Hannah Maguire & Suruthi Bala: The Unflinching Curiosity and Relentless Discipline That Built the UK's Top True Crime Empire

As part of my series of interviews about “5 things you need to know to create a very successful podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Hannah Maguire & Suruthi Bala of RedHanded.

Hannah & Suruthi met at a and drunkenly agreed to start a podcast about murders, against the odds, they actually did. Fast forward 4 years and RedHanded is not only their full time job, but a huge financial success and the UKs top true crime podcast.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of your “personal backstory? What is your background and what eventually brought you to this particular career path?

Before we met 4 years ago Suruthi had just come back from travelling and was about to return to her career as a conference producer. Hannah was having a terrible time proof reading programmes in a theatre. So, both of us were desperate for a creative outlet. When our paths did cross one fateful night at a vegan Thanksgiving we decided to start a true crime podcast within a few hours, half as a joke, but then against the odds we did end up doing it. What was meant to be a hobby, turned into a side hustle, then it took over our lives and now our dreams have come true and RedHanded is our full time gig.

Can you share a story about the most interesting thing that has happened to you since you started podcasting?

Right at the tale end of 2018 we got a tweet in the middle of the night from someone telling us that Dan Harmon wanted to fly us out to LA to be guests on his podcast HarmonTown. We have always been huge fans of Dan and all of his incredible work, Community is Hannah’s favourite show of all time. The tweeter turned out to be telling the truth, Dan was really impressed with RedHanded and even said it was the best true crime show he had ever listened to. After we had been guests on the iconic HarmonTown we really felt like we could do anything and that podcasting was absolutely the right place for us.

Can you share a story about the biggest or funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaways you learned from that?

Right at the very beginning our sound was terrible. We are totally self-taught so there was a lot of trial an error which was a painful process. We also had no idea if the show would work or if we would get on, we were total strangers! So we didn’t want to pump a load of money into something we weren’t sure about the longevity of, when we started RedHanded we only had a £10.00 mic between us. We had read a lot online about shows sounding better when they are recorded in small spaces so we decided to try recording in the cupboard under Hannah’s stairs. What we didn’t count on was the cupboard being impossible to open from the inside. No one else was home so we were stuck in there for 4 hours on the hottest day of the year until Hannah’s housemate came back to release us. After that we learned that no sound quality level is worth half suffocating ourselves in a cupboard for and that we needed to think of another solution. Luckily after more, trials, errors, tears and tantrums we learned how to create really great sound without having to be in a cupboard. Our listeners celebrate the anniversary of ‘Cupboard Day’ every year, it’s become a great part of our story, but at the time it was terrifying.

How long have you been podcasting and how many shows have you aired?

The “Cupboard Day” episode, which recorded while panicking in the cupboard under the stairs was released on the 9th of July 2017, since then we have released 217 episodes to our main RSS feed, including bonus content.

What are the main takeaways, lessons or messages that you want your listeners to walk away with after listening to your show?

There are true crime podcasts of every shape and size you could imagine, that’s the beauty of podcasting. In an overcrowded space what sets RedHanded apart is the dissection of cultural, political and economic factors that feed into any crime. At RedHanded we are always focused on why people do terrible things. No one goes around murdering people for no reason.

In your opinion what makes your podcast binge-listenable? What do you think makes your podcast unique from the others in your category? What do you think is special about you as a host, your guests, or your content?

The RedHanded back catalogue is full of every crime you could imagine from Nepalese Royal Massacres to family annihilators, you’ll never hear us cover the same story twice. A lot of shows are scared to touch on “controversial” topics like race, gender or class, we never shy away from important topics and we always have informed opinions that we are not afraid to voice.

Doing something on a consistent basis is not easy. Podcasting every work-day, or even every week can be monotonous. What would you recommend to others about how to maintain discipline and consistency? What would you recommend to others about how to avoid burnout?

Podcasting every day would send anyone to an early grave, but consistency is key. We made the decision to release every Thursday with out fail 51 weeks a year and it was a big factor in our rapid growth in the beginning. However, we made that decision before we understood just how much work it would take to make the show as good as it could possible be. We are both obsessive perfectionists, which has worked against and for us at different times in our journey. Burn out is something we are very aware of, the bigger you get, the more opportunities come your way and the less time you have to take advantage of them. Now that RedHanded is our full time job, we combat burn out with structure, we keep office hours and only work at the weekend if we absolutely have to. Keeping your mind right is so important, you can’t make an amazing show if you’re burned out and unhappy. Sometimes you have to stop and think back on everything you have achieved, feel proud of yourself and then move forward with your project.

What resources do you get your inspiration for materials from?

We have content planning meetings at the top of every month. We are a team of 5 now so everyone comes with ideas and then we make sure that our release schedule is varied, interesting and relevant. A lot of the cases we cover come from out listeners but we generally keep our ears to the true crime ground so we can bring out episodes in a timely manner. People are more likely to listen if the topic is current.

Ok fantastic. Let’s now shift to the main questions of our discussion. Is there someone in the podcasting world who you think is a great model for how to run a really fantastic podcast?

Tracy Clayton — Everything she touches turns to gold.

What are the ingredients that make that podcast so successful? If you could break that down into a blueprint, what would that blueprint look like?

Our blueprint is comprised of hard work and being able to take on feedback to make the show better. It is really painful when people don’t like your show but there is a difference between a troll and someone who could genuinely help make your show better. Our sound is where it is because of our listeners feedback.

You are a very successful podcaster yourself. Can you share with our readers the five things you need to know to create an extremely successful podcast? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can2.)

1. Invest in a good mic — it really makes a huge difference.
2. Learn how to edit yourself — relying on someone else is stressful, especially when your under time pressure — it’s so much better to be able to do it yourself, even if you don’t edit your own show forever it’s an invaluable skill. Everyone at RedHanded Limited knows how to edit to a high standard because we were able to teach them how we want it done rather than rely on someone else.
3. Be interesting — There is nothing worse than a dull podcast host, your listeners are there for you so make it worth their while — don’t be afraid to share your own stories and experiences within the show.
4. Be consistent — no matter what you produce, someone, somewhere will listen to it so don’t let them down!
5. Don’t let the bastards grind you down — the bigger you get, the more people will feel entitled to share their opinion on you, a lot of people hate to see others succeed. Don’t read reviews it’s pointless, and like reading someone else’s diary you won’t stop until you find something bad about yourself.

Can you share some insight from your experience about the best ways to: 1) book great guests; 2) increase listeners; 3) produce it in a professional way; 4) encourage engagement; and 5) the best way to monetize it? (Please share a story or example for each, if you can.)

1. The best way to book guests is by having a successful show, if your content is good people will love to be a part of it. Sucking up to them also helps.
2. There is no magic formula for increasing listeners apart from having great content. No one listens to a podcast because they saw it advertised somewhere, they listen because their friends told them it was good
3. Edit, edit, edit — mouth sounds are gross — take them out
4. Chat to your listeners and run competitions
5. We have had great success with Patreon (currently earning £45,000.00 per month). Patreon is great because you can control the rewards you offer, there is no ad company taking a cut of your money or telling you what to do.

For someone looking to start their own podcast, which equipment would you recommend that they start with?

Some people are snotty about USB mics, but we think it’s total nonsense. The best starter mic is a Blue Yeti, it does everything you need it to do and you can learn as you go.

Ok. We are almost done. :-) Because of your position and work, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Defund the police.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow us at @redhandedthepod

Thank you so much for sharing your time and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.