Thank you to my sponsor, LiquidWeb, for sponsoring this episode. I’ve been thinking about this milestone episode for a while now. I knew I was coming up on episode 150 and wanted to make sure it was a solo show so I could do a recap of what podcasting has done for myself and my business. I should be beyond episode 150 at this point (I had a few periods in the first couple of years where I had breaks in the show, unfortunately) but I’m here and it’s time to celebrate. I’ll be doing a live stream a few days after this episode goes live with some giveaways for my audience (you have to attend live to get the giveaways), so be sure to like my Facebook page and pay attention to the events!  Moving onto my Business & Life Lessons   Confidence I’ve always considered myself a pretty confident person, but it took a lot longer to get over the imposter syndrome in my business than I ever thought it would. For the first 5 years, I really struggled with “who I am to teach this, or talk about this” (this being WordPress) because I wasn’t a coder or programmer. Eventually, I took a strong stance from that place. I wasn’t a coder or programmer, but I had built a business around WordPress because of my love of WordPress. Plain and simple. As I figured things out I would share them. Simple, not rocket science, right? Yet for some reason, the simplest things aren't always the easiest things. I've said this many times and it bears repeating for this episode. I launched the podcast simply because I wanted to have more fun. I had zero expectations nor did I have a strategy. I just wanted to bring more of 'me' into my business and have fun while I did it (I was pretty deep in the thick of client work during this time and really feel like I needed something that was mine). The more I showed up as myself, the more the podcast grew. What I was saying was resonating with people and the feedback was beyond encouraging. Choosing to 'show up', be me, interview interesting people and let the rest work itself out was the best thing I could have done. Had I waited until I had a strategy for the podcast I can guarantee you it wouldn't have launched when it did. Podcasts weren't new, but there were far less at the time than there are today. Doing the podcast gave me the confidence I needed in my business to really show up. Connections & Relationships As much fun as I have doing the show, the connections, and relationships that have come out of the podcast is without a doubt the biggest gift of them all. It's so easy to get caught up in our businesses and just getting the work done. Sometimes taking the time to connect with people feels like a luxury or something we fit in after the work is done. Having the podcast has sort of 'forced' me to keep connecting with people and extend my relationships. You can scale your business on your own, but it's a lot more fun and happens much quicker when you have people to share it with and support you along the way. And at the end of the day, the podcast is a way to use the platform I've built to share someone else's message (or product or service). It's a genuine give for my guest and my audience. I truly feel giddy when I think about the people who have become friends simply by connecting through the podcast. They've made a difference in my life whether it was business advice, a good laugh or helping me to see something from a different perspective. It makes me feel like a little kid when I think about how many more awesome people I have yet to connect with.   Sh*t Happens... and it's O.K We've heard all the inspirational sayings like, "Fail hard, fail fast"... "It doesn't matter what happens to us, what matters is how we handle it." "If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you." You get the point. The challenge when you're going through something like this is that it can feel overwhelming, frustrating, and lonely.