YouTube Channel: @dothethingformula

Super excited. We have one of the do the Thing favorites with me today, Adam Weber. We, most of you that have been in the group for a while know Adam from when we all started our podcast. He's the founder of my podcast platform, and he has helped so many of you start your podcast. So I'm really excited to have you here today, Adam.

Thank you so much, Stacy. I love getting chances to spend time with you and talk and just kind of of. I feel very fortunate that we've had the times we've had and just kind of brainstorming ideas and going over podcasting and all kinds of other things. So I love the opportunity to connect.

Amazing. Okay, I'm going to just make sure people that want to see us can see us. And. Hi.

Let me just do that one thing for a minute.

Hey, Fern, Good to see you. And then, Adam, feel free to kind of just tell them a little bit about you while I'm doing this, and then it'll just take me a minute and then we'll kind of dive into the conversation today.

Yeah. So backstory on me really quickly. I grew up extremely dyslexic, and so school for me was always a challenge, and nothing that felt natural. I always felt out of place place when it came to school in a classroom. But I always grew up listening. I remember, you know, on drives and commutes and being with my parents in the car, they'd always be playing npr. And so I'd listen to these interviews of just fascinating guests and be able to hear, you know, really appreciated the learning style of hearing conversations. I always gravitated towards meeting people and asking questions. And then I was fortunate. I had a. My dad was very inspirational to me because he was a journalist and a writer, and he would always go out and be writing about and covering fascinating people in business. And so around the dinner table, I would hear who he was interviewing and who he was talking to. And so just kind of really grew up in this way of loving the art of, you know, meeting people and talking and communicating and ideas and asking questions. And as I got older and discovered podcasts, I. I really gravitated towards that style of connection. And I felt like there was so much power and opportunity in podcasts embedded right into podcasts. And as the technology got simpler and simpler to use, where really anybody with the click of a button could connect and start a podcast and meet people, I just really loved it for that. That opportunity to reach out and connect and find mentors. And, you know, I mentioned this to you in Another talk is my dad, at a young age would always tell, tell me, oh, Adam, you're going off the tracks this way. You need mentors in your life. You need people to talk to, and you need people to connect with. You need mentors. Mentors are so important. But it always felt so abstract to me. It always felt, how do I get a mentor? And it felt so awkward and so difficult.

And as I got older and looking back now, if I had seen the opportunity, if podcasting was around back then, you know, I feel like it's much more comfortable to ask somebody, hey, would you be on my podcast, coach? Could I talk to you for 30 minutes and just, you know, would you tell me about your life and what you're doing? And podcasting is that new opportunity for anybody anywhere to have mentorship and to have connections. During COVID I built and released an app, and I did my challenge for myself.

Kind of in line with a lot of the community building that you do, Stacey, is for me, it was so easy to build something, but then also stay hidden and stay, you know, kind of buried in my room. Just working on this app and never having to show it to the world, never having to expose it. And finally it got to a point where I saw myself just over architecting, over building, building, building. Where it started out with, that was supposed to be a simple little idea. Then I kept saying, oh, well, it needs this and it needs this, and. And I got to do this. And so we had built Callcast, but then I got to a point where I was like, I got to release it. And in doing so, I wanted to face my fear. And so I decided to release the app and also challenge myself. This idea of challenges, which is great because when we challenge ourselves, it gives us a framework and like, kind of rules and structures, like a game where I can operate in. And so my challenge for myself was to record one new podcast every single day for 365 days, so for a full year, and to do it with a new person. So the rules were it had to be a different person, and I had to record once every single day with a new person. And so doing so, in doing that, I started learning about so many little elements of the podcaster's journey.

And just kind of that experience. And. And I remember there's so many little lessons I'm sure we could get into, but I remember how fearful it felt. But because I had put this kind of rules and a goal for myself, I just kept doing it. And in the kind of in the act of doing something and challenging yourself every day. And if something would go wrong still, you show up the next day and do it again. You move past those blockers faster and they go farther and farther back into.

Into history. You don't. You forget about, oh God, I had, that was so awkward or that was so terrible, or that person didn't show up and stood me up on, on, you know, the amount of times that I would get stood up by a guest where I would be so excited to talk to a guest and the guest would never show up. And I think if I didn't have this challenge where I had to interview somebody that day, I would tell myself a story of, oh, I'm not good enough or I'm, you know, something's wrong with me. That guest didn't show up. And maybe that would have ended my podcasting journey. That would have stopped me from continuing. But because I, because I had that quest to, I have to get somebody today, I would interview somebody that day and move past that, you know, self story, that loop in our head that says I'm not good enough or I'm, something's wrong with me. So that guest didn't show up. So I built in ways to rapidly move past those things that would, would block us. And then I'll speed this up just so I can get you in here, Stacy. But through building this, this podcasting app for which is really geared towards the very, very beginner podcasting, making podcasting super simple and just kind of just the early stage podcaster who wants to figure out ideas and test things out and just kind of have fun with it. Not less, less serious.

