The Buccino Leadership Institute recently launched a podcast called Seton Hall Undergraduate Leaders Podcast, which is centered on leadership insight and is mostly run by Seton Hall students.
Bryan Price, the executive director of the Buccino Leadership Institute, said that the goal of the new Leaders Podcast Initiative is to provide a creative outlet for students to learn from a diverse group of leaders.
He added that the program’s mission was for students to become a thought leader in the field of undergraduate leadership development. Price said that a podcast geared toward undergraduate students throughout the country was an ideal way to achieve this reputation.
Price explained that he pitched the concept, recruited any interested students and worked with them to develop a weekly podcast that launched in November 2018.
“Our mission is to provide students with specific, detailed advice on how to be leaders in a variety of industries – from business to health care and everything in between,” Price said.
Audrey Pennington, a freshman visual and sound media major, said she was immediately interested in the opportunity because of her experience in her high school’s TV station and her current position at the Seton Hall Pirate Radio Station.
“I recognized this as something that I loved and could potentially be good at, so I wanted to help make my mark,” Pennington said. “This institute is only a year old, so really its future depends on everything that me and my fellow students put into it. This podcast is the same way — I want to give people the opportunity to be a part of something really cool so that they can leave their mark as well.”
Pennington, who is also student director, said she works alongside other vital student members like Shannon Moran, William Steck and Doug Woolever, to find weekly guests ranging in career fields while providing an equal weight in advice on success.
Chloe Magnuson, a senior political science major, commended the initiative.
“I’m always looking for a podcast to listen to on the train,” Magnuson said.
"I’m glad that there’s one that’s going to motivate me to keep working hard, and even better that it’s run by my peers.”
Although the podcast is still relatively new, Pennington said she has nothing but great things to say about her involvement thus far.
“I have gained more than I could have imagined,” Pennington said. “The hands-on experience has taught me so much about leading a team like this.”
Pennington added that she appreciates all of her fellow teammates who have been working hard to get this podcast off the ground. She said that one student was responsible for distributing the podcast to multiple platforms.
Price also mentioned Steck’s excellent work in choosing platforms that allow the group to have complete control on all of their intellectual property, a condition she said is imperative to the podcast’s mission moving forward.
Each day, Price said the organization moves towards their ultimate goal of being completely student run.
“As we improve our processes, and as we continue to grow our audience, we will just get better and better,” Price said. “What I’m most excited about, however, are the ideas and content that we will create when the students fully take over.”
Pennington said that with her whole college career ahead of her and endless guests to hear from, she has big goals for her team and the podcast.
Pennington said, “I hope we can expand our listenership and establish a podcast and team structure that will last long after this first leadership class graduates.”
Eilish Montgomery can be reached at eilish.montgomery@student.shu.edu.
