're like, oh, I'm not saying anything about it. I but I, you know, I don't know. I've been advised, like, don't say what city you necessarily live in and stuff like that. And I've had to like get all my stuff off of line, my personal information. And that's, that was like a whole weird thing to me that I had to do that type of stuff. So like, who cares where I live and nobody wants to know who I am. They're just listening to my podcast and like, no, it's. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Right, those parasocial relationships, yeah, yeah, yeah. And until recently, we were talking about this before we started recording, until maybe as recently as yesterday, it seems like you had made some intentional choices about kind of... Zach Randles-Friedman: People think they know you. Yeah. Yeah, so that. Expertly Said Team: I don't know, we think about something like personal brand, that you were choosing different platforms and you had LinkedIn as more the corporate comms expert and other channels like Instagram ⁓ supporting the podcast. Can you talk about how you thought through that decision? for folks out there who might be thinking, how do I start my own thing, but live in these two worlds? Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, so I, for a long time, had my Instagram private and Facebook was private. And and then whenever I started doing the podcast, I realized I had to open it up to the public and I was more choosy about what I was putting up there. And now it's really about, it's mostly about my podcast, my Instagram. LinkedIn was totally professional and I had a suit on in that picture, my LinkedIn profile, and it was all about corporate communications and digital communications and. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Zach Randles-Friedman: storytelling and my video work and all, you know, I was a podcast at my other company, so I did talk about that, but I really just did not put anything about my personal podcast on my LinkedIn. I didn't talk about it at work with anybody unless they brought it up and people did bring it up, because people Google you, especially whenever you're starting a company. that's why, and so I, last night, literally last night, I like, 10 o'clock, I'm like, it's April 1st, I have been gone for three weeks almost, I'm going to change my LinkedIn profile to say that I am a podcast host, a producer, a storyteller, I'm gonna end my job at the company I just left and say that I left. And I changed my description, I changed my picture so I am in a more casual picture when it's wearing a sweater and it's just like not such a corporate stuffy picture. And then I wrote a post just saying I've started this as a passion project and it's turned into something great and this is what I'm doing full time. I got a lot of people that have looked at my profile and a lot of people have written me messages on LinkedIn today. And I've got a lot of texts saying, congratulations, this is amazing. I want to do this too. Not a podcast, but I want to go off and do my own thing. And a lot ⁓ of people, I Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: think at a certain time or a certain time in your career, just like, much longer can I do this? yeah, this is just what I, I think this is what I was meant to do. Like I was meant to do this podcast and I was meant to tell people's stories and because I love it so much and you should do something that you love in your life. And I, and I love my other job too. Just, you know, I was doing it for almost 25 years. So, you know, it was time for a change. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's so great that the positive feedback is so fresh. think I was just in a conversation with someone earlier today, and we were talking about how you've built something or do something that other people think is like so. They're like, it's amazing. You're so courageous. All these things. And I don't know about you, but to me, that often just feels like I was just putting one foot in front of the other. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Expertly Said Team: didn't feel easy, didn't, you know, necessarily. And so it's really important, I think, to take those moments to look back and be like, I did that thing. And not that it's about everybody else, but not everybody would have made these choices that I made, would have committed to it, would have made the leap, like would have done those things. And so I love that you're getting those ⁓ well-deserved congratulations on it. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and yeah, it's so strange though, because I go back and forth in my head and I'm like, did I make a mistake? Like, should I be looking for a job? And I had a 401k and insurance and all this stuff and all these benefits. ⁓ And, you know, I mean, I'm very happy with the money I'm making on the podcast and stuff, but, you know, it's like... Expertly Said Team: HAHAHAHA Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: You're on your own. I've never not worked. I worked for a company since I was, you know, I started working when I was 16, because my dad said, I'll buy you a car, but you got to pay for your own gas and insurance after six months. So I had to get a job working at the mall or something, and I was 16. So this is the first time where I'm working for myself. I've always worked, and it's scary and crazy, but I love it. Expertly Said Team: You're on your own. