Veterinary Ramblings was born completely by chance during the nationwide lockdowns of 2020.
Whilst working to create social media content for Thames Medical, we were sent a zoom call between Mike Brampton & Julian Hoad and were asked to extract the sections where they discuss pulse oximetry to use as part of Thames’ growing educational content. However, we listened to the entire call and found ourselves giggling along with them as they discussed their opinions on the veterinary world. We called them back and asked if they had considered doing a podcast.
Most veterinary podcasts are quite dry and lack humour and familiarity. We spotted a gap in this niche market that Mike & Julian were perfect to fill, they agreed to try it and Veterinary Ramblings was born.
Mike and Julian wanted a podcast that filled the gap left by so many other veterinary podcasts – they wanted it to be personal, relatable, funny and engaging. Another point to note was that the audio quality had to be excellent – something that was unfortunately lacking in a lot of vet podcasts. We initially provided a list of equipment that they would need to record at a good quality.
Initially, Mike and Julian had very little experience conducting interviews. They could string a few jokes together, but needed advice on how to help best facilitate their guest’s stories in a way that matched the feel of the podcast. We provided interview training and helped them develop their unique style of hosting over the first six months of episodes. During this time, we developed their brand to represent their fun and outgoing attitude.
We developed PDF documents which could be provided to both potential guests and potential sponsors, and created a website and a hosting platform to broadcast their episodes. The website also works as a base where any listeners can find all of the most important information about the show, including detailed profiles on each of our guests and a full catalogue of episodes. We built an e-commerce store and connected their patreon account to help them monetise the process.
We work on every episode from start to finish. It begins by finding and approaching potential guests. We then liase with guests to arrange a suitable interview date and provide them with all the necessary information that they need prior to the interview – such as about what to expect on the show, what information we need from them in advance and where they can find their shows once it has been released. We also conduct a pre-interview via email, where we get background information on their career and chosen discussion topics, which we provide to Mike and Julian to help guide their interview.
All Mike and Julian have to do is show up and have fun interviewing the guests. After recording is completed, they send us the recordings and we get to work on the edits.
We edit the rushes into a full episode and short clips for social media. We create other social media assets such as quotes and snippets of conversation to help promote the guests’ appearance and the content from the show. We manage all of Veterinary Ramblings’ marketing and social media accounts. We manage their website which is updated with each new episode and guest profile, which provides background information for each of the guests. From this website, we also manage their e-commerce store and patreon account which helps them monetise their venture.
Today, Veterinary Ramblings has over 300 subscribers on Spotify alone – with Veterinary Ramblings is also rated #4 on Feedspot for Veterinary Podcasts and has nearly 90 episodes. The podcast following has grown to approximately 2,000 people through various social media channels and receives an average of 170 downloads per episode, with total downloads reaching over 9,000!
Most recently, as a result of the success of the podcast, Mike & Julian were invited to host Vets for Ukraine, a 24hr fundraising event hosted by FECAVA & The Webinar Vet. They both receive regular praise and recognition in their working lives as a result of hosting the show.
“Mike and I started Veterinary Ramblings a little over two years ago and immediately realised we needed help on the editing side of things. We contacted Tessaract Media and they were able to seamlessly reduce our three hours of raw dialogue into a one hour show. Since then, they have produced over 80 episodes for us, not to mention Christmas specials, outtakes and promotional videos. We have essentially had to do very little other than concentrate on having fun and getting to know our guests on the podcast.
As time has gone on, Tessaract Media’s role with us has evolved: they now handle all of the ‘drudge’, such as arranging guests, looking for sponsors, running marketing projects. They have designed and maintain an amazing website for us and have even designed the Veterinary Rambling logo; which is now being used in a merchandising shop.
I cannot recommend them highly enough. If it wasn’t for them I think I would have given up on the podcast a long time ago- I just wouldn’t have had the time or the know-how to do half of the electronic wizardry.
Now we just turn up, press record, and ‘voila!’ We have a show!”
– DR JULIAN HOAD
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