037: Stop Waiting to Feel Ready | Starting a Podcast, Part 7

Most people wait until they feel more prepared, more confident, and more sure of what they’re doing before they start - and often, they never start. 

But most successful podcasts don’t begin with a perfect plan. They begin with a rough idea, a few notes, and figure things out as they go. That’s normal. That’s how this works.

To wrap up the series:

• What “ready” actually looks like in real life (and what you don’t need yet)
• The pieces you likely already have - even if they don’t feel like enough
• Why waiting until everything feels settled can keep this on hold longer than it needs to
• What it looks like to start with what you have and build from there

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• This Week's Free Action Guide: The “Ready Enough” Starter Plan
• The Smart Soulful Business Facebook Community: smartbusiness.thrivecart.com/soulful-strategy-community

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more Christian women who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Smart Soulful Business Podcast! See you next week!

MORE FROM BECKY & LAURIE

Website: smartsoulfulbusiness.com
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Pinterest: pinterest.com/smartsoulfulbusiness
Smart Soulful Business Facebook Community: smartbusiness.thrivecart.com/soulful-strategy-community

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Laurie: Hey hey, welcome back to Smart Soulful Business with Becky and Laurie. So funny story, Becky was like, 'Well, shouldn't it be Laurie and Becky?", And I'm like, "No, it needs to be Becky and Laurie." And I just think Becky and Laurie has a better ring. So as we're talking about podcasts, I think it's fun to kind of think about like how things sound like how they flow off the tongue. So "Welcome back to Smart Soulful Business with Laurie and Becky" to me, just sounded a little weird and I thought "Welcome back to Smart Soulful Business with Becky and Laurie" and it might be the alliteration of the Bs. But anyway if you're listening to us the first time, this [00:01:00] is us

Becky: Yeah, it absolutely is.

Laurie: All right, Smart Soulful Business. We help women build businesses that actually fit their real lives, not just looking good online for five minutes, and getting back, and being stressed out whether you have kids at home or no kids or you're taking care of aging parents or you're working another full-time job. And one of the women in our community works a 9-to-5 and I had a really great coaching call with her this week, I never told you about that yet Becky, but it was kind of like you know we don't want to do that 9-to-5, 5-to-9 and be stressed out like crazy. So what fits in your life. Had a really great talk with her about her email system, and and she's like, "No, I do wanna still do it because in a couple years I may or may not have this full-time job." So anyway, working with people like that, that's what we do. And we help women build businesses that fit their real lives now, not just in the future. Not just what we want, but we can build businesses alongside of whatever we're doing. Whether we're involved in churches, whether we have littles at home, whether we have big [00:02:00] careers. Whatever is happening in your life we're here for you. So today, part five of Starting a Podcast series. So far we've talked about— right— why podcasting is worth it, what causes people to stop, what you actually need to start, why this gets way more complicated in our heads, and I will also say in our hearts than it needs to be. And today we're gonna talk about something that stops a lot of people before they even begin. I don't think this is just in the podcast realm but we're talking about it in that context today But that feeling of 'I don't think I'm the kind of person who should', 'I don't think I'm the kind of person who should have a podcast', or 'I don't have that podcast voice' or 'I don't have that personality'. I think a lot of times people have a picture in their head of what maybe a podcaster sounds like.

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: And I think along with that, we like put the whole life with them, like, what their life must be like if they're a podcaster. And honestly a lot of the time, this picture we have in our head doesn't sound like [00:03:00] us. Like we could be the ones doing that. So anyway by the end of this episode, we want you thinking, 'Okay, maybe I don't need a whole different personality to do this'. Well, I love the free action guide that goes along with this podcast. We'll talk about that more at the end, but it's called The Natural Voice Notes and I love it so much. So anyway, okay. Let's get into it. I think a lot of people have a specific picture in their head of what a podcaster sounds like and it usually sounds like this: they're really outgoing, they're really polished. They're very confident. They talk maybe a little faster than most. They have high energy and they keep that energy high all the time. They're super articulate. They never mispronounce words or forget the end of a sentence. And if that's not naturally how you communicate, you might assume that podcasting isn't for you or maybe wouldn't be easy for you. So Becky, talk about your view of all this. What do you think people picture when they think of a podcaster?

