Introducing Your New Favorite Podcast
Young people are facing so many challenges right now. That’s why JanSport is teaming up with the Teenager Therapy podcast to help you get through these tough times.
Being a teenager has always been hard, but it’s safe to say that this past year has been extra difficult. Thankfully, there’s a podcast that’s providing young people with a little bit of relief and self-expression.
The Teenager Therapy podcast is run by five teens: Gael Aitor, Isaac Hurtado, Thomas Pham, Mark Hugo, and Kayla Suarez. Each week, the hosts—who describe themselves as “stressed, sleep-deprived, yet energetic”—meet to discuss what’s on their minds, whether it be dealing with janky remote learning technology, applying to college, or getting assigned too much work. Vulnerable and relatable, the teens share their worries and offer self-care advice and study tips week after week with their community of more than 400,000 listeners.
This month, JanSport is teaming up with Teenager Therapy to bring you four extra special episodes specifically dedicated to all the difficult issues that young people are facing, such as dealing with finances, building confidence, and drawing boundaries. As the collaboration kicks off, we sat down with the teen hosts to learn a little bit more about how Teenager Therapy got started and what their process is like.
JanSport: What inspired you to start the podcast?
Teenager Therapy: Gael was inspired to start the podcast after discovering Candice and Casey Neistat's podcast, Couples Therapy. He loved the vulnerability they demonstrated in all their conversations; being able to look inside their marriage on such a raw scale was incredible. It was because of his love for their podcast that Gael decided to start his own. He figured teenagers would be interested in hearing what other teens are going through in an honest way. He wanted to be vulnerable and publicly share the conversations others were not.
JanSport: What are your goals with the podcast?
Teenager Therapy: We want to use our podcast as a gateway to even more meaningful work! Activism, spreading awareness, and social good are among the things that excite us the most and they are what we hope to pursue in the future.
JanSport: Destigmatizing mental health is a noble cause. Why is it specifically important to all of you?
Teenager Therapy: We've gone through our fair share of mental health issues. We've experienced the feelings that mental illness can emphasize so we realize how terrible it is to live with it. We want to help others overcome it but most importantly, realize overcoming it is possible.
JanSport: How do you decide on themes and episode ideas?
Teenager Therapy: Our process is simple: We talk about what we think needs to be talked about more. If it's important to us, we'll talk about it.
JanSport: What different strengths or personality traits do each of you bring to this project that helps your audience relate?
Teenager Therapy: We all have wildly different personalities. The amazing thing about our podcast is that weaknesses are what makes the podcast so good. Our insecurities and weaknesses are what enable our listeners to relate to us and our struggles. Isaac is bothered by his height, Mark overthinks a lot, Thomas believes he's too emotional, and so on.
JanSport: What has been the most rewarding moment or experience with this podcast?
Teenager Therapy: The most rewarding moment happens each time we get a DM from one of our listeners. Hearing how our podcast helped someone is the most rewarding aspect of this entire thing.
Ready for some Teenager Therapy? Check out the first of the special JanSport episodes now on Apple or Spotify podcast!
By: Jamie Ditaranto
