Focus On Podcast Content Value & Your Listeners First! with Jules Schroeder

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Hello and welcome to Feed you'd Brand. This is Tom and Tracy and boy do we have a fascinating interview set up for you today. Someone who is a podcaster but has done some amazing things as a result of her podcast.

Yeah, Jules Schroeder. I mean she is a female powerhouse. I mean she was ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the top 27 female entrepreneurs changing the world in 2017. I mean, changing the world like that is like a big, big title.

There it is. And she's changing the world. What she's doing, Changing the World came about because of her podcast and a journey that she started as just an experiment.

Right.

So she was amazing before that, obviously. I mean she founded her first six figure company at 18 and her first seven figure company at 22. I mean, that's just like amazing. And so her podcast, which we should mention here, is Unconventional Life show. It is very, very cool. And it's featured on The Forbes under 30, which is kind of an. So some, we should say some publications feature podcasts. They have like podcast sections, Inc. Does, although theirs are terrible. I hate to say that it's my own publication, but theirs are terrible. And Hearst has their own. So the Popular Mechanics, Elle magazine and Forbes has their own channel.

And I know that we've also know some people that write for Entrepreneur or contributors for Entrepreneur and they will also feature podcasts on their website.

That's right. I mean that's kind of an unusual way, but it's given her a great launch boost, which is something she'll talk about. But she's not only done all of this with podcasting and her business, but she has now at 28. So I mean, she went from having her first seven figure business at 22 to 28. She's making this amazing movement of millennial empowerment and I love the way she's doing it. So I think we should just hear about her genesis and go through, then we'll talk about it on the other side. Hey Jules, thanks for joining us.

It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

I am so excited to talk with you about some of the cool things you do both on your show and off your show. Really off your show, because you do them all over the. So let's just start though, so our audience gets a little sense of why you decided to start a podcast and a little bit about the Unconventional Life podcast.

Yeah. So, you know, it really started about almost two years ago at this point. And you know, one thing I had noticed is I was having a lot of conversations with peers, with people that I looked up to around the conversation, around career, income and money. And one of the things that I was seeing is, you know, this traditional model of, you know, go to college, get a job, be in a career path for, you know, the rest of your life wasn't really applicable. And especially to millennials specifically. And there just so many different careers and ways to make money that were emerging from technology, from this influencer economy, you know, et cetera. And so I thought to myself, what if I just tell the stories of peers of other millennials for millennials? So I got really specific with my audience of how to follow a non traditional path and essentially have the career and lifestyle that you want created on your terms, where you get to ultimately use your gifts and expressions in the world. And so I ended up actually getting an email from Forbes and they had asked if I wanted to write for them. And you know, at the time, interestingly enough, I didn't blog really, or much writing experience, but when they approached me, I said, hey, you know, I've got this vision for this podcast and it's called Unconventional Life. And they're like, okay, great, could it be ready in three weeks? And I was like, okay. And at the time, never find a way, right? Yeah. I literally called up every person that I knew that was podcasting. I started doing so much podcasting research, and I just remember being in Iceland, outside the hot springs on this portable wifi device, ready to hit send on my first ever article and episode to Forbes. And I was like, holy crap. Like, is this really happening? And I just remember I hit send and it had over 6,000 views overnight. And I was like, whoa, I'm really onto something. And, you know, that's really where Unconventional Life started. And it was totally a passion project. I had no interest in turning it into a business. Kind of became an accidental six figure revenue stream, which I'm sure we'll talk about in a little bit. But more than anything, the feedback of people tuning into the show and hearing stories gave more people permission to essentially follow their own non traditional path or start their own side hustle or leave their nine to five and really pursue a lifestyle beyond just a career that they love.

