Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Butler, Tim Statum, and Javier Hernandez. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Once upon a time, Chad, Tim, and Javier were in a brewery in Colorado with friends, chatting about a bizarre topic and laughing throughout the ridiculous conversation. It was mentioned, “Why are we like this? Literally, no one else would think our crazy conversations are funny.” The volume of laughter continued to grow and others at the brewery were curious enough to get involved in the conversation. It was at this moment that we decided, “maybe we ARE funny, and people WOULD like our conversations,” and we decided to start a podcast for all to hear.
3 years later, we finally got together again with the proper setup and dubbed the newly established podcast “The Funky Panther.” What started as a reason for us to hangout a couple times per month turned into a larger project where we were interviewing musicians, business owners, chefs, brewers, influencers, and more. Now, The Funky Panther has weekly episodes that can be found on all podcast platforms and live streaming each Tuesday night at 8p CST on YouTube (all live videos also archived on YouTube).
Since then, we have won “Best of Fort Worth” from Fort Worth Magazine and Fort Worth Weekly 4 times. The Fort Worth Weekly put it well by saying, “The hour-long episodes meander through random commentary on local happenings and eventually settle on featured guests. The three hosts are high-energy, hilarious, and not shy about dropping f-bombs on air. Local musicians are frequent guests along with chefs, brewers, and distillers. The Funky Panther offers a fun and refreshing way to keep up with the colorful musicians, creatives, and business owners who keep the 817 funky fresh.”
The podcast continues to be extremely fun, and a reason for the 3 amigos to just “hangout” but has become a great way for us to connect to others in our community along the way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road! Social media, marketing, merchandise, and creating consistent audio/video content is definitely a full-time job. However, the 3 of us already have our own full-time jobs, 2 of us are in college, and time is always a struggle for us. Creating engaging content is challenging, but we consistently request feedback from our listeners/viewers to create the best end product that we possibly can. In addition, we have been friends so long, we are basically brothers, and sometimes brothers have spats. The content and the distribution of work sometimes creates issues between us, but luckily, we are always able to get through it together.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Our podcast and social media content is fresh and real. We are not ones to sugar-coat how we feel about a certain topic or stray away from talking about what is on our minds. We utilize feedback from our listeners/viewers and make sure to put as much of it into use as possible as they are why we continue to do what we do. Our guests always have a great time on our show and always seem to be impressed about how our episodes just seem like a “hangout” rather than full-blown interviews. On most occasions, our guests are surprised how quickly the hour-to-hour-and-a-half episodes go because of how much fun they are having on the episodes. Keep in mind this is not content for children or those with “sensitive ears” as there is plenty of cussing, laughing, and sometimes dirty humor included on the podcasts.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Find someone that impresses YOU, someone that YOU look up to, or someone that has strengths that you do not currently have. We have built really strong relationships with the other podcasts in our community in order to share best practices, discuss what works (and what doesn’t), and help one another along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thefunkypanther.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefunkypanther/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFunkyPanther/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefunkypanther
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFunkyPanther_/
Image Credits
Chase Martinez
Courtney Smith
