What are the benefits of having support when you launch your podcast?   

Sharon Louca, host of the Connect, Unite, Empower podcast shares her experience working with me to launch her podcast in 2024.   

Sharon talks about how winning the prize draw to get her podcast launched gave her the push and accountability she needed.   

We delve into Sharon’s ‘why’, ways to maintain momentum, overcoming reservations about recording and her plans for Season 2 of the podcast.   

If you’re looking to launch your podcast and need some support and accountability, book a free 30 minute call with me for personalised advice.  

About Sharon 

Sharon Louca is the Founder and Host of the Womens Business Network a multi-award-winning online support network for female business owners.   

They support women running their own businesses through our online meetings, Facebook groups, our collaboration book project The Womens Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur and their newly launched Podcast Connect Unite Empower. 

 

Website - https://womensbusinessnetwork.co.uk 

Email: hello@womensbusinessnetwork.co.uk 

WBN Free FB Community  

WBN Community | Facebook 

Download our WBN Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur -  

Womens Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womensbusinessnetwork.uk/ 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womens-business-network-ltd/ 

If you have any questions or would like some help with your podcast, you can book a 30-min Free Session with me.

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Rachael Botfield: 00:00:08

Hi, and welcome to podcasting one on one with Rachael.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:12

This podcast is for busy female entrepreneurs who run their own

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:15

businesses and want to start a podcast or who may already have a podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:20

I want to share practical information and tips on how you can get your podcast

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:25

started and managing it along the way.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:27

I'll also be interviewing other female podcast hosts to give you

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:30

real insight into what it's like.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:32

Have Hi,

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:44

and welcome to this week's episode this week.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:48

I'm joined by Sharon Louca, who is the founder and host of the Women's

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:53

Business Network, which is multi award winning, which is amazing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:57

And the host of the Connect, Unite, Empower podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:00

So welcome Sharon.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:03

Thank you.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:03

Thanks for having me on Rachael.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:04

It's lovely to have you here and come and chat about your podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:08

So let's start with, just tell us a little bit more about you and what you

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:12

do with the Women's Business Network and of course about your podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:16

So

Sharon Louca: 00:01:17

I started out in business 15 years ago and Started

Sharon Louca: 00:01:20

a business completely from scratch.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:22

I've got no clients, no contacts.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:24

So thankfully I discovered in my very early days, business networking

Sharon Louca: 00:01:29

and everything changed from there.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:31

I had a full client list and I moved into office premises in 2014.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:36

And had my own meeting room.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:38

So it just seemed the ideal opportunity to start my own networking events.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:42

So I used to host monthly in person events to people in my local network.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:48

And then when the pandemic happened, we had to go online.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:52

I ran free weekly online sessions for my members.

Sharon Louca: 00:01:55

And we then suddenly grew this audience both nationally and internationally.

Sharon Louca: 00:02:00

And Very bizarre at the time.

Sharon Louca: 00:02:03

And I think it just helped me to recognize that I loved the networking side of my

Sharon Louca: 00:02:08

business and wanted to do something more.

Sharon Louca: 00:02:11

I'd always wanted to expand it, but couldn't, hadn't quite

Sharon Louca: 00:02:13

sort of decided how to do that.

Sharon Louca: 00:02:15

So when the pandemic happened, it gave me the opportunity and I launched

Sharon Louca: 00:02:19

it as its own limited company then.

Sharon Louca: 00:02:22

And I've been supporting women online for the last three and

Sharon Louca: 00:02:25

a half years, which has been

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:26

fantastic.

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:27

Yeah, that is fantastic.

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:29

I think COVID was such a changing point for online networking

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:34

as a whole because we all knew that we needed to do something.

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:37

And I know from listening to your podcast episodes like from guests

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:41

and from your initial one, there was definitely that need there for

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:44

people, especially running businesses.

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:47

I mean, I hadn't started mine then, but I can imagine it'd be, I mean,

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:50

it was a scary time for everybody, you know, work concerned as well as

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:53

personal, but yeah, great opportunity.

