She’s A Punk: Episode 4 – Editor-in-Chief of Punktastic, Penny Bennett

She’s A Punk: Episode 4 – Editor-in-Chief of Punktastic, Penny Bennett

By Yasmin Brown

Feb 18, 2019 10:35

The recently launched ‘She’s a Punk’ podcast is a five-part series hosted by Siobhan Woodrow, focusing on amazing women across a number of industries who have been guided by the punk ethos throughout their careers.

It’s an inspiring release for any woman hoping to make it in a cut-throat world that has always been seen to be dominated by men. Inspiring other women to continue to live their best punk lives, and to refuse to be torn down by the inevitable set backs that we’ll face, ‘She’s a Punk’ is a breath of fresh air; empowering women without needing to negate the successes of men.

Episode four saw our very own editor-in-chief, Penny Bennett, take the limelight, and the 48 minute episode encompasses everything we stand for at Punktastic – solidifying the fact that, despite experiencing imposter syndrome, she is absolutely the woman for the job.

Penny is the first female editor for Punktastic – which next year will have been around for 20 years – and while Punktastic is an inclusive and accepting space, there’s always a lot of pressure that comes with being the first female… anything. Suddenly finding herself in charge of this well-established ship, Penny faced the mammoth job of maintaining a brand that music fans had learnt to love.

That she takes it seriously is evident through her ever-growing team of volunteers and the unconditional support she receives from its core members. There’s a mutual understanding from everyone involved that this publication requires us to work together if it’s going to continue to be successful, and Penny has helped create a tight-knit group of colleagues and friends during her time as editor who have done just that.

Explaining how she stepped up to the job, Penny notes that the past year and a half hasn’t been all plain sailing, and that there have been roadblocks along the way – both personally and professionally – that made things more difficult than perhaps they might have otherwise been. Opening up about the difficulties that she’s faced only make it even more badass that she’s persevered and refused to even consider giving up on running Punktastic.

And that’s what this podcast is all about: punk women who are stronger than even they know. As you make your way through Penny’s story, you laugh and nod in solidarity, and you come out the other side of it feeling like you can do anything you put your mind to. And that you should do so with your head held high.

As Penny states – if you love it, and if you think it’s punk, then it’s punk. Pushing through your mental health issues is punk. Knitting is punk. Collecting comic books? Punk as fuck. This is a series that promotes being unapologetically yourself and it’s unbelievably motivating.

You can check out ‘She’s a Punk’ on all major podcast platforms now!

YASMIN BROWN