For Jemma Sbeg, Sydney-based host of the wildly popular podcast The Psychology of Your 20s, a love of audio was established early. Sbeg’s mother was an avid radio and podcast listener—she recalls growing up and listening to This American Life in the car, or while her mom was cooking dinner.
Her passion for the medium was always there, but prior to launching her podcast in 2021, Sbeg was studying psychology in school. After going through a breakup, at what felt like a turning point, she had the idea—why not create a podcast that addresses all the struggles of being in your 20s, but backed up by research and real psychology?
“I was studying psychology, and there was just so much information that nobody would have gotten if they weren’t able to read academic articles,” Sbeg says. “There were all these studies and cool insights that were behind a paywall or behind an expertise level.”
Sbeg tells us that the first episode of the podcast was recorded on her phone, on the floor of her friend’s lounge. “Three years later, it’s my full-time job,” she says.
The Psychology of Your 20s is among Spotify’s top 100 podcasts, with 27M total listens and 1.3M monthly downloads. With more than 200 episodes, and new releases every Tuesday and Friday, Jemma finds there is no shortage of topics to explore. She often draws inspiration from her own or her friends’ lives, covering everything from dating, to mental health, career, friendship, and finances. Recent episodes range from “Navigating post-graduation blues” to “The psychology of self doubt” to “The 5 BIGGEST red flags for relationships in our 20s.”
“It’s basically existing as a 20-something-year-old and trying to pick up on cues from society on what this generation is struggling with, and then knowing that something that is so universally felt as humans probably has some research attached to it,” she says.
Each episode is backed by psychological research and science-based evidence, but Sbeg ties it together with personal anecdotes, digestible tips and examples, and of course, an incredibly soothing and calming voice. The podcast is as educational as it is cozy and comforting. With most episodes 40 minutes to 1 hour long, it’s a chance to settle in, listen, and reflect on a specific aspect of your own life. As a 24-year-old, Sbeg knows firsthand the growing pains and unique challenges that the 20s can bring.
“It’s our first decade as adults…but you’re still developing,” says Sbeg. “You’re meant to have all these answers to these very, not only vulnerable, but unanswerable questions, and it creates a lot of panic. And then, of course, you’re also amongst this cohort of people who are all on very different trajectories.”
Sbeg’s own trajectory, from psychology grad to successful podcast host, was a unique one. Less than a year after starting the podcast, an episode about loneliness took off unexpectedly. A few months later, the same happened with an episode about situationships. People were listening, and coming back for more, and Sbeg quickly realized that what started as a fun hobby and outlet for self-expression could actually become a career.
“It was honestly quite overwhelming, because like with anybody who ever goes viral or has instant success, you’re kind of always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Up until a year and a half ago, Jemma continued working at her job in the mental health space while she was making the podcast. She tells us the decision to leave a job with stable income in her field was terrifying—but she hasn’t looked back since.
“At the time I thought, I’m going to take six months off to do this podcast, it’s probably going to fail, and I’ll come back. Now it’s a year and a half later, and I haven’t thought about going back to corporate life.”
Now, her days are spent immersed in just about every aspect involved with creating the podcast. The Psychology of Your 20s is distributed by iHeartPodcasts, but Sbeg describes it as a “homemade podcast”. She is incredibly hands-on—researching, writing, recording and editing the episodes herself—sometimes in the iHeart studios, but sometimes with her microphone at home, in the exact spot she is calling us from.
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And what is the impact of spending your day enveloped in the psychology and self-help space, constantly learning and talking about your own life? “It’s almost like free therapy!” Sbeg says. In that way, the podcast has stayed true to its roots—a way for her to process the intense emotions and complex situations that come with the first decade of adulthood. But with the podcast tied so closely to her experiences as a 20-something, will it have to evolve as Sbeg gets older?
“People always are like, you gonna do The Psychology of Your 30s? And I’m like, please! I’ve got time. I’m only 24,” Sbeg says. “I do think that maybe it would be good…to build that out and make the concepts more accessible to a new age group and an older generation of people who could still really benefit from this.”
But for now, she’s still dedicated to growing The Psychology of Your 20s.
“My dream is to make this a brand that has a really big impact on people’s lives,” says Sbeg. “I want this to be like a safe space…and for it to be a household name amongst 20-somethings,” she says. “Like, I can come here and find community and information and support and it’s scary, but it will get better.”
And she has made that impact, for millions of young listeners searching for support, community, or simply a calm voice telling them that everything will be okay.
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