Podcast Tips & Life Advice, Host of Nothing Much Happens

Unedited Transcript of the Episode:

Andi: Hi, I’m Andy smiley, your friendly podcast guide. I help you create and grow a podcast that is fun and fulfilling. Whether you’re just starting or a few years in, I share tips, stories from my own journey and insights from podcasters that I admire today. I’m sharing a conversation with Catherine that made me tear up. Two different times. Catherine is a beautiful human and I feel so lucky that I got to talk to her about her sleep podcast.

Nothing much happens at the end of this episode. I’ll tell you my top takeaways from our conversation. So you don’t have to take notes. Unless you want to.

Andi: I am so excited to talk to Catherine today, who is the host of nothing much happens, which is the sleep podcast that I use to go to sleep at night, because it is really hard for my brain to turn off. And I am so grateful that Catherine makes this podcast. So I’m really excited to talk to her today about Her very popular, very delightful sleep podcast.

But before we dive in, I’m going to ask you a couple of questions to introduce you a little bit to my listeners. The first one is what is the last podcast you listened to for you? Not for your show, not for research, just for you.

Kathryn: I just listened to a history podcast. Um, I don’t remember the name of it, but it is looking at the individual victims of Jack the Ripper and really talking about their lives rather than Jack’s life or supposed life. Like, you know, obviously we don’t know who he is, um, but often the victims get lost in true crime.

And, um, so, um, yeah, so I’m listening to that. I listened to a lot of history.

Andi: Me too. I love history podcasts, that’s awesome. Okay. Maybe I’ll look it up and find it. Cause now I really want to listen to that too. If I can’t find it, I might send you an email because that sounds fascinating.

Kathryn: Yeah,

Andi: I like true crime podcasts when it’s less about the person that killed people and more about the people that were the victims. So

Kathryn: yeah, there’s a whole psychology understanding why we are drawn to true crime and then finding out how to talk about it in a way that honors people and doesn’t sort of fetishize, um, the killers. So, um, yeah, I’m, I’m proud to say I’m a fan of true crime because I think there are ethical ways to create and consume it.

Andi: totally. Honestly, I can only handle so much and then I get nightmares, if I’m being completely honest, but it is fascinating and so I definitely still listen sometimes. So I, there is something there that we as humans, I wonder if part of it is we just don’t want to die. So we’re like, so what do we need to do differently?

Makes sense.

Kathryn: Yeah, it does feel protective.

Andi: And then the other question I have for you is what is a simple life hack that is making your life better right now?

Kathryn: Um, you know, something that’s really important to me is like a personal value is fun. Um, so I’m always looking for ways to have fun every day. I don’t think you could boil it down to a life hack. Um, but it’s something I am looking for every day. How can I have fun today? How can I enjoy myself? Um, so, you know, whether that’s like watching a funny movie or yesterday I was, by Lake Michigan and I rode my moped up and down the lake while I listened to music and just had a wonderful time all by myself.

So to me, uh, prioritizing fun, enjoyment, laughter, these are personal values and I highly recommend them.

Andi: I love that truly. I do kind of think that’s a hack, like just looking for fun things, like trying to make that a priority in and in and of itself is kind of a life hack. So I will take it. And I definitely need that reminder. I have three littles and sometimes. I think I get stuck in the I have to survive this day mode instead of a how can I make this fun?

Because, you know, we do the day either way, we might as well have fun when we’re doing it.

Kathryn: Yeah. That’s definitely true.

Andi: Oh, I love that. So now I want to talk about Nothing Much Happens. Truly, I don’t think I can say enough good things about this podcast. It’s truly changed, changed my sleep habits in such a beautifully, wonderful way. And I just want everyone, anyone that has sleep troubles, please try nothing much happens because I promise it will help.

Andi: So what has been your favorite part of creating nothing much happens?

Kathryn: There’s kind of two sides that I would call my favorite. One is just personally finding the part of myself that was creative and getting to lean into that and work those muscles over and over again until I found that I could become sort of a creative athlete. I always thought that I wasn’t a creative person.

