Conversations with Andy Elliott and Liam Nash

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Elliott and Liam Nash. Them and their team share their story with us below:

As creators and co-founders of the Man To Man Podcast, childhood best friends Andy Elliott and Liam Nash have stirred up some serious buzz around their brand and the city of Nashville as their business heads into year three of the podcast world.

What started out as buying microphones after college and talking to each other about NBA basketball and pop culture – as a hobby – has now turned into a bi-weekly radio show featured on DASH Radio in West Hollywood, with special guests, including but not limited to, Friday Beers, Marc E Bassy, Jed Wyatt, Garrison Mathews, Joely Live, Dani Jackel, Jackson Michie, and Mitchell Tenpenny.

“You never know who’s watching,” Elliott responded in the interview. “You know that your true friends will always support whatever you do, but it’s pretty cool to see people around Nashville that I may not have seen since high school, or may not have even met before, show support and recognition through buying merch, listening to the pod, or just saying something about it.”

“Even working out at the gym, or going out with friends on the weekends, there’s always one person who comments on our podcast showing love. It definitely puts itself into a different perspective, and something we’ll never take for granted.”

However, creating a podcast was never in either of their minds post-college. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2019 with a public relations and business degree, Elliott moved to Chicago where he was an intern for both boutique marketing and PR agencies.

Meanwhile, Nash moved to Indianapolis after attending and playing collegiate basketball at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois to pursue his dream of becoming an aircraft pilot and stay closer to his extended family. It wasn’t until Andy “ran out of beer money” that he had to find another hobby besides being social on the weekends in such a big city.

“He called me up one day, and was like, I need you to buy these microphones. Would you be down to start a podcast? We could talk about basketball” Nash commented. “I didn’t think it would get in the way of too much, and it was something we enjoyed talking to each other about already. I was like, why not?”

The two released their first episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify on November 3rd of 2019 and went on to record weekly episodes via Zoom calls in addition to living their normal and everyday lives. “It was a lot of fun, and gave us the chance to try something new while staying connected living in different cities,” Nash ended his thoughts.

As Covid affected the entire world in early March of 2020, Elliott, unfortunately, lost his job and moved back to his hometown of Nashville where he helped his mother’s medical esthetics business, Wax Pot Skin Studio, stay afloat during three months of shutdown and uncertainty through local influencer collaboration, creating an online shop, and selling skincare products and gift cards for financial support. At the same time, Nash’s flight training was put on hold, resulting in Nash deciding to go a different route with his future.

That being said, the podcast kept going. Within nine months of weekly content and publishing, the boys were approached by a recruiter from the radio station, DASH Radio in West Hollywood, to join the station and on The Nothin’ But Net – All Things Basketball Channel, alongside other shows such as Ice Cube’s Big 3 talk show, and other shows hosted by sports broadcasters and radio personalities.

“Liam called me one morning as we were in the process of coming out with our very first merch launch through a local t-shirt company here in Nashville. When he told me we should respond to the email we had just received ASAP, I thought he was talking about the salesperson we were working with at the time, even though we had spoken with that person the day before about when our shirts would be ready and finalized,” Elliott said. It didn’t take long for Elliott to realize that a great opportunity had just opened up for both of them.

Elliott and Nash signed to DASH Radio which they believe was the best thing to ever happen to the podcast. “Ultimately, I believe that gave us the motivation to keep going. Even though we weren’t even a full year into the podcast and having a lot of fun doing so, it felt like there was always something missing as time kept moving forward,” Nash quoted.

“DASH Radio has given us the opportunity to utilize their platform to interview and bring on guests we’d never thought we’d be able to ever meet or talk to,” Nash further stated.

To put into perspective, aside from the Nothin’ But Net Channel, DASH Radio has more than 80 original stations curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, and music tastemakers. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9ne, Borgore, B-Real of Cypress Hill, and others. The entire network averages more than 15 million unique monthly listeners.

After being on the station for almost two years now, Elliott and Nash have been able to hire college students for social media and brand ambassador assistance, while giving them a unique experience of learning more about social media, following content calendars, promoting a brand, and successfully working with nationwide companies for sponsorships.

