Emmy Olea

Emmy Olea is the host of Sonoro Media’s Crumbs, an audio memoir about the things we settle for and the bits of ourselves that make us who we are. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Sonoro on social media here.

How would you describe Crumbs in 10 words or less?
Crumbs is raw, relatable, and empowering. 

Why did you decide to turn your story into a podcast? Why a podcast?
Haha.. I didn’t know what I was getting into. I wrote a book. The book was written to help others struggling with identity, non-traditional family dynamics, addiction, child traumas, sexual abuse, etc. When getting testimonials, my friend Utkarsh Ambudkar asked if he could pass along my proposal to someone who’d be riveted to read my story. I said, “sure why not”. A few days later, Alex Fumero called and proposed the podcast idea. At the time, I didn’t have a literary agent, we were in the middle of the pandemic, so I thought it could be a fun project to do with all my downtime. When I started recording, I realized that I was pretty much baring my soul to the world.

How did the show change from the moment you dreamed of it to the moment episode one launched?
What started as an idea to have something fun and flirty turned out to be something so deep and much more meaningful than I expected. To be completely honest, I had no idea the show was going in the direction that it did. I’m glad that it did, the end result was something so beautiful. 

You share a lot of personal details. What was the most difficult for you?
It was important to me to keep it real, no mask. With that came the good, the sad, the ugly. One of the most difficult things during the recording was reliving a lot of painful memories. There were times when I thought I couldn’t do it, or felt nervous to share certain details. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am quite reserved and I tend to keep my guard up. I had to remember what the primary purpose of the show was, to help others. That kept me going. 

What, for you, is the part of your story that you are most excited to share?
I’m mostly excited to share the internal growth from episode to episode. As a kid, I never thought I could escape the lifestyle that I had. I didn’t know that my experience, the pain and darkness I had lived through was going to be my biggest asset to help others. 

How did you feel when you were done recording the final episode? Was a weight lifted off or were you nervous?
I finished recording the dating stories last summer. I was so nervous, I thought, “oh my goodness it's all out there. I can’t undo it.”  But I did feel lighter, like I had taken a huge weight off my shoulders by putting it out there. I felt freer. 

Was there anything left on the cutting room floor that you can tell us about?
Well, there are a handful of stories I wish we could have recorded, like the time I dated a trans man, an gnarly experience I had with a baseball player, a guy I dated when the world suddenly shut down, the time I dated a marine who had no idea what transgender meant, and a few others. Maybe in a future project. 

What did you learn about yourself making the podcast?
In hearing the podcast, I learned that my entire life I’ve been pretty hard on myself. That I need to give myself a break because at the end of the day I didn’t turn out so bad.

Thanks, Emmy!