Becky: Yeah. You know, [00:04:00] like I don't know if this has been in your brain at all, but always kind of revert back to that, the old-fashioned career path where when you're getting to a career, you go through all the training, you go to college for that, you go through all of these, I don't know, certification courses.

So I do. I, so I feel like it's almost like being a TV, like a radio broadcaster or TV anchor. Like, I should have been trained for this, and I wasn't, so what am I?

Laurie: Yeah.

Becky: Who am I to jump into this? I haven't been trained for this. And so you are the person, 'cause you did this first. You did

Laurie: Yes.

Becky: Podcasting first. I didn't jump in until you had podcasted for, how many years?

Laurie: Just a couple.

Becky: Just a couple years, but lots of podcasts. And, yeah, you were, you were really the only reason why I felt like it was an attainable, realistic thing to jump into because you did it. I, like, I never, I don't think I would've, talked myself into it without your experience, and you're calming me down every time I had one of those objections.

Like, "Oh, I could never do that." And you were like, "What are you talking about? Yes, you could," and in a thousand different ways. 

Laurie: [00:05:00] Well and I think after I listened to our first couple episodes cause I don't always go back and listen, I honestly think your voice sounds better than mine. Like I was, like even on the intro like I'll hear your voice and be like, 'Oh, she's got a podcast voice'. And so you know wherever you're listening from, please just hear that. Like I listen to Becky now and go, 'She has a podcast voice and she would have talked herself out of this because she hadn't podcasted before'. You know the other thing as you were talking, Becky, that I thought about, that I picture a podcaster being like, is that they're already successful.

Becky: Ooh.

Laurie: Podcasting out of a successful realm of business or achievement or that. And I think probably for me, that might be higher even than voice and confidence. It's like if you have a podcast, you have to be successful before you have a podcast —which we know through all the honestly— coaching and just our reach into different people whether we're listening and learning from them or we're helping other people we know that's not true. There's a lot of [00:06:00] successful podcasters who literally became successful in their business because of the branding of the podcast. The voice of the podcast. The reach of the podcast. So you also don't have to be successful first.

Becky: Absolutely.

Laurie: When do you think people start talking themselves out of podcasting?

Becky: You know, this, this is where I can speak into everything. Like, in every part of my business, I am a master. I'm the queen of insecurities. So I think that the biggest thing that people use to talk themselves out of things like podcasting is, they just feel not enough. They feel that, like, they aren't funny enough, like they aren't smart enough, like they aren't deep enough, like they aren't educated enough.

And I actually think this plays into the type of podcasts you might listen to right now, too. So my husband listens, listens to deep theological podcasts where they just have... I mean, lots of them have gone to seminary and they do have all.

Laurie: I hate those podcasts. I would never listen to one of those.

Becky: All day, he builds [00:07:00] cabinets and listens to deep theological stuff.

Laurie: Crazy.

Becky: And so he would have this belief of, "Oh, I'm not educated enough. I haven't gone to seminary." Those would be his limiting beliefs. So think about the podcasts you listen to. Are they comedians? Are they funny things? Are they sharing stories? What kinds of things? Because you might be talking yourself out of podcasting because you're not them.

You're not the people you love and listen to. So, that's something I pay attention to. But I think our insecurities are really loud, and it's so easy to talk ourselves out of everything. Like I said, like, I would never be doing this if it weren't for you. And, so I think that what my hope for you all listening today is that, we will be the Laurie voice in your head, reminding you, "Oh, that thing you think you're not enough in? Yeah, you're still enough. You should try it anyways. Keep going. Try the thing. Do the thing." Like talking back to your insecurities, right?

