I’m a planner. Ask me about my vacation itineraries, and I will show you a multi-tab spreadsheet of times, dates, restaurants, and expenses. My brain just feels better knowing what to expect and having a plan for it, even if it’s planning what ramen place I want to eat next.
That being said, working behind the scenes on Making Changes taught me that you can only plan so much. The rest of it? You have to pray and leave it up to God.
Our Job is to Create Space, Not Stories
Producing Making Changes episodes requires the collaboration of several roles and individuals working together. There’s the tech crew, led by Moses Alignay.They ensure that audio, video, and lighting are all working in tandem.The cameramen double up as camera ops and also hair police when our host’s hair decides to go rogue.
Here’s a photo of Rachelle helping tame Aliw’s hair while cameras continue to roll.
We have a hair and makeup person to make sure our guests and hosts look their best. The photographer who is quietly capturing the moments before and after the camera rolls.
There are also us in the control rooms. The technical director switches cameras so that we can have a recording that’s almost good to go with minor edits. There’s the audio engineers who listen in to make sure every recording is clean so listeners can put their full focus on what’s being said.
And then there’s me, as the producer, I help coordinate the shoots, coordinate the guests, and make sure we’re in our respective places when it’s time to roll.
While the crew is preparing technically, Aliw, the host, also does her own preparation.
She goes through the pre-interview notes, studies their stories, scrolls through their social media, taking in every detail about the person. Even if she’s known them for years, she approaches each conversation like she’s meeting them for the first time. This isn’t just prep work. It’s an act of honoring someone’s story before they even share it.
And whether we’re shooting in-studio at INC Media HQ or on the road with a smaller team, there’s always one essential role that we all share:
It’s creating space.
The Unintentional Live Audience
One of my favorite things about being part of the live recordings of Making Changes is watching how these stories impact the team. These are individuals who’ve heard hundreds of stories, who have heard, shared, and told stories in the Church Of Christ.
And yet, episode after episode, I watch them get completely undone.
What happens during podcast recording sessions?
“You need to see the crew reacting,” Jan, a producer at INC Media, who also helps as part of the studio crew in Burlingame. “We’re like a live audience reacting, ugly crying, and open-mouth laughing.”
And it’s true. I’ve seen audio engineers quietly wiping tears while monitoring audio. I’ve watched camera operators completely forget they are even on crew and be so deeply invested in the story that sometimes we catch them watching the wall of monitors instead of their viewfinders. And if you listen close enough, you can actually hear them laughing and crying or both.
When I was gathering insights for this blog, I asked crew members what Aliw called “Miss Universe” questions. The answers I got were gold.
Hannah, a volunteer who joined us for our shoots in San Diego, shared: “I have always known he is a fellow CWS Teacher since we have taught with each other, but never have I thought how his story of how he was called was something of great extremes, such as considering taking his life at one point or the journey of searching through multiple religions.”
This happens all the time.
More Than We Can Hope For
We think we know someone’s story, and then they share the full truth. The parts they’ve never said out loud, the details that reframe everything. We get to witness these moments of revelation not just for our audience, but for the people sharing and for everyone in the room.
Another team member told me they learned about “patient endurance” from one of our guests who described saying “little prayers every day to just get through.” They said it reminded them “how you can have a closer relationship with God with just check-ins here and there through the day. Like a best friend you text when you’re going through problems in the day.”
These aren’t just good soundbites for me to work with. They reflect the real-life shifts in perspective that happen when we witness God’s work through someone else’s transparency.
Getting Out of The Way
Before we ever hit record, there’s a moment that sets the tone for everything that follows. Brother Donald Pinnock, the Production Manager for Season 3, takes the time to read through the pre-interview notes beforehand, getting to know the guest’s story.
Then he speaks directly to the guest for a quick pep talk. The goal isn’t to get guests camera-ready. It’s to prepare them to talk about their life. To remind them they’re not performing, they’re sharing.
That this room is a safe space, and we’re all here to witness what God has done. Then we have a prayer together.
The “No Cutting” Rule
“I appreciated seeing how the lack of firm structure kept the conversations and answers organic, especially with the last-minute questions that came about even after the cameras stopped rolling!” said Nicole, a district multimedia member who joined us in our shoots in New Jersey.
Those after-the-camera-stops moments often contain the most powerful content. In fact, we have a standing rule in the studio when we’re recording. No cutting until it’s time to pray. Because you just never know when a moment can happen.
Sometimes someone is so moved by sharing their story that they keep talking, keep processing, keep discovering new insights about their own experience right there in front of us. We saw this firsthand when we recorded the two-part episode with Mary and Rashad Christmas and the crew gathered around the table afterwards.
When a shoot becomes just a conversation
The most powerful content happens when the crew does its job well enough to remain invisible. When the room becomes just Aliw and the guests. The cameras fade away, and the mics and lights are forgotten.
Our role is to prepare so thoroughly that when we’re recording, all anyone thinks about is the conversation happening right now.
“Every person featured talks about their hopes for others to see that they are not alone in their suffering and that someone has faced similar, if not the same trials as them and has succeeded by the grace of God,” one crew member explained.
That’s the real impact of the show. Not our production skills, but God is using these conversations to create connection and hope.
What We’ve Learned About God's Timing
Working behind the scenes on the show gave us a front-row seat to experience God’s timing. The perfect detail shared at exactly the right moment. The question leads somewhere none of us expected. The way someone’s vulnerability creates space for healing, not just for them, but for everyone listening.
Nicole put it perfectly: “From the Christmas story, I’ve learned that no matter how downright messy, tangled, and lost you are in the plot twists of life, God softens the blow and straightens your path if you are so willing to change and let God be God.”
Janina, an editor and one of our audio engineers for the podcast, shared: “I’ve learned that no matter how big or small the changes we face in our lives, it’s all God’s plan and we just have to trust it. Like what Kuya Harmony said, ‘Change is God’. It’s simple but so true and comforting once you let it sink in.”
As the person crafting the voice-overs that tie these stories together, I’m constantly amazed by the themes that emerge naturally. Themes I never could have planned, but that speak directly to what people need to hear.
Crew's Recommendations (And Why They Matter)
When I asked the team which episodes they recommend to newcomers, their answers revealed something beautiful about how these stories work:
- For drama and unexpected turns: “If you want plot twists, drama, and eye candy, I’d say Christmas story,” Jan laughed. But then added seriously: “It’s a reminder that we can only see this much (creates an inch with fingers) but God sees EVERYTHING and no matter how you think the story will end, God has SOOO MANY GOOD SURPRISES!”
- For anyone asking, “Why me?”: Multiple crew members pointed to Rhea Mae: “If you’re in the ‘why me?’ situation, go for Rhea Mae, she’s experienced enough to know how the dots connect and why everything, even the darkest moments, connect and make sense later!”
- For relatable, authentic connection: The Buenavista Brothers keep coming up: “it’s an open-heart testimony to the struggles some converts face and the devotion and dedication to endure what life throws at them…most of all, I feel that many people can relate to them.”
These aren’t marketing recommendations. They’re genuine suggestions from people who’ve been moved by these stories and want others to experience that same hope.
For Those Ready to Listen
Whether you’ve been following these stories from the beginning or you’re just discovering them now, you’re not just joining an audience. You’re entering a space where God writes stories through real people facing real challenges with real faith.
The conversations are unscripted because the transformation is ongoing. The emotions are genuine because the struggles and victories are real. The hope is authentic because it’s rooted in the actual experience of God’s faithfulness.
Because here’s what I’ve learned sitting in the control room, watching God work through these conversations: we don’t get to choose our trials, but we absolutely get to choose how we respond to them. And sometimes, the most powerful response is simply being brave enough to share the story while God is still writing it.
Making Changes airs weekly, and you can find us wherever you listen to podcasts. Each episode is a reminder that we’re all works in progress, and God’s not finished with any of our stories yet.
