04/ ON THE COUCH WITH HOOLYMotorsports Podcast
Stories beyond the helmet
In Season 2, I became the shows producer, built its studio and grew it into a full media operation. I anchored the conversations and ran production, content, brand and sponsorship through to the end of Season 3.
Role: Producer, anchor, creative strategist, designer, writer
Seasons: Two and Three
Output: Long-form podcast, short-form social, live event content, website, sponsorship
The brief
Create a motorsport podcast that went beyond race results, lap times and the usual post-race questions.
At the time, motorsport conversations were largely shaped by the established media. The same stories were being told, the same questions were being asked, and some of the most interesting people in the sport rarely had the space to tell their side of the story.
We wanted to create that space.
On The Couch with Hooly was built to get beyond the helmet and into the real stories of Australian motorsport: the personalities, politics, rivalries, setbacks, career turning points and experiences that didn't always make it into traditional coverage.
And I was responsible for making it happen from end to end.
The strategy
Ask what everyone else wasn't asking.
The opportunity wasn't to compete with traditional motorsport media on its own terms. It was to change the terms of the conversation.
Established outlets already owned the results, the press conferences and the quick post-race question. So we went for what they couldn't offer:
Time: A long-form format where guests could move past prepared talking points and let conversations develop naturally.
Better questions: The uncomfortable follow-up, asked to find the story underneath the story, not to manufacture controversy.
Permission: A space where guests felt free to talk about politics, rivalries, career setbacks and the realities behind the sport.
The goal was simple; Don't compete with the old conversation, create a new one.
Listen to the full episodes
Raw, unfiltered conversations with the people of Australian motorsport: drivers, coaches, rivals and the people behind the scenes. Start with the episodes here, or find the full show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The idea
Put people on the couch.
We didn't try to beat traditional media at its own game. We changed the format.
The couch was the core idea. We didn’t want the traditional five-minute soundbite, or media-trained talking points. Guests sat down for a proper conversation, and the set said so before anyone spoke. Each episode was crafted with the following in mind:
Conversational: We wanted audiences to feel like being in the room, not watching another interview.
Direct: We asked the uncomfortable follow-up without manufacturing controversy.
Long: Episodes ran 1.5 to 2 hours, so guests got past the prepared answers. Never forced, we simply followed the story.
Edited with care: The good stories got room to breathe.
The goal was always the story underneath the story.
Every episode was shot in multi-camera video, in the studio and on location at events like the Bathurst 1000. Watch the full conversations, plus highlights and the clips that got people talking.
See it from the couch
What I built
The studio: I built our Northern Beaches studio from scratch and ran the whole setup: RØDE audio, multi-camera Panasonic video, lighting, and a workflow through Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro.
On the road: We took the show to the events the sport revolves around, including the Bathurst 1000 and Supercars rounds, and made content on location, away from the studio.
Anchor: I sat in the anchor seat, driving the conversations and shaping the editorial direction alongside Hooly.
Editorial: Full episodes and edited highlights, plus all episode copy, social copy and promotional messaging.
Social: Four clips from every episode for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube Shorts. Each clip was the funniest, most revealing or most opinionated moment, cut to work on its own in the feed and lead people to the full conversation.
Brand and web: Creative direction and design across the show, plus the website. It was the home for episodes, guests and sponsors, and I wrote the copy, structured the content and updated it with every release.
The commercial side
Alongside Hooly, I found and pitched sponsors, built the commercial proposition and closed the deals. That brought in more than $30K in partnerships, led by Thrifty Car Rental and backed by smaller motorsport businesses. The show earned its place as a media property with real commercial value, not just a content project.
The moments that stopped the scroll
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The moments that stopped the scroll *
The results
Since Season 2
Charted in Apple Podcasts' Top 200 Sports
$30K+ in sponsorship, including Thrifty Car Rental
12K+ Facebook followers
5K+ Instagram followers
700+ YouTube subscribers
1.5 to 2 hours of long-form content per episode, plus 4 short-form clips
Why it mattered
On The Couch with Hooly proved there was an appetite for a different kind of motorsport conversation. We weren't trying to replace traditional coverage. We were opening up another lane.By creating a space where people could speak more freely, we uncovered stories and perspectives that weren't getting the same airtime elsewhere. That meant challenging some established conventions without making the show about the challenge itself.
The show broke ground by changing what a motorsport interview could be.
And behind the scenes, I built everything around it: the strategy, the production, the brand, the content, the audience and the commercial model.