On their podcast “Cream City Dreams,” Shelly Roder and Meagan Schultz have interviewed dozens of accomplished Milwaukee women and found they all approached their goals in a similar way.
“Just start,” Schultz says. ”Start small, and start before you’re ready.”
The two friends also followed this go-for-it attitude when launching their podcast in 2022. They met when hosting an online course together about taking time for oneself, and they clicked. “We both love Milwaukee, and we both love women, and we thought it would be cool to lift Milwaukee women up,” Schultz says. “We had no idea how to do a podcast, and we had to learn how to host, edit and all of the little things … That’s been part of the fun, to learn new skills and figure it out and see that we are capable of doing it.”
Experience an unforgettable evening celebrating great design!
Over three seasons, “Cream City Dreams” has released over 30 episodes featuring inspiring Milwaukee women. The list includes developer Juli Kaufmann, food/social entrepreneur Caitlin Cullen, and poet laureate Dasha Kelly – just to name a few of the creators’ favorites. The first two seasons focused on individual women who pursued their own visions, while the third season spotlighted women in local organizations who help others with their goals.
“I feel like in all of our guests there’s been some consistency about how to go about following through with your dreams,” Schultz says. “That’s a running theme of who we choose: people who are not only doing something dreamy in itself but who are doing something dreamy to move the city forward, who move the needle forward in terms of humanity.”
During the show, the hosts ask each guest questions about their work and how Milwaukee has shaped it. “The more you get to know somebody and relate to them, the more you like them, and what our world really needs right now is connection,” Roder says. “That’s a value Meagan and I really agree on. Connecting people is just such an important part of humanity. We need people. We want listeners to also fall in love with all the small-business owners or entrepreneurs or creatives that are doing their thing so that they can support them.”
On Oct. 18, the podcast’s fourth season launched with a new theme song from Never Deadbeat Poets. The first interview of the season – Meagan Johnson, executive director at Milwaukee Diaper Mission – will be released next week. Roder and Schultz will also hold their first live event on Nov. 14 at Alverno College: a Q&A led by season three guest Stephanie Melnick.
And they still have more big ideas for the future. “One dream that is definitely present for both of us is the idea of having these inspiring, motivated, intelligent, fun, funny, lovely women in the same room together,” Roder says. “That would be next level.”
“Cream City Dreams” is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms. Roder and Schultz can also be found on their website or on Facebook and Instagram.
