End of Year Recap & Hot Takes
episode 91
We're wrapping up season 3 of the podcast by looking back at how the year went, what we learned through our failures, celebrating our accomplishments, what to expect in 2023, and what were some of our favorite episodes. Tune in one last time in 2022 and we'll see you next year!
Transcript
Welcome back to Podcast & Amplify. I'm your host, Kristin, and this is the final episode of 2022 and of season three, and I wanted to do a wrap up of my hot takes my learnings, growth and accomplishments and failures and all the good things that happened over this last year, both on the podcast and inside Podcast & Amplify.
Let's start with the wins…
So some of the things that went really well this year are my sponsorship program, which I launched a year after having this podcast, and I'm really excited that it was so successful and that I sold out every single spot. I really attribute this to my community. My love of building relationships and building community, because every single person that signed up for an ad spot, they are part of my community. They're people who I just would've talked about anyways had they not paid me, and that was really important to me. You know, if I'm going to do ads, I wanted to bring businesses that I genuinely care about, that I believe in, and that I know will provide value for you.
I have to say, I really felt some imposter syndrome around putting my sponsorship offer out there. There was a part of me that was, like, your show is not this huge, massive show. You know, it's still small, but it's growing and it's growing at a steady pace, and I have a great loyal audience. So there was a big part of me that was like, well, who's gonna want to buy ad spots? Who's gonna want to advertise on my show? And so I really had to work through some of that imposter syndrome and limiting myself before I even gave it a chance. I'm so glad that I did. But I know that's something that's very common in business. And even in our personal lives, you know, sometimes we can talk ourselves out of something before even trying, and it was actually a webinar that I attended around podcast sponsorships that really helped me see the value of my podcast.
It's not just about the podcast, it's about the community that I've built around this podcast. And it's not just the podcast episode, it's being able to offer promotion on all these other platforms, in my newsletter, on my social media feeds, on my website. I do have a lot of places to share about the sponsor. And I just want to share that with you because if you have a podcast and you're thinking, oh, it's so small, or you don't have a podcast, yet, this will help get you thinking about how to see your podcast and the value that it will bring you. Knowing that you have a whole ecosystem in how you put out content that is really valuable to potential sponsors. Making the podcast profitable or at least have some income from it, was always one of my original goals.
Another huge accomplishment for me, and I think you've heard me talk about this, is how I was able to use this podcast along with coaching, to get on a national stage and speak on a national stage. And this is so important for me because I never saw myself speaking in front of people. When I first started my podcast in 2020, I was just so uncomfortable being in the spotlight, and I always have been. It's not my favorite place to be, but there was a little voice in me that was like, hmm, I don't know if it's about speaking in front of people. I think there's something else there, because anyone can learn how to speak in front of people, how to improve those skills. And so I had this little inkling inside of me that like, oh, I think it's what you're talking about. And this year, these past years of being an entrepreneur, I've had to show up and talk about my business in so many different ways, and my business is very mission driven. My purpose is to amplify diverse voices and be profitable, but that's a really heartfelt mission that's so connected to me and, and what I believe in and what I'm passionate about. I've talked about it in so many different places online.
I finally realized that when I'm talking about my mission, it feels so organic. It feels so natural and easy and exciting. And I'm not so concerned with what are people thinking of me? How am I coming off to others? Everyone's looking at me. What I realized was I really need to be connected to my message and I found a way to do that. After I spoke on that stage, that was like getting to the mountaintop. Was it perfect? No. I was able to watch back and I saw different ways that I could improve, but I was also really compassionate with myself and I was like, you know what? For this being your first time, nott bad. Like you did as well as you could with the experience and the knowledge that you have and you have room to grow. And that’s totally fine. I really didn't feel like I wasted anyone's time, which would've been the most devastating to me - if I didn't feel like I gave value. I know a hundred percent that I gave value and that people connected to what I said.
I had people coming up to me asking me questions, and I booked a podcast episode on someone's podcast right then and there. So I know it provided value and as long as I did that, I was good. The other part of like, okay, was I moving around the stage? No. Was I maybe as charismatic or was I as comfortable as I wanted to be? No, not yet. But I did as well as I could, and those are things that I can always improve on.
So that was a huge turning point for me. I really felt like after that, oh man, there's nothing I can't do. And so I hope that you've had some moments of that feeling this year. I really wish that you did something in 2022 that was a big deal for you and that stretched you and challenged you and you proved to yourself that you can do anything. It's the best feeling and I know you can do anything. I know all my listeners can do anything that they put their minds to because there are so many smart, talented, amazing woman who tune in and listen to this show each week.
