Speke Fest 2025, October 10 and 11 at the National Museum of Funeral History, promises an energizing mix of marketing, networking, and personal development. 

With keynotes from industry leaders and workshops aimed at empowerment, attendees will leave inspired to elevate their shows—or even launch something new.

Early bird tickets are available all June, making it the perfect time to join the revolution.

Why should podcast hosts and aspiring creators attend Speke Fest 2025? 

The event centers on podcast marketing, networking, and personal development, with workshops, games, keynote speeches, and an after-party featuring a live DJ. 

Secure your spot HERE!

Speke Fest 2025, October 10 and 11 at the National Museum of Funeral History, promises an energizing mix of marketing, networking, and personal development.&nbsp;
With keynotes from industry leaders and workshops aimed at empowerment, attendees will leave inspired to elevate their shows&mdash;or even launch something new.
Early bird tickets are available all June, making it the perfect time to join the revolution.
Why should podcast hosts and aspiring creators attend Speke Fest 2025?&nbsp;
The event centers on podcast marketing, networking, and personal development, with workshops, games, keynote speeches, and an after-party featuring a live DJ.&nbsp;
Secure your spot <a href="https://www.spekepodcasting.com/spekefest2025">HERE</a>!

Your Mic is a podcast for new and aspiring podcasters.

Hosted by Freddy Cruz, founder of Speke Podcasting, Your Mic offers insights, tactics, and mindset strategies. Each episode features practical advice to help listeners build and grow a top 1% podcast.

Join Freddy as he shares his experience and knowledge to guide you through the podcasting journey. Tune in and take your podcast to new heights.

Your Mic is a podcast for new and aspiring podcasters.
Hosted by Freddy Cruz, founder of Speke Podcasting, Your Mic offers insights, tactics, and mindset strategies. Each episode features practical advice to help listeners build and grow a top 1% podcast.
Join Freddy as he shares his experience and knowledge to guide you through the podcasting journey. Tune in and take your podcast to new heights.

Your Mic

A podcast for Houstonians who want to engage more with their hometown and learn more about the people driving its growth.

Cruz through HTX spotlights the stories, individuals, businesses, and organizations that make the Houston area GREAT.

A podcast for Houstonians who want to engage more with their hometown and learn more about the people driving its growth.
Cruz through HTX spotlights the stories, individuals, businesses, and organizations that make the Houston area GREAT.

A podcast for Houstonians who want to engage more with their hometown and learn more about the people driving its growth.

Cruz through HTX

Twenty-six year radio veteran Freddy Cruz has gone indie.


From former special forces operators and CEOs to authors and journalists, join
Freddy as he seeks to learn from some of the highest achieving individuals in the
world. These are stories of grit and blasting through the crucible of life. Stories of
standing up to powerful corporations and defying the odds. Not all of his guests
are authors, but they all have epic stories to share.

Freddy Cruz

Speke Fest 2025: Everything You Need to Know About the Ultimate Podcasting Event

This series finale of Cruz Through TX is a love letter to Houston and the everyday people who make this city impossible to quit. From Bubbles, the one eyed miracle dog who survived a bullet and a broken jaw, to the hill at Miller Outdoor Theatre built from Texas Medical Center dirt, these stories capture the grit underneath the skyline. You will hear suburban preppers game out an EMP attack, a mugshot that led to sobriety and a veterans court program, and the childhood threads that pulled a future CEO toward Crime Stoppers. Cruz Through TX is ending on purpose, but the archive stays live on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify for anyone who loves Houston, resilience, and real human stories. The next chapter continues at Your Mic, where the focus shifts to helping creators and Houston podcasters build shows that actually matter. 

This series finale of Cruz Through TX is a love letter to Houston and the everyday people who make this city impossible to quit. From Bubbles, the one eyed miracle dog who survived a bullet and a broken jaw, to the hill at Miller Outdoor Theatre built from Texas Medical Center dirt, these stories capture the grit underneath the skyline. You will hear suburban preppers game out an EMP attack, a mugshot that led to sobriety and a veterans court program, and the childhood threads that pulled a future CEO toward Crime Stoppers. Cruz Through TX is ending on purpose, but the archive stays live on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify for anyone who loves Houston, resilience, and real human stories. The next chapter continues at <a href="https://spekepodcasting.com/yourmic">Your Mic</a>, where the focus shifts to helping creators and Houston podcasters build shows that actually matter.&nbsp;

Cruz Through HTX Series Finale: The Heart of Houston in 5 Stories

Food writer Megha McSwain talks about balancing two very different rescue dogs with a career writing for Texas Monthly, PBS, and Food Network. She shares micro‑walks, immigrant lunchroom memories, and why she cares more about the people behind the plates than burger‑versus‑burger debates.

