What it’s like working with us…
Clients love working with Deadset Studios and Kellie Riordan. Here’s the proof.
“When we started Principle of Charity, we knew literally nothing about podcasts. Kellie was so helpful not only in giving us an overview of the landscape, the pitfalls and the opportunities, but more importantly in helping us refine our format, bringing out the best in our quite ambitious podcast”.
— Oscar-winning producer Emile Sherman
“How I Work now has a proper production team in the form of two amazing women: Kellie Riordan (ex-head of podcasts at the ABC - no big deal, right?) and Jenna Koda (who spent years producing the top-ranking ABC podcast Conversations). Working with these two women has taught me many things. I have so many annoying quirks and habits as an interviewer and Kellie picks up on them all — and teaches me how to improve.
“I feel like I've become an infinitely better host and interviewer since working with Kellie.”
— Amantha Imber, host of the How I Work podcast, and founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium
“This is the amazing person who brought me into doing the Conversations podcast many years ago, and she was my first producer. One of the very best people I’ve ever worked with. Someone make her Podcaster-General at the UN with an unlimited budget please.
I first worked with Kellie when she invited me to join ABC Radio's Conversations program in 2005. The show's format defied nearly every local radio convention of the time, but it became very successful.
Kellie is an extremely capable and talented producer, with excellent 'ears' — she's able to hear when the program is connecting with its listeners, and when it's losing traction. She has an excellent sense of the kinds of stories that are rich enough to sustain an hour-long conversation.
She grasped the potential of the podcast as early as 2005, and reformatted Conversations each day for what was then a tiny podcast audience. That podcast has now grown to become the most popular in Australia by far, according to Apple, attracting millions of downloads a month.
Kellie is full of ideas, she can't abide mediocrity and wants to make a dent in the world. I'm very happy to recommend her for just about any kind of audio project.”
— Richard Fidler, host of Australia’s most popular podcast, Conversations
“Kellie’s advice was eye-opening and completely changed how we were approaching our new podcast, Seriously Social. She helped us understand how to better tell our stories for the podcasting medium, and more importantly – how to do this without a massive production studio behind us.
We took all of her advice onboard and ‘bam’ – a way more compelling product, media attention, and an immediate shift in the way the pod was received and a plethora of ideas of how we can work with our new improved version going forward.”
— Sue White, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
“It’s one thing to start a podcast, it’s another thing entirely to make it work as hard for you and your brand as it possibly can. Engaging Kellie in a workshop is like adding a dash of rocket fuel to your podcast aspirations. In producing and mapping out the future for Hassell Talks, the team and I have consistently and confidently returned to Kellie’s guidance as our North Star – adjusting, reviewing, pushing harder and seeing the reward, just as Kellie said we would.
— Prue Vincent, Hassell Studio engagement leader
“I've worked with Kellie over several years at the ABC and had a front-row seat to her leadership character and personal work ethic. Over the years she has led creative teams through immensely complex challenges to create a portfolio of standout productions. Kellie's determination, drive for excellence, and incredibly high standards made my work with her a real privilege. If you get the chance to work with Kellie or have her support your creative or media endeavours, I highly recommend it.”
— Jarrod Siegertsz, director, Soji Learning and Change
“We were experienced storytellers but had never created a podcast. However, Kellie recognised the key areas we needed to work on and was able to provide us with a clear path. Kellie helped us to plan out our series and how to really connect with the audience. She brought a wealth of industry insights into our listening & feedback sessions, and really knows how to give a listener what they want. Her Distribution and Marketing workshop provided us with a clear plan of how to promote our podcast and attract the right audience and partners. We soaked up every podcast gem Kellie unearthed and can't wait to work with her again.”
— Lee Taylor, Uniting Org NSW ACT
“From No Feeling is Final to Finding Drago, I'm a huge fan of so many projects that she has helped usher into existence. I had the pleasure of meeting Kellie when I was a keynote speaker at the OzPod conference a couple of years ago. To say that she was welcoming and gracious would be an understatement. It was such a deeply thought out and executed conference, concerned so deeply with storytelling and craft. I held on to her contact information and have refused to leave her alone since.”
— Julia Lowrie Henderson, senior editorial producer, 30 for 30 Podcasts, ESPN
“I interviewed Kellie during her time at ABC, when she appeared as a guest on the Journalism.co.uk podcast. She shared valuable insights on her team's podcast strategy throughout the coronavirus period.
As a guest she came across as warm, engaging and deeply knowledgeable.
I would recommend her as a guest for any other podcasts on topics about podcast and audio strategy.”
— Jacob Granger, senior reporter, journalism.co.uk
“Kellie is a skilful and effective communicator and more importantly for me — she is a powerful educator.
Kellie skilfully assessed where I was at in my journey as a podcast host before we started working together. Rather than cram a lots of information into my head, Kellie helped me make small and steady progress that was actionable, visible and impactful.
If you want to move your audience from silent echoes to highly engaged, your mindset from confused to clear, and your podcast from downloads to making a difference… I would highly recommend working with Kellie.
Don’t take my word for it — my podcast Deep Listening received an Apple Podcast Award because of Kellie Riordan’s decades of expertise as an astute communicator and educator.”
— Oscar Trimboli, host of the Deep Listening podcast
“Kellie is a brilliant leader and one of the smartest and most effective managers I've ever worked with. She has a real talent for being able to inspire and motivate her teams so they give 100% at all times.
She built ABC Audio Studios from scratch and established an incredibly successful and award-winning slate of 30 podcasts. Kellie also has an incredible understanding of the podcast industry, possesses some of the best ears in the business and is always willing to take risks on new and innovative shows.”