Adam Torres and Zohar Shamoiel discuss Z’s podcast.
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Show Notes:
Should schools offer a podcasting curriculum? In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Zohar “Z” Shamoiel, Podcast Host. Explore Z’s plans to launch an after school podcasting program at his school.
Check out The Z Ice Show:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7JwanZnpAgx9Ja59PA9RBj
Watch Full Interview:
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of mission matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be part of our community, head on over to mission matters. com and click on community to apply. All right. So today is a very special episode. I’ve been following this young entrepreneur, Zohar Shamoil, also.
Z I’ve been following his entrepreneur community since he was for many years now, believe it or not, I know he looks young, but I’m going to, we’re going to get into his background, talk about some of the things he’s doing at entrepreneurship, and also I’m proud and excited to hear that Z has officially launched his first podcast show.
So lots of excitement there. So, Hey Z, first off, I just want to say, Hey, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. I’m really excited to be here. All right, Z. So I follow you. When I say I’ve been following your entrepreneurial career for a long time, people might be thinking, what is Adam talking about? But let me tell you, Z, do you remember one of my, the first things I remember in terms of you being an entrepreneur was I remember on, on Venice beach, was it lemonade?
What were you selling? You were selling something on Venice beach. Remember? Yeah, I remember. So I started off with lemonade stands. Then with the money from that, I started a cookie stand. Then, the, one of my last couple of stands, I made comic strips. Dog cookies and normal cookies. Yeah. And I got a lot of inspiration from you to do that.
And actually, if I remember correctly, you even had a business before that. It was the, was it the bubblegum machine or it was like candy machines? Tell me about that one. Was that one before or after Git? That one was after. So I did the lemonade stands and cookie stands to save up the money to buy the gumball machine.
Yeah. And the gumball machines, I remember when you first had your first couple of them and you were, and you were kind of like scaling up and deciding where you’re going to get the next one, or where are you going to get one? Like, how was that experience? Oh, it was really fun. So the first time when I got it, I was so excited just to see like my first.
10 there. And it was really fun. So after that, I saved up like another a hundred dollars, 150. And with that money, I went and bought a new one. So I put it there. So that’s not, I’m not, I was making two times the income, which was really fun. So now I’d come there and now I see 20 and I was like, so fun to see that.
Yeah. And I remember you were also thinking about like what locations to put these machines in. Like, what was that like? Like kind of going through the process of like where you were going to make the most money. Yeah, it was tough because my parents wouldn’t ask the place for me. So I remember walking down like a strip of stores and I would go in there and I had to ask them.
Hi can I put one of my gumball machines there and usually they say like call us and we’ll call you back usually they didn’t but you have to like get rejected to be successful sometimes. So after that, like after almost, I think like 20 or 30 places of saying no, I got a yes at a laundromat. And that was my first place I got it.
That was really fun. Like, when they said yes, I was so excited. Like, I cleaned that bubble gum machine for three days straight. And you said that you were rejected maybe 20 to 30 times before somebody finally said yes. What kept you strong during those, during that rejection or during those no’s? Like, what kept you strong?
Just the thought of having, like, An empire of bubblegum, because I was young and like, instead of money, it was bubblegum. That was the currency back then when you’re a kid. It’s like how much bubblegum you have. So when I had the bubblegum machines, whenever I’d buy stuff to stock it, I’d always sneak a few of them to school and I shared with my friends.
That’s awesome. And I remember also like going back further, and this is one of the things that just impressed me so much about your, your work ethic and, and the way that you operated is I still remember when you were selling lemonade, like not everybody wanted to buy your lemonade, right? Like you dealt with 30 people.
Cause like no one like wanted it. I mean, it was a hot, I went on a hot day. I never went on like cold days and like, I asked everybody, but I just. Kept doing it because I wanted to make more lemonade to sell or get another vending machine and Ultimately you and you also had on this one. You had an apprentice.
So you had a helper on this one to your sister, right? Yeah, and I just remember how I started out. It’s like the funniest story ever So I was sitting on top of my bunk bed with my dad’s phone scrolling through YouTube I don’t think he know I had his phone And I was looking around and like, I’d watch like stupid videos, but one video that was really stupid was, it was this guy who got a plastic vending machine, like claw machine, and he put fish in it.
And he was like, Oh my God a fish palm machine. And I was like, yo, those are so cool. So I went online and I was like, dad, I want one of these. And he was like, Oh, you want to do that? And then I looked, I researched into it more and that’s how I got into the bubblegum machine business. And to make up the money for that, I did a lemonade stand.
What would you tell others out there that are kind of, that are, maybe they’re your age, maybe they’re older, maybe they’re younger, but in terms of like being an entrepreneur and getting out there and having an idea and going after, and then facing rejection, but continuing to go forward, what kind of advice would you give them?
Just like keep pushing, like, you’re not going to push as hard as you can, if you don’t like what you’re doing. Like if you find it boring and like a waste of time, you won’t push the hardest you can and get the most that you can. You’re just going to like be like, all right, well, time to move on to the next thing.
So you got to like what you do. Yeah. And so that’s why one of the things that I was really excited to have you on the show for it on, on the show today was because once I found out that you were launching a podcast, I’m like, Oh man, watch out podcasting world. A Z is Z’s on this one. Let, let’s start from the beginning.