I then went over to the Boys and Girls Club and schools during COVID and started working with kids and building out an idea for how can podcasting be part of an early education? Because that really resonated with that early childhood, my childhood of having trouble in school and being dyslexic and, and wanting and, and wanting to.

Kind of reevaluate how we can learn and give these kids tools that if they could learn these things through podcasting, about how to reach out to guests, how to interview, how to, you know, have a voice and a lot of the stuff that you work on, you know, finding your voice for a lot of these kids.

They, they, I remember talking to him the other day and they went into a room and they, they said they felt. So they were around all these adults because it was an event and they felt shy and, and you know, like, oh God, I'm, you know, they're, you know, you know, big adults, and they're doing all these things, and they felt like they didn't have a voice, but then they remembered, you know what? I have a podcast. I'm gonna go talk to them about that and see if I can interview them and bring them on my show. And all of a sudden, it became this thing. Thing that gave him the courage to speak up and feel like, hey, I can actually talk to this person and interview this person. It'll be an interesting show. So I just saw this whole new thing emerged, and this platform emerged for podcasting for kids and schools and as, like, an educational tool. And so that's been my latest journey right now and launching that. And so to get us to where we are today, I do strategy calls with Stacy and talk to her about all these things that I'm trying to work on and build. And Stacy said, you know what, Adam? You're at this stage again where you've been building, and you need to work on that muscle of talking and sharing and getting the word out. Because, you know, I was trying to figure out, you know, these things, and I had. It's been so long since I had challenged myself to be on a podcast again, that it's kind of like the gym. When you don't keep doing something, it's like, oh, God, do I have to do this again? Do I have to, you know, get out and give speeches and talks and, you know, network and do that? And she said, this. This would be good. Let's do it. And so I said, let's do it. And so here we are.

Yeah, I just. I. You're so much that I love about your story because it just. It's such an example of what doing the thing can do. Right. Like, especially when you were in your head about your platform, you kept overthinking over planning the whole thing. I remember. I think I was the one that got you to take data off of it, because I'm like, it works. I have 200 episodes on this thing. You know what I mean? And I've reached up hundreds of podcasts, and it's amazing when you're able to just see that by you taking action and interviewing someone new every day, all of these things can, like, develop. And I trace so much of do the thing back to you, Really. I mean, it was from the moment that I was, like, in my head, wanting to, you know, explore this book, get research for it. I wanted to record the interviews. I don't even know. I must have just Googled you know, how to record like from a phone. And then that's when I found Callcast. I don't even think I was wanting to start a podcast. When I remember back, I think it was just trying to figure out how to record these phone conversations because I hadn't thought of Zoom back then. And, and then you were the one that got me to like get started. And then after my first interview, we have the message you guys could probably hear. He was episode number I think three on the Do Think on, on the do the Thing podcast. And you were the one that I even sent you like a voice message and we played it to saying like, oh, I'm just not good at interviewing. I don't know if I could do this. And then you were able to like really speak to me and got me to, to overcome that like limiting, you know, self doubt and all the stuff that I was going through. And then from there I like just remember this as we're talking right now, you're the one we had a dating dare challenge. I had you as an expert in that panel. I don't know if you remember this, but like we had a panel of experts and I had you in for the rejection piece of it because if you're interviewing someone every day, you're obviously getting rejected by people when you're asking them to come on your podcast. And you were the one that gave the dare to start a podcast. And so that's where this whole idea came from. And actually that's why I just noticed Pamela Nichols is here. And she's one of the first, first podcast that you started back then. And so anyway, she's the one that has the Healing Words podcast. So it's really cool that Pamela's here, but. But yeah, so I think, I think it's important. And then now that you're doing this new thing, like that's what's cool, right? We're going to be having this conversation today. We have a lot of people that are like doing different things. I noticed Ferns here, she's got an amazing non profit that she's working on. And so people might have ideas that they're able to help kind of in this new level. And then you're also helping them. Like I see Eileen, I think it's. Eileen asked where would you find your substitute guests? And there's a few people chiming in on that question. And so now you're going to be able to help them. And then also as we talk about this new thing you're doing, people can Give input and tips for ways that you could get the word out for this new platform that you're working on, which is basically what is it like a sister to call cast is kind of what the way that would be working.

Yeah. I am hoping to develop a lot of stuff for these kids and the school systems, and then as we build it through there, it trickles down and we connect it into callcast as well. So there'll be elements that we plug in that says, okay, this is a great feature and move it over. But as you see with clubcast, I mean, with callcast, we give away, you know, an entire podcast and everything you want to do for free. Right. So we make it so anybody can do it and not have to pay any money. The good thing about working with the clubs and schools is they actually have a budget to pay some money. So a lot of those features then get connected back into.

Callcast for everybody to be able to benefit from.

Yeah, that question, though, where would you find substitute guests?

It's a great question. And so again, so everyone can kind of visualize how this. How this happens. So.

A lot of times. And the best. What am I trying to say? What I'm trying to say is give ourselves permission not to. The moral of the story will be permission not to over worry about things and overthink things. And things happen when you just put things in motion and start doing it. And so the reason why I say that is I challenged myself with a 365 day challenge and I had to have a new guest every single day. And I jumped into it and just started doing it and then realized from this, you know, just jumping and doing it, oh, my God, my life's chaotic and I'm scrambling to get guests. So as I was doing it, I would start building it and making it better.

