September 12, 2024 • 53 mins
BUILDING COMMUNITY AND MONETIZING YOUR MESSAGE: WOMEN IN PODCASTING NETWORK
Join us in celebrating her successes, exploring the challenges faced, and gaining inspiration for your own journey. Remember, the path to success is a collaborative one, and you are not alone.
Main Topics:
- Overcoming Tragedy
- Building Community
- Memberships
- Podcasting
- Niche and Audience
In this episode of Anchor Your Dreams, host Meghan McQuillan invites founder of the Women in Podcasting Network, Jennifer Henczel. She is an experienced podcaster and community builder and shares her inspiring journey from a part-time entrepreneur to a full-time business owner. Jennifer narrates how a life-changing accident involving her husband ignited a spark within her to live her dreams and manifest her goals. She elaborates on the importance of building thriving communities, leveraging expertise, and monetizing messages to generate recurring income. The discussion delves into practical strategies for community building, the significance of authentic self-presentation, and various monetization methods beyond sponsorships, such as memberships and courses. Jennifer also offers digestible advice for aspiring podcasters, including the creation of signature talks, the role of affirmations, and tips for guest appearances on podcasts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Meghan (00:05):
If you are
someone who has a dream, but feelstuck, if you are facing obstacles that
seem overwhelming, or if you just needa dose of motivation to keep pushing
forward, then you are in the right place.
So buckle up dreamers, Anchoryour Dreams is not just a podcast.
(00:26):
It's a community, a community of dreamers,supporting dreamers, women, supporting
women, subscribe, follow along, and let'snavigate the seas of ambition together.
Thank you for joiningme on this adventure.
Get ready to be inspired,motivated, and empowered.
The journey begins now.
(00:49):
Hey there.
Hi, how are you?
Good, how are you?
Very good, thank you.
Thanks for having me.
Oh, yes, my pleasure, really.
I feel like Uh, an amateurhaving you on the show.
Jennifer (01:06):
Oh, no, you know, your website looks, looks really pro
and I, I love your whole vibe.
Meghan (01:12):
so much for that.
Yeah.
It's, uh, been a work in progressand, uh, a labor of love.
I'm trying to figure all this stuffout on my own, but I love a challenge.
So just to start, I would reallylove to sort of hear about your
journey, where you started, um, andhow you got to where you are today.
Jennifer (01:38):
Yeah.
So, you know, I, I was a part timeentrepreneur for a long, long time
and I always, and I worked a fulltime job and I was always wanting to
turn my part time business into a fulltime venture and my full time income.
And it always seemed like successwas just around the corner.
You know, it was just alwaysslightly out of grasp.
(01:59):
Like for many years I did that.
And so finally, you know, in 2012 Iwas able to break free and turn my
side gig into my full time business.
And I haven't worked foranyone since then, since 2012.
So a big part of that was learninghow to build thriving communities
around my message and how toleverage my message and expertise to
generate monthly reoccurring income.
(02:20):
And I want to share that with you today.
Meghan (02:23):
Oh, that's lovely.
Yeah.
Well, I think that's kind of whereeverybody is starting to, um, grasp
on to is working for themselves,trying to find a way to live life
on their terms, anchor their dreams.
And also, of course, important part,important piece is, monetizing things.
(02:45):
Money is what makes the world goout or around in a lot of ways.
And one of the things that you hadmentioned is that is a huge part
of what you, um, want to shareyour story about as well, is that
you love supporting other women.
And I can see that clearly withinthe Facebook group, within, um,
even putting this awards, Out inthe first place and everything.
(03:09):
So, um, I do really appreciate that.
So let's talk about um, Yeah more aboutyour journey as far as Going from 2012
to, to today, I'd love to hear moreabout what that has been like for you.
Jennifer (03:24):
Well, you know, I was at my full time job one day and I got
a phone call that no one wants toreceive and it was my husband's boss.
And he said, you have to come to thehospital right away, your husband's
been in a very bad accident.
And so all the way to the hospitalI was thinking to myself, I'm not
going to lose my best friend today.
It was a really tough time.
And when I got there, I didn't evenrecognize him because he had been crushed
(03:45):
by 12, 000 pounds of wood at work.
And so he survived,thankfully, he survived.
But, you know, it was a longrecovery, really tough recovery.
And, You know, it, it was a lot of hardtimes, but at the same time, something
just ignited a spark within me, you know,and I, I didn't want to keep living the
(04:05):
way that I didn't want to live anymore.
I wanted to live my dreams andreally manifest the stuff that,
that I wanted to do in life.
Isn't it funny how we always putthe things we really want to do on
the furthest back burner, you know?
And so I really, I wantedto pull those things forward
and start doing those things.
Um, and then, you know, it made methink, I didn't have that kind of,
you know, because I was helpingother companies, you know, with my
(04:26):
strategies, helping them be successful.
And one of the things that reallyimpacted me the most when my husband
had his accident was the communities hewas involved in before his accident came
around and rallied around him and us.
And they said, we're here for you,coach Paul, because he was a volunteer
football coach in the community.
And so players and coaches would comearound and say, we're here for you.
And so that really touched us and reallysustained us through a lot of hard times.
(04:48):
And then, you know, it made methink, I didn't have that kind of.
Comradery in the business community andthe entrepreneur community at that time.
And so, you know, it, it reallymade me think, Hey, you know, what
am I going to be the solution?
Right?
And so I invited other localbusiness owners to join me for lunch.
And to my surprise, you know, I wasn'tvery organized with it back then.
(05:11):
I just put socials.
Hey, you want to join me for lunch?
And I reserved this little room to mysurprise, 50 business owners showed up.
And so the room was overflowing.
You know, and it really showed thatthere was a need for that kind of
connection among entrepreneurs in my area.
And that little meeting or that big,you know, what turned out to be a
big meeting turned into a group.
(05:32):
So it turned into a group and thenthat turned into a, um, a network.
I ended up having chapters throughout indifferent cities throughout my region.
And I ended up with a very large businessnetwork that I ran for a number of years.
I ran over 600 events.
Of all sizes, uh, through that time,and I even, my platform even helped
(05:53):
my husband go from an injured mailworker to an international speaker.
He's done a TED talk called SilencingStigma Through Storytelling.
We focus on storytelling, so I,I help people with monetizing
their message and he helps peoplewith mastering their message.
And so, uh, You know, throughthat experience, I ended
up selling that network.
And since then, I've created severalsuccessful communities, including
(06:15):
the Women in Podcasting Network.
And so that's how we've cometogether because you're a nominee
in the Women in Podcasting Awards.
This is our first year of the awards.
I didn't know if I'd get anybodyin the awards, but we have 400
nominees and thousands and thousandsof votes, over 10, 000 votes now.
And we're just a couple of weeks in, so.
Meghan (06:37):
Wow, that's incredible.
I think when I Became a nominee.
It was still like in the verybeginning stages, but I remember
getting a few updates and emails andit was just like the increase after a
short amount of time was, was rapid.
Like it was really massive.
And now the votes to hearthat there's 10, 000 votes.
(06:57):
That's incredible.
And It's going until October.
Um, the voting process.
So that's exciting.
We still have lots of timeto to get that out there.
Um, I just want to quickly go back.
So this if you don't mind, um, havingthis support from your husband.
(07:20):
How has that helped you as well?
Like, so part of it was because you,you changed the way that you began
working and living because of anaccident that your husband was in.
And now here, the two of youare really partnering together.
So how, how has that evolved overthe course of the last decade?
(07:42):
Really?
Jennifer (07:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you know, I wasspeaking before that.
And so So I helped him, you know,to come into the speaking world and
to polish up his signature talk.
So he has a signature talk,and we both have spoken at
lots of places at this point.
But, you know, that day he didhis, his TED talk, I think was a
big turning point for both of us.
(08:04):
You know, it really opened up ourworld to all kinds of people and
experiences and opportunities.
But, you know, one of the things I reallylearned was that for anything to work,
you need to be part of a community.
And you need to build yourcircle of support around you.
It's not going to build itself.
And we found out that people willhelp you if you show up to be helped.
(08:25):
You have to show up, right?
And you need to put yourself in theposition of experiencing the value of
being connected and supported, right?
You need to show up for that experience.
And that's hard.
Sometimes it's hard for us toget out and show up as ourselves.
But the myth is that the one whoteaches the most, the one that
builds the most back Spectacularwebsite, the best podcast, whatever.
(08:48):
The person that really sort ofhustles 12, 14, 16 hours a day to
the point of exhaustion is the onewho's going to make the most money
and freedom, but it's just not true.
You know, because that's what Iwas doing and it wasn't working.
You know, it's that, that old thingof don't keep doing the same thing
if you want a different result.
And so hustling alone on yourisland won't get you very far, but
(09:10):
walking the path and climbing themountain with like minded people
will make the journey more enjoyable.
Meghan (09:16):
I love that so much.
It's like, I'm just startingto really trust that myself.
Um, and which is why part of the reasonwhy Women in podcasting network has
been, um, such a wonderful communityto, to engage with, because I do
find that support, uh, your Facebookpage that I've been part of your
(09:41):
community minded, um, posts and gettingeverybody to share what their podcast
is and also wins and everything.
Yeah, I love that.
And it's so true.
It's really true.
One of the things that In the applicationfor this podcast that you wrote I
had to underline it because it wassomething I just really needed to
(10:03):
make sure that was said on here is youwrote your story creates opportunities
and opportunities create stories.
And that is so true.
And I think sometimes
We forget that there is alwaysanother story and another story.
And if we put energy intocreating stories, we will also
(10:27):
get opportunities and vice versa.
So if you want to touch moreon that, I would love to hear.
Jennifer (10:33):
Yeah you know, I had to flip those scripts in my mind.
You know, the ones that say that youhave to do everything alone, you have
to do everything on your own, you haveto be polished before you show up.
That's one of the biggest ones.
You don't have to be polished to show up.
I still am not polished.
To this day, right?
I trip over my words.
I say the wrong thing, all thosekinds of things just show up.
The main thing is just show up.
(10:54):
You don't have to have all thethings polished and perfect.
And, you know, sometimes I accidentallysay, um, or like, don't worry about it.
The most important thing is show upbecause you have to be you to show up.
Not somebody else.
Not a polished, superpolished version of yourself.
The main thing is to show up asauthentically you, and that's, I
had to learn that the hard way.
(11:15):
Especially coming from a corporate,non profit type of environment,
um, you know, and, and, and wantingto, uh, you know, be successful.
I thought that that hustle and that,and, you know, hustling in a bad way,
like in an overworking, exhaustive way,was the way to it, and it just wasn't.
It was letting go.
Being myself, and when you, when you'reyourself and you're authentic and
(11:39):
genuine, you will find your followersand you will find your, your people
and your, and your community and yourfriends who want to support you and
champion your message and champion you.
