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Nine years ago, I started talking into a microphone as an experiment. I was lonely, building my business in a village of 1,200 people in Wisconsin, and I thought maybe if I started a podcast, I might find my people.
What I didn’t expect was this: the mic wouldn’t just help me find my audience, it would help me find myself.
Today, I’m breaking down the nine lessons I wish someone had told me before I started The Goal Digger Podcast. Not about audio quality or interview techniques, but about the deep, transformative shifts that happen when you give yourself permission to grow in public.
How to Start a Podcast Without Tech Skills
I almost didn’t start my podcast because I didn’t know how to plug a microphone into my computer. Let that sink in. I almost let a USB cord steal nine years of growth from me.
My brother gifted me a microphone specifically for podcasting, and it sat in a box, taunting me. I had zero tech skills, no idea what an RSS feed was, and no studio. So I started with iPhone headphones, the old corded ones, because that was the only way I knew how to begin.
Perfectionism is just a fancy form of procrastination, and the message matters more than the method. I’ve recorded episodes under hotel duvets, in the front seat of my car, and in actual closets with boxes labeled “random junk” stacked beside me. You likely already have everything you need to start, and your gear can grow with you over time.
Building Confidence Through Podcasting
You don’t magically find confidence before you start speaking. You build confidence through the act of showing up and speaking, week after week.
When I started, I believed I couldn’t carry a solo conversation, which is why my show began as interview-only. I didn’t trust myself to fill the space alone. But week after week, something shifted, and I realized I had opinions, experiences worth sharing, and maybe I did have something to say after all.
Nearly a thousand episodes later, my voice has literally changed, not just in sound, but in certainty, tone, and the confidence it delivers. Confidence isn’t a prerequisite, it’s a byproduct of consistent courage. You prove you’re ready by showing up again and again.
Why Podcasting Is Like Free Business Coaching
When you have a podcast, you get to interview people you admire and ask them questions. This might be the most underrated benefit of podcasting that nobody talks about.
Let me tell you a story that changed my life. Years ago, I interviewed Tracy Otsuka, an ADHD expert, because her pitch was compelling.
At the end of our conversation, Tracy asked me, “How long have you been diagnosed?” I was confused until she explained that she applied to come on my show because she’d listened for years, and everything I described were textbook signs of ADHD.
That conversation led me to get diagnosed, changed how I understand myself, and transformed how I parent. If I wanted to hire Tracy for private coaching, it could have cost thousands of dollars, but because I had a podcast, I got an hour of her undivided attention for free. When you create space to ask real, curious questions, you’re not just learning about other people, you’re learning about yourself.
Evolving Your Message Over Time
I have over 900 episodes that are basically a public record of my evolution. Some of my early advice makes me cringe now, and that’s not something to be ashamed of, it’s proof I’m still growing.
What I believed in episode 10 isn’t exactly what I believe in episode 910, and to me, that’s not failure, that’s evolution. I’ve documented my journey through changing business strategies, shifting priorities, and even major life transitions like becoming a mother. Your audience isn’t following you because you’re perfect, they’re following you because you’re real, and real people grow, change, and refine their beliefs over time.
How Podcasting Helps You Find Your Niche
You don’t find clarity and then start creating. You find clarity through the act of creating.
I didn’t know what I believed until I had to say it out loud, record it, and send it out into the world. The podcast didn’t document my clarity, it created it. My show became a testing ground where I could share ideas, see what resonated, and notice what felt true to me. Some episodes I wanted to shout from the rooftops, others were just fine, and over time, patterns emerged that shaped my entire message.
If you’re waiting for the perfect idea, the perfect niche, or the perfect offer, stop waiting because clarity is crafted through doing, not dreaming. You figure it out in motion, not in your head.
Creating Evergreen Content That Works While You Sleep
Fifty percent of my podcast downloads are from episodes I recorded months or even years ago. I created them once, and they’re still working for me while I sleep, while I’m with my kids, while I’m living my actual life.
Every episode I create turns into blog posts, SEO-optimized Pinterest pins, Instagram carousels, LinkedIn posts, and email content. One conversation fuels an entire ecosystem of value across every platform.
And here’s what’s wild: 98% of the support emails we receive can be answered by sending someone to a previous episode, which means my podcast has become my customer service team, my sales team, and my onboarding process, all working without me lifting a finger.
In a world trying to communicate through four-second soundbites, it’s refreshing to create a podcast that offers context, stories, and full conversations. Not clickbait, just real value that lasts and compounds over time.
The Importance of Consistency in Podcasting
My first episodes were bad, really bad, and I was a terrible interviewer. But I’d rather be someone who was bad and got better than someone who stayed perfect in their head and never started at all.
Here’s the actual math: 900 episodes means 900 times I had to sit down, hit record, and face the fear of not being good enough. Nine hundred times I chose courage over comfort. You’re not competing with people who are more talented than you, you’re competing with people who are willing to be bad longer than you are.
If you admire anyone online, go back and look at their early work and see how many reps they’ve invested. These are people who stayed dedicated and focused, who didn’t chase every shiny object, and who put their heads down and showed up. Confidence isn’t about getting it right, it’s about showing up again.
Adapting Your Podcast Strategy for Different Business Seasons
The podcast that served me when I was scrappy and hungry would burn me out today. And the podcast I’m creating now would have felt impossible five years ago. Both versions were exactly what I needed, and neither was wrong.
When I first started, it was just me and a part-time virtual assistant figuring everything out. I recorded in my car, didn’t understand basic concepts, and once paid someone $2,500 to submit my RSS feed because I thought I’d have to manually upload every episode to every platform. Now I have systems, structure, and a small dedicated team, and I’ve tried every monetization method from sponsors to networks to using the show solely for list building.
What got you here won’t get you there, and that doesn’t mean your old strategies were worthless, it means you’re evolving. If you’re beating yourself up because what used to work isn’t working anymore, you’re not failing, you’re living, and different seasons require different strategies.
Why Deep Connection Beats Viral Content
People tell me they feel like they know me because they’ve spent hours listening to my voice. You can’t buy that kind of trust, you can only earn it, one episode at a time.
Podcasting is intimate in a way social media will never be because people aren’t scrolling past you, they’re actively choosing to let you into their lives for extended periods of time. That shift from interruption to invitation changes the entire relationship, it changes how information is consumed, how trust is built, and how results are created. I’ve never had a viral episode, not once, and I’m sitting here with 115 million downloads and a multi-seven-figure business.
While everyone else was chasing their 15 seconds of fame, I was building something designed to last 15 years. Boring wins. Connection beats reach. Trust compounds.
Ready to Start Your Podcast?
The world needs what only you can say. The insights you’ve gained, the lessons you’ve learned, the perspective you carry, someone out there needs to hear it.
I’ve created a free masterclass called Podcasting 101: How to Start, Record, and Profit from Your Show. In this training, I’ll walk you through how to start your podcast without getting overwhelmed by tech, what equipment you actually need, how to turn your podcast into a revenue stream, and the biggest mistakes new podcasters make.
Click here to save your seat for Podcasting 101: How to Start, Record, and Profit from Your Show!
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