My podcast adventure began about a 15 months ago. I had an idea for a podcast and absolutely no idea on how to create one, much less how to edit and produce it. Thus began some frenzied idea sessions and my business mentor Pat telling me to take the last two months of 2017 and collect some info and take my time to let my creative ideas have time to marinate. That started me on the path of listening to all kinds of podcasts, by all sorts of people, covering a myriad of topics. I listened to style, voice, topic and format. I discovered a lot of men doing podcasts and with time found more and more women. I kept track of things I liked, things I didn’t, found a great episode by Amy Porterfield that gave me all sorts of info about the tools of podcasting.

From there I joined several online podcast groups on Facebook and started reading posts and asking questions. At the same time I had created my Unapologetically You focus group and started asking some questions and then came up with the idea of creating the Woman of the Week series with the weekly blog post interview. In the beginning some of the women weren’t sure they had anything to offer, but the series picked up steam and I had so much fun learning about these ladies and celebrating them every week.

In the midst of that I started the Monday Muse series that were ladies I found on Instagram. I reached out to several and got such positive response. I knew that when I was ready to do the podcast that I wanted it to be about women sharing their stories, just like the blog post interviews. While I was trying to figure out how I wanted the format to take shape, I was listening to a Tim Ferris podcast episode and he had a guest on that was talking about what the key elements are for a podcast. Tim’s response was that he wasn’t that structured with his and the guest gave me the words I needed to move forward. While Tim said that he wasn’t very structured, his guest said you have shape that is important and allows for spontaneous conversations to happen.

After that I worked on finding the tools I needed without spending huge amounts of money and my title, Titanium Blonde Talks. From there I spent several hours just recording myself talking into a microphone and getting comfortable. Then I started reaching out to women to offer invitations to be a guest. It took much longer than I ever anticipated to pull it all together and even longer to work out the editing piece. There were a couple of glitches with the interviews and my old lady WiFi connection that caused more delays and needing to re-record a couple of episodes. The editing was still my main struggle until I found a great YouTube video that showed me the pieces I was missing and I was off and running.

I recorded a couple of solo episodes, finally got approved by Apple Podcasts and uploaded my first two episodes after the intro. In the meantime I sent out DM’s and emails asking ladies if they would like to join me for an interview. Luckily my friend Brittany was my first interview, our second try at recording worked and I started getting more yes’s from my requests.

Fast forward to today and I have 9 interviews live, 4 more recorded that need editing, several more on the schedule to record in January and a brand new monthly series sparked by one of my interviewees. Our first Topic Talk went live in December. It is multiple guests and a specific topic with a free form conversation sharing our own experiences. The chemistry was great, the conversation interesting and I am so grateful to my guests Jenna and Bentley for trusting me to go on this journey. We just recorded our second episode yesterday that will be live on the 25th and had a special guest join in this time as well..

I have had such great response from the majority of the women who have responded to my invitations. For many it is a big step outside their comfort zone and I am so appreciative of their time, honesty and willingness to share part of their lives with me and my audience. My desire with all of this was to create a space for women to share, to create connection and community and to have a safe platform for all of that to happen. It is fluid and growing and changing as time goes on. There are so many women out there seeking some of the same things I was and I have learned so much more than I ever anticipated about the woman who join me on the pod. The stories that these women share are incredible, as incredible as each of the women are.

Thank you to my ladies of the pod, you are now all members of the “Pod Squad” , thank you to all of you who have listened and followed me on this journey to create this space and continue to celebrate women from all walks of life. There is room at the table and you are welcome to join me!

Titanium

It's Monday and I have had a do not disturb on my office door at work all day today. I came in with the mindset that I had things to get done and though I hate to put up the sign, it has made a huge difference in staying focused on what I need to get done today. I have so many moving parts in my life that sometimes I have a hard time staying focused on just one thing. I am working on doing better with that.

I have been working on my passion project off and on for the last year. It has changed tremendously from where I started one year ago. It is now less about just my medical mystery tour and more about connection, building community and living my life unapologetically and with my truth and wisdom. There are times when the negative voice kicks in and I think I don't really have that much wisdom to share or that anyone would care. Blogging can make you feel like you are dropping pebbles out into the ocean most times. I can see from my analytics that there are people looking at the posts, that always helps, but honestly I would keep posting even if there weren't. It's the daily diary or the space to thrash out what I am feeling or talk about something that hit me like a ton of bricks.

I changed my focus last fall and have been quietly building a focus group of other women I know. We share and I am convinced after starting the Woman of the Week, that many of those women don't believe they have wisdom that is important to share. However they have responded so positively to my interview requests and continue to astound and amaze me with their truth, wisdom and honesty. Many of them are around my age, most are mid-life, some younger, but the sense of community and support doesn't see age and the ongoing connection has certainly been something that has been a joy to watch grow. I certainly don't have all the answers to all of the problems, issues, stumbling blocks or challenges, but I think having a space where women are seen, heard, supported and celebrated is HUGE... As I get ready to shift from the focus group out into the sphere of a larger audience, I look forward to finding new women to share with and learn from and celebrate.

I am working on a new facet for the blog starting in April. I am reaching out to women who inspire me, most I have met through social media and will be creating a Monday Muse interview series. They will be spread out over time as I am still building the list, but I am just as excited to share and learn with those that choose to join me on this new journey. Stay tuned for the first one coming soon!

Titanium