Arts & Entertainment Community Education

Podcast helps Gig Harbor senior find her voice

With time to kill during the Covid-19 lockdown, Anna Daetwiler listened to a lot of podcasts. Now she has her own. 

Daetwiler, a senior at Gig Harbor High School, recently launched the Honestly Noted podcast, featuring teen-centric topics and interviews with her contemporaries. It’s available on YouTube, Instagram and elsewhere. 

The goal is to represent a voice that often gets drowned out of the media landscape. 

“I realized there weren’t a lot of podcasts out there that represented teenagers,” Daetwiler said. “It was mostly like 20-year-olds talking about when they were teenagers. I wanted to start a podcast that represented their views.” 

Honestly Noted covers a wide range of topics, from career options to Halloween candy to sexuality and representation. Typically, another current or former student joins Daetwiler for the conversation. 

“Growing up as a minority in a town that lacked diversity, it was hard for me to feel represented culturally,” Daetwiler said. “I often felt like I didn’t have a voice. Creating this podcast has led me to utilize mine and help showcase others.” 

One-person show 

Daetwiler does it all for her podcast: She lines up the guests, hosts, directs and edits.  

Podcasts are traditionally an audio medium, and you can listen to Honestly Noted without necessarily missing out on anything. But it’s also a video podcast, often streamed from the garage of Daetwiler’s grandparents’ house. 

She had some experience with film and camera work, but “the most challenging thing about it was learning how to edit.” 

She seems to know what she’s doing. Zoom-ins, close-ups and on-screen text help keep things light, even when discussing heavy topics like mental health. 

The inspiration for Honestly Noted is a podcast called “Impaulsive” by YouTube star Logan Paul. Honestly Noted “channels that same energy,” Daetwiler said, “… comedic, light and not afraid to go into deeper conversations.”

From left, host Anna Daetwiler, Ahva Holmes and Ryan Beck, all seniors at Gig Harbor High School, during a recoring fro Daetwiler’s Honestly Noted podcast.

Promoting the podcast

With eight episodes in the books, Honestly Noted is still gaining a following. Daetwiler said she averages about 25 views per episode. 

She promotes the ‘cast through social media, word-of-mouth and with posters. She recently had reason to be at Henderson Bay High, and found one of her posters there, much to her own surprise. 

Her family has been supportive of her work, though she had to explain to her grandpa what a podcast is (She said he asked: “You’re going to be on the radio?”) Her grandmother might be a future guest, fulfilling a goal of facilitating cross-generational conversations. 

And giving voice to her generation. 

“It’s supposed to be a fun podcast,” Daetwiler said, “but it’s also supposed to talk about important things and things that aren’t always talked about.”