Empower World Good By Launching A Podcast Now With Kerryn Vaughan Of The Get Off The Bench Podcast

Wish you were one of those influencers with raving fans who binge on your every word, consume all your content, buy everything you have to sell, and demand even more. Then stay tuned while Authority magazine columnist and buzzfeed contributor Tracy Hazzard shares strategies, tips and tactics from top videocasters, podcasters, authors and social influencers on creating that bingeable factor. Now let's join Tracy as she explores how to rise above all the digital noise with the binge factor.

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Binge Factor. I'm Tracy Hazzard and I have Karen Vaughn here today. She's got the get off the Bench podcast, which there is not a better name for a show right now because I' so many of you who keep telling me that you haven't quite started your podcast, we have a name for that we call permanent potential here. When we hear people call us again and again and again, year after year, saying, I'd really like to start my podcast, but they never get off the bench. So I'm so excited that that's what Karen's mission is, is that she's going to really push people to get off the bench. And she's got a book of the same name and it's just such a fun show. She's just so passionate about it and she's got a really great accent, which you're going to enjoy.

So.

So I would love for you to hear some more about Karen. She is an international speaker and author, facilitator and podcast host. She's got an award winning book called Magnificent Kids and it was the catalyst to her founding the global organization One Planet Classrooms, which facilitates projects such as clean water solutions and student sponsorship programs to schools and communities in Africa. In 2018, Karen launched Girls with Hammers, which hosts conferences and workshops aimed at empowering and connecting women. And in 2019, she released her second book, Get off the Bench, to help people bring their ideas to life. The get off the Bench podcast came to life in 2020 after a number of false starts and a stint of despair. I think we gotta hear all about that today. So let's get off the bench and get onto this interview with Karen Vaughn of Get off the Bench podcast.

So, Karen, I'm so glad you got off the bench and started a podcast because your show is a lot of fun and it is a lot of good. You know, I think taking people to task to get moving, especially in the startup area, we hear a lot of people talking about stuff that they're going to do and then they never do It. What made you stop the talk and start your podcast?

Wow. Because I've been. I'd done so many projects in the past, you know, and it kind of started from a book, you know, like, I wrote Magnificent Kids. And that led to me founding a not for profit in Africa called One Planet Classrooms. That led to founding Girls with Hammers. We can unpack any of these in a minute. But. And then because I was doing all these projects, I was asked to speak at a lot of conferences, and one conference, the guy said, can you. Can you run a workshop? And I said, yeah, what about? He said, starting projects. And I said, what? I don't know anything about that. He said, you're mad. Anyway, so I did a workshop, and as I was going through it, I was thinking, oh, boy, there's so much stuff I want to say. So I told them, I'll send them a PDF. I came home and started writing this PDF, and within four weeks, I had the get off the Bench book. And it was just fantastic, you know, and I thought, wow, there's so much here to share about how to. How to Kickstarter project. And don't get me wrong, I'm not a business coach, you know, I don't do that end of it. I just work on the. The initial, inspiring people to take that first leap. So it had to end up being a podcast. Like, there's so many people out there doing amazing things. And I think for the podcast, what I wanted to get across was to showcase people who have pushed through challenges and to inspire other people to kind of think, well, if she's done it, or maybe I could do it, or if he's done it, I could do that too. So really, that's the aim of the podcast, is to inspire people to listen to other people's stories and resonate with them themselves and get off the bench and do something. Do that thing.

Well, it hasn't stopped you from doing things because you do. You got One Planet Classroom, you've got Girls with Hammers, you know, having nonprofits, having organizations that you're supporting, having submissions that you can talk about on and off again is a great reason to have your show. Right. So you get to mention it to more people who mention it to more people.

Right? Yeah, I never talk about my stuff.

Not enough. But you did that wonderful episode with Nikki Williams where you're talking about Girls with Amherst, and you sort of forced your. Your partner and co founder of it to get off the bench yourself and get on your show. So, you know, doing things like, that is a great way to showcase what you are working on and what you have a passion for. And I still think, you know, little things came across. Like, I got, you know, little senses of how important One Planet Classroom is to you and, you know, things like that. So, you know, it is really a great way to get the wor out. And since you started the show, how have you found it? Have you found, like, listeners all over the world reaching out to you? What have you found that sort of outreach and connection happening?

