Bundaberg born and raised Isaac Marano has delved into the world of storytelling with his After Dark podcast sharing inspirational stories from domestic violence survivors.
Isaac has created 22 episodes in his After Dark podcast series, speaking with domestic violence survivors from all over the world.
The 31-year-old said interviewees came from all walks of life, and included people from Australia, Canada, United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, that all had a common history.
Growing up in Qunaba before moving to Brisbane when he was 18, Isaac said he had always been interested in making podcasts, and the topic came about after his partner had experienced domestic violence in a previous relationship.
“I was in a long-term relationship where my partner had been involved in an abusive relationship before she met me,” he said.
“The perspective I have is not that I’ve experienced it first hand, but that I’ve seen it from the other side.
“I was there to support her through the lasting effects of being abused.”
After Dark podcast has almost 5000 downloads
The first episode of the After Dark podcast was created in December 2018 and the series has now had almost 5000 downloads internationally.
Isaac said he never imaged a career creating podcasts and recalls as a child how daunting it felt speaking in front of a school class.
“Being someone that stutters every now and then, I never would have guessed that I would be devoting my time to interview people,” he said.
“It’s interesting though, as back in school I remember that speaking in front of the class was not my kind of thing at all!”
When starting out Isaac said he thought it would be challenging to find domestic violence survivors that would be willing to talk about their experience.
“During this time, I didn’t actually have a finished example to show someone,” he said.
“I could only really pitch the idea to people, and hoped that they would be able to believe in what I was trying to do.
“To find survivors of domestic violence, I took to Instagram and searched for various hashtags around domestic violence – I was blown away with how many people were posting about this issue.
“I started to message and reach out to these brave survivors and managed to get the ball rolling.
“I’ve now got a lot more people reaching out to me, wanting to share their own story.
“At the start I didn’t think that many people would even be interested in listening to the podcast.”
He hopes the After Dark podcast inspires people who may be in a similar situation to the interviewees to take the steps to reach out and seek help if needed.
“If you know of anyone that might have experienced domestic violence, please feel free to share the After Dark podcast with them,” he said.
“You never know who might need to hear these inspiring stories.”
To listen to the After Dark podcast click here.
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