Editor's Note: Plenty of Mainers have stories to tell, either as a hobby, or as a new, cutting-edge livelihood. In this occasional series, Spectrum News Maine profiles local hosts who are expressing themselves through podcasting.
Some of Kristan Vermeulen’s fondest memories come from her childhood in Ellicott City, Md., when she would visit her grandmother’s antique shop, a literal mom-and-pop business selling things that were often made by hand.
“Every product that she carried told a story,” Vermeulen said. “I’m super-passionate about the small business environment. That’s where it all started for me.”
Today, Vermeulen, 32, has channeled her passion into a successful podcast, “Makers of the USA,” which spotlights people in Maine and across the country who have started businesses, usually around artisanal or other creative works.
Spectrum News Maine visited with Vermeulen in her Cumberland home office to learn how she went from working for a government agency in the nation’s capital to recording interviews with dog sledders in the backwoods of Maine.
Vermeulen didn’t set out to be a businesswoman, let alone a podcaster. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland in 2011, she got a job in public relations for the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. Vermeulen said she was working non-stop fielding media calls and prepping government officials for interviews in the wake of the scandal involving Edward Snowden, the NSA analyst who leaked classified information to the public in 2013.
“It was just a very challenging time,” she said.
By 2017, Vermeulen had moved on from the NSA and had worked a few short stints in corporate public relations, which she also didn’t like.
She moved to Maine in 2018 in part to take a public relations job with Sea Bags, the Portland-based company that makes bags out of recycled sailing material. She said the artisanal nature of the company and its commitment to working with other small businesses in Maine appealed to her.
That entrepreneurial spirit was a motivating factor two years later, in 2020, when Vermeulen decided to start the podcast.
At the time, she was raising two children and running her own public relations firm out of her home, but like many business owners, she was falling on hard times in part due to the coronavirus pandemic. Her husband, Kipp Vermeulen, is an engineer who works as a government contractor, so she said her household was more financially fortunate than some, but she didn’t feel right not having an occupation beyond being a homemaker.
“I didn’t want to just be a stay-at-home mom,” she said.
With a background in media relations, Vermeulen was aware of the growing popularity of podcasting. She said she loved the idea of a single episode lasting up to 45 minutes with no breaks and little to no editing.
“I think a lot of people appreciate the long form,” she said.
As Vermeulen planned out her new venture, she took inspiration from Raw Craft, a 16-episode series on YouTube featuring the late chef, author and filmmaker Anthony Bourdain. The series focused on artisanal crafters making things ranging from cast-iron pans to guitars to motorcycles.
The podcast, initially titled “Makers of Maine,” featured creative people in Maine, but soon broadened to include artists, musicians and entrepreneurs, which Vermeulen said are all part of what she calls the makers’ movement.
“It’s not just about crafting with hands. It’s much bigger than that,” she said.
Vermeulen started out by interviewing her current and former public relations clients, but she also found episode ideas through organizations like the Maine Craft Association and the Maine Made organization. She also finds subjects through universities and local chambers of commerce.
She has recorded 51 episodes so far, dating back to the podcast debut in June 2020. Vermeulen has profiled a basket weaver, an attorney who makes aromatherapy dough, a wooden stool maker and an oyster farmer.
Vermeulen conducts some interviews via Zoom, but also visits many of her subjects in person. She earns income from the work, but said all of her proceeds go back into funding the podcast and related video and photography. She said she’s using the podcast to support the makers movement, not earn a living.
“This whole project is a give-back project,” she said.
Vermeulen recorded one of her more memorable episodes in 2020, when she visited Polly Mahoney and Kevin Slater in Newry. The pair operates Mahoosuc Guide Services, which offers dogsled tours and wintertime outdoor overnight stays in canvas tents with miniature wood-burning stoves.
“They make it a memorable experience because they know this land,” she said.
What struck Vermeulen about the experience was Slater’s dedication to making it an authentic outdoors experience, complete with custom-made dog sleds and handmade snowshoes.
“I think that was the biggest connection there,” she said.
In July 2021, Vermeulen renamed her podcast “Makers of the USA” as part of her effort to take the podcast on the road. She had appeared on an episode of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” for a news piece on changing occupations during the pandemic, which prompted people from across the country to contact her with suggestions for future podcast episodes.
Vermeulen’s goal is to cover one state per quarter. So far, she’s visited her home state of Maryland for a series of episodes she is promoting now, and she also went to Washington state last August. There, she met and profiled Bob Kramer, an artisanal knife maker known for his handmade chef’s knives.
While in the state, she also visited and profiled a glassblower, an organ maker and a music studio, all over the course of a single week. She’s now processing the episodes for release in the near future.
“It’s been a busy, busy time for me,” she said.
Despite profiling people outside of Maine, Vermeulen insists she isn’t turning away from the state she now calls home.
“There’s a lot more makers I haven’t touched here in this state,” she said.
“Makers of the USA” is available on podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, I Heart Radio and Stitcher.
Have a Maine-based podcast you'd like to see featured? Email the Spectrum News Maine desk at spectrumnewsmaine@charter.com.