Laurie: Yeah. Oh no, I love that you're talking about your insecurities. You know and I think sometimes people think that it's a certain personality that [00:08:00] feels hesitant about podcasting. Like maybe you're insecure, you're an introvert, or you're quiet. But coming from the flip side of being probably, a little louder than a lot of people myself, you know my insecurity was I wasn't successful enough. And so I think there's a lot going on there. I honestly think a lot of people probably aren't even afraid of the thought of podcasting, of getting behind a mic, or whatever. It's almost becoming a version of themselves that they aren't. Like I can't become that version or that I have to become a version of myself that I'm not, you know, I think there's a lot there.

Becky: Yeah. Well, and that's a lot of pressure to put on ourselves to like you have to, you have to learn how to become this other person, almost like acting. You have to learn how to become this other person so that you can be successful in this. And you know, I guess one of the things that we wanna share with you right off the bat is that people can usually feel that when you're trying to force yourself to be like somebody else.

Laurie: Mm-hmm

Becky: And so we, yeah, we wanna encourage you instead of thinking [00:09:00] this like performing, to think of this more like communicating with these people, like conversations. Instead of you're standing on the stage and people are listening, you're talking down to them or at them, you're talking with them about these topics. And so, you know, I actually think that the internet is, is shifting a lot right now with AI and all kinds of things, but people are tired of everything sounding polished and optimized and performative and looking for the perfect answers. They wanna hear from real people again. They don't want just a spit out answer.

They wanna hear people who are going through the things, and they wanna build trust in, in people. We're craving people. So, Laurie, what do you think people actually connect with right now on the internet in podcasting?

Laurie: Everything you're talking about, like I am just sitting here shaking my head. This AI thing has thrown us into I don't want that, I don't [00:10:00] want anybody too polished, I actually want people who mess up. I want to hear the bloopers. I want to hear the mispronounced word. You know when they're correcting it themselves like, 'Oh I meant to say this'. Like because it reminds me that that's a real person

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: Right.

Becky: And I think what you're going back to with, like, our comfort in knowing that it's a real person is, that's what helps us build trust again. Like, we don't, we don't trust. Yeah, we don't fully trust just,

Laurie: Yeah

Becky: Spit out answers from AI. So why

Laurie: Yeah.

Becky: That is? Why do you think, our more natural voices build trust more easily?

Laurie: You know I'm just thinking of walking into a crowded room, listening to a presentation at some of my old work settings, you know searching for things online. There's just a falsity. Like when somebody is too perfect or too predictable even, it feels like it's a mask. Like it's almost like, [00:11:00] there must be something else and I think that's the trust issue is. We're humans. We're humans by nature. It's how God created us. We make mistakes. We have good days. We have bad days. We have some times when our energy is lower. We have stuff going on in our lives and I think AI, you know, ChatGPT is making humanity matter more. Like you know, people are scared of AI. I'm not scared of AI. I actually think like— you and I what we do here and in our other businesses— I think we're gonna stand out more because of AI. Because AI is going into this filtered professional, I don't know. Like it's just too smooth.

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: You and I have never been too smooth. So we're like kind of— you know I mean, if you listen to my old podcast you know, especially with Small Church Ministry— I mean you know, I think quirks are becoming attractive now, you know. I think, you know, when I was a kid in high school geeks or nerds, they weren't cool people. Do you know what I mean. And now it's like it [00:12:00] is the age of the geek. You know what I mean. It's like

Becky: True.

Laurie: People who are different are just you know. Everybody has their own standout these days. And I think also like, I'm gonna talk about like speech patterns. Like if you think about like, rate of speech or tonality kind of a thing.

Becky: Mm-hmm.

Laurie: Imperfect speech patterns feel much more real and I think that helps us connect more with people. Like yeah.

Becky: I also wanna throw in there, that it's really helpful for me to hear people's lived experiences. So you know that when I was searching for my insomnia journey, I started with the Google answers, and then I

Laurie: Yeah

Becky: Was like, That's not helpful.. I wanna hear from people who've actually been through it." 

