Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Bauman.
Hi Mike, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved sports and music.
Growing up, I played football, basketball, and baseball for a number of years. That whole time I also loved music, but I never was musically inclined, nor dedicated myself to learning an instrument. That said, I’ve always had an emotional connection to music and love the guitar, and that love goes back to early childhood.
My Dad used to put on his favorite music through the speakers he hooked up in the living room, and to this day that’s why “Free Fallin’” from Tom Petty is one of my favorite songs of all time. He was into a lot of classic rock, and my Mom was really into ’80’s music, especially The Police.
My eldest brother, Brandon, was a teen in the ’90’s. He was very into Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Korn, and what came to be known as “grunge” music (artists like Nirvana, Alice In Chains). I wanted to be like him, so I started getting into heavier music at 8-years-old. I ended up finding that hard rock and metal spoke to me the most, and heavy music is still my favorite to this day.
In college, I decided to study Journalism since I enjoyed writing. While attending the University of Toledo, I was part of the Sports staff of our student paper – the Independent Collegian at the time – for three-and-a-half of my four years there.
After graduating from UT with my Bachelor’s Degree in Communication with a focus in Journalism, that college paper experience helped me get work as a private contractor/staff writer for the Toledo Free Press. Initially covering sports, I eventually got the opportunity to start writing music feature stories as well. From local musicians in the Toledo music scene, to national acts who would come through the Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan area on tour, I got a chance to cover a wide variety of artists.
At that same time in my early 20’s, I also got the opportunity to do local sports broadcasting for Toledo Sports Network. I started out as a sideline reporter and color commentator for local high school football and boys’ and girls’ basketball games, then play-by-play. We also had an unscripted, Saturday morning sports talk radio show.
All the while, I was also working part-time at Toledo Hospital as a Central Supply Technician, filling orders and restocking the numerous supply rooms throughout the hospital. Needless to say, I stayed pretty busy.
To tie it all together to where I am today, I started my podcast back in 2012 out of a desire to give people the full conversations I got to do for my music feature writing with Toledo Free Press. So that’s how the podcast came to life 10 years ago. Mike Jameson, my boss at Toledo Sports Network and a dear friend to this day, would record it with me in his home studio before I bought myself a little mixing board and started to record it on my own.
Initially called Bauman’s Breakdown, I wasn’t doing my podcast consistently in my 20’s as I was figuring things out along my career path. In 2015, I got a great work opportunity to move to Nashville. In 2019, I picked the pod back up because I had to scratch that itch again. I couldn’t ignore it anymore, and I really missed doing it. I rebranded it as March Forth with Mike Bauman, and I’ve been doing it consistently since not long after the pandemic started in 2020.
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?
The road has definitely not been smooth, but that’s life, right?
Honestly – and I don’t think my path is unique in this regard – but I think a lot of life is just learning to get out of your own way. At least that’s what I think the common thread in my story is: being more confident in myself and getting out of my own way.
Since I was a kid, I’ve struggled with anxiety, panic attacks, and OCD tendencies. The old me would’ve been afraid to put that out there, but at 34-years-old, I’m not at all ashamed anymore to be open about my struggles in those areas. Therapy, exercise, music, doing my podcast, and better sleep are all huge for me as an adult. My mental health is something that I take as seriously as my physical health, and I have my good days and my bad days with it.
Broadcasting for Toledo Sports Network truly changed my life. When I started working for them at 22-years-old, all the journalistic work I’d done to that point was strictly writing. I had never been in front of a camera or behind a microphone, and I never wanted to because of my anxiety and panic attacks. My biggest fear with broadcasting was having a panic attack on camera, getting sick, and the shame, embarrassment, and judgment from others that would come with that.
Cut to my first high school football game as a color commentator back in 2010. It was the Otsego Knights vs. the Anthony Wayne Generals with my friend and colleague at Toledo Sports Network, Mik Gonzales, who was doing play-by-play. I got through the stand-up in front of the camera before the game just fine, and that helped calm my nerves a bit.
