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.

Rachael Anderson had no background in media of any kind before considering starting a podcast with two of her childhood friends.

“It was kind of one of these things that just came together," she said. "I never thought I would be doing this in a million years."

But like many Maine-based podcasters, that didn’t stop Anderson, together with Amber Small and Amy Booker, from starting “The Three Maine Girls Podcast,” featuring the fortysomething women talking about life, marriage, motherhood and everything in between.

Anderson and Small (Booker has since dropped out of the podcast, and did not participate in this interview) said the three women remained friends even after marrying and having children, and Anderson said the collective life experiences – both good and bad – seemed to be good fodder for a podcast.

“We would have these hilarious conversations, the three of us,” she said. “There was this voice in me that said, ‘Other people would want to hear this. There’s good stuff here.’” 

Anderson appears to have been correct. The podcast debuted in January 2021, and in a year and a half has amassed more than 10,000 downloads. 

Anderson records in the dining room of her Winterport home, and especially in the early days, considering the women have a total of 10 children among them, making the podcast was a challenge.

“A lot of times we were recording episodes with seven children running around us,” she said. “It was a production nightmare.”

Each of the podcast’s 75 episodes revolves around a topic, but many of the episodes feature their unscripted chats. They range from the humorous, like the show they did on embarrassing moments, to the informative, like the episode they did on technology and social media safety for children, to the serious, where Small talked about the physical and psychological abuse she faced as a child at the hands of her domineering mother.

The latter episode took courage, Small said, but she hoped speaking about her experiences would inspire others, just as she had been inspired by other courageous women over the years herself.

“As a child, I wish I had seen women who were older be vulnerable about that stuff,” she said.

The episode was cathartic for Small (“I don’t own it as shame anymore,” she said), but she also remembers the episode for the responses it prompted.

“We had people reaching out and saying, ‘That was incredible,’” she said.

Anderson said the frankness of the conversations is part of what she thinks makes the podcast work. Like other parents, she said, all three women communicate on Facebook and other social media, but that often doesn’t tell enough of a person’s life to seem real.

“A lot of times, we just get the highlight reel. We weren’t getting the hard days,” she said. 

Despite the gravity of some episodes, the women handle it with grace and lots of humor, which Anderson described as a coping mechanism. They try to avoid topics that may anger listeners, such as politics, but in the end, Anderson said they try not to worry about how people will react. 

“If we’re silly, and you’re offended, then we’re sorry, but we’re not sorry,” Anderson said with a laugh.

Most reactions have been positive, the two said, like the time six months ago when Small said she heard from a 22-year-old fan. 

“I had nothing on this girl. I knew nothing about her, and she loves me,” she said.

So far, the podcast generates no revenue, but Anderson said she is considering setting up an account on Patreon, a crowdfunding website that allows fans to offer monthly financial support to their favorite artists. Anderson said the goal is only to support any costs of running the podcast. She said she also plans to donate proceeds to the charity Safe Families of Maine.

Anderson said it may technically be only two Maine girls now, but the podcast still continues, and she said they are having too much fun to stop.

“We’re just getting started,” Anderson said.

“The Three Maine Girls Podcast” is available from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and other podcast providers.