Janet Mbugua relaunches ‘My First Time’ podcast with a fresh focus on youth voices – EXCLUSIVE
Media personality Janet Mbugua is set to relaunch her podcast, ‘My First Time Stories,’ with a fresh perspective.
This season, the mother of two will engage a younger generation, inviting them to share their stories and experiences.
In an interview with Nairobi News, Mbugua explained her new approach.
“What I am doing is working with young girls. I mean, paving the way for younger voices to host and co-host. They are our future in these digital spaces,” she said.
Entering its third season, ‘My First Time Stories Podcast’ aims to amplify the voices of youth, featuring remarkable young individuals like Wahu’s daughter, Tumiso, Radio presenter Jeridah Andayi’s daughter, Norah, Ariana, and Dan.
Janet was grateful to their parents for nurturing their children’s confidence and acknowledging their crucial role in this initiative.
“The push to center young voices included meeting incredible young, vocal teens. Here’s a special shout out to their parents who have no doubt shaped the confidence of their children (they’re tagged in this post!),” she added.
The vision for ‘My First Time Stories Podcast’ is to create a dynamic, youth-led conversation platform that empowers young women to openly express their thoughts on pressing social issues, particularly concerning their health and rights.
The podcast will return on Thursday, May 30, on Afripods and other audio platforms, featuring more young, bold voices. Additionally, an audio-visual platform will be launched later this year.
In 2020, Mbugua, also the founder of Inua Dada, released a book with the same title as the podcast.
Following the book launch, she became acutely aware of the stigma surrounding menstruation, reinforcing her commitment to addressing such critical issues through her work.
“I think one of the ways we can reduce the stigma is by sharing our stories since they create conversations and solutions and even highlight gaps,” she said.
She launched her podcast based on stories shared in her book.
“I knew I was always going to have a podcast, which includes more stories from my book and others from African women,” Mbugua explained.
The podcast will focus on menstrual health, leveraging her media experience to reach a wider audience. “I am interested in us telling our stories rather than our story being told elsewhere.”
Janet emphasised that starting a podcast requires discipline and dedication. “Anyone can start a podcast from anywhere, that is easy. The harder part is having the content, the people to interview, and the space to record from if you don’t want to record in your home.
For me, the challenge was multitasking, given that I’m a mother and I needed to create time. Once it started, I had the urge to continue.”
One topic Mbugua hopes to tackle is the issue of menstruation for women behind bars.
“We cannot continue to de-prioritize menstrual health by all means. I also hope to bring an impact through storytelling and push through implementation by any means.”
‘My First Time’ aims to reach out to corporate organisations, encouraging them to accommodate women who need a few leave days to manage menstrual pain.