‘The Real Reel’ host Natalie Barbu goes beyond the social media highlights and gets real with your fave influencers

February 18, 2022

Natalie Barbu stopped by Podsauce to chat about her podcast series, “The Real Reel,” interviewing guests for behind-the-scenes stories and perspectives. Natalie told Alesha and Dax about her favorite guests, podcasting goals, and how to make your social media feed more positive. Natalie founded Rella, a management tool for influencers running businesses, and she shares her experiences on the podcast.

Podcast Nation’s “The Real Reel” goes beyond people’s polished and curated highlight reels on social media and shares true stories from influencers, entrepreneurs, and more. So far, the series has released over 150 episodes, running 45 minutes each on average. Natalie wants the podcast to feel like a community and likens the experience to sitting in a car and chatting. Natalie invites her audience to join the conversation and write to her on social media.

Dax listened episode 140 with the CEO and Founder of SimplyBe, Jessica Zweig. She dished on brand building, coming from a place of authenticity, following your gut instincts, and being yourself. Natalie recommends this episode if you’re first getting into her series. Another great interview to start with is episode 146 with Adina Reyter, creator of Adina’s Jewels. She shared how hard work and perseverance pay off when building a brand from scratch and shaping your life.

Natalie is an advocate for transparency and embracing vulnerability when sharing your journey online. She talked about the variety of influencers she’s interviewed and how they use social media to their advantage, like Summer Fridays’ co-founder Marianna Hewitt. In episode 95, Marianna shared how she built trust with her followers, segued influencing to entrepreneurship, and started a skincare line.

Alesha shared her love/hate relationship with social media and asked if Natalie had advice for more positive Instagram scrolls. She recommended following people who bring you joy and provide inspiration.

Natalie loves learning from her guests. On episode 4, Natalie was joined by her friend, Katy Colvin, a middle school teacher, for an eye-opening discussion. This episode put things in perspective for Natalie, since she learned how Katy decided to teach, impacts others, and navigates the job’s challenges.

Dax wondered how Natalie’s social media approach has changed since starting the podcast, and Natalie is happy to offer resources rather than gatekeeping information. She provides value with content, helps others, and shares insight on what she’s doing. In her content, Natalie also answers questions she found herself asking when creating her business, and she hopes people can learn from what she shares. Sure, she’ll post fun, highlight-reel content now and then, but explained it’s not the purpose of her platform.

Natalie shared her favorite podcasts including “How I Built This with Guy Raz,” “The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast,” and Gimlet’s “StartUp.”

That’s a wrap for this week. Check out all of Natalie Barbu’s podcast picks below: