The Real Reason People Start Podcasts and Why It Changes Them

What if podcasting is about more than just recording a conversation?

In this special solo episode of Real Estate Connections, Mary Foerster steps away from real estate to share her personal journey into podcasting, how it started, what she has learned, and why she believes more people should consider finding and sharing their voice.

Mary reflects on co-hosting her first podcast, Married to Real Estate, the evolution into Real Estate Connections, and the confidence, relationships, and unexpected growth that came along the way.

This episode is about curiosity, courage, imperfection, and learning that your voice matters, even if you are not a technology expert or public speaker.

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• Why podcasting is really about finding your voice
 • How curiosity can lead to meaningful conversations
 • Why imperfection is part of growth
 • What Mary learned from producing over 50 podcast episodes
 • The value of community and networking in podcasting
 • Why asking for help changes everything
 • How podcasting builds confidence and connection
 • The rise of video podcasting and why it matters
 • Why it is never too late to start something new

This episode is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Transcript

0:01

Well, welcome. Today, I'm gonna digress a little bit from real estate and talk to you about podcasting and what my own journey has been in podcasting and with the hopes that you'll think about it or you'll understand it more for yourself. Welcome to Real Estate Connections podcast. Where relationships open doors. I'm Mary Foerster and housing is a universal need. We are often thinking about our existing housing, our future housing that possibly of family members. This is where you're gonna hear the issues and the people who are working the issues every day. Please hit subscribe and like if you find this podcast helpful to you. Thank you. Welcome and today we're gonna talk about podcasting, not just real estate. Today, I wanna talk to you about my little journey as being a podcaster, how that might impact you and what you do around podcasting. When you said to somebody, what is a podcast? They usually think, oh, it's something you listen to. Somebody famous is speaking and I don't know much more about it. And do you listen to podcasts? No, not really. So I got into podcasting about, let's see, just after COVID a woman in my office, Mary Elliott, invited Mary McCauley Mary Forster to do a podcast on real estate. We had just been through COVID. We were trying to figure out kind of what would be fun to do and what we learned and what we learned and mostly to share our excitement for real estate which was our common goal. So we started a podcast, 50 episodes of married to real estate and we produced it over at a local community access television station but that's all we did. And they very kindly put it out on the internet and we posted it on a webpage and that was the end of it. And we had fun. We talked to some really fascinating people and I'd like to share with you what I learned about podcasting and where I am now. So I think that the most important thing about podcasting is finding a voice. You know, so many of us learned to be polite, to only respond to questions, to not offend and to not really express ourselves, our curiosity very often. And what podcasting allows you to do is allows you to create what is the topic? What do you love? What is out there being produced in the subject and what do you love? Fly fishing, whatever it is, Italian food, whatever it is. And is there a void? Are you really wanting to hear more and who are those people who are the experts in that area? So for me and for many other people I hear it's finding your voice and that you do have a voice. And the more you explore, the more confident you become. So we did 50 some episodes of Married to Real Estate and we were comfortable because it was in our community of Westford, Massachusetts and we typically knew the people and sometimes we would zoom them in, but for the most part they were fairly local and we had fun. But the funnest part was dispelling the fear in our guests. So we would say, have you podcasted before? They would say no, they would say, well, you know, it's a little scary at first, but when at the end of it, we always ask our clients, you know, our guests, what was it like? They said, and they always said, it was fun. And people actually can find their voice. So we didn't have too many episodes or we had to go back and do some editing, but that's okay. And that was really, really good. And that was a comfort level. But then this group formed that started to meet at the Community Access Television Station that we recorded at. And the group was called New England Podcasters Group. And this fantastic woman, Andy Lyons, came over from Andover, or as we say in Massachusetts, Andova. And she convened a group of people who, the only requirement was an interest in podcasting and that you live or work in New England. And what a genius. And we started meeting. And I have to tell you, the topics that the people were talking about, finding your voice was one of them. What happens when you turn 40? Is there something magical or scary or dramatic? When you turn in your 40s? And as I mentioned, Italian food, I wish I were a prosciutto, is about loving Italian food and loving the culture of Italian food. It can be about attending, you know, boarding schools. It can be anything. And I find a lot of them are what is life like in the midlife. And I'm seeing a whole lot of podcasters in that venue. So finding a voice, really important to find your voice and to get comfortable. My first podcast, I did this interviewing quite, you know, I guess, and I thought, oh no, no, I have to fix that. That's imperfect. And that was, that's the second part. Accepting imperfection. There's a woman in our group, the New England Podcasters Group, Amy Baldook. And she frequently posts about accepting imperfection, doing it anyway, dipping your toe in. And so I urge you, whether you want to learn to ballroom dance or if you want to try a podcast or whatever, dip your toe in and allow that to happen. Allow those kinds of learning messages that comes along with finding your voice. I've grown so much in just this short time of doing my second podcast, which is Real Estate Connections podcast, which is you're on right now listening to. We've