We Mean Well podcast hosts Lu and Jarch reveal secret to success

Two “washed up TikTokkers” from Sydney have revealed the secret ingredient to keeping Australian podcast audiences captivated.

Luisa “Lu” Dal Din and Jack “Jarch” Archdale host one of the country’s top podcasts. Picture: David Swift

Two “washed up TikTokkers” from Sydney have discovered the secret ingredient in keeping Australian podcast audiences captivated … don’t prepare much, “just get in there, sit down and have a yarn.”

Best mates Luisa “Lu” Dal Din and Jack “Jarch” Archdale met over a year and a half ago and now, they host one of the country’s top podcasts – We Mean Well.

Dal Din and Archdale, who previously worked in breakfast radio and sales respectively, have skyrocketed to fame, becoming the No. 1 Australian podcast on Spotify and have quit their nine-to-five gigs.

“We both quit our full time jobs which was pretty awesome. You start a podcast just thinking we’ll see what happens,” Dal Din told Confidential.

“We are the epitome of ‘we should start a podcast’.”

The pair revealed while their adored segments across their 124 episodes are often planned, most of their content is unprepared. . Picture: David Swift

Archdale said Dal Din inspired him to take the leap and take on podcasting full-time.

“You’ve got stability in a full-time job and something that can end in a blink of an eye. It’s a scary leap to make. Lu took the leap,” he said.

“Our lives have changed because we get to do this full-time and we love it.

“Nine hours a day selling billboards to two episodes a week talking s** with one of your best mates.”

We Mean Well Podcast's Jack "Jarch" Archdale proposed to partner and fellow podcaster Stephanie Allen at the end of 2023. Picture: Instagram

The pair revealed while their adored segments across their 124 episodes – including “Red Light, Green Light” are often planned, a lot of their content is unprepared.

“Our staple segments are prepped but we’ve never walked in and been like ‘let’s start with this’, we just get in there, sit down, have a yarn and we’ll just go off on tangents,” Dal Din said.

“I usually drive Lu to the studio, we’ll be in the car and she’ll be like ‘I have a good yarn’, usually that’ll be something like ‘I nearly tripped on an escalator’, not that f***ing enticing …” Archdale joked.

“The podcast is yours to create. It’s literally just us sitting on couches yarning. You do it with your mates everyday. We are very lucky that’s our job now.

“I’m sure there’s a bit of mayo (in the podcast), but every story is real.”

The pair who have signed with podcasting hosting platform Acast, have banked almost 400,000 TikTok followers and 15.4 million likes and are backed financially by a plethora of brands.

“The money all comes from sponsorships on the podcast. We’ve been pretty lucky with brands who have come back for more so we haven’t f***ed up too much,” Dal Din said.

But it’s not only the love of podcasting, friendship or the brand deals that get the pair into the studio.

“Hearing people say I’ve been through a tough time and listening to the podcast takes me out of that tough moment, that just makes what we’re doing so awesome,” Dal Din said.

The pair’s first episode for the year dropped this week, but they have more than just prerecords in their sights for 2024.

“We would love to do live shows. 2024 the year of the live,” Archdale said.

“The core focus is (also) continuing to cultivate the podcast as much as we can.”

While the duo usually sit around the top five on the global podcast charts, they’ve managed to climb close to the top among international competitors.

“We haven’t been able to pip (Joe) Rogan,” Archdale said.

“There’s been some times we’ve been pretty elated because we’ve been the number one Australian podcast.”

‘It’s a pretty astounding feeling. It’s wild. We still kind of pinch ourselves.”