How Treasury Career Corner Grew from a Shed to 436 Episodes (and Meeting Listeners Worldwide)

One of the strangest things that happens to me now is people know my name. Complete strangers walk up to me, say, hey, you're Mike. I'm like, yeah, you're Mike the podcaster. It sounds a bit weird to a Treasury recruiter who sits in a shed, as you'll see in a minute, and talks to treasurers every week. It's, it's very surreal experience. When I started the podcast 7 and a half years ago, I was thinking about it the other day that actually some of the most surreal things have happened. I was in New York at a Tradeweb ICD party, and a lovely lady heard me speaking. She went, "Could you say your name?" I went, "Hi, I'm Mike. Yeah, how can I help you?" "You're Mike, the podcaster." I'm like, "Yes, I do a podcast." She went, "I'm Monique. I listen to you every Tuesday morning on my way into work, on my commute. I've listened to you for a year." And that was lovely. And the thing is, with iTunes and Spotify, they don't tell you. You don't hear from people. She listened to hundreds of conversations. She was really grateful. So big shout out to Monique. It was also very weird. So then that led to the same experience a year later, but this time not with Monique, with Brian. Let me explain. So yeah, so then I was in the same bar, same party. Thank you very much keeping on inviting me, Tradeweb. And I was talking to a guy, Brian, and sitting there with my wife, and I said, oh, this weird situation happened last, last year with the lovely Monique. And he said, Mike, you know what, it's going to happen again with me. I'm Brian, I'm one of your listeners, and I actually wanted to come over and say thank you very much for the podcast that you do every week. So yeah, so then I was in the same bar, same party, and I was talking to a guy, Brian, and I said, oh, this weird situation happened last, last year with the lovely Monique, and He said, Mike, you know what's going to happen again with me? I'm Brian, I'm one of your listeners, and I actually wanted to come over and say thank you very much for the podcast that you do every week. We really enjoy it. It's been fantastic listening to it, and keep up the good work from your shed in Surrey. And that's the point. It doesn't have to be all this bells and whistles. Then we were at our Treasury Career Corner live event in Dublin last year, and one of the ladies came up to me afterwards, said, Mike, 'Can we have a photo?' I was like, 'Yeah, no problem, give me a camera.' And she was like, 'No, no, of you and I, because I listen to your podcast.' I was like, 'Really? Are you sure you want a photo of this?' And she was like, 'Yeah, no, this is—' I thought I was going to take a selfie of her. She went, 'No, I'd love to have that, thank you very much.' And one of the guys, Ollie, he came up to me afterwards, said, 'Oh, Mike, I saw you having the photo.' I said, 'Yeah, don't take the mickey, sorry about that.' And he went, 'Mike, could I have one as well?' I'm like, 'Okay.' I was like, 'What is going on here? Why are these people listening to me and listening to your stories. That is why it is, because it's your stories. Let's talk a little bit more in the shed, shall we? Let's, let's go down. So yeah, let's head into the shed. I used to joke with members of the 1% Club, rather, that actually I run a global treasury recruitment business from my shed, the bottom of the garden. Sorry, but this is actually where we record the podcast each and every week. This is where I talk to my amazing guests. Now usually they just get to see this view. That's what they see. See it here, see it very posh and everything else. But you guys get to see behind the scenes. There you go, this is what it's like. So right the way around, yeah, this is where I record it, Treasure Career Corner podcast. Look, I've tidied it up a bit. There you go. Let's talk a bit more about the actual podcast itself. The reason I tell you these stories isn't because of me, it's because of you guys. 7.5 years ago, I started the podcast very simply. I enjoy talking to treasury professionals. I thought you treasury professionals have some great stories to share. So I thought, well, let's record them, career stories, how you fund different businesses, acquisitions, all the different things you do. And nobody gets to hear from the outside sometimes treasury. Now you do through the podcast. Because yeah, from the shed, great things can happen. We've now had 436 episodes. 280,000 downloads, weekly newsletter with 7,000 subscribers. We run events straight from the podcast. If you told me 8 years ago I would travel the world 2 times, twice to New York, twice to the UK, twice to Amsterdam, and sit in front of, over the course of the year, 1,000 people, I wouldn't have believed you. Also that now we're approved by the AFP where you can get your CTP, continuing professional credits, by listening to the podcast each and every week. So make a little note. We built some fantastic relationships, AFP in the US being one, ACT in the UK. But Pat from the, and the team at the AFP and some of the ACT guys, we're working closely with those guys now. All from a podcast down here. The key thing is I love talking to treasury professionals just like you. If you've got a story to tell, then please reach out. I'd love to talk to you here. In the podcast HQ, whatever you want to call it. You can share your career journeys, sharing what you've learned along the way, and we can share it with the world. If you want to be on the podcast, let me know. If you want to come to one of our events, go to our events page, sign up. We've got a load more happening this year. We've got Chicago, New York, London, Amsterdam, and all the other major events as well. So whether you listen to one episode or 100 of them, I genuinely appreciate it. Thanks very much, and look forward to grabbing a coffee or something stronger very soon. Really, thanks.