Because you know, a risingtide lifts all boats.
Meghan (11:54):
The first time I saw that, I was like, I have to use that.
And I did.
I immediately used it in one of my,um, newsletters because it's so true.
And that has been somethingthat, that is inside me.
That's inside my heart.
I love, uh, helpingother people's lift up.
So I feel like it was just, it wassuch a wonderful quote to see and
(12:14):
to, to read and to hear someoneelse say and feel that same thing.
Um, So here and here I am saying,um, so like I do edit some of them
out, but I also leave them in becauseI do feel like later on looking
back, um, hearing it, I'm going tobe like, okay, I've made progress.
(12:36):
I've made improvements over the years.
I'm not saying it as much as Idid in the first beginning times.
I will say I am, I think alsojust a little bit nervous.
I feel a little bit Like you aresuch a great person to see doing
all these different things, creatingcommunity, podcasting, talking and
(13:00):
speaking, um, writing all those things.
So I think part of me is I feel alittle bit like I wouldn't, well,
in a way, like kind of star struckfor how accomplished you are.
So forgive me for having alittle bit of nerves right now.
Um, One of the things that you didalso talk about was that going back
(13:28):
to this accident, um, it, it igniteda spark for you to live your dream.
So, as far as strategy is concerned,what were some of the first things
that you started doing to actuallylive a life of your dreams?
Jennifer (13:47):
Well, you know, I had this mindset shift around the idea of
community and actually having communityand not trying to do everything alone,
right, and I was, I was inspired byanother community, that little football
community, kind of inspired me to startmy own community, and so I like to say
drop the hustle and join the huddle,because, you know, we need community.
(14:08):
Right?
And people want to connect with you.
If you're listening to this and you'rethinking, yeah, I know, I know, but you
know, I haven't gotten to this meeting andI haven't gotten to that, get out there
because people want to connect with you.
People are looking for you andthey want to connect with you.
They really do.
There are people out there whoneed what you have to offer
and we need to remember that.
(14:29):
You know, there's people outthere who are just waiting to meet
you and they need what you have.
So no matter what your niche, youcan build a community around that.
And that will support the membersand the members, you know, I, I
adore meeting people like you, I,I love everything you're doing.
I'm inspired by you.
I'm inspired by all themembers in the community.
(14:50):
And so really, I'm just a facilitatorto offer the space, you know,
for people to be doing this.
So learning how to collaboraterather than compete is a big one,
because we're all stronger together.
Right?
Meghan (15:03):
Oh, exactly.
And we're not meant to do this alone.
And I think that's
some messaging that is so ingrained in us.
And I will also say my belief is thatThat especially in women, it is very
much ingrained from the moment we'reessentially born into this world that
(15:24):
that messaging of that we should beable to do everything on our own, but
we are really not meant to do it alone.
So I, I love that.
Forget the hustle join the huddleand, um, Allowing people to be there
for us, I think too, like givingourselves permission to ask for
help, but also giving our friendsand our community permission to be
(15:47):
there for us and actually accept it.
Jennifer (15:51):
Exactly.
That's exactly right.
You know, and, and you needto have courage to realize
that the ideas are not enough.
And that was one of my things too, isI had all these ideas and I finally
said to myself one day, if you think.
You know, you have such great ideas.
How about doing some of them?
Okay, so taking inspired action becauseI discovered that my ideas alone were
not enough because you can have themost brilliant ideas But if you're
(16:13):
not actually putting them into action,how can you help anyone and it's about
serving others and helping the world Andso I knew the strategies but there was
a difference between knowing and doingand I need to stop Stopping I had to
stop stopping and I had to start doingand I had to take the leap Because I had
to actually start implementing somethingYou know, because make no mistake, if
(16:37):
you're, if you're going to change theworld, You're going to have to create a
reason for people to connect with you,and you have to show up and do that.
And so, I mean, who else isgoing to do that for you?
You need to do it for yourself, right?
Did, did you know when I turned, I don'tknow if you saw this video, but when
I turned 50, I went skydiving and, andso I had never been skydiving before.
(16:58):
And so, when we went up in theplane, You know, I was doing fine.
I was doing great.
We went up and up and up andup and the higher we went, I
thought, wow, this is really high.
Like, when you're at about 5, 000feet, it seems really high and you
think, oh, we must be there now.
No, another 5, 000 feet.
It's 10, 000 feet up.
And so I was doing great untilthey opened the door and people
(17:19):
just started falling out.
Because I know most of ushave been in a plane, right?
You don't, you've never seen thedoor open and people just start to
roll, fall out the plane, right?
And so,
and so, you know, and thenthe, and then it was my turn.
I was tethered to someone and we had tostep out, but you're kind of in the lead,
(17:39):
even though you're tethered to someone.
And they told me to stepout on this little step.
And that's when the fear kicked in.
I had some fear where I could seethe curve of the earth and you're
out there in this little step.
It's like, you're just up there in the skyand you're about to fall off this plane.
And then we fell, and you, I don't knowif you know this, but you only feel the
(18:02):
falling feeling for about three seconds,and then it's just floating and flying.
It doesn't feel like you'refalling much after that.
If you take the position, they tell you.
And then, so, and thenit was just beautiful.
It was beautiful.
It was breathtaking.
I could see my whole region, youknow, I could see all the landmarks.
It was so beautiful.
(18:22):
We just soared through the air.
I landed safely.
And so, I thought about thatevery day, you know, for weeks.
And the funny thing is the only timethere was fear was right before the leap.
Right?
And so I always think of that becausehow many things in life do we turn
around and go, no, it's too scary.
(18:44):
I'm not going to do that.
But if we take the leap, lookat the view that's on the
other side, look at the amazingopportunities that can flow your way.
If you just take that leap, it's reallyjust the leap that's the scary part.
And then when you're on the other side.
So many amazing things.
I love
Meghan (19:02):
that so much.
Thinking about it that way in termsof your experience with skydiving,
but also bringing it into a tangibleexperience that everybody lives every
day, whether you're skydiving or not.
It's, it's so true.
Taking that big leap isoften the scariest things.
Um, and that also reminds me, that'soften times where I've noticed Resistance
(19:26):
comes in like we start filling our timewith things not related to the doing,
how do you get through that period oftime between like getting to that place
where you're about ready to leap, butthen filling it with all resistance.
Jennifer (19:49):
Yes, for sure.
I've done that.
For sure.
And that's a form of self sabotage, right?
And to, and where our focus goes,our energy is going to flow.
And so we need to focus on those thingsthat we have on the back burner that
we're just, have a burning desire to do.
Pull those forward andput them in front of you.
And one really good exercise, especiallyat this time of year, is, What are
(20:09):
three things, just three number onethings that you really have a passion
for, that you want to manifest inyour life, that you want to bring into
existence, that you want to create,that you want to share with others and
serve others, write those down, right?
And then think aboutDecember 31st of this year.
What do you have to do?
(20:29):
What are the small steps you have to do?
If you reverse engineer it toget each of those things done.
Is there something you can do today?
Can you pick one of those thingsand start working on it today?
Just even a little step of that one thing.
And by December 31st, what if youhave all three of those things done?
It's very powerful.
I often use that to motivate myself.
(20:51):
If I'm having some procrastinationor trouble, you know, really getting
something done, I'll do that exercise.
Meghan (20:59):
That's a great one.
I've always found reverse engineeringto get out of that feeling like it's
going to take so much time and so mucheffort to get that big goal to the end
stage and see it all the way through andreverse engineering really helps to break
it all down into more, The realisticsort of more smaller actionable items
(21:23):
that we can do and it can be even justa quick email to somebody asking them
to be a guest on a podcast or really,it doesn't have to be a big item.
It can be something small.
And so that is a.
A great tip.
I'm going to definitely bedoing that today as well.
(21:43):
And this time of year, August is,you know, just after July, we're
just sort of into that next almostseason even into this, and it's a
great time in between seasons inbetween quarters, things like that.
Yeah, that's great.
Exactly.
Going back to community and andeven because that's another piece
(22:08):
to when we're in sort of a selfsabotage having community, um,
can really help us through that.
How has.
your community and what you do incommunity helped get you through those
phases of sabotage and resistance.
Jennifer (22:28):
Yeah, you know, it helps so much.
And I went for so many years justtrying to do everything solo.
And now to have people that I can,you know, That I can reach out
to make such a huge difference.
You know, that's why I startedthe women in podcasting group was
just, I had a desire to connectwith other women podcasters.
(22:49):
And so really ask yourself, look insideyour heart and what are you looking for?
What are you needing?
Because to live your passion, youneed to have clarity and focus.
Right?
And if you don't know whatyour passion is, ask yourself,
what really fires you up?
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
What makes you uniquely you?
Because then your purpose is how youserve the world with your passion.
(23:11):
That's what your purpose is, is whenyour passion is turned into action.
Meghan (23:15):
Mmm.
Jennifer (23:16):
Right?
And so in order to turn things intoaction, sometimes you need to lean
on others and ask others for help.
Ask, you know, I get to meet so manypeople that bring other expertise
and opportunities into my universe.
Meghan (23:30):
Yeah, well that, and that's, that's great that it's a, well, and
that's a, that's a way of helping othersbe in what their passion and purpose is.
And allowing them to be in theirzone of genius, but also be able to
benefit and help support them at the
Jennifer (23:50):
same time.
Exactly.
You know, connecting and collaboratingis vital to our own personal wellness
and to the wellness of our business.
Right.
So that we need connection.
We need connection.
We need collaboration and just thewillingness to connect with others.
And that's going to bring somany amazing opportunities.
(24:10):
You know, to, to us that, that it'llopen doors that you can't even imagine.
You know, and I love creatingopportunities and, and connecting
and collaborating with othersand creating, facilitating those
opportunities for others to connect.
It's that's such a joy for me to seeall the connections that happen in
the group and the community betweenother people and other podcasters.
(24:32):
But, you know, when I started my women inpodcasting group, I just wanted to connect
myself with other women podcasters.
And then I, I noticed a lot of peopleneeded help with monetizing because that.
That's my area of expertise.
And so I created the Women ofPodcasting membership, and within
10 days, I had a hundred members.
And so it just shows you, if you followyour passion, if you follow what you
(24:54):
really, really deeply desire, and what'sburning in your heart, those opportunities
are going to flow your way, you
Meghan (25:02):
know?
Oh, definitely.
Well, and, and that'salso part of trusting.
That how you're showing up and beingauthentically you I think is a huge um
asset to all of that happening as wellbecause as soon as you start showing up
as as you and allowing even allowing somefear in while you're doing it really makes
(25:24):
I think in a lot of ways also makes thingsfeel a little more authentic because if
you're not showing up um as polished orperfect or like Robotic then it really
lends itself to Coming off genuine to thespace that you're in, um, Just sort of
going back to the monetizing of podcasts.
