The Power of a Platform: Building a Strong Foundation for Your Brand with Carin Rockind of The PurposeGirl Podcast (Podfaded)

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 noise with the binge factor.

Hey, future brand listeners, this is Traci Hasr here on another center of Influence episode. And I have Karen Rock kind here, and she has a podcast called Purpose Girl. I love it. It's such a great name. And so purpose driven life. That is what she is, an absolute expert in purpose driven living. Doesn't that sound empowering? She's trying to create a movement to empower purpose driven living. She is the founder of Women's Global Happiness Day. You are nationally known as a motivational speaker. She's taught thousands of people real life strategies to break free and finally live their joy. This is really sounding good right now. I definitely need this episode. She regularly inspires leaders and employees of companies such as BMW, Morgan Stanley, Avon, and she's been on NBC, cbs, pbs, npr, and is the host of the Purpose Girl podcast. That's why we're talking to her today. So, Karen, welcome.

Thank you, Tracy. I'm excited to be here.

So tell me a little story about the most interesting thing that's happened to you since you started podcasting.

Well, the most interesting thing, honestly, has been the reaction around the world. So I was not a podcast listener until I started podcast. And my husband was telling me for two years, you should have a podcast, you should have a podcast. I was like, who listens to that? You know, and only because I don't drive to work. I work from home, so I don't have a commute anymore. And so I thought, well, why would I do that? And. But he convinced me and it was the right thing to do. And what's amazed me is that I now every couple of days get emails from women all over the world. I mean, I got an email from a woman in South Africa, and then I got an email from a woman in Hong Kong. And that through this incredible medium, we are able to literally create worldwide community. We are able to make such impact. That was not possible. You know, it used to be in order to make this kind of impact via audio, via radio, you had to be hired by a station in your local town or by a big national Like Sirius or something. So it's really blown me away how we can create community and create movement across the globe in a very. I've only been podcasting a year. It's really blown me away.

Wow.

Only a year.

Oh, my gosh. I didn't realize it was that short because you have a lot of episodes, so I thought it was a little bit longer than that.

You know, we've been consistent every week putting out. We started with four, and then every week. And it's one thing with it we will not miss. And listeners tell their friends, tell their sisters, tell their mothers, and it's making its way around the world, and I just feel so grateful.

That's so good. Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. So how did you get started? So obviously Josh pushed you a little bit to start a podcast, but how did it go? Did you finally listen to some shows?

I finally said, okay, well, let me listen to some podcasts. And I found some podcasts that I would be interested in, right? Some about how to podcast and some about women's entrepreneurship or women's wellness, and just started getting a flavor for what I liked and what I was interested in and what I wanted to do. And then I had realized I really was afraid. I was afraid I would put something out there and nobody would respond, and then I would feel like a big fat loser. And no one wants to feel like that. Isn't that really why anyone doesn't go after a dream? You know, you're afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, afraid of whatever it might be. So I just realized one day what happened for me is I had been a regular on a Sirius XM radio show. There was a woman's morning show for about five or six years. I had been on every month. She called me her happiness guru. So I would. Come on. I would give happiness tips for women every single month. And that's really how I built my business, how I built my coaching business, my good chunk of my speaking business, just by being on SiriusXM, which is another story. How did I get on that? But the show was canceled out of nowhere. And once it was canceled out of it, just one day was canceled. I realized, oh, shoot, that was kind of like my safety blanket. It was kind of like my security blanket. It was wonderful. But it was keeping me from really going out and making my own name and doing my own thing. That was what with the message I really wanted. And so sometimes we have to lose something in order to gain something. I think a lot of times that's what happens. And it seems like the worst thing that's going to happen, but it actually can be great. And so that's what finally gave me the kick in the pants. And I said, all right, I will do this. And then I listened to some podcasts and then said, I just got to give this a go and put something out. And I hope my listeners feel that it's gotten better and better over time as I've gotten into my rhythm and am super clear now about what we're doing and our equipment. I think we've upgraded equipment, like, four times in one year. And all that good stuff.

That's so funny. I love that.