Laurie: Yes 

Becky: And just recently, we just moved out to some new property and, we have an Australian shepherd, named Biscuit, and his fur is just thick. And we didn't know that spear grass can get into the fur. So I was looking for spear grass. I was Googling what, like, is spear grass dangerous to Australian shepherds?

And, you know, [00:13:00] the internet answer was take him to the vet immediately. And the lived answers of, "Oh, I use this brush with my dog, and this is how I do it," it was so different. It was so much more helpful. I want the stories. I want the lived experience.

Laurie: Yeah, no. I love that. And you know, you and I have talked about this many times before but consistency

Becky: Mm-hmm.

Laurie: Builds trust a lot more than polished performance. It just does. That consistency showing up being real. This is, none of this is about performance And I do think several decades ago, it was more about performance. Like back in the 80s, I think it was in the 80s when musicians were basically controlled by their record label.

Becky: Mm-hmm.

Laurie: You saw NSYNC and things like that, and like I think it was NSYNC and several of those bands way back then I'm dating myself I'm also showing how little I know about the music field. But I do know this, there was a time, a period where the music labels told the singers what to sing, how to sing it, what phrases, what to wear, where to go. And Taylor Swift and others like Ed Sheeran and stuff started saying, 'Hey we're gonna [00:14:00] do it the way we wanna do it'. And it's almost like they're redefining that. So I think this edge of like, it used to be performance. It did. That used to be what got you where you went The very polished speaker. The very, you know detailed all these nuances, with the singers. Just the successful people in business followed a pattern. It is not like that today.

Becky: Hmm.

Laurie: Like, look at the breakout artists in every area. You know whether it's musician, even sports. Like I mean it's very interesting, all the pushback in different places. But the podcasts that a lot of people stick with long term, are not the polished ones.

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: They're the ones that feel familiar. They feel real. They're the people, as I've said before, you can have in your ears when you're brushing your teeth. You know what I mean. Like they're just the people who are more a living room setup feeling. Like. Welcome into my living room rather than welcome into my studio, which is exactly why trying to sound like somebody else other than who you are. Like let's get back to the purpose of this podcast [00:15:00] is you don't need to be that podcaster person to have a podcast. You don't need a certain personality a certain voice. This is exactly why trying to sound like somebody else usually backfires eventually. Short term, you know you wanna sound like somebody and be a copycat, you can usually get a little traction.

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: Long term, it's gonna backfire. And I think this is the part that a lot of people miss. Your natural communication style already, whoever you are, wherever you're listening from. Whether you're on your treadmill, you're cooking breakfast, you're at a job, maybe not even on a break with us in your ears, right? Your natural communication style already has some strengths. We're not saying it's perfect. Becky and I work a lot like, on things, like sometimes Becky and I both will start racing and we're like showing each other, slow down you're way too, you know like we're all working on this right. On being better in so many ways. But your natural communication style already has some strengths no matter where you're coming in from. And I will even [00:16:00] say if you stutter

Becky: Yes,

Laurie: Like, this is not a 'Hey, you can't have a podcast because you stutter', right? So I mean, like, think of that even and what a different age we're in these days. So Becky, let's talk about different personality styles or different speaking styles. Different styles, people naturally have and what do people underestimate about their own communication style Like what do you think of that.

Becky: I think this goes back to the insecurities, which I'm an expert on speaking of because I experience so many of them.

Laurie: You should do a podcast on insecurity.

Becky: Should I?

Laurie: Honestly that would be the best. Oh my gosh, we could do a podcast together on insecurity cause we both have them. They show up so differently.

Becky: Yeah, but.

Laurie: Oh.

Becky: Well,

Laurie: Nobody steal our idea. Now I just put that out to the world. Do not steal our idea. We might end up doing another one on inse-. Okay go ahead, Becky.

