Why I Changed My Podcast Again and What I’m Doing Instead

I’m rebuilding my podcast in a way that actually works for how my brain and business operate.

I share why I combined everything into one feed, how I’m thinking about content now, and what I’m doing about social media going forward.

In this episode:
0:00 Why I changed the podcast name and format
0:33 My history with past podcasts and why I keep evolving
2:18 Why I combined everything into one feed
4:28 The new series “Cool People Doing Cool Things”
10:49 My personality tests and what they say about how I work
13:48 My current social media experiment and boundaries

Hang out with Deanna:
https://deannaseymour.com

https://jointheplayhouse.com

https://instagram.com/thedeannaseymour

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Hey, what's up? It's Deanna here. I realized that I didn't really properly introduce this new sort of format that I'm doing for my podcast. So I wanted to take a minute to kind of tell you where my head's at. So you might have noticed new name, new cover, who dis for this podcast. And it is called officially now Big Fun Small Business, an audio sketchbook for building a business that feels good. And here's my plan with this feed. So I actually went back and added my very first podcast, which was called Imperfect Party. And I had that podcast, I think, in 2020 or 2021. And it was a little all over the place, right? Because I was just starting my business. I was still teaching art at the time. And it just was what it was. I'm definitely a type of person who just jumps right in, right? Experimentation is one of my biggest values, I think, in life and business. So committing to an idea immediately and just like sticking to it is not part of my DNA. So the idea of sticking to one podcast forever is really not realistic for me. So I started with Imperfect Party and it was sort of a mix of life and business, which isn't funny how all of it like comes back around eventually, and you're like, wow, this is like kind of what I'm talking about again. But I did Imperfect Party, and that was like its own feed somewhere else on the internet. Then I started a new feed where I was like, okay, just kidding, I'm only gonna talk about business. And that was called F that breaking the rules of online business. And at first that was only solo episodes. And then I ended up doing that same title, but adding guests. And then after a while, I was like, okay, I want to talk more about content and maybe making less content, making it better. And then it turned into big fun content. And then I sort of was like, oh, let's take a break. We'll see what happens. I opened the playhouse. I really like having conversations with people, but you know, the schedule of like keeping up with it all was getting to me. So all of this to say, I'm having the itch to come back. I'm missing what I've done. I've also really experimented with private podcasts in the past and created the anti-hustle holiday countdown series, and I also created the F that Breaking the Rules of Online Business series once I changed from that being my podcast because I was like, oh, I still want some rebels on here. And I've also had small little courses and little opt-ins that were private podcasts that I am just feeling the urge to like clean up, sort my life out, keep the stuff I really love, and kind of put it all on one feed. So I love big fun. I have stickers that say big fun. It's cute. So I'm like, okay, big fun, small business. This is what I'm just calling an audio sketchbook so that I can pop in and record what I want when I want. I can share what I want with you guys when I want to. I also have another podcast right now called the Playhouse Collective Podcast. And that is where members of the Playhouse Collective get interviewed. And that one's really fun too. It's a little more, well, not a little more Playhouse Focused, it's completely Playhouse Focused. So big fun small business is more the Deanna side of my business and the collective podcast, the Playhouse Collective Podcast is more the Playhouse side of the business. So just in case you subscribe to both, you just know that everyone over there is in the collective, and that's sort of our our hangout space in terms of podcasting. This is sort of my little playground to have fun on. You know, if you've been around for a while, you know that I've been diagnosed with ADHD in my 30s, and so that is also, I think, part of the reason why I quote unquote struggle to stay consistent with the same idea. But I say quote unquote struggle because I don't really think it's a problem. Like, I think you guys can be along for the ride, and if you don't want to be along for the ride, like you just stop listening. It's okay. The next series that I'm gonna be doing on here is gonna be called Cool People Doing Cool Things. Just a series I wanted to make. And that's also who knows how long that's gonna last, right? I've already recorded recorded my first interview for that, so it's gonna be out very soon. And it's just the idea that this feed can be anything I