I think that's so interesting, though, that, you know, you had no idea, like, I'm going to post this up, and maybe the people will listen and read, and maybe they won't, and who knows? And so you didn't really necessarily have a plan that you were going to make money. You were going to do this. This wasn't your plan, and it still worked out for you. Yeah, and I love that, you know, you had a great intent, though. You had a great audience connection that you wanted to make and a great intent about what you wanted to do and that it still worked out for you. I want people to hear that because I think sometimes you go into podcasting and you think, oh, my gosh, I have to make pass income and I have to do it this way. And it doesn't have to work out that way. Sometimes it can be an exploration.

Yeah, absolutely. And if anything, in my own experience, it gave me more freedom, I think, for what ultimately got created. To not have urgency or to squash the creativity, like, guide it too prematurely. That actually gave it more space to breathe and ultimately, you know, show itself the direction it was meant to go.

So you started this podcast at really the request of Forbes, Is that right?

Yeah, well, actually, interestingly enough, they weren't even looking for a podcast. They approached me to be a writer, and I had seen what their under 30 millennial sector looked like, and I noticed that they were trying to move more into multimedia, but they hadn't used podcasting as a format. So I just saw a gap in what was missing and then proposed it to them.

Oh, okay, brilliant. I misunderstood that in the beginning. So that makes perfect sense because I agree, all the millennials I know are hyper podcast listeners.

Yeah. Yeah.

We were just talking to your brother about how many podcasts, and he's a little bit over 30 now, but how many podcasts he still listens to. And he's like, y just always looking for a new one, and that's the way it is, which I think is really great and really interesting.

Yeah, absolutely. No, I actually didn't listen to many podcasts when I started the podcasting world, and I've gotten into so many more, and then I found my favorites and did my market research and then actually just got addicted and hooked. But so many of my peers are all about them. And now, you know, whenever I'm on drive is. Esther Perel is a. I'm a big fan of her. Who does relationships and dating type of content. And she just started this podcast of her client sessions called Where Should We Begin? And it's just been fascinating for anyone that knows her follows her. And anyways, another spin on it. But it's interesting to see my love grow post podcasting rather than pre podcasting.

Well, that is so good. But I hear that all the time. There's like, I just starting. I'm starting a podcast. You know, I'm not a real podcast listener. We hear that all the time. And I was like, you're missing out. You have no idea how much great content there is. Because I'm a podcast addict. I have like, way too many of my. I can't get through them. I have too many in my playlist.

Yep. I. We're. We're similarly matched. Now.

I want to touch on now the podcast influencer economy. You mentioned that term, and I love that term because that's really where there's an influencer economy, but there's also a podcast influencer economy going on. Are you playing in both?

Yeah, it's a whole new market. It's kind of like the wild, wild west in some ways. Like, it's exploratory, it's innovative. I think there's so much room for growth. And, you know, I would say for myself, yes. And I didn't actually intentionally plan to go there. It just really kind of happened. And now that I've been in it, it's really, you know, become take on a whole life of its own in a lot of ways. But I see influencers, you know, that many of which come to the live experiences that we do in these different places all over the world. And they have, you know, a desire to produce content, to grow their businesses, to, you know, have ways to get exposure. And so they hear about podcasting, they're like, oh, I'll just, you know, host podcasts. I'll just do this. And I would say that podcasting isn't a fit for everyone, but for those that it's a fit for, it's so accessible and simple to be able to get it going and ultimately to support your brand. So I think the two are complementary. And now when I look at myself, I mean, like, the unconventional life, like, brand is the unconventional life podcast, which is the unconventional life live experiences, which is also me, Jules Schroeder. So it's all kind of incorporated into one. And the interesting thing is I found that through my podcast, people get to understand who I am as a human, beyond just who I am as a business person in the world. And I'm sure for you guys as well, that kind of connection that gets to happen through my listeners over a period of time has them really know me, like me, trust me in a different way than they would without it. And I think that relationship is ultimately what's made our live events and our business successful, but also which, you know, has helped me as an influencer and which has gotten me a lot of other opportunities as well.