And I grew up surrounded by creative people. Like all my friends were actors and musicians and artists in different ways. And I always thought. I don’t have that, that thing. I don’t have it. I love it. And obviously I’m drawn to it because all my friends are this, um, but almost a little jealous, um, that I don’t seem to have this.

And, um, I came into this moment in my thirties that I call the reckoning of mediocrity, where I just went, um, you know, maybe I’m not going to be the best, but if this is something I enjoy, why don’t I just start doing it? I’ve always wanted to write and, um, so I just started doing it and now I realize that creativity is a practice.

It’s something that you do as a regular part of your life and it develops, um, with practice. And so one favorite part of Nothing Much Happens is when I’m, since I’m producing 52 episodes a year. I am constantly writing and I love it. I had a really great writing week last week and I was telling my wife, you know, all the exciting things I was finding in the episodes I was writing, you know, seeds that had been planted by my subconscious a while ago and now we’re blooming and it was just so fun and exciting to watch that happen.

And then the other side that I really enjoy is, you know, being of service and actually getting to help people have a better day. There is nothing more, um, healing and enjoyable than knowing that something you did actually helped someone in their real day to day life. And I get to do that all the time. I was a yoga teacher for about 20 years and I worked in a small community and I loved that.

I love seeing people come in day after day and knowing them really well and helping them move through the seasons of their life. And now I feel like I get to do that in my second career on this exponential level where, you know, there are millions of people and I get to help them through difficult times and good times.

And, um, you know, I always tell people like, if you start giving, if you start being of service, you’ll get addicted because it feels so good. It fills your own cup so much. So, um, I feel like a lucky one in, in this scenario.

Andi: That is so beautiful, I think That might be maybe kind of the missing piece for some people, podcasters, but also just like people in life that when you, when your goal is to serve other people, then the likelihood of your success goes up like exponentially, right? You have an incredibly popular podcast.

And I think Part of that is that you are here to serve, right? You’re not here to get all of the downloads. That’s just like an added benefit. You are here to serve and help these people, including me. I am one of those people to get a better night’s sleep. I think that is absolutely beautiful.

Kathryn: You know, as I feel like when you’re a teacher, uh, you’re just constantly going, well, okay, but how do I teach that? And I had had this technique my whole life of telling myself bedtime stories. And I kept trying to figure out how I get it to other people.

Um, so that’s why I feel like that really is how this, this, the podcast grew and became because I had this deep need to figure out how to get it to other people. And I’ve always kept that, um, in my sights that I’m gonna. reach people who need help and I’m going to be the help that they need. And I feel like if you find the niche, if you find the need and fill it with something quality, you will be successful.

You can’t not be.

Andi: Yeah. It’s just the finding of that can be kind of hard sometimes, but once you do.

Kathryn: Yeah,

Andi: seems to fall into place.

Kathryn: for sure.

Andi: So because your podcast is so popular, I wanted to ask, what is it about your podcast that you think people love so much?

Kathryn: I think there are some things that set it apart from other sleep podcasts. And I want to say also that I think other sleep podcasts are great. I’m friends with a lot of other sleep podcasters and people have different needs. And so, I’m just glad there are multiple kinds of sleep podcasts out there for multiple listeners.

And, you know, um, people think there’s any sort of jealousy behind the scenes that can tell you we’re too sleepy for that. Um, we’re all kind of buddies behind the scenes and supportive of each other. So it’s actually a really lovely community. Um, but I think one of the things that sets nothing much happens apart is, you know, first it is, um, original written material that comes out weekly.

There’s no AI involved. I am writing and creating with my voice, um, every week. And that’s pretty, pretty exciting. And for people who might just be fans of narrative, fans of storytelling, who enjoy conflict free fiction, um, you know, I don’t think that there are a lot of shows that offer it the way that we do.

Um, I think also that I’ve done, you know, almost seven years of world building for the show. So all my episodes take place in what I call the village of nothing much. You know, I started to realize a few months in that all these episodes, I thought of them living in the same world. And people would crisscross, and if you happened to be awake to hear it, you might notice that the person who just held the door at the bakery was last week’s narrator, and that’s their dog, and you’ve seen them before.

