49. How I started a Podcast: 1 Year Reflection

Mind Your Body

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Happy one year Mind Your Body!!!

I started a podcast and I’m still standing one year later!

I’m overflowing with joy as I reflect on this huge accomplishment. I almost gave up a few times throughout the process.

Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE doing this! But it’s come with many, many challenges. Old ones that feel a little less intense now and new ones that will take time to ease up. I’ll get more into that later, but first I really want to tell you all about the journey so far. Maybe you’ve been considering starting your own project or you’re just curious.

The Birth of the Podcast

You may already know that the idea of this podcast came to me while I was traveling in Colombia in January 2017. Actually, if I’m being completely real with myself, I thought about it even before then. I’m not sure when exactly, but I guess it seemed too unrealistic for me to pursue it before last year.

In Colombia, my mind & body felt clear and rejuvenated. I thought, “I want to start a podcast!” Podcasts were already such a rich resource in my life because I was so busy. I was too drained to read research articles and I couldn’t get into reading blogs. I struggled with this because I truly wanted to deepen my training and contribute to continuing ed in dance/movement therapy, but I lacked the energy and brainpower. I knew I wasn’t alone in this, so creating an alternative route through the podcast excited me. My heart raced, my thoughts flowed, and my husband Aaron was enthusiastic about my idea and ready to help.

I Googled and read a lot of content, like “How to Start a Podcast” and “Things you Need to Start a Podcast” and “Can Anyone Start a Podcast?”

I felt overwhelmed and excited at the same time! Reading these articles shed light on how little I really knew. However, the majority of articles seemed to provide the same message: It’s easy to start a podcast.

Still, there was some panic in me. I knew I immediately I wanted an interview-style podcast, but, but..

“How do I record our conversations?”

“I need a microphone!”

“I need intro and outro music that I can use without getting sued!”

“Where do I put my podcasts and how in the world do they get to people’s phones?!”

I cannot emphasize enough how much Aaron helped me with all these beginning pieces. I’m a lucky woman to have a tech-savvy web-designer husband.

Nonetheless, I’m confident now that I could’ve started this with no technical support. It would have taken me longer, but it would’ve happened. I’m saying this now because there’s so much more I’ve learned without his help (he got pretty sick of working for me for free, ha!)

I spent the next few weeks writing everything I needed to. My mission, description, and introductory episode. Shoutout to my amazing mentor Christina Devereaux for being my second pair of eyes through this process.

Why me?

I was really nervous to tell Christina about this idea. I remember tearing up and asking her, “Why me?” She responded, “Why not you?”

Hmmm, what a thought.

I knew what I was about to get into. I was about to put my name out there and I’m pretty sure most people hadn’t really heard of me before. All of my advocacy and educating was local to NYC and the Philadelphia area at that point. At the time, I was living in Delaware, the 2nd smallest state in the US! Talk about feeling small.

But I wasn’t small and I’m not. I’m passionate. I’m direct. I’m easy to talk to. I’m committed. I’m not afraid to push through challenges. I was ready for this.

Finding Guests to Interview

The first order of business was seeing if anyone was willing to be on my podcast. I wrote out a draft email that I would send to all the dance/movement therapists I knew. I changed the wording here and there based on our previous relationship.

This reignited my anxiety. What if no one answered me? What if no one had time to give?

Every single person responded to me. They enthusiastically agreed and also loved my idea! They were all more than happy to help.

As time went on, I started reaching out to people who I’d heard of but didn’t know me. I wondered if they would even read my email. I wondered if they were willing to be interviewed by someone they don’t know.

I quickly realized that I was projecting all of my insecurities onto them. I thought I wasn’t worth the time and I wasn’t worth a response. The number of positive responses really crushed my projections and it was very eye-opening to experience acceptance when I expected rejection.

As a result, I don’t take it personally when someone doesn’t respond or tells me they’re too swamped to participate. Okay, okay I do take it personally for about 30 seconds, and then I realize that it has nothing to do with me.

For the most part, this process has made me so much more confident asking people for support. I feel very secure that people will generally say YES and genuinely want to help, especially when they’re aligned with your mission.

Getting Comfortable with the Interview Process

My very first interview was with Aaron. Yep, we did a practice interview in our apartment. Let me tell you, it was disorganized, tangential, and the sound quality was poor. This was not his fault.

I realized that I needed to create some sort of structure to the interview. I wished that I could be 100% spontaneous about it, like any other conversation, but the process was too new to me. I decided to create about 5 questions per interview and I could be spontaneous with any questions that came up in the moment.

I cringe a little bit when I listen back to my first few episodes. I was so nervous that I prepared questions beforehand and I actually read them to my guests. I can hear that I’m reading them! My idea was to create natural, laid-back conversations for other people to hear, and I felt insecure about the way I sounded in the beginning.

3 months later, I started experimenting with just referring to the questions instead of reading them. Over time, it got easier and I became more comfortable, just like any other learning process.

I also became more comfortable with meeting people through video who I’d never interacted with before. The first few minutes of my calls used to feel extremely awkward to me. I had a hard time being myself. My thoughts got in the way- “Should I be professional? “Should I ask how their day is going?” “Are they feeling how awkward this is?”