It's incredible how powerful that is, isn't it? That when people listen to you, they're experiencing you on a different level. And, yeah, I agree, they trust you more. They feel like they know you even though you don't know them, which is maybe a little scary to some people at first, but in reality, it really makes them respond to calls to action much more than they otherwise would. Have you found that?

Absolutely. And, you know, I was talking to Pat Flynn, who runs, you know, his podcast the Smart Passive, and he and I were speaking at an event in Lisbon, Portugal. And, you know, he was telling me he's like, he often gets stopped on the street now with his wife, and he's like, I think this is kind of weird, but I think it's okay. And to have, you know, like, that kind of influence. And, you know, I was saying to my sister the other day, I was like, what if we started revealing even more details about our life? Like, wonder what kind of emails we would get then?

And so that happened to us once. And when we. Early on, when we were doing our podcast, it was just one of these random things that happened that we had ordered ice cream via a Facebook flash sale, which was just an incredibly odd thing to have done. And it got delivered to us at our home. And so we talked about that as a really cool business model, because the woman who was starting this ice cream shop couldn't get a dairy license. So this was her way around it. She would use a commercial kitchen and then just deliver it to you. And so she couldn't open her shop yet. And I was like, this is so brilliant. And we were just talking about it, and it's just because it had just gotten delivered before we started recording. And about two weeks later, I get a random tweet from a listener going, you just made me so hungry for ice cream. You forget that you record because we record in advance. So, like, it's like it was like this random, odd intrusion into my personal life, and it was like, ooh, wow. I didn't realize I revealed as much as I did about myself.

Right, Totally. We actually had our 100th episode maybe about a month or two ago, and I had my sister who runs operations. She's always behind the scenes. She interviewed me, and we did a whole spoof where literally she said all the catchphrases in the way that I said it. And she was like, welcome. This is your host, Raya Schroeder. And our listeners just, like, loved it. It was so fun and ple. But it was. It was definitely personal in a way that we hadn't done it before.

Oh, my gosh. That's super funny. Yeah. Actually, we're trying to figure out what to do for our 500th episode. We've been stumbling on that and haven't figured out what to do.

I figured it out. I thought we were on board, but.

I. I don't know.

Maybe.

Maybe we have to have another meeting on that. Definitely. Well, let's talk about how you really transitioned and got the idea for the live experiences through your podcast.

Yeah. So in theme with all of it, it was totally, really accidental, and it was never planned, and it actually came through in a dream. And about a year and a half ago, and it was a week before Burning man, for those that know about Burning man, or our burners that are might be tuning in. And I literally saw this dream, and it was 30 entrepreneurs gathering, and I woke up, and the first words out of my mouth were Bali. And it was one of those dreams where it was so real, Like, I literally could, like, see it. Like, I could almost, like, feel the breeze of where I was. And I just remember saying to my boyfriend at the time, I was like, I just had this dream. Like, I don't know what to do. Like, I'm not interested in live events. I have no experience in live events. Like, I definitely don't have time to be planning live events. And I sat with it for two weeks, and it was one of those moments. And I think we all have these moments, whether they come in the shower or maybe it comes in your dream where you get this insight or this idea for no rhyme or reason, and it just sits with you. And sometimes we ignore it or dismiss it. And then there are other times where, you know, it becomes so loud that it's like, you know, why not? So I decided to end up hosting this event, called up a girlfriend that had been doing it for about 15 years, and she kind of shepherded me through the process. And in seven weeks, I sold out our first event to 30 people in Bali. And I remember I was like, halfway through that process. And my dad, I'm the oldest of five girls, he's like, so, Julia, you're going to convince 30 people to fly halfway across the world and pay you how much and what time? And right before Thanksgiving. And I was like, dad, yes is what I'm going to do. And I just remember being day five of this business accelerator. We're in Bali, and it was the first time in my life that it felt like a totally aligned yes. I call it a full bodied yes or a hell yes, if you will, where I was expressed in, you know, all of my gifts at the same time in the same place. I'm also a yoga teacher, a musician. Musician and a singer. I love connecting people. I love, you know, doing these fun experiences. I love traveling. And so I just remember saying to people, I was, I don't know if we'll do it again. I don't know when, where, how much, but give me a deposit and we'll definitely do it. And on the spot, 30% of the people were in and wanted to register. And I literally had to figure out how to take payment. And I was like, okay, I think I'm onto something. And flash forward, an article comes out in Inc. And they ranked me as one of 27 women entrepreneurs changing the world in 2017 for our events. Like I. E. Our first event that I just did, totally bootstrapped from a dream like a few months before. And, you know, I ended up doing our next event in a castle in Italy. Got over 300 applications for 50 entrepreneurs.