Rachael Botfield: 00:02:57

To grow and see that need for people having that kind

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:00

of online support, really.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:02

Yeah, no, definitely.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:03

And it was really just, it was at the request of my members because we had

Sharon Louca: 00:03:07

our last meeting on the Friday before we went into lockdown the following week.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:11

And so there was sort of, word was about that something was happening

Sharon Louca: 00:03:15

and we might have to stay at home.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:17

And it was just, my members said, is there anything we could do somehow online?

Sharon Louca: 00:03:21

So I wasn't really aware of Zoom at that time.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:24

It was all something completely new.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:25

I hadn't done online networking, although I then got to learn that it

Sharon Louca: 00:03:29

had been going on prior to the pandemic.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:31

And it just, it was just that way of really supporting each other

Sharon Louca: 00:03:35

through really uncertain times.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:37

So we'd have one person in tears one week, and then the next week they'd be

Sharon Louca: 00:03:41

the one who was lifting everybody else up because they were having a better week.

Sharon Louca: 00:03:44

So yeah, it was a really strange time, but we were really grateful that we

Sharon Louca: 00:03:48

had that online platform where we could all go and support each other.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:51

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:53

I know my friend Hayley Hudson, who's a VA, she started the VA lounge

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:57

precisely for that reason that she needed, she has like a coffee lounge

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:01

for like, she calls it like VA sanity, but that's what they needed.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:05

Those people that were running their online businesses and suddenly the

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:08

pandemic happened and, you know, having that ability to be able to reach

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:13

out and do that has been incredibly.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:15

And, since I started mine I haven't done it in the midst of the

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:19

pandemic, but it's been so valuable.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:22

I just thought networking was this like stuffy thing that, you know, you have to

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:27

go to and put your suit on and do your business card, all of that kind of stuff.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:32

When actually that's completely not the case.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:34

And, you know, my eyes have been completely opened now,

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:37

so, which I think is great.

Sharon Louca: 00:04:39

That's what it was like.

Sharon Louca: 00:04:40

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:04:40

I was going to say, that's what it was like when I started 15 years ago.

Sharon Louca: 00:04:43

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:04:43

Very stuffy and hand your business cards out, but yeah, thankfully

Sharon Louca: 00:04:47

it's all all changed since

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:49

then.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:49

Yes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:49

Yes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:49

Absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:50

Thankfully.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:51

So.

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:53

So you've recently launched your Connect, Unite, Empower podcast, which is all

Rachael Botfield: 00:04:57

about showcasing networking and the benefits of having it for your business.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:03

And especially for women out there that might be starting new or not really

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:08

part of a network out there to show you exactly how, and we've just got it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:12

Chatted a little bit about how valuable that support can be.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:15

So why did you want to start a podcast, you know, from, from your business?

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:19

Why did you feel like you wanted to create a podcast to support

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:22

your networking business?

Sharon Louca: 00:05:24

It was something that I've been thinking of for a couple of years, to

Sharon Louca: 00:05:26

be honest, before what happened happened, but and I think it was just a way for me

Sharon Louca: 00:05:31

that I was meeting people who were already in the networking scene and already knew

Sharon Louca: 00:05:37

about networking, but I wanted to be able to reach those people who hadn't

Sharon Louca: 00:05:41

discovered networking or that had and dipped their toe and had been frightened

Sharon Louca: 00:05:45

away because they'd had a bad experience.

Sharon Louca: 00:05:47

So I saw the podcast as an opportunity to reach other people to.

Sharon Louca: 00:05:52

To let them know that the benefits that there are of networking and how everything

Sharon Louca: 00:05:57

has evolved over the last few years, and that there is that support out there, if

Sharon Louca: 00:06:02

you're sitting at home running a business on your own, you don't have to do it alone

Sharon Louca: 00:06:06

and all the challenges that you're facing, there is support out there to help you.

Sharon Louca: 00:06:10

And through the podcast, I hope we can get that message out and also just

Sharon Louca: 00:06:15

Really focus on some of the key issues that people do experience in running a

Sharon Louca: 00:06:19

business so that people listening know that they're not, they're not alone.

Sharon Louca: 00:06:23

They're not the only, this is not a unique thing that's only happening to them that

Sharon Louca: 00:06:27

we, many of us have experienced it and we can share our knowledge and experience

Sharon Louca: 00:06:31

and how we overcome those challenges.

