044. A Year in the Making: How Podcasting Can Help You Find Your Voice
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You are listening to The Arrived Podcast, episode number 44. Hello Lovelies. I'm Bethany Wrede Peterson, and you are listening to ARRIVED., the podcast all about helping you find your voice, tell your story, and create space for what matters. As an interior designer and now a coach, I've discovered that no matter who we are, we've all got one goal in.
We all want to feel like we've arrived. Hello. Fabulous. Lovely people. I'm so excited to be here with you today. Did you know it is almost one year since the arrived podcast dropped on November 19th, 2019. So much. Has happened since then, of course, all the obvious things, but you know, for me, so much has happened, uh, in my business since I started my podcast.
So much has happened in terms of my personal growth since starting this podcast, and it's. Something I never actually anticipated, which is why I want to chat about that on the show today because I think that no matter where you're at in your business or any struggles that you have in your personal life, there are certain things that we all face, uh, together, as it were, whether it's issues of perfectionism or feelings of inadequacy, imposter syndrome, all of these things seem to be kind of unifying concepts and.
Starting a podcast has really helped me face my own demons, and I wanna share that with you today. So if you were at all thinking about starting a podcast, this is definitely your episode. And even if you're not follow along with me anyway, because I think that there will be some value hopefully for. In this too, to realize that you are not alone, uh, even though I think a lot of us feel so very alone, especially at this point in time, but I'm in a very celebratory mood.
But I do want to get real with you on the show as I always do. So let's, let's get started. Firstly, I mentioned a sense of perfectionism. This is one that so many of us face. And it's okay to feel like you're a perfectionist, and sometimes we actually pride ourselves on being a perfectionist. But actually this is something that I really grappled with and I still continue to grapple with, and maybe you do too.
When I started arrived, I was spending hours researching my shows. I was spending hours going through my recordings. I was spending tons of time back and forth with my editor, uh, really trying to make every episode perfect right down to the final tee. And one thing that that did not do for me was it did not help me with my schedule.
and it wasn't paying dividends, so to speak, in terms of it wasn't helping me actually build a larger customer base because I had perfect, perfectly polished episodes, let's say. Um, and so I realized that actually. Having this sense of perfectionism in my output wasn't actually, you know, furthering my business.
It was actually making me kind of miserable because instead of looking at this thing that I was creating week on week as something that is experimental and fun and meanders and maybe changes a little bit each week. I became so rigid with everything, and when I stepped back for a little while and took a little bit of break from podcasting, um, in between seasons, I realized, you know what?
I just wanna get back to basics on this. And so podcasting actually really helped me cut down my feelings of needing to feel. Perfect as in needing to present a perfect self to the world, whether that is in my business or whether that is actually, even though this is a business podcast, we talk about a lot of very personal elements.
So if this is something that you are battling with yourself, perfectionism in your, in your, in your own scope of work or in your lifestyle in some way, just know that whether it's a podcast showing up for your. each week, but allowing yourself to be flexible and to allow imperfections actually to rain is a really beautiful, beautiful thing.
And that brings me actually to my second point. Starting a podcast has really helped me to learn to be less rigid. It's helped me be more flexible because in many instances I have had to be more flexible. When I realized how much time this was going to take for me each week, I had to take a step back and say, you know, I'm feeling a little bit burned out.
I think I need to move from weekly episode. To season seasonal episodes, and that's not a bad thing. And I think that there are so many times in which we as creators can get caught up in a rigidity in all or nothing mentality and. Taking a step back actually from this sort of baby that I've been creating over the last year, if you will, and saying, you know what, in order for me to nurture this further, I need to be able to change up the format a bit, and that's actually going to serve me.
It's going to serve my audience because I can show up fresher for them. It's not a detractor. And I've also experimented, and I've been a bit more flexible now with shorter episodes, as, as you've probably noticed in different formats. , even sometimes the topics are completely different than, than what I thought necessarily going into the show a year ago.
So having a podcast has actually really helped us serve me in terms of being more flexible, thinking outside the box when it comes to content creation, not being so rigid, um, with my, with my creative. And so thirdly, I mentioned here this shift from showing up weekly to a more of a seasonal aspect with episodes and, and creative content.