Learn more about Megha HERE.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify and YouTube!

This season of Cruz through HTX is powered by Speke Podcasting. Have an idea for a show? Let's get a conversation started. Start HERE.

Key Takeaways

1. How Pax and Wadsworth force healthy breaks and protect her from endless WFH grind.

2. Why she wrote for twenty dollars a story just to see her name in print.

3. Shining a light on underdog restaurants that survive hurricanes and floods.

4. The Food Network essay about learning American food in a Houston school lunch line.

5. Why storytelling about people, not dishes, keeps her obsessed with food writing.

Food writer Megha McSwain talks about balancing two very different rescue dogs with a career writing for Texas Monthly, PBS, and Food Network. She shares micro‑walks, immigrant lunchroom memories, and why she cares more about the people behind the plates than burger‑versus‑burger debates.
Learn more about Megha <a href="https://www.meghamcswain.com/">HERE</a>.
Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cruz-through-htx/id1693177880">Apple</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2EipITDvfHUHanTmhWDVqp">Spotify</a> and <a href="https://youtube.com/@thefreddycruz?si=WATJcgjHMjja789L">YouTube</a>!
This season of Cruz through HTX is powered by Speke Podcasting. Have an idea for a show? Let's get a conversation started. Start <a href="https://www.spekepodcasting.com/">HERE</a>.
Key Takeaways
1. How Pax and Wadsworth force healthy breaks and protect her from endless WFH grind.
2. Why she wrote for twenty dollars a story just to see her name in print.
3. Shining a light on underdog restaurants that survive hurricanes and floods.
4. The Food Network essay about learning American food in a Houston school lunch line.
5. Why storytelling about people, not dishes, keeps her obsessed with food writing.

Inside a Houston Food Writer’s Life: Dogs, Deadlines, and Underdog Restaurants

Health coach and podcast host Samantha Elizabeth grew up in a vet family with snakes, gators, and rescued farm animals. She explains how pets shape our stress, why dogs absorb our energy, and how coaching differs from therapy when you’re trying to change your life.

Learn more about Samantha’s coaching and consulting HERE, and subscribe to her podcast Stress MessHERE.

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify and YouTube!

This season of Cruz through HTX is powered by Speke Podcasting. Have an idea for a show? Let's get a conversation started. Start HERE.

Key Takeaways

1. Growing up in a family of vets and feed stores with constant rescue drop‑offs.

2. Life with snakes, alligators, horses, and why nothing grosses her out.

3. The difference between therapy (past‑focused) and coaching (present‑future).

4. How pets regulate stress through movement, routine, and emotional support.

5. Why dogs absorbing our pain should change how we show up for them.

Health coach and podcast host Samantha Elizabeth grew up in a vet family with snakes, gators, and rescued farm animals. She explains how pets shape our stress, why dogs absorb our energy, and how coaching differs from therapy when you&rsquo;re trying to change your life.
Learn more about Samantha&rsquo;s coaching and consulting <a href="https://samanthaelizabeth.com/">HERE</a>, and subscribe to her podcast Stress Mess <a href="https://youtube.com/@coachsamanthae?si=ckgzwXsZs6LB7hVy">HERE</a>.
Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cruz-through-htx/id1693177880">Apple</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2EipITDvfHUHanTmhWDVqp">Spotify</a> and <a href="https://youtube.com/@thefreddycruz?si=WATJcgjHMjja789L">YouTube</a>!
This season of Cruz through HTX is powered by Speke Podcasting. Have an idea for a show? Let's get a conversation started. Start <a href="https://www.spekepodcasting.com/">HERE</a>.
Key Takeaways
1. Growing up in a family of vets and feed stores with constant rescue drop‑offs.
2. Life with snakes, alligators, horses, and why nothing grosses her out.
3. The difference between therapy (past‑focused) and coaching (present‑future).
4. How pets regulate stress through movement, routine, and emotional support.
5. Why dogs absorbing our pain should change how we show up for them.

Speke Fest 2025: Everything You Need to Know About the Ultimate Podcasting Event

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