Late in the second quarter, the Otsego offense was driving inside the 50 with a chance to get some more points on the board before halftime. Mik asked me what I would do if I were Otsego, and I told him that I would try and get the ball to their main playmaker in space and see if he can make something happen. Sure enough, Otsego got the ball to that kid in the flats on the next play, and he took it to the house for a touchdown.
To make a callback and quote my guy Tom Petty, “even the losers get lucky sometimes.” I got lucky and made a Tony Romo-esque prediction that ended up coming to fruition. I’m fairly certain that was the only time that happened in my roughly five years of broadcasting with Toledo Sports Network in terms of calling a play before it happened. I still remember the look on Mik’s face and his excitement as he made the call.
It might sound cheesy, but I think that was God/the universe’s way of letting me know that this was the path I was supposed to take, no matter what my fear was telling me. Making that call helped start washing away my insecurities when it came to broadcasting, and have more confidence in myself as a self-described extroverted introvert. I still made mistakes after that, but I truly loved doing those games. If not for my buds at Toledo Sports Network taking a chance on me, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
During the day, I work as a Contract Analyst for a healthcare company. I work with great people, and I learn something new every day. Outside of those responsibilities for my job, that’s when I’m doing my podcast, March Forth with Mike Bauman.
When I decided to rebrand the podcast back in 2019, I tried to think of how I could stand out and be unique from the other podcasts out there. Podcasts are much more mainstream now compared to when I started back in 2012. There’s a lot of famous people with podcasts, and there’s just a ton of great shows in general.
A guy who I’ve been fortunate to have on my podcast multiple times over the years is Doc Coyle. He plays guitar in Bad Wolves, has his own podcast called The Ex-Man with Doc Coyle, and he’s also written about music and has other musical projects. He’s just a kind, talented human who’s always been cool to me.
I bring him up because I remember him talking about the inspiration for his podcast, and how he wanted to set himself apart from the other shows out there. That stuck with me when I got back into the fold as far as thinking about how I could stand out as a regular dude who just loves music and sharing people’s stories.
With that in mind, my birthday is March 4th, so I decided to take the “u” out of “fourth” and make it “forth.” The podcast’s name of “March Forth with Mike Bauman” is a personal mantra to persevere and move forward. That’s the common thread and theme of the conversations with guests on my show.
I wanted to provide a platform for people to share their stories of perseverance and moving forward in the hopes that it inspires the listeners of my podcast to do the same in their lives. So that’s what I try to do. There’s a lot of musicians on my show just because I love music, but I’ve made a conscious effort to broaden it more in the last year with business owners and people outside of that realm.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
If there’s anything I could share with whoever takes the time to read this, it’s to face your fears and chase your dreams. Believe in yourself. Don’t be afraid to fail at going after what you love, and don’t be too hard on yourself or take yourself too seriously along the way.
Most of all, be kind. Talk to the custodian the same way you talk to the CEO. I once heard, “treat everyone you meet as though they were you in a different life,” and it always stuck with me.
Keep the faith, and be kind to one another. ☮️💜🙏🤘
Contact Info:
Suggest a Story: NashvilleVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know
here.
Mindy Benore
May 15, 2022 at 3:13 pm
This is a most awesome article and what a wonderful tribute to an awesome young man!
Justin Mocek
May 15, 2022 at 3:58 pm
Fantastic job mike. I remember running around your dads house listening to Metallica and AC/DC before red wings games or after playing football with our dads in the front yard. Great job!
Leslie
May 15, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Mikey!!!! Justin sent this to me…. Needless to say, what a great surprise!!! You are SO grown up now and I am So Proud of you!! You have accomplished so much!! Wow!! I’m so incredibly happy for you!! We sure do miss you though!! Best wishes Sweetheart and continued success!!!! Much Love! Leslie!
Judy Gill Brown
May 17, 2022 at 1:26 am
What wonderful words!
You certainly are a very special man! Thanks for sharing!