Eventually, I allowed myself to be me. I said what felt natural when greeting my guests. I came up with questions about things said in the moment because I was deeply curious and I had an instinct that my listeners would be too. I asked for clarification when I couldn’t process the information quickly enough or when I understood but quickly reflected back to a time when the concept wasn’t so easy to digest.

In many ways, holding the interview process is much like facilitating a therapy session. I have to balance many roles and responsibilities. I have to follow my instincts but also tune into the listener’s experience. Additionally, I’m my best when I’m myself. When I’m present, the process is fluid and progressive.

Will anyone listen?

It’s one thing to have an idea and create. It’s a completely different ball game to market it and see if anyone will give it time. I advertised my podcast to my friends and family and in dance/movement therapy & creative arts therapy forums.

I had no idea if people were listening for a while. Aaron didn’t install a tracking feature until a month or so after my first episode. Once I tracked stats, I could see that up to 100 people were listening per week.

When I read about how other people started podcasts and already had an audience of 10,000 people per month, I felt pretty unsuccessful. I wondered why I wasn’t reaching more people.

Did people not know about it? Did they not care to listen?

It didn’t serve me to compare myself to other people’s success. That seems really unfair to me considering I didn’t have an online presence at all before 1 year ago. A lot of other people start a podcast after they already have a big following.

When I felt like giving up, I had faith that the podcast would grow. Yes, it was slow, but my analysis showed that new people were discovering the podcast all the time. I knew this because I looked at how many people were listening to my introductory episodes.

At this point, my record week is 650 listens and I get an average of about 2,000 listens per month. I still feel a little unsuccessful writing that. It’s that “not good enough” trait of mine that’s always pushing me to “be better.”

I’m confident that in another year, I’ll have a weekly record of at least 1,000 and 4,000 monthly. I’m also confident I’ll feel that it’s not enough, but I’ve made a commitment to be patient and always open to reassessing how I can improve my reach.

My Ever-changing Purpose

I created this podcast because I wanted to advocate for dance/movement therapy and the importance of the mind/body connection. I imagined my listeners would be everyone and anyone. I chose to ignore the importance of niching down. Nevertheless, the majority of my listeners are dance therapists, somatic therapists, and body-centered healers.

It’s actually been a difficult task taking getting to know who you are and what topics interest you, but I take advantage of any opportunity to talk to any listener who reaches out to me or shows me that they’re a fan. These conversations have lit me up. As a podcast host, you can only imagine who you’re talking to, but you never really know until you have a chance to actually talk!

My purpose has evolved to really meet the needs of the listeners. My purpose has also evolved beyond the podcast. My purpose is evolving as we speak.

Your feedback about the value of this podcast regarding education and community has impacted me and my direction. I am driven by the fulfillment I feel from meeting amazing like-minded people from around the world and I find myself wanting more.

You may already know, but this has prompted me to create something bigger. My purpose now is to keep the podcast growing strong and also grow my business providing educational/mentoring services & private sessions to people all over the world.

Exposure in the Spotlight

This is the one thing that’s made me feel like giving up many times. It’s not the hours I spend each week interviewing, editing, and publishing free information. That’s hard work but it’s not hard to tolerate.

What’s hard to tolerate is how I sometimes feel when I put myself out there.

I have this image that I’m standing in the middle of a huge white-walled, white-floored room with a huge spotlight over me and there are hundreds of people staring.

It’s taken a lot of time to get used to being seen on the podcast, but as I’m constantly marketing episodes and new projects, I feel far from comfortable.

Everything I’ve done has been a completely new learning experience for me. I don’t like feeling inadequate when I can’t fix my website, edit videos, or get my marketing right. That feeling is even more intense when I imagine that other people can see how unfit I am.

So, what’s helped me through these tough times?

The Guests

I’ve spent hours talking to my guests aside from the actual recorded interview. Even if we’ve just met for the first time. We tell each other our life’s stories, talk about our passions, and share struggles. It’s amazing how quickly we can connect over the camera.

As a dance/movement therapist in a director position, I felt really lonely before the podcast. I felt like I had no one to talk to who really understood my therapeutic modality and my struggles as a director. While it wasn’t my intention to start a podcast for this need, I’m certainly not complaining that my guests have helped me feel more connected and understood.

Additionally, the passion they convey for their work is contagious. I can feel their energy through the screen and it’s so inspiring. The amazing work that they’ve done is evident through the wisdom they share with all of us. I can’t help but feel excitement rippling through my body when I talk to them- a feeling that stays with me for days after our conversation. This drives me. This keeps me going.

The Fans

Yes, YOU have helped me through. Every listen, every “like,” every share, and every comment/email you send me. To know that I’m helping at least one person makes it all worth it.

During my lowest times, you express your gratitude.

When I wonder if anyone’s listening, my stats show me 150 listens in one day.

When I ask myself if this is helping anyone, you tell me how much insight and clarity you gained from an episode.

When I wonder if this is as important to anyone else as it is to me, you tell me how much light and purpose the podcast gives you.

And so much more.

You have a strong impact on me as I imagine I do on you too.

Whether you’re quietly observing or actively providing me feedback, I want to thank you for motivating me to keep going and overcoming my fears.

Thank you for being here!

HERE’S TO ANOTHER YEAR!!!

Orit