want it to be. So I hope that inspires you to. Again, I'm constantly breaking rules of my business and then accidentally following them and breaking them again. So the way you kind of navigate around this feed is that you're gonna know what you're listening to by the cover. If it's a little idea that I just want to share, like this episode will just have the main cover, which is the one that will say big fun, small business. If it's a series or something different, like cool people doing cool things, has a different cover. If you go back to the beginning of this feed, I have put some of my old favorite episodes of Imperfect Party on the same feed. So you'll see that cover. You see the F that, Breaking the Rules of Online Business cover, you'll see big fun content cover, like you'll know where you are based on the cover art. I am not going back into all these episodes to change intros or change ads or do anything like that. So just know when you go back in the archives, you're back in the archives. Things have probably changed. So yeah. I also thought it would be kind of fun to share my personality tests and that kind of stuff in this episode. The first episode of Cool People Doing Cool Things is going to be with Jess Langley, who calls herself a business duela and I just met recently and who also does business astrology. And so our conversation just kind of got me thinking about like my birth chart, my human design, all that stuff. Yeah, grams. We talked about that in the episode. So that's coming up soon. So make sure you look out for that.com. Rounded to the nearest whole number. We get 57 grams. So that episode's coming up soon. So don't miss that. So in this episode, I want to kind of share all the different tests I've done over the years. So I don't know, probably like a year, year and a half ago, I went to a workshop hosted by Jackie Hayes, and I was inspired to kind of gather them all up, maybe take a few with her, and I have them in my Google Drive. So when I was about to record this, I was like thinking about why I am the way I am and my interview with Jess Langley, and I thought, okay, what's the deal? So this is what I had in my Google Drive, and to be honest, I don't look at these very often, but when I do look at them, I'm like, oh yeah, that makes sense. I have picked my brand values, and I should probably be more, what do I want to say, strategic about them, or like I should have them at the forefront of my business. But I don't. But when I look at them, I'm like, oh wait, yes, I do, because they're kind of just my values. But here's what I have for my brand values, just in case you're curious. Humor, creativity, integrity, efficiency, experimentation, and real talk. I think if you know me, if you've been hanging out with me in the playhouse, if you've worked with me, like all of those things are pretty true. So I want to tell you some of my other ones that I found when I looked this stuff up. So my VIA inventory of strengths, which this must be what I did with Jackie, because I don't really remember what VIA stands for. But this one came back. So my top five things are humor, creativity, love of learning, judgment, which I was like, oh my gosh, I'm throwing shade. But then underneath it said thinking things through and examining them from all sides, not jumping to conclusions, being able to change one's mind in light of new evidence and weighing all evidence fairly, which is very true of me, but I thought it meant I was judgy at first. And then the last one is love, valuing close relationships with others, which I think is also why I struggle with social media, which I'm gonna talk about for a second too, at the end of this episode. All right, my Clifton Strengths top five for me. I took this way back, like in 2008, I think. Here's my top five communication, positivity, individualization, activator, which means I can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. You want to do things now rather than simply talk about them, which is also why I get myself in trouble. And I'm just like, I want to do this thing, and then I make a new podcast. I'll make a new podcast feed. Before I know it, I have all these podcast feeds running all around the internet. I need to bring them together, which is why I need this feed. Okay, and then the last one, which I rem this is the only one I've ever remembered. Over the years, I actually, before this episode, before recording this episode, I had to try to find the website and then say I lost my password and then log into my old Google email with my maiden name and like brrrr. But this is the one that I've always remembered throughout the years, which was woo, which meant winning others over. And it just says I love meeting new people. I'm very I like I enjoy socializing and making connections. So true. Isn't that fun when you read these and you're like, oh my god, it's totally me? And it's funny because you're like, oh wait, I took the test, that's why it's totally me. Alright, then we also talked about something called a fascination, like my primary advantage, something.