So there's always stuff that goes wrong in the beginning. So I love to mention mistakes because my last name's Hazards, So there's always the hazards of whatever it is that you're going to launch. Right. So what really went wrong for you in the beginning? What were some of the funnier? Like, just stuff where you're like, oh, my gosh, that was awful.

I cannot go back. And when people tell me they're going to start from the beginning, I'm like, no, no, no. How about you start at, like, number 10? And though I know people love listening from the beginning. So the first thing is that I was podcasting in a room of our house because we work out of our house, where traffic goes by all the time, and the birds. And I love birds, but it was like, every episode was like, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, you know, and so you could hear them. And so I'm like, oh, I can't. I can't even listen. The other thing is, early on, I had a guest that is a friend who lives down the street. And so I just had her over, and we just sat with one microphone, you know, like. And it is, like, the worst sound quality. And it couldn't be edited because it was one track, and so two tracks. And so that is highly embarrassing. So I've had to really. A couple of those, you know, stick out for me. But I also have had the kind of attitude of. And this has been my attitude with everything I've done, once I made the decision to start doing this work in the world, to follow my dreams of empowering every single person alive, particularly every woman, to live her purpose and live her happiest life, is just to put it out there and give it a try. Right?

Just go for it. So there you did. You did it.

Yeah. So the short of my background is that I was born the Youngest of three. And my parents always said that they got it right. The third time they called me the perfect child. And as a kid, I loved it. I'm like, would say to my brother and sister, I'm the perfect child, you know, like. But what that meant was, you know, I've got to fit into this perfect mold to, like, get married to tall, dark, handsome lawyer. And, like, everything had to perfect house, perfect this. And I did all of that by the time I was, you know, got married to tall, dark, handsome lawyer at 22, big house in the suburbs by the time I was 24. And I was so unhappy that I ended up getting divorced at 26. And then really began my journey to say, well, if that didn't make me happy, if, like, well, Cosmo magazine and what, you know, Ladies Home Journal, everything was telling us was supposed to make us happy, and what my parents had done didn't make me happy, what would? And that was when I really started to explore. I felt like I have a purpose and explore things that interested me, like volunteering with high school girls and finding this love of empowering them. Or I started advising other divorced women, like, online and being their cheerleader. I'm like, I love this. So just starting to do, going to France for a month, telling my boss I've got to go to France for a month, and just starting to like, what do I want? As opposed to what anyone else has told me to do. And I got this sense, like, I know that I'm here to empower women to really love who they are and really go for their dreams, but I'm like, what kind of job is that? Like, this is 15 years ago. Long time. No podcasting, no YouTube, no coaching. And then one day, Tracy, I was living in Cleveland, Ohio, and coming home from a bad blind date, and someone followed me into my condo building, not my date. And I go to put my key in my condo door, and I suddenly felt hot breath on my neck. And I turned around and I was nose to nose with a really sad looking young man. And I'm like, are you going inside? I thought maybe he has an aunt who lives in the building or a friend. He looks into my eyes and then he looks down at my belly and boom, he pulls a gun. So I scream. I fall to the floor, please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt. You know, and my hands are over my head and I'm like, please don't hurt me. And I have this moment where I literally think it is the end of my life. I could, like, see my Bat Mitzvah. I could see my eighth birthday party. And I said, okay, God, it's been a good life. Tell my parents thank you. And suddenly, Tracy, some other voice came over me and she said, oh, no, you were put on this earth for purpose and people need you. So I said, in that moment, okay, if I live, I will pursue this purpose no matter what. And just at that moment, the man took my purse and he ran. So after that is when I said, all right, I was making a fat six figure salary. I had a vice president title as a marketer in Cleveland. And I just said, I got to go for it. I just have to. And I found a master's program in Philadelphia, master's in positive psychology, which is the scientific study of human flourishing at the University of Pennsylvania. And I left my six figure big job and went back to grad school at 36. And just decided since then that any dream in my heart, I'm going for it, even when it's scary. And so it was like with the podcast, all right, my Sirius XM gig was over. I gotta go for this, Gary.

But you know, that is so great, though, that you, not only you, like, you know, you imagine that this is gonna happen. At some point, your life is gonna flash in front of your eyes, whether it's a car accident or something even scarier, like what you've gone through. But how many people, though, listen to what they said to themselves and take action? That says a lot about who you are. And so great, great for you to keep that movement going. And not only that, but take more education, figure out how to pursue this thing.

