How a Podcast Turned Trauma Into a Thriving Brand | Tracy Smaldino's Journey

What happens when someone stops merely surviving and starts sharing their story with the world?

In this episode, we sit down with Tracy Smaldino, host of Trauma Rockstars, to explore her incredible journey from trauma survivor to podcast host, speaker, author, and business owner. Tracy shares how she transformed years of personal struggles into a platform that helps others heal, grow, and discover new possibilities.

We discuss the realities of launching a mission-driven podcast, the behind-the-scenes work most aspiring podcasters never see, and how a podcast can evolve into a powerful personal brand and business. Tracy also shares lessons she learned about healing, storytelling, audience connection, and why taking imperfect action is often better than waiting for everything to be perfect.

Whether you're interested in podcasting for marketing, building a personal brand, creating meaningful content, or simply hearing an inspiring story of resilience, this conversation delivers valuable insights and motivation.

In this episode you'll learn:

• How Tracy turned personal trauma into a mission-driven podcast
• Why storytelling can become a powerful tool for healing and connection
• The hidden work involved in running a successful podcast
• How podcasting helped create speaking opportunities, a book, and a growing business
• Why aspiring podcasters should stop overthinking and start creating
• Lessons on personal growth, resilience, and authenticity

If you've been considering starting a podcast to build your brand, attract clients, or share your expertise, this episode is packed with practical inspiration.

