The most common question I’ve been asked recently is “Why are you doing a podcast? Surely Facebook and video would work for your message and reach the masses?”
It’s been a great question, and opportunity to share my ‘Why’…
I spent 8 years saying a helluva lot so by the time I sold my business in early 2017 I felt like I’d said enough and needed time to ponder ‘what next?’.
There were moments I feared retreating from the business world, worried that within months they’d be saying ‘Suzy who?’. I had no interest in saying something just to feed a funnel, so I dealt with my fear and said nothing. I weaned myself off Facebook Instagram, Linkedin and carved out the quiet time I needed to tap into my creativity.
I started a regular walk-n-talk with a biz-friend who, unbeknownst to me, was producing a couple of podcasts. This had been on my radar for a while so I was keen to know more. As we pounded the pavements, I shared my stuff, she shared hers, we figured we’d work well together and so began my own podcast journey.
I had a working title which nobody liked except me. This often happens in my world, I think something is clever, funny, but I’m the only one who does :). I’d developed a list of distinctions over the years and at that particular moment they numbered 51, so the original title was 51 Distinctions. And yes I have registered the name, just in case!
Under her ‘insistent’ direction we spent the first few weeks focusing on the essence of what I wanted to achieve. What difference did I want to make in the world, what problem was I trying to solve?
And it came down to this. We operate within a highly social + digitalised world that encourages externalisation and comparisons. Think how much time we spend looking at what others are doing and how they’re doing it! We’ve also been swept into a burgeoning ‘expert’ economy, a marketplace that sells business and finance expertise. We’re bombarded with the secrets to success, top tips to get you to the top, throwing money at problems that we don’t really understand and not getting the results that we so desire.
I’m not suggesting we ‘do it all’ ourselves, or that we disregard outside help. I’m saying that externalisation is taking us further from the very thing that will deliver us success.
The Change Room is an expression of my truth and for it to make a difference it needs to resonate with my audience. My tribe are amazing and have supported this project from the start so I asked them to critique the content. I sent them excerpts, asked for feedback and was relieved when I heard their ‘aha’ moments which let me know I was on the right track.
But some simply offered their opinions. “You should do webinars” “Content should be no more than 5 minutes….”. Having an unshakeable truth allowed me to ask for their help without being ‘at affect’ of the ‘expert economy’.
Creating this podcast has not been easy. I’m big picture, so while I’m gazing at a rosy future, I often stumble on the things under my feet. I assumed my on-stage skills would transfer seamlessly to the audio booth … wrong! I assumed I’d hit the record button and we’d just start talking … wrong!
It’s taken way more time than I imagined and I totally blew my budget but the experience has been so worth it. I love mastering this new medium and I love the conversation we’re creating. When more of us find our unshakable truth and express it in the world, not only will we transform our business and financial reality, we’ll transform the world.
So why listen to The Change Room? Be Selfish, create the space for your own transformation. Business is hard, big business is harder, the world is financially unsteady and we need new ways of being. You can transform your experience of business and in doing so, transform it for others. Find your truth and you’ll find an untapped resource to create the life you love.