Amen. And that's what I want everyone listening to this. It's like, if you want to know how to start a podcast or how to take your podcast to the next level, the most important thing is that you're so clear on who you are, what lights you up and why you're doing this, then shines through the airwaves and you just go for it. You never know when a gun will be pointed at your head.

Yeah. So you know, this is. One follows up to my next question, which is that obviously this is a hint of why your show is unique, why it's special. It's because you inject so much of yourself in there. But what do you think it is? What do you think your special sauce is? What makes you binge listenable?

My special sauce is a combination of. I get very real about my own stories. I have talked Two episodes ago, I shared my fertility journey and the two miscarriages that we've had and how we're now going to use an egg donor and sharing exactly what that's like. Right. So the real stories of what we experience as women married with the science. So positive psychology is not just positive thinking. It's scientific study done in labs at Ivy League universities and universities around the world to understand research based, proven practices, tools, studies on what makes life worth living. And so my episodes are everything. One week might be about orgasm, and then one week might be about how to ask for what you want in business, and one week might be on leadership. And it's the whole gamut because that's what it is to live as a human and certainly as a woman is we have all these sides. And so I get very real, very raw, and I back it all up with science. So I'm really proud of that because it's scary to share as much as I share. I once, years ago, was the last job I had before I left, I had been with a friend. I used to own a boat when I lived in Cleveland, and I had been taking a friend out on the boat. And that day he dove off and he never came back up. He drowned in front of my eyes. And my boss's wife said to me at the time, you poor girl, so many bad things happened to you. And I said to her, I just don't see it that way. I just believe everything in my life has been for purpose. And so I believe that whatever happens to me is so that I might make a woman feel normal, feel validated, and have some solutions of where to go. So that's my special sauce. I'm super proud of it. And I love hearing from listeners what they love about it. And that's pretty much what they tell me.

Yeah, you know, that's really so, so true and so important. I think when you're binge listenable, it's really because they value what you're bringing them, but they also want to hear what's next with you, what's going on with you. Their intimacy is really amazing to me. I find that as crazy. Sometimes I would get tweets because we would record so far in advance of one of our early shows that I would get these tweets that would say, oh, what flavor ice cream? You talked about ice cream, but you didn't say what flavor you had. And we were talking about this business model of like buying ice cream and having it delivered to you, which was so cool at the time. But I was like, oh, that happened a month ago.

And so.

But I didn't realize how, oh, they do want me to talk more about me and about what's going on in my real life. They care about that. They don't just care about the technical stuff we're talking about. And so I was like, oh, that was a really good early on lesson. And so trying to make sure that you personalize everything and you really give them stories. That connection is so deep. And it is two way, whether you realize it or not. Even though. Because it feels distant.

Absolutely. It can feel distant sometimes if you think of it as a tweet. But I know when I'm doing my podcast, I feel like someone is sitting right in front of me. I really do feel like I'm talking to friends or to my closest friends, my sisters. And the thing I have found is that we all have information to share, but what makes each of us unique is the wisdom that we've gotten from the life that we've lived. Because even if you have a twin, your twin has not lived the same life you have. And it's in our life experiences. Yes, we each have a different set of strengths and talents and passions, but really, no one's lived your life. And those experiences, I think, teach more than we all remember. The stories and the experiences teach. It's what I like to listen to, so it's what I like to get.

Which is really powerful. So being a good listener helps to create. I hear that so often that from really successful podcasters that they become listeners even if they weren't before.

Totally, totally, totally. And, you know, I think that there is an issue, at least in the coaching industry right now, and I think maybe even in the podcasting and YouTube industry, where people are coming on as experts in a particular topic and acting like they have it all together and that if you just follow their seven point plan, you will have Shangri La. And their seven point plan might be amazing. And I have no doubt the Shangri La, they've got it. And part of the human condition is that we also have suffering and we also have challenges. And we also sometimes walk out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to our shoe, like I did a couple weeks ago. And if we are not talking about the truth and the reality, I think we are setting our listeners up for failure. And I think we're doing a disservice and it's irresponsible and I actually think it's just downright wrong. And so I've Just made a commitment to be the coach that will tell you I walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper or I sent an email and used the wrong name. You know, like, I just think we have to be honest. People ask me because I'm a happiness quote unquote expert, you know, master's degree from an Ivy League university in happiness. Are you happy all the time? I say no, no. I teach this stuff because I have to learn it too. It would be unrealistic to think that you're going to be happy all the time.

