Birtinya man starts Sunshine Coast’s TributePod after wedding idea

A Sunshine Coast dad who came up with a wedding gift for his brother has created a podcast business out of the idea, now working full-time on the unique audio venture.

A man who came up with a touching gift in the lead-up to his brother’s wedding has turned the idea into a full-time business.

Birtinya resident Mitch Craig, 35, was a groomsman in his brother’s wedding party.

“I didn’t know what to get him or portray what the groomsmen and myself wanted to say,” he said.

“We’re pretty good at talking and leave a lot of stories on the pub floor.”

Mr Craig decided to package up audio recordings of the groomsmen talking about his brother into podcasts and gave them to the groom, one at a time, in the lead-up to the buck’s party.

Mitch Craig, left, created a podcast for his brother Jordan Craig before Jordan's wedding, which sparked the idea for his business. Picture: Luke Middlemiss Photography

What he discovered was that when people felt comfortable to “say the unsaid” a lovely tribute occurred.

Mr Craig launched his business, TributePod, in November, 2022.

Mitch Craig has started a podcast business after making a gift for his brother's wedding. Picture: TributePod

Although Mr Craig had no experience in audio technology, he has developed a platform available on Apple and Google Podcast where he can share the podcasts with customers without giving the general public access.

He has also developed an online studio that he said produced sound to the quality of two people being in the same room.

“If you want to do an interview in your pyjamas you can,” he said.

He also created a Sunshine Coast studio for those who preferred face-to-face interviews.

Stephanie Bemis, far right, has bought two podcasts from Mitch Craig since he launched his business in 2022. She is pictured with Sage, Cody, Jack and Dash. Picture: Stephanie Bemis

The podcast host has a background in sport and recreation development and has taken “a leap of faith” this month to let go of other work commitments to make podcasts full-time.

“It’s been a lot of work but hearing other people’s stories makes it worthwhile,” Mr Craig said.

He offers packages for life events including weddings and wedding anniversaries, milestone birthdays plus special occasions like Mother’s and Father’s Day.

The business also offers a “time capsule” service in which parents can record their children annually.

Maroochydore customer Stephanie Bemis, 36, said she was “super close” with her dad but had not told him how much she loved him or how influential he was in her life.

Dan Casey and Stephanie Bemis, who gifted her dad a podcast for Father's Day. Picture: Mike Adrien

“It was so nice to give my dad a gift like that but the whole experience for me was awesome,” she said.

The mum-of-three said her father, who did not cry in front of her often, had tears in his eyes as he received his gift.

“And my stepmother told me he listened to it a bunch of times and I’ve listened to it a bunch times myself too,” Ms Bemis said.

She has also done one for her husband and said Mr Craig made her feel comfortable and like she could talk openly.

“He’s got a calm and supportive communication style,” she said.

Some of Mr Craig’s customers are also in the older demographic so for those people who would prefer not to deal with links to podcasts online, he offered MP3 players with the audio downloaded into it so they could simply press play.