And I feel like that creates this really cozy neighborhood feeling that you’re just part of you. It’s kind of like when you were a kid and would watch, um, Mr. Rogers and a certain point you went into the world of the land of make believe and you were part of it. And it’s the same here. That little trolley goes by and you are welcomed into the village.

And so I feel like that creates like a layer of coziness, um, and safety that a lot of listeners are looking for. Thank you. Um,

Andi: Definitely. I don’t think I could have used those words, but that is totally how I feel. Like, it’s just, yeah, it’s almost like, like I lay down, this is maybe TMI, but like I lay down, I turn on your podcast and it does feel kind of like I close my eyes and I kind of like walk into the village of nothing much, right?

Like, and then I just get to hang out there. As I’m like transitioning to sleep. So totally.

Kathryn: it should feel like you are in the story yourself. And that’s why, you know, none of the humans in my stories ever have names. And you know, if there’s a romantic relationship, there’s usually no gender markers because I want you to feel like maybe you were the narrator. You’re the book shop owner.

You’re the innkeeper. You’re the baker. You’re the person going for a walk in the woods. Um, so that it just feels like the story is kind of wrapped around you. Um, and you’re in it. I feel like that’s part of the magic of what helps people fall asleep.

Andi: Yeah, that’s so thoughtfully done. Thank you. And I think that that’s just like a gentle reminder to remember what your audience needs as a podcaster and make sure you are giving them what they need. Right. Instead of you’re not telling a story with a bunch of names, because you know that it’s easier to fall asleep and easier to feel cozy when it feels like it’s your story.

So that’s. Awesome. I love that.

Kathryn: Yeah.

Andi: What has been one of the most surprising things that’s happened or parts of nothing much happens?

Kathryn: You know, I knew when it released that if people listened, they would fall asleep. I didn’t have any doubt about that. This was a tried and true technique I’d used my whole life. And I just had a strong gut feeling that people would fall asleep. What I didn’t know is how many people would need for things like PTSD and anxiety and night terrors.

I didn’t know how many hands I’d be holding through the night of people who were grieving, who had been victims, who had been through really traumatic experiences, people who maybe used to be afraid to get into bed at night because the feeling of being sort of alone with their own brains, um, felt terrifying.

Um, so that I would be a helpmate to those people. That was a surprise. I, I didn’t realize that was coming, but that is a huge, huge honor for me. And something I take very seriously. I am very protective of my listeners. I realize that I’m with a lot of people on difficult nights. Sometimes my voice is the last voice that a person hears when they’re in hospice.

And that is a huge responsibility and something I take very seriously. I’ve heard from the loved ones who said, at the end, we just played your show. And it played for five hours until she passed. And the whole time she listened to your voice and felt safe. That is unbelievable to think that I can do that for somebody.

And so I’m quite protective and I take it as a very serious thing. Um, so that I never saw coming that I would have that honor. But I’m very grateful that people trust me to do that.

Andi: Definitely. Man, Kate, I’m literally tearing up. I can see how your podcast would be such a comfort I love that so much. I’m so,

Kathryn: steady voice to be with you, you know, sometimes you just need that. I feel like, you know, I used to hear people say, well, sometimes I turn on the TV to have noise in the background. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I feel people feel like there’s something bad about needing a voice in the background.

There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a difficult, difficult world. If you need a voice to just stand guard over you in a difficult moment, please let yourself have that, you know? And so, You know, I take that to be, like, one of the greatest honors of my show, that I can just let my voice be a guardian with you.

You’re not alone. I’m here too.

Andi: Oh, I love that. So one of my goals for this season of the friendly podcast guide was to get on YouTube and start doing, um, episodes on YouTube. And so of course I had to look up and you have almost 16, 000 subscribers on YouTube. And I was like, holy cow, you’re amazing. Do you have any tips for podcasters who are thinking about getting on YouTube?