I'm really sorry I missed that one.

Yeah, it was really good.

Yeah, that one breaks my heart that I missed that one.

Yeah. Well, next year we're doing four more locations. We got South Africa, Kauai, Bali, and a yachting in Greek in the Greek islands. So there'll be more, there will be more opportunities, but needless to say, this whole business has been born out of it. And literally, you know, in two weeks, I'm taking eight entrepreneurs to luxury tree houses in Nicaragua. And every event we've done has been all organic. We've spent zero dollars in paid marketing. It's all been, you know, through the podcast or word of mouth and, you know, unconventional life is on track to do seven figures now. And it, it really was born, you know, from this first foundation of this podcast. And now it's actually being created into a business. And it's, you know, one of those moments where you're like, I never would have thought. And now looking back at it, it's like wow. Like, that's kind of cool. So.

So, you know, and that's just amazing what you've accomplished. And with only a hundred episodes, like, I mean, you know, it's not that far into it. So that's really, really impressive for most podcasters. And we have a few in our network that have just killed it out and done it. Incredible things in really short periods of time. What we found is, is that they have some core things that they're really great at doing. And so I suspect that there are some of those in your wheelhouse. And I would love for you to kind of dive deep a little bit and see if you could share some of the things, the practices you do that are really outside of the podcast, whether it's just constantly network responding back to people or follow up or whatever that might be. That is your thing.

Yeah, it's a great question. You know, for me, I like to put myself in the position of those that are listening, which is kind of cool in some ways, because a lot of those that tune in and listeners for the show in a lot of ways are like myself or like peers. And so one thing that's been true for me is I hate being, like, overly spammed on communication. Like, I really don't. Like, like, there's so much noise that's happening all the time, whether it's like through Facebook ads or, you know, TV ads. And it's just like, stimulus, stimulus, stimulus. So I really want my show and ultimately how I show up in the world to feel more like a haven and more like a safe space where you kind of crawl in and you're like, oh, like, wow, I can, like, take a breath here. Like, I can relax. Like, this feels good. Not like just another thing to do on top of another thing. And so with that foundation, first, I've just had a high value on being very clear and also, you know, being very discerning of the communication that I have with people and the offerings that I have. And, you know, with the podcast specifically, I focused on just giving a ton of value. And even as we built the email list, I would only send out, you know, one to two emails a week. It was all podcast content. I said no to affiliates, no to sponsorships for a long time, and really just wanted to have people feel good, like they really could retreat. So by the time, you know, I moved into live events, people have just gotten so much value and they're like, wow, like, this girl respects herself, has a high degree of what I call integrity or energetic integrity. You Know, I'm willing to trust her and hey, if she doesn't put much out like this might be worth looking into. And so that was big component and very much how I live my life by. And the second was I focused on people. And why we've been able to do these events without any dollars in marketing is that those that come to our events or 65% of our people come back event after event after event is because what we're doing, the experience we're creating, you know, is so impactful and as a result, you know, our people share about it. So instead of, you know, spending money on marketing or firing or finding affiliates that don't know what we're doing, I'm like, why don't I just make some of our attendees that have been to event or two, why don't I make them an affiliate and just say, hey, you know, if you like the experience, like come share about it with your friends, well, you can come to our next event for free or at a discount kind of thing. So I use some non traditional ways to empower the community that was building to keep the community growing and really have it be like a friends of a friends of a friends kind of model. And as a result, I think it almost feels like this insiders club in some way, but not like in a way that's like exclusive and you can't belong, but in like a way that's like, wow, like these people are just real humans first doing really great things in the world. And it's made it really relatable for people in a place where they feel like they can be themselves in all of their expressions and, you know, not have to put on a mask. Like I find like we have to wear masks in too many other areas of our life sometimes. So to be able to take that off, it's been a big thing. But I think if I were able to sum it up, really focusing on a feeling good environment has been huge. And I use a lot of feedback from our community, from our listeners, from those that come to our events to ultimately keep making it, you know, better and better and better.

