Written by Sammie Vance, Jr. Columnist
Hi! I’m Sammie Vance, and I’m so excited to be introducing myself to you today as the first-ever columnist for Kids News & Reviews! I was honoured when this was offered to me because of all of the work that I have done for my community through my own initiative with sammiesbuddybenchproject. I was also proud that their editor thought I had a voice strong enough to represent this blog as their first ever regular writer – especially considering that I’m 11 years old!
I have recently started my podcast, SAMMIE SMILES, and it’s going really well! You can check it out at the links below. I called my podcast SAMMIE SMILES because I believe that everyone deserves a smile. This is the reason that I am doing my podcast – at least, it’s the main reason! I’m also doing this to get the word out about the many amazing people that I will interview. When choosing guests, I will choose people who are kind, and people who inspire others.
-Sammie Vance of Sammie Smiles Podcast
Another reason I am doing this is to leave each guest on my show and each viewer and listener with a smile. Times are harder than usual right now, and I thought that everyone could use some inspiration and kindness to lift them up. Ever since Covid-19 hit, I have been working on a project called SENDING SMILES. This is where I send an encouraging letter to someone new every day. I do this to make them smile and now I can reach even more people through my podcast!
I have been thinking about creating some sort of an interview system for quite awhile. I first thought of creating my own magazine and then decided on a podcast. That was after I was interviewed on a particular podcast called Starts With Y and this experience created a real spark in me! It was the moment I knew that this is how I wanted to share my SAMMIE SMILES! I was so excited when I came to the realization that with my podcast, I would take my SMILE EFFORT a lot further. Mom and I brainstormed about what I should call my podcast and what it should be about. The answer to both questions was SAMMIE SMILES! I wanted to create interviews with my guests about ideas that would put smiles on everybody’s faces – both my guests and my listeners and viewers!
Next, a good friend of our family named Talitha Shipman who happens to be an amazing artist, she put together my awesome cover art for my podcast!
Mom helped me so much with getting the word out and with booking guests on my show. We’ve already had a lot of interest and an impressive variety of smile-worthy friends who have agreed to be featured who can share all the the inspiring things they are doing with my followers. It’s so exciting to be scheduling such impressive guests! I’ve also had a lot of help to get set up with all the equipment and other things that I needed to do. I had to buy some equipment so I could make sure that I could offer my listeners good quality audio/visual. I did this buy purchasing a good quality microphone and my very own MacBook! I can also change my background with my MacBook – it’s so much fun!
So far I have had done four podcasts and have interviewed amazing guests for each show. I also have many other super cool people lined up for future episodes and am super excited to invite others to be booked. I’m so happy that I have created the perfect format for my SAMMIE SMILES with this podcast and can’t wait to book many more incredible guests in the near future! It’s so exciting to be all set up and ready to accept more guests for my show! Make sure you also take notice of the intro music for this show – I composed it myself!
Make sure you also take notice of the intro music for this show – I composed it myself!
-Sammie Vance
Check out SAMMIE SMILES PODCAST at these links:
Listen on Apple
Listen on Spotify
Listen on ListenNotes
Watch & Listen on Youtube
Also, if you would like to be a guest booked on my show, please get in touch with me by DM on Instagram at @sammiebuddybenchesproject
