Narrabri’s Fenella Jamison takes podcasting world by storm

Narrabri’s Fenella Jamison is taking the podcasting world by storm.

The passionate and talented storyteller is the executive producer of the award-winning podcast Basically Besties, which claimed the top gong in the coveted Listener’s Choice category at the 2023 Australian Podcast Awards, held in Sydney.

The event celebrated Australia’s best and most popular audio content, showcasing the outstanding work being created around the country in a variety of genres, including true crime and documentary to arts, culture, entertainment, sport, and chat.

“We could not stop grinning,” said Fenella, who had previously considered the chances of winning the hotly-contested and publicly-voted Listener’s Choice Award ‘a white whale’.

“The award had been won by another podcast (Life Uncut) for about four years in a row.

“We were so surprised and grateful to take it home.”

On the Basically Besties podcast, mother-daughter duo Kat and Latisha Clark talk about ‘life, love and everything in between’.

“It’s a look into a mother-daughter dynamic that a lot of people can relate to,” explained Fenella.

“But a lot of other people might just find it interesting and fun to listen to the podcast because they really are ‘basically besties’.

“Kat had Latisha when she was 16 years old, and Latisha is now 20.

“They’re content creators and TikTokers from the Gold Coast.”

Basically Besties was launched in 2022 and the podcasting pair’s profiles have skyrocketed ever since, with more than 7 million downloads and an appearance by Kat and Latisha on the hit Channel 9 television show Parental Guidance.

“The award was such an amazing win, and for Kat and Latisha to be recognised by traditional media as well,” added Fenella.

“Often, they can be labelled as ‘just influencers’ but to be recognised with a national podcasting award and for it to be the listeners’ choice was really special.

“It was a nice acknowledgment of everyone’s hard work.”

Building a loyal listener base and creating an engaged community are key ingredients when it comes to making a successful podcast, no matter the genre.

And Fenella, who is now based in Sydney, credits her country upbringing for showing her how to foster and value a good sense of community.

“Something that I really carry with me in my producing is that community spirit, and country values,” said Fenella.

“A big part of podcasting is building up you community of listeners and making sure you’re speaking to them and not isolating anyone.

“You want everyone to feel like it’s a safe space.

“I think growing up in Narrabri, where it’s all about community, I felt like it’s something that came more naturally to me.”

Fenella has always had a strong connection to her hometown, The Courier readers might remember she was announced as an ABC Heywire competition winner in 2020 for a story she wrote

about Narrabri and the community’s relationship with the Namoi River, which is often described as the lifeblood of our region.

She penned her story ‘My town is hurting but I still hold hope for its future’ in September 2019, when the Namoi was running dry.

“It had to be about something really personal and I started to think about how intertwined I was with the river growing up and about my relationship with the river,” Fenella told The Courier in 2020 after her Heywire win.

“It means and represents the community; it’s a family spot, and it’s part of our family farm, ‘Old Merihula’, where I grew up.

“It was sad to see it slowly start to fade out.”

The ABC’s Heywire competition encourages young regional Australians to ‘tell it like it is’ by sharing stories about their lives outside major cities.

In her story for Heywire, Fenella shared fond memories of days spent at the river kayaking, swimming, and fishing, but she also wrote candidly about the harsh realities of drought and its ripple effects on farming, farmers, and country towns like Narrabri, where tensions between residents and industries can run high when everyone is under pressure.

“I’ll never forget the day I returned home from university to discover the bone-dry riverbed with my dad,” wrote Fenella in her story.

“Walking down expecting to hear a faint trickle, a splash, a bird but — silence.”

Heywire recognised Fenella’s potential and powerful storytelling abilities, with the competition’s program giving her skills and opportunities that helped her pursue a career path that she is still very passionate about today.

“After Heywire I realised I wanted to work in audio,” said Fenella.

“I just wanted to tell stories, and I found that audio was the easiest and most accessible way to do that.

“I think when a lot of people get into the media industry, they gravitate towards television or film, which is a lot harder and more expensive in Australia.

“But I love podcasting; there is a bit of a stereotype that ‘anyone can have a podcast’, and that can be seen as a bad thing, but I like how accessible it is.

“If anyone wants to get into radio or media, I would really encourage them to do Heywire because not only did it give me the idea to pursue audio, it also got me into AFTRS – the Australian, Film, Television and Radio school.

“So, it was definitely a big snowball effect.”

For the last two years, Fenella has been living in Sydney, working as a podcast producer for Amplify as well as a content creator and writer.

Making the leap to live in the big smoke is a move Fenella still relishes and she’d encourage any young students considering it to follow in her footsteps and give it a go.

“It’s worth trying and you can always come back, getting out and having an experience is worth it,” she said.

“But I do tell all my friends in Sydney that there is no better Chinese than in Narrabri, there’s just something about a rural Chinese restaurant, it just doesn’t hit the same in Sydney.”

When it comes to her advice for any aspiring podcasters and content creators, Fenella’s message is simple: “just do it, don’t overthink it, just start to make things”.

“My friend and I used to do a fake news radio show at school where it was just us revising our science notes, I didn’t love science, but it was a fun way to do it. And I look back now and I’m like ‘oh that was a podcast’.

“So, my advice would be to just make as much as possible and then eventually it will be something you like.”