That's wonderful. Oh, I love that approach.

You know, Jules, I really can relate to how you, you have been very effective in marketing your business through people that have already experienced what you're doing and referring others, recommending you to others. Because we've actually found that in our business as well that it's the most effective marketing and sales closing that we could ever do. Happens that way. People that use us and have had great experience. We don't even have to ask them to refer us to other people. They just naturally do it. And they always, always, those new referrals always close the fastest and are really the best customers that we have.

Yeah, they become our next best customers too. So it's, you know, it's, it's a wonderful place to be. To be. Feel that you are living in that service and I love that you found that spot for yourself because it feels really good. Doesn't.

Totally does. My boyfriend jokes. He's like, all you do is talk to your friends on Facebook all day and somehow make money. He's like, I don't know. I don't know how this is a business, but I kind of want it.

Doesn't everybody?

Yeah.

Here we go. I know, it's really wonderful. Well, I am so excited. So tell us a little bit about the next event that you're going to be doing. You were telling it just a little brief part about it, but what kind of people do you have at your events to. I mean, it's educational as well, right?

Yeah, absolutely. So they're five day life and business accelerators. And you know, more than anything, yes, life acceleration happens. Business acceleration happens. But we also view them almost like a cellular upgrade and shift where it's very much focused on experiential learning, where who you are coming into the experience and who you are like actually having that upgrade and having that alter. And the conversation is that around the unconventional life, which, you know, how I define it, is not just a life where success is defined by career, but a life where success is career plus impact and plus lifestyle and plus relationships and plus fun. And so that's the conversation. And those that tend to come for the most part are in a transition in some way, shape or form. Like, you know, some of the people that might be tuning in, where, you know, you've either hit a plateau personally or professionally, or there's something inside of you that isn't fully in alignment and you just want more. And that's what a lot of people walk into the experience with. And a lot of them just hear it and are just like, I don't know what drew me about it, but I had this feeling and next thing I knew I was typing and then I talked to you and then I was like in a castle or in luxury tree houses. And we get, you know, people from so many industries. We've got, you know, this one coming up, an Olympic gold medalist from South Africa, a former NBA player. We've Got huge online influencers. We've got, you know, people that have had shows on mtv. And then we also have like people that are in nine to fives, that are earlier on in their journey or leaving corporate or that are just starting out in entrepreneurship. And I find when you bring people together that are right where you're at and that are a few steps ahead of where you're at and that are even a few more where you're at, that diversification of learning, when done in a truly intentional way, produces massive growth and acceleration in ways that I haven't seen it. And you know, our events are really fun. We do a lot of dancing, we go out into a lot of the excursions we've got at this one coming up, we'll be catamaraning and kayaking to different islands and fire performers. And I'm a musician as well, so there will be performances and so we have a lot of fun. But then we also look at, you know, business strategy and product development and how to go develop your relationship to yourself more and more, like yoga and meditation. And so we combine a lot of disciplines to really bring this like, well rounded experience. And you know, most of the time when we do our exit, you know, testimonials, people are like, I can't believe all this stuff exists in the same place. Like, usually like, if I want yoga, I gotta go here. If I want personal development, I gotta go to Tony. If I want business, I gotta sit in a boring hotel conference room. But like, how is this possible to weave it all at the same place? And I think that's what a lot of us are really wanting more of now is, you know, we don't live our lives so separately anymore. Between our work in the world and, you know, our personal lives, they are more integrated. And so it's time for experiences to match that for us. And that's been the core of what we do. And next year we've got Cape Town, South Africa coming up in March, and we're actually doing one for a bunch of single entrepreneurs. And so, so many of my friends are so awesome, but they're single. And I'm like, guys, like, why are you single? Like, you're so great. And they're like, well, I don't want to do Tinder or Bumble or online dating. And so I was like, what if we bring like 50 men and, you know, 50 women to an island in Kauai and just, you know, no expectations, give them a space where they can learn to relate and be around the type of people that they might want to be in a relationship with and ultimately have the space to step away from their businesses and have fun. And so I'm excited about that for next summer. And then we've got Greece and Bali happen as well, so.