Becky: I just think that, I just think that we don't usually see our strengths as our strengths. Sometimes we do. Some people are really good at that. But most of the women I know [00:17:00] see their strengths as flaws. 

Laurie: Oh say it again Say it again, Sam. Where did that phrase come from.

Becky: No. 

Laurie: Say it again, Becky.

Becky: I feel like most of the women I know see their strengths as flaws. So I know women who are deep, and slow, and reflective, and, it's such a powerful gift to somebody like me who's, like, super speed and running all over. And, like, it's

Laurie: Yeah 

Becky: a gift to me. It calms me down. Some people are super practical, can solve any problem you throw at them. My mother-in-law, oh my goodness, if you have a practical issue in life, she's the one you wanna talk to.

She will troubleshoot, and she knows. Some people are very calm. Some people are so good at teaching and educating. Some people are so funny just naturally. And it could be funny, like dry humor, or it could be funny, more overt humor. Some people are, just thoughtful [00:18:00] and slower paced, and some people are faster paced and think fast and are quick-witted.

And all of those personalities, all of them have a place in the podcasting world, all of them in different ways. And, you know, you think about the different things that you Google or the different kinds of influencers you follow in different seasons, there's something for everybody. Somebody, like, there are people out there who need more of you in their lives.

Laurie: I love that you mentioned seasons. Probably a topic for another conversation. Another conversation on a podcast. But like when you said seasons I thought, 'Wow I used to listen to this person a lot'. Then I moved over to this person, then I went back to this person. And it a lot of times, it is more about me than them. Like it's what I need at the time. So I want you to fill in this sentence, Becky. Okay I don't wanna beat this too much to death about what happens when people are too polished, but I'm gonna throw out two different words for you, I wanna know if somebody sounds too polished or over-rehearsed to you, how does that make you feel?

Becky: Oh.

Laurie: So when somebody sounds [00:19:00] too polished or over-rehearsed I feel...

Becky: Oh, the only word in my head right now is, is ick. Like it, it pushes me away from them. Like,

Laurie: Okay.

Becky: I can't, I can't be there. Okay, sorry.

Laurie: Great.

Becky: Wanna extend it. Okay, go ahead

Laurie: No, I like that because when you were making a face I thought, 'Oh she feels yucky'.

Becky: I do. 

Laurie: I thought, so when somebody sounds too polished or over-rehearsed, you feel ick or you feel yucky. So and this is just for you personally, so there's no right or wrong answer, Becky cause she didn't know I was gonna ask this. So now I want you to say what do you think? So we talked about what you feel when somebody sounds too polished? What do you think when somebody sounds too polished or over-rehearsed?

Becky: "Hmm, I think that's too much. That's too much. That doesn't, that's not relatable for me. That's hard for me to connect with. That's a lot of work for me to get to

that place where I have to

meet them there." That.

Laurie: Yeah Sometimes I think they're trying too hard and it makes me kinda push back and sometimes even wanna mentor them. Is that terrible? Like I wanna say 

Becky: I love that 

Laurie: Oh honey, just relax. Like you don't have to be that polished, you know. [00:20:00] So that's kinda where I go to.

Becky: I've seen you do that in Small Churches. I've seen you do that in relationships where you have... what I love about what you do is you allow and invite people to be themselves,

and that is a powerhouse in podcasting, is being yourself.

Laurie: Yeah, yeah. Very cool. Okay let's move on to our next, Becky, I kind of went on a little tangent there.

Becky: No, it's okay. So let's, so let's, let's circle back. So, okay, your natural communication style, like I said, your strengths we often view as our flaws. So what if you flipped that script, and what if you allowed your natural communication style to be the foundation of your podcast, that that is the strength of what you are about to create? So that immediately for me allows me to kind of take a deep breath and release all of the work that I built up in my shoulders, all of the tension, because once you allow yourself permission to stop performing, the whole thing, the [00:21:00] whole world of podcasting becomes a lot easier to approach and sustain.

So talk about what changes when you allow yourself to stop performing. Um, try

it. 