Kathryn: You know, I didn’t even realize we had that many subscribers, and love to my YouTube subscribers, I just I don’t, we haven’t done anything to really try to spread the word on YouTube. Um, Bob, my audio engineer, he just said, should I put this on YouTube? And I was like, sure. I just realized that sleep content would be useful to people in that way.

But again, I want to meet people where they are. Like if they’re on YouTube, I want to be there too. So I think just, just keep putting it out there. I wish I had tips, but honestly, um, we haven’t, we haven’t really, um, had a strategy.

Andi: Honestly, I kind of love that though, because your strategy is just to put it on there and it seems to be working. So maybe other people can do that too, right?

Kathryn: Yeah.

Andi: Yeah. Well, and YouTube, I think. That just speaks to like the ability for YouTube to help you find your people. Right? Like you’re not doing anything, but it’s the second largest search engine in the world.

So just get it on there and your people will most likely find you there. I love that. That’s actually like the best answer. So thank you. So one thing that I feel uncomfortable talking about, but I’m forcing myself to Get more comfortable talking about is money. So let’s talk about the money side of nothing much happens. So do you make money right now with the podcast?

Kathryn: Yes, we do.

Andi: Fabulous. What are the main ways that you make money with it?

Kathryn: The main ways we make money are through our premium content subscriptions and through um, our hosting partnership with, right now we are with iHeart. So you know, they host my show and they own the right to monetize my show. So they arrange for my advertising. Um, so those are the two biggest ways we’ve got other things in the works merch and you know, I have a book That sold in 34 countries Um, so there are other ways but day in and day out the things that pay our bills Are a network network partnership and premium content subscriptions

Andi: Okay. And just so that I am completely on the same page, can you explain what that means to have like a premium subscription?

Kathryn: Sure. So the show right now, if you don’t have any kind of subs, you know, premium, if you’re not paying for it, if you’re just listening to it on a podcast app, um, or on YouTube, um, you’re going to hear ads and the ads are read, read by me and my voice. Cause like I said, I’m protective. So you’re not going to hear somebody else’s voice.

You’re not going to hear any music or anything like that. And I’m going to use my sleepiest voice, but I am going to tell you about products and stuff. And then if you wanted to pay for a monthly subscription, which I think comes out to about 10 cents a day, it is super affordable. Um, you get, um, add free content, but you also get bonus content.

So every month tomorrow is the first of the month. At least when we’re recording this, and um, there will be a bonus episode that is only available to my subscribers. We also have, um, what we call Much More Happens, where we make expanded episodes. We have like a 10 hour episode, so if you want it to play all night long, um, we had one in the summertime, we’re just about to release the autumn version of that, um, there’s just bonuses like that that, um, that come out for those folks.

Thanks. Um, and we use Supporting Cast as well as Apple Premium to deliver that content.

Andi: Oh, okay. That’s good to know. I haven’t, I haven’t gotten into that world of trying to figure out if that’s what I want to do, but that’s good to know that those are the two that you use for anyone who is ready for that. That’s awesome.

Kathryn: Yeah. I like Supporting Cast because you can listen, um, it’ll send you a link and you just add it to your podcast app. So you can listen exactly through the podcast app exactly the way you did before. Of course, Apple is a Player in the game. So if you use Apple premium, that’s great. But for a lot of people who use Spotify, um, that’s not going to work for them.

So, um, we use both to cover all our bases.

Andi: Totally. Yes, I use pocket casts. They are my favorite. So there you go. I would, yeah, I appreciate that you use something other than just Apple.

Kathryn: We want to meet people where they are. That’s part of my philosophy.

Andi: Totally. Well, and. That’s a really lucrative one, right? Cause not everyone’s on Apple. So if you want to. Reach the people that want to pay you, then they’re not going to be just on Apple.

Kathryn: Yeah. Make it easy for them.

Andi: Exactly. Oh, I love that. Totally. My last money question. It’s how much money do you make?