Yeah, well, that's great. So let's talk a little bit about these tips that we can give other people because I want to make sure we get them in because we're doing a podcast for aspiring podcasters so how they can be successful. So I'm sure you've got some experiences and some hard earned lessons on becoming a center of influence through podcasting about the best ways to book great guests. Do you have guests on your show?

Yes, every other week is a guest. So the best way I have found to have great guests is to really work with your network. And who do you know? Who do you love? And yeah, you might love Oprah and she might not start off being on your podcast, but if you have a sense of what you're doing and why, right. Then you can reach out to everybody you know and say, do you know anyone who specific in finance for teenagers or do you know any, like really use your network? And that's what I really did. Now I'm at a place where I get emails at least once a week, if not more. Someone wanting to be on my podcast and I have to look at it. I want to say yes to everybody because I love every woman. I'm like, I want you to succeed. And I have to really look at, does this person seem to have a unique way to say something that maybe the other people didn't? What are they going to add for my audience? So start off with just telling everybody. You know, I think one of the things that we don't do, not just as podcasters, but in general is tell people, hey, I'm doing this and make an ask. You have to be vulnerable, but go for it. Just go for it, go for it, go for it. And if people say no or they don't get back to you, you just go again. But work your network.

So how do you increase listeners then? That's the hard part, huh?

I increase listeners in a couple of ways. So again, work in my network. Right? So I'm Also a motivational speaker.

So.

So I put into all my talks now. Here's the link to the podcast and make sure I'm passing out something promotional for it. I also, early on went onto someone else's show for my launch. So I decided for my launch I was gonna be on someone else's show that's very popular and her audience knows me. And I gave away $150 off of one of my retreats if you left a review. And that immediately gave me, like, 40 reviews right up front. And reviews help you to get more reviews and help you to get more listeners. So think of something you could do that would be creative for your launch and that would help get the reviews coming in. And the other, I do two more things at the end of every episode. My tagline is, we are changing the world one woman at a time. And so to share this with mom, share this with the women at work. So I'm just constantly plugging that. We need to share this with everybody. And I already had a newsletter, and so really putting into the newsletter, putting into my other channels. Here's this week's episode. Here's this week's episode. Here's this week's episode. And I'll tell you, I was a little shy to do that on social media at first because I thought, oh, should I ruin my grid? You know, who cares? Tell everybody what you're doing and get it out there.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So how do you produce it in a professional way?

Oh, that's a good question. You should ask my husband.

You get a team, right?

Right. You get a team, and you get a husband or a wife or a partner or kid that's really interested in the back end. So I said to. My husband was a teacher for 20 years, and then when we got married, he was kind of burnt out on teaching. And I said, oh, why don't you come work the back end of my business? So when he suggested I have a podcast, I said, okay, let's go hire an editor. He said, no, I'll learn how to edit. And he loves it. I have asked him so many times, are you sure you don't want to get a professional editor? He loves it. So find someone who either is a professional. Get a team. Who either is a professional at it or who loves it, who wants to learn it. And he spends a lot of time on Facebook following all the podcast stuff. He spends a lot of time, goes to the podcast conference every year, really learning. And so it could be a kid, it could be someone you Find on upwork. If you love it, then try it. Otherwise, he does. And like I said, has upgraded our equipment four times. And I was like, really? Do we really need to spend money on that? And I just need to let go and trust him that he knows what he's doing and that the sound and that quality really matters.

Well, from my side of you, because I have a service company. Right. So if he's upgrading you, it's because he's making his job easier on himself.

Oh, that's probably true.

So let it go because you're helping him so he doesn't have to edit as much.

That's a great point. It's probably exactly what he's doing. Exactly.

