We had the good fortune of connecting with Shereese Alexander and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shereese, what do you want your legacy to be?
Our mission is to create a safe space to geek out. We believe that everyone has something in their lives that they are deeply, embarrassingly excited about and in this technological era it’s easier than ever to find a community of like-minded people to share that passion with. For us, that passion is science fiction and we hope to be remembered for creating a thriving global community of awesome nerds who feel seen, heard, and understood.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
All of this started during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. I was teaching middle school science classes at the time when I suddenly found myself working from home doing “distance learning”. With my newfound burst of energy from not having to commute, I decided to team up with my best friend (and fellow teacher) Andrea Danihel to launch The TNG Podcast – A Star Trek Show. Each week we would come together and talk about important issues such as female empowerment, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the science of science fiction, all through the lens of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That side hobby has bloomed into a global community of like-minded people who also believe that sci-fi is the key to changing the world for the better. And now we are turning our passion into profits through merchandising and live events which help support us and our growing community.

We had to overcome several challenges along the way. One of our biggest challenges was simply trying to manage all of the logistics of recording, editing, and scheduling podcast episodes in a consistent way that left our listeners totally engaged and wanting more. Getting extremely organized and staying committed to the process has been one of the keys to maintaining consistent audience growth each month.

One of the most important lessons we’ve learned along the way is that it’s more important to be honest and risk criticism than to try to please everyone and become a boring blend of popular opinion. Once we started sharing our viewpoints publicly and without fear we started getting loyal superfans of our show and of us specifically.

What sets our show apart from other Star Trek podcasts is the fact that we are both women, members of the BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) community, and we are trained scientists with degrees in microbiology and marine biology. This gives us a unique perspective on issues addressed in the show as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion, AND the science of science fiction.

We are most proud of the amazing and dynamic sci-fi community we’ve created over the past few years. These people have become some of our best friends and they live all over the globe–we would never have met any of them if we hadn’t taken a chance to start something we love!

We want people to know that our brand is all about creating a safe space to geek out where everyone is included and gate-keeping is not allowed. We believe that everyone has an inner geek just waiting to be unleashed and we are here to welcome and celebrate that discovery and self-expression.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We LOVE being based in Los Angeles County because there are so many fun and exciting things to explore. If we had a best friend visit us here for a week we would have several can’t-miss experiences we would definitely check out. First we would go to Universal Studios Hollywood and explore the heart-racing rides, the jaw-dropping shows, and the backlot TV/movie sets for some of our favorite movies and TV shows. Next we would go to Santa Monica Pier to enjoy some classic carnival-style rides along with the stunning beach view. We would definitely do some epic indoor rock climbing at Hangar 18. We would also need to head to Fish Bonz Grill in Torrance for some of the yummiest seafood in LA county. Lastly we would head to the Float Clinic in Torrance to have a spa experience that would melt away all of our cares before heading back home.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We want to give a HUGE shoutout to all of the people who are a part of our growing community of science fiction fans! Those people who stay up all night waiting for our next podcast episode to be released, those who make us laugh with their hilarious comments on our social media posts, those who show up week after week to watch party both classic and novel sci-fi, to all of you we say THANK YOU!

Website: https://thetngpodcast.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetngpodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetngpodcast

Other: https://plinkhq.com/i/1513858374?to=page

Image Credits
Cameron Rogers

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