““You don’t launch a project, a project launches you””
Starting a podcast can be transformational for you, like it was for me.
I believe there are at least 15 reasons why a podcast can help accelerate your career.
For context, I was initially very timid when I first started my podcast…..
This summary is based on the 100+ episodes I have done in less than 2 years. I also provide a snapshot of the highs and lows of my Portfolio Career and projects that I have been lucky to be involved with largely because of my podcast and podcasting-related skills.
After my first interview with my then-roomate Kean Gardner
15 Reasons A Podcast Can Help Your Career:
You could work with a guest on your show. I have worked and interviewed with a few guests on my show for jobs, projects, and gigs.
One Email Away. You are always One Email Away from career serendipity. Sending invitations out increases your chances.
Build real relationships. The quality of your conversations helps determine the quality of a relationship.
A body of work. Something in your own name. Something you can share with others.
Learn and develop additional digital skills (i.e. audiograms, video skills, newsletter skills). These skills compound as well.
A “learning and creation feedback loop” from topic, guest, interview, editing, and then publishing in just a few weeks. This deepens your knowledge on the topic and ideas.
Creative control of an entire project. No one is stopping you from publishing an episode... How empowering is that?
A generous mindset with a bias for action. Knowing that you are going to make podcast each week changes your mindset.
Your confidence grows with each episode. Throughout the entire process, you get more confident with what “good enough to publish” means to you. You can always learn a new editing or production tool, but publishing your work is the most important one.
Finding your voice on the mic and personally. Initially when I started, I sounded terrible on-mic (see clip above) but over time, I have become more comfortable. You will do the same.
A forcing function to learn, grow, create, and connect with others. I love how a prior podcast guest Chris Sparks thinks about a Forcing Function, which is also the name of his company.
A centering mechanism. Through the highs and lows of my journey, my podcast was basecamp. Whenever I felt “stuck,” I would either re-listen to prior episodes or think how my podcast and platform could help me move forward.
Constraints create creativity. When an interview fell through, I created new episode types on books, personal projects, etc. Each time, it felt uncomfortable but it resulted in a new learning plateau. Even better, I learned that listeners really enjoyed these personal and more creative episodes as well.
The best conversations are the ones AFTER the podcast. (Sorry listeners). Some times, I ended up having really a profound conversation after the interview was over.
Improves your writing skills. The more you email people you are inspired by, the better you get at it. This practice and skill helps you in another areas of your work. Guests even ended up encouraging me to teach people how to send Empathy Emails as well.
My podcast was created in the first cohort of Seth Godin’s The Podcasting Fellowship. It was such an honor to interview him.
My journey
To provide context to my insights above, I wanted to share what my Portfolio Career has been like since the Summer of 2018. It has been…. well, a Portfolio Career.
A lot of projects. The most meaningful work I have ever experienced. Final round job interviews that did not proceed. Opportunities that I could not have even imagined when I first started my podcast. Financial uncertainty and challenges. Grateful for each of these experiences and lessons that I learned along the way.
Please see a timeline snapshot of the projects I worked on….
-Fall 2018 - Fall 2019: Coach in The Podcasting Fellowship led by Seth Godin and Alexandra DiPalma for three cohorts to 1,000+ aspiring podcasters. Helped lead weekly Zoom calls throughout as well.
-Fall 2018 - Early 2019: Helped produce SelfMade Stories, a podcast for a venture-backed startup.
-Winter 2018: Helped produced a conference as an event coordinator.
-Early 2019: Worked at Rosé Mansion for 2 months in recruiting. Started as a 1 month project.
-Mid 2019: Designed, produced, and led an Empathy Email Workshop in New York City.
-Summer 2019: student in the altMBA. I organically started a Job-Searching With Friends Group weekly calls and community.
-Summer - Fall 2019: successfully designed and ran an advanced podcasting workshop with a partner and support for 3 weeks. The project took additional time to design and build as well.
-Winter 2019 - Current: podcast producer and operations of online educational programs with Lisa Carmen Wang, Founder of The Global League of Women
Why you should start a podcast?
It will be fun. You will learn. It will be a journey.
People will support your work more than you think after you consistently show up and publish your work.
Podcasting helped transform my career in the last two years, and I hope it does for you as well. Thank you being part of my journey.
Thoughts? Would love to hear what you think on LinkedIn or Twitter!
Special thanks to Seth Godin and Alexandra DiPalma for creating The Podcasting Fellowship. Without them, my podcast would not exist and I would not be here.