Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Mozoki & Maura McGinn
Hi Natalie Mozoki & Maura McGinn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Natalie and Maura have been best friends since 3rd grade and went to school together through the end of high school. When they separated for college, their friendship basically became 100% online. (Maura is based in Baltimore again now, and Natalie is now based in NYC, but they both grew up in Baltimore County.) Ever since they bonded in the 3rd row of a car on a trip to Hershey Park, they were inseparable and basically became sisters. While other friends came and went, their bond couldn’t be broken – by distance, or otherwise. They were never big friend group people and essentially just hung out with each other all the time. Growing up, they lived exactly 7 minutes away from each other, but Natalie always tried to push that to 5 when driving over to pick Maura up.
So many people have been starting podcasts recently, and Natalie and Maura both enjoy indulging in podcasts centered around controversial conversations. Earlier this year, as a joke, Natalie mentioned to Maura that they should start a podcast, and Maura thought it was just a joke until it wasn’t. A thing to know about Natalie – mostly everything she says is half a joke and half serious. In the end, they decided they may as well give it a shot because even if no one listened, they were at least dedicating a couple hours to chat and fully catch up every week. (Even though their texts are a never-ending stream of consciousness.)
When they decided to go through with it, though, they took it very seriously and worked hard to brainstorm a concept that was unique to the space – Traffic Light Podcast. Each week they each think of a green light, yellow light, and red light – though, recently, they have decided to up it to three of each instead of two. They begin the episodes with weekly life updates, go into the traffic light topics, then end the episode with relevant quotes of the week. Also, for the lore, they would like to note that “traffic light” is actually an inside joke from middle school, but they can’t elaborate much further on that.
To expand on the concept, green light topics are positive vibes – something either Natalie or Maura (or both) are loving either that week, or just always. Yellow light topics are controversial vibes – something either they don’t agree on, or don’t agree with the general public about. This section also usually includes a Reddit post reading to tie in a topic, since those are popular on the internet right now. Finally, red lights are hater vibes – something either Natalie or Maura (or both) are hating either that week, or just always. Usually they can be random and vary week to week, but they started making every tenth episode a theme. The tenth episode was music themed, and their most recent episode, the twentieth, was back to school themed.
For each episode, Maura edits all the graphics – traffic reports, quotes of the week, or any fun extras; while Natalie edits the episode audio and creates video clips for TikTok and Instagram (@trafficlightpod on both platforms).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While the podcast industry has come a long way since it’s become more saturated, learning some of the technology/recording techniques has been difficult. They record their episodes on an app called Riverside, which has mainly been a good experience, except for when the recordings decide to take forever to upload – should be a few minutes, but sometimes it’s days. Afterwards, Natalie downloads the raw recordings and edits them in iMovie, which has been mostly smooth sailing, except having to figure out the memory issue – the files are way too large to store all on one computer. (She is still working on that, so any tips are appreciated!) Also, it’s been a struggle to gain traction with views on social media clips, but slowly but surely, they have been increasing.
Besides technology, sometimes it’s a struggle to find a time to record. Both Natalie and Maura work full time and value their time at home with their respective partners. It’s especially difficult for Natalie sometimes because she lives in a studio apartment, so she doesn’t have a separate room to go into and close the door. Also, in general, life is busy, and it can be hard to find time to edit every week. That is why recently they have decided to create longer episodes and release them biweekly instead.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As Natalie and Maura mentioned in their introductory section, they co-host a podcast called Traffic Light Podcast. Their traffic light concept sets them apart from other podcasts in the same realm and helps keep the conversations more structured – though, of course, they still have their side tangents.
Currently, they are most proud of their Instagram reel titled “AITA (People Always Being Late)” reaching 9.2k+ views organically – and it’s still growing! They believe strongly in building their brand without paying for promotion on clips they post. They don’t even share the clips on their personal accounts because they want people to like the podcast because they like our content, not because they know us in real life.
Despite the editing portion, Natalie specializes in thinking she’s hilarious (even when she’s not) and aggressively niche hot takes.
Despite the graphics portion, Maura specializes in being able to stay more neutral and see both sides, but she can still get heated/passionate when she wants to.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Please listen to “Traffic Light Podcast” on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and follow TLP on Instagram and TikTok (@trafficlightpod). Also, please submit a question at their link in bio, and they will discuss on an episode!
Pricing:
- FREE
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/trafficlightpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trafficlightpod/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@trafficlightpod