If you didn't have as many of those stretch moments that you wanted to have in 2022, it's a great goal to set for 2023 and start thinking about, “Where are the places that I really want to stretch and grow?”
One of the last things that I did just a week ago was I finally published my article on thought leadership called “Rethinking Thought Leadership and Who Gets To Lead”. I think it took me so long because I really believe in this topic. I want to help as many people as possible to see themselves as leaders and to honor that voice that they have inside them, saying, I have something to say. I know from experience that the idea of a thought leader can be very, exclusive. It doesn't always invite in different perspectives, different experiences, and so I am really passionate about helping more people to see themselves as having a leading voice, having forward thinking ideas, and sharing those, because ideas come from a lot of different places.
With everything going on in the world right now, we really can't afford to not tap into different types of knowledge, different ways of seeing things. It’s not just about what you know, but also about those other things that are so important that make us wise. Tapping into leaders that help other people feel seen and take us on that journey and inspire us to actually take action, and inspiring people to actually be those agents of change and not just put out ideas and talk about them, which was what I was used to in my corporate job. It was like, let's just publish this article. That sounds good. And it sounds like it's groundbreaking, but it's really not, and the people behind it weren't really creating any change. We have so many people actively changing the world to be how they want it to be, and we need to hear from them. I 100% believe that.
I attended a workshop inside Success Revolution Society, which I will talk about next, and it was about tapping into your voice. And the workshop leader was excellent. What she really helped me realize in that workshop was, it's not just about hearing from more voices, but when you give that mic to other people you're helping to shift power dynamics because so much about thought leadership has been very hierarchical. And when you can start to look at leaders differently and be more inclusive and be more accepting that leadership is going to look different. It's going to be diverse. That's when you give more people more power. You start distributing that power and taking it away from people who have historically been seen as the only ones who “should” have power. I just love this topic. It's something that I'll be talking about more in 2023. I've created a training around it, which I hope facilitate inside companies next year.
The last thing I'll talk about in terms of wins for last year was joining Success Revolution Society. I had been looking for a community of smart, kind, genuine women and I absolutely found it. This community is everything that I was hoping for and more and enrollment is happening right now. I'm not paid to say this at all. I just love the group so much that I love talking about it, and it was a real win for me because this is something that I have been looking for and I have felt so supported and have gotten so much out of the group. If that's something that you're looking for, then reach out to me and we can chat about it.
What didn't work so well…
I love talking about mistakes or quote “failures” because I think there's a lot to learn from those experiences. This year I finally decided that I am no longer going to do the traditional launch. Launches just don't work for me, where it's like super hyped up, intense for two weeks and it's all building up and leading up, and it's like so many emails you're sending to your community. Leading up to an event and it's just the whole thing. I hate it and I even tried to modify it, but launches just aren't my jam, so you really won't see me launching here.
I've tried doing it so many different ways. In fact, I was in the middle of a launch when my coach and I decided that I needed to like pull the plug because it just was not working. It was making me feel really misaligned. And so I haven't decided what else I'm going to do in place of that, but I've decided that, you know, launching is just not for me. And that's okay. I can figure out a way to reach out to people and give value in so many other ways.
I wanted to share this example of something not going well with you because I wanna encourage you to give yourself permission to not do something, even though everyone else says it's the way to do it. If it doesn't feel right for you, that means it's not right for you. To keep forcing it and not get the results that you want, I just think that there are other ways to build your community, get leads, etc.
If there's something that you're doing that you really don't love, hopefully you hear this and know that you can just let it go and figure out another way.
Another thing that I'm really trying to work on still, and it kind of really only clicked this last quarter of the year was not making myself wrong. I was still struggling with doing that. And so that made it really hard to have a problem solving mindset and be optimistic.
I really have been working on, when something goes wrong, not making it about me and what I'm not doing or how I'm not enough, and really just thinking about it as that's a problem to be solved. That's a hurdle to figure out how to go over, under or around, and we can do this. So having that optimistic attitude of like, we can do this instead of this sucks and it's never gonna happen.
So that was a mindset shift that I've been working on really hard this last few months of the year. I think I've done a much better job. I've known that I've needed to shift my mindset in that way, but it just hadn't clicked before and it finally has. I feel like I'm definitely on a sort of uptrend in terms of having that real like CEO mindset of everything's just a problem to be solved and I'm really liking it.