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:33

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:34

Podcasting is such a great way to do that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:36

To reach a new audience, to reach the people that, you know, may not just

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:40

discover you through social media.

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:43

You know, that's one thing we know podcasts are great for and having,

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:47

hearing that personal experience as well can really, that's what you want to get

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:52

your message across really, isn't it?

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:53

And that really does help.

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:55

A lot of podcasts tell stories and I think that those kind of stories are

Rachael Botfield: 00:06:58

really important, especially as business owners, that you can hear those, hear the

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:02

experience, especially if you're somebody that has been, you know, maybe coming

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:06

from the corporate space into the online space and then realizing that it's not

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:10

the stuffy way that it is, like I did.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:13

I mean, this was only three years ago and I, that's exactly what I

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:16

thought it was, that kind of thing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:18

Also run by men.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:20

No offence to any men listening I know lots of good men, but that's, you know,

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:24

what conjures up in the mind and I can, you know, see why it could be off putting.

Sharon Louca: 00:07:30

And I think as well, when people perhaps network through

Sharon Louca: 00:07:34

their corporate employed role, it's a very different experience

Sharon Louca: 00:07:38

because you're representing a company, a brand, you're talking

Sharon Louca: 00:07:41

about something outside of yourself.

Sharon Louca: 00:07:43

Whereas then if you suddenly start your own business and you've got

Sharon Louca: 00:07:45

to network, you are the business.

Sharon Louca: 00:07:47

So it's a whole different experience then.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:50

So what did you find were your biggest challenges to

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:54

getting started with your podcast?

Sharon Louca: 00:07:56

It was definitely the technical side.

Sharon Louca: 00:07:58

I had no shortage of people that I could interview.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:01

I I think when I thought about it two years ago, props was a little bit

Sharon Louca: 00:08:06

nervous about, about holding the, the interviews, but I knew that I'd be able

Sharon Louca: 00:08:11

to overcome that and I, I even recorded three episodes about 18 months ago that

Sharon Louca: 00:08:17

I still sat on my computer somewhere.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:19

I.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:19

But I think for me, it was just that technical side of getting it

Sharon Louca: 00:08:23

connected to the right platforms, recording your intro and your outro,

Sharon Louca: 00:08:27

getting your music and everything.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:28

And all that just seemed, and I'd speak to people and say, it's really

Sharon Louca: 00:08:32

easy and I'm not technical and I can do it, but I just couldn't get

Sharon Louca: 00:08:35

my head round and probably didn't.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:38

Give it the time to, to try and be able to do it myself.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:41

So it just sort of got shelved really.

Sharon Louca: 00:08:43

But it was always there in the back of my mind that I knew I would do it at some

Sharon Louca: 00:08:46

point, but it just always seemed to get pushed to the back back of the to do list.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:50

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:50

I do hear that a lot about the tech things and it isn't that

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:53

you're not capable of doing it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:55

And like you say, it's always finding the time as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:57

For context, I probably should have mentioned this at the

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:59

beginning of the episode.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:00

Sharon won my, was the winner of.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:03

The prize draw that I ran before Christmas in 2023 to win getting

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:09

your podcast launch for free in 2024.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:12

So Sharon won, which was amazing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:15

So that's how we've been working together.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:17

So I've been helping and supporting Sharon in getting her podcast launched and.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:22

Like one of the things, like you said, is the tech side of things and having

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:27

somebody to support you with those kind of things, just giving you that advice.

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:31

Do you think there was more to the process of podcasting than you thought there was

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:35

when you started, when we started going down the process or were you already

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:39

pretty aware of what was involved?

Rachael Botfield: 00:09:42

I had some

Sharon Louca: 00:09:43

knowledge, I think and I think that's why when I was at that

Sharon Louca: 00:09:46

networking event and you said that there was a competition to, to win, and I just

Sharon Louca: 00:09:51

knew I was like, right, I'm entering that.

Sharon Louca: 00:09:54

That is for me.

Sharon Louca: 00:09:55

I want to win.

Sharon Louca: 00:09:56

I definitely manifested it.