Kathryn: Sure. I’m actually glad you asked because I’ll explain why I’m not going to say how much money I make. Um, I make enough to pay my team, um, all, um, comfortably and happily. Um, but if I, Okay. If the number that I make exists in the public world, , that harms me going into my next network contract negotiation. Because they can say, uh, you know, if another network wants to offer me a deal, they can say, Oh, well, I heard she makes X. Let’s offer her X plus one. Um, and that’s it. It’s not the powerful position that I intend to be in the next time I, uh, get into a contract negotiation. So I will say that it is my full time job and it is the, um, mostly part time, but could could have been for full time jobs of people on my team.

They, I just don’t need them to work that much. Um, and we’re all doing just fine.

Andi: I love that answer. That’s perfect. And truly, I think that’s kind of the goal, right? It is exactly what you just said. So whatever that number is for you now, we know it’s possible.

And

Kathryn: is totally possible.

Andi: Yes. So as we’re wrapping up, I want to talk about one of the specific episodes that we talked about beforehand.

Um, That was one of your favorites that really highlights, nothing much happens, what, what you can get out of the episode. And it was the lightning bugs at Oxbow Lake. And to be honest, I still haven’t heard the end of this episode because I fall asleep and I tried two times. So at the beginning of the episode when I was still awake.

Um, you talked about how you’re giving money to the Marine Mammal Center and you do this in every episode. It wasn’t just this one, but why do you give to a charity every week?

Kathryn: Really just because I can. So why not? Um, I was inspired by Allie Ward of the Allergies podcast. I’m listening to her and I hadn’t been listening to many episodes. It was like on my third episode. And she said, great, now it’s time to throw some money at somebody. And I thought, Hey, I could do that. Why don’t I do that?

And the next day I did. So now for, I think, um, about 18 months, every week we donate to a different cause and um, you know, they’re all over the map. Sometimes it’s really big charities that everybody knows. Sometimes it’s a really tiny charity run by one person. Sometimes they get recommended to us by our listeners.

And then Megan, who does community care for me, she is always on the hunt for good things. So it’s just like a real gentle way to nudge people and let them know, Hey, um, giving is good for everybody. Maybe you want to do it tomorrow when you wake up.

Andi: Yes, well, and I think This is just another way that you are giving back and serving. You’re serving the charity, but you’re also serving your people to be like, Hey, you want to feel good tomorrow, maybe give a little bit of money to this charity that we have found that we really like.

I love

Kathryn: Right. It was always part of when I was, when I owned a yoga studio, it was something we did constantly. It was just part of how I was taught and trained to be in that world is that, um, once your bills are paid, you, um, always just. Find a little bit of money to give to somebody else. So every month that I was in business for 20 years, we gave to somebody else.

And I was like, Hey, let’s keep doing it. And so I’m really happy that we do. It’s, it’s a fun, it’s honestly a fun thing that I look forward to. I’m about to do it right now. I’m going to edit a few episodes and for each episode that I edit, I get to find a new charity and learn a little bit about them. And.

I really look forward to it.

Andi: Yeah, that sounds delightful. And you’re helping people in so many different ways. Your podcast is just awesome. So the other question I have about this episode is, have you actually gone on this hike, this Oxbow Lake hike where you’ve got to see lightning bugs?

Kathryn: No. Although I’ve certainly, you know, hiked and seen bugs in my life, but people often ask, um, if the stories are about me, and I always say, hey, if you like to think they are, you go right ahead. Um, all I want you, all, my only goal is that you feel good and then you fall asleep. So if you like to think that this is my life, go for it.

And my life, don’t get me wrong, super, super great. Ridiculously charmed life. Um, but, you know, I don’t, some, sometimes people will write me emails and say, I don’t get it. Do you own a bookstore and you’re an innkeeper and you own a farmhouse? And I’ll say, my dear, no, I’m a writer. They seem to lose that part at the beginning where I say it’s a bedtime story, but, you know, I think it’s just a feeling of, you know, that I think I’m lucky to be able to write a feeling of familiarity into it so deeply that people feel like they were there.

I must have been there. Um, so, um, but I remember writing that episode. It was fun to learn that Oxbow Lake, which I do know of an Oxbow Lake. Um, yeah. And I thought it, I didn’t understand that it just is a natural formation that occurs when rivers, um, wander. So, there are millions of oxbow lakes all over the world.