Had I. Had I put off trying to figure out all the pieces from the very beginning before I launched. You know, you just never figure it out. You figure it out by doing it. And so what I had figured out. So month one and month two were crazy scrambles. So hard to find guests.

And.

If somebody canceled on me in the early days too, I was not putting.

Sorry. If you guys can hear my dog barking, my dog's going crazy right now.

It's great because I think it shows. Like, that's what. See that? Sorry. I want to take a minute because I think it's so cool because we've had some of our best, most brainstorming conversations when either of our dogs are doing something and I Think it's important because a lot of people will wait or cancel or whatever it is, but we somehow always make it work. And that's where I think it's helped a lot of people. We don't let anything stop us. Sorry, I had to, like, just kind of chime in.

Yeah, no, I was working at that. Early days, out of a co. Co working space, we work. And then when Covid hit, I had to get up, get rid of my.

My work, my co working space, and I would have, you know, doorbell ring and the dogs go crazy right while I'm in the middle of a podcast. And I learned just to roll through it and be like, you know what? Every. It's all just okay, right? It's not going to make or break anything. And this is more about just building that muscle. So back to the guest everything. First month, one and two. Crazy. I hadn't figured out that if I schedule a guest like I was scheduling guests for any time they were available all the way up until late at night. But then I realized if it's 9 o' clock and you and I are going to record and you cancel at 9pm and my goal is to do it every single day, I'm only leaving myself, you know, a couple little hours to be able to quickly scramble to find a guest. So I then I moved my window of when you could record me to a little bit earlier in the day to give myself more room to find a backup guest. I also then started implementing things like calendly. And in calendly, I made it where there was only one time available every single day. And I made it so that window of time was earlier in the day that you could pick. And then when you signed up, I had a question added. And my question was, if a guest cancels, would you be willing to spontaneously record with me and fill in for that guest? And some people would be like, no, I like to have a set time and be prepared. And, you know, that's my time. They want to stick with their time. Other people, I found, you know, it's all. Everyone has different personality types. Other people were like, yeah, I'd love to spontaneously be a guest. Get me on. And after, you know, a little while of doing this, my calendars were booking months in advance. Like, I would have calendars filled up with people. How was I finding people? I was posting links to Facebook, I was posting links to Reddit, I was posting links to Craigslist ads of, hey, so, Stacy, if you remember, my topic was fear. And I was interviewing People about fear, how we learn about fear, how we get over our fear, how we challenge our fears, and how we can grow from our fears. And a lot of what you're doing here with finding your voice has to do with overcoming fear. I think that's the beautiful thing about communities like this is we can team up and work together in order to say, okay, we have a safe space and I trust everyone here, I trust Stacy to bring wonderful people together and I'll put myself out there and I'll, I'll kind of work through this fear of putting myself out into the world. And so when I, when I started implementing little tools like calendly booking guests and then earlier, earlier in the day and then giving people that ability to say, yeah, I'd love to jump in as a, as a fill in, call me, here's my information. And I promise everyone here, the amount of times that people stood me up, canceled, and a lot of times I hope everyone can understand. What I had to learn to understand is these people themselves would get like, especially when they booked farther in advance and then all of a sudden their day would show up. Here's other things I would do. I would start reaching out to them, you know, a day or two before, like, hey, just a reminder, your podcast interview is coming up on such and such a day, and here's how to connect. Here's, you know, if you have any questions, let me know. And so I would start sending little reminders as their day got, as their recording day, just to get them back into mentally prepared, especially for the people who booked further out. And then knowing that the amount of cancels that I had with so many guys, so many people cancel. And I think it has a lot to do with people are, it's hard to put ourselves out there. It's scary to put ourselves even. You have to empathize with your guest as well. And know it's scary for them to come on and be like, oh my God, I, I haven't worked this muscle of being on a podcast and whatnot. But there are, if you keep looking and you keep pushing forward, there are so many people out there as well who want to connect, who want to record.

As far as finding guests as well, I found people who had something that they were striving for or their own goals, things that they wanted to promote, things that they wanted to get out into the world made the best guests, made it easy for them to come on. Some authors who write books.

Teachers or professors who are working on papers or, you know, exploring Ideas. They were always willing to put themselves out there and connect because that's the community. You know, part of your. Your, Your rule, Stacy, is, you know, find your community. And it's those people, doers and actors actively, like, putting themselves out and challenging themselves and taking risks are, you know, your podcast community. But then I loved opening it up to people who would tell me, oh, wow, this is really scary, or this is really, you know, challenging for me, and just tell them, you know, it's fine if you don't want to, and this is a safe space, but if you do, I'm here to do this with you. So I had people who would. Who would not show up and then call me later or message me later. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Like, I just. I. I couldn't. I froze. Can we try it again? And so, you know, set a second date and make sure you do it early so you can find another guest if you want to try and record with someone every day. Yeah.