Sharon Louca: 00:09:58

So when I got your email to say I won, I was over the moon because I

Sharon Louca: 00:10:01

thought this is the nudge and the help that I needed to, to be able to

Sharon Louca: 00:10:05

finally get this podcast launched.

Sharon Louca: 00:10:08

So with

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:08

the challenges that you said about the tech and the

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:10

recording and things like that, and then you also felt a little bit nervous

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:14

about recording the episodes, and I know you talked about as now listen to

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:18

your episodes that, you know, that's something that you struggled with and

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:22

have overcome in your networking as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:25

So do you feel like.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:27

All of that just kind of came together when you started making your podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:30

You were able to like, draw on your experiences during your networking and

Sharon Louca: 00:10:34

Yes, I think definitely when I look back to recording those

Sharon Louca: 00:10:38

first few, I call them episodes, but they were just literally recordings.

Sharon Louca: 00:10:42

I do remember feeling, not feeling very comfortable with it.

Sharon Louca: 00:10:45

And then I think 18 months down the line, the fact that I host my own

Sharon Louca: 00:10:49

network and I've done, I do a lot more recording of videos now than I was then.

Sharon Louca: 00:10:55

And I think just the whole putting yourself out there more just really helped

Sharon Louca: 00:11:00

me to feel a little bit more comfortable with the recording side of things.

Sharon Louca: 00:11:04

So that I have really enjoyed.

Sharon Louca: 00:11:06

And so literally for me was literally just all that technical setup and being

Sharon Louca: 00:11:12

able to get, get those episodes out there.

Sharon Louca: 00:11:14

That was the biggest challenge for me.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:16

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:17

I remember when you said you were nervous.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:18

And when I listened to the episodes, it didn't come across in that way at all.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:22

I thought your networking and, you know, running your own business

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:26

network has, has put you in great stead for doing the episodes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:30

I didn't feel that you know, but I thought you were really quite

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:32

natural when you were doing it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:34

So that's, that's great.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:35

I know recently at the time the episode was recording, you had

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:38

just, you've just got up and did a big speaking event as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:41

Yes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:42

Just to digress slightly, but I know that was a really big really big win for you.

Sharon Louca: 00:11:46

Yes.

Sharon Louca: 00:11:47

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:11:47

And I think the fact, and I think that again was because I knew I'd

Sharon Louca: 00:11:50

got this big speaking event coming up that suddenly the podcasting didn't

Sharon Louca: 00:11:55

seem quite so frightening anymore, because that was like the easy option

Sharon Louca: 00:11:59

compared to having to stand up on stage in front of a room full of people.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:02

So that I think definitely contributed to the confidence

Sharon Louca: 00:12:06

on the podcasting recording.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:07

But I think it's like with anything and what I've always

Sharon Louca: 00:12:10

found that I've always had to do.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:12

Because I was very shy and lacked confidence in the early days, I've

Sharon Louca: 00:12:16

always had to think about and prepare what I was always going to say, even

Sharon Louca: 00:12:20

down to preparing my 60 seconds.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:21

I used to have to type them out and read them because the nerves

Sharon Louca: 00:12:24

would just get the better of me.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:25

And there was no way I could, I could say it so people

Sharon Louca: 00:12:28

understood without reading it.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:30

And for my episode, I really thought about and sort of prepared a bit of an outline

Sharon Louca: 00:12:36

script of what I wanted to say, because I think it's just that If you do get

Sharon Louca: 00:12:40

nervous, your mind can go blank, can't it?

Sharon Louca: 00:12:42

And you just want to, you just want to make sure that you get all the key

Sharon Louca: 00:12:45

points that you want to want to to get into the episode, make sure that you

Sharon Louca: 00:12:49

you, you say everything you want to say.

Sharon Louca: 00:12:51

So like with everything and the same with preparing for my My speech, when

Sharon Louca: 00:12:55

I stood up and spoke, that was five weeks of preparation and practicing.

Sharon Louca: 00:13:01

And every single time it was different, but I just literally bullet pointed

Sharon Louca: 00:13:05

the key areas that I needed to cover so that I knew that there was,

Sharon Louca: 00:13:09

and that included stories as well.

Sharon Louca: 00:13:11

So it's always easier when you're telling stories of experiences that

Sharon Louca: 00:13:14

you've been through, because you can recall those and talk about them

Sharon Louca: 00:13:17

without having to worry about a script.

