What do you get when you mix a lot of unexpected free time with a passion project? For senior Kayley Underwood, the answer is some good conversations — particularly, “Christlike Conversation,” a podcast she officially launched March 17.
Underwood said the inspiration for the interview-style podcast came from various conversations she’s had with friends over the years. She said she first had the idea during the fall semester of 2019, and her father was able to help her finalize and set up the technical side of it.
“We set that up, and I wrote down kind of the whole theme in February,” Underwood said. “Then it just kind of became a matter of who I wanted to interview at that point, so I was just brainstorming what are the kinds of conversations we wanted to have and what exactly that looks like.”
Underwood said a key point of having interviews in her podcast was to make sure it took the spotlight off her. She said she believes the content should focus on the conversations and the interviewee rather than herself and her own opinions.
“I didn’t want my podcast to just be me talking all the time; I knew that I struggled enough with pride as it is,” Underwood said. “I knew that if I was interviewing other people, that puts me in a more humble position, and other people have a lot that I can learn from.”
Underwood interviewed Harding alumna Erin Hasler for the episode titled “Be Still and Know.” Hasler said she has known Underwood for many years, and she has seen how Underwood has grown. Hasler said that together the two have had many in-depth spiritual conversations just like the episode she is featured on, so she was excited to be a part of the podcast.
“Kayley is a very genuine person, and she’s very interested in what people think and what their views are,” Hasler said. “So I think it’s very cool that she’s doing this podcast, because it’s very true to who she is.”
Junior Jamey Fischer, another good friend of Underwood, said Underwood would always want to have deep conversations with people to learn more about them and their points of view.
“She’s always looking for a good conversation about God,” Fischer said.
Fischer said these conversations open doors and allow for both personal and spiritual growth.
“She mentioned to me that she feels like Christlike conversations is something that is very important in growing our relationships with God through each other,” Fischer said. “So I feel like based on her own personal need, where she felt the need to grow some more, she made this podcast to help other people do that as well.”
Underwood explained the inspiration behind the podcast’s title, and why it was important to her.
“You know, when I was thinking about titles, I was hesitant to put Christ in the title,” Underwood said. “But that is what I ultimately want to be known for, is how I portray him and how he lives through me, so I felt like that was very important to include in the title, because if Christ is my identity, he needs to be forefront in all things.”
“Christlike Conversations” can be found on most podcast sites including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor and more.
