The Podcast Princess

From Atlanta to Manhattan, the Podcast Princess has arrived: meet Kaylan Johnson! Kaylan came to St. John’s with a dream of being in the media/entertainment industry, but during the height of the pandemic in her junior year, God introduced her and her two other Black cohosts to the power of podcasting, and they started the podcast KSquared. They were named “the Voice of the People,” at the Haraya Ball, and the podcast has helped Kaylan inch further toward her dream of being a television personality.

She is grounded in her faith in God and in her purpose in life. She is a star on the rise! Now take some time to check out her St. John’s experience and don’t miss her next episode of KSquared!

Why did you choose St. John’s University?

“I chose St. John’s because I love the location. I knew I wanted to go to school in New York because I am interested in pursuing a career in the media entertainment industry. I wanted to be able to go to Manhattan, and the city is easily accessible from the Queens campus.

St. John’s was at my high school college fair. They hosted a dinner in Atlanta, GA, and I was very impressed. Alumni from Atlanta spoke to us about their experiences and answered our questions. After that, I knew this was definitely the place for me.

I visited the campus before I committed. Everyone was so welcoming in the Department of Communication Arts. They let us tour and speak to people. I knew I wanted to be in radio and television, so I went to the WSJU radio station and met with the President at the time—we chopped it up. It was just such a welcoming atmosphere, and I knew this was it! It felt like it was my second home. I like the fact that it is close to the city, but you still feel safe. You just don’t get that anywhere else in New York City.”

What is next for you?

“I love Atlanta, and Atlanta is home. But postgraduation, I more than likely won’t be returning there. I haven’t decided yet. I’m still waiting to hear back on certain opportunities, but I really want to be in New York for the summer. After that, I want to switch it up and go somewhere like Houston, TX.

I want to work in the media or entertainment industry, more on the corporate side. I want to get into brand strategy, which involves working with companies on how to strengthen their brand through collaboration with their graphic designers and social media managers.

I really like graphic design and I’ve done the whole social media managing thing. In Atlanta, I interned for the top hip-hop station and had the opportunity to be mentored by Bri, a social media influencer. I did a lot of that work with her, and at the time I didn’t recognize it as brand strategy, but then I realized it was and I was good at it. I was working in production, coming up with what to post on social media, from the reels to the sounds to put on it, figuring out what’s going to grab people’s attention, and brand placement. I strategized everything and was able to see it come to life.

I did it on the influencer level, but I can really see myself doing this with big brands. So, many of the jobs and opportunities that I have been applying for have been under the brand strategy umbrella.

If God was to say, ‘What do you want to do right now?’, I probably would say, ‘Have my own TV show.’ I already have a podcast, KSquared, and we’re about to start releasing and honing in on video content. My dream job would to be a talk show cohost with my friends. We would invite people on to talk about all types of stuff, similar to The View.”

What has been your involvement on campus?

“I was a Resident Assistant for two years; one year in DaSilva Hall, and now in O’Connor Hall. During my first year, I was a floor representative. We had to run for office and get people to vote for us. It was super cute.

I stared working with the radio station WSJU in my sophomore year. Before KSquared was a podcast, it was a radio show. Once I got my hours, I landed the show and got two cohosts. It gained a lot of buzz because there were no shows led by Black girls on campus, and no show that focused on topics we wanted to talk about. We won the Voice of the People Award at the Haraya Ball!

I have been on the WSJU e-board for three years. During my sophomore year, I was news director. In my junior year, I did various jobs, but I was primarily the marketing director. Now, I am the public relations executive. I do the social media, generate different collaborations on campus, and host events.

Once the pandemic hit, we were not allowed in the station anymore. Plus, I was the only one still in New York. That’s when one of my cohosts suggested a podcast.

I had never considered a podcast before; when I was in my first year of college, podcasts were not popular yet. Podcasts really took off during the pandemic. So, my friend Kiaran suggested that we do it on Zoom and take the audio and put it on Apple Music. We were all in different parts of the country and could still be in the same space virtually. 

It started to gain more traction outside of St. John’s, and once we started to realize the potential, we were determined to keep it up. But it has been a journey. Having your own podcast and not having financial backing is difficult since it’s not a cheap space to be in.

It definitely has been a journey with many ups and downs, and a few hiatuses. We are college students just trying to figure out an industry that not a lot of people our age are even in for real.

It has been beautiful just to see how well we have taken off. I’m excited to see where we go from here. I feel like we really need to take this somewhere; we are considering meeting once a month after graduation to do batch content. It will give us a trip to look forward to every month, and we could record four to five episodes to release over the month.”

What is the biggest lesson you have learned?

“I’ve learned a lot of lessons, but the biggest lesson is to acknowledge the first red flags or just that inner gut feeling when something is not right. Really trust your gut, which to me is like trusting God in a sense and trusting the Holy Spirit. You get a feeling for a reason. There’s definitely beauty in the mistakes you make, and beauty in learning those lessons, because then you know that now you do really need to rely on your gut.

The next lesson I’ve learned is to stay the course. In college it is very easy to get distracted, forget why you’re here, and lose your sense of purpose because not everyone is cut from the same cloth as you or built like you. So, when you’re in a new environment and you’re not surrounded by like-minded individuals, it’s really easy to get off course. Luckily, my mom was always encouraging me in school, especially my first two years.

I feel like I definitely could have chosen different opportunities for myself if I had stayed the course in certain situations, but I try not to think like that. I feel like it’s good to be real with yourself. Always remember to stay the course and not lose your sense of purpose.

The final lesson is to be picky with who you spend your time with. Be picky with who gets access to you. When you’re in college, you want to make sure the people you speak to or the people that you allow to have access to you, have your best interest at heart. These are some of the most crucial years before you enter adulthood. The people you are around, you share energy with them, you share ideas, you pick up on things from them. There will be people you thought were genuine and they weren’t, and again it’s that inner gut feeling that will tell you every time who is solid and who is not.”

What has been your overall St. John’s experience?

“I would have to say my college experience has been like being on a roller coaster, with many ups and downs. But a roller coaster is always a fun ride at the end of the day. Once you get off, you’re in disbelief that’s its over already. It goes by really fast, and sometimes you wish you can go again. I wouldn’t trade being at St. John’s for four years for anything or have it any other way.”