Laurie: I just have to answer because I just love that you're saying this. I'm laughing because I'm thinking of what I used to do at the beginning when I started podcasting with my other podcast. Becky you were saved from this because cause you came in a couple years later so I'm gonna tell you what happens when you stop performing. You have to edit a lot less.

Becky: Ah.

Laurie: Easier to show up and record. It is easy for your entire team because you just let it be. Like the amount I would even leave Maggie notes, like 'Oh Maggie take out when I swallowed'

Becky: Oh my goodness!

Laurie: I would. Or I would say. 'Oh my gosh, take out I said the wrong word.' Or while I was recording I'd be like, 'oh wait that sounds really dumb, Maggie take that out.' Let's start again Becky. She had to edit so much so that's the first thing I thought in my head when you said, what [00:22:00] changes when you stop trying to sound perfect or performing or excellent or that polish. I'm just telling you right now functionally on the back end everything gets easier.

Becky: Okay, so that's Laurie's experience starting. Even me, having Laurie as my mentor jumping into podcasts, do you remember what I used to do with outlines? So you would send me outlines and you would say, "All right, just be yourself."

Laurie: Oh.

Becky: What I do is, 

Laurie: Yeah.

Becky: I over prepare, and so I start with leaving myself little notes on the outline, and then it ended up becoming, when I was over preparing, it became a full script, and I was just trying to read things. 

Laurie: Yeah.

Becky: 'Cause I was like, "Oh no, what if I say it wrong? What if I, what if I flub this up?" And so it was me, but I was writing myself a whole script. That doesn't... I don't recommend it, people. I don't recommend it. Nope, nope.

Laurie: You were, I hate to say this word cause I'm sure there's bad connotations to it, but you were almost a little neurotic about it. Like.

Becky: 100%.

Laurie: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. What if. And so you feel less stressed out, like today we just came in and

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: We definitely had an outline. We know where we're [00:23:00] going, but yeah.

Becky: Yes. Yes. And so,

Laurie: I love it

Becky: Yeah. And all right. So I'm glad you answered my question already, but let's dive into not just how it feels when you start, 'cause we both just shared our experience

starting and how we were both like, "Ah, too much, too much, too much.

Over- overdoing it." 

Laurie: Yeah.

Becky: I wanna hear, um, how, does letting go of those things make it more sustainable long term?

Laurie: You know about five minutes ago, I thought, 'Oh my gosh I need to share this story on the next episode podcast, but it's pretty perfect here.' So how does it make it more sustainable. When we talk about showing up in our real lives and how our businesses can be sustainable and I will just be real and tell whoever happens to listen to this, whether it's 10 people, or a thousand, or a hundred or whatever, I woke up today pretty devastated and crying and overwhelmed about a lot of things. A lot of things. And [00:24:00] I processed, I did what I know to do you know with Jesus and my journal and just work I've done, you know, through therapy. And through friendships and things like that and we talk about shortening our emotional response time. And talk about sustainable, 90 minutes later, Becky and I are laughing and recording podcasts together. Now if I had to be super prepared and had to have my outline and had to feel perfect, and had to feel great and had to feel confident and on top of the world, and you know, like this personality I could not have done this recording today.

Becky: Yeah. One of the things we used to say to each other more often "Done is better than perfect." And that helped us not take away the intentionally and the

intentionality of preparing. We

still prepare, but it takes away the pressure of this has to be perfect for you, before you do anything. And

Laurie: I just wanna even reframe that. I feel like, me showing up not perfect is more perfect.

Becky: Mm, love [00:25:00] it.

Laurie: We used to say done is better than perfect. Maybe 'perfect' is showing up with our insecurities with our real lives, with our rhythms, with our emotions, with our whole being you know. So wow that I hope that didn't just send us in another tangent but I feel like that fit really well, that like this is why it feels easier and more sustainable because I'm not trying to show up as someone who has conquered the world and is on top of everything in my life all the time. I am showing up real. We are talking to women about building sustainable businesses that don't just fit for a future, but fit your real life right now and my real life right now is complicated.