It reminds me of when I started. I would tell people because I knew how I was. I. When I had my staffing company, and people would ask me to come on their podcast or do whatever, and I would say no. I would find my best employee that I thought would be good, and then they would. They would basically, you know, do it for me because I was too. I was, I don't know, embarrassed or whatever the words were. I just didn't want to put myself out there at all. And so when I started my podcast, when I would run into someone that, like, didn't want to do it because of fear or because it was uncomfortable. And I did this with my street interviews, too. I would say, listen, like, I just love to have this conversation with you. If you don't want to, like, have it published after we do it, it's totally fine. And in the beginning, I actually sent it to the person, I was, like, a little over crazy, you know, I sent it to the person, I'm like, okay, listen, and let me know if you're good with it and I'll publish it. And I had that extra step, which I don't recommend for everyone because that adds a chink. But for me, it just felt good just because I. How much it took me to, like, put myself out there. And I would have felt more supported if someone did that. And so just remember, if someone's canceling, a lot of times it's not because, you know of anything around you. I think people can think it because it's something about you. It could be something about, you know, them and something they're going through personally, that it just. They thought they wanted to do it, but then they get scared.

Yeah, I think that that's what I would deduce from my experience of how many, you know, 365 recordings every single day, new person. I think that's really what I saw was, you know, people coming through over having to deal with their own fears and challenges and whatnot. And to know really what are your goals, like what is motivating you back to that early challenge thing, you know, like what are what this is for you and to flex your own muscles and to build your own strengths. So to stay on your mission and not let other people, if they don't show up or whatever, derail you. You just keep, keep going forward.

Well, so good. Well, we're going to switch topics now because I want to really dive into what you're doing with the club with Clubcast. And before we do, I wanted to let you guys know, if you guys have any more podcasting specific questions, feel free to comment them because Adam is here. He was the complete resource to our whole group during that time that we set up hundreds of people with podcasts. And it was a really fun time that we got to come on live a lot of times, go on zooms, and we just spent a lot of time being able to just help people get out of their head, help them overcome different tech things. And I don't know, it's one of my favorite, one of my favorite times. And with that, we actually now have the find your voice challenge that starts on Sunday. The close the doors closed for that. I think it's tomorrow or Thursday. I can't remember which day. But they're closing soon and I do include a podcast workshop with it. So if you guys are interested, go to do the thing, find your voice.com and it gives you a 17 day challenge plus you get the podcast workshop. And Adam, you even. You came to visit even on the podcast workshop, which is great. So. So yeah, so with that, can I.

Say one more thing before. Yeah, hold that question. So I. You reminded me something when you were telling your early story of when you first launched your podcast and got going. I remember the day you messaged me over the little chat widget on my website and we started talking and you had a goal of writing a book that you were working on and you had all these ideas and you were trying to figure out how to formulate them. And when you and I started talking you came to this idea and conclusion of how. How doing the podcast could really help shape the book and shape some of the stuff that you were thinking about. And the really cool thing that stuck out to me about you, Stacy, and I have to say about a lot of other people that reach out. And this is just kind of a note for all of us to build this muscle as well, because I'm the kind of person that doesn't really like reaching out to people because I always feel like I'm going to bother them or I'm intruding. And really, the people that I have discovered that when it comes to the podcast world, the people who reach out to me and ask questions are the people that, like, look at you. Like, you go the farthest, you're willing to just keep going and doing things because you're putting yourself out there. And I just. There's an early link of if you have that doubt in your mind of, oh, God, should I reach out or should I ask for help or thoughts or questions? Really, you're only. And we are only doing ourselves a disservice by doing that, because by reaching out and connecting like you and I did that first time when you messaged me on the website, you're exploring ideas and you put yourself out there in that moment. And I see that as like a. Like, like, what is it? It's like a little, you know, a trait that you have that I think carries over into all the things that you do and willing to just say, hey, I'm here. I'm asking questions, and what can this do? Well, I'm trying to do this, and what do you think? And blah, blah, blah. And I think that is something that is an important element to not feel bad or shamed or anything. Like, you're intruding to ask questions and to reach out to people.

I think it's. It goes back to that muscle of, well, it's because a lot of times I'm just not good at, like, things when I'm, like, first doing them. And I've. So I've built this muscle of, like, asking for help. And I think that's the. That ends up being, like, a thing that happens where if people are used to being good, like, and then they're doing something new, it's hard to ask for help because you're used to knowing it naturally. But I have a hard time learning. It takes me a while to learn, you know, and so I think that that's where that, like, asking for help has come in. You're Right. That's probably the number one thing that's really helped with that. I wanted to answer just a few of the questions. So, Fern, I just noticed you need tech help. So I know you signed up. I'm pretty sure, yeah, pretty sure you signed up for find your voice again. There's a podcast workshop that's included in it. So after you watch that, let me know if you need any help because it shows exactly how to set up the podcast and actually how to record too. And then Eileen said, my boy, my boss wants to add a dating segment to a tech oriented podcast. Is that really appropriate? Oh, and I guess our video stalling. So if you guys are having issues, let me know. Although I don't know if there's anything, but I'll always look at it. But yeah, like, what do you think about that? My boss wants to add a dating segment to a tech oriented podcast. Podcast. I mean, my thing is I think everything's appropriate. Like, I feel like that's the nice thing about a podcast is like it's. I mean, depending on if it's the company, then the company has to decide. But if it's your own thing, like, you could do comedy, you could do street interviews, you could do interviews like this. Like, there's no box in a podcast. You could do whatever you want. I actually made a joke once where I was like, you could be burping for 20 minutes on your podcast and it's like, there's no rules, you know, with your podcast. I'm curious what you think in terms of that question too.