unknown 9:08

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

You can tell that I'm like one foot in, one foot out on these things, but they are fun. So my primary advantage is innovation. Creative, visionary, entrepreneurial. Love to hear it. 13% of people who took the test also got innovation. So I love that. Okay, my four tendencies. Are you ready for this? Because you think I'm gonna be a rebel, but I'm not. I'm an obliger. Is that crazy? I was kind of mad when that came back. I've took this one a couple times and I'm definitely an obliger. But it says, you know, you can count on me and I'm counting on you to count on me, which I think is funny. I do think I'm like loyal and I show up and I do what I say I'll do. So it does say that I struggle to meet inner expectations. So they put a high value on meeting commitments to others, but may have trouble setting limits and meeting their own commitments to themselves. Maybe that also sort of speaks to why I'm like, I'm gonna do this podcast. But when I get sick of it, I'm over it. But if I tell someone else, yes, I will do this, I will be on your podcast, like a hundred percent, I'm gonna do everything I can to make it there on time. You know what I mean? Okay. Disc type, you guys, you gotta help me because I don't even know what all these are. But like I said, when I did that thing with Jackie Hayes, we like gathered them all up in one place. So my disc type is influence. My workplace motto on this one says, Let's make this fun, which I'm like, hello. Yes, totally. Charismatic, warm, and sociable. Love to hear it. So next, it will not surprise you that my Enneogram, I'm a seven, right? This all makes sense. My Myers Briggs is an ENFJ, and for human design, I'm a generator. And I remember being mad that I wasn't a manifesting generator because it sounds so much cooler, and I honestly don't know the difference. It just sounds like more magical. But I'm a generator, and I think that just means I like make stuff when I want to. So that's another reason if I'm a maker and I'm an experimenter, I get myself into situations where I need to have a podcast feed that allows me to make stuff and experiment. So that's where you are right now. And I hope you're gonna stay around for the ride. I also promised that I would talk about social media at the end of this episode. So, again, experimentation, real talk. Creativity. I have been trying LinkedIn. I've given it my best shot. Hit me with your best shot, Pat Benatar I already did on LinkedIn, and it is not my favorite. Okay, the reason I picked LinkedIn is because I knew it wasn't my favorite and it wasn't gonna rope me in like after work. Like, there's no way I'm putting the LinkedIn app on my phone and I'm accidentally scrolling LinkedIn instead of hanging out with my family. That's not tempting to me. The reason I wanted to step away from Instagram is because when Instagram is on my phone, I will scan that thing, scroll that thing. My husband, I had it on my phone the other night. Usually it's off my phone. Every once in a while, when I'm working on with someone on a nine grid and I have to show them something or do something, I'll put it back on my phone. So I had it on my phone. My husband went to bed early, and do you know that I stayed up until 11:30 at night scrolling? And I literally felt hungover the next day. Like I was feeling like I should be better at eating more fruits and vegetables. I felt like I should be doing different things with my kids. We should like I watched a reel about a family that had a 90s week and they like took away all the technology and was like, oh, that's cute, we should do that. Like I mentally did a bunch of things that I should be doing. And it was like you could maybe put it in the category of like inspirational, but it was mostly just like, oh, making me feel like I had more to do, or like I wasn't doing enough, or like other people are doing cooler stuff than me. Like it's just bad for me, which is why I stepped away from Instagram and did static nine grids and did all that. Then I also was like, what if I try threads? Back in like 2008, I had a Tumblr blog and I would do a drawing a day or like tell little stories about my life, and it was really fun. I thought, what if I use threads and pretend like it was Tumblr? Right? And I posted that. It was like my first post back. I'm gonna pretend like this is Tumblr. Is that okay? Da-da-da. And like, it's sort of cool over there, but it's also still social media. And I just don't like it. I don't want to write a caption, so I have no business being on threads. That's mostly text, I'm pretty sure. And I just don't like it. But what I do like is people, right? And I like Instagram stories and I like Instagram DMs, but I have to be careful because if Instagram is on my phone, I can accidentally scroll it and then feel bad about myself. So what is a girl to do? Well, right now, my VA, Emily, from Human VA, who's amazing, has been poduls for Playhouse events. So we've already been like doing some Instagram, but I'm sort of cheating because I'm not doing it at all. Emily is totally handling that. We don't even really write captions. I honestly just wanted them on there because we put a plug-in on my show it website for the Playhouse. So when people go to the landing page, they can see the latest events and they look cute and colorful. And really the Instagram reels are just to feed the landing page. So, how can I participate in Instagram without getting sucked in? Here's my plan. I'm going to put the app on my phone in the morning when I get to my desk. I am going to delete the app in the afternoon when I leave my desk. And that's it. And I'm gonna create stories and I'm gonna DM with the people I like on there and talk to people, send voice memos. I like that. That feels like hanging out with people. What I won't be doing is obviously I won't be posting. I have a static nine grid and I love it. I'm gonna let Emily keep doing the reels for the Playhouse, and all I have to do is some stories and say hi to people. So that's gonna be my social media. And you know what? Since I value experimentation, who knows how long that's gonna last. But if you are on Instagram, like send me a DM or something, like say hi, because I'm feeling like, oh my gosh, am I really going back here? What's it gonna be like? Yeah. So that's my whole plan. I'm telling you all this. Number one, just to explain what's happening here on this feed, but number two, to like maybe inspire you to take a look at like still all the time. What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Do you actually want to do it? Do you actually need to do it? What do you need to do? And honestly, the reason I kind of need to be somewhere on social media is because the playhouse is a low-ticket item, right? It's not a huge investment for people. So I need a higher volume of people to really make that sustainable. And I need to get in front of more people. I love the people on my email list, they're amazing. I want to keep growing that email list. I want to get more people in there, I want to get more people in the playhouse. We have our friends tier, which is free for people to just come hang out. Then if they want to add events to the calendar, they can join the collective, and then there's lots of other things that get unlocked when you're a collective member. But I want to join, I mean, I want to grow my email list and the free, you know, level of the playhouse. So I gotta be out in the world more, but I gotta do it in a way that makes me stay sane. Two ways I'm gonna do that. This podcast, cool people doing cool things, and showing up in stories a little bit more. So I don't even know if I have an official release day for these episodes, but just stay tuned. More episodes will be coming into this feed soon, and perhaps I will establish a rhythm when I'm ready to, but if you're listening, you'll be in on it. Okay, see you next time.