Today we’d like to introduce you to Keegan Winfield (My Worst Date Podcast).
My Worst Date Podcast, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I remember the moment the seed for what would later become My Worst Date was planted. We were sitting at the beach when Christina, who was newly single at the time, began sharing some of her recent dating disasters. One involved a man who wept over coffee and texted a several-page poem after a first date; another featured a man who was inexplicably damp for a full 45-minute cocktail date. When retelling these stories to friends over the following days, we realized that almost everyone we met had their own story of a date gone wildly wrong. We thought it would be fun to create a space where people could come together and commiserate about their own bad or perplexing experiences in the dating world. We opened it up to have people write in and soon were inundated with worst-date stories.
Given our shared interest in true crime and how often (unfortunately) bad dates/relationships and criminal behavior can overlap, we decided to end each episode with a section we call “Tainted Love” featuring a true crime story of romance gone wrong.
From there, the podcast continued to grow, and now we talk about everything from pop culture to our personal lives, but always with your worst dates at the center. It truly is like sitting down with your girlfriends.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like, so many people the Covid 19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown really threw a wrench into our plans. The podcast was seeing steady growth when all of our lives were upended. We were lucky enough to maintain a loyal listenership during that time, but it was hard to make the transition to remote recording for nearly a year.
Other than that, we face the same kinds of struggles as all creatives for whom their passion is also their business. Negative reviews or feedback can be difficult to swallow, but we’re always there for each other and always try to re-frame criticism in ways that can be constructive and help us to grow. One of our most popular merch items came from a one-star review we received on Apple Podcasts. It’s important to always try and find the silver lining and to listen and adjust, while not taking anything too personally.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
All three of us have day jobs in various fields. Christina works in podcast advertising, Cassi is an educator and content creator for a worldwide haircare company, and Keegan works as a project manager for a major studio and is the co-vice chair of an arts non-profit.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to us is the community we have managed to build through this podcast. We cherish and respect our listeners and are always so humbled and grateful when they let us into their lives. Whether that’s to share their dating disaster stories, to suggest a book or TV show, or just to check in and say hi. We have “Worsties” (what we call our listeners) who have been with us since the very beginning and are always thrilled when we get to connect either in person, in the lobby of a live show, or virtually via email or Patreon.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.myworstdatepodcast.com/
- Instagram: myworstdatepodcast
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myworstdatepodcast/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myworstdatepodcast
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/5N3yh1ewjvXVZMKPAWsL23?si=fa1c5cd39eec400d&nd=1
Image Credits
For main image (in front of the American flag) please credit: Brienne Michelle Photography Instagram: @briennemichelle