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad you're loving it. And I think that there's like a something that has to happen for you to be able to take yourself seriously, not you specifically, but I'm certainly speaking for me of being like, this is a real job. the fact that I'm accountable to myself and not somebody else. ⁓ is a, like it's a gap that I think has to be navigated because it's easy to feel like, I don't know, just that responsibility to yourself and being like, I'm enough to be authoritative and say, I report to work every day to me, the boss. Yes. Zach Randles-Friedman: You have to have a routine. Yeah, you have to have a routine because yeah, I get up every day. I sleep in a little later than I used to, but I get up every day. Yeah, and I make my coffee in the morning and I come up and I have a whole thing. I need to get more of a routine though where I'm doing the same thing kind of every day. I also have realized how much time I put here and then I like look at the clock and it's like 6.30, I'm like. Expertly Said Team: Good for you. Perks of the job. Zach Randles-Friedman: I just sat in this chair for nine hours and did not even go outside at all. And I have to stop that. Like I have to go for a walk in the middle of the day. I need to, I don't even eat lunch sometimes because I'm just like, I'm so into what I'm doing. And yeah, I need a better routine. I have a routine, but I need to like lay it out more and I need to be a little more strategic. Like I wasn't my job. I need to be more strategic about how I'm going to continue building this podcast. Cause right now I've gotten so many people that want to, I'm just the scheduling piece and Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: scheduling when these episodes are going to come out and stuff is just, I need to get past that and start thinking, okay, how do I grow this brand? That's what I have to do. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, love that. Love that. I have one more question for you, and it's actually about the show itself before we head into one of our final sections here. So you talked about in your bio, we heard about wanting to spark real conversation, and you've talked about these guests who ⁓ the main draw is like their interesting stories. How do you think about drawing them out or creating the conditions so that you have a really good quality conversation with someone and not something that kind of feels too surface level or doesn't really go to those interesting places? Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, you know, I've not had an interview yet where somebody held back. And because I am, and I feel very fortunate that that's happened. I really just have a conversation. I don't usually write down questions for people. I have a few bullet points that I research who they are or what they've done. If they're an author of a book, I'll try to read their book ahead of time. But I really just want to know about them. If they ask, you know, I want them to tell their story, how they want to tell it. Expertly Said Team: that. Zach Randles-Friedman: I'll sometimes have to guide some people just to make sure that they're saying the right things. ⁓ I just interviewed a woman who's never done a podcast. I found her on TikTok. She has multiple personalities. She goes on TikTok and says, I have multiple personalities, ask me anything you want. And I thought it was so vulnerable of her to do. She has agoraphobia where she doesn't leave her house either. And I said, will you come on my show and talk about this? She was an amazing guest. She opened up about the reason why she has multiple personalities because of a childhood trauma. She talked about what she's doing. She talked about her husband, how he's supportive. And then we put the episode out and she got flooded with people saying, I am so thankful for you talking about your mental health. Like you have helped me in so many ways. I thought I was the only one. Not necessarily having multiple personalities, but I have mental health issues. I have so much anxiety. And the fact that you talked about this on a podcast and this many people heard it, I respect you so much. And her episode did fantastic and she got so much amazing feedback and it just made me feel so good. So to go back to your question, I think it's making people feel comfortable and telling them, if you mess up, we can edit it out. We can stop and we can do it again. It's not, and if you say something that you regret, tell me and I won't put it in. And just... Expertly Said Team: Yep. Yep. Zach Randles-Friedman: That's it. And no one has ever actually asked me to take anything out. ⁓ And I just, I don't know, I just feel like I can help people tell a story. I just, maybe just from being in communications for 25 years and helping tell stories, you doing video and stuff like that. And so, ⁓ yeah, I love, I just love telling these inspirational, aspiring stories and telling these people, you know, it's always, and I always try to, I try to stay away from the negative. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: negativity, I try to bring on people that have something inspiring to say, I avoid politics as much as I can even though it's very hard, but I really try on my everything and anything podcast I try to just not talk about anything happening in any country with any politics if I can. Let them go to the news and get that stuff. Expertly Said Team: Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, yeah. You're an excellent guest. So, you know, I feel like I can see and I'm certain that Com's background plays a role in being engaging. I think about it similarly. There's a part of me, the performer in me that, you know, has an eye to like a little bit run of show and flowing smoothly and things like that. But Zach Randles-Friedman: Thank you. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: I also feel like it's decidedly not a performance, right? It's not a hyper-stylized, like, I want it to be a conversation too. So I think we're very similar in that way, in what we're looking to get out of these interviews. Yeah. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. And you're an amazing host though, because you're so easy to talk to. I think you picked the right thing to do because I always know when it's a good podcast when you forget you're on a podcast and I forgot we were on a podcast for a little while there. So like that's when I know it's a good podcast. Expertly Said Team: ⁓ goodness. Well, thank you very much. ⁓ Yeah. So speaking of, I want to take us now and make sure we don't run out of time to hit our ⁓ lightning round section. So same five questions that I give every guest. a ⁓ quick answer here. Whatever comes to mind for you is perfect. Are you ready? All right. Question one. What is your favorite word to say out loud? Zach Randles-Friedman: Okay. Okay, I'm ready. There's a PC version or a PG version. ⁓ I'll tell you what, in my podcast at the end of the year, Riverside, this platform that we use to record the video, tells you like, it gives you the top moments. I said amazing so many times in 2025 in my podcast. I'm like, that's amazing. And it kept showing me saying it over and over and over. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Zach Randles-Friedman: So I think amazing was my 2025 word that I say over and over and over. So yeah. Expertly Said Team: Nice. That's amazing. ⁓ Question two. How about a word you know from maybe reading it, but you're not quite sure how to pronounce it? Zach Randles-Friedman: Whenever I do my news podcast, I am so horrible at saying people's names that I have to go in sometimes and I go to you, I stop my news when I'm reading it and go in and listen to how somebody else has said it because I hate mispronouncing people's names. So it's people's names I am really bad at reading or pronouncing them correctly. Expertly Said Team: Yes, yes. Yeah. Years ago, I was in a prenatal yoga teacher training and the teacher in charge of the training really made a specific effort. There was a small group of people and was like, if we don't know the name, if we can't pronounce each other's names or we're struggling, don't just gloss over it. Don't just try to avoid ever saying their name again. Stop and really ask them. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah. Expertly Said Team: how do you pronounce your name? I am committed to getting it right. And so I really try to do that and I try to do it in a way that, you know, doesn't make them feel uncomfortable but conveys like I'm committed to this but imperfectly. So I love that. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yes. Yeah, and I ask people whenever they have a name that I'm not 100 % sure how to pronounce. I ask them like twice. I'm like, say it again. Just, I don't want to mispronounce your name. So yeah, I think it's important to call somebody who they really are. Expertly Said Team: Yeah. Yeah. Agreed, agreed. As someone who's been a Kirsten and a Kristy and a Kirstie. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, exactly. You Expertly Said Team: That's Fraser saying you wish could be retired for good. Zach Randles-Friedman: ⁓ I watched Summer House on Bravo and there is a character on there that I just realized this and he has the word like 45 times in one sentence. He's like, I love this like, you know what I mean? Like we're go to the pool today and like then go like to the beach. And I wish people would stop doing that and just retire the word like. Expertly Said Team: Yes, it's definitely one of those like habits. Like one of those habits. Yeah, yeah, I'm of a certain age. It's a one for me. Question four, what's a communication practice or principle that's non-negotiable for you? Zach Randles-Friedman: Yes. Yeah. ⁓ what is a non-negotiable? I think. not having a putting something out there and there's no strategy or call to action for something. So I think in digital, it's so important whenever you're putting content out there in the digital world that it's actually going to something and not just saying, you know, don't know, you know, happy 4th of July and like, okay, why did you put that in a corporate thing? Like, great, but what's the call to action? So. And plus, think, you the other thing is like, you got to think about all these communication tools are all global. So you're saying, you know, happy Fourth of July, but only a portion of your people that are on your social media are from the United States. So people that are in Europe and not in America, in Asia Pacific, have no idea what you're talking about or they don't care. So that's mine. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, nice. And what's the last thing you read, heard, or watched that really stuck with you? Zach Randles-Friedman: what is the last thing I... I'm reading this book called The Sylvia Mind Control Method and it's because a guest that I had recommended it and she just told me to read it and it's actually really fascinating and it's just about, she was a CIA remote viewer in the 80s and she's been on major podcasts and then somehow she agreed to do mine. I was so thankful. Expertly Said Team: Mm-hmm. Zach Randles-Friedman: She was on the Sean Ryan podcast. She was on the My Own Bialik podcast. She was like on major podcasts and I had like sent her an email. was like, yeah, sure, I'll do it. And she was such a fascinating person. In the eighties, the CIA had this like secret remote viewing where they would be able then, and she can like go and like remote view herself to Russia to find out like what they're doing and stuff. And she found like criminals that were... on the top 10 most wanted list and yet she found many of these criminals like exactly where they were and they were somewhere that they like the CIA never thought they would be and she would find them. Expertly Said Team: I just watched some TV show. What was it where this specifically, this specific program was a thing? I'll let you know if I find it. Yeah, yeah. It was an older man, I think, who they brought in on the show, but it was this specific program that they were talking about. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, her name is Angela Ford. She's amazing. Yeah, and so she told me to read this book, I'm so I'm reading it, and it's so fascinating, you know, just, it makes, changes the way you think about things. Expertly Said Team: Is it a nonfiction telling about that or is it about how to do the method? Zach Randles-Friedman: It's kind of little bit of like stories about what people have done, but also like how to do it. I don't think I can do it. ⁓ She says anybody can do it, but I don't know if I want to do it. you know, I don't know if I want to go see what's happening in Russia or find a, but yeah, she's, she's such a fascinating person and she was one of my like top three favorite people I interviewed. Yeah. Expertly Said Team: Mm. That's fair. Amazing, great. Zach, thank you so much for joining us today. Before I let you go, if our listeners wanna learn more about you, where can they go to find you? Zach Randles-Friedman: They can find me on Instagram. My Instagram is therealzachre. Or they can go to everythingandanythingpodcast.com or listenupgirlpodcast. No, no, just listenupgirl.com. And they can find me in all three of those places, so. Expertly Said Team: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on today. I really appreciate it. This is a great conversation. Oh, thank you. I'm so glad you came. Zach Randles-Friedman: Yeah, your podcast is amazing. I'm so glad you had me on. So thank you for. Thanks so much.