Well, I found. Yeah, I found so many people have come up, come to me, you know, saying, I heard this on your podcast and I heard that on your podcast, and it's such a good thing that you're doing. It's so inspiring. I've heard from people that, you know, I'll just be talking to them. They say, oh, on that podcast you did with so and so. And I'm like, I had no idea these people were actually listening, you know, and that's the.

I know that feeling.

Yeah. Amazing thing about a podcast is that you put it out there and you just don't know who's listening. And it's actually changing lives. And I've had so many people say to me, you know what? I've been thinking about that doing photography. And when you had Bel on your show, it made me realize that I need to get myself moving and I need to do something like that. So for me, I think the most exciting thing is when people tell me that somebody on the show inspired them to take action. You know, it's amazing. At the end of the day, you know, I want to make a better world. That's what I'm interested in. And so I can't save the world on my own, and I can't change the world on my own. But what I can do is, I guess, activate other people, you know, to fill the pockets that I just can't fill. And if everybody's doing what they love, they're naturally going to be better contributors. So that's my goal, you know, And I think I'm succeeding.

I think you are. You have a great show. It has such interesting points to it, and the conversations are fun, and you have such energy, Karen. Like, that's what I really love about the show is I. The energy and excitement that you have and my side of the world. You have a great accent, too. So it's nice to listen to. You know, you do some things on your show that I want to just talk about, because I think that you technically, you have some really great things. First off, you know, cover art is very compelling. Get off the Bench is so bold, and it just really emphasizes that. And the sense of having that person on the bench down there has this sense of despair, which I understand is a little bit of your story there. And so tell us a little bit about that story. But how did you guide someone to create that cover art for you? Because I think that's a big problem for podcasters. So tell us a little bit about the story of despair and why that worked into this cover art.

Well, for me, it's. You know, I was doing a podcast in 2018 with another guy. He was in Tasmania in another state. And back then we didn't. Zoom wasn't working so well. Do you know, Zoom wasn't a great platform.

I think we were using Skype a lot more back then, which was. Wasn't good either.

I wasn't even using that. We were just using a mixing desk and, you know, and trying to put phones into it and, you know, and so I had to travel, you know, to do a few. A handful of shows, and it just became too hard. And anyway, and then I just decided, well, look, I'm going to start my own podcast at some point. And, you know, I thought about I'd get off the bench, you know, maybe I need to do a podcast. And it just kept getting delayed. And, you know, and then I decided, no, I have to do it because I have to inspire people. It's a fantastic medium to get so, so many people inspired. And then we had. I was going to start at the end of 20. Oh, gee, I come in 2019. And a few days before, I thought, I'll start it on the start of 2020. I'll start it right off at the start of the year. And let's go. Anyway, just before Christmas, a week before, my sister had a cardiac arrest. And that was clearly, you know, I'm not going to be sort of cheering on a podcast when that's happened. By the way, she did survive, and it was only because of the fast actions of her partner. So, y know, that was fantastic. And. And that was terrible. You know, we, we. That the hospital told us she would have brain damage and all sorts of stuff because of it, but she's actually perfect. And, you know, thank God. And by the way, they said, you know, because she does Pilates, she's a Pilates instructor, and that created such a healthy body, you know, and that was. That contributed to.

Thank goodness.

Yeah. So that was fantastic.

And anyway, but these Life problems. This is what happens, right? These barriers come in. And then, you know, at some point here, you hit Covid. So, like, you got that on top of everything, right? And you still manage it going.

And before. Before COVID we had really big bushfires, you know, around.

Oh, right, you did. That's right.

