Ever wondered if you could channel your passion into a podcast without emptying your pockets? Today, we're tearing down the myths that hold many back from the microphone. Joining us is Cindy Little, a military veteran, Harley enthusiast, and now, a passionate podcaster behind "A Healthier You, Little by Little." Cindy's journey from podcast rookie to a beacon of wellness wisdom will show you that your story deserves an audience. She's here to prove that with just a phone and a dose of courage, you can craft a podcast that resonates deeply with listeners and doesn't demand a king's ransom.
Cindy in her spare time is a Health Podcaster, Public Speaker, aspiring author, and is an avid reader and learner of self growth. Cindy is a mother and wife of 27 yrs to her sweetheart, retired military husband, Darren. Cindy has lived a life of action from serving in the military in her younger years and has jumped out of military aircraft and served on a UN tour in Croatia for 6 months when she was 24. Fast forward another 24 yrs and you could find her competing on stage at age 48 winning a masters in a figure body building competition. She is also a Harley motorcyclist and has travelled all of Canada and many of the US states, and she is a golfer and pickle-ball enthusiast.
Got a question about something you heard today? Have a great suggestion for a topic or know someone who should be a guest? Reach out to us: askcarl@carlspeaks.ca
If you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have joined the podcast space, we'd love to hear your idea and help you get started! Book your Podcast Strategy Session today: https://podcastsolutionsmadesimple.com/get-started/
Welcome to Communication Connection Community the podcaster's podcast. This podcast takes a deep dive into modern day communication strategies in the podcasting space. We chat with interesting people who make the podcasting and speaking spaces exciting and vibrant. We also dive into the podcasting community with news updates, latest trends and topics from this ever-evolving space. So strap in, it's going to be one amazing ride. Let's dive into today's episode.
Speaker 1:
Today we are happy to expand on the money myth and we call it the money myth, but it really is the value myth, Because one of the reasons why people don't start their podcast is they look at the mighty dollar and they say I just don't have the money, when they're really should be saying I'm not understanding the value that a podcast is going to bring. So, to help us, we're going to bring in our guest today, who is Cindy Little. She's a military veteran, health and wellness coach, public speaker, aspiring author have to ask her about that avid reader and a learner of self-growth as well. And, of course, she is a podcaster. Yes, she is the host of A Healthier you, Little by Little.
Speaker 1:
That podcast launched in early 2021, February of 2021, I believe. She's also a Harley motorcyclist. I have to ask her about that too. She's traveled all over Canada and many states in the US. She's a golfer, she's a pickleball enthusiast and, as far as her podcast goes, well, she's entered the podcast world not even knowing what a podcast was, and talk about value. Well, we're going to talk about that today with Cindy. So, Cindy, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:
Well, thank you, Carl. I'm excited to be here to help you out.
Speaker 1:
So before we jump into the actual nitty gritty of the money myth, let's talk about the Harley. Tell me about the Harley.
Speaker 2:
Love, love, love riding a Harley. I think I've been riding a Harley for 16 years now and it gives you such a sense of freedom and if there's anything about life, it should be freedom and it should be living each day, which we were kind of talking about prior to us hopping on.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Living life each day is a is a big one, and I think that when people start to look at aspects of podcasting and the myths that we've been talking about that they they start looking at things and saying I don't have time, I don't have money, I don't have this, I don't know about content, and these are the things that go around in our minds and we realize that. Or we get to a point where we realize and I know that this was your realization when you came into the space was? It's not as complicated as it seems once you got on the road. But talk about those first few moments when I believe you were in one of you. You were in one of my complimentary programs because you came into the space knowing nothing about podcasting, right?
Speaker 2:
I must, like I like I don't know what I was thinking when I said, yeah, I'll do it, like jumping in with two feet, not knowing how much time it would take. I didn't know really anything like how much money, time, effort, yada, yada but I just felt like it was something that was calling to me, something that I needed to do, and it was something that I can contribute back to people and add value to what I do and helping people with their health and their wealth. And you know, it is basically a free thing to well, free to download it and listen to it. So anybody who gets a good podcast and they start listening to it, you can gain a wealth of knowledge from it. Like, why wouldn't you listen to a podcast and why wouldn't you do a podcast if you're in a position to do it?