So, yeah, go for it. It's not vanity because the equipment's cool. Trust me, if it wasn't good, he wouldn't do it. It will make more work for him.

Such a good point. You know, the other thing let me say with that is I stressed before I did it with like, well, what should the intro sound like? What should the outro sound like? Should I hire a voiceover to do it? Should I do it? And I kept saying to him, tell me the right answer. What's the right answer? And he was like, there is no one right answer. People do it all sorts of different ways. So this again is like, I just decided I'm going to save a little money and not hire a voiceover. I'm just going to do it myself. The first time I wrote it and it stuck. He put some music behind it and it has stuck. Might we change it one day? Maybe, but it's not hurting us for it to be my voice. Something I wrote in a matter of an hour or two. And that again is like, the perfect gets in the way of progress. And so I'm a recovering perfectionist. I'm a recovering perfect child. And that's my biggest lesson.

Yeah, well, you know, and there's no harm in changing it in the future if you decide it's not fitting you anymore. Right. That doesn't hurt. Totally. That's right. So how do you encourage engagement? You were talking a little bit about sharing and having a social share message, but what else do you do?

Yeah, so I have had a Facebook group for probably four years and just never knew what to do with it. But now that I have a podcast. Oh, wait, this is my community right now. I know what to do with it. I was building up for this moment. So I'm always encouraging our listeners to go back to the Facebook group to Join it. And then my team and I post several times every week on the group. So we have a motivational Monday, a question for women to answer. It's called Purpose Girls, the Women's Happiness Network. On Wednesday, we feature a member and we share all about her, which is people love. On Friday, we ask every woman to brag about something great she's done that week.

Oh, good for you, because that doesn't happen enough.

Amen, sister. Right, right. So we're all about the Friday brags and celebrating yourself and getting other women to celebrate each other. And I'm gonna start. We just created a schedule for me to start doing lives on there as well. So that's one way that we really have been wanting listeners to engage. And it's the biggest. And it has been the thing that has really increased our community. So again, it's all new. And I only figured out maybe like two months ago or three months ago. Oh, wait, I should use that as our community. And it's been wonderful to do. And then what I'm going to do is I also have a newsletter, and what I'm trying to do is really create that. It's one big community. I'm going to be launching the Women's Global Happiness summit with 20 expert speakers this summer. And I'm thinking of what's a creative way that I could do something on the podcast, something in the Facebook group, something on Instagram where we're really all saying we're one community. And I'm not sure what that is, but I think that the more we can engage a listener to be part of the overall community and part of the message, the better off we are.

Yeah. Yeah, Absolutely. Wonderful.

Oh, and I'm going to be doing my first live event, so that'll be another way to engage. My first live event is coming up. You mentioned in my intro, I created something called Women's Global Happiness Day, which is the first ever worldwide effort to empower women's happiness to eradicate the women's depression epidemic, because women are twice as many women are depressed as men, and all by learning positive psychology. And the first year was last year, and we had 98 small events on six continents in 19 countries. And so we're doing it again this year. But I'm going to hold a live event, so that'll be my first way to bring podcast listeners together for a live event coming up October 18th.

Ooh, exciting. Wow. You've got so much going on.

I love it.

So I'm going to say that then maybe the Answer to the next question is the best way to monetize your show is to do your own events, do your own things. Right?

Yeah. And I'm honestly learning. I'm learning what is the best way to monetize my show. So I have been totally amazed that I already have two sponsors. And I went to the podcast conference last year, and most of the people there said, you have to have 10,000 weekly downloads. And then one person, I wish I could remember who it was, because I would like to hug that person said, come up with a creative package put together. You can have a podcast. My social media, my newsletter, all these things together. So I said, okay. And so I put together a package, and that's how I was able then to get my first sponsor. And then when the second person approached me, I said, do you want this whole package? They said, no, we just want the podcast. Okay. And listen, I'm not retiring on sponsorship dollars.

Yes.

Okay.

No, most of us won't, because we'll be too discerning.

Right.

You should be discerning, and you won't take it, everybody. Right.