Well, that sounds really, really cool. I haven't been out there in a really long time, Tom, and I haven't been married 25 years, so. But I could totally see how intimidating it is to use all those systems that have to use all those apps and systems, and how scary and intimidating that would be. I'm glad I met my mate in college where it was like that intense experience. Right. And that's what you'd be bringing them. So I think that's really sounds like a lot of fun.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, it's interesting too, because you would think with all our technology, it would make it easier to be more connected, but most of the time I hear from you, my peers, and other friends, it's like actually the opposite. So back to in person, the old fashioned way.

That's right. That's right. Absolutely. Well, Jules, I am so glad we got to talk to you today. And you shared so many wonderful things about being a podcaster and about how you operate and your mindset, and I'm just. There's so many great nuggets here. I hope everybody got as much out of it as I did. I've, like, got a page full of notes right now.

Awesome. Yeah, it was such a pleasure to be here. And, you know, especially, you know, for those that are really on that tipping point of starting a podcast and, you know, listening to shows like this, like, my best advice would be like, just do it and just start somewhere. And it's really been the reflection of my own journey.

Great advice. Thank you so much, Jules.

Yeah, thanks so much, guys.

Well, gosh, Tracy, where to start? That was a fascinating interview. I really loved hearing about how she started the podcast and why, and then it's become something much bigger than the podcast. But the podcast is still integral to her success.

It is, and it's something she enjoys doing. And so I think that that's really where the biggest takeaway that I hope people got from listening to what Jew had to say, and that is that you can design this life you love. Right. That you love doing. And she's traveling all over and she's empowering millennials and she's changing their lives and she's making a more integrated life, showing them that that can happen. That, to me, is an amazing way to do it and in that all of the tools that you use shouldn't feel like a burden. They should feel integrated. That's where I think podcasting, why we were so passionate about it too is it felt really natural for us. We have these conversations all the time and it used to happen that our now son in law, but he would hang around and he would, we really should just record you. And like, he would say that early on when he first met us and we were like, yeah, we really should, because, well, I won't be able to repeat what I said, so then we can play it back later. So we used to joke about that. And the reality was is that once we started podcasting, it just felt really natural for us.

It did. It's been a lot of fun. I have a great time doing it and I would love doing it all day long, honestly. But, you know, we have other aspects of business we need to do. We don't do it every day, but yeah, it's fun. It's particularly fun for me to do it with a co host.

It is. That's one of the things that we really like is that dynamic. But other people have, you know, their own process, their own. They like to tell stories and they have a vision for where they want to go with an episode. And I just love the variety. And that's what I've gotten so much out of. Why I have like this gigantic playlist on my phone, as does Jules. It's like I just get passionate about people talking about their passion. Right. It's just so exciting to me. And that authenticity that she was talking about, and we didn't actually use that word, but that's really what she was talking about is when you come through as you. And that has to happen. I mean, you can't fake it on the microphone every single day. I mean, there's only so much acting you can do because you're ad libbing for the majority of it. And so in that process, your personality will come through.