And I was trying, you know, I've always been a volunteer service kind of person, as you can tell, probably, you know, and. And I wanted to help, and I wanted to give clothes, and I wanted to. And I was rejected, and I wanted to do travel, you know, like, help. No, I was rejected, by the way. I wasn't really rejected, but that's how I interpreted it, you know? And then I applied to work for an animal place where I could help rescue animals, and rejected from that. So I became very, very disheartened. It actually broke me because we had a billion animals were killed in the fire, and I'm a real animal animal crazy nut. And I felt helpless, you know, and so I thought, right, I've got to get the podcast going. I have to get it going, because as I said before, if I can't do it, maybe someone else can because they've been inspired by the podcast. I was just about to get it started again, and then Covid hit, and it was like, are you kidding me? How many more barriers? And then it was kind of, I can't. I can't keep letting things stop me. Like, people in the world have to be inspired. People have to believe that they can do their thing, and they have to feel great about themselves, and I'm the conduit to make that happen. So I have to push past all these obstacles, and I just have to get going. And so I started that in April, April 2nd. And so we were sort of shut down in March from COVID and I just.

We were, too. Yeah. So same timing. Yeah.

Yeah.

But you must have told that story to the designer, because I, like, I feel it in your cover art. Like, I feel it in the design that's behind you right now if we're on video. And so if you. You haven't been looking at it in the. In the podcast app, you'll be able to see it, but, you know, go and check it out on the video. So, yeah, I didn't tell her. You didn't tell her? So she must have known something about what she herself, because somehow it comes across that. That sort of like, gosh, I gotta get moving. Gosh, I need, you know, this. I've got to move from the bottom you know, and that's what that does in the. In the way it's placed on the COVID art, too. And that's what I really. I think the woman on the bench and then those big over it, it really expresses exactly what your show is about. And then the color and the size of the words is so impactful that it makes people stop on your show. I guarantee you it is a search benefit to you.

Thank you. Well, that's. Thank you. Because I was thinking about changing the.

COVID so I really don't think you should. Like, you know, very often people come on the show and I'd be like, behind the scenes, I'll go now. You know, have you thought about updating your cover art? Like, really? But yours is not one of them. You are going to go. Yours is going to go into my best list. So. Thank you.

Thank you.

I do have ones that when I give speeches on stage, I show, you know, the best and the worst. And I'm always hoping that I never have one of the people who are the worst in my audience at the time. It would be awful, but I wanted to show the contrast so people can really see how good it should be. So yours is great. So keep that because it's doing you wonders. But, you know, so let's talk about some of the other things that, you know, podcasters struggle with. And that's why we have this sort of segment of our show where I ask these same three questions of everybody. You know, you have really fantastic guests. They're really interesting. How do you go about getting such great guests?

Pretty much some of them. Some of them approach me, but very few, most of them, I'll be scrolling through Instagram and I'll see something and I'll think, oh, wow, that's fantastic. For example, Cody Burns. And Cody Burns, he was in a. He was driving home in his Dodge, I don't remember, anyway, four wheel drive, you know, a decent chunky car. And he parked at the red lights and a truck just plowed through him and he was. His whole car exploded and caught fire and they were getting ready to recover his dead body, and they saw his fingers move on the steering wheel and the whole car was engulfed in flames. And then all of a sudden they were like, oh, my God, he's still alive. And so then it turned into a rescue. And so, for example, I saw him on Instagram and. And I reach out to Cody, I want you on my podcast. And he's like, yeah, for sure. You know, and then Mandy Horvath is another One, like, I've got friends. I've got friends all around the world. And they. They suggest people, oh, Karen, I want to introduce you to Mandy. Mandy's a bilateral amputee, and she just climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, you know, and stuff. Like, there are so many incredible people, and I think that.

The biggest thing you've got to get comfortable with is asking. And I'm up for 100 rejections this year. I've probably only got two. But, you know, I just keep reaching out and reaching out and saying, hey, do you want to be on the podcast? And most people say yes, they do.

They really do. And especially when you've got a good concept that people want to be associated with, you know, it's not. It's not the Karen Vaughn show, like, you heard, get off the bench. Like, I want to be associated with that. It might fit my brand, it might fit me. It might fit the messaging that I would like to express to other people. So because of that, it's a little easier to say yes to a guest spot like that. So, yeah, I think that's serving you really well. But you've done very well of selecting them. So you are finding people that interest you and in the end, that interest your audience. And that's also a good way, a good thing of a good process of curation, I think.