You should be discerning. And there's not a ton of money in it, especially when you start, but there are ways to at least get some of your equipment paid for and that kind of thing. And what can you offer to your podcast listeners? What do they love most that you then can do with them? And so I'll be launching an online course this summer. So I'll be doing the summit online course and then the first event. And I've really been following a friend of mine who also was a guest at some point, Sarah Dean, with the Shameless Mommy podcast. She's incredible. And she's, I think, a couple years ahead of me. And so I go, that's a great idea. Thank you, Sarah. You know, so then, listen, we should. I hope someone learns from me and I'll learn from them, and we all learn from each other. And that's the idea of this podcast.

Yeah. So I want to add a little plug so that you have a little context for everybody. So one of the reasons why Purpose Girl and shows that are focused on women audiences are more valuable is because there are not enough women podcasters. There are nine men to every woman podcaster. It's extreme.

Oh, my God, Tracy, I did not know that.

Yeah, I know. I just learned this recently. Nine for everyone. And so audiences for women across the board of everything. Because my background in business is in product. Right. So when I look at that, I know that women buy or control the influence those purchases across the board of services, of travel, of products, of everything that goes on out there at 85%.

Or more in industry.

So getting your brand in front of women is highly valuable. So if you can go on a podcast that really targets women and is focused on women, then you have a higher likelihood for success. Plus, podcast conversions on advertisements and sponsorship is much higher than any other media because most listeners say they don't mind an ad now and again because they've been served so wonderfully by their host.

Oh, that's so good to know. Thank you. Yes. I didn't even know that.

Yeah. If you taking a few sponsors means your show's gonna stick around, I'm gonna put up with it is what they say. In fact, I'm gonna support it because it means you'll be around for longer. So that's where the value is. So you've touched on something that and you really hit in the marketplace that's doing really well. So good for you.

Thank you.

So now we talked about you've been podcasting about a year. How many total shows?

60.

60.

So it's been one year and one month. Wonderful.

Yeah. So what advice do you have for someone who wants to start a show?

Spend a little bit of time getting quiet and really checking in with your why. And what that means is what do you want every single listener to feel once they've heard your show? What do you want them to experience? What do you want them to have or get in life? What's your biggest dream and desire for them? And what can you offer for them to get that? And it's got to come from an altruistic. Yeah, we all want to make money. We all want to do great things. We all want to be on Oprah Super Soul Sunday. Okay, I do. Maybe half of you do. But really there has to be purpose behind it because people feel it. And then once you have some clarity on that, you don't need clarity on the exact. Is it going to be a 30 minute show or a 60 minute show? What kind of intro and outro? Try something. Start, just start. And then you will get a feel for it and then you will hone it and then it will get better and better and better. But I waited two years and I think what could have happened? How many more lives could I have impacted in those two years? So just start. But I think the most important thing is get that clarity. Get a good microphone, a pop filter, all of that. If you're not into the editing game, go On Fiverr. Get yourself an editor and then just start.

Yeah.

Absolutely. Well, thank you for that. So what has becoming a center of influence, becoming a person of authority. How has the podcast accelerated that for you? Has it got you more speaking stages? What has it gotten for you in terms of that raise of authority?

So what it's gotten for me is more people knowing who I am, what I do. I have gotten more coaching inquiries from it. I have not yet gotten more speaking inquiries. What I have gotten are I get emails from people all over the world, and if they're joining my community, I know that at some point, Maybe they'll spend $5, but at least they'll be part of, you know. But then the building of the community will end up creating. Whether it's coaching now we're going to create the course, the event, that kind of a thing. And I know that it will get me more speaking, and I know that it will get me the book publishers and everything else that I want. And that's why something I have to remind myself all the time with podcasting is to be patient. Slow and steady wins the race. One of my dear friends, her grandfather is Eastern European, and he would always say to her, patience, patience. So I say that to myself, Patience, patience. And that just keep building slowly. And it will come.

Yeah, it will. It will. Definitely. We see that it's. I call it a platform rise. So if you, you know, you want to speak on a bigger stage, people think you can just hop onto that big stage, but you really can't. You got to start out with platform heels, then move yourself up to the riser. And if you can get it to grow itself underneath you, which is what a podcast does, then all the better. Now you're not even actively working on. You're doing what you love, which is talking to people, impacting people, and it's building itself for you.