only had 14 episodes and I'm thrilled by the attention that some of the episodes have received. And I'm so excited about the guests. They warm my heart. They really, really, really do. And even if I don't know them, I know them by the end of the podcast. But what is a challenge about getting to know yourself? One, trusting that you have a view. And secondly, asking. Asking people to converse with you about a subject that you have in common. So this woman found me from England and Suzanne Reunion and she talks about feng shui. Well, I love feng shui, but what does feng shui have to do with real estate? And so we were able to have a conversation about the importance of decluttering, the importance of finding the energy centers in your home and what you want to focus on. She was fantastic and she's received so much attention. And investing, which I love the discussion around investing and who's investing, how do you invest? But the most important thing is to ask. And sometimes it is asking the person that you would like to interview or you would like to have a recorded conversation with. And sometimes it's asking them who they know. And a dear friend of mine, Sabur Sheikh, somebody that I interacted with 15 years ago, is well connected with a fantastic podcaster, David Zindoney. And David has a very successful podcast called "How to Buy Your First Home." And I thought, oh, wow, that's just kind of like the king, the kind of ruling of the airwaves in terms of real estate. And I was talking to Sabur and I said, Sabur, do you know David Zindoney? He said, yes, I know him very well. I've known him for years. Sabur, do you think that I could have a conversation with him? And within a half an hour, David Zindoney actually phoned me and he phoned me because Sabur is dear to him and I was dear to Sabur. And so he called me and he shared with me the beginning, the very beginnings of his own podcast, what he's learned, and he guided me. This was unbelievable. This was so, so valuable. This was better than reading a million books, watching a thousand YouTube content episodes on how to do a podcast. It was just to hear from somebody who has lived through this and has evolved, has evolved himself in what his business model is and what his personal growth is. So finding a voice, asking, asking, you know, can I talk to so-and-so? And then talking to them and having confidence to talk with them. And then the last area I just want to mention today is the area of finding help. Now, when Mary, Mary and I did marriage to real estate, we had the help, the technical help of the Community Access Channel. We only had to pay like a membership fee and they allowed us to use their podcast studio. And they gave us the wonderful help of Nick and Ryan to help us and Nick just kind of led us through what we do. And we got better and better and better. And more and more interested and exciting in our own interviews. So that was the beginning way. Podcastors begin with a computer in a microphone and that's it and maybe headphones and they record. And then they find an outlet for their recording. And so it can be as simple as that. And some people are so technically adept. I'm not, I'm not. I'm the kind of person that if I run into a problem in computers, I think, oh no, I've got to stop and I've got to figure this all out and I've got to start all over again. And so it's really very hard. Well, when I met the New England podcasters and they meet monthly, this is a group and you can actually join them too. You can come in and join them in on Zoom because they have content every meeting, one meeting a month in person. And then they have a lot of kind of content meeting through the month. So there would be people in there who were experts at helping people not only design their podcast but produce their podcast, market their podcast. And I thought this time around, if I'm going to do a podcast, I'm going to get some help. So I found the money and I decided that this is the way I'm going to do it. And I hired, I looked around, there were some wonderful people I had several to choose from and I chose Julie and Dan. And Julie and Dan, if you need some further contact information, let me know. But they have been perfect for me because they led me, they were professional, they knew content, they knew how to figure out what's important to listeners. They could guide me on the technology and show me how to do things better and better and better and better. And so there are people out there, you can do it yourself, you can get people to help you, you can join a class at adult education, you can find many, many, many places. So I read recently that there have been in 2025 a billion views of video podcasts. They used to just be audio. A lot of them are still audio, but now more of them are moving to audio visual. And that's because people have an opportunity to see them and they have been able to actually use them, the actual images in marketing and that really does help. So one billion. Most podcasts start out with maybe getting eight episodes and maybe not more. So it's success. If you get beyond eight success in podcasts, you are a success. And so ask for help. And I was at the second birthday celebration of the New England podcasters this past weekend. And we do this little kind of get to know each other and what your podcast is and what your challenge is. It was fascinating. In just this small group that I was in, the variety of technical expertise. And one sound engineer said to somebody who said, "I know nothing about technology. Give me a call, we'll go through sound engineering together and I'll show you exactly what to do." That's the kind of help that's out there. So I share this with you just as kind of the joy and pleasure of having attended this New England podcasters group for two years and learn and have the courage, the courage to start another podcast and the courage to learn and the courage to ask. So if you're curious, find podcasts that you're interested in, listen to them and keep searching and keep doing it and ask for help. Thank you so much for joining us today. And I hope you found this conversation useful to you and your real estate goals. You'll find the contact information for our guests and any links they recommend you have in the show notes. And should we be able to help you identify some strong real estate professionals in your area drop us a note at info at realestachonectionspodcast.com. Thanks again and bye for now.