I think that's the key, is that I have to be genuinely interested in them because I want to have a conversation with them, and I want to learn about them, and I want to be friends with them. You know, the thing is, I am. I'm friends with every single person that I've interviewed because we've connected and we message and, you know, it's just building. What a beautiful bunch of people to be connected with. You know, I'm so lucky. I'm just so lucky.

Well, I'm glad we're connected now, too. So that's really wonderful. So the second thing that I usually ask about is, how have you found the. The, you know, ways to increase your listeners? How are you, you know, how are you going about doing that on a regular basis? And then once you have those listeners, how are you engaging with them? You mentioned Instagram, but what other ways are you. What are you doing on Instagram, and what other ways are you engaging with those listeners?

To be honest, I don't really have a strategy about that. I think that, you know, I only do a couple of ads a week. You know, I give a little snippet, and people get really. People love the little snippets, you know, and then it drives them to the podcast when it's out a couple of days later. But I answer every single message. You know, I always do that, and I always do it with love. I always do love hearts or smiley faces in all my messages. I don't care whether it's appropriate or not. People feel seen, they feel loved. And I do it from a genuine place.

Yeah.

And I don't know, I just. I think it's about being authentic and being genuine and actually truly valuing people. I. I think that comes across in everything I do because I just. I just. I don't know. I love everyone. I know that sounds stupid.

It sounds.

It does not.

It does not. We need some more love in the world, Karen. So happy that you are putting that out there. I absolutely. You know, I think that is a good strategy, though, what you just mentioned, though, of commenting back on people sharing love back to them for commenting. If they've taken the time to message you or to put something as a comment on Instagram or wherever it is and you're not acknowledging it, you're missing out on that opportunity to connect a little bit deeper. Even so you'd be surprised because sometimes people read the snippet and go, well, that sounded really good. And then they make a comment or they, you know, give you a heart or something. And they didn't actually go to listen the episode, but once you made that comment, now they feel like, oh, I gotta go listen now. So they feel a little more compelled to be authentic about the comment they made. Yeah, but now you got a listener right back. Right.

But I just wouldn't not answer. You know, I just don't think that's the right thing to do.

No, I don't either. I feel the same way about it as you do. So it frustrates me sometimes when I don't have enough time to get to it. So you have to plan that into the process. Well, wonderful. Well, you know, you're doing this, but. And you have so many other programs, so whether you want to monetize your show for your own purposes, offset the costs of the show, because it does cost to produce the show. I mean, it's definitely cost and time, that's for sure. Or whether you want to support Girls with Hammers or One Planet Classroom with the show itself, you know, there. What are ways that you've thought about that you might want to monetize the show?

Yeah, I actually haven't thought about it. I'm going to be Honest with you.

Haven'T thought about it yet?

I haven't even thought about it. No, I haven't even thought about it. I kind of use it like a giant business card, you know, to get. To build credibility to, you know, you know, I do other work. I do team building, you know, I do a lot of organizational work and that sort of stuff. And yeah, I'm just, I think I'm just doing it to build my credibility, you know, to, to prove. To prove that I'm actually doing this and not just someone who's written a book and doesn't know what they're talking about, you know, doesn't.

So it's kind of like we call it authority building in the industry and that's what we call it at our potatoes company, we call it authority building. So, yeah, you're really doing that. But there might be a shift at some point only, and I say this only because it's a really great show and because you've put, you know, a good two year, you know, you're into your second year on it and you're doing really well with it in terms of how the type of people, the conversations you're having, your topic is of great interest. I certainly hope it gets you some more speaking opportunities as we're able to move around the country.

Right.

Certainly hope that happens for you. But I think that there might be some alternative ways to look at that and it might be helping to donate and support to your organizations because, you know, your listeners do want to give back to you. They understand that you put a lot of time and effort into that and they want to find a way to give back. So what way could be most valuable to you? And it might just be, you know, raise awareness. Please, you know, please share out, you know, something Girls with Amherst is doing. Share out our next event, you know, whatever that might be. You know, that might be worth thinking about as a, as a monetization strategy because, you know, you've earned it, is what I'm trying to say.

Thank you. I'm gonna have to think about that off air. You've kind of caught me off guard. Well, good.