Um, so, you know, there’s one in your village too, go for a hike

Andi: Yes. And truly that is one thing that is fun about your episodes is that you like sprinkle in little facts about whatever it is that we’re learning about, like, like for this episode, like learning the Oxbow lakes are a thing, not just in the village of nothing much, but all over the world. I just love all of the little facts that you sprinkle in that I can remember for later as just like an added bonus that I can tell my kids or my partner or whatever the next day. So,

Kathryn: on it. Learning is like fun and cozy. Learning is one of those things that, you know, I find like to be like, a happy time activity. So if I can, you know, tell you what is the seasonal produce right now in this part of the world or what birds are out at 7 a. m. or what planet is in the sky right now in this episode.

I just think that that’s interesting and I get to sneak it in there. It’s like vegetables in your spaghetti.

Andi: Oh, I love it. Well, and yeah, I. I find it delightful. I love, I love having little facts like in my back pocket. So yeah, it’s the best. Last question to wrap up is what is your like biggest piece of advice for podcasters?

Kathryn: stop waiting to feel ready. Um, stop waiting for some big moment to go. Okay, now I’ll do it I have this really good friend named Renee who we were yoga teachers together and we kind of grew up through the world of yoga together and She got breast cancer at a young age and before she passed away, she knew she was dying She called me and she said Catherine You need to make your dreams come true And I went, yep, thanks.

And she went, don’t blow me off, I’m not a motivational poster, I need you to hear me right now. I won’t get to make my dreams come true. You need to make yours come true. And I took that very, very seriously as a mandate. And I realized in that moment, I did not even know what my dreams were. I was just getting through the days.

Um, and I thought, okay, I need to reevaluate. And one of my biggest dreams of my whole life was to be a writer. And I thought, okay, well, you need to start taking steps. And writing small bits of fiction, like I am for my podcast, felt like a doable, achievable step. Putting it out there into the world so other people would hear it, that’s scary, but I owed it to Renee.

I owe, it’s something we owe to the people we lose too soon, is to live our lives fully. So I thought, okay, well, I don’t have a choice. I just have to do it. So I think if you’re out there waiting for some sign or some perfect moment or some time when you’re going to have the energy and you’re going to have the space to do the thing that you know, down deep, you have a yen for, um, stop waiting to feel ready.

It’s now it’s right now. Start doing it.

Andi: You have made me tear up two times in one episode. I think that might be a new record, but I love it. I think that is such good advice. And that applies obviously to people that don’t have podcasts yet, but I think it also applies to people with podcasts that, that they feel like they need to start changing things a little bit, or maybe write that book that goes along with your podcast or whatever it is.

Just don’t wait. Just do the thing that’s going to make you

Kathryn: Just do the thing.

Andi: Well, thank you so much for being on the show. I feel like I have gotten like a masterclass and I am so, so grateful that you took the time to chat with me today.

Kathryn: It was my pleasure. Thanks for helping me spread the

Andi: Now you also know how amazing Catherine is. Isn’t it so fun to know that such a lovely human is also making super good money from her podcast. It’s so awesome. It makes my heart so happy. Here are the top five takeaways I have from my conversation with Catherine. The first one is creativity is a practice

you might not think that podcasting is creative, but it is at least in my opinion. And the more that you practice. Podcasting and being creative within your podcast, the better you’ll get at it.

Just like Katherine talked about practicing her creativity with writing for her, the podcast, we can do that same thing with different aspects of our podcast. For me,

one creative aspect of podcasting that I’ve been practicing is adding more sound to each episode. And honestly, I can see that I’ve gotten better over the season. Um, if I look at like the first time that I put extra sound in, I think it was episode one, maybe two, um, It was a little jenky, but. I did it and I’ve been practicing and it feels way more smooth now.

And hopefully you noticed that in this episode, because there were several clips that I added in. The second thing that I learned from Catherine is your listeners will notice when your main priority is to serve. Catherine is such a good example of serving your listener. Does this in so many different ways.