But my mindset can definitely hold me back, and I know I will get to the action part, but what I'm finding is that I'm getting to the action part sooner because I'm doing less of the mind drama before getting to the action. So that's a really great shift for me, and I hope that you can see how sometimes our mindset can still hold us back, even if we've been doing so much work on ourselves.
Someone told me the other day, it's like an onion. It's like, you might have worked on something, but then you pull off that layer and there's a different version of what you thought you worked through underneath and then you have to work on that, which is totally okay. You know, we all have lifelong work that we're gonna have to do and this happens to be mine. If you've been dealing with this yourself, something to focus on for 2023 might be having that possibility mindset, not making yourself wrong, and just really looking at problems as opportunities to get creative.
Where we’re headed…
This year, I am going to be focusing more on my VIP intensive and doing podcast audits. VIP intensives are for people who have not started their podcast yet, but you want one-on-one coaching and assistance throughout the whole process to start it and launch it. I am a natural collaborator and creative, and podcasts are a very collaborative medium, and that's actually what you will need to do to grow your podcast.
You'll need to collaborate with other podcasts, whether that's being on their podcasts and them being on yours to help grow your audience doing swaps. Promo swaps or freebie swaps. And so it's really a great way to start your podcast being in this sort of co-collaborative space with someone who really knows your mission, your goals, and helps you make that a reality.
That’s where I'm gonna really focus on this year in terms of working with clients. And then I also love doing the podcast audits. So this is for someone who already has a podcast, maybe you started it on your own, didn't quite know what you were doing, or you felt confident about what you were doing, but now you're like, how do I take this to the next level? What can I do with this podcast and how can I get more listeners? That's something that I can help you with in terms of doing your audit and showing where the gaps are? What you are missing? And giving you that feedback and that information and an optimization plan.
So next year I'm focusing on these two offers because I really want to work with people in a way that lights me up and in a way that utilizes all of my skills in the best possible way.
My newest free offer is my Purposeful and profitable podcast clarity and strategy coaching session. This is a 30 minute session where we look at clarifying your podcast vision. The mindset and the strategies and actionable next steps that you'll need to create that really purposeful and profitable podcast.
So we will dive into that for 30 minutes. You'll get to ask me any questions and I'll give you that very specific feedback. And this is something that I had thought about, but I just kind of, kind of couldn't wrap my brain around it. I'm not sure why it was so hard, but. I spoke with a coach recently and I was like, yeah, why am I not doing this?
This is such a no-brainer. I love working with people one-on-one. I love coaching, and to be able to give you this 30 minute coaching session just feels so great. It feels so fun, and I'm really excited to offer this to anyone who wants to. Book this consultation, who's thinking about starting a podcast or who has a podcast?
And this is an absolutely no pitch, no pressure consultation. I am someone who really needs to process things and this is designed to just be a really supportive space where we get to connect and talk about your podcast goals. If that's something that you are interested in, go ahead and go to my website and actually I'll put a link in the show notes where you can book a free coaching session. I'm really excited, to offer this to this community!
That’s a wrap!
And that's it for this episode. We talked about the accomplishments, the missteps this year, the evolutions, where I'm gonna be focusing my services next year, and about where I'm gonna be focusing the podcast.
And just a reminder, season four of Podcast & Amplify will start back up March 1st, but in between the end of December and. March, you can expect some bonus episodes. And if you're not on my email list, get on my email list. That way you know when those bonus episodes drop and you don't miss them. And then also another way to ensure that you don't miss the episodes is by subscribing to this podcast.
I absolutely loved Season 3 of the podcast. We talked about joyful goals, your intuition and your business, embracing your imperfect journey, human design, setting boundaries, redefining leadership, how to create real community, the science behind storytelling, curating your life, why women need to be more selfish, becoming debt free, elevating your self-concept, managing your mindset.
And then as far as my solo episodes, I talked about leveraging your podcast for speaking opportunities, why you should attend a podcasting conference, how to become a thought leader by podcasting, hw to expand your network by podcasting, how to help your listeners feel seen, producing a podcast while honoring your capacity.
So I hope that these episodes were helpful for you and that you make sure to tune in next season, next year. And thank you so much for listening to this show. It means so much to me. I love creating this show for you all. It is absolutely my joy and what lights me up, and I am just so grateful that all of you listen and tune in every week.
I hope you have a beautiful end of the year and that you get some relaxation, some rejuvenation, have some fun and adventure, and connect with your community and loved ones. Thank you again for being a part of my community.
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