Jethro Casie (Case by Casie Podcast)

Jethro Casie is the host of Case by Casie: Uncovering the Secret to Success, a podcast that focuses on interviewing successful people in order to learn more about what makes them successful.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Casie has lived on Coney Island and in Crown Heights, but his family ultimately settled down in the neighborhood of Canarsie.

For context, Canarsie is less glamorous than Manhattan, which is arguably New York City’s most famous borough, but Casie was still able to enjoy all the conveniences afforded by living in one of the world’s largest metropolises.

“The biggest thing is being able to go anywhere at any time,” Casie says of living in New York City.

“There is always something to do, and there is never a long walk to get anywhere.”

At the same time, living in New York City can be an isolating experience, even for the people who have lived there for years.

“I mean, I don’t even know my neighbors,” Casie shares.

“Yes, there are a lot of people who live here, but there is a lack of intimacy within the community.”

Therefore, establishing connections and building relationships in a city that reputedly never sleeps can be challenging.

For Casie, growing up he always wanted to be popular and garner respect from his peers, but he wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. 

“I was super shy and worried about people judging me,” he admits.

But as Casie got older and went through high school, he started to shed some of the insecurities that plagued his social interactions by focusing on other people and learning more about them.

“In a way, being shy forced me to learn how to ask good questions, which is something that translates well to what I do now with podcasting,” he says.

“So you could say that if I never went through those struggles of learning how to communicate with people, I may never have become interested in what other people were doing, and I may never have started a podcast.”

After high school, Casie opted to stay in The Big Apple and attend St. John’s University, a college that isn’t considered to be the most prestigious academic institution in New York City, but one that allowed Casie to pursue higher education.

“For everyone who goes to St. John’s, it’s most likely not their first choice,” Casie reveals.

In fact, had Casie not received a scholarship from St. John’s, it’s likely he would have taken his academic talents elsewhere.

After arriving on campus, Casie switched his major three times before finally settling on business analytics, and even though he is slated to graduate in the spring of 2023, it’s likely his major won’t assist with his professional endeavors.

“I’m a senior, but I still don’t know much about business analytics,” Casie says.  

“It’s gotten to the point where if I went into the workforce with this major, I would be unprepared.”

Fortunately, Casie isn’t planning on leveraging his degree to attain traditional employment.

While he is very likely to work in sales in order to support himself post-graduation, Casie’s focus remains on continuing to build Case by Casie, a platform he was initially inspired to start after listening to countless Joe Rogan podcasts.

“I learned so much from listening to Joe Rogan and other people speak,” Casie mentions.

“I truly believe that listening to podcasts made me smarter because I was tuning in to people who are very intelligent, but ultimately I made the leap into podcasting because, like Joe Rogan, I was also inquisitive and interested in what other people with different life experiences had to say.”

If not for Casie’s naturally curious personality, his podcast would likely get lost in the malaise of thousands of other podcasts that never garner any serious traction among listeners.

Yet, people download Casie’s podcast because they’re excited to learn something new, which is why he makes a concerted effort to ask his guests thought-provoking questions, and not just read from a script or ask guests the same questions that every other podcast host has already touched on.

“What I’ve realized is that my expertise is getting people to think about what they have never thought about before by asking questions that elicit good answers,” Casie explains.

“When someone takes a deep pause and thinks before answering a question, that’s when I know I have formulated a good question.”

Moving forward, Casie would be thrilled if his show joined Joe Rogan’s in the upper echelons of podcasting, but a more attainable goal, and one he is just as excited about, is simply bringing value to his viewers and inspiring them to think more critically about themselves, and the world writ large.

“The goal is to grow while trying to build as big of a platform as I possibly can,” Casie says.

“But if I can impart knowledge and wisdom onto other people and empower them to do great things of their own, that would be awesome.”

With approximately 30 episodes available on streaming platforms, Casie acknowledges there is a lot he still has to learn about the business of podcasting, but he also tells others looking to break into podcasting that having a purpose is essential to building a sustainable platform, and that not every podcast has to specialize in one industry or target a niche audience.

“If you look at a lot of the bigger platforms, and Joe Rogan is a great example, their content is really generalized. They’re not only talking about one industry or one part of society,” Casie says.

But whether an aspiring podcaster chooses to specialize their content or cater to a mass audience, Casie believes that taking action and consistently publishing episodes is better than spending too much time debating how to build a platform.

“You don’t have to do everything at once. Analysis-paralysis is a real thing, so if you just do one thing today, like pick the name of your podcast, and then tomorrow you go buy equipment and record an episode, then you’re moving in the right direction,” he says.

“I heard this once and it really resonated because it’s so true: a little by little becomes a lot.” QS

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