I love, you know, I love to on air coach a little bit when I can. And, and I also just want people because I think, think sometimes and I'm going to say that because you know that it can be the same kind of people who need to listen to your show who don't always get off the bench, don't always recognize the value they've created and put into something it sometimes takes an outside person like me to come in and say to you, wow, you've really created good value in here. You need to think about what's next. It's time to think about that. And I think you're really at that stage in probably the next, next, you know, three to six months. So it might be time to start thinking about what that strategy might look like so that it can be most authentic to you and not just like, oh, I heard about this thing, let me try this. You know, think about really what would make, you know, best service to your, your mission, your community and to the listeners out there. Because that matters, right? You want to keep them. You don't want to, you don't want to send them packing because they, because you added an add in or something, right?

All right, I'm going to think about that. Okay, good. You've given me a kick in the bum to get off the bench, to monetize.

That's right. Think about that. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about your two organizations because I want everybody to hear about them. So let's start with Girls with Hammers.

So Girls with Hammers, I can't remember when, I think 2018, 2017, I don't know. I was sitting out the front of a workwear shop, you know, with flannelette shirts and all that. My partner was off and she came back to the car and I said, you know what? I'm going to start something called Girls with Hammers. And what I want to do is I want to go into schools and not teach woodwork. It's got nothing to do with woodwork, but I want to, I want to teach, you know, 15 year old girls, 14 year old girls. Don't sexualize yourself. You know, don't fall into these categories of that. You have to be submissive and all that kind of crap anyway. And I just sort of let it go. But then I was, the year later, I was at International Women's Day conference and there was a card on the table and it said, I will launch a purposeful female focused initiative. Well, I picked that card up and I got up on stage in front of 300 women and this is what I do. I put my foot in it before I think about it and I've got up on stage and 300 women are clapping. I got down off the stage and thought, oh, now I gotta do it. I came home and I said, oh. And so my partner said, you know, well, it's time to start Girls with Hammers. So I did a couple of schools and the kids were. The girls were kind of like, nah, no thanks. You know, we'd rather do our thing. But we had a conference maybe five, six months later and to see who would come. And it was mostly women, 45 to 65. And so they come to this conference and it's about them all day, you know, the whole day. There's no husband, no kids, nobody nagging at them. You know, it's just them. And they. We have speakers and we have a dj. They win prizes all freaking day. It is just. And so many of them write on their forms. That's the best conference I have ever, ever been to in my life. You know, and so when we see all these women connecting and give everyone a hug when they first come in. I don't know about COVID like, you know, we might have to shift.

We might have to modify a little. I know, I know. I'm a hugger, too. I was like, I don't know how I'm going to go to event and not hug people. Like, it's really hard for me.

Well, I did it anyway, you know, because we had a little gap in Covid, but for the last year, so we've had three of them, and they have been absolutely sensational. And our aim is, you know, to go to capital cities, other capital cities in Australia, and then to take it worldwide. I mean, clearly we've got a fair wait, you know, before we can even stop playing.

So when I first heard the name and everything, I was thinking, oh, my gosh, I love the concept. Before I didn't, you know, before I really heard everything that it was about, but because it resonated with something with me. So I owned a store for tween girls. So like ages 6 to 12, right? Like 6 to 13, you know, before they're really teens. And we used to throw birthday parties and had clothes and you could glam up in a safe space. Like, that was the idea. And we had dance parties and all kinds of stuff. And I hired all these teenage girls to work for me. So I had like 30 teenage girls because, you know, none of them could work a lot of hours working for me over the course of a week. And we called them big sisters. And so. So the big sisters and the store was called Pure Girls. And. And so it was in upstate California in Northern California. We had a lot of fun in there. But, you know, along the way, like, every so often I would have to go to my husband. I'd be like, hey, I gotta get you in the shop, somebody's got to get on the ladder and change all the light bulbs and nail this stuff to the wall and stuff. And somewhere in that process, this wonderful girl named Linnea came into.

