Written by Keron Rose

Dr. Terri-Karelle Reid is a walking masterclass on how to build your brand, how to build a thriving global community online and how to include all walks of life to participate in that community. 

At least once per quarter, I remind Terri-Karelle that even though she drops gems daily on her social media channels, I learn more from her just watching how she operates and her implementation of the finer details.

She recently completed Season 2 of the Redirection podcast and as a Digital Strategist, I can say that if you were paying attention, she just served up a Masterclass in brand development and marketing. 

It may or not be shocking that Terri has the most successful podcast that is coming out of the Caribbean region but allow me to break it all down for you in hopes that not only will you give her all the flowers but that you also take notes to implement in your capacity.

Key Stats:

• There are 37 Episodes in total
• 4.9 Rating with over 300 reviews (Chartable stats)
• Over 107 countries have tuned in via podcast platforms
• Over 104k Downloads
• 128k views on YouTube for Season 2

Just so you have an understanding of the reach of this podcast, there were avid listeners from countries like Kenya, Japan, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Colombia, UAE, Hong Kong, Romania, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, Oman and the list goes on. 

The Redirection podcast is currently ranking on 26 charts across the world on Apple Podcast. In all of the countries that the podcast is ranked on, there are no other Caribbean podcasts even close to her on the charts.

In Jamaica alone, Redirection is #86 on Apple Podcasts for ALL Podcasts being consumed in Jamaica. There are no podcasts from the Caribbean ranking ahead of her and the next podcast from the region that is ranking on the Apple Podcasts charts in Jamaica is DJ Puffy at #141. 

Redirection is currently #2 for the Personal Journals category and #15 for Society and Culture podcasts in Jamaica. But it’s when you see her ranking in Namibia for All Podcasts (95), Society and Culture (15), and the Personal Journals category (4) do you realize just how powerful her platform has become to reach so many corners of the world.

How did she do it? Well here are my 5 observations that lead to her success of Redirection.

1. Community – Terri has been building her community, fondly known as the TK Tribe for years. She has built and protected this community, sharing her stories, showcasing snippets of her life, giving you gems that she has learned over the years and inviting them along for the ride. The community was built not to go out and get followers or sell them products but as a safe space to share, connect, educate and have fun.  Over the years, the Tribe has grown into loyal supporters from countries around the world. 

• Inclusion – Season 1 of the podcast was a success by all accounts but Terri and her team went to work on how they could make this even more successful. Being an advocate for inclusion, she decided to shoot a video podcast that would allow her to include the deaf community. So for those who wanted audio only, that option was there but when you went over to YouTube, she shot videos for every episode and brought on Intermediary Interpreter, Antoinette “Toni” Aiken to sign for every episode. 

• Short Form Content – The Redirection Moments were short clips that were aimed to take key points from each episode and turn them into content for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. This allowed people to get bite-size digestible content, to drum up interest to go check out the longer-form episodes. 

• Adding The Video Format – Whilst Audio Podcasts are amazing, they have the highest completion rate of all content types, since people can passively consume podcasts whilst doing other things. The video format allowed Terri to introduce a captivating set that added another dimension to the visuals. It also paved the way for you to see the real and raw emotions of all the guests, making for heart-wrenching content. 

• The Angle – Great content is all about having a unique angle or perspective that makes you different from the market. Terri-Karelle could have easily had the Jamaican Prime Minister Mr. Andrew Holness on the podcast if she wanted but her angle was to find real people, that you may not have heard about but are doing amazing things. All of her guests are from a wide cross-section of society. Young, Old, In-between, male and female, students and professionals, those between jobs, careers and traversing other unexpected circumstances. 

The next factor that I believe that was going to make this Season a success was that it was mission-driven. Terri-Karelle had pledged to support “Eve For Life Jamaica” before she even got a sponsor for the season. She set out to donate JMD 150k but Heineken 0.0 came on board as a sponsor and agreed to match her pledge, to donate a total of JMD 300k. 

Sign language was a non-negotiable for Terri this season and Toyota Jamaica sponsored the sign language for all episodes, which fell in line with their mandate of “Mobility for all”.

We know that the success of these ventures will come down to your team and the close people in your corner. Terri-Karelle was successful in attracting the right partners who aligned perfectly with her visions and she aligned with theirs, so all sponsors and professionals involved were on the same page to turn this podcast into a mission, which has now led to become the most successful podcast in the Caribbean. 

The Redirection Podcast focuses on diversity, inclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility, authenticity, good content and collaboration. A winning formula for a successful podcast. 

I remember telling Terri way back in 2020, that she should do a podcast. She did her infamous cross-eye and wrote that off. Little did I know, she had started planning in the background to start it and months later, we got Season 1.

I think if you had told her that she would be creating the biggest podcast in the Caribbean, she may have just said “doh bodda with it.” But for all you readers in the Tk Tribe, I will tell you as I tell Terri, start paying attention to the moves she makes and how she goes about implanting all that she does. 

There is more to learn from Dr. Terri-Karelle Reid by watching her and making notes.