Fresh Produce: Catherine Fenollosa

We're back with another installment of conversations with amazing producers. Catherine Fenollosa has been with Rococo Punch since the very beginning and her skills and interests know no bounds. Whether it's financial services or UFO hunters or animal communicators, she throws herself in completely. What's also incredible about Catherine is her calm. Calm vibe, calm approach, calm direction, calm collaboration. It is such a powerful tool and anyone who works with her is grateful (and beyond lucky) to have her on the team. Catherine also comes to the table with a lot of experience; she's worked on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Car Talk, The Connection, and more. We are all learning from her all the damn time.

1. When did you realize you wanted to become a producer?

The first time I stepped into a public radio newsroom, I knew I wanted to be a part of what was happening there. I was eager to take on anything they’d let me do. Pretty quickly, I realized that I didn’t want to work “solo” as a reporter. Being a producer felt more collaborative to me.

2. In your mind, what did the job entail?

Everything. Writing, editing, story pitching, field reporting, water fetching, manning the copy machine.?

3. Now that you know what the job entails, tell us what you do.

Everything. I think that’s what I loved about the job immediately. You could have your hands in everything, learn so many different skills. Currently I pitch, generate story/show ideas, write, edit, interview… anything that goes into putting a show together.?

4. You have worked on some pretty incredible legacy NPR shows.? What was it like to work on programs like Car Talk and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me?

Car Talk was a very small staff and at the time, I was working in the newsroom at WBUR desperate to get off the 4am Morning Edition shift. I walked into Car Talk’s Harvard Square offices and asked if they needed help. Amazingly, they did. I soon began to shadow one of their producers and when she moved on, I was offered the job. I learned how to edit with Pro Tools on the fly (this was back in the olden days when we were cutting the entire show on tape with a razor blade and china marker.) It was an incredible experience to work with two such naturally gifted hosts, and with an incredibly creative senior producer. At the time, I don’t think I appreciated how far reaching the program was until one day I was at a red light and a car pulled up next to me. The driver had their window down and they were listening to Car Talk and laughing hysterically. Some days I felt like we were just making the show because it was entertaining to us. And maybe that’s the biggest lesson I learned there. You have to follow your gut and do what you feel is right. Not everyone is going to love what you make, and some people definitely did NOT love Car Talk. But if you don’t love it, chances are no one will. And you’ll be miserable doing it.

5. What is the biggest difference between working in radio and working in podcasting?

Learning that there aren’t as many guardrails or norms when it comes to content, show length, and expectations. And that finding an audience is hard.

6. Your favorite part of the job?

The constant diversity of show topics - from a music review show, to one with a pet psychic, to sustainability, and health. I like how my days are varied, too - recording, editing, writing, researching. It’s never boring.?

7. Your most memorable moment?

In the early days of covid zoom recordings, having a naked man walk into the camera view of a guest!

8. Weirdest thing you’ve done on the job?

UFO hunting with night vision goggles in Arizona.?

9. You are a working mom of three.? Any tips to other parents who balance caregiving and career? ?

I wish I knew! Still trying to figure it out.?

Same, Catherine. Same. To check out Catherine's work (and her wide range!), listen to this show we did on sustainable financing for Morgan Stanley and this project we did for Fatherly/iHeart on Raffi, the kids entertainer.