(25:47):
Can you share a little bit aboutyour experience from when you started
your podcasting and how you begangetting into the monetizing portion
Jennifer (25:57):
of
Meghan (25:57):
it?
Jennifer (25:59):
Yes, well, I started monetizing right away because the reason is I
have multiple streams of monetize,monetization, and so I monetize not
using what a lot of other podcasters use.
A lot of, a lot of other podcastersthink, or when they start podcasting,
they think sponsorship is what,how people monetize their podcast.
That's the last thing.
(26:20):
I would do or, or do.
I, I use all the other methods of creatingcourses, memberships, collaborations,
using affiliate marketing, using all theother streams other than sponsorship.
And so what that allows me to do is,and to show others as well as you can,
you can start generating, pardon me, youcan start generating income right away.
You don't need a large audienceand you don't need thousands
(26:43):
and thousands of listeners.
It can be a small community becausemy background is, I have what's called
a provincial instructor's diploma.
In my region, that justmeans I'm an adult educator.
I, I'm an instructor.
I can instruct adults.
That's all that means.
And I can create curriculum, right?
And so I create a lot ofcourses and things like that.
(27:05):
And so I can, you know, for me,because, so part of my business
would be doing workshops.
And so for me to have a room when I, andI, I would do the same for five years,
I did the same workshop every month.
in addition to other things.
But I would have anywhere from 8 to80 people in that particular workshop,
(27:25):
depending how I marketed it orwhat connections, who brought other
people, and all this kind of thing.
And so, to me, having, you know, 30or 50 or 80 people listen to something
is the same as having a workshop.
That's what I used to do.
And so I think of it more ashaving a workshop or the audience
I would have to have a talk or aworkshop or something like that.
(27:47):
So anything above that is kind of a bonus.
But, you know, that's, that's what Ithink is, is that people need to look
at other sources other than sponsorship.
Sponsorship is great, and ifthat's working for you, fantastic.
But if you want some, I just reallylove the idea of a membership
where I connect with my members.
Thank you.
And it's not, I'm not just promotingsomething and putting it out there
(28:09):
and not knowing what's happening.
I love connecting with people.
And so I love the memberships whereI can get to know the members,
engage with the members, helpthem, you know, see improvements in
other people's business and lives.
And so that really resonates with me.
Memberships are definitely myfavorite, you know, affiliate
marketing collaborations are so,so important, you know, to, to
(28:30):
participate to get to know other people.
And yeah, those are the
Meghan (28:35):
ways
Jennifer (28:35):
I do it.
Meghan (28:37):
Yeah, well, it's the sponsorship side of podcasting is really interesting
because you're right a lot of timeseven it's required to have a certain
amount of downloads a certain amount oflistens, um, listeners, a certain amount
of episodes, like all those things.
And even I haven't taken a deep dive.
(28:59):
Into it for a while myself, but whenI did first begin this podcast, that
was my goal was to monetize it andhave sponsors and since then I've
really truly just realized that oneshowing up as me Uh being authentic
connecting with people Is So important.
(29:24):
And then even just doingit more on a smaller scale.
So not necessarily driving everythingthat I'm showing up to do every day
with this podcast, with only an end goalof monetization, because I know that I
start to feel disconnected from communitywhen my only focus is monetization.
(29:46):
So I really appreciate, um, yourmessaging around community first.
And, uh, so how did you combine the two?
How did you sort of get to that pointwhere you were able to see it all in
one beneficial sort of package versusOne thing and then another thing.
Jennifer (30:11):
Yeah.
Well, you know, it just feels betterto me because it's about, it's
not, when you create a community,you're filling your business, but
you're also feeling fulfilled.
And so when I help people, thatjust brings so much joy to me.
And so, you know, I try to encouragepeople that they are enough.
I just want people out thereto know you, you are enough.
(30:34):
Right?
You, in fact, you are royalty.
You, Megan, and everybody inyour audience, I want, we're
gonna take royalty back, okay?
And by royalty, I just mean thehighest version of yourself.
The ultimate you you want to be.
The person you want to manifest.
The person you aremanifesting into right now.
Because you are theruler of your own life.
(30:57):
And embracing the royal position thatyou hold in your own mind, in your own
life, is going to make a huge difference.
It's just going to make a huge difference.
And so that's, that's what bringsme so much joy, is bringing
that into my community andshowing others how to do that.
Because you have the power to ruleover every action that occurs in your
(31:17):
being, in your life, in your business.
And you know what?
You are a brilliant genius withso much to offer the world.
You are.
And I just love encouraging people.
My favorite thing is to encourage people.
And I want everybody to see the beauty andthe talents that they have in themselves.
That brings me so much joy to helppeople to realize that in themselves
(31:37):
and to actually implement that intothe world with their solutions that
they're gonna help other people.
And you know, I want you to seethat beauty that you have within
you like a gem, like a precious gem.
Just hold it and look at it,and I want you to declare it.
And decree it and proclaim it.
And who else is going to do it for you?
Right?
You, you are the ruler ofyour life and your business.
(31:57):
You need to make that first stepto do that because nobody else is
going to do you, do it for you.
Right?
And who else is going to promote you?
Unless you're willing to promote yourselfand you know what your business looks
like, you know what your solutionslook like, you can't expect your
customers to tell you what that is.
When I started, I would say, Ioffer all these marketing solutions.
(32:18):
That was one of thethings that held me back.
Oh, I offer all these marketing things.
Which one do you want?
That's not, no, you have to havea specific solution that you're
going to offer your audience andyou need to message it that way.
And so the first thingis to really realize.
What your passion is, what youreally have expertise in, you
know, are you business royalty?
(32:38):
Are you marketing royalty?
Are you, are you thequeen of organization?
You know, are you empowerment royalty?
Health and wellness royalty?
The, the king or queenof gluten free living?
Whatever it is, specializein that one thing.
Don't say, oh, I can do all thesethings, you know, to have one
solution that's really, reallycrystal clear to your audience.
(33:00):
And really know who your audienceis and that's a whole different talk
that we could chat about, right?
But yeah, which is really an oftenskipped step, because it's, you
know, it's hard to identify youraudience at first, but you'll get
to know that through your business.
But, you know, whatever your passionor purposes, you are royally That and
(33:21):
really focus on that and present that onething really identify what that is within
yourself and present that to the world.
I had a Person show up in my networkand they would say well I can do
I can do this amazing service.
Oh, that sounded great And, butthen they named off three or four
different things and I looked at themand I thought back to myself when I
(33:42):
started, that's what I used to do.
I can do all these things because youthink, you think in your mind, if you
don't say all of them, you're goingto miss a possible customer, right?
But actually it's the reverse.
If you show up and you just say thatone thing that you're passionate
about, that you know you can servethe world with, that is actually
going to attract more people.
(34:02):
And I've seen it.
You know, and when I had my large businessnetwork and even in women and podcasting,
I, I see it when people present toomuch, you actually get less people.
If you present your exact specificthing that you're passionate about,
that you are royally that thing.
And if you don't like theroyal metaphor, that's okay.
Some people aren't into the royalmetaphor, but you know, it's,
(34:22):
uh, you could say, I am an expertin, I am a specialist in, I have
superpowers in, you know, what dopeople know you as being the best in?
That's another way you can look at it.
And just focus on that.
I want to challenge people.
Just focus on the one thing forfour months and see what happens.
I have something called the four monthmethod that I go through with people.
Four months is the magic number.
(34:44):
Just do it for four months.
I just challenge you.
Drop everything else.
Just pick one thing.
Drop everything else.
Focus on it for four monthsand see what happens.
Meghan (34:53):
I, well, as soon as you said four months, it made me go back in time
to the beginning of the year, even.
And that's really what I ended up havingto do with the podcast was in order to,
to really get momentum, consistency.
Clarity on even like all the thingsthat, that come in with podcasts, right?
(35:18):
Guess like who I want to talk to, whoI want to be the listeners and continue
to spread the message and join inthe philosophy of it and everything.
Because anchor your dreams for me.
When I look back, it's been somethingthat has been messaging throughout the
(35:38):
years and different other offeringsthat I've had, and it's just.
And I did, I had to stop everything else.
And just focus and hone in on onething and only just recently, so eight
months in, have I really felt likeI can start, um, putting some energy
(36:01):
into a couple other things that I enjoy
Jennifer (36:03):
as well.
Oh, Megan, you've donesuch a good job with that.
Your approach is so unique.
I haven't seen anything else like it.
You really have honed in on what'sspecific to you and what really
stands out as something that.
It isn't seen anywhere else.
You haven't repeatedsomething from anyone else.
Very, very unique.
Very specific to you.
And I really love it.
(36:24):
Your messaging is fantastic.
And you know, I hopepeople vote for your show.
Meghan (36:29):
Thank you so much.
My, my friends and family, they've allbeen so supportive right, right away.
And I think that's, again, goesback to community and also accepting
and allowing people to support us.
people do really wantto support other people.
And they're, I think when we,
(36:51):
when we don't value our own spacein this world, when we don't take
up that space, when we don't seeourselves as royalty, It stops others.
It's not that they don't see it.
It's just that they holdback on supporting it because
they think we don't want
Jennifer (37:10):
that support.
Exactly.
Exactly.
You know, I used to do it inthe beginning and that's why I
wasn't able to break through.
When I finally broke through,that was the difference.
Is I was, you know, being specificbecause, you know, use whatever
empowers you and ditch whateverdoesn't resonate with you.
Right, so you don't have to, there'stoo many people, and I did this
(37:31):
too, trying to get their customerto decide what they're going to do.
I would teach in some governmentfunded classes for new entrepreneurs,
and I would always get the question,Jennifer, just tell me something
that's going to make money, right?
But the thing is, what happens then?
It doesn't sustain itself becauseyou don't have the passion connected.
The same is reversedon the other side too.
(37:53):
If you just go by your passion andyou don't look at your audience
or anything like that, you're notgoing to make much money, right?
So you need to have thosetwo things converge.
I call it my influence formula,where those two things, when there's
balance and alignment between yourpassion and how you're going to serve
the world, so the people that, youknow, what is your customer's pain or
problem, when those things are aligned,that's when you can create systems.
(38:18):
And frameworks that are going toreally fuel your business and,
you know, help you to scale.
Meghan (38:24):
Yes, well, and I think that's an important thing to to bring up is
scaling going from zero to 60 is goingto be more on that hustle side of things
where there's going to be things thatyou overlook, you're maybe not going
to actually tap into the audience that,um, you really need to tap into, um, and
(38:45):
you're not going to get to the audience.
