Palmer ’25 Turns Passion into Purpose with Inspiring Podcast ‘Heart to Hustle’

For those gathering up the courage to make their aspirations a reality, student Layla Palmer’s podcast, Heart to Hustle, offers an inspiring roadmap. 

“Once you have the courage to go for it, the possibilities are endless,” said Palmer ’25, who has direct experience with chasing a passion.

Heart to Hustle shares stories of individuals who’ve turned their creative sparks and entrepreneurial hustles into successful careers. The show delves into what drives them, how they’ve achieved success, and the challenges they’ve faced along the way. 

“A lot of career podcasts just skim over resumes without offering much depth,” said Palmer. “I’m more interested in the ‘why’. Why someone entered an industry, why they’ve stayed, why they pursued additional education.”

One of the podcast’s key goals is to guide and inspire young people as they navigate their own career journeys, providing insights and lessons to help them turn their passions into careers.

“Our generation is dealing with circumstances that older generations didn’t face because the landscape has changed so much,” said Palmer. “I want to spotlight successful individuals while asking the questions that resonate with people our age. Questions that offer real advice.” 

Palmer credits Communication Studies Executive-in-Residence Mark Brodie for his help with Heart to Hustle.

“His passion for creativity and storytelling is contagious, you feel it,” said Palmer. “He has been involved in Heart to Hustle and has given me plenty of valuable feedback, he has become a very important mentor to me.” 

“The thing that stood out most about Layla’s creative process and approach to storytelling was her experience and professionalism as a podcaster,” said Brodie.

Brodie’s guidance to Palmer focused on using sound design as a tool to enhance storytelling and reach her audience on an emotional level.

“One of the most memorable things he told me was that sometimes music and a podcast should be felt, not heard,” said Palmer. “He taught me that sound is so important, it moves you and you feel it. Audiences often don’t remember what we say but they always remember how we made them feel.”

Palmer’s journey into the spotlight started at an early age, when she was required to recite poems in front of her class. 

“My family told me for years how I was such a good performer,” said Palmer. “The process of acting, the drama and the excitement of each take being live was fun. I carried that energy with me as I started my own podcasts.”

During her senior year of high school, Palmer launched her first podcast, Hollywood Hero, a series that explores the experiences of actors, musicians, and influencers in the entertainment industry. 

“One of my episodes got 7,000 streams in a day, and I was just watching the numbers climb, thinking to myself, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’” said Palmer. “It was amazing to realize that random people were listening to my podcast.”

She followed that success up at Emerson, by winning the fiction category for the Mackie Podcast Pitch Contest in 2023 for her podcast Snuffed: An Untrue Crime Podcast.

That  helped prepare her for Heart to Hustle, where she hopes to continue this podcast for the foreseeable future.

“This is the first time in a long time I really felt truly creatively fulfilled,” said Palmer.

Brodie sees Palmer’s journey and her podcast as a source of inspiration for current and future Emersonians.

“Her journey will inspire current and future Emersonians for the simple reason that she embodies how to elevate one’s career aspirations and trajectory by putting in the hard work and time outside of a class to master her craft,” said Brodie. “She clearly has the heart, the drive, the grit, the ability to persevere through hard times.”