I think I'm always open to brainstorm ideas. I feel like brainstorming ideas and seeing what you can come up with is always fun. You can always record something and try something, and it doesn't mean you necessarily have to make it public. So there's room to experiment and there's room to just play with ideas. And you never know where one idea might lead to another idea. I think having segments on your show or exploring different kind of ways to do things is a great idea. I think in the podcasting world to find things that make you unique, your show unique. So there's. If there's tons and tons of tech shows out there and you find a twist for your tech show, hey, you know, if you're able to set, you know, pull people in and say, hey, we're, we're tech, but we're doing something fun and unique and different, I think it's worth exploring. So I would say there are no bad ideas. If you want to explore and see if it works and resonates with you. And you're like, yeah, I like this. After we've done it, go for it. I think. I think it could be fun.

Yeah. And it reminds me of the thing we talked about before, where it's like, you could always start it. Like, I had 10 episodes before I actually synced my podcast to Apple because I just wasn't ready to. To do that. And it wasn't until after you introduced me to Esprit and I was an expert in her cohort about people starting podcasts, that I felt that contribution of, like, people actually being able to help people again. And then I synced my podcast, I think, the next day, so it helped me get out of my head, you know?

Yeah. And then. Oh, I also just want to talk about anything and everything, too, besides about dating and narcissistic partners. Oh, that's right. I think there was another question. I want to start doing podcasts about dating terms and narcissistic partners. Who would I contact to build my crowd? So I think I'll answer that from my side, and I'd love to hear what you think, Adam. But it's amazing when you can go in. There's so many singles groups out there and people that have been divorced, you know, and that have so much wisdom that people actually feel like they're not alone. So those are really good questions to ask, is be able to basically share that you're doing a podcast. You want to explore topics, and whether it's recording or not recording, you want to talk to them, because you don't want to limit someone from, like, opening that conversation just by having to have it recorded. Or like I said earlier, you could record it and then say, we don't need to publish it once, you know, if you're not comfortable. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, too, like, in terms of that topic as well.

Yeah. I think early days of podcasting, when you're starting out, I think absolutely go for things like experiment, and it's all about building that muscle and just producing a show and just recording and connecting with people. I think, you know, the goal is to get, you know, 100 episodes under your belt and just get familiar with that. You know, that mechanics of making a show and recording and connecting with people and not to worry about monetizing or money or overdoing things, over editing, none of that. Early on, you know, I would say if you're just beginning, it's just about building the mechanics and Getting comfortable. And then you can, you know, find your, you know, your specialty and your niche and things. Ideas will emerge out of you just consistently recording and going for it. And so I think, like Stacy said, there's so many communities out there on Facebook, on. On Reddit, on, you know, there's. There's websites that have gone on to match different people who are podcasting and who are guests. I would look for authors who have written books about narcissism and dating, because they would. Authors always love to come on a show and be able to talk about, you know, they've been sitting there writing forever, and now you're giving them an opportunity to get out of the pen and their book and actually talk about the stuff they've been working on. They'll love you for it. So, you know, authors, I'd find professors. If there's professors or teachers or people who, who specialize in, you know, dating, you know, even matchmakers who go out there and. And matchmake people, you know, run. You could do, look up matchmaking services and find a list of websites of matchmakers and interview them about, you know, what. What have they seen and learned in the dating world. So I think just there's so many communities out there already on the Internet, Facebook and whatnot, that you can. And then for you, it will be finding ways to organize it and stay organized. So, like, as you're reaching out to guests and different people, just kind of finding a way to track who you're reaching out to, who you're connecting with. I would say make sure, again, back to my lesson. Get a calendly link. And so when you're reaching out to people, say, hey, if you want to record with me, click the link and make it as easy as possible for them to schedule with you. Right? They just can click and you can schedule and off you go.

Yeah, and a lot of people think that in order for someone to come on with you, like an author, you would need to have listeners already, and you don't. You really just need a podcast. And once people hear you have a podcast, they love to give value. They wrote a book about it, so they want to be able to talk about it. So I just wanted to. To mention that because I think that's a really common misconception that people think their podcast needs to be this, like, big thing. The thing that we talked about is they should. You should already have flexed the muscle with other people first before you reach, you know, for someone like, someone else. But in terms of once you've Gotten comfortable on Zoom or using Callcast or whatever you're going to end up using to record. Then reach out to whoever you want and whoever you want to explore a topic with.