And would follow him around. And eventually he taught her how to do stuff in my store. And so then our go to girl for fixing it was actually a girl because I gave her a set of, I gave her a set of tools, including a hammer. And so it was a girl with a hammer. And so go fast forward, you know, almost a decade later and I had another child and we named her Linnea because she had left such an impression on us. So girls with hammers. Actually, you know, I can see why at the generational level that you're talking about, there's something about that that resonates that we want girls who have tools in their tool belt and feel comfortable with them. Right. To go out in the world and not be defined just by being a girl. I can see that I'm in that generation, obviously, so I can see why it's successful. And I think there is a place around the world. So I really do hope you keep going and keep moving that to the next stage because such a, such a great message and.

Yeah, we will.

Yeah. Good, good. Let's talk a little bit about One Planet Classroom and your book. So that you know, what inspired the book and then, then the organization.

So the first book you're talking about. So I've got two books, get off the Bench. And the other one is Magnificent Kids. Magnificent kids is about 23 superheroes who changed the world, you know, did world changing projects before the age of 18. Wow. You know, that is just super. That's.

So these are all true stories?

True story. Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

Absolutely amazing. I just reached out, you know, hey, do you want to be in my book? And clearly I was reaching out to kids, so I had to reach out to parents. And then obviously parents had to, you know, make sure that I was okay. And I don't blame them. And it's just fantastic. They're all adults now. I mean, this was in 2014. But. But what there was, there was two things that that happened. One is that I was teaching people with, in the disability field to work with people with disabilities. And I was behavior and autism, Autism specialist. And what was happening, people kept saying to me, you got to fix these kids. Got to fix. And I'm like, geez, the kids don't need fixing. Your system needs fixing.

That's right.

Plus I was doing adults aren't going to change. They're not listening to me, but the kids were listening to me. So I started to think, you know what we need to get kids. We've got to empower kids and we've got to take notice. We've got to build their strengths so that they can be the next generation that actually does, you know, makes change in this world.

You know, Karen, it's like such a problem for me because I don't want to like, keep like throwing ideas at you because, you know, that's an issue as a mom of, you know, a 7 and a 12 year old. Of course, I also have a 26 year old, but a 7 and 12 year old. Like, I think this, like, what I need to counter most as a parent is the YouTubers. And so I want, you know, the idea that you can change the world is not put a slime video on YouTube.

Right.

And so I think we need an updated, you know, 2021 version of Magnificent Kids. Or maybe one of your kids who's an adult now could take it on and do it right.

Yeah, maybe.

Maybe that's the answer to delve to, you know, to dole this out to someone else instead of us, you know, doing this. But I do think there's a place for that right now to hear these stories and so you know, that are about kids doing some amazing things that are not just like amazing because you happen to do it on Instagram or YouTub.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yep, yep.

Well, good. But that translated into One Planet Classroom.

How? So I had my book launch and I was with a friend. She was holding the book. We took a photo. She had a friend in Africa. He saw the book and he said, oh, how can I get that book? I sent it to him. He said, oh, I want to start a magnificent class. And I. And I said, that's fantastic. And he said, will you Skype with my class? And I said, oh, yeah. And then I said, I'll tell you what, why don't we get one of the kids in the class in the book to Skype with your class?

Oh, yeah.

And then I said, I've got a big better idea. We can get your class to Skype with a class in Australia and they can learn about each other. And you know, how fantastic. And he said, that's great. I don't have a laptop. I'm like, oh, no. So.

I put a thing on Facebook. Next thing, I've got 30 laptops. And I thought, what am I going to do? And this is before I even knew what to do with the not for profit. I didn't even understand anything. It was just. And this is something that I talk about, we get off the bench, just let things unfold because they bring, bring amazing stuff. So anyway, I just created One Planet classrooms as a business and I thought, oh, well, I'll just, I'll just get all these schools all around the world to Skype with schools in Africa. Anyway, I had 45 schools in Africa signed up, but it became an absolute nightmare to get the computers over there. But I did, I got 20 over there eventually. But, you know, we're sending them over like the kids in Africa were in bed when the kids are in Australia were in school was never going to work. I should have looked at that first. The other thing is too, I sent laptops to a country where 95% of them don't have power. So the next thing we've got, well, can we have solar systems? And it's like, oh, no.

Anyway, so you're cascading into a bunch of problems. Like, you know, we have one world is not necessarily one planet. One world is not as easy as we think it's going to be, right?

