Today we wanted to feature a native Mississippian who is working to highlight the incredible innovation and entrepreneurship present right here in our state. We got the chance to talk to Casey Combest, the founder of BlueSky Studios, about his podcast series Made in Mississippi and what the growth of BlueSky Studios means for our community.
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{Tell us a little bit about yourself.}
I grew up in Vancleave, down on the Coast of our state. It was really a wonderful place to learn and grow. After High School, I studied Sociology at Mississippi College. Like most college students I did not have a strong hold on how I wanted to spend my life. After college I had several jobs, but nothing really resonated with me until I realized I could be an entrepreneur. I could build something.
{What is BlueSky Studios?}
From High School until College I recorded my music at a lot of different studios. But, I never really had anyone produce me. Never someone to walk me through finding a sound that is both unique to me (so I could stand out), and still familiar to the current market (so I could build a career). I eventually began to recording myself out of frustration. While it was efficient, sitting in front of your computer by yourself with a guitar for hours is super boring ha! Over time, I really began to see the joy of working with others. Helping them get their vision for their music out of their heads. Making their dream a reality. After 3 years of running the studio part-time, I made the jump to full-time. That was 5 years ago now.
{What is the story behind your podcast series, Made in Mississippi ?}
While studying sociology was a blast, it’s not super helpful for running a business ha! Podcasting was the way I educated and inspired myself while I was starting the studio and building it into what it is today. At some point, you sort of become numb to the 1000th story about an amazing entrepreneur in NY or Silicon Valley. From this listener fatigue came one one of those light bulb moments. Why not create my own podcast where I tell the positive stories of our entrepreneurs? After Season 1, C Spire graciously approached us to be the title sponsor. We launched Season 3 in early February 2018. We’ve had entrepreneurs like Joel Bomgar (Bomgar), Will Primos (Primos Hunting), Stephen Johnston (Same Kind Of Different As Me), and 15 other amazing entrepreneurs on our show. Mississippi is truly a wealth of experience and amazing men and women who build stuff.
I grew up in Vancleave, down on the Coast of our state. It was really a wonderful place to learn and grow. After High School, I studied Sociology at Mississippi College. Like most college students I did not have a strong hold on how I wanted to spend my life. After college I had several jobs, but nothing really resonated with me until I realized I could be an entrepreneur. I could build something.
{What is BlueSky Studios?}
From High School until College I recorded my music at a lot of different studios. But, I never really had anyone produce me. Never someone to walk me through finding a sound that is both unique to me (so I could stand out), and still familiar to the current market (so I could build a career). I eventually began to recording myself out of frustration. While it was efficient, sitting in front of your computer by yourself with a guitar for hours is super boring ha! Over time, I really began to see the joy of working with others. Helping them get their vision for their music out of their heads. Making their dream a reality. After 3 years of running the studio part-time, I made the jump to full-time. That was 5 years ago now.
{What is the story behind your podcast series, Made in Mississippi ?}
While studying sociology was a blast, it’s not super helpful for running a business ha! Podcasting was the way I educated and inspired myself while I was starting the studio and building it into what it is today. At some point, you sort of become numb to the 1000th story about an amazing entrepreneur in NY or Silicon Valley. From this listener fatigue came one one of those light bulb moments. Why not create my own podcast where I tell the positive stories of our entrepreneurs? After Season 1, C Spire graciously approached us to be the title sponsor. We launched Season 3 in early February 2018. We’ve had entrepreneurs like Joel Bomgar (Bomgar), Will Primos (Primos Hunting), Stephen Johnston (Same Kind Of Different As Me), and 15 other amazing entrepreneurs on our show. Mississippi is truly a wealth of experience and amazing men and women who build stuff.
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{What does the future of BlueSky Studios and Made in Mississippi look like?}
As Made In Mississippi grows, I want to establish it as the place that tells the stories of our entrepreneurs. When people think of inspirational and positive business stories, I want them to think of Made In Mississippi. I think there are plenty of platforms that tell stories and news of business in our state. Yet, our agenda is to tell those stories in a way that other Mississippians feel courage and excitement about their business, whatever stage it is in.
There’s a lot of potential with Made In Mississippi. We’ve already begun producing podcasts for amazing clients like C Spire, Morgan White Group, BankPlus, and Navitas Wealth Management. And we have several exciting podcasts for other brands launching over the next few months.
Blue Sky Studios is experiencing its own growth as well. It will be in its first stand alone, dedicated music space in a few months. It will have lodging for out of town bands, and a studio B that will be perfect for writing, co-writing, rehearsals, and recording overdubs. Making the early stages of the recording process financially accessible and creative.
{Where can people listen to episodes of Made in Mississippi?}
People can listen to Made In Mississippi on any podcast app, or stream on the web here: https://goo.gl/RoJ6LM
We currently release 2 episodes a month. In the past we’ve taken breaks between seasons, but we’re really hoping to move straight from season 3 into season 4 in the summer. I feel very confident I could easily do 10 seasons of Made In Mississippi. There’s so many amazing entrepreneurs in our state.
You can find out more about Blue Sky Studios here: www.blueskystudios.org
Mississippi has a wonderful and bright future. I’m so excited to play a small part in it.
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