And. And also just to piggyback off that. If you run into people who are obsessed with, well, how big's your community? How big is your numbers? Don't just, you know, put their name. You can always write back, okay, you know, thank you. I'll hear. I'll, you know, I'll reach back out to you another time. It sounds like you're busy and just keep moving forward with your mission because there are so many other people out there that will record. So don't burn up too much energy trying to win somebody that, you know, seem like they're too stubborn to just want to talk to you, because you will build your numbers. I have a friend who, you know, has been. He. He moved here from Sweden and he, you know, barely spoke the language and was learning English as he. As he went. And he started recording a podcast as a way to just start meeting people and get out into the world and build something and work on his own English. And to watch him go from, you know, this small show of just getting out to all of a sudden having massive shows with. With guests that have, like hundreds of thousands of, you know, like, massive numbers over. I mean, he did this now over years and years and years and years, right. Of. Of, you know, this. He was pre. Covid was sitting there watching him. And one of the things that he did, though, is he would not. When he'd email people and not hear back, he'd send him a second email, a third email. He. I think there's something about that fighting spirit of him coming to a new country where he didn't speak the language that well, that he didn't see obstacles. Right. So one thing I was always impressed with him was that he would email people again and again and not take no. And I remember talking to him about, oh, this person's obsessed with my numbers. And he'd find creative ways to write back and say, well, here's where I'm at, or what, whatever and whatnot. But I would also recommend don't over exert yourself or worry about people that are obsessed with, oh, show me your numbers, show me, you know, how many episodes you create and what's in it for me kind of attitude.

Yeah, yeah. You want people that are going to actually be there to provide value. Okay, now I want to pivot. Feel free to still put your questions in comments about Podcasting or anything in general for Adam. But we're going to talk about this new thing, so. Not really new. You've been working on it for a while, and now it's finally, like, coming in. So let's talk about clubcast. So what. What. We kind of mentioned it, but just I see some people joining now. Like, what is clubcast? What are your goals with it? What have you seen so far? I'd love to just, like, give this the space that it. It's here for.

I appreciate that, Stacy. Yeah, so like I mentioned earlier during COVID.

I had, you know, gone over to the Boys and Girls Club and wanted to teach a podcasting workshop over there. And so when I went into the club, this kind of aha moment went off when I put up a sign and said, you know, anyone who wants to start a podcast, we're starting a group. And we had about 13 kids sign up. And this new idea kind of emerged where I saw 13 people all collaborating on one podcast together. And I'd never really thought about collaborative podcasting or communal podcasting where a bunch of people were teaming up. And so we built this new structure, a way to even record a podcast. And so, a little caveat note here, back to everyone here, there is no one right way to do a podcast. So, like, there's no rule book that this is what you have to do so you can color outside the lines. You could be as creative or wacky as you want. So just an us. Like, I'm sitting there with 13 people. And the idea was, hey, instead of making everyone going off and doing their own, how can we all work together and have multiple hosts? And we came up with this formula and structure to have many hosts all collaborate on one show together. And there was some really neat aspects that I hadn't seen in a podcast, but it also gave this aha idea of let me rebuild a platform, a tool where if you were an organization or a club at a managing level, you could add all your members into the club and have everyone then work on their own shows or collaborate on shows together. So it gave the architecture for managing hundreds of kids all in one platform, all in one hosting and creating shows. And we then built out this curriculum.

Where you could go in and take, you know, lessons inside the platform on how to podcast and learn different tools. And so that was built right into the platform. And so, yeah, I just got really excited again. And I could visualize myself again as a kid who hated learning, but then as an adult, seeing so much value in this tool of podcasting. Because for me, what podcasting is for anybody is an opportunity builder. It's a. It unlocks doors for me. It gets you the ability to reach out to absolutely anybody in the world and ask questions and start to learn and form a relationship and a friendship and make connections, and that can repeat over time. And so to be able to.

You know, give that to these kids and say, hey, let's work on show. So already these kids have gone out, they've interviewed, you know, we came up with one about, you know, learning about your city and your community. And so they've gone out and they've interviewed the mayor, They've interviewed people in the, you know, different. Different. Working on different politics in the city. They. They. One of the kids got really curious about, you know, how does the water work? And they went out and interviewed, like, you know, the person in charge of making water work in the city. So they, you know, so all these really cool ideas that these kids are coming up with, and then how do they reach out? You know, the same thing we're all working on here. You know, how do I reach out to somebody and ask them to be a guest on my show? How do I interview them? How do I research them, and how do I, you know, start? So I see podcasting very much like a book or a game of chess, where there's an opening, there's a middle, and there's an end. And so working on, you know, how do I open this podcast and make the guest feel comfortable, and then how do I move into the middle of the podcast, and then how do I artfully end a podcast and bring it to a close, right? And knowing how to manage each of those sections as I move through a podcast, and so just watching these kids kind of get to learn these tools and then start to reach out to people in their community. And then just the other day.

