Meet Mandi Wimmer | Co-Owner of Black Barrel Media: Podcast Production Company specializing in cinematic audio

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mandi Wimmer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mandi, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
A piece of advice I often hear that I tend to disagree with you have to have fully flushed out business plan before starting a business. I agree you need to a good idea of your goals and ways in which you plan to get there, its also great to share your idea with trusted confidants or mentors or just sit down personally a poke holes in your idea, not to talk yourself out of it but to prepare so you’re ready when obstacles arise, which they always do — but in terms of a fool proof business plan, at some point you need to stop talking and planning and just do it. So much of running a business is learned as you go. There was no way for us to plan for much of what we’ve done because we never could have predicted it, particularly for the podcast industry which was very new when we started five years ago.

The one thing I would advise when starting a business is to wait until you have enough money saved to cover operating expenses plus enough to personally survive for at least a year with no income. It takes awhile for a business to get established and often longer than one year to really start making money; additionally, unexpected expenses always come up so if you are constantly in fear around revenue, it will be very hard to make clear headed decisions in the best interest of the company long term.

What should our readers know about your business?
Black Barrel Media is a podcast production company specializing in bringing true stories from History to life through significant research and cinematic storytelling. We’ve started seven podcasts in various genres, such as “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts: A Friday Night Lights Rewatch Podcast”, hosted by two of the actors, but we’ve recognized our niche is American History. Our two most popular podcasts which have been running for five year are: “Legends of the Old West” and “Infamous America”. A single narrator tells a story over a six episode series accompanied by cinematic sound design. Recently we launched “Mission History” that follows a similar format but is ten episodes, with the final two as audio documentary.

Infamous America is our historical true crime show. You’ll hear the craziest and sometimes darkest stories in American History from the Salem Witch trials to 1930s gangsters, to assassins, traitors, outlaws, scandals and murder mysteries.

Legends of the Old West focuses on the classic stories of the American West but told in a manner you’ve likely never heard before. On Legends you’ll hear tales of lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok, outlaws like Jesse James and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Native American leaders like Red Cloud and Crazy Horse and rowdy towns like Deadwood, Tombstone and Dodge City.

Mission History travels through world history to bring you stories legendary military leaders, epics campaigns and secret mission that have been hidden for years. This show launched with a special series on the Revolutionary War and recent discovery of soldiers remains found on a 250 year old battlefield in Camden, South Carolina. Having been exposed to farming, weather, animals and relic hunters for decades, their remains were saved from further ruin and re-buried with the honors they deserve in an epic three day ceremony. It’s an incredible story.

There have been so many challenges along the way it’s hard to pick just a couple to discuss. In part these challenges are due to the podcast industry being so new, and thus, evolving so rapidly the past few years almost everyone is in the same “learn as you go” boat. We are all figuring out new processes and strategies, as well as learning new programs that range from production to ad sales to subscriptions to how to manage co-productions, how to incorporate new distributions channels… its an endless list to keep up with on top of accounting, legal, marketing, our production and release schedules which listeners expect, and the need and desire to create news shows.

All of this has created an extremely intense work schedule that I think most would hesitate to sign up for, which is what I believe sets us apart. For 5+ years we’ve worked 7 days a week, nights, weekends, holidays, cut back on personal expenses, ie: socializing, shopping, travel, etc. We’ve put our money and energy into our business. Unless a person is independently wealthy with unlimited resources, I believe this dedication and these sacrifices are necessary when you’re serious about making a business work.

The “lessons learned” list is also endless, but the one I would say is the most important is one of the first you will make — choose your business partner wisely. Its imperative roles are clearly defined, the person(s) has the same work ethic as you do, you feel comfortable talking to them about anything, you trust them completely and you know how they work through problems. You will spend more hours with this person than probably anyone else in your life, and I would guess co-founders having a falling out is one of the biggest reasons most business fail.

My business partner is a my brother. We are truly a local family owned business that we started from scratch with our personal savings and worked for free for 3+ years to continue reinvesting to grow the company. We take enormous pride in the content we create for Black Barrel Media and are beyond grateful for those who listen to our shows.

Fun Facts:
Our podcasts are made to entertain, but since we also tell the true story through months of thorough research, many of our series are being used in classrooms to teach students history. Seeing this evolution from history books to podcasts is exciting, we are proud to be on the ground floor making history entertaining and fun.

We’ve also been interviewed as guest historians/expert commentators by the History Channel for their “Greatest Heists” series hosted by Pierce Brosnan, and the Tubi Network for their “Queen of Cocaine” documentary about drug Miami drug lord Griselda Blanco.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Admittedly, I’ve been very focused on work the past five years so I’m not up to date on new spots, but I’ve lived in Phoenix for 13 years so I have my favorites.

If I had a friend coming in town I’d schedule a day for hiking and spa. Some of the lesser known hikes that aren’t as crowded are my favorites and then head to the Montelucia, Phoenician, Biltmore, Camelback Inn or the Royal Palms (its impossible to choose!) for a spa afternoon to relax and recharge. Then, if you want to roll right into a sunset happy hour, all of five of them have amazing bars, scenery and mountain views. For dinner, El Chorro is must see; it’s steeped in Arizona history with great food and ambiance.

Another day I would head up north to Cave Creek and check out the Old West Town and shops, the quaint Carefree town circle and the Boulders resort. It’s a whole different world only 40min north of the heart of Phoenix and the boulders landscape always leaves me in awe.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The creation of Black Barrel Media is thanks to my brother and business partner, Chris Wimmer. While, working a full time job Chris started what is now one of our most successful podcasts, Legends of the Old West, as I side project. I joined him after writing the NFL bid for Arizona to host the 2022 Super Bowl, and we expanded into a full time company.

With a background in film and journalism Chris saw the handwriting on the wall in 2018 that the entrainment industry was trending toward audio. He also recognized our skill sets — his in screen/script writing, journalism, research and mine in large scale event production, budget management, marketing, etc would make a perfect team to start a business together.

Though neither of us were experts at podcasts at the time, he felt it was an industry we could learn based on our backgrounds. Also, after working together on a very high profile Super Bowl 51 live event in Houston, we learned we worked well together in high pressure, fast paced situations.

Website: https://blackbarrelmedia.com/

Instagram: @blackbarrelmedia

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandi-wimmer-b7ab4b4/

Twitter: BBarrelMedia

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackbarrelmedia

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9U7agPDS-WSM_JV3pzxTyA

Other: Links to all Podcasts, Youtube channels, History Channel and Tubi documentaries, etc: https://linktr.ee/blackbarrelmedia?utm_source=linktree_admin_share Additional Social Media – IG: @MandiWimmer @Oldwestpodcast Facebook and Twitter: @Oldwestpodcast

Image Credits
Audio Studio Shot with Chris and Mandi — Sneaky Big Black and White Studio with W Earl Brown — Joey McAdams