Founder of Studio Castaway, Janneke Voet, moved from the Netherlands to Portugal four years ago with her husband and their three kids. Voet yearned for new adventures, “I was being a mom, having children, having an identity crisis. Like, oh my God, what should I do? And then this opportunity just came on our path, and we took it. And I felt reborn again.”
Lagos is a small but international town, as she puts it, and in that sense, it reminds her of Amsterdam. Voet describes how uprooting your life can be a way to reconnect with your purpose, “Almost every month in Lagos, I started feeling more like myself again. Like, oh, this is who I was all along. It’s not that digital enterprise girl. It’s the storyteller.”
Building the studio
With a background in theatre, Voet is a storyteller at heart, and when she worked in digital marketing, she saw it as an extension of a craft she already mastered, “It’s the same if it’s digital or in a theatre, you still have to engage an audience. You still have to make them move in a certain way.” Great business ideas often spring from noticing an unmet need in a community. Voet herself was looking for a podcast studio, and unable to find one, she took matters into her own hands. She describes the podcast medium as an essential part of a content creator’s distinction.
Studio Castaway, a fully equipped podcast studio, opened in September. Every session comes with a skilled technician who handles sound and visuals. Everything is recorded in a space meticulously designed by Voet, “I was focusing more on conversation instead of interview. Intimacy, like that whole vulnerable, real setting. Especially nowadays with AI. It’s polished, it’s perfect, but it’s also a bit boring. And I was just going for the opposite. I was like, no, we’re focusing on real conversation.”
Helping creators
Voet found that some content creators are anxious about showing up on camera. It feels weird, unnatural and “cringe” to them, she explains. So, Voet offers sessions to combat stage fright. In a short speed-dating format, she invites a creator to have an informal conversation, “You come sit with me on the couch. I ask you a question. You just answer me, not the camera, but me. And then, well, it happens to be that you are on camera.”
Asked about the future of Studio Castaway, Voet’s compass is clearly set on accommodating the ambitions and needs of entrepreneurs looking to develop their podcast projects. Voet put her own podcast, The Storytellers, on hold, while she poured her heart and soul into successfully manifesting Studio Castaway. She plans on reintroducing it in 2026, and this time, in her own podcast studio. Voet’s perspective on life, whether it’s starting a business or moving to another country, is, “If you’re brave enough to take the leap, you will see how remarkable life can be.”
For further information, please visit
https://studio-cast-away.com/