I was over at the. The club, and there was these kids there that were just kind of sitting there, not doing anything, just kind of on their phone. And one of the instructors and I walked over to the kid, and they were like, hey, you know, do you guys know what a podcast is? And they're like, oh, I've heard of it, but I don't know how to create one. And we're like, so we. We set up a podcasting studio in the club. Do you guys want to come over and get in the studio with us and talk about stuff? And they're like, yeah, yeah. And so they get over and they see the equipment and they see the microphones and the headsets, and they put it on. And we asked one simple question, you know, like, hey, how are. How's school going? Tell us about school. And they all of a sudden just all this information that you could tell they had bottled up about the difficulties that they were going through in school and, like, feeling like, you know, how they had to impress their friends and, like, how they, you know, these expectations and how they were having trouble with a certain teacher just asking one question and them having these microphone and headsets, it turned it into this way for them to just unlock this stuff that you could tell was all bottled up or. And so just to watch that unfold with just a simple little, you know, thing like a podcast and a question was beautiful. And then one other thing is I'm working with the CEO of the club, where I think you're going to connect with her, Stacy, and you guys have a show together. But she is creating her own show as a CEO of the club. She's the first female CEO of this Boys and Girls club. It's, you know, a super old club that goes back hundreds of years, or 100, at least 100 years. It's an old organization. And so the club has always been run. You know, at first it was just the boys Club, and then it became the Boys and Girls Club. And now she's the first CEO of this club. And so she's been creating her own podcast to explore what's it like, you know, her journey. You know, she started as like, the lowest in the club of just, like, you know, helping with the club. And then she went to programming, finding activities like podcasting for the club to do. And then she moved her way, all the way up, and now she runs this Boys and Girls Club. And we created a podcast for her to connect with and tell stories and to learn from. And one of the things we did with her that I thought was really cool the other day is she brought some of the people that work for her. As, you know, they. They're in there helping run the club, work with the kids. She interviewed them and brought them in and then allowed them to ask her questions. So as a CEO, it was a really. What I watched is they were able to talk to her in a much more honest way than I think. If you just had a meeting.

Where. If it's just a meeting, you know, maybe everyone's like, oh, this is a boring. It's another meeting. But for her to be like, you know, hey, guys, what. What do you see that we could be doing better here at the club, or what's your goals and aspirations for the club? To watch her, you know, employees then all of a sudden light up like we're on a podcast and we're being asked for our ideas and our thoughts. I watched them say, you know, it'd be better if we could have, you know, outreach to schools in a certain way and if we could, if we could help these kids who are in schools and there's certain schools that we don't see. You know, here's some schools that their kids come to our club, but we don't see as many kids from this school. It'd be great if we could figure out a way to go market to them more. And I saw the CEO, I saw Sarah go, oh, wow, this is great, like, information I'm getting here. And so to use podcasting in another way, even just to unlock ideas of people you work with, I was like, this is phenomenal. So there's so many elements that make Clubcast, you know, I think I'm really, really excited about it. And so it's at the very beginning we've been beta testing and just kind of really launching it with just this one club. And then just the other week I went out to another club and we demoed it for them and right away they were like, we need this in our club. We want it where we're going to buy it. So it's moving up to more and more clubs now. And then the other day I had my first demo in a school in the school system. The guy who runs the media for the school system said, we run three schools, we'll take it for each of the schools because they really see so much value in kids unlocking and having the ability to share their voice, share their ideas, connect with each other and talk. And yeah, these are, these are great tools for everybody, you know.

So, yeah, I mean, there's so much about this that is just so mind boggling, like, cool, right? When I get so excited, I think this is what I love about podcasting, you know, because when I, when I interview someone on the street, right, and they're like, well, I don't know, like, I'll go up to him. I'm like, oh, can I just ask you a question for my podcast? And most of times the reaction is like, why, you know, what do you, what do I have to say? You know, like, that would be interesting. And I'm like, oh, I promise, like, once we talk, like, it's gonna come out. And literally, as soon as they get the mic, you know, they literally turn into Tony Robbins, you know, in front of me. And I think it's that, like, I don't know what it is. It's the same thing with them doing a podcast interview. You get the gold. It's like you're able to pull out this, like, beautiful, you know, thing that maybe it is. It's like you've bottled up all of these things for so long, but when you're able to create. Create this intentional space for it, it's so beautiful. And just the opportunity of doing this with kids, to me is like, I mean, the coolest thing. You're taking kids who are a lot of times just really focused on gaming and electronics and all of that stuff, and now you're doing it in a way instead of consumption. It's like actually an action and being able to, you know, immerse yourself in it fully. I think that's just amazing.

And I'm also looking forward to this idea of, like, intergenerational communication. Right. I feel like there's been such a breakdown, and I feel like if we can create space, safe spaces for kids to be able to connect with adults who are out there in a professional capacity as well, and ask them, well, how did you get to where you're at? I feel like there's been a loss of connection and communication between, you know, these younger generations and. And adults who are out there with. With jobs and are doing things that maybe if these kids could aspire to that, it could be, you know, a shining path. So.

Yeah, and when we were talking the other day, I was also really excited about just even this from, like, an education standpoint of, like. Like, I want to learn more about atoms, you know, or, like, this thing in science, and then you could bring someone on, maybe from a museum and explain, explore, like, these things. Because I know I've learned so much about stuff that I didn't know before because I have a podcast, and I feel like by giving kids this tool, you're just opening up this whole other thing, just even in learning, you know, and.