“It’s been great to teach students in college who are interested in more of a creative field the things that we’ve also learned along the way. Creating a brand is one thing, but successfully maintaining that brand isn’t all dandelions and flowers. It requires a team, and we’ve had some amazing interns in the past and are very appreciative of all of their help,” Elliott said.

Besides bringing on interns for the podcast, the two have also been able to establish a permanent team who help out with TikTok, as well as adding another co-host to the show. Griffin Dobson is a friend Elliott grew up with in Nashville and has always stayed connected with through mutual friends. Dobson has been managing and creating content for the Man To Man Podcast TikTok account and has accumulated over 259,000 likes on their videos, with one video, in particular, reaching over 1.8 million views.

Justin “JP” Terrell initially started out as an intern for the podcast after graduating from Clemson University, and is a part of weekly episodes serving as the host of the show, and brings incredible energy and wisdom regarding the sport, as well as adding a much-needed spark to the podcast.

“Liam and Andy brought me on to help out with marketing, and before I knew it I was co-hosting the show,” Terrell says. “It has been an incredible opportunity, and working with the guys has been the ultimate learning experience.”

Heading into year three, Elliott and Nash have expanded their podcast into two different weekly shows in regard to the topics they talk about. The two expressed that it was somewhat difficult to talk about the NBA, and then incorporate everyday life or interviews with people who had nothing to do with the sport of basketball.

“It was definitely confusing people,” Elliott laughed while saying so. “We’d start the show by talking about our personal lives such as getting ghosted by girls on the weekends, dating in Nashville, or interviewing a musician, then go into what Lebron James and the Lakers did the week prior.”

The two agreed it would be better to divvy things up by splitting weekly shows up into strictly an NBA show, and the other used for interviews with musicians, celebrities, influencers, and others. While speeding things up to date, the biggest thing that Elliott and Nash agreed upon was the amount of support from others as well as where they come from that keep them going.

Both Elliott and Nash grew up under single mothers who are business owners, which is where they get their entrepreneurial spirits from. Elliott’s mother, Lynette Snyder, is the founder of Wax Pot Skin Studio, a medical esthetics skincare practice, and has owned her business for the past 15 years.

Nash’s mother, Berni Nash was a fairly successful songwriter who segued into being one of the top real estate agents in town specializing in representing many folks in the music industry, from producers and artists to receptionists and pluggers at record companies and publishing offices. With over 30 years in the business, she still works with clients and helps advise other agents to this day.

Heading into year three of the Man To Man Podcast, the two demonstrated excitement as to what’s to come in regards to more merch drops, bigger interviews, and most importantly having fun and trusting the process. Be sure to stream Man To Man Podcast on all listening platforms, as well as give them a follow on social media @mantomanpodcast.

They have recently signed to Six Pack Coverage, a multi-media entertainment agency in Nashville, TN, and look forward to building more relationships in their city. The future is bright for these two.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
We’d look like the Pinocchio brothers if we said it’s been smooth sailing.

As entrepreneurs ourselves and other entrepreneurs out there, we all know you have to put in the work and those late-night hours to achieve one little accomplishment. Some of our struggles included doubt about what the future looks like, if putting in all the hours made sense, wondering if the risk-to-reward was too much and if we were still happy doing what we were doing.

Luckily, we’ve learned patience and understanding that nothing comes overnight. We’ve learned to love the process, continue to keep growing, and focus on the end goal of becoming one of the most unique and successful podcasts to do so.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We believe to be known for our grind and dedication to the podcast and branding world, and fortunately, being a local podcast that people know about. We’ve noticed that others see how passionate we are about having our own thing going on, which makes them want to be a part of the podcast also.

It’s cool to hear so many people say they want to come on the show and talk or ask how they can be a part of the team. We’ve also inspired other people to go out there and tackle their true passions which is amazing to see. Nonetheless, we love making merch for our friends, family, and fans to wear and show support.

To see people believe in us is something we’re extremely proud of, and can’t thank everyone enough who has shown support to the pod. We believe putting in the work, staying consistent, being unique through our personalities, and the kind of talent and diversity that we bring on the show separates us from others.

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
To be patient, learn how to work with other personalities, and understand how to be leaders. But most importantly, being grateful for what we have.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://mantomanpodcasts.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mantomanpodcast/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ManToManPodcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MTMpodcasts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMO_CRnvPYPqEta0mF5NJoQ
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mantomanpodcast