And, but what I found, you know, talking to all the teachers from these schools is that the girls were the ones going and getting the water and some of them as young as three. And what would happen is all these guys would line the pathway and they would sexually assault them. Even young girls as ages, as young as three were being raped and that sort of stuff. Teenage girls were swapping sex for sanitary items. And. And I just thought, you know what? This project has been a failure. And I can either walk away from this or I can, you know, I can pivot it. I hate that word now, but anyway, pivot. And I can start water systems. So then I turned it around to putting water tanks into schools and connecting water to villages, putting water wells in. And, you know, we bought heaps of land for women's empowerment projects. And we've got 140 kids sponsored and solar systems and sanitary pads, you name it. It just goes on and on and on. And, you know, we build houses for people. It's. It's just, I've got a committee, there's five of us. But, you know, this is. I love talking about this because we often try to avoid failure. You know, we call failure such a bad thing. And I think failure is fantastic because thousands of lives are now different because I failed, if you're going to call it that. I agree.

That's exactly what you Did, Yeah, I love it.

But it's been quiet for the last two years, you know, because it's been hard.

Yeah, yeah.

To start back up again, you know, to have it a bit flashy, but yeah, I don't know. I love it.

Oh, well, so good. Well, you know, in a sense, you know, you had a failure of a podcast. I mean, it was more like technical issues and other things like that. And yet you turn that around and started it, you know, another one later. So, you know, it does go like that. What advice do you have for podcasters out there who have been saying for a while, I want a podcast, but they just aren't getting off the bench. So tell us what some of the principles of get off the Bench are. So the things they can do that.

Look, I think the first thing is if you've got an idea, you know, you have to have the idea. My idea is I want to start a podcast and then have a vision. The second part is, well, what's my vision? You know, who do I want to get to? What's my message? What do I want to share? What would I like my listeners to hear? You know, some podcasts are self indulgent. I would suggest don't make it self indulgent. You know, make it that people are going to get something out of it. And then I think that it becomes so big and overwhelming. And so one of the reasons a lot of people don't start. Well, there's a couple of reasons. One is as big and overwhelming, and I suggest there, chunk it down, you know, break it down into. Into steps. And, you know, you've only got to really get. Have your idea, work out your artwork, and you can get someone else to do that, but have an idea about that. What's the show going to be about? What sort of people do you want on it? Get yourself a microphone, use zoom. Like it's not that hard, you know.

Go from there and don't worry about the rest of it.

Right?

Yeah, absolutely. But I think that, you know, here's the key. So, you know, Karen, I saved your binge factor for the end because I wanted to let people hear more of from here because I think that's, you know, there's so much about your show that is just really great and such, you know, you. That you put into the show. But at the end, your binge factor is a simple concept that resonates with everyone. And we are all at different stages of the time sitting on a bench on something. It might be something that we really wish we were doing in our personal life. It might be something that we need to do in our business, and it might be this social good mission that we have in our soul that we haven't taken, we haven't done yet. So that we all have those at various times. And so that theme of your show is just so universal that you can't help but capture listeners who have that as a stage of life, right at that stage in the moment that they are. And so it's so universal and it's. When someone comes into it, they keep going. And that's the binge ability of it, right? They keep going. Because there are different stories of how people got off a bench, right? How they did it, what they changed, what they turned around. Lessons to be learned there where one of them is eventually going to resonate for you and get you to moving, get you going, get you doing. So you've got the. All the main things of such a great show here that there was no question, just that theme itself is really the special sauce that makes it the binge factor.

Thank you.

So, yeah. Well, good. So I, you know, I'm so glad that you. You've gotten off the bench, put this out there and sharing this with the world. And, you know, here I'm all the way across the world and we're getting to talk about that. So I'm really proud of you for reaching out and getting, you know, keeping pushing the message out there. And I just hope that you keep going. What is going to, you know, what is going to keep you motivated?

I'm meeting new people, hearing new stories. I just, I love it. I love to meet new people.

So it's kind of built into your show. Like, the motivation is already built in for you.