Those monetization figures that youthink you're going to get because
you've gone from zero to 60 and there'sthings that you've missed along the way.
Um, I wanted to specifically ask,what are the tips for, sorry, what
(39:08):
tips can you share for stayingmotivated during some challenges?
Like if we're going to talk about, uh,podcasters specifically, you know, maybe
they're not getting as many downloads.
Maybe there is a drop off of supportin some way, uh, people sharing.
What, what, what tips would yougive to podcasters for that?
Jennifer (39:34):
Yeah, well, you know, really, really to be consistent, always keep
really going back to your inner work.
Everything starts with the innerwork, you know, because I, I always
thought, why am I not breaking through?
Because I have all these marketing skills.
And I have three mountains in my programand I've created a model called the three
(39:55):
apex model, and the first model, or thefirst mountain is called Mount Mindset.
The second mountain iscalled Mount Message.
And the third mountainis called Mount Monetize.
And so I was, uh, I didn't realize thisat the time, but I was specializing
in mount monetized, thinking thatwas the, you know, way to success.
But if you don't tap into mount, ifyou don't try to go up the path of
(40:19):
mount message and mount mindset, thoseare the things that can hold you back.
You need to try to get to the summitof every one of those mountains.
And so what I found out was thatI was trying to power through
without all that inner work.
Now, I had been in some corporate andnonprofit and, and, um, government.
spaces where there was a lotof professional development.
(40:41):
But being an entrepreneur takesa whole different set of mindset
skills, overcoming limiting beliefs.
Um, you know, having to, uh, I reallylove, we, we brought on a lot of
modalities after my husband's accident.
We got into a lot ofmindset work, meditations.
I really love affirmations.
So when you're in a theta space toabsorb some affirmations can really help.
(41:05):
So that's one of my favoritethings is affirmations.
I actually created an affirmationfor podcasters and people can
find that at womenandpodcasting.
net.
I created an affirmation specificallyfor podcasters to help them
stay encouraged and motivated.
Meghan (41:20):
Oh, I love that.
I can't wait to check that out.
I'm a big, huge fan ofaffirmations as well.
Um, I think they are, they'revery powerful because they
don't take a lot of effort.
They are.
I love affirmations.
I really do.
And I find, you know, quotescan be, um, similar, uh, or some
(41:41):
people will call them a mantra.
It's all very similar.
Um, it doesn't take a lot ofeffort, but there's the impact
that they have is so great.
Jennifer (41:52):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah, you know, until I,until I tried to scale Mount
Mindset, I was getting nowhere.
You need that inner work to really knowwhat your passion is, to have the courage
to overcome those limiting beliefsbefore some of the other stuff will, will
Meghan (42:08):
work.
Definitely.
And as you're talking, you know, Ithought about it in a lot of ways.
This is a very holisticapproach to everything.
There's different areas that we need tofocus on to really bring it all together.
And, and that to me is sort of what,um, This process is it's very holistic.
(42:32):
It's not just about going in andAnd recording a podcast editing
it and putting it out there.
There really is so much more behindthe scenes that um, I think Get lost
because people just show up withtheir air pods in and listen to it.
But there's so much more behind thescenes that either the podcasters are
(42:55):
dealing with the guests themselves,because some people, um, just as much as
a podcaster might have, you know, some
internal limiting beliefs,guests can too, they often.
podcast and sharing their story.
So, is there, is there any tips thatyou might have for people who are
(43:19):
listening that might also want to trytheir hand at being a guest on a podcast?
Jennifer (43:24):
Mm hmm.
Yes, yes.
So, definitely work on a signaturetalk and have your title.
And your description ready to giveto people as well as other assets any
images headshots and things like that.
You don't necessarily need reallyhigh end professional headshots
these days, but it does help.
We've had them over the years.
And, but even if you can just do somethingreally well with your camera, that's fine.
(43:49):
But.
You know, have all those assets in oneplace so that they're easy to gather
and then submit to shows, but alwayshave that message really, really clear
and have a title because podcastersare looking for something that's
easy for them to promote as well.
They may really believe what you're doing,but if you don't have it together, then,
you Then it's hard for them to promoteyou or figure out where you fit in, right?
(44:13):
So you need to have a reallytight message that way.
I know with the Women in PodcastingAwards, I noticed I met a lot of
even new, more podcasters, eventhan what was in the group before.
And I noticed a lot of people do strugglewith having all their assets ready.
And by assets, I mean the, you know,the title, the description, all
the images, and things like that.
(44:34):
Links.
Having all your links in one place so thatthey're easy to copy and paste, you know,
submit those applications and communicatewith people in a way that's going to
get a reaction and get, get a response.
Meghan (44:46):
Hmm.
I think that is perfect.
A great sort of to do list foranyone who wants to be a guest is to
first focus on getting the messageand the title and even a title.
It doesn't necessarily necessarilymean that the podcast will use that,
but I think it would help havinga title to what your message is.
(45:09):
You make sure that you stay on topicthroughout that, um, that messaging.
And, and then, yeah, having, havinglike a folder on your computer, uh,
with everything that you need inthere, you can even zip it and send it
by email or, or Google drive and allthose sorts of ways of doing things.
(45:31):
It's so easy to make sure that everyonecan have everything that you need.
Um, or even in my case,I use Google forms and.
And that was one way that I wanted to makesure people could put everything together,
all their assets, their messaging and,and everything in there was, was that way.
So I think that is a great tip.
Yeah.
Jennifer (45:52):
And also not only that, but you know, it, it shows that the
person knows what they're talkingabout and they are, they have focus
and clarity to talk on that topic.
Right.
And to also be focused on, youknow, what, what kind of questions
do you want the person to ask.
So you could have five to seven.
Potential questions that theperson can ask you as well.
(46:12):
I have that on my bio.
So I also have all this in mybio, have a really good bio page.
If you can have one and then keep itall in there so that someone can find
you and what you're all about, and youcan just send them that link, or at
least for you, I use my website a lotfor myself where I can just go grab
things so I know where it is, right?
Meghan (46:30):
Yes, yes.
And I, well, and I think.
Like as someone like me who I'm trying toget there to like I did create the podcast
hub page so that I can use that one pagefor whether you are a future guest or a
past guest or Even for people out therethat are thinking about being a guest My
(46:53):
hope for that is to just have one placefor everyone to go to and But also what
you had, uh, mentioned too is the bio.
Canva has so many great templatesfor, for media kits that can
easily transfer to someone wantingto be a guest on a podcast.
So, um, I just mentioning that reallyquickly, if someone has a hard time
(47:16):
thinking about how they would putit all together, I think, Templates.
Canva has has great templates.
If we can go back to also buildinga community around your message to
generate monthly recurring income.
Now, we talked about podcasting andsponsorship and monetizing podcasting.
What is another reoccurring incomethat one could generate in this space?
Jennifer (47:41):
The main reoccurring income that I use is memberships.
So people can subscribe.
I use two different systems.
I use one is called Membership Works.
And it's a plugin for WordPress.
And then I also use system IO, whichis a full funnel and has a membership
and course creation section to it.
(48:02):
And so getting the right tools in place,investing in the tools to have email
marketing in place, to have a membershipplatform in place, yes, those do take some
investment, but you will make back more.
If you have those tools in placeand you just schedule some time
in to learn the tools, then youwill make back that income and.
(48:23):
Create, you can create a, you know,a community around your message.
No matter what your message, I couldsit with you and brainstorm and come up
with a way for you to have a membership.
I love mini memberships.
So mini memberships, I have membershipsof all levels, but the mini memberships
are where you can focus on community.
So I'm talking about five or sevendollars a month or even up to anything.
(48:46):
10 or below around that price.
That's what I call a mini membership.
And so you can focus on community,offer some tools and things like that.
Women in podcasting is 5 a month.
If you go to womenpodcasters.
com, you can see that as an example.
But I have other levels of membershipthat are 7, 27, 47, 197, things like that.
(49:08):
But I love those mini membershipsbecause it's easy for podcasters
to put those in place and for thelisteners to engage quite easily.
That's a, that's a no brainer, right?
If you offer some expertise and sometools and some templates from your area of
knowledge, that's going to be an easy sellfor you, for your listeners, especially
your, you know, regular listeners.
(49:29):
Five dollars isn't goingto be anything for them.
And then that, thatcould be your ads budget.
That could be your, you know,that, that amount could sustain.
Could help pay for yourpodcast and cover your podcast
expenses and things like that.
And then to that group, Ioffer my next level of offers.
And then you've got a built in communityof champions who know what you're doing.
(49:49):
They like what you're doing and youcan offer the next level in your, in
your, you know, selection of offerings.
Meghan (49:56):
I love the idea of mini memberships and 5.
I mean, you can't even get aStarbucks coffee anymore for 5.
That's a lot of work to go through,and it's a lot of work to go.
So I think that is an absolutelyreasonable amount to begin, right?
Like, this is, again, just going, goingback to what, what people can start
with and where they can, can see someimprovements and building community, all
(50:19):
of those things, um, is there, is thereany other points that, uh, you would like
to, uh, Touch base on before we wrap up.
Jennifer (50:30):
Well, I hope people vote for your podcast.
You're doing an amazingjob with your podcast.
You're in the women in podcasting awardsand what category are you in again?
I'm an inspiration and motivation.
Yeah, good.
Yeah.
So if you go to the awards, I'm sure thatMegan will provide the link to that and
you can vote for Megan's podcast there.
(50:51):
And then, you know, just to, to stayconnected, you and I will stay connected
and, and, um, You know, hopefully,hopefully there'll be more opportunities
coming our way that we can work togetherand do some more things together.
I'm excited for that.
And if, if any of your audienceare interested in starting a
podcast, I have a free gift.
And it's about helpinggenerate episode ideas.
(51:14):
And a mind map to helpplan out your podcast.
And you can find that at womenpodcasters, that's women podcasters.
com forward slash ideas, women podcasters.
com forward slash ideas.
Meghan (51:28):
That's so great.
Thank you so much.
I it's.
It's so lovely to have thesegifts given to the audience.
Thank you so much, Jennifer,for being on Anchor Your Dreams.
Thank you so much for sharing all ofyour tips, your gifts, your everything,
um, and I'll put everything in theshow notes with all the links and
(51:49):
yeah, it's been such a pleasure tohave you on and sharing all about the
Women in Podcasting Awards and Network.
Thank you so much for having me.
Bye for now.
Bye.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
Thank you for joining this week's episode of Anchor Your Dreams.
I hope you enjoyed today'sconversation as much as I did.
A big thank you to our incredible guestsfor sharing their wisdom and insights.
If you resonated with today's episodeand want to explore more about
turning your dreams into reality,Be sure to subscribe to the podcast.
