What do you do when the show that made you famous ends after seven years? If you're Danielle Savre, you grab a camera, set a start date, and start interviewing every interesting woman you know.

That's basically how Sweet and Savre was born.

Savre spent seven years playing Maya Bishop on Station 19, part of the Grey's Anatomy world. During that run, she got hooked on something unexpected: Instagram Live. She used it for rewatch parties, cast interviews, and just talking to fans during breaks and through the pandemic. When the show wrapped, she didn't want those conversations to stop.

So she started her own.

The nervous first step

"I was quite nervous," Savre admits about launching the podcast. People around her had been nudging her to try it for two years before she finally committed. Her plan was simple: pick a start date, start interviewing the amazing women in her life, and figure out the rest as she went.

That's a move I respect. You can plan forever, or you can just set a date and go. Savre chose the second option, and it's paid off in ways she didn't expect.

Turning down help to keep control

Here's where it gets interesting. Companies wanted to partner with her on production. She said no.

After meeting with potential partners, Savre felt those deals might water down the heart of what she was building. So she kept it independent. She handles the hosting, the lighting, the cameras, the questions, the creative direction — everything except editing.

"I'm able to give it the heart that I always wanted it to be, which is about these women," she said.

That's the trade-off with independence. More work, sure. But also more ownership of what the thing actually becomes. I've made similar calls in my own travels and projects over the years — take the harder road because it's yours, not because it's easier.

Why the guest list keeps growing itself

Savre didn't chase celebrities. She started with women she already knew, including people working behind the scenes in film. From there, the list grew organically — guests recommending other guests. An engineer from the Department of Transportation. A woman who owns a cleaning business. Real people with real stories, not just famous names.

Her time on Station 19, which featured three female firefighters at one station, planted the seed. Through fan conventions and the show's audience, she noticed how hungry people were to hear women tell their own stories, in their own words.

Each episode ends with a food element — guests pick a meal that closes out the conversation on something personal. It's also where the name comes from: her surname, Savre, plus the food angle, sweetened into "Sweet and Savre."

Conversations that run three hours instead of one

Because she records in her home studio and gives guests approval over their episodes, people relax. Interviews planned for 90 minutes sometimes stretch past three hours.

Savre says she's learned things about women she's known for 15 years that she never knew before — simply by sitting back and letting them talk. That's a good reminder: sometimes the best thing you can do in a conversation is shut up and listen.

The numbers that changed her plans

About six months in, Sweet and Savre had racked up 7.2 million views across platforms and 1.3 million minutes watched on YouTube. It landed in the top 10% of podcasts globally.

Those numbers pushed Savre to start exploring sponsorships. She's had to learn the business side fast — pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll ads through distributor Megaphone, YouTube monetization, audience metrics. None of it was in her wheelhouse as an actor.

She knows she'll eventually need more help. But she wants to protect the intimate, home-based feel that made the show work in the first place.

What it means for the rest of us

Savre calls the whole experience an accelerated education in an industry she knew nothing about. That's the part worth paying attention to.

You don't need permission to start something new. You don't need a production company behind you, or even much experience. You need a start date, some curiosity, and a willingness to learn as you go.

Savre proved that podcasting isn't just entertainment — it's a new way for actors, or honestly anyone, to produce their own work on their own terms.

So what's stopping you from setting your own start date?

Source: PodcastingToday

Earlier in this series: This Week's Podcast Lineup: Monks, Guardianship, and Hip-Hop's Next Generation