Her Next Chapters

55. Celebrating a Year of Podcasting: Overcoming Fears and Pursuing Dreams

• Christina Kohl

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Launching a podcast was a dream I wasn't sure I’d ever actually pursue. As I transitioned from a corporate career into the world of podcasting and coaching, I found myself taking a leap into the unknown. On this special anniversary episode of Her Next Chapter, we celebrate an incredible year of growth and transformation. Reflecting on the journey from an initial concept to a vibrant platform with 55 episodes, I share insights about how an idea became a reality, including the steps I took to overcome my fears and embark on this creative venture. And I encourage you take that leap and start taking action to make your dreams come true.

In celebrating the anniversary of the show, I'm giving you a gift! Everyone who writes a review and emails a screenshot of it to me at christina@hernextchapters.com will be entered into a drawing, and one lucky listener will receive a $50 Amazon gift card! It's my way of thanking you for being on this journey with me and the best way to help other people find the show. 

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Christina Kohl:

Hi and welcome to Her Next Chapter's podcast. I'm your host, hristina Cole. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show, we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We'll hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place. Friend, let's get started. Hey everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Her Next Chapters. This is a special episode this week One year ago, and this episode today is the 55th episode, and that's because I actually had a couple of bonus episodes earlier in the year to bring us up a little bit above 52 weeks, but it's been a full year of recording and coming, doing this every single week for the whole year and, if you're listening in real time, this is going to be released on October 30th, just a couple of days shy of the one year anniversary, and I just kind of wanted to take a moment and reflect back on this past year, and what was once just a thought, an idea, has become a reality in this podcast.

Christina Kohl:

I know, at least for a year prior to posting that first episode, I had this idea of like, oh, I can have a podcast and reach a lot of people and help a lot of people and and share my ideas. And it was just a thought and it seemed, it seemed unrealistic and out of reach, like how could I just do this? Um, and I'm wondering for you, if you have a dream that you've been holding onto and you aren't quite sure what steps to take to make that dream a reality, especially if you've got kids and they're getting older and a little more independent, whether they've left the house and you have an empty nest, or if they're just teenagers who don't need mom all the time. They're busy with all their friends. And I'm wondering, if you have a dream that you've been putting on the back burner, that maybe now's the time to turn those thoughts and that dream into reality for you. So I just kind of want to share a little bit of my story Again.

Christina Kohl:

Back in January of 23 is when I remember saying it out loud to my coworkers like I want to have a podcast. And this is when I was giving my notice at my job, my corporate job, letting them know the dreams that I was pursuing, and one of them was a podcast. So I actually took a class back in July. I joined, as about 40 others. It was a two-month program and it was titled Launch by Labor Day and the whole point was to launch your podcast by Labor Day. And I was scared. I was afraid to be heard, to be seen. But I took this class and with this group of people to help me, step by step, know what to do, and I was still a little scared and didn't really put it out there. Yet I had done a lot of the coursework and had done some of the prep and some of my classmates were launching their podcast they're all celebrating their launch and that was in September and I just wasn't quite ready.

Christina Kohl:

During the same time that I was ready to launch a podcast or getting ready, I got certified as a professional coach and during that certification we learned how to be a coach, how to run our sessions, and during that time we also practiced with each other and you know coaching. Practice being the coach. Someone would be the coachee learn what we're. What we're we could practice what we're learning in the course. And yeah, and there was someone that I was coaching with. He was coaching me and I told him that I wanted to talk about launching this podcast and he kind of challenged me like you know what's holding you back? And during that session I decided I made a commitment that I would launch on November 1st of 2023, because it was 11123. If you write down the date, november 1st of 2023 is 1-1-1-2-3. So it's like 1-2-3, let's go. And I think that was on a Thursday that I committed to launching the podcast on the following Wednesday. And that's why I do my episodes on Wednesdays is because of that and you guys, I did it, obviously I did it.

Christina Kohl:

You're listening to me now. I did it and the things I was putting off and that I was fearful of. I worked on it over the weekend and I rerecorded and you've probably heard me say this before, but that first episode I rerecorded it like six times because it just the sound wasn't right and oh, I totally forgot to mention this and whatever. And then, even even then, once it went live, I'm literally at Target doing a Target run and listening to someone else's podcast and the next thing I know my podcast is in my ears, in my AirPods, and I was just, oh, it's just such a cringy feeling putting myself out there like that and I didn't like the way it sounded. So what did I do? I came home re-recorded, took that one down and put up the one that you can hear now.

Christina Kohl:

So if you were curious to go back to episode one, that's like take seven of me recording that and doing it imperfectly, and that's what I've really learned about this past year. I mean, I'm putting in my reps. I know some of the episodes are better than others. There's definitely some imperfections, but you know, I look, I consider us friends and having a conversation Granted, it's one-sided, it's just me talking to you but I consider us friends and it doesn't have to be perfect, right, and I hope that if you're listening, that you're still getting the message and you're gaining from it, which is why you're listening and I just really appreciate that. And, like I said, I was scared, I was afraid to be heard, afraid to be seen, but I'm so glad that I did it and, like I said, I've shown up every week. This is the 55th episode and 21 countries people in 21 countries have heard this podcast and 183 cities. That just blows my mind that there are people around the world listening in to my voice and hearing my thoughts. So thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of the audience and part of my community.

Christina Kohl:

And there are things like this past year. Not only did I launch this podcast, but I've really launched my business. I've taken on clients, I've coached my clients through their challenges and seeing them get jobs, get offers, negotiate higher pay it has just been amazing and beyond my expectations. And I've also seen my youngest child through their senior year of high school graduation, launched them into their college years, moved into the dorm. All of those transitions have been happening in the background behind this podcast, and I just want to encourage you that again.