You can't help it from happening. Any of you that are considering podcasting, thinking, well, you'll have this Persona, you know, you may try and it may start that way, but it really won't end up that way.

Yeah, I mean, this is the thing. It's like, if you really knew me, you'd know that I do swear a lot. And so that's the. About the only thing that gets.

Does she. Holy.

That's the only thing that gets filtered out like here because we are, you know, G rated show or pg.

What they call a clean Lyrics podcast.

A Clean Lyrics podcast.

Technical perspective.

That's right. And so, you know, so that's probably the only inauthentic thing that's being filtered out. But the reality is who I am is still coming through.

No, let's be real about that, Tracy. It's not like our editors are editing out a bunch of swears saying, you're not swearing, doing this, but it's also natural. I don't honestly feel that you using clean language in our podcast episodes is contrived, I think.

No, that's true.

It's legitimate. So I don't know that that's the best example. But you're right. If people knew you better, they would know. They would know that that should cover the children's ears if you're out.

I do not swear. This is why I am capable of holding my words clean here on this show, is because I have children. So I do know how to hold it in for the most part.

No, you do. I was just poking.

Not that I'm not the one that occasionally slips up, but it does happen. But. Yeah, but this is the thing, is it slips out at who you are and what you're like. And people say that about us when we're together. It's like, oh, my gosh. You're just like, you are on the podcast because. Yeah, that's who we are.

Because it's who we are. Yeah. You know, I loved the story that Jules told about her father, and as she's explaining to her father about what she wants, and she's like, wait a second. So you're doing this. You're getting all these people to sign up and pay how much money to do. What I like is the audacity, I think might be a good word of, you know, Jules, to go for sort of shoot for the moon, so to speak. Not that it's that dramatic as a moonshot, but, I mean, it was really bold.

It was bold. And you know what? It worked for her. But she knew who she was, and she knew who she was talking to, and she knew those things. And that's really where. When you do, like. I think we talk about this a lot that, you know, there's a lot of times at which, you know, we hear ideas and we're like, oh, they should never do that. Yeah. Oh, they should never do that. And it's because they really don't know themselves at the end of the day, is really what it comes down to is they don't know themselves or they don't know their audience well enough or they haven't done that. Asking and connecting and making, you know, and seeing if there was, you know, a product there. And Jules did all of that. So there's really no reason to not continue to hold fast when you have naysayers, when you really have done those things for yourself first, for your brand first. I want people to also take away from Jules, really, this idea that you don't have to have it all figured out before you start your show. You know, we talked with Minette Riordan recently, and, you know, there's this plan. The idea of having a plan is good, but it doesn't mean that every single thing is mapped out along the way. Along the way, she had her goals. Her goals just didn't happen to be, I'm going to run a live event. That came out as an aside. It's like, that's the right thing to do next. And so I believe also that when you have a plan, like, you clearly know why you're doing something, who you're doing it for, and why you're doing it for yourself is just as important as why you're doing it for your business. Right? And when you look at those things, the path along the way and the different options to you become a lot easier to say, that's the right thing to do. And what I found most interesting about Jules's story is she sat for two weeks with the idea. She was like, it's a dream, but does it fit my plan? Does it fit my overall goals with my podcast? Does it fit this and should I do it? And at the end of it, her decision was she should, and it was the right one, obviously. And so I think that taking that pause is also really important. And a lot of people don't. And if you have a plan to screen it against, to check with if you have a great partner who you can ask, or if you have great early adopters, you know, people that are in your network or in your podcast listeners, the ones who talk back to you, not in the bad way, but the ones who actually communicate with you. Communicate with them, engage their interest if you're unsure. And that's what she did when she said, how many would like to come with me in that room? And they all, you know, and you got a third of them. So, you know, that's an amazing thing. And I think she approached it in all the.