The first and probably the most obvious one is her entire podcast is a service to all of us who need help sleeping. Um, but there are also like little ways that she serves, like,

The way that she chooses a different charity to donate money to every week and tell her listeners about it so that they know about an awesome charity.

Does she have to talk about a charity in every episode? No, but she does. And I believe that that karma comes back to her. And that’s probably one of the reasons that her. Sleep podcast is one of the top sleep podcasts. In the world.

The third thing that I learned from Catherine is to know what your listener needs and give it to them.

And I know that sounds really obvious and you’re like, okay, I know that I’m supposed to do that, but how, how Andy, how do I do that? Here are three different ways that you can do that. The first way is to ask them on social media, do some polls, see what they’re interested in or what they’re not interested in, what they like, what they don’t like. I think that’s a really great way. To just kind of get a pulse. Um, for what’s going on,

if social media, isn’t really your thing. You can also do a survey, um, just like a Google form survey. Talk about it in your episodes, have a link to it in your show notes, and people can go to it. Usually, if you give some sort of incentive, Uh, more people will fill out your survey. Uh, that’s another really great way for you to find out what your listeners like and what they don’t like.

And what needs to change about your podcast? And then the last way is you can do some one-on-one calls with your listeners.

You can make it a win-win situation for your listeners. You can say. Hey, I would love to do a one-on-one call where half of the call, I give you advice, or we talk about your favorite book or something that has to do with your podcast.

And then the second half, um, I ask you some questions about the podcast, what you like and what you don’t like. And in my experience, I’ve done a couple of those calls and they’re super fun because I was a little bit starstruck that I got to talk to the podcast host and I felt really good that I got to help her with the shop.

So.

Those are three different ways that you can figure out what your listeners need, and then you can give it to them and then there’ll be happy and you’ll be happy and it will be a win-win situation.

The fourth thing that I learned from Catherine is to meet people where they are. Catherine said this multiple times during the interview, and I love it so much. So. The two times she talked about it in the episode is with premium subscriptions and with YouTube.

So with premium subscriptions, she said, we don’t just do apple podcast premium because not everyone is on apple podcasts. So we use a third-party service that can put the premium podcast on whatever podcast app you use, which is helpful for me because I use pocket casts.

I don’t use Spotify or apple. Um, which are like, you know, the two big ones. So she wants to make sure that whoever wants the premium subscription can get it. So she makes sure that it’s available and she meets people where they are in this case on. Podcast apps that aren’t apple podcasts. The other thing was YouTube. I thought it was so cute that she did not know how many subscribers she had.

She did not know that she had that many subscribers on YouTube, but this is another case where she’s meeting people where they are. Yes, it’s a podcast, but she puts it on YouTube because not everyone listens to podcasts on podcast apps or just doesn’t really like podcasts, but they still need help sleeping.

So they’ll type into the YouTube search

Something like I need help sleeping or sleep story or something. And then her show will come up. They will subscribe and fall in love with her show. And maybe eventually they will listen to it on a podcast app. Or maybe they’ll just always listen to it on YouTube, but either way.

She’s meeting people were there.

And then the last piece of advice that Katherine gave that I just loved so much was to stop waiting, to feel ready and start now, this, , I feel like, especially for you listeners who are on the verge of starting a podcast, but maybe you’re a little nervous to do it for one reason or another. I can tell you that you will never feel completely ready and that you just kind of need to do it and get out there.

But once you do, I promise you’ll figure it out and I will be here for you when you have questions. Just ask me, send me a DM on Instagram at friendly podcast guy. I will answer all of your questions. Because we need your thoughts and your ideas and your voice. Out in the world. So please stop waiting to feel ready and just start your podcast.

Will you share this episode with your podcasting friend? Who’s been losing sleep. Pun intended about not being creative enough to start the podcast of their dreams. Catherine has so many insights about being creative and living your dreams now. Next week’s episode, I’ll be answering the most common questions I get about starting a podcast.

If you have a question you want me to answer, please DM it to me. On Instagram at friendly podcast guide. Thanks for being here and I’ll see you next week