I Recorded My First Podcast Episode Using My Phone
Ed. Note: A version of this post originally appeared on Moms Who Build in 2019. It is reproduced here with modification towards the end of story as it reflects my journey as the host of Moms Who Build and Founded By Women.
In December 2019, I had no idea what it meant to make a podcast. In fact, my first podcast wasn’t even a podcast when it started.
I have been a Full-Time Mom for the past four years, ever since my oldest child was born. As my kids were transitioning out of being toddlers, I wanted to make a transition too. I often struggled with the question, “What do you do?” I felt like I wanted something more for myself. I wanted to do something that took me out of my comfort zone, that challenged me mentally, that connected me with others who were also going through similar transitions. And as I searched for what I wanted to do next, I realized that I was surrounded by so many inspirational moms who had inspirational stories I wanted to share.
I decided I would interview inspirational moms building inspirational things and create a platform to share their stories.
Writing was the easiest way to get started. At first, my plan was to send people a list of questions and they could answer at their leisure. And then I could make some edits and publish the “interview”. But I realized that
1) I’m best at connecting with people one-on-one and this process didn’t allow for that.
2) If this wasn’t compelling to me, it most likely wouldn’t be compelling to the person receiving the questions.
3) I would be taking the easy way out by using email as a safety net. If I sent out standard Q&A forms, there would be no hustling involved, no need to think of impromptu follow up questions, and no live interviewing going on.
If I really wanted to become an interviewer, I couldn’t just send someone a list of questions, I would actually have to interview them. So, I did that. I interviewed Debbie Sanchez, co-founder of Smash Gyms, in person, and I recorded our two-hour conversation on my phone. Sticking with the written interview format, I found a service to transcribe the conversation, I edited the transcript, and I posted it on Moms Who Build. [1] [2]
That was a huge win for me. I stepped out of my comfort zone, conducted my very first interview, and created something that didn’t exist yesterday. But the moment I started telling people about my project, they kept asking me, “Where can I listen to the interview?”
And to be honest, I thought the same thing. So, Moms Who Build became a podcast.
In the past, my fear of being perceived as not smart enough or not worthy enough prevented me from doing the actual work that would make me successful. Instead of putting myself out there to be judged, I just planned on putting myself out there. I was always in what author, James Clear, defines as “motion”: the planning, strategizing, and learning phases (e.g. read about the habits of successful start-up founders, work on designing an attractive website, etc.), instead of being in “action”: behaving in a way that produced a real result (e.g. sold my service to customers, taught said customers how to use my service). [3]
“Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. ”
I didn’t want to repeat my past mistakes. I didn’t want to procrastinate because I was scared of what people would say about me. I didn’t want to use excuses like “I don’t have professional recording equipment” to get in the way of my success.
I recorded my first podcast episode using my phone.
My first podcast guest was Megha Sheare, founder of Silicon Valley Cookie Company (now Ellicott City Cookie Company) . We were nervous—neither of us had been on a podcast before and we both prepared a stack of notes. Moments before show time, recognizing the absurdity of having stacks of papers to help guide our conversation about our own journeys of being founders and mothers, we looked up from our notes, made eye contact and burst out laughing. I hit the “record” button on my phone and we were just two entrepreneurs, two moms— laughing, crying, and connecting over the challenges and rewards of building something of our own, while being parents.
The turnaround time to publish my episodes took much longer than I expected. With two toddlers running around, I guess that’s not all that surprising. So, I found an editor who could help me edit and produce broadcast-worthy episodes. [4] Soon after, I bought better recording equipment so that I wouldn’t have to record on my phone.
Thirteen episodes later, Moms Who Build has evolved into Founded By Women.
When people ask me what I do, I tell them I’m the host of Founded By Women, a podcast about inspirational women building inspirational things.
I’m a work in progress. Founded By Women is a work in progress. The evolution continues— here we go!
[1] Written long-form interview with Debbie Sanchez, co-founder of Smash Gyms
[2] MWB Podcast Episode 006 with Debbie Sanchez, co-founder of Smash Gyms
[3] The Mistake Smart People Make: Being In Motion vs. Taking Action by James Clear
[4] Next Day Podcast
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