About this episode
In this episode, I sit down with Joe Cermele to talk about his career in fishing media, from Field & Stream and Outdoor Life to MeatEater and now building Cut & Retie as an independent show. We get into writing, storytelling, creative freedom, audience trust, sponsors, and what it actually looks like to build a media business around your own voice.
Joe shares what he learned from nearly 20 years inside outdoor media, why personality-driven content has changed the industry, how hard it is to start from zero today, and why being independent gives you freedom but rarely gives you safety. We also get into AI, old fishing stories, why he hates dolphins, and why looking for Bigfoot is a respectable career path.
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Chapters
- 00:01 Intro and why Joe appreciated a conversation outside the fishing world
- 00:55 Joe’s current life as an independent media creator
- 02:16 Creative work vs. building a business
- 04:36 How 20 years in media shaped his current path
- 07:40 Creating your own luck in outdoor media
- 11:51 Early adoption, blogs, video, and Hook Shots
- 17:34 Field & Stream archives and what old fishing media can teach us
- 19:07 Amazon trip, media trips, and international fishing logistics
- 22:36 Moving to MeatEater and learning the business side of media
- 25:42 Joining MeatEater right before COVID
- 27:39 Why hunting content can be more lucrative than fishing content
- 29:52 Why He Started Cut & Retie
- 34:21 Building Community and the Platform He Wishes He Owned
- 38:14 Family, privacy, and being personal without filming everything
- 41:33 What Joe’s community actually looks like
- 44:38 Authenticity, over-sharing, and not forcing a persona
- 47:32 Why starting from zero today would be so difficult
- 49:59 Independent podcast economics and sponsor volatility
- 52:43 Protecting audience trust with brand partnerships
- 54:55 Where fishing media is heading
- 58:10 AI, search, and the future of outdoor writing
- 01:03:15 The ghost striper story
- 01:07:56 Finding Bigfoot, River Monsters, and burnout in dream jobs
- 01:09:51 Rapid fire round
- 01:10:25 Writer recommendation: Riverhorse Nakadate
- 01:11:46 Best place Joe has ever fished
- 01:12:42 How playing in bands helped his media career
- 01:14:47 Why Joe hates dolphins
- 01:16:39 Final wisdom: originality over competition
- 01:17:57 Where to find Joe and Cut & Retie