Shameless Media, founded by Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews, has announced its first acquisition, along with the launch of licensing arm Shameless Media Studios.
Shameless has signed a multi-year partnership with the KICPod and KICBump podcasts, hosted by KIC co-founders Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith, which have been represented by Australia’s largest podcast network, LiSTNR, since 2022.
Despite a past focus on creating original shows, slowly and carefully – by the end of the year, there will be five original Shameless Media podcasts – McDonald says it was the Shameless founders’ “business brains” that allowed them to see this wasn’t the best long-term strategy when looking to scale a business in a fast-moving market.
“If we were ever going go into this space, it was always going to be a show like KIC first because we really like going after engaged communities. That’s our MO,” says McDonald.
Andrews agrees. “We look at what Steph [Claire Smith] and Laura [Henshaw] have built, and we’re so impressed by it, but we also know that together we can create something really, really amazing.”
Beyond its podcast offering, KIC’s business model is centred around its fitness app, KICApp, and the brand recently launched its first fitness studio in Melbourne. But Shameless Media and KIC are not without their similarities – both companies are based in Melbourne, female-founded, and both sets of founders were close friends before going into business together.
In a press release, Smith said: “Being female founders and friends, we’ve often turned to Michelle and Zara and connected on challenges, or exciting opportunities … We have really enjoyed watching and supporting them from the sidelines, and now joining forces is truly exciting.”
In 2025, The Australian Financial Review reported that Shameless Media, which has never taken external investment since its launch in 2018, commanded 10 per cent of Australia’s total podcast revenue.
Since the beginning of this year, the Shameless podcast has grown its listenership by 39.5 per cent, and is currently on track to exceed three million streams this month alone.
So what do its hosts believe this recent success is thanks to? Andrews having a baby, for one.
“I don’t think that [increase] would have been possible if we didn’t have Michelle go on maternity leave. She got to step out, come back in, and we realised we can’t run the business and do this show to the best of our ability without getting out of the weeds,” says McDonald, explaining that a recent refocusing on the show, while handing other parts of the wider business over to their employees, helped them refine their attention.
The decision to make every episode of the Shameless podcast available as a full-length video, available on Spotify and YouTube, has also helped. And it’s a strategy they’ll be looking to replicate.
The acquisition of KICBump highlights a push into the parenting space, and towards an older female demographic, as Shameless Media also plan to launch their own original parenting podcast in October. This shift represents the current life stages of both the Shameless and KIC co-founders.
At KIC, Smith gave birth to her second child, Billie, in May last year, while Henshaw had her first child, Atlas, in December. And at Shameless, Andrews gave birth to daughter Sadie in early 2025, and McDonald is currently pregnant with her first child.
“We genuinely, wholeheartedly believe that actually falling pregnant and becoming mums and entering this next chapter has made us so much better at our work,” says Andrews. “We see it in the revenue – things have never been better since we’ve been in this chapter of our lives.”
So, what will the next iteration of KIC’s podcasts look like? Well, we’ll have to wait until September to find out. Though both Andrews and McDonald reiterate that it will feel like a “really different chapter” of the shows, one that both Henshaw and Smith are excited about.
As for what’s next for Shameless Media? While they don’t subscribe to the idea of five-year plans, they know the key to success is making hay while the sun shines.
“It’s been a pretty tough time in media – not just in the last few months, but in the last year or two – we’re not naive,” says McDonald. “I think in this landscape, if you’ve got any opportunity to grow, you should grab it with both hands and run.”
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Gyan Yankovich is lifestyle editor at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X.