What's amazing to me about any type of creative work that we as individuals, as business owners, as creators are putting out into the world, it's that if we are showing up, Consistently, there's really no time for. Second guessing your content ideas. There's really no time for second guessing your ideation and second guessing yourself because you have to show up and put that episode out there, or you have to show up and let's say put that blog post out there, or you have to show up and get that project to the client.
So actually having a pod has been so informative and been such an amazing exercise week on week from the second. I get an idea in my head about a show's theme or topic instead of researching the hell out of it to figure out if it's something my audience wants to hear. I actually have stopped second guessing myself.
What's amazing to me that I found is actually some of the creative outputs, some of the episodes that I have, um, spent so much time on, um, researching have actually been the episodes that have not necessarily garnered the reception that I thought they were going to, and then some of the episodes that I.
Perhaps didn't trust myself, let's say, in putting out, but thought, okay, well, I will put this out into the world. I don't know if it's going to hit with my audience or not. Strangely, sometimes those are the episodes that actually really resonate with my listenership, and so when we stop second guessing, Ourselves.
When we stop second guessing our creative outputs, when we stop second guessing what value we have to, to put out into the world in whatever format that might be, that's when a really beautiful thing happens. Because again, it allows you to take the perfectionism out of it. It allows you to take the all or nothing mentality out of it.
It allows you to. To be flexible and that's a wonderful thing. If we're practicing that mentality week on week season on season, that is going to show up in so many different areas of your life. And I can see how this actually having to, you know, kind of forcing myself to stop second guessing my creative output has actually helped me really lay off myself in other areas of my life.
Pretty sure that you can relate to this in some way or another yourself. So think about that with your own creative output. How are you maybe second guessing, how are you maybe forcing, trying to force an end result with your creative output, whether it's a podcast, a blog, uh, a client project, you know, trying to impress your boss, whatever it might.
and instead think about how can I just stop second guessing myself and just show up and let my audience decide and iterate from that point on? I think that's a really another point that I've really noticed actually since starting a pod, is that it's really allowed me to iterate and just again, to be flexible, to change and tweak and not pigeonhole, not, you know, box myself in too much.
I wanna pause quickly here because if you are thinking about starting a podcast and you don't know this already, I do have an eight week course all about starting a podcast idea to launch. And it's all about helping you find the confidence to show up for yourself weekly. It's all about helping you find your voice in your business, in your podcast, and in your life.
So if you do not know about. Go check this course out. You can find all the details@attelread.com, and if you're interested and you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a DM on Instagram. You can find me at attel reid or just hit me up on my website. I would love, love to help you find your voice as a podcaster.
And with that said, what's so interesting to me is when I started this podcasting journey a year ago, I set out to create a podcast for single men helping them within their home to help them have a fabulous bachelor pad. And man, that has been so, so, so fun. But when I mentioned flexibility, actually starting a podcast has allowed.
In a way I didn't even expect to reach an entirely new audience of creative solopreneurs and small business owners who've since reached out to me saying, Hey, I love what you're doing. I wanna start a podcast myself. And so when we start a creative work, whatever it might be, but in this case, podcasting, oftentimes we think we have one end goal in mind, and we don't necessarily allow ourselves to deviate or we don't even allow ourselves to imagine the possib.
Of what could happen for us and what new audiences that we might reach that we might not even know we're listening or we're consuming our content or we're, you know, watching what we have been putting out there. And so podcasting has really allowed me to open up and. Reach, uh, let's say a broader audience, one that I didn't necessarily anticipate following along and to help bring them value as well as the guys who have listened to this show week on week.
So to me, I think that is so, so cool to know that we can reach so many different, broader audiences, so to speak, with our voice. Wrapping up today, podcasting if you, if you couldn't already guess it already has really helped me find my voice in ways that I didn't imagine. Of course, I started this podcast as a purely business marketing tool.