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Transcript

0:00

Sometimes trauma is something that can crush someone. It's unfortunate. It's an unfortunate part of life. But some people are able to take that trauma, and after years of work, they're able to turn that into their superpower. That is who we're going to talk to this week, by the way. Yeah, it's about a podcast. Tracy, you made a really powerful jump from and kind of, I don't want to say this as an overnight thing. I know you had a long journey, but in the same sense, you went from survivor, like, and really, in some cases, let's say barely surviving. Yeah. From survivor to storyteller. Mhm. And you did that by saying, you know what? I'm sick of just surviving. Let's talk about this. And what better way to talk about it than to tell the entire world with a podcast. So what made you go from like, hey, this, this private trauma stuff to all of a sudden, you know what, let's just throw the dirty laundry out there literally. So because that's just how I am, I'm like, go big or go home, right. And. And honestly, like I, so I went from being a complete hot mess, which I speak on this in my keynote, you know, I talk about your hot mess is actually your gift. Like you need to embrace that. But I went from a complete disaster hot mess for decades, suppressing all this stuff for decades to getting to the other side of my healing journey to becoming a survivor. And I was like, okay. And then I literally woke up one day and was like, how can I help people? How can I show? Because I went very unconventional ways to heal. I didn't go through talk therapy. I did a lot of research and I did a lot of unconventional ways, um, that were groundbreaking for me. And I'm like, there's so many modalities out there for people who are suffering and they don't know, a lot of people don't even know these are available to them. So that's why I started. I'm like, I want people to find out about all these other options that are out there for them. And what I did, what worked, what didn't work, what other survivors have done, what's worked for them, what hasn't worked for them. And take everybody could take bits and pieces of this and like customize something that makes sense to them in their journey. And so it's turned into a labor of love. And I decided. I think I went from survivor to Thriver. And when I got to being that thriver part is when I was like, oh, I'm going to start a podcast. That'll be fun because I'm clearly shy. So. But in, in that, in that aspect of it, there were some things on about my journey, the assault particularly that happened that nobody knew about. So I had to come to terms with that. But then I had to tell my family because I'm like, if I'm gonna launch this podcast, like you said, the whole world's gonna find out about this. I need to at least give my family heads up about what's what's happening. So they're, they're important. You know that, right? Your family should not hear that as they're driving down the road. Yeah. And and my family's very close. So I'm like, I should probably tell my parents and my brother before, you know, this goes live. And I needed to. Anyway, it was part of my sure journey anyways. So that's kind of what happened. So I launched and, um, not realizing that actually the episodes are the easy part. It's the behind the scenes. That's the, the tough work and not realizing I'm like, oh, this will be fun. It'll be cute. I can do this on the side. And maybe if I help one or two people, it'll be all worth it turns into this whole blew up into this whole thing. Now I've got this whole brand I've created, and I'm in the process of writing a book that's going to be coming out at the end of the year. And it's, it's, it's evolved. It's so funny because when you clear all the crap that's going on in your life and you open and you, you're open to receive what's coming for you All these doors open up and. But there's all like you and I talk about, there's all this behind the scenes that's involved with podcasting and hosting and, um, not realizing that that itself is a full time job. And yeah, we know it's a full time job. People, I don't think people realize what's involved with, with it. And so now I've got my real job that pays my, you know, my bills. I've got my podcast, which is another full time job. And I'm writing a book. So I've got three full time jobs right now. So I want to, I want to ask something about the book there real quick. Yeah. I feel like most people, when they do this base journey, they're like, okay, or this big journey, I guess I should say this transfer, this transformation. They do the book and then they do the podcast. Mhm. What made you think to go the opposite direction? What made you think the talk first? Okay, well, I was never, ever going to write a book. It was never in the cards. I'm. But I'm now it's happening. I'm not an author. I mean, sometimes I just have trouble communicating vocally. Sure. Being an author. Um, I'm not an author, but what happened was, when the podcast started, I started getting a lot of feedback, a lot of positive feedback from it. And I was basically voluntold to write this book. And, um, what happened was not to like freak out your listeners or, you know, whatever you believe in what you don't believe in. But I had a medium on the show and after we were done with the interview, she, we were offline, we weren't recording. And she's like, do you mind if I tell you a few things that have come to me? I didn't want to say it. Libel. We're recording. And I'm like, sure. And she's like, your grandfather is here, and he's telling me to tell you that you need to write a book about your story. And I'm like, okay, you know, I don't, I don't not believe in this. Sure. But I was like, okay, prove to me that it was my grandfather. Well, it was she was able to give me information that I knew it was him. And he came to her and said, you need to tell her she needs to write a book about her story. So I was like, oh, so that planted the seed. I was like, okay, this is interesting. Um, a month later, I had another spiritual guide on the show. Same thing. My grandfather came to her. He's probably like, do I have to hit this kid upside the head? She's not listening to me. Right. Same thing. He came to her again and was, this is a totally different person. And I had never discussed this with anyone. Sure. And she's like, are you surprised if your grandfather's here? And I was like, no, I know what he's gonna say. And she goes, he wants you to write this book. And