We have a lineup of amazing guestsand valuable content coming your way.
(52:43):
Don't forget to connectwith us on social media.
You can find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Share your thoughts, insights,and your own journey using the
hashtag anchor, your dreams.
Head over to our websiteat meganmcquillen.
com in the podcast section, where you'llfind the show notes, resources, and
information about upcoming episodes.
(53:04):
Before we wrap up, I want to express mygratitude to each and every one of you.
Your support means the worldto me, and I'm thrilled to
be on this journey with you.
Remember, anchored dreams becomegoals, anchored goals become results.
Until next time, dreambig and stay anchored.
If you are
someone who has a dream, but feelstuck, if you are facing obstacles that
seem overwhelming, or if you just needa dose of motivation to keep pushing
forward, then you are in the right place.
So buckle up dreamers, Anchoryour Dreams is not just a podcast.
(00:26):
It's a community, a community of dreamers,supporting dreamers, women, supporting
women, subscribe, follow along, and let'snavigate the seas of ambition together.
Thank you for joiningme on this adventure.
Get ready to be inspired,motivated, and empowered.
The journey begins now.
(00:49):
Hey there.
Hi, how are you?
Good, how are you?
Very good, thank you.
Thanks for having me.
Oh, yes, my pleasure, really.
I feel like Uh, an amateurhaving you on the show.
Jennifer (01:06):
Oh, no, you know, your website looks, looks really pro
and I, I love your whole vibe.
Meghan (01:12):
so much for that.
Yeah.
It's, uh, been a work in progressand, uh, a labor of love.
I'm trying to figure all this stuffout on my own, but I love a challenge.
So just to start, I would reallylove to sort of hear about your
journey, where you started, um, andhow you got to where you are today.
Jennifer (01:38):
Yeah.
So, you know, I, I was a part timeentrepreneur for a long, long time
and I always, and I worked a fulltime job and I was always wanting to
turn my part time business into a fulltime venture and my full time income.
And it always seemed like successwas just around the corner.
You know, it was just alwaysslightly out of grasp.
(01:59):
Like for many years I did that.
And so finally, you know, in 2012 Iwas able to break free and turn my
side gig into my full time business.
And I haven't worked foranyone since then, since 2012.
So a big part of that was learninghow to build thriving communities
around my message and how toleverage my message and expertise to
generate monthly reoccurring income.
(02:20):
And I want to share that with you today.
Meghan (02:23):
Oh, that's lovely.
Yeah.
Well, I think that's kind of whereeverybody is starting to, um, grasp
on to is working for themselves,trying to find a way to live life
on their terms, anchor their dreams.
And also, of course, important part,important piece is, monetizing things.
(02:45):
Money is what makes the world goout or around in a lot of ways.
And one of the things that you hadmentioned is that is a huge part
of what you, um, want to shareyour story about as well, is that
you love supporting other women.
And I can see that clearly withinthe Facebook group, within, um,
even putting this awards, Out inthe first place and everything.
(03:09):
So, um, I do really appreciate that.
So let's talk about um, Yeah more aboutyour journey as far as Going from 2012
to, to today, I'd love to hear moreabout what that has been like for you.
Jennifer (03:24):
Well, you know, I was at my full time job one day and I got
a phone call that no one wants toreceive and it was my husband's boss.
And he said, you have to come to thehospital right away, your husband's
been in a very bad accident.
And so all the way to the hospitalI was thinking to myself, I'm not
going to lose my best friend today.
It was a really tough time.
And when I got there, I didn't evenrecognize him because he had been crushed
(03:45):
by 12, 000 pounds of wood at work.
And so he survived,thankfully, he survived.
But, you know, it was a longrecovery, really tough recovery.
And, You know, it, it was a lot of hardtimes, but at the same time, something
just ignited a spark within me, you know,and I, I didn't want to keep living the
(04:05):
way that I didn't want to live anymore.
I wanted to live my dreams andreally manifest the stuff that,
that I wanted to do in life.
Isn't it funny how we always putthe things we really want to do on
the furthest back burner, you know?
And so I really, I wantedto pull those things forward
and start doing those things.
Um, and then, you know, it made methink, I didn't have that kind of,
you know, because I was helpingother companies, you know, with my
(04:26):
strategies, helping them be successful.
And one of the things that reallyimpacted me the most when my husband
had his accident was the communities hewas involved in before his accident came
around and rallied around him and us.
And they said, we're here for you,coach Paul, because he was a volunteer
football coach in the community.
And so players and coaches would comearound and say, we're here for you.
And so that really touched us and reallysustained us through a lot of hard times.
(04:48):
And then, you know, it made methink, I didn't have that kind of.
Comradery in the business community andthe entrepreneur community at that time.
And so, you know, it, it reallymade me think, Hey, you know, what
am I going to be the solution?
Right?
And so I invited other localbusiness owners to join me for lunch.
And to my surprise, you know, I wasn'tvery organized with it back then.
(05:11):
I just put socials.
Hey, you want to join me for lunch?
And I reserved this little room to mysurprise, 50 business owners showed up.
And so the room was overflowing.
You know, and it really showed thatthere was a need for that kind of
connection among entrepreneurs in my area.
And that little meeting or that big,you know, what turned out to be a
big meeting turned into a group.
(05:32):
So it turned into a group and thenthat turned into a, um, a network.
I ended up having chapters throughout indifferent cities throughout my region.
And I ended up with a very large businessnetwork that I ran for a number of years.
I ran over 600 events.
Of all sizes, uh, through that time,and I even, my platform even helped
(05:53):
my husband go from an injured mailworker to an international speaker.
He's done a TED talk called SilencingStigma Through Storytelling.
We focus on storytelling, so I,I help people with monetizing
their message and he helps peoplewith mastering their message.
And so, uh, You know, throughthat experience, I ended
up selling that network.
And since then, I've created severalsuccessful communities, including
(06:15):
the Women in Podcasting Network.
And so that's how we've cometogether because you're a nominee
in the Women in Podcasting Awards.
This is our first year of the awards.
I didn't know if I'd get anybodyin the awards, but we have 400
nominees and thousands and thousandsof votes, over 10, 000 votes now.
And we're just a couple of weeks in, so.
Meghan (06:37):
Wow, that's incredible.
I think when I Became a nominee.
It was still like in the verybeginning stages, but I remember
getting a few updates and emails andit was just like the increase after a
short amount of time was, was rapid.
Like it was really massive.
And now the votes to hearthat there's 10, 000 votes.
(06:57):
That's incredible.
And It's going until October.
Um, the voting process.
So that's exciting.
We still have lots of timeto to get that out there.
Um, I just want to quickly go back.
So this if you don't mind, um, havingthis support from your husband.
(07:20):
How has that helped you as well?
Like, so part of it was because you,you changed the way that you began
working and living because of anaccident that your husband was in.
And now here, the two of youare really partnering together.
So how, how has that evolved overthe course of the last decade?
(07:42):
Really?
Jennifer (07:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, you know, I wasspeaking before that.
And so So I helped him, you know,to come into the speaking world and
to polish up his signature talk.
So he has a signature talk,and we both have spoken at
lots of places at this point.
But, you know, that day he didhis, his TED talk, I think was a
big turning point for both of us.
(08:04):
You know, it really opened up ourworld to all kinds of people and
experiences and opportunities.
But, you know, one of the things I reallylearned was that for anything to work,
you need to be part of a community.
And you need to build yourcircle of support around you.
It's not going to build itself.
And we found out that people willhelp you if you show up to be helped.
(08:25):
You have to show up, right?
And you need to put yourself in theposition of experiencing the value of
being connected and supported, right?
You need to show up for that experience.
And that's hard.
Sometimes it's hard for us toget out and show up as ourselves.
But the myth is that the one whoteaches the most, the one that
builds the most back Spectacularwebsite, the best podcast, whatever.
(08:48):
The person that really sort ofhustles 12, 14, 16 hours a day to
the point of exhaustion is the onewho's going to make the most money
and freedom, but it's just not true.
You know, because that's what Iwas doing and it wasn't working.
You know, it's that, that old thingof don't keep doing the same thing
if you want a different result.
And so hustling alone on yourisland won't get you very far, but
(09:10):
walking the path and climbing themountain with like minded people
will make the journey more enjoyable.
Meghan (09:16):
I love that so much.
It's like, I'm just startingto really trust that myself.
Um, and which is why part of the reasonwhy Women in podcasting network has
been, um, such a wonderful communityto, to engage with, because I do
find that support, uh, your Facebookpage that I've been part of your
(09:41):
community minded, um, posts and gettingeverybody to share what their podcast
is and also wins and everything.
Yeah, I love that.
And it's so true.
It's really true.
One of the things that In the applicationfor this podcast that you wrote I
had to underline it because it wassomething I just really needed to
(10:03):
make sure that was said on here is youwrote your story creates opportunities
and opportunities create stories.
And that is so true.
And I think sometimes
We forget that there is alwaysanother story and another story.
And if we put energy intocreating stories, we will also
(10:27):
get opportunities and vice versa.
So if you want to touch moreon that, I would love to hear.
Jennifer (10:33):
Yeah you know, I had to flip those scripts in my mind.
You know, the ones that say that youhave to do everything alone, you have
to do everything on your own, you haveto be polished before you show up.
That's one of the biggest ones.
You don't have to be polished to show up.
I still am not polished.
To this day, right?
I trip over my words.
I say the wrong thing, all thosekinds of things just show up.
The main thing is just show up.
(10:54):
You don't have to have all thethings polished and perfect.
And, you know, sometimes I accidentallysay, um, or like, don't worry about it.
The most important thing is show upbecause you have to be you to show up.
Not somebody else.
Not a polished, superpolished version of yourself.
The main thing is to show up asauthentically you, and that's, I
had to learn that the hard way.
(11:15):
Especially coming from a corporate,non profit type of environment,
um, you know, and, and, and wantingto, uh, you know, be successful.
I thought that that hustle and that,and, you know, hustling in a bad way,
like in an overworking, exhaustive way,was the way to it, and it just wasn't.
It was letting go.
Being myself, and when you, when you'reyourself and you're authentic and
(11:39):
genuine, you will find your followersand you will find your, your people
and your, and your community and yourfriends who want to support you and
champion your message and champion you.
Because you know, a risingtide lifts all boats.
Meghan (11:54):
The first time I saw that, I was like, I have to use that.
And I did.
I immediately used it in one of my,um, newsletters because it's so true.
And that has been somethingthat, that is inside me.
That's inside my heart.
I love, uh, helpingother people's lift up.
So I feel like it was just, it wassuch a wonderful quote to see and
(12:14):
to, to read and to hear someoneelse say and feel that same thing.