What I didn't realize coming in. That in showing up for you guys week on week in showing up consistently for myself here, that it would really help me find my voice in ways I didn't even imagine. It's helped me realize that the value that I have to offer is going to help someone. Out there. That is amazing to me.
When people reach out to me that I've never met from all over the world and they say, thank you for putting this podcast out. I love listening to it. You've really helped me out. That is unbelievable. That feeling is crazy. Crazy, crazy good. Showing up every week, getting behind the mic. Terrifying though.
It is, is wonderful because. It's really helped me have a sense of catharsis on a, on a level and helped to normalize some of these feelings that I know. I felt certainly over the last year in lockdown, and I know you've probably felt too, and it's helped, I think, me relate to others and hopefully vice versa.
Now, with that said, So much of what we do, uh, certainly in our creative outlets, we might not admit it to ourselves, but it's so that we can gain external validation. And while I love having people write in or comment, et cetera, give compliments on the show. There are so many more times where I put content out and I don't get feedback.
I don't get people reaching out saying, that was an amazing episode. That doesn't happen every single episode, and what is actually an amazing building block from when you are not hearing. From people. You're not constantly getting that validation like you do potentially on social media. You post something on Instagram, maybe you get a hundred likes.
It makes you feel good. You're getting that external validation with podcasting. Yes, you can get that. Absolutely, and it happens, but there are going to be so many times, especially when you're starting out. In anything that you're doing, whether it's starting a new business, whether it's starting a podcast, whether it's, uh, you know, starting to to run, you're not necessarily going to see these external gains or this external validation right away, but you have to be the one.
To show up for yourself. You have to be the one to internally validate yourself even when no one is doing that for you. And trust me, they will, but we have to remember that no matter what we're doing, whether it's a podcast or not, that our value is there and that we are reaching people. They might not just be reaching out to us to say that.
If you think. Every time you read an amazing magazine article, or every time you read a fantastic book or read a great blog post or, or, or watch an exceptional film, you're not reaching out to that creator, that auteur, that film director, that writer, that whoever, to express your gratitude for putting that out into the world, but it doesn't detract at all from the value that they have brought into your life while you're experiencing.
So podcasting for me has actually been this incredible way to build myself up in those times when I'm not getting that external validation. Because let me tell you, if you are starting any creative outlet, anything for your business or anything for your personal, uh, your personal growth, expecting consistent external validation for it, that is a recipe for failure.
Uh, you're not gonna make it out of the gate. Podcasting, like anything that's worthwhile in our business, anything that's worthwhile in our lives is a long game. You're not going to see gains necessarily right away. It's just like if you went on a diet and you wanna lose, let's say 20 pounds, and you decide one night, okay, I'm, I'm gonna stop eating ice cream.
Every night after dinner and on night two, you stop eating ice cream for two nights and you're like, well, why do I still have 20 pounds? It doesn't work that way, and that's because we know that like anything in life, the good things, the really wonderful things are worth showing up for, and they're worth having the patience and consistency on, and I can't tell you enough how much actually that lesson has been learned throughout.
Bringing and presenting arrived to you pretty much week on, week now for a year. Solid. So these are just a few of the experiences and the, uh, revelations I suppose, that I have had since becoming a podcaster. Um, it has helped my business tremendously. Absolutely. Like I said, I've been able to reach new customer.
And, uh, new pipelines. However, the, the personal growth benefits that I have noticed over this last year have been remarkable. So if you are at all considering starting a podcast, I urge you, please do think of all the people out there that you can reach and you can help, and you can bring your value. So please do that.
If you want help, please reach out to me or take my course, find your Voice. You can find it at atelierwrede.com. That is it for me this week. I am gonna go have a very tall glass of champagne and celebrate one year of the Arrive podcast. It's been my absolute pleasure to come at you guys every week, and I can't wait for another year of.
If you are enjoying The ARRIVED. podcast, I would love nothing more than to get your feedback and for you to please leave a review and a rating on Apple Podcasts. You can do it from your phone. It's super simple. Just search my show there. Subscribe and click write a review at the bottom in the ratings and review section.
Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of ARRIVED., If you'd like to work with me to find your voice, you've got to join me over at atelierwrede.com
