‘ Somebody ’ Again
Carl Landau , the former owner of Niche Media , launches a podcast from his garage
BY Sena Christian | PHOTO BY Wes Davis
Carl Landau was all set to fly to San Antonio in March 2020 for the 14th annual Super Niche conference for publishers of business-to-business , business-to-consumer , regional , trade-association and other specialized magazines . But the pandemic altered his plans , and in more ways than one .
The in-person conference hosted by Niche Media shifted to virtual , and Landau stayed home — an unexpected ending to his 37 years of experience in publishing and event organizing . This conference was to be his last before Landau , who founded Sacramentobased Niche Media in 2000 , retired from the part-time position he held for a year after selling his company to St . Louis-based Second Street in March 2019 . He planned to do some traveling with his wife , take it easy , and leisurely move on to this next idea , hosting a weekly podcast . “ But there was nothing to do ,” he says .
So Landau , 64 , got right back to work . He launched a company called Pickleball Media , and in September recorded and released his first episode of “ I Used to Be Somebody ” out of the makeshift Tiki bar in the garage of his East Sacramento home . His podcast , which is getting about 5,000 downloads a month , is for the “( un ) retired ,” Landau says , describing the baby boomer generation of entrepreneurs , CEOs and other executives , and creatives who seek a post-retirement identity and fulfillment unattached to their careers .
“ If I was really honest , I ’ d say a lot of my self-worth is in working ,” says Landau , who knew from experience that a market existed for his podcast . “ All of a sudden not to work would just be weird and just would not be good for me . There are tens of millions of people just like me . People today , for the most part , don ’ t want to have a typical retirement .”
Episodes have included conversations with a trial attorney who became a professional nature photographer , a former senior vice president at the Food Network who now teaches at New York University and a media executive turned business coach . One trend he has highlighted on the show is people who become entrepreneurs for the first time in their 60s .
Landau , an entrepreneur since age 26 , started three media companies ( in
software development , craft brewing and niche publishing ) and launched and sold five niche magazines ( Computer Language , AI Expert , Brew Your Own , Wine- Maker and BrewPub ) and three events ( Software Development Show , National BrewPub Conference and Super Niche ). “ If you ’ ve been an entrepreneur particularly , a lot of your personal satisfaction is work related ,” he says . Entrepreneurs , he says , often get their energy from work , just as he does . With the podcast , he gets to choose the aspects of the business he wants to do ( interviewing guests is his favorite part , and he has discovered an affinity for writing with his online diary ), because Pickleball Media is a vehicle to explore his interests , not to pad his savings account .
He ’ s also been driven to tackle challenges his staff would have handled in the past . One of his 20 strategies for having a successful ( un ) retirement , he says , is “ keeping up with technology . Because if you don ’ t , you ’ re going to be totally lost .” Other strategies include “ writing a business plan for your ‘ second act ’” and volunteering because “ You ’ ve reached the no-excuse zone .”
Landau wants to inspire listeners to push beyond their comfort zone when a
“ All of a sudden not to work would just be weird and just would not be good for me . There are tens of millions of people just like me . People today , for the most part , don ’ t want to have a typical retirement .”
major career chapter has ended . “ I really believe that ’ s what keeps your mind sharp and ( what ) keeps you really going is doing new stuff , and sort of putting yourself in a situation where you have to figure out something new that you ’ re not particularly comfortable in ,” he says . “ That ’ s what really excites me , and it gives me energy , and I think there are a lot of people like that .”
Sena Christian is managing editor of Comstock ’ s . Online at www . senachristian . com and on Twitter @ SenaCChristian .
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