I think she did, too. It's impressive, really, that not only did she reflect on the idea and then figure out how to execute it. And clearly she has some support. She mentioned her sister's working for her or with her too, and all this and that, that's fantastic. But just to go for it and create this experience, I mean, I think she's a rare person that could pull that off with apparent flawlessness, really. I mean, I know each event's a little different, and I'm sure there's a certain amount of pivoting from one to the next to make it a better experience, and that's natural. You're going to do that. But wow, to fill that and now be taking 80 and 100 people on these experiences, my gosh, I'm very impressed.

I know it's super exciting, and I'm so amazed about everything that she does, but I also really want everyone to take away how few episodes at which she's yielded this success level for her. 100 episodes is not a ton of episodes in the scope of things. I mean, it's an accomplishment. No, you should be really proud of.

Hitting it on one hand. Wait a second. Let's. Let's say 100 episodes is a large volume of work in podcasting, and it is nothing to belittle in any way. And I know it's not what you were trying to do.

That's not what I was saying.

But still, in terms of 100 episodes being maybe, you know, under two years probably really, to go from not even having this idea, starting a podcast as a way to reach millennials, sort of fish where the fish are, because that's where you know what media they were engaging in more than anything else, to then conceiving this idea and then using the podcast and her networking and word of mouth as a means to start these events and draw people into it and attract them to it. I mean, I think it's a tremendous success story for podcasting in general and.

Podcasting with zero marketing dollars spent like she didn't spend ad money and. And do some of those things, which I.

Agree.

I mean, I'm sure has to be spending money on her producing her podcast, and there are expenses related to it and all that, of course. So there is money being spent. We're not going to say it's completely free, but, you know, she.

You're not advertising in that traditional sense. And that's really where we see a lot of power. And I really give her a lot of credit. And what I'm saying is that doing that without pouring money in marketing and other things like that, it means that she's very well connected. She was really Right on in her vision. And it took off. It had great organic engagement.

And really, that's what we're all about at Feed. You'd brand as well, is to market and grow your business using podcasting as a tool, but not having to spend. Spend large amounts of dollars on an advertising or marketing budget in a traditional sense. Right. That this endeavor of podcasting is fundamentally marketing organic marketing. Organic. And creating this baseline foundation of content that is going to work for you harder than you've had to work creating it. I'm going to borrow that little phrase from a good friend of ours and another podcaster that we work with, Aaron Young, on his unshackled owner podcast, because he actually talks about creating businesses work harder for you than you do for them. So I'm not going to say I invented that phrase. I want to give all credit to Aaron there. But it's true, though. That's the idea of what we're doing with podcasting. The idea is that, yes, you're going to put some time in. Yeah, that's true. And you're going to spend a little money, but you're going to get far much more value in return. It's going to work harder for you than you do for it.

Yeah. But, hey, you get to have fun. In the meantime, you get to talk to cool people like Jules. And that's. This is what I love about. I don't see it as a job. Like, that's, you know, it is a part of it. It is, you know, you got it on your calendar and it does feel at times like, oh, gosh, I gotta do another podcast interview. And I've gotta be consistent and constant about that. But when you've got fun people to talk to like Jules, it just makes it so easy. It really makes it so easy for you to show up and go, I'm excited today. I'm gonna have a great conversation with someone I, you know, I adore or someone new, and it's great. That's really what makes it worthwhile.

It does. The asking aspect that you can serve them, and if you give that, they're also going to serve you and you'll get that in return. And we feel it. We experience it all the time.

That's right. Well, I'm. I'm so thankful we got to have her on the show and have you guys listen to her, and I would love for you to connect with her and find out all about her events and all the other things. So Please go to brandcastingyou.com and check out the blog post on that and you can also go to Facebook eedyourbrand.

Well, hope you enjoyed that as much as we did. Everyone, thanks so much for listening. This has been Tom and Tracy on feed.

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