Exactly. And more people are finding me because of it. So I don't. No one's called and said, oh, I heard your podcast. Will you come speak? What it's doing is building credibility. It's building a name it gets because we post it everywhere from YouTube to LinkedIn. It's getting more people. Our newsletter list has been growing. My Facebook group has been growing, and so we've gotten a couple of sponsors. So all of that, like you said, it's building the platform, and it feels really good.

Great. So where can our readers find you? Where can our listeners find you on social media?

You can find me@purposegirl.com. that's my website and on Facebook. Any woman out there to join our community would love to have you just look up Purpose Girls. It's one word. Purpose Girls, colon, the Women's Happiness Network. But if you just do Purpose Girls, you'll find us. And then on social media, on Instagram, it's my name. It's not Purpose Girl. And my name is spelled kind of funky, C A R I N R O C K I N D. But I imagine that that's in the show notes. Yep, it'll be there.

That's right. We'll make sure everybody gets that.

So those are the places in LinkedIn by my name. So all those places. And then of course, the podcast is the Purpose Girl podcast. Purpose Girl being one word.

So you mentioned Oprah as being someone you'd love to interview. That or you'd love to be on her show too, which is all the better too. Is there anyone else? Is there someone obviously living who you just love to have as a guest because their message for happiness is so valuable?

Yeah, My short list, Brene Brown, who I've gone ahead and asked to be part of Women's Global Happiness Day. And a couple of things, and I don't even know that it's made it to her and hasn't made it past her team yet. But I'm going to ask and keep asking, why not?

Right?

So Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert. Yes, my Oprah. Glennon Doyle.

Those are some of the women that I just really I admire. And what I admire about them is how they are that mix of putting themselves out personally and, you know, sharing the great content, but really putting themselves out personally. And there are so many others and I'm excited about them. Regina Thomashauer, do you know her?

I don't.

Oh, my goddess. Regina Thomashauer, also known as Mama Gina. She is one of my mentors and is short list. I'd probably put her above all those people. So her whole message is that a woman's power comes from her pussy. And I can say that because that is the name of her book, is a New York Times bestselling book, Pussy. And just the idea that pleasure is the source of a woman's power. And she's incredible. So I have this bookshelf behind me and probably all those women, Christiane Northrup and Marie Forleo and a whole bunch of them.

Yeah. Oh, you've named just so many tops.

So.

Well, let's get them all on. Honestly.

Rachel Hollis. Come on, girls, we're going.

Yeah, we can put a list together. Here. I love it. I love it, I love it. Is there anything else you want to share with me before we go?

I'll just add, I mean, thank you for what you're doing here, Tracy. It's so important that every single person discovers their voice and is out there speaking their truth. We live in a world where a lot of people are pretending and covering up and hiding behind masks and social media and filters to change their face and all that kind of stuff. And I think podcasting is such a unique way to make real connections. And I cannot tell you how many times since the gun robbery and doing this that I just want to be a center of influence. But every time I think that, I get caught up in how many likes did I get in, how popular am I? Oh, I'm not yet at Oprah level. And then when I do that, I become way less effective and I become depressed and anxious. And so the best way I'm finding, what do I know? I'm still working on it too. Right. We're all works in progress. The best way to become a center of influence is to just really focus on the influence, on the purpose, not the numbers. Just who do I want to impact and how. And when you do that, you'll feel so good and you will end up getting the result you want.

Yeah. Thank you, Karen. I really so appreciate you coming on the show and doing the article with me. I look forward to sharing your story and sharing your tips with everyone. So thank you again for that. I really appreciate everyone. The Purpose Girl podcast, you gotta tune in. It's really exciting. There's 60 episodes you can binge listen to so you can catch up on all things Karen and then get to know her better as she moves forward and get some of these great guests on her show. So thank you all for listening. This is Tracy Hazard on the center of Influence.

Thanks, Tracy.

You've been listening to the Binge Factor Podcast. For more information on podcasting and video casting success, tips and tactics, please go to thebingefactor.com and be sure to listen to our other show for podcasters called Feed you'd brand. If you'd like to be interviewed on this show as well as featured in Tracy's column, please go to thebingefactor.com guest and apply.