Meet Jared Meschke and Justin Butler of Hot Tub Talks Podcast in Highlands

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Meschke and Justin Butler.

Jared and Justin grew up together in Louisville, Colorado where they attended the same high school, middle school and elementary school- they were even born in the same hospital room. Although born from different mothers and a month apart, Avista Hospital room #212 is where the story of the Average J’s truly began. Let’s just say the energy in that room was electric, but both babies were shockingly average.

Many adventures and countless laughs later, the idea to start a podcast came to be. We both had been captivated by the world of comedy and podcasting, but we knew that our average-ness couldn’t compete with icons like Chris D’elia and Joe Rogan, but damn it- we knew we had to start somewhere.

So, we went spelunking deep within the caverns of our souls to find what made us two unique. After much deliberation, we finally had an epiphany. The one thing that made us unique was the one thing that united us; we were both extraordinarily average, and that would become the essence of our brand.

To this day we don’t try to be someone we’re not, we put out weekly episodes in the hope of making people smile and giving them a break from the chaos of the world around us. The podcast isn’t meant to teach advanced calculus nor will it replace strong doses of laughing gas- but you can find us somewhere in the middle. But that’s for you to decide.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The podcasting road is an arduous one. Initially, the struggles included coming up with a brand, creating the segments and structure for each episode, and maybe most of all- maintaining consistency. It took a while to realize that no episode would be perfect, but putting out regularly scheduled content would lead to growth. After all, fear kills growth.

Furthermore, acquiring any sort of audience was difficult without any prior experience in the industry, especially without an ounce of previous notoriety. And it was a slow process but the Average J’s are relentless, driven and probably too dumb to know when to quit. So we blindly (and proudly) marched onward, and slowly got better with every release of an episode, gaining just a few listeners at a time. Over time, a few listeners turned into several, several turned into many and before we knew it, we had a healthy audience.

On top of this, it did not help that during our first season, one of the Average J’s decision to move to Indianapolis for six months… We tried to make the distance work, but unfortunately realized we couldn’t. Not only was hot tub season tarnished, but the Hot Tub Talks podcast had to be put on hold.

Please tell us about your work.
We’re a podcast. We record from a hot tub. We don’t claim to be geniuses or stand-up comics, but we like to unwind and provide the people of this earth simple entertainment meant to not be taken too seriously. The goal is to learn twice, laugh thrice.

The water temperature is set at 102, the ambiance is inviting, and we encourage everyone to simply take a load off and enjoy the conversation. Common themes include “what happened last week”, random facts, funny stories and responding to listeners’ emails/voicemails of all subjects.

We’re most proud of the fact that we took action on our dreams, and made them into something real. This podcast is a call to action to follow your dreams, conquer your inner b*tch and just get after it. Should we have given up when times were tough? Possibly. Does the seemingly endless climb to greater success feel daunting at times? Yes. Will the Average J’s let this stop them? Think again, Peter. This is simple entertainment from a hot tub, made by the people and for the people.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If we had to start over, we would have started sooner. Easy as that. Although we could have benefited from studying the craft more in-depth, better understanding production, marketing and audio technology, the truth is that there is no better teacher than experience.

The recipe we wish we knew earlier create, evaluate, adjust and repeat. Grand ideas are only dreams unless acted upon, and failing forward is a vital part of the journey. All in all, if we would have taken action when we first had the idea, who knows where we would be now.

Also, we’d look into waterproof microphones. Electrocution is the 784th leading cause of death in America and we are not looking to become a statistic.

Contact Info:

• Phone: *67 (303) 478-5408 (Voicemail Hotline)
• Email: hottubtalkspodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: hottubtalks
• Twitter: hottubtalks

Image Credit:
@wadegodman

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