Exploring Life & Business with Elaina Corbin of Sneaky Leak Podcast

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaina Corbin.

Hi Elaina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, I grew up in the Inland Empire/Desert area on Morongo Indian Reservation. I dabbled in makeup and hair out of high school which brought me to the LA area early on and decided to make my move to Los Angeles circa 2014. I actually went back to school and graduated from UCLA in 2020 with a Bachelors in American Indian Studies and even though I still have a love and affinity for the field I decided to instead choose a path in media and try podcasting.
So after years of collecting sneakers and becoming heavily involved in that community in Los Angeles, me and my fellow co-hosts came together and created Sneaky Leak Pod.
We’ve been podcasting for about two and a half years now and it’s been an amazing journey and learning experience.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey definitely has not been smooth road. A lot of lessons learned along the way. Especially as a young adult you feel like you need to have everything figured out right away and the truth is you don’t. I probably would have never chosen Indigenous studies as my major had I gone to college right out of high school and even though I am not actively working in that area, I’m grateful I was able to try different fields and start over. It lead me right to where I needed to be.
And starting a podcast from scratch hasn’t been easy either, one thing I learned from this is consistency is key. We had to keep putting out the episodes regardless of how many views or attention we received, because who would have taken us seriously had we not applied ourselves and did the work, especially as women in a male dominated space. We experienced a lot of male push back in the beginning and still get some comments from time to time.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Sneaky Leak Pod is women lead sneaker podcast, consisting of Myself and my two co-hosts, Janelle Morgan and Heather Jones. We drop weekly episodes having cultural conversations that focus on sneakers and streetwear, as well as many other topics.
We started Sneaky Leak Pod to highlight women’s voices and conversations in the sneaker space. The podcast explores sneakers as identity, expression, and belonging. As all three of us are long time sneaker collectors and deeply rooted within the community.
Most mainstream podcasts that were sneaker and streetwear focused were hosted by men and rarely shed light on a women’s perspective. We wanted to change that, so we did!
Even though we are still in the infancy of the podcast, we’ve been so lucky to work with major brands such as, Jordan, Shoe Palce, Hoka and much more. We’ve hosted panels, have thrown events and best of all have gotten the opportunity to interview some amazing guests.

How do you define success?
Success to me is subjective and I consider success as something that is never set in stone, a continuation of sorts. As we grow and our goals change so does the line and definition of what is successful and yet at the same time it doesn’t take away from past success. Accomplishments and attaining your goals will always feel successful but it’s the continuation of what you’ve created is truly where the impact lies.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/dopest.e
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sneakyleakpod
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SneakyLeakPod

Image Credits
1.) Shiekh Shoes
2.) Shoe Palace IG
3.) @rzareyes
4.) Clip from episode
5.) Clip from episode
6.) via StockX
7.) Nike Women