Sharon Louca: 00:13:19

So yeah, yeah, we're, we're, Quite a lot of preparation has always

Sharon Louca: 00:13:23

had to go into it beforehand.

Sharon Louca: 00:13:25

But I think it's because you, I just always want to be able

Sharon Louca: 00:13:28

to deliver something of value.

Sharon Louca: 00:13:29

So, I like to put the time and effort into preparing and

Sharon Louca: 00:13:33

thinking about what I want to talk

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:34

about.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:35

Yeah, and I do think it's important, especially, you know, when you're creating

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:38

the episodes, is that you're, you know, You know, you're thinking about the

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:41

message that you want to get across.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:43

You're, you know, you're creating this podcast with an ideal listener in mind,

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:49

and you want to make sure that the information that you're sharing is as

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:52

relevant and useful to them as possible.

Rachael Botfield: 00:13:55

And if that means scripting out, some, some people are able to

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:00

do it off the top of their head, depending on, on what the topic is.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:04

I, myself, I don't, I don't I don't script them out there are certain phrases

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:08

that I might want to, like, script out and I have bullet points, but you're

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:10

right, having those main highlighter key points that you know you can keep coming

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:15

back to, to keep, to refocus you, to make sure that you're keeping on track.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:19

So that is something to, to bear in mind, you know, when, if you're the

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:24

one starting your podcast, is to think about how you best And perhaps as you

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:28

continue in podcasting, it evolves as with everything that you do that you, the

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:32

more comfortable you become, the easier it is to get that information across.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:36

But it is, I think it's always nice to have those bullet points there

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:40

to be able to refocus yourself.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:42

I mean, I have my bullet points here for this episode as well to make sure that

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:46

I'm asking the right kind of questions.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:49

I want to be able to share, you know, the knowledge that we want to share.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:52

with everyone who's listening.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:54

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:14:54

And I think that's important because I think it is easy because

Sharon Louca: 00:14:57

it is, it is very relaxed, isn't it?

Sharon Louca: 00:14:59

Podcasting.

Sharon Louca: 00:14:59

It is literally having a conversation and having a chat.

Sharon Louca: 00:15:02

And I think that's why you, you want to make sure that it isn't just you

Sharon Louca: 00:15:07

having a nice little chat and not, not delivering the value that you want to

Sharon Louca: 00:15:11

and the impact that you want to make

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:13

through it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:13

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:14

Cause it is.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:15

It is quite easy to, to, to digress and, and although it's really nice to, to go

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:22

down an avenue that perhaps you might not have thought where it was going to

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:25

take you, and obviously it does depend on the topic and the type of podcast

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:29

that you're putting out there, but yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:31

important to think, am I, am I then going to bring it back around to,

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:35

you know, the, the salt, the, the reason why you wanted to, to create

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:39

this episode in the first place?

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:40

Yes.

Sharon Louca: 00:15:41

Yeah, definitely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:43

So what do you think the benefits have been of having

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:47

somebody to support you through the whole process as opposed to you deciding to

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:52

take those steps to do it on your own?

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:54

It's

Sharon Louca: 00:15:55

made a huge difference because I think left to my own devices,

Sharon Louca: 00:15:59

I'd still have recorded episodes sitting on a file somewhere and

Sharon Louca: 00:16:02

probably wouldn't have found the time to to get them, get them out there.

Sharon Louca: 00:16:06

So it's made it, it's, it has enabled me to launch my podcast basically.

Sharon Louca: 00:16:11

It's just yeah, yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:16:12

It's made such a huge difference.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:14

Do you think as well?

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:15

So, because you've obviously then when you won the prize, you

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:18

had that commitment, didn't you?

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:19

You've then got this commitment to doing it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:21

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:22

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:23

And do you find the, because I know we had calls kind of every

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:26

couple of weeks, didn't we?

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:27

Like we, we had those kind of calls.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:30

initial kind of strategy calls and how we were going to work it out.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:33

Did you find those calls helpful?

