NEWSHow One Young Entrepreneur, Felix Levine, Started His Career Through A Podcast
July 12 2022, Published 2:48 p.m. ET
Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular not because they entertain but because they educate and add value to a listener's life. Podcasts are easily accessible and also allow for multi-tasking while you listen. It can be a great accompaniment to leisure time and while traveling, all thanks to the creative talent of some amazing podcasters who have presented something unique and engrossing in their shows. Felix Levine, a 22-year-old recent Boston University graduate, is also included in this list of top podcasters daring to find his own spot in a highly saturated space. He started his journey with the podcast 3 years ago at 19 years old, and managed to gain over 1 million hits and downloads in that time. His podcast has had listeners from 65 countries around the world.
During his freshman year at college at UC Santa Barbara, Levine discovered his love for podcasts. It all started when he was unhappy at college, and longing to return back eastward. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Levine knew that Santa Barbara was not the kind of environment he felt he could flourish in, so he transferred to the Questrom School of Business at Boston University after one year. But it was during this year at UC Santa Barbara that Levine shaped his career as a podcaster. He listened to a variety of different top podcasts and began to really appreciate the medium and how people unfolded the stories of their lives in a way that often felt natural and comfortable. This inspired Levine to start his own show and as he told us: “Honestly, I just felt like I could do it.”
Levine started his show from his dorm room and worked hard to scale it up while still being a full-time student. His biggest challenge was to find guests for his podcasts because as he says, people underestimated him because of his age and lack of experience. Initially, Levine recounts making different template emails and sending thousands of emails to potential guests, hoping that a few of them would agree to appear on his show. Once Levine transferred back to the East Coast, his show had already picked up.
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Levine never limited his podcast to any genre because his focus has always been on people's unique journeys. His list of guests comprises a mixed bag of people from different fields and careers. It includes sports personalities, entrepreneurs, influencers, rappers, best-selling authors, and John Gotti Sr.’s former mob hitman, John Alite. Perhaps most interestingly, Levine has used some of the people he’s met on his show to create business relationships as well. “I actually invested in one of the startups, The Zone, after their CEO, Ivan Tchatchouwou was a guest on my show. I’m actually currently in talks with a few other early stage startups I could potentially invest in, but all of these relationships have either come because they were a guest on my show, or because we’ve had some relationship that likely would’ve never happened if I hadn’t started my show.” Although Levine is still figuring out some of his next moves, there seems to be a plethora of options on the table. As he says “Honestly, I have no idea what the next few years hold for me. I will 100% continue to grow my show, but I also love sports and would love to get involved in either the executive or talent side there. I love everything that has to do with business as well, so I kind of hope to be able to involve myself with a host of different projects at the same time. That’s when my juices are really flowing. That’s what truly excites me.”
Although Levine is exploring all of his career options, his passion for podcasts remains unchanged. He is planning to interview more interesting personalities with intriguing stories and even open up his own studio shortly, as by his words, “I want to take everything to the next level. I’m only 22, man. What motivates me is that I’ve only ever done this while being a full-time student in college. Imagine what I could do now.”