And.

And we talked about the soft skills with rejection, with sales, with, you know, being able to go up to people, social skills. And there's also this education component that I feel is really, really solid, too.

Yeah, so that's what we're doing. That's where we're at right now, Clubcast and working with these organizations. So, yeah, if anybody knows any. Any. Anyone out there that is in the education space.

You know, I'd Love to set up a meeting or talk or bounce ideas off.

Yeah. And I know we have a lot of teachers in this group, so if there's at any point you guys want to do a zoom, we could get on a zoom with Adam and talk to him that way as well. Because that brainstorming component, or even if you like, I noticed ferns here. Like you're in the non profit space. That would be great because this will be something that you're going to be eventually doing a foundation for too. Right?

Yeah. Yep. So we, we're going to be raising money as well to, to bring these platforms into schools and clubs. So a lot of them don't have the resources to do it. So we're going to try and find ways to. To help bring this initiative into schools.

Yeah. And so just quickly, I wanted to just. And I know you guys, I've been obsessed about this find your voice thing. And as soon as it launches, we'll be in the challenge. So you won't be hearing it as much in the group. It'll be like all focused in the find your voice challenge group specifically because it's a small group. But this is such a good example of why finding your voice is so good. Because when you find your voice and you're able to tap into what's important to you and then you're able to speak, speak to it out loud and be able to be able to, you know, pull in people and like not be scared of who you talk to about it. Be able to constantly just be evolving. I feel like there's just such this level that you're able to actually create this legacy that, you know, a lot of us want. Right. And this generational impact. And I'd love to hear because we. You ended up joining the find your voice challenge after we talked about maybe just talk about what kind of you're excited about with that idea of being able to as you're elevating and growing, you know, in this new. In this new space.

Yeah. I think for me it's built. Getting a chance to rebuild that muscle. I. It was doing the 365 day podcast. Once I committed to it and started doing it, it was exhilarating. It was amazing. I loved having a challenge and to push myself, but. But I hit that goal. So once I crossed that 365, I stopped podcasting as I just did a full year every day. And then since then, I haven't put it. I've been focused on putting other people on Mike, other people on camera. And testing it and getting, you know, producing and working with the Boys and Girls Club and Sarah from, from. From there and working with other people. But for me, I haven't put myself out there in that way. And so talking with you about it and just kind of doing it again, as I'm back into this stage of working with.

Clubs and schools, I just felt like this was a fun opportunity just to warm up that muscle again and start doing it again. I think I had been telling myself, all right, I got to do another show and explore some of these ideas that I'm working on with clubs and kids. But then, you know, I continuously come up with a million, you know, excuses of, all right, I. I have the ideas and I'm planning it out and penciling it out, but I'm not pulling the trigger. And then, you know, I think talking to you where you said, come on, let's just warm up that muscle again and start recording, I said, okay. And, you know, by the time, you know, the day goes on, it's just. I can be exhausted or find reasons not to, but I think it's helpful to have a community. And.

You know, I, I value our. Our strategy sessions when you and I talk. And so I think this is a fun way just to re. Engage. And I, I know that the people that you connect with in your communities are always the most amazing people and just awesome community. So. So, yeah, so I said, yes, here we are.

Amazing. All right, you guys. So feel free to message. Reach out to either me or Adam if you would like to kind of talk through the. The club cast idea. If you have contacts in schools, any kinds of clubs, would it be companies, too, or anything where there's, like, organizations?

I think it could be at some point. For right now, I'm trying to stay like, like, focused on working with the schools.

And clubs. And then once I really build out from there, I feel like we can continue to expand.

And I think working with companies will be looking for, you know, if there's companies that have, you know, tax donations that they want to write off or sponsor clubs, that's where we'll be looking with companies. And part of the program we'll do with these kids is we're going to teach them even the art of how to build an ad. So how do you make a podcast ad for a company? So we've already talked to a local business here and there. They agreed to sponsor a club. Right. And so what we'll do is the club that they'll sponsor will have those kids say, okay, they're gonna sponsor your podcast, and here are some things that you guys can record about and have a show. And then, by the way, we're gonna teach you how to make a 30 second ad to thank your sponsor. And then what's really cool is that's a skill that they can then take out of now. Moving. Okay, I know how to record a podcast. I know how to interview, and I know how to make a little ad for a business. I know how to insert it into my podcast and get it out there learning all these tools so when they, you know, move on and go to the next stage, they can say, yeah, I've done that. I've kind of done each little section of what it takes to make a podcast, including having a little sponsor ad. And so, yeah, it's kind of cool to see all the little elements they get to work on.

That's incredible. Well, I'm so excited. Thanks for joining. Thanks for answering the questions as well. And I always like, like, love getting a chance to do this with you.

Oh, me too. Thank you so much, Stacey and I look forward to meeting people in the Facebook group.

Yep, sounds good. And for you guys, do the thing. Don't wait for opportunity. Create it.