“You should really do a podcast,” someone said to me once.

I ignored them. There was enough of me out there. I had a blog, social media, I preached and taught and wrote — my opinion on pretty much everything is online and ready to be consumed, should someone feel inspired to go find it. What was there to add?

“You should do a podcast,” a couple more people said over the years. I ignored them, too.

There’s a podcast about everything. Does the world really need another podcast? What isn’t being talked about?

While I ignored my friend’s suggestions, I decided to myself that if I ever found something that I cared about that wasn’t already being covered I’d think about it — especially if it was for a reason bigger than making sure everyone knew my opinion.

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Eight years ago this summer my wife, kids, and I loaded up the minivan and drove to Texas. It was a re-boot for the Benton family — one that has brought plenty of twists and turns along the way. As we finished potty training and earned masters degrees and landed dream jobs and did all the other stuff your 30s with two kids brings, something interesting happened along the way.

We made a life and found a home in Katy, Texas. 

An old rice town that has ballooned into a suburban area with a population the size of Pittsburgh, it’s a unique place to do life. So when people kept prompting me to start a podcast, I started thinking about the story of Katy, Texas.

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The Katy Podcast has been brewing for several months. This week, we posted our first full-length episode. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Here is the RSS URL for Apple Podcasts. 

Every community has a story, but we didn’t feel like anyone was telling the story of Katy. We have some stellar news outlets, and there are a couple podcasts in town with niche listenership — but our podcast will visit every side of town (our area has many sides) and introduce listeners to the people, businesses, and organizations that make Katy a great place to live. These iconic institutions make Katy what it is.

We’ll also profile some of our areas nonprofits. My wife and I both work for area nonprofits, and all of them need greater exposure and support. My hope is that by producing this podcast, we’ll build community and tell great stories. I believe great stories matter. I believe they change things.

The first season will be 8 episodes plus some bonus content containing the Mount Rushmores of Katy — the four best burger joints, coffee shops, or places to spend a day with your family.

We’re live on Facebook, too, because we want to start a conversation. We want input. We seek our community’s story from their point of view, not just our own.

So, I finally started a podcast — and I’m pumped to share the story of our community with our neighbors. So subscribe and join with us as we seek to build community through The Katy Podcast.