Um, So here and here I am saying,um, so like I do edit some of them
out, but I also leave them in becauseI do feel like later on looking
back, um, hearing it, I'm going tobe like, okay, I've made progress.
(12:36):
I've made improvements over the years.
I'm not saying it as much as Idid in the first beginning times.
I will say I am, I think alsojust a little bit nervous.
I feel a little bit Like you aresuch a great person to see doing
all these different things, creatingcommunity, podcasting, talking and
(13:00):
speaking, um, writing all those things.
So I think part of me is I feel alittle bit like I wouldn't, well,
in a way, like kind of star struckfor how accomplished you are.
So forgive me for having alittle bit of nerves right now.
Um, One of the things that you didalso talk about was that going back
(13:28):
to this accident, um, it, it igniteda spark for you to live your dream.
So, as far as strategy is concerned,what were some of the first things
that you started doing to actuallylive a life of your dreams?
Jennifer (13:47):
Well, you know, I had this mindset shift around the idea of
community and actually having communityand not trying to do everything alone,
right, and I was, I was inspired byanother community, that little football
community, kind of inspired me to startmy own community, and so I like to say
drop the hustle and join the huddle,because, you know, we need community.
(14:08):
Right?
And people want to connect with you.
If you're listening to this and you'rethinking, yeah, I know, I know, but you
know, I haven't gotten to this meeting andI haven't gotten to that, get out there
because people want to connect with you.
People are looking for you andthey want to connect with you.
They really do.
There are people out there whoneed what you have to offer
and we need to remember that.
(14:29):
You know, there's people outthere who are just waiting to meet
you and they need what you have.
So no matter what your niche, youcan build a community around that.
And that will support the membersand the members, you know, I, I
adore meeting people like you, I,I love everything you're doing.
I'm inspired by you.
I'm inspired by all themembers in the community.
(14:50):
And so really, I'm just a facilitatorto offer the space, you know,
for people to be doing this.
So learning how to collaboraterather than compete is a big one,
because we're all stronger together.
Right?
Meghan (15:03):
Oh, exactly.
And we're not meant to do this alone.
And I think that's
some messaging that is so ingrained in us.
And I will also say my belief is thatThat especially in women, it is very
much ingrained from the moment we'reessentially born into this world that
(15:24):
that messaging of that we should beable to do everything on our own, but
we are really not meant to do it alone.
So I, I love that.
Forget the hustle join the huddleand, um, Allowing people to be there
for us, I think too, like givingourselves permission to ask for
help, but also giving our friendsand our community permission to be
(15:47):
there for us and actually accept it.
Jennifer (15:51):
Exactly.
That's exactly right.
You know, and, and you needto have courage to realize
that the ideas are not enough.
And that was one of my things too, isI had all these ideas and I finally
said to myself one day, if you think.
You know, you have such great ideas.
How about doing some of them?
Okay, so taking inspired action becauseI discovered that my ideas alone were
not enough because you can have themost brilliant ideas But if you're
(16:13):
not actually putting them into action,how can you help anyone and it's about
serving others and helping the world Andso I knew the strategies but there was
a difference between knowing and doingand I need to stop Stopping I had to
stop stopping and I had to start doingand I had to take the leap Because I had
to actually start implementing somethingYou know, because make no mistake, if
(16:37):
you're, if you're going to change theworld, You're going to have to create a
reason for people to connect with you,and you have to show up and do that.
And so, I mean, who else isgoing to do that for you?
You need to do it for yourself, right?
Did, did you know when I turned, I don'tknow if you saw this video, but when
I turned 50, I went skydiving and, andso I had never been skydiving before.
(16:58):
And so, when we went up in theplane, You know, I was doing fine.
I was doing great.
We went up and up and up andup and the higher we went, I
thought, wow, this is really high.
Like, when you're at about 5, 000feet, it seems really high and you
think, oh, we must be there now.
No, another 5, 000 feet.
It's 10, 000 feet up.
And so I was doing great untilthey opened the door and people
(17:19):
just started falling out.
Because I know most of ushave been in a plane, right?
You don't, you've never seen thedoor open and people just start to
roll, fall out the plane, right?
And so,
and so, you know, and thenthe, and then it was my turn.
I was tethered to someone and we had tostep out, but you're kind of in the lead,
(17:39):
even though you're tethered to someone.
And they told me to stepout on this little step.
And that's when the fear kicked in.
I had some fear where I could seethe curve of the earth and you're
out there in this little step.
It's like, you're just up there in the skyand you're about to fall off this plane.
And then we fell, and you, I don't knowif you know this, but you only feel the
(18:02):
falling feeling for about three seconds,and then it's just floating and flying.
It doesn't feel like you'refalling much after that.
If you take the position, they tell you.
And then, so, and thenit was just beautiful.
It was beautiful.
It was breathtaking.
I could see my whole region, youknow, I could see all the landmarks.
It was so beautiful.
(18:22):
We just soared through the air.
I landed safely.
And so, I thought about thatevery day, you know, for weeks.
And the funny thing is the only timethere was fear was right before the leap.
Right?
And so I always think of that becausehow many things in life do we turn
around and go, no, it's too scary.
(18:44):
I'm not going to do that.
But if we take the leap, lookat the view that's on the
other side, look at the amazingopportunities that can flow your way.
If you just take that leap, it's reallyjust the leap that's the scary part.
And then when you're on the other side.
So many amazing things.
I love
Meghan (19:02):
that so much.
Thinking about it that way in termsof your experience with skydiving,
but also bringing it into a tangibleexperience that everybody lives every
day, whether you're skydiving or not.
It's, it's so true.
Taking that big leap isoften the scariest things.
Um, and that also reminds me, that'soften times where I've noticed Resistance
(19:26):
comes in like we start filling our timewith things not related to the doing,
how do you get through that period oftime between like getting to that place
where you're about ready to leap, butthen filling it with all resistance.
Jennifer (19:49):
Yes, for sure.
I've done that.
For sure.
And that's a form of self sabotage, right?
And to, and where our focus goes,our energy is going to flow.
And so we need to focus on those thingsthat we have on the back burner that
we're just, have a burning desire to do.
Pull those forward andput them in front of you.
And one really good exercise, especiallyat this time of year, is, What are
(20:09):
three things, just three number onethings that you really have a passion
for, that you want to manifest inyour life, that you want to bring into
existence, that you want to create,that you want to share with others and
serve others, write those down, right?
And then think aboutDecember 31st of this year.
What do you have to do?
(20:29):
What are the small steps you have to do?
If you reverse engineer it toget each of those things done.
Is there something you can do today?
Can you pick one of those thingsand start working on it today?
Just even a little step of that one thing.
And by December 31st, what if youhave all three of those things done?
It's very powerful.
I often use that to motivate myself.
(20:51):
If I'm having some procrastinationor trouble, you know, really getting
something done, I'll do that exercise.
Meghan (20:59):
That's a great one.
I've always found reverse engineeringto get out of that feeling like it's
going to take so much time and so mucheffort to get that big goal to the end
stage and see it all the way through andreverse engineering really helps to break
it all down into more, The realisticsort of more smaller actionable items
(21:23):
that we can do and it can be even justa quick email to somebody asking them
to be a guest on a podcast or really,it doesn't have to be a big item.
It can be something small.
And so that is a.
A great tip.
I'm going to definitely bedoing that today as well.
(21:43):
And this time of year, August is,you know, just after July, we're
just sort of into that next almostseason even into this, and it's a
great time in between seasons inbetween quarters, things like that.
Yeah, that's great.
Exactly.
Going back to community and andeven because that's another piece
(22:08):
to when we're in sort of a selfsabotage having community, um,
can really help us through that.
How has.
your community and what you do incommunity helped get you through those
phases of sabotage and resistance.
Jennifer (22:28):
Yeah, you know, it helps so much.
And I went for so many years justtrying to do everything solo.
And now to have people that I can,you know, That I can reach out
to make such a huge difference.
You know, that's why I startedthe women in podcasting group was
just, I had a desire to connectwith other women podcasters.
(22:49):
And so really ask yourself, look insideyour heart and what are you looking for?
What are you needing?
Because to live your passion, youneed to have clarity and focus.
Right?
And if you don't know whatyour passion is, ask yourself,
what really fires you up?
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
What makes you uniquely you?
Because then your purpose is how youserve the world with your passion.
(23:11):
That's what your purpose is, is whenyour passion is turned into action.
Meghan (23:15):
Mmm.
Jennifer (23:16):
Right?
And so in order to turn things intoaction, sometimes you need to lean
on others and ask others for help.
Ask, you know, I get to meet so manypeople that bring other expertise
and opportunities into my universe.
Meghan (23:30):
Yeah, well that, and that's, that's great that it's a, well, and
that's a, that's a way of helping othersbe in what their passion and purpose is.
And allowing them to be in theirzone of genius, but also be able to
benefit and help support them at the
Jennifer (23:50):
same time.
Exactly.
You know, connecting and collaboratingis vital to our own personal wellness
and to the wellness of our business.
Right.
So that we need connection.
We need connection.
We need collaboration and just thewillingness to connect with others.
And that's going to bring somany amazing opportunities.
(24:10):
You know, to, to us that, that it'llopen doors that you can't even imagine.
You know, and I love creatingopportunities and, and connecting
and collaborating with othersand creating, facilitating those
opportunities for others to connect.
It's that's such a joy for me to seeall the connections that happen in
the group and the community betweenother people and other podcasters.
(24:32):
But, you know, when I started my women inpodcasting group, I just wanted to connect
myself with other women podcasters.
And then I, I noticed a lot of peopleneeded help with monetizing because that.
That's my area of expertise.
And so I created the Women ofPodcasting membership, and within
10 days, I had a hundred members.
And so it just shows you, if you followyour passion, if you follow what you
(24:54):
really, really deeply desire, and what'sburning in your heart, those opportunities
are going to flow your way, you
Meghan (25:02):
know?
Oh, definitely.
Well, and, and that'salso part of trusting.
That how you're showing up and beingauthentically you I think is a huge um
asset to all of that happening as wellbecause as soon as you start showing up
as as you and allowing even allowing somefear in while you're doing it really makes
(25:24):
I think in a lot of ways also makes thingsfeel a little more authentic because if
you're not showing up um as polished orperfect or like Robotic then it really
lends itself to Coming off genuine to thespace that you're in, um, Just sort of
going back to the monetizing of podcasts.
(25:47):
Can you share a little bit aboutyour experience from when you started
your podcasting and how you begangetting into the monetizing portion
Jennifer (25:57):
of
Meghan (25:57):
it?
Jennifer (25:59):
Yes, well, I started monetizing right away because the reason is I
have multiple streams of monetize,monetization, and so I monetize not
using what a lot of other podcasters use.
A lot of, a lot of other podcastersthink, or when they start podcasting,
they think sponsorship is what,how people monetize their podcast.