Speaker 1:
Well, especially if you're in your role as a coach, and even for other people who are consultants or subject matter experts, we shouldn't look at it from a financial perspective. You just totally in less than two minutes clearly you were in Toastmasters at some point you can truncate your information very well into five to seven minutes or less. But it's not about the money, even though a lot of people say it's about the money because I have people say to me I can't afford to do a podcast and maybe even another bull word. It's about the value.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know what it only costs and you can do it completely free too, like there are sites that you can upload your podcast to that are free. I happen to pay $13 a month, but geez, $13 a month and I get four hours of podcasting. I think it's four hours, and I only launch a podcast each week, each Saturday typically, and the guests can range from anywhere between 10 to an hour 60 minutes. So I do four podcasts a month. It doesn't take a lot of time. It doesn't take much money. The only equipment I had to purchase was a microphone and even a Mac computer. You could probably get away even without a microphone if you really had to, and I've heard of people doing their podcasts from a phone, like an iPhone, like what doesn't have to cost anything really.
Speaker 1:
And that's again. That's one of the misconceptions is people think they have to set up a studio in their house with sound panels and mixing boards and processors and amplifiers and I need a bank of microphones, not just one. I need eight microphones. I need to almost like uh yeah, we were chatting about this as well I need a Joe Rogan style studio that rivals everything, and that's just not the case. Can it be a bigger investment? Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
There are people who do invest quite a chunk of money into doing their show, but you don't need to have a huge investment. We work with high net clients, obviously, who do want a higher level of professionalism brought to the show, and we also work with people who don't have the time to do their own editing. So that's their investment is I'm hiring somebody to take care of it for me so I can focus on being in my business, which is fine. But again it goes back to it's not about the money and if it is, as Cindy said, there are ways to do it on a budget. It's about the value and what you're bringing and what your show is bringing to your prospects, to your existing audience, that you have already, your listeners, your list, and you have a fairly extensive network, which made it a little bit easier for you to build your show fairly robustly and in a fairly quick amount of time. That's not the case for everybody, but again, it still goes back to the value.
Speaker 2:
Well, it's funny that you're talking about values because I also have a personality decoding business and people are typically four different personalities and my first one is nurturing and all of the values the podcast actually hits. All of the values it gives me relationships, it provides authenticity, personal growth, significance, teamwork, involvement, community charity, ethics, harmony, morality and contribution. Like that's who I am, and so starting the podcast gives me tons of value and hopefully my listeners also feel the same way. I've had a lot of positive comments and over 6630 downloads, so there's people getting some value from it, and I'm new at podcasting and I realized that I'm not like a sprinter at it, I'm a marathoner. So I'll just continue to deliver as much as I can and give some value, and I'd love people's feedback too, like if you haven't listened to a healthier you little by little, I'd love for you to listen to it.
Speaker 1:
And we'll make sure we put the links in the show notes, of course. For for Cindy, you'll be able to follow her on LinkedIn. We'll put her website in there, her YouTube channel and, of course, the link to a healthier you. Little by little, that'll be there as well. With talking about the value what's the value that you bring to your guests when they come on your show?
Speaker 2:
Oh well, that's a great question because most people who come on it opens their network to my network and my network gets open to their network and it could potentially mean a sale for them. Like my whole thing, even with the Phoenix Business Group that both of us have belonged to in the past and currently, it's about helping other business people flourish and get the word out about them. I love helping people and I love helping other business professionals. So if there's other health professionals out there that have a niche like, let's say it's menopause I've had a menopause guest on, I've had a sleep expert guests on, I've had PTSD experts on. So experts have all different fields because health is a big topic, like there's so many different modalities, so I'm not the expert in everything, but I'd love to share my network and help that person who's in that industry gain some more customers or just some more listeners, or to just provide value to the listeners.
Speaker 1:
Plus, it reinforces the messaging that you're already putting forward, that your health is important. You only get one body, that's all you get Right. And again, like you said, you might not know everything, and you could obviously go on and say that sleep's important, get enough, but why wouldn't you bring in the sleep expert? Or why wouldn't you bring in somebody who can talk about oh, I don't know proper care for your hair and nails, I don't know Whatever it is that is in that wellness or in that health space. The value that you bring to them, of course, is your platform, and the value that they bring to you is their network as well. So it's a win-win.
Speaker 1:
And again it goes back to value. So when you remove the, I can't afford this. I don't have the budget because I think that sometimes and this might not have been you personally, but I know that for a lot of people who might be listening to the show for the first time, who are deciding is this something I can include in what it is I do in my business, should I have a podcast? They're thinking about. Is it something that is in my budget? They're thinking about that, but again, it's about the value that they're going to put forward. It's also about elevating and this has worked for you too. It's about elevating your credibility as the go-to authority in what it is that you do.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and I have to thank you, carl, because you gave a lot of value yourself in teaching a complimentary course to entice us and to educate us on how simple it is to actually launch a podcast, like I had no idea how simple it was. It really is simple and you made it. What didn't you name your, your little complimentary course? Simple Podcasting.
