Teenager Therapy talks success

Being a first-generation student, feeling like you don’t belong and overcoming mental illness are some of the topics covered in “Teenager Therapy,” a podcast focused on the struggles that come with being a teenager. In less than four years, “Teenager Therapy” has reached over 60,000 followers on Instagram and received over 4 million likes on TikTok.

In 2018, Anaheim native Gael Aitor came up with the concept for “Teenager Therapy” after listening and relating to a podcast by YouTuber Casey Neistat called “Couples Therapy.”

“I wished that there was something like this podcast for teenagers,” Aitor said. “I thought it would be interesting to hear about issues that teens don’t usually open up about. There was nothing else like it so I decided to make it myself.” 

Aitor reached out to four of his friends — Isaac Hurtado, Kayla Suarez, Thomas Pham and Mark Hugo — to pitch his idea. Suarez and Pham now attends USC while Hurtado is at the University of California, Berkeley and Hugo and Aitor are located in their hometown of Anaheim.

With his friends on board as co-hosts, the group met up in a bedroom and recorded the podcast’s first episode where they discussed why they created the podcast.  

Aitor took on the responsibility of editing the podcast as well as promoting content through social media.

“I asked my friends to be a part of the podcast, but I didn’t necessarily ask them to take on all the responsibilities that came with it,” Aitor said.

After consistently posting material at least once per week, “Teenager Therapy” gained an increasing amount of attention. Meme and niche accounts on Instagram reached out to promote their podcast, said Pham, a freshman majoring in business administration. 

“There was a new, untouched market for Gen-Z podcasts, so many people were interested in what we had to say or how it was going to work,” Pham said.

“Teenager Therapy” continues to rise in popularity for its relatable and honest content, gaining attention from students, teens and celebrities worldwide. Nicole Tisnes,  a freshman majoring in  public relations, discovered the podcast while scrolling through TikTok. Although Tisnes does not often consistently listen to podcasts, she said she does make time to play an episode of “Teenager Therapy” every month.

“I like that they are very in touch with what teenagers want to listen to and talk about,” Tisnes said. “They are speaking from a teenager’s perspective, and that makes their content so fresh and relatable.” 

Tisnes said that some of her favorite episodes from the podcast are “Listen When You Feel Alone #6” and “Why Birthdays Make Us Sad.” With Tisnes’ birthday coming up and her being away from home, she said she related to the podcasters’ complex feelings about getting older.

The podcasters were very supportive of one another through the highs and lows as they began to build their brand, Pham said. 

“We were never directly faced with judgment from others, but it was always clear that people around us had their doubts about the podcast’s success,” Pham said. “Sometimes, people would be passive-aggressive and try to poke fun at it which was a little uncomfortable.” 

Despite others’ doubts, “Teenager Therapy” has reached major milestones such as being featured on Wired, The New York Times and having a fair share of celebrity guests featured on their episodes. 

“It honestly feels unreal. I always had a hard time wrapping around the idea that my face is literally on The New York Times, which was something I have always dreamed of achieving yet never thought would be possible,” Pham said. “It feels amazing to know the impact of the work we’re doing.”

“Teenager Therapy” has also reached an audience beyond teens and students. In October 2020, the group of co-hosts received an unknown email notifying them of a potential celebrity guest. After two suspenseful days, the podcasters were notified that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were fans of the podcast and wanted to be guests on an episode. 

With the massive growth in the past year, “Teenager Therapy” took the next step in growing its impact. In the podcast’s early stages, Aitor was in charge of editing the podcast and producing the marketing material. Now the podcasters have joined forces with Flighthouse, a media brand on TikTok with over 28 million followers, which has provided the podcasters resources to execute their vision. 

Although the podcasters graduated high school and went their separate ways, “Teenager Therapy” continues to consistently post content and record once a week.

“We usually meet back at my house once a week to record which is manageable,” Pham said. “Since we don’t get to spend a lot of time with each other outside the podcast, it has felt like we have more to talk about and catch up on during the recordings.”

“Teenager Therapy”’s audience continues to grow — a feat that Aitor attributes to the group’s consistency. The podcasters continue to be active on all social media platforms, growing their audience more and more. 

“There were other teenage podcasts like ours, but they were not consistent,” Aitor said. “Consistency is really important, if you are consistent people will know you are serious and won’t forget about what you are working on.” 

For any students or teenagers hoping to launch their own podcast or passion project, the podcasters’ advice is to be your most authentic self. Prioritizing this is what makes their podcast so popular, according to Aitor.

“When you project a different version of yourself to appeal to others, it’ll be detrimental to your personal identity,” Pham said. “People are listening for you.”