That's the last thing.
(26:20):
I would do or, or do.
I, I use all the other methods of creatingcourses, memberships, collaborations,
using affiliate marketing, using all theother streams other than sponsorship.
And so what that allows me to do is,and to show others as well as you can,
you can start generating, pardon me, youcan start generating income right away.
You don't need a large audienceand you don't need thousands
(26:43):
and thousands of listeners.
It can be a small community becausemy background is, I have what's called
a provincial instructor's diploma.
In my region, that justmeans I'm an adult educator.
I, I'm an instructor.
I can instruct adults.
That's all that means.
And I can create curriculum, right?
And so I create a lot ofcourses and things like that.
(27:05):
And so I can, you know, for me,because, so part of my business
would be doing workshops.
And so for me to have a room when I, andI, I would do the same for five years,
I did the same workshop every month.
in addition to other things.
But I would have anywhere from 8 to80 people in that particular workshop,
(27:25):
depending how I marketed it orwhat connections, who brought other
people, and all this kind of thing.
And so, to me, having, you know, 30or 50 or 80 people listen to something
is the same as having a workshop.
That's what I used to do.
And so I think of it more ashaving a workshop or the audience
I would have to have a talk or aworkshop or something like that.
(27:47):
So anything above that is kind of a bonus.
But, you know, that's, that's what Ithink is, is that people need to look
at other sources other than sponsorship.
Sponsorship is great, and ifthat's working for you, fantastic.
But if you want some, I just reallylove the idea of a membership
where I connect with my members.
Thank you.
And it's not, I'm not just promotingsomething and putting it out there
(28:09):
and not knowing what's happening.
I love connecting with people.
And so I love the memberships whereI can get to know the members,
engage with the members, helpthem, you know, see improvements in
other people's business and lives.
And so that really resonates with me.
Memberships are definitely myfavorite, you know, affiliate
marketing collaborations are so,so important, you know, to, to
(28:30):
participate to get to know other people.
And yeah, those are the
Meghan (28:35):
ways
Jennifer (28:35):
I do it.
Meghan (28:37):
Yeah, well, it's the sponsorship side of podcasting is really interesting
because you're right a lot of timeseven it's required to have a certain
amount of downloads a certain amount oflistens, um, listeners, a certain amount
of episodes, like all those things.
And even I haven't taken a deep dive.
(28:59):
Into it for a while myself, but whenI did first begin this podcast, that
was my goal was to monetize it andhave sponsors and since then I've
really truly just realized that oneshowing up as me Uh being authentic
connecting with people Is So important.
(29:24):
And then even just doingit more on a smaller scale.
So not necessarily driving everythingthat I'm showing up to do every day
with this podcast, with only an end goalof monetization, because I know that I
start to feel disconnected from communitywhen my only focus is monetization.
(29:46):
So I really appreciate, um, yourmessaging around community first.
And, uh, so how did you combine the two?
How did you sort of get to that pointwhere you were able to see it all in
one beneficial sort of package versusOne thing and then another thing.
Jennifer (30:11):
Yeah.
Well, you know, it just feels betterto me because it's about, it's
not, when you create a community,you're filling your business, but
you're also feeling fulfilled.
And so when I help people, thatjust brings so much joy to me.
And so, you know, I try to encouragepeople that they are enough.
I just want people out thereto know you, you are enough.
(30:34):
Right?
You, in fact, you are royalty.
You, Megan, and everybody inyour audience, I want, we're
gonna take royalty back, okay?
And by royalty, I just mean thehighest version of yourself.
The ultimate you you want to be.
The person you want to manifest.
The person you aremanifesting into right now.
Because you are theruler of your own life.
(30:57):
And embracing the royal position thatyou hold in your own mind, in your own
life, is going to make a huge difference.
It's just going to make a huge difference.
And so that's, that's what bringsme so much joy, is bringing
that into my community andshowing others how to do that.
Because you have the power to ruleover every action that occurs in your
(31:17):
being, in your life, in your business.
And you know what?
You are a brilliant genius withso much to offer the world.
You are.
And I just love encouraging people.
My favorite thing is to encourage people.
And I want everybody to see the beauty andthe talents that they have in themselves.
That brings me so much joy to helppeople to realize that in themselves
(31:37):
and to actually implement that intothe world with their solutions that
they're gonna help other people.
And you know, I want you to seethat beauty that you have within
you like a gem, like a precious gem.
Just hold it and look at it,and I want you to declare it.
And decree it and proclaim it.
And who else is going to do it for you?
Right?
You, you are the ruler ofyour life and your business.
(31:57):
You need to make that first stepto do that because nobody else is
going to do you, do it for you.
Right?
And who else is going to promote you?
Unless you're willing to promote yourselfand you know what your business looks
like, you know what your solutionslook like, you can't expect your
customers to tell you what that is.
When I started, I would say, Ioffer all these marketing solutions.
(32:18):
That was one of thethings that held me back.
Oh, I offer all these marketing things.
Which one do you want?
That's not, no, you have to havea specific solution that you're
going to offer your audience andyou need to message it that way.
And so the first thingis to really realize.
What your passion is, what youreally have expertise in, you
know, are you business royalty?
(32:38):
Are you marketing royalty?
Are you, are you thequeen of organization?
You know, are you empowerment royalty?
Health and wellness royalty?
The, the king or queenof gluten free living?
Whatever it is, specializein that one thing.
Don't say, oh, I can do all thesethings, you know, to have one
solution that's really, reallycrystal clear to your audience.
(33:00):
And really know who your audienceis and that's a whole different talk
that we could chat about, right?
But yeah, which is really an oftenskipped step, because it's, you
know, it's hard to identify youraudience at first, but you'll get
to know that through your business.
But, you know, whatever your passionor purposes, you are royally That and
(33:21):
really focus on that and present that onething really identify what that is within
yourself and present that to the world.
I had a Person show up in my networkand they would say well I can do
I can do this amazing service.
Oh, that sounded great And, butthen they named off three or four
different things and I looked at themand I thought back to myself when I
(33:42):
started, that's what I used to do.
I can do all these things because youthink, you think in your mind, if you
don't say all of them, you're goingto miss a possible customer, right?
But actually it's the reverse.
If you show up and you just say thatone thing that you're passionate
about, that you know you can servethe world with, that is actually
going to attract more people.
(34:02):
And I've seen it.
You know, and when I had my large businessnetwork and even in women and podcasting,
I, I see it when people present toomuch, you actually get less people.
If you present your exact specificthing that you're passionate about,
that you are royally that thing.
And if you don't like theroyal metaphor, that's okay.
Some people aren't into the royalmetaphor, but you know, it's,
(34:22):
uh, you could say, I am an expertin, I am a specialist in, I have
superpowers in, you know, what dopeople know you as being the best in?
That's another way you can look at it.
And just focus on that.
I want to challenge people.
Just focus on the one thing forfour months and see what happens.
I have something called the four monthmethod that I go through with people.
Four months is the magic number.
(34:44):
Just do it for four months.
I just challenge you.
Drop everything else.
Just pick one thing.
Drop everything else.
Focus on it for four monthsand see what happens.
Meghan (34:53):
I, well, as soon as you said four months, it made me go back in time
to the beginning of the year, even.
And that's really what I ended up havingto do with the podcast was in order to,
to really get momentum, consistency.
Clarity on even like all the thingsthat, that come in with podcasts, right?
(35:18):
Guess like who I want to talk to, whoI want to be the listeners and continue
to spread the message and join inthe philosophy of it and everything.
Because anchor your dreams for me.
When I look back, it's been somethingthat has been messaging throughout the
(35:38):
years and different other offeringsthat I've had, and it's just.
And I did, I had to stop everything else.
And just focus and hone in on onething and only just recently, so eight
months in, have I really felt likeI can start, um, putting some energy
(36:01):
into a couple other things that I enjoy
Jennifer (36:03):
as well.
Oh, Megan, you've donesuch a good job with that.
Your approach is so unique.
I haven't seen anything else like it.
You really have honed in on what'sspecific to you and what really
stands out as something that.
It isn't seen anywhere else.
You haven't repeatedsomething from anyone else.
Very, very unique.
Very specific to you.
And I really love it.
(36:24):
Your messaging is fantastic.
And you know, I hopepeople vote for your show.
Meghan (36:29):
Thank you so much.
My, my friends and family, they've allbeen so supportive right, right away.
And I think that's, again, goesback to community and also accepting
and allowing people to support us.
people do really wantto support other people.
And they're, I think when we,
(36:51):
when we don't value our own spacein this world, when we don't take
up that space, when we don't seeourselves as royalty, It stops others.
It's not that they don't see it.
It's just that they holdback on supporting it because
they think we don't want
Jennifer (37:10):
that support.
Exactly.
Exactly.
You know, I used to do it inthe beginning and that's why I
wasn't able to break through.
When I finally broke through,that was the difference.
Is I was, you know, being specificbecause, you know, use whatever
empowers you and ditch whateverdoesn't resonate with you.
Right, so you don't have to, there'stoo many people, and I did this
(37:31):
too, trying to get their customerto decide what they're going to do.
I would teach in some governmentfunded classes for new entrepreneurs,
and I would always get the question,Jennifer, just tell me something
that's going to make money, right?
But the thing is, what happens then?
It doesn't sustain itself becauseyou don't have the passion connected.
The same is reversedon the other side too.
(37:53):
If you just go by your passion andyou don't look at your audience
or anything like that, you're notgoing to make much money, right?
So you need to have thosetwo things converge.
I call it my influence formula,where those two things, when there's
balance and alignment between yourpassion and how you're going to serve
the world, so the people that, youknow, what is your customer's pain or
problem, when those things are aligned,that's when you can create systems.
(38:18):
And frameworks that are going toreally fuel your business and,
you know, help you to scale.
Meghan (38:24):
Yes, well, and I think that's an important thing to to bring up is
scaling going from zero to 60 is goingto be more on that hustle side of things
where there's going to be things thatyou overlook, you're maybe not going
to actually tap into the audience that,um, you really need to tap into, um, and
(38:45):
you're not going to get to the audience.
Those monetization figures that youthink you're going to get because
you've gone from zero to 60 and there'sthings that you've missed along the way.
Um, I wanted to specifically ask,what are the tips for, sorry, what
(39:08):
tips can you share for stayingmotivated during some challenges?
Like if we're going to talk about, uh,podcasters specifically, you know, maybe
they're not getting as many downloads.
Maybe there is a drop off of supportin some way, uh, people sharing.
What, what, what tips would yougive to podcasters for that?
Jennifer (39:34):
Yeah, well, you know, really, really to be consistent, always keep
really going back to your inner work.