Christina Kohl:

If you have a dream, start small. It doesn't have to be a whole podcast all at once, right, it's one step at a time. So for me, that was okay. I'm going to create a cover. What does the podcast cover look like? And, just FYI, I'm going to be changing it soon. But you know you do create a cover. Okay, maybe you do sign up for a class to take it. So have someone help guide you along the way. Maybe you know.

Christina Kohl:

And I talk about the podcast. It's like, okay, what am I going to talk about? What's the title going to be, who is my audience, what is my message? And then I have learned so much this past year, and I am 56 years old, and I have learned the tech to record this podcast, to edit this podcast, to publish this podcast, and even Canva creating the logo. I created that on my own, as well as many others that I use elsewhere, and I've learned all that as someone who's in my mid-50s. If I can do this, so can you.

Christina Kohl:

Your dream is not too big. Your dream it's not too late. You can start now and take small steps and just do one thing at a time and you'll be amazed, just taking those little steps of action, how much you're going to accomplish. But I'm just curious what is the dream of yours and what is it you want to accomplish? Particularly as you enter a season of life where family life is changing, but as the kids get older and more independent, you might find that it's time to pursue your dreams, and I would encourage you to write it down, the thing that it is that you want to do, and maybe you don't know, maybe you've lost touch with what your own dreams are. Take some time and just journal it and write about those dreams or remember what you used to like and enjoy, and if it's a dream that you know what it is, you write it down.

Christina Kohl:

That's taking action, just the act of writing it down. Say it out loud, so you're using your voice. Visualize it internally, see yourself achieving that dream and know that you can only control your actions, not the outcomes. So I can't control how many people download the podcast. I can't control what the numbers look like or what the outcomes are. I can only control my actions, and my actions are to show up. Every week I've been showing up recording, editing, making it as good as I can and publishing. That's breaking things into small steps. Just know that it's possible for you to pursue your dreams.

Christina Kohl:

And the other thing I would add is to tell someone that was part of what made a difference for me in making this podcast a reality. But be careful who you tell. You want to tell those that are going to be supportive of you, because you don't want your dream to be in the hands of the wrong person, to say why do you want to do that? That's dumb. Who do you think you are to do that? That's dumb. Who do you think you are to do that? So you want to be careful who you tell I will share.

Christina Kohl:

One group of friends that I, that I told this dream to, was my Bunko group. I think I might've mentioned them on the podcast earlier. We've I've been part of the group for about around four years or so, maybe five, and I remember telling them like, hey, I'm going to be starting this podcast and doing this class. And then, every month, when I would see them because we get together about once a month, hey, how's the podcast coming along? And I'm like, oh boy, I haven't done anything yet but I'm still working on it, it's coming. And you know this is for like three or four months that they would be asking me how's the podcast? How's the podcast? And I had to keep saying, well, I'm working on it. And then, finally, in October of last year 2023, I was able to say it is going live next week and I was just so excited about that. And who did I share it with. I shared it with them. That first episode I'm like everybody here it is, it's live.

Christina Kohl:

And just that little bit of external accountability was the nudge that I needed, because I had told them I shared my dream with them in a safe place, and they would, you know when they'd see me. That was something they could check in on, like how's it going, and that was really helpful. And then, obviously, having the coach and this is what my coach helped me with, like why he helped me get over those fears and just put things into action, and that's what I did. And setting a date was the last thing that really helped me. It was knowing that I had a date. And the date to me was kind of a fun because of the numbers the one, one, one, two, three. It made me more motivated to grab onto that date.

Christina Kohl:

And so when, if you have a dream or something you're working towards, set a date for it and and get yourself some accountability partners, whether it's a bunker group, a book club, friends, neighbors, family, your kids the kids are great at being accountability partners, but this is your one life, so do the thing. If you're going back to work, grab my resume template. If you're changing jobs and careers. Same that resume template would help you. It is completely free. It is in the show notes the link of where you can download it. If your kids are going off to school and college, it's your turn. What dreams have been on the back burner for you, and it's just an exciting time in our lives to be able to do that. So that's what I encourage you to do as I look back and reflect on the last year.

Christina Kohl:

This podcast was a thought, an idea, and now it's a reality. I can legitimately say I'm a podcaster, I'm a podcast host and I do all the things. I'm the producer, the editor, all of it and it is so much fun. I love coming and talking to you guys every week and, because it's the anniversary, I want to give a gift to you. I want to give you a gift to thank you for listening, and I would really.

Christina Kohl:

I have a favor to ask, and that's to leave a review. So we'd really like to see the show grow even more in this next year, and the way that that happens is ratings and reviews. So if you could just take a couple minutes and write a review, I know that those are available on Apple Podcasts. I think Spotify is just a rating, but anything would be really helpful. But if you can leave a review, take a screenshot of it. Send me a screenshot via email. It's Christina at HerNextChapterscom and I'm going to put your name into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card just to say thank you for being a supporter of the show and thank you for helping get the word out so that others can find it and and join our community.

Christina Kohl:

So that's, that's the episode for this week, just taking the moment to reflect back on this year, this year of learning and growth, and I'm excited to continue into next year. All right, well, friends, thank you so much for being part of this community. Go chase your dreams. All right, we'll talk to you next week. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and, if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening. Until next time, remember, your story is uniquely your own and your next chapters are ready to begin.