I go, I was told that a month ago. And she goes, well, you apparently didn't take it seriously because now he's telling me to tell you this. And my grandfather, my grandparents and I were so close. So I, you know, I wasn't surprised at all that this was coming out. So that's how it all happened. And it took me a while to, to process it and get it started. But now it's, I'm in full like writing that first chapter was the hardest. But once I got that first chapter done, I'm like full steam ahead. So I should be done with the manuscript by July editing, and hopefully it'll be out by the end of the year. So but it's turned into it's so far. It's been so therapeutic for me to write this. Sure. And, um. And I'm. Ooh, there's something flying around me. Um, and so it's been great. So it's turned into. And now I'm doing keynote speaking. No surprise. What what happens? I was always, uh, doing keynotes and speaking for my, my day job. Anyway, so I just needed to shift gears a little bit. And now I'm doing it, you know, about the podcast and I created a program. Now it's just evolved into this whole thing that I never in a million years thought was possible. I love that, and I, it's funny because so many times with a podcast, when there's that earnest behind it, it does grow at a rate where you're like, oh, this is a thing that it's actually something and I'm going to, I'm going to get to the part where you realize that's a question that I'm going to have in a little bit where you realize, oh, this is actually something, but I want to touch on something else that you said, you just earlier said, this is a labor of love. You have also said, and I quote, podcasting is hard work and you put hard in capital letters. Oh, yeah. Um, what, like when you walked through the door of podcasting and as it started to grow, what were the things that you started to look at that you're like, I had no idea this was a thing. Well, I very quickly learned I was able to secure incredible guests, like very quickly just by people that I knew and their stories or people that were referred to me, that knew that I was starting this, this journey. So I was able to secure like incredible guests right away. And, um, when that, when you do that, you think, oh, okay, you get on, you record your episode, you download it and it's out to the world. Well, it's not there's a whole workflow that comes with yes, there is even yes, before you even have that guest on there, I have like a fifteen steps that I have to do before it's even recorded. And then then you get into editing and then you get into, um, the words that I never even knew about SEO a e o g e o hashtags, some putting it on platforms, some platforms like hashtags, some platforms like keywords, some platforms don't like this, some platforms don't like that. And I'm like, I think a lot of podcasters, I'm on all platforms. So everything's got to be customized depending on what platform you're on to reach, so they can pull it for the right listeners. And it can't. It's not a one size fits all. You don't just copy and paste. And so there's that whole workflow behind that. And then there's the marketing part of it. Yep. Yeah. It's, it's, it's a whole thing. And that's a whole nother separate workflow in itself. So you've got three different workflows right there before it's even live. So and I was about to say, I want to, I want to move to something real quickly here because this is, this is the part that's interesting to me. We always talk about like, I mean, we're geared towards helping podcasters and helping companies market things. This was not a company for you before the podcast started. How has like, what has the podcast? I know the book is part of it, but what has the podcast? I mean, you started this as a way I say this and I, I guess I'm going to preface this. First off, your story is amazing and I am not going to do it justice in telling it. What I really want people to do, and I'll make sure the links are in the show notes. People need to go to listen to. It's the first five episodes of your podcast. You talk about your story, correct? Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. So I want to make sure people go listen to that because it truly is. It's a, it's a story that's going to stick with you. Um, when you listen to it, you started this to tell your story and now I believe you have a business. Yeah. And a whole business has come out of it. So how did like, when was the point where you thought, oh, damn, this is a business now? Mhm. Well, so I and I won't get into too much, but before, uh, like years ago, I worked in the music industry for, for a very, very long time. And, um, when I've got like some kind of little fruit fly or something flying away, so just ignore me. Um, but I worked in the music industry, and one thing about trauma survivors is you'll learn that they they are never settled. They like to live in busy cities. They move a lot. They like a lot of noise around them. Well, I couldn't have picked a more perfect profession. Is working in the music industry to suppress my trauma, so I. I did that for many years and, um, still have like very, a lot of positive things about it, but that's where the name trauma rock stars came from because of my years in the music industry. And what's a rock star? A rock star is a badass. So I'm like, anybody who is trying to better themselves is a is a rock star. So that's where trauma rock stars came from. And it just evolved into this business now and everything. Now it's a full blown running machine. I mean, it's a business. I've, it's, um. Uh. I'm sorry. It's, uh. I've got it all trademarked. Everything's trademarked. And, you know, and I've got the programs now I've got the rock star thirty and the rock star ninety programs, and everything's based around the music industry. So I'm starting to do a lot more solo episodes. So the one that came out last week was the load in and load out. And it's about everything. We load in and we don't load out. We don't let things go. The one coming up next week is called the Set List. I've got one coming up called The Groupie who wants to be the groupie. Right. I've got one coming out, called The Tour Manager, the encore. They're all based around music type things, but it's all around your healing journey. And so it's, it's become this like business now. Um, and it's, it's evolved into this, like, I think it's just been, it's been amazing, but it's, it's scary. It's scary as hell. Um, but again, that's me. I'm like, go big or go home. Um, but it's yeah, it's, it's