Everything starts with the innerwork, you know, because I, I always
thought, why am I not breaking through?
Because I have all these marketing skills.
And I have three mountains in my programand I've created a model called the three
(39:55):
apex model, and the first model, or thefirst mountain is called Mount Mindset.
The second mountain iscalled Mount Message.
And the third mountainis called Mount Monetize.
And so I was, uh, I didn't realize thisat the time, but I was specializing
in mount monetized, thinking thatwas the, you know, way to success.
But if you don't tap into mount, ifyou don't try to go up the path of
(40:19):
mount message and mount mindset, thoseare the things that can hold you back.
You need to try to get to the summitof every one of those mountains.
And so what I found out was thatI was trying to power through
without all that inner work.
Now, I had been in some corporate andnonprofit and, and, um, government.
spaces where there was a lotof professional development.
(40:41):
But being an entrepreneur takesa whole different set of mindset
skills, overcoming limiting beliefs.
Um, you know, having to, uh, I reallylove, we, we brought on a lot of
modalities after my husband's accident.
We got into a lot ofmindset work, meditations.
I really love affirmations.
So when you're in a theta space toabsorb some affirmations can really help.
(41:05):
So that's one of my favoritethings is affirmations.
I actually created an affirmationfor podcasters and people can
find that at womenandpodcasting.
net.
I created an affirmation specificallyfor podcasters to help them
stay encouraged and motivated.
Meghan (41:20):
Oh, I love that.
I can't wait to check that out.
I'm a big, huge fan ofaffirmations as well.
Um, I think they are, they'revery powerful because they
don't take a lot of effort.
They are.
I love affirmations.
I really do.
And I find, you know, quotescan be, um, similar, uh, or some
(41:41):
people will call them a mantra.
It's all very similar.
Um, it doesn't take a lot ofeffort, but there's the impact
that they have is so great.
Jennifer (41:52):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah, you know, until I,until I tried to scale Mount
Mindset, I was getting nowhere.
You need that inner work to really knowwhat your passion is, to have the courage
to overcome those limiting beliefsbefore some of the other stuff will, will
Meghan (42:08):
work.
Definitely.
And as you're talking, you know, Ithought about it in a lot of ways.
This is a very holisticapproach to everything.
There's different areas that we need tofocus on to really bring it all together.
And, and that to me is sort of what,um, This process is it's very holistic.
(42:32):
It's not just about going in andAnd recording a podcast editing
it and putting it out there.
There really is so much more behindthe scenes that um, I think Get lost
because people just show up withtheir air pods in and listen to it.
But there's so much more behind thescenes that either the podcasters are
(42:55):
dealing with the guests themselves,because some people, um, just as much as
a podcaster might have, you know, some
internal limiting beliefs,guests can too, they often.
podcast and sharing their story.
So, is there, is there any tips thatyou might have for people who are
(43:19):
listening that might also want to trytheir hand at being a guest on a podcast?
Jennifer (43:24):
Mm hmm.
Yes, yes.
So, definitely work on a signaturetalk and have your title.
And your description ready to giveto people as well as other assets any
images headshots and things like that.
You don't necessarily need reallyhigh end professional headshots
these days, but it does help.
We've had them over the years.
And, but even if you can just do somethingreally well with your camera, that's fine.
(43:49):
But.
You know, have all those assets in oneplace so that they're easy to gather
and then submit to shows, but alwayshave that message really, really clear
and have a title because podcastersare looking for something that's
easy for them to promote as well.
They may really believe what you're doing,but if you don't have it together, then,
you Then it's hard for them to promoteyou or figure out where you fit in, right?
(44:13):
So you need to have a reallytight message that way.
I know with the Women in PodcastingAwards, I noticed I met a lot of
even new, more podcasters, eventhan what was in the group before.
And I noticed a lot of people do strugglewith having all their assets ready.
And by assets, I mean the, you know,the title, the description, all
the images, and things like that.
(44:34):
Links.
Having all your links in one place so thatthey're easy to copy and paste, you know,
submit those applications and communicatewith people in a way that's going to
get a reaction and get, get a response.
Meghan (44:46):
Hmm.
I think that is perfect.
A great sort of to do list foranyone who wants to be a guest is to
first focus on getting the messageand the title and even a title.
It doesn't necessarily necessarilymean that the podcast will use that,
but I think it would help havinga title to what your message is.
(45:09):
You make sure that you stay on topicthroughout that, um, that messaging.
And, and then, yeah, having, havinglike a folder on your computer, uh,
with everything that you need inthere, you can even zip it and send it
by email or, or Google drive and allthose sorts of ways of doing things.
(45:31):
It's so easy to make sure that everyonecan have everything that you need.
Um, or even in my case,I use Google forms and.
And that was one way that I wanted to makesure people could put everything together,
all their assets, their messaging and,and everything in there was, was that way.
So I think that is a great tip.
Yeah.
Jennifer (45:52):
And also not only that, but you know, it, it shows that the
person knows what they're talkingabout and they are, they have focus
and clarity to talk on that topic.
Right.
And to also be focused on, youknow, what, what kind of questions
do you want the person to ask.
So you could have five to seven.
Potential questions that theperson can ask you as well.
(46:12):
I have that on my bio.
So I also have all this in mybio, have a really good bio page.
If you can have one and then keep itall in there so that someone can find
you and what you're all about, and youcan just send them that link, or at
least for you, I use my website a lotfor myself where I can just go grab
things so I know where it is, right?
Meghan (46:30):
Yes, yes.
And I, well, and I think.
Like as someone like me who I'm trying toget there to like I did create the podcast
hub page so that I can use that one pagefor whether you are a future guest or a
past guest or Even for people out therethat are thinking about being a guest My
(46:53):
hope for that is to just have one placefor everyone to go to and But also what
you had, uh, mentioned too is the bio.
Canva has so many great templatesfor, for media kits that can
easily transfer to someone wantingto be a guest on a podcast.
So, um, I just mentioning that reallyquickly, if someone has a hard time
(47:16):
thinking about how they would putit all together, I think, Templates.
Canva has has great templates.
If we can go back to also buildinga community around your message to
generate monthly recurring income.
Now, we talked about podcasting andsponsorship and monetizing podcasting.
What is another reoccurring incomethat one could generate in this space?
Jennifer (47:41):
The main reoccurring income that I use is memberships.
So people can subscribe.
I use two different systems.
I use one is called Membership Works.
And it's a plugin for WordPress.
And then I also use system IO, whichis a full funnel and has a membership
and course creation section to it.
(48:02):
And so getting the right tools in place,investing in the tools to have email
marketing in place, to have a membershipplatform in place, yes, those do take some
investment, but you will make back more.
If you have those tools in placeand you just schedule some time
in to learn the tools, then youwill make back that income and.
(48:23):
Create, you can create a, you know,a community around your message.
No matter what your message, I couldsit with you and brainstorm and come up
with a way for you to have a membership.
I love mini memberships.
So mini memberships, I have membershipsof all levels, but the mini memberships
are where you can focus on community.
So I'm talking about five or sevendollars a month or even up to anything.
(48:46):
10 or below around that price.
That's what I call a mini membership.
And so you can focus on community,offer some tools and things like that.
Women in podcasting is 5 a month.
If you go to womenpodcasters.
com, you can see that as an example.
But I have other levels of membershipthat are 7, 27, 47, 197, things like that.
(49:08):
But I love those mini membershipsbecause it's easy for podcasters
to put those in place and for thelisteners to engage quite easily.
That's a, that's a no brainer, right?
If you offer some expertise and sometools and some templates from your area of
knowledge, that's going to be an easy sellfor you, for your listeners, especially
your, you know, regular listeners.
(49:29):
Five dollars isn't goingto be anything for them.
And then that, thatcould be your ads budget.
That could be your, you know,that, that amount could sustain.
Could help pay for yourpodcast and cover your podcast
expenses and things like that.
And then to that group, Ioffer my next level of offers.
And then you've got a built in communityof champions who know what you're doing.
(49:49):
They like what you're doing and youcan offer the next level in your, in
your, you know, selection of offerings.
Meghan (49:56):
I love the idea of mini memberships and 5.
I mean, you can't even get aStarbucks coffee anymore for 5.
That's a lot of work to go through,and it's a lot of work to go.
So I think that is an absolutelyreasonable amount to begin, right?
Like, this is, again, just going, goingback to what, what people can start
with and where they can, can see someimprovements and building community, all
(50:19):
of those things, um, is there, is thereany other points that, uh, you would like
to, uh, Touch base on before we wrap up.
Jennifer (50:30):
Well, I hope people vote for your podcast.
You're doing an amazingjob with your podcast.
You're in the women in podcasting awardsand what category are you in again?
I'm an inspiration and motivation.
Yeah, good.
Yeah.
So if you go to the awards, I'm sure thatMegan will provide the link to that and
you can vote for Megan's podcast there.
(50:51):
And then, you know, just to, to stayconnected, you and I will stay connected
and, and, um, You know, hopefully,hopefully there'll be more opportunities
coming our way that we can work togetherand do some more things together.
I'm excited for that.
And if, if any of your audienceare interested in starting a
podcast, I have a free gift.
And it's about helpinggenerate episode ideas.
(51:14):
And a mind map to helpplan out your podcast.
And you can find that at womenpodcasters, that's women podcasters.
com forward slash ideas, women podcasters.
com forward slash ideas.
Meghan (51:28):
That's so great.
Thank you so much.
I it's.
It's so lovely to have thesegifts given to the audience.
Thank you so much, Jennifer,for being on Anchor Your Dreams.
Thank you so much for sharing all ofyour tips, your gifts, your everything,
um, and I'll put everything in theshow notes with all the links and
(51:49):
yeah, it's been such a pleasure tohave you on and sharing all about the
Women in Podcasting Awards and Network.
Thank you so much for having me.
Bye for now.
Bye.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
Thank you for joining this week's episode of Anchor Your Dreams.
I hope you enjoyed today'sconversation as much as I did.
A big thank you to our incredible guestsfor sharing their wisdom and insights.
If you resonated with today's episodeand want to explore more about
turning your dreams into reality,Be sure to subscribe to the podcast.
We have a lineup of amazing guestsand valuable content coming your way.
(52:43):
Don't forget to connectwith us on social media.
You can find us on Instagram and Facebook.
Share your thoughts, insights,and your own journey using the
hashtag anchor, your dreams.
Head over to our websiteat meganmcquillen.
com in the podcast section, where you'llfind the show notes, resources, and
information about upcoming episodes.
(53:04):
Before we wrap up, I want to express mygratitude to each and every one of you.
Your support means the worldto me, and I'm thrilled to
be on this journey with you.
Remember, anchored dreams becomegoals, anchored goals become results.
Until next time, dreambig and stay anchored.
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