Yeah, it absolutely is. And plus, I think it's the feedback, you know, when. When people say to me, I've listened to your show for eight months and, you know, and it took that one show, as you said, it took that one show to resonate with me, you know, And I've been. Each week I've been building up and building up, and then when that one guy said this, I thought, that's it. What am I doing? I have to actually do that thing. So that stuff, I don't know, I get. I can't tell you the joy I feel in my heart when someone says to me, you I'm doing that thing. I think I'm the world's biggest cheerleader. I'm like, yes, yes. You know, and I genuinely, genuinely mean it. You know, because this, the world needs more joy and you've got so much. When you start something business side hustle or project, there's always going to be hard stuff. You know, life is about hard stuff. But those moments of joy, when you're truly doing your thing, seeing that, that's. Wow.

I know exactly what you mean. Because, Karen, your show is full of inspiration, full of joy. Absolutely. And, you know, it's full of that exact thing that you just talked about. Like, it is just perfectly that. And that's why get off the Bench is such a great show. So thank you for putting your voice into the podcast sphere and keeping everyone inspired and motivated to get off the bench.

Thank you so much. I couldn't have it any other way.

You heard Karen. She's got so much passion, so much excitement for what she does. She just loves the podcast medium. You know the type, just doing this type of thing. She loves the process of talking to people, of sharing with people, of great stories, and she's on to project, to project. But in a way, she's got the perfect show for that. Right? Because get off the Bench is an empowering, inspirational message. Right? We're getting this. She's able to empower worldwide movements for social good and things like that. Right? And we're getting to this place where she can expand and pivot and do whatever she needs to next to keep aligning with her passions and where she wants to take things in her show. She's got the perfect show for that. She can always shift the COVID art, do a little bit there. But the name shouldn't change, Right? It's the perfect name that fits how she wants to show up in the world and how she wants to inspire. So if you haven't picked your name and that's what's holding you back from getting off the bench and starting your show, this is something that you really should tackle. Not with your friends. Stop talking to your friends. Stop talking to your business coach about it. They're going to be all wrong. Talk to some podcast listeners. Talk to some listeners who are the perfect podcast listeners. Listener for you. It's what I used to tell my product clients when they would come through and they would say to me, you know, I've got this thing and it's for dogs, and dogs love it and be like, that's great, but will their humans buy it? Right? So the people who are going to listen to your show matter the most. Unless your show is solely focused on the interview model. Right. For those of you who have an Interview model, where you're interviewing people who you want to be a part of your business. Business, then your sole focus needs to be those guests. And does your name empower those guests? Does your name excite those guests? Sometimes the name of your show can make your guests feel like that's beneath me. It's not where I want to be. It's not how I want to show up in the world. So they don't want to be aligned with your show name. So even though it's really cool and really interesting and really fun, and typically this is where, when you name a show after yourself, that's where that falls into. But if you've got a show named like Karen Vaughn, get off the Bench, I want to be on that show, right? And so there's no objection to the guest. And if I'm looking for inspiration and someone to give me a kick, right, and get me going, this show sounds like the right place for me, right? So we got that going on for us when we name our show. So think about that as you're out there researching, out there figuring out. And if your name is what's holding you back, message me. This is what Instagram and LinkedIn are for, right? Send us messages and say you can DM us. I will keep it private. I'm not going to go sharing your name with anyone. Right? It's personal. Every name for a show has to be so uniquely different. Like, it just needs to fit you. It needs to fit your message, it needs to fit what you're doing. Just like Karen's fits her perfectly. So go on out, Message me if you need some help. This is what our coaching groups are for. If you join our productized platform. This is why we're here. We're here to help you make this right. Because if you get this right, then podcasting's easy. Everything else is a joy. You're not just off the bench, you're off and running. So I'm thankful to Karen for joining me, and it was not. It was a little bit of a feat to get the international timing right, but I so enjoyed getting to know her, and it's really great to see such passion in podcasting go on. So give her a shout, check out her show, give her a shout out, subscribe to her show, and enjoy get off the Bench with Karen Vaughn. And until next time.

Time.

And I'm back here with yet another successful podcaster who has a different model just like Karen's. You need to get off the bench and start podcasting. Thanks, everyone.

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