Becky: It is.

Laurie: There's a lot of recovery. There's been a lot of like, upheaval in the past three, four, five, six, even seven years of my life and I'm still working on settling in like settling into a new rhythm. So that's how I'm showing up and I can still podcast through it, right.

Becky: Yes, and what I love about, I [00:26:00] love the reminder that you're giving our audience right now, which is listeners, you guys listening, and your listeners who you will be talking to, they don't need perfection.

Laurie: Mm-mm.

Becky: Need somebody who they can listen to and relate to, and they want somebody who shows up every week to talk to them about these things that matter to them, and they wanna hear your lived experiences.

They want pieces of you. They want you to share you, you as you are, not polished you, not perfect you. They want you to share you, and so I love that you shared that. Thank you for going there.

Laurie: You're welcome. And I just wanna say, like I can't wait to get, in a couple episodes we're gonna talk about why you're more ready now, like how you're more ready to start a podcast right now. Like my brain's already going there because it's so true. Like the big goal isn't to sound impressive to have polished amazing speaking skills. The big goal is to sound real and keep going and I love that I'm learning and getting [00:27:00] better with an audience.

Becky: Mm-hmm.

Laurie: Like I mean a year from now if you're listening to Smart Soulful Business I think you and I will both have new levels of communication of things we can talk about successes of ways we've grown in our character and personality and our skills even in podcasting. And so I really think the bigger goal here, it's not sounding impressive or polished or done or successful. Even It's sounding real and to show up consistently. The big picture of what we're talking about today is you don't need a podcast personality.

Becky: Yeah.

Laurie: To start a podcast or a podcast successful life to start a podcast. Most people connect with voices that feel human and relatable and consistent like, 'Oh they're like me. Not perfect.' 'No one else is walking a perfect human life.' 'No one else has done that but Jesus', right. [00:28:00] So when you sound too perfect or perfect at all, then you're not relatable. So the more we stop trying to sound like someone else and be the us, the we, that God created us to be individual beautiful whole as we are, whatever uniqueness God has given us, I think the easier this becomes to sustain.

Becky: Yeah. Agreed. And we are gonna invite you into this with us. We are gonna invite you and encourage you to go and download this week's free action guide. Laurie mentioned it at the beginning of the podcast. It's called The Natural Voice Notes, and it's just a tool to help you identify the communication style that you already have, and it's gonna help you, see how you can build your podcast around that instead of fighting against it. So we just really hope that you go right now and go download that. Go fill it out. Spend a few minutes.

Laurie: Yeah I love this week's action guide too cause sometimes our action guides are [00:29:00] super like checklist and very actionable and this one has a little of both. It's got some checklists and then it's got a little bit of reflective questions in there and I just love it. I love it. It even helped me now going through it. So anyway, honestly if you are listening to this series and realizing. 'Okay maybe I could do this'. Yeah that's exactly what we're saying. Exactly what we're saying is you could do this. We have a course out there called 'How to Start a Podcast From Pitch to Topics'. It walks through deeper details. Action, actionable. I just was talking to one of the gals in our community, you saw the post too. I'm sure and she said, 'Yeah, I just, What's keeping me from doing it is, I need the real steps.' Like just tell me what to do and how to do it. That's exactly what this course does so we got to point her to it. So we walk through setup, structure, content, ideas, the practical side of getting started. What you need all without it feeling overwhelming or overly complicated. Like again, we wanna get you going cause we believe that movement is creates that inertia so that we keep going. So if you want [00:30:00] extra support while you're building something like this or anything in your business, come join us inside the Soulful Strategy community The link is in the show notes. And if this episode helped you and we hope it did, please leave us a quick review It really does help more people like you and us to find this show. So next week we're gonna be talking about one of the biggest fears people have when starting a podcast what if no one listens. So excited! Dun dun dun. Okay we'll see you next time.