About Yellow Armadillo Studios
Our Mission
I founded Yellow Armadillo Studios in the fall of 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic ended my public radio job as a daily talk show producer. I have a decade of experience in media, and have spent the past 8 years specializing in interview and talk shows at both the national and local level.
I disagree that there are “too many” podcasts. If you want to share your voice, let’s do it together. You don’t have to want to get rich or get acquired— just wanting to speak is enough of a reason. My focus will always be on you and your story— and on helping you connect with the audience you want to hear it.
My favorite people to collaborate with are professionals and academics looking to expand their reach and share their expertise with a wider audience.
about US
Melody Rowell
FOUNDER & Executive Producer
I’ve loved podcasts for over a decade. Being from Colorado and attending college in Kansas City, I spent a lot of hours in the car driving across Kansas, listening to This American Life and Stuff You Should Know. When I moved to Washington, DC, podcasts were a necessary part to my commute-- shows like Serial, Criminal, Reply All, and 99% Invisible.
But I didn’t think I could have a career in audio until one day, it seemed like the only choice. I was working in the photography department at National Geographic. I’d been assigned to write a piece accompanying photos of people fleeing wildfires in Canada. I called each of these survivors to hear of their escape and what they planned to do next, with only the belongings that could fit in their cars. As I listened to them, I could tell that whatever I wrote would fall flat. Because of my incessant podcast listening, I realized that what was missing from my written words was the emotion and passion that can only be found in someone’s voice.
Shortly after that I applied and was accepted to the Transom Story Workshop in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It’s sleepaway camp for wannabe producers, and the teachers boast that it has a more exclusive acceptance rate than Harvard. I spent 9 weeks on Cape Cod learning the ins and outs of radio production-- how to operate a mic and recorder, how to edit audio, how to conduct an interview, how to incorporate music in an audio piece. It was life-changing. When I got back to DC, I quit my job at National Geographic and set out to freelance.
Since then, I’ve worked primarily on talk shows-- niche podcasts about the Supreme Court, a nationally-broadcast NPR show, and a daily, local talk show that covered the arts and culture scene in Kansas City. It’s harder than it sounds to have an engaging conversation meant for a wide audience-- and I pride myself on coaching and prepping hosts to carry on those conversations. I also get a thrill out of editing audio to make it as listenable as possible for the audience-- think cutting out sirens, barking dogs, humming air conditioners, and screaming children. If I’ve done my job right, you won’t think about me at all.