been, I've had to create like a holding company for the business and there's legalities involved and, and everything like that. And I'm not a, I'm not a clinician or a therapist or a counselor. So I need to make sure that everything is legally set up. So I'm not putting myself or the business at risk for anything. There's a lot involved. And, um, so yeah, this is just the day to day. This is every day. I love it. No days off. No days off. But it's okay because it's true. They say if you do what you love, you don't work. So and I do love this. So it's not I'm not complaining, but you know what's involved. It's and there's, there is a reason there is enough work there that there is a reason why people pay us to do it. Yeah, one hundred percent it. That being said, what, like, what is a podcasting lesson that you've learned where once again, I mean, I realize there's all the, the SEO, SEO, there's the what hashtag, what tag, whatever do I need? What, what's something about the conversations and the actual podcast itself that you've learned since you've started that like is like, hey, this is different and this is something people need to know. I think with me is I, I didn't do a lot of research. Um, because I just wanted to do it and, and see how it was. So, and I know people spend, if you're thinking about starting one, don't, don't do too much research because you're going to be spending months and months researching and you're not going to have anything out there. And it's better like when you watch my first five episodes, they're are very raw. They're not. They're very unproduced. They're very. Just like you and I are having a conversation. Um, you can tell. I mean, I have no clue what I'm doing, but it's very it's me and it's my story. So just do it. Just start. Don't, don't spend all this time researching how to do it right, the right equipment to have what the topics are. Just start and you'll learn as you go. That's. And it's a great, it's a great way to look at it because we do see so many people that get stuck in the minutia. And I, I just made this point to someone the other night is like, gear is an easy way to do that because what happens is, is it's very easy to go on like the B and H or Adorama website and surf cameras for like three hours and research cameras and audio gear ad nauseum. And you're like, okay, I did a ton of research, but what did you do? Kind of absolutely nothing. Um, there's nothing recorded. There's, you're really no closer to recording anything. And that's, that's the tough piece with that. Yeah. As, as you start to move out of like, you're, you're, you're starting to grow your wings, you're starting to move out of the, the, the F and G phase of being in podcasting. You're no longer the new guy is as you start to grow out of that, like you're, you're trying to stay mission driven, I realize that, yeah. What, what, what is the I realize the book is piece of that, but what is like the next mission driven piece that's going to keep it in that realm instead of just a time consuming hobby for you? It's it is, it's not a hobby anymore. Um, it's, it's really turned into, uh, like, this is my blood, sweat and tears into it at this point and right now, like with these programs, I developed like this rock star thirty and the Rock star ninety programs like these are programs that I'm very passionate about because like the rock star thirty is perfect for anybody who just wants to start to see where they're at, like getting in touch with their nervous systems. And it's just a guided thirty day program. And I lead you through it. So you don't have to do any thinking. And it maybe takes five, ten minutes a day to do it, but from where you start to when you get to the end of it, you'll notice so much change because it teaches you how are you setting boundaries? Are you putting yourself first? Are you doing all, you know, all of these things? And then the rock star ninety is a much, much more intense program. It's a ninety day, much more intense program, but that's, that's more for high achievers who don't have a lot because they're both for people who don't have a lot of time, they don't want to. They're sick of going to therapists and sitting on, laying on the couch or talking in circles for months at a time and not getting anywhere. And this really helps you. You have to become your own, like energy healer. And when I do my keynotes, my keynotes is it can be there's some things about it that I can. It can be a little harsh. Like I'm very brutal and honest. And I'm like, look at nobody is coming to help you. No one. You have got to be your own hero. And that's, you know, that's so important that people realize that. And, um, and so that's, I'm really passionate about it because I think I, I dealt with so much BS trying to heal and go through different things that I'm the type of person, like I'm not looking for a quick fix type thing, you know, but I'm also looking to be as efficient as possible because we're all so busy. So that's what I want to continue to offer. um, you know, going beyond this into, you know, twenty twenty seven, twenty twenty eight and do more keynotes and get more in front of people to have that connection with people. And, you know, we're, I know we do everything Zoom now, you know, we're everything's video, but I love going out there and face to face and speaking to people. So, you know, we can hug each other and shake each other's hand. And that human connection, that physical being in the same room is still more powerful than anything. So that's what I'm looking to concentrate more on for the next year. Interesting. And it's funny because all of this kind of really stemmed from, hey, I'm going to spill my guts on camera. Yeah. Like literally. And even, you know, it was scary because even even with my assault that happened, um, I never pressed. I never told a soul about it. it. I never pressed charges. I never did anything. So I'm like, is this going to open a can of worms? But you know, it's my story and I'm going to tell it the way. If you would talk to me six years ago, I would never be able to talk about this like this. But now I'm, I'm like, I'm an open book. You can ask me anything. And I want people to know that that's, that's what getting on the other side of that journey looks like. This is what it looks like. You can totally talk about it. You get you don't get any anxiety. Your your body stays calm. Um, and I want also people to learn what not to do from me. Like I suppressed like this for decades. So do the opposite of what