Speaker 1:
Didn't you name your little complimentary course, simple Podcasting, or something like that. It was Podcast Launch Made Simple, that's it, yeah, and that was a one-week course, basically a crash course, and from that, by the way, cindy didn't launch her podcast after a week. After that, cindy then did opt into a more in-depth learning process with me to learn how to launch her show, and that was again that was what six weeks, I think, or eight weeks, and then that allowed her, that gave her the tools and the time, of course, to be able to put her show together and confidence Because, again remember, cindy came from this place of what's a podcast. I've heard of them.
Speaker 1:
I don't know of how this is going to work for me. She came from that place and within what was it? Two and a half months, you were launching your first 10 episodes.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely Like it was. I set a date February 1st 2021 for it was my son's 21st birthday and I thought you know what? Wouldn't it be great if I did a birthday podcast for him? And that birthday podcast has had over 2000 downloads. So anytime it's somebody's birthday, I send them that birthday message and it cheers them up. It cheers me up that they listen to it and it's a win-win again.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I love that story. I love that idea of the birthday episode. I liked how you launched, like it was not just a celebration for you for your launch, it was your son's birthday, it was your launch. And that still rings true today, because you're still sending that episode out when people have a birthday, and that's that's in itself is a phenomenal story, because the further you get into podcasting by the way and again, if you're listening going, okay, well, cindy has been doing this for a while, yes, she has the further you get in, the easier it is for people to forget episode one, right, right, but Cindy reminds people of episode one because that's her birthday episode and her her first episode of the podcast too.
Speaker 2:
So, wow, Actually actually you made us do, I think, seven to nine of our own solo podcasts. And I think the birthday one was like the sixth one, but I I recorded all of them and had them already, but the first one wasn't the birthday one, but it was within. It was one of the first recordings of the podcast Cause we had to upload nine of them. Right, so it's one of the nine, eight or nine that I uploaded.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's right, we set us up for success.
Speaker 2:
So we didn't start with just one. We had 10 prepared, like seven to 10 podcasts prepared before we launched. That actually was a great principle, because now I'm actually behind, because I'm not like 10 episodes, you know, pre-recorded, I'm just kind of catching up.
Speaker 1:
And that does happen. That does happen where you might slip off the rails a little bit and you might fall a bit behind, but you've still after and again, the recording of this episode is December, the latter part of 2022. You're still, almost two years later, continuing with the show. You're regularly putting out content. If you miss a week or something, you still have that other content there that can be of benefit to the listeners too, and reminding them that that's there.
Speaker 1:
It's very much a testament of it's a long game. It's not an expense, it's an investment and it's there to provide value and if that value for you and your business. By the way, if you're listening and wondering, well, how is this going to apply to me? It can be like Cindy says awareness and doing a service, which is a lot of what Cindy's doing. It's not to say her show hasn't had an impact on her business, but it can be about driving people back to your website where you have PDFs, courses that people can sign up for, all of that. But if you don't do it, you don't have that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you have way more awareness with a podcast, for certain.
Speaker 1:
Cindy, it's been a great discussion. Before I turn you loose on the world, you probably have an episode you have to get to, but I want to give you the final thought before we sign off today.
Speaker 2:
Well, I'm actually wearing a shirt, carl, and I know that the audience can't see it, but I'm going to show you. And it says don't quit. But if you take and write down the words, words don't quit, the first two letters of don't are do and the last two letters of quit are it. So do it and don't quit.
Speaker 1:
I love it and thank you for joining us today. Special thanks to our producer and production lead, dom Coriglio, our music guru, nathan Simon, and the person who works the arms all of our arms, actually my trusty assistant, stephanie Gaffour. If you like what you heard today, leave us a comment and a review and be sure to share it with your friends. If you don't like what you heard, please share it with your enemies. Oh, and, if you have a suggestion of someone who you think would make an amazing guest on the show, let us know about it. Drop us an email, askcarl at carlspeaksca. Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter as well. You'll find all those links in the show notes, and if you're ready to take the plunge and join the over 3 million people who have said yes to podcasting, let's have a conversation. We'll show you the simplest way to get into the podcasting space, because, after all, we're podcast. Solutions made simple. We'll catch you next time.