THE GOOD SAMARITAN // Everything You Need Is Within

Every issue, Jason Reed from Leap UK & the Stop and Search podcast speak to the people behind podcasts from the charity and causes sector. The Good Samaritan of  Issue #023 was Gigi Robinson of Everything You Need Is Within

JR: At the age of 14 Gigi Robinson was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, but Gigi has used her experience to develop her skills in podcasting. Everything You Need Is Within is a masterclass in how to turn adversity into advocacy.

GR: The idea was conceived in late 2020, it was based on a conversation I had with Julia Michaels on Instagram Live. The subject was being an artist and dealing with mental health, not only online but also in our creative work. I decided that it’d be really cool to interview creators from all different backgrounds and give my platform to people who wanted to get their mission out there into the world. The show was then picked up by Spotify Live and I was with them for a year and a half which was incredible and really helped grow the podcast.

With a varied career ranging from being a finalist in the Sports Illustrated Swim Search to being a champion of issues such as chronic illness and body positivity – how does Gigi manage to keep balanced?

Dealing with a chronic illness on top of working as a content creator can definitely be challenging, especially when I’m spending 15 to 30 minutes on the phone with a doctor just trying to set up an appointment. Managing so many different things is definitely a big challenge, but thanks to a huge team and other people behind the scenes we’re able to really create a content machine, which doesn’t leave me as burnt out as I once was. If you do want to scale up, I think it’s really important to balance and delegate tasks to different people so that you can maximise your productivity. I have things that help me stay on track but I’m still a work in progress! I also spend at least two to three hours on virtual appointments during the week and two to three hours on commuting, all of which combined probably equates to a part time job.

Everything You Need Is Within hosts conversations based around social advocacy, including mental and physical health, leadership, and much more.

A big subject that I love talking about on the show is, of course, disability and accessibility online, so that we can work towards levelling the playing field for everyone. Some of my favourite subjects I’ve touched on include pay transparency, which always needs more highlighting, as well as internet activism and advocacy. I think there are ways to implement social media literacy into everyone’s work and make sure that people are really taking responsibility for platforms if they have them.

Season 4 is right around the corner…

The future of Everything You Need is Within is definitely bright; I think we have a really solid pilot series to pitch for a live talk show and hopefully work our way up not only within the podcast space but into the talk show space as well and bridge the gap between what it means to be a host in these spaces. I would say that anybody who is interested in learning about social media literacy should definitely listen to some of our episodes and make sure that they’re being intentional every time they use social media. And last but not least, always be kind online.

Gigi Robinson is an advocate for The Jed Foundation – looking after emotional health and suicide prevention.

Listen to Everything You Need Is Within on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>