What gave you, what gave you the inspiration to launch a show? What made you want to do it? A Spotify app. Well, so no, actually first before I got into podcasting, my rap name was Z. I. C. E. I was a rapper. I like making raps. I like listening to raps and I wanted to be a rapper when I grew up. So I write songs, I do stuff.
And I was, I was. Got a song with my best friend, but then we got into like a little fight and he didn’t want to do it anymore. But my friends were like, yo, when’s the song coming out? When’s the song coming out? And I was like, Oh no, man. So then I was looking at Spotify and then a thing came in and it was like, try our new podcasting feature.
So I went on, I started a podcast, did a few episodes and Mateo, he’s the president of our, my school. He was like. When’s the song coming out? I was like, I don’t know but I have a podcast and he was like, what you do? So I showed it to him and he spread the word and now all of 6th grade knows about it So I do So that’s how I got into it It was mostly like, cause I didn’t really care about it that much at first But once my friends started knowing about it, like everyone was so like pushed, they pushed me to do it and they were like, yo, this is so cool.
What is the next episode coming out? So then I keep making episodes and I’m trying to make like a really fun podcast for everybody. So far, what’s been one of your most favorite things about being a podcaster? Like what’s been, what’s been your favorite piece? Oh, my favorite part of that is like. Being with my friends on it, like talking to them or them helping me run it.
And I just like being with people and like them helping me and me helping them. And so now as you were, and I can see that by the way. So now because you’ve launched your show, you’ve been, how many episodes are you in now? Actually, how many of you? Wow. How does that feel? You’re past your, you’re in double digits now.
Next is triple digits, right? Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah, I’m really excited and I’ve had I have like You’re doing really good. I like 25 views per episode average. Yeah It’s really fun. My friends like the episodes and now I’m just trying to make them more fun, like some topics that everyone will like.
And now one of the things that you, that you also mentioned was that you’re going to, you’re trying to launch an afterschool program to help others kind of be introduced to the, to podcasting and help out. Like, tell me your vision for this. Like, what’s your idea? My vision is to have a club after school where me and my friends and other people can get together.
We can brainstorm podcasting, we can make episodes, and I can just teach them how to run it. Like editing, brainstorming, and just running an episode. And it’s going to be fun. We can all work on it and just have a great time. I don’t want to do something that’s boring, so I want it to be fun. Yeah, that that that does sound fun and when I think about after school programs and things like this Why not a podcasting after school program, right?
Yeah. Yeah so I’m gonna get together with one of the teachers that almost everybody’s favorite He’s very he’s a very like he likes technology and I’m gonna see if we can like collaborate and make a school club Yeah about podcasting What is some of the kind of content that you hope to put out? And I know you’re still forming the show and I know you’re going to, after you create the club, a lot of people are going to come together and I know there’d be a lot of ideas, but what, what do you see right now?
I’m hoping to, like, interview my friends, kind of, and just make fun content, so right now my main, like, audience would be kids, but when it starts to, like, go off, so I might interview my friend that does 3D printing, because not everyone knows about 3D printing, and she’s the only kid at school that has a 3D printer, so I’m, so we might do an episode and talk about 3D printing, and it’ll be fun for both of us, so then other kids can learn about 3D printing.
Or one of my friends, he’s a boy, he does ballet. So we can talk about how it is for him as a boy to be doing ballet. That’s cool. And I, what I also like about this is that the type of content you can bring new, new issues, you can bring new things. You can talk about what’s going on in school. You could talk about trends.
I mean, it’s really limitless what you can do, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I just want to be like, I want to do a bunch of stuff with them and I just want to make it really fun and also not just fun, but also educational so that they can take home something from the episode. So when you look back and let’s just say, or when you look Forward into 2024 towards the end of the year.
And we all like to make goals. We like to think about what’s next. So now, now, I mean, I always knew you were an entrepreneur, but now I see you as also the content creating side as Z, which they both overlap, right? Being an entrepreneur, creating content that all overlaps. So what are some of your goals for 2024?
So 2024, I want to launch the club. I want to have it out there. And I also want to have, I want to make a hundred episodes in 2024. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Z all those, all those podcasters out there that are, that are listening or watching this, Hey, watch out for Z. This show is going to be big.
Z, if people are listening to this or watching this, and if they want to check out your show and they want to follow your content going forward, what’s the best way for them to do that? Just go on Spotify, search up the Z I show Z underscore ice show. Yeah. Fantastic. And we’ll put, we’ll put the links and all that good stuff to your show.
And the show notes as long as well as put, and you’re going to do a whole blog on this and all kinds of good stuff. So we’ll make sure that more and more people get to hear the content. Well, Z, Hey man, first I want to just say if the teacher is watching this, Hey, help Z out with this club. I 100 percent want to see this.
Thing move forward. We’re going to definitely support you. Over here, mission at mission matters because you know, we want to see you continue to succeed and to, and to continue to to, to prosper and in your podcasting career, man, you’re, you’re, I can’t wait 10 years. We’re going to look back at this and I’m like, Z, how many of what you got, how many episodes now, man?
Good job, right? Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Thanks for having me on the show. I love this show and what you’ve done to it and how to grow it. And have you, have you grown it? Awesome, man. Well, Hey, thank you again for coming on and to the audience as always. Thank you for tuning in. Hope you got a lot of joy out of this.
Hope you got a lot of value. If you did, don’t forget, hit that subscribe button. We have many more mission based individuals coming up on the line and we don’t want you to miss a thing. Don’t forget, tune in to Z Ice over on Spotify. Definitely check this out up and coming podcaster.