I do. Don't do, you know, don't suppress things for decades. And, and most of the people I've had, I've had therapists, um, psychiatrists on my show that talk about their own trauma journeys two and and they all say the same thing. Like the longer you wait, the harder it gets. So to be able and I really want to reach the younger generation too, because I think high school kids going into college, they're dealing with so much right now, more than I ever did growing up. We didn't have social media growing up, thank God. Um, you know, I really want to get with the younger generation, work with them and also men like it's really, I think it's really important that men understand, like when I speak to men, I tell them like, your vulnerability is your secret sauce. And don't be afraid of that because that is what's going to make you stand out from everybody else. And, um, so those are kind of goals that I have for twenty twenty seven. And, um, I just, I'm so passionate about it and I believe in it so much that I know when I'm speaking with people, they can feel that and they believe it. I that's truly a great way to put it. I, it's funny, I always one of the closing questions I always ask is like, what's the one piece of advice that you would give to someone? But we've talked about it in about three different ways already. Um, in terms of the don't get stuck in the gear, don't get is there, I guess I'm going to flip this a little bit when it comes to finding guests. What is that one piece of advice that you're going to give to people when it comes to finding guests? I screen all of them for sure because everybody had like, everybody's got an amazing story, but my show might not be the right fit for you or we might not connect. So I always, and it does. That takes extra time. You guys listening to this to schedule a fifteen or thirty minute and I don't like rushing people, but I screen, I screen everybody because you don't know until you're face to face with that person. If if you've got that connection, if you feel and know your audience, like know exactly like one thing you're going to hear starting podcasts, everyone's going to say, figure out your avatar, figure out your avatar. Well, who the hell hasn't been through trauma? Right. A very select few, a very select few. I don't even know about that because we all went through the pandemic. But but, you know, honestly, like it's funny, but it's like, figure out your avatar. And I'm like, okay, well, that's easy for you to say, but you do need to figure out really who you're targeting. And, you know, I like with me, I've had maybe one or two shows about, um, people recovering from being in a narcissistic relationship. Well, if I hear one more person that wants to talk about narcissism, I'm gonna choke myself because, you know, I don't want my podcast to be about narcissism, right? That's not what it's about. It's about you. And, um, it's the truth. So for me, if somebody's like, I survived a narcissistic relationship, I usually pass on those because I know the direction I want the show to go. So maybe they, they're better fit for another show. So I would be selective with who you pick, but once you start and the buzz gets out there, you'll start having people reaching out to you about being being on the show. And it just kind of happens organically. Um, but I, I would, you know, I would have a clear picture of what you want to do and then everything will kind of set in place for you that way. Um, so that's one thing with me. And honestly, like I, the narcissistic thing, I think that's a buzzword that everybody's using and we all have narcissistic tendencies. So, you know, I really don't want to talk about your narcissistic ex-husband, right? Because there's two sides of the story. One hundred percent. This isn't this isn't what this show is about. There's other shows for that and other groups and communities for that. So love it. That being said, um, like I said, your story is I, I can't even think of the right words to describe it. It's, uh, it's a lot. It's a lot. Yes. That is a great, it's just a lot. Um, yeah. And the way that you've come through this is amazing. Where can people go find your story and your podcast? Well, the website, everything's trauma rockstars, the website, um, it's on all platforms. All the video is on YouTube. Um, and well now Apple's allowing video too, which is great. So video episodes are on that. And then the audios are on all other platforms and the website and on socials. Everything's trauma rockstars. It's super easy. And I love, love, love when people reach out to me directly. Um, you could email me at podcast at trauma rockstars dot com and I will be the one I actually reply to everybody. Awesome. So there aren't AI or people that work. You know, for me, that reply, it's me. And I love to hear people's stories and their thoughts. And even if you think the episode sucked, I want to know. It's important that I know why, because that's how we provide better episodes for you. So I agree. Tracy, thank you for the time today. This, uh, I appreciate it. And just like I said, when I, when I kind of heard how you started to do this, I was like, this is, this is the wrong order. So we need to talk about this. And obviously it's not the order, it's the story. And that's what I truly love. So thank you very much, Tracy. For everyone else. I, as always, have some of my notes here. I'm going to get the summary together. I'll be right back. My summary this week is going to be kind of quick because, I mean, she really covered a lot of great points in this. The, the one that I really want to hit home with is don't do too much, just random research, like have resources start narrowing stuff down, but start, make sure you're working on things, not just being busy for the sake of being busy. The other thing is, is we've said this all the time. This is a skill. Being on camera, being on a podcast is a skill not everyone has. No one starts at one hundred percent. We all start at varying levels. You have to be willing to not be perfect on camera and just start. No one cares that it's not perfect. People do care that you're telling your story. People do care that you're talking about your product. People do care that you're out there. To me, that is the most amazing piece to it. The judgment that you have in your head is probably just your own and no one else's. So like we said, just start, as I say every time, do me a favor, take care of yourself. If you can take care of someone else too. I will see you very, very soon.