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:35

Did you think that what we had, because I know they've kind of got shorter as

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:39

we've gone on because we, there's less to kind of, that we need to touch on than in

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:43

the beginning because you know, you then know exactly what you need to get done.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:48

Do you think those calls really Benefited you in getting an idea

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:52

of what the whole process was?

Sharon Louca: 00:16:55

Definitely.

Sharon Louca: 00:16:55

And I think right from the first call we had, you were very

Sharon Louca: 00:16:58

clear in what your process was.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:00

I love the way you got the Trello board that we shared so we could communicate

Sharon Louca: 00:17:05

anything you needed from me, or I could see what was, what was planned for when.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:09

And I think the fact that we'd decided on a launch date and then we tracked back

Sharon Louca: 00:17:13

with the calendar of what had got to be done when it just really helped me to

Sharon Louca: 00:17:17

focus and make sure that I, I recorded.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:20

It's recorded in time so that there was the time for you to do all the editing

Sharon Louca: 00:17:24

and everything before we, we launched it.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:26

And whilst we'd, I think when we probably spoke initially, it was like, well,

Sharon Louca: 00:17:30

we'll aim to launch on this date, but it was almost as though that w that

Sharon Louca: 00:17:35

was always going to happen, wasn't it?

Sharon Louca: 00:17:36

I think because you've got that process in place, it wasn't a,

Sharon Louca: 00:17:39

we'd like to do it on that day.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:40

This is how it's going to work and it will happen.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:43

And it did happen.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:44

So I think, I think the way you've, you've set up your process has been fantastic.

Sharon Louca: 00:17:48

and I think the The way that we've had those check in calls has just helped

Sharon Louca: 00:17:53

me to, to make sure that I'm on top of everything I need to be giving

Sharon Louca: 00:17:56

to you and understanding where we're at and anything I needed to approve.

Sharon Louca: 00:18:00

The whole process has just been really seamless and that's why I've shouted

Sharon Louca: 00:18:04

about it several times on social media.

Sharon Louca: 00:18:06

It has been a really, really good experience.

Sharon Louca: 00:18:09

I'm

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:10

really, really pleased you've had a good experience.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:12

I, I always think having that schedule, that timeline in place and knowing

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:16

exactly when you need to get things done by, I mean, For myself, for this

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:20

podcast, that's what I do for myself.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:22

I have key dates in my diary and have them in my schedule.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:26

And, and I think that those are key.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:28

That kind of planning is, is key to, to succeeding with any project that

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:33

you're doing, whether it's podcasting or anything else that you want to do

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:35

in your business to make sure that you have that accountability as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:39

And sometimes it is just having that accountability, isn't it?

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:42

And having those things And almost sometimes when someone else is helping you

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:47

do it, it's almost easier than having to do it yourself because you're not the one.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:52

And it's making those decisions as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:55

You know, when you choose to dive in, when you haven't got someone to be

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:58

accountable, you know, you can always kind of move the goalposts slightly and

Sharon Louca: 00:19:01

that's going to say business when you're working on

Sharon Louca: 00:19:04

your own, if there is always that, Oh, well, I won't do that today.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:07

I'll leave it till tomorrow.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:08

Or whatever.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:09

Whereas it is always nice when you're working with somebody

Sharon Louca: 00:19:12

that, you know, That that you've got that structure in place and

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:16

it will be followed.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:17

I like that as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:18

There is, I think there's a lot to be said about that because I, you know,

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:22

when we all have those busy days, you know, you push things when actually

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:25

maybe you just then scuppered yourself for something else and you think,

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:28

actually, I shouldn't have done that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:30

But you know, there are lessons that we live and learn, don't

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:32

we, in business, everything.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:33

Changes sometimes in our, what we've got, time we've got to do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:38

How have you enjoyed creating your first season of your podcasts?

Sharon Louca: 00:19:42

I've loved it.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:43

It's got, it's, I can't believe how quickly it's gone.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:45

It has gone awfully quickly.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:47

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:48

It's gone really quickly.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:49

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:49

And yeah, I'm just excited to continue with it really.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:53

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:19:53

Yeah, I think when we, when we said, and you said like the first six episodes,

Sharon Louca: 00:19:57

and I thought it can't just be a one off six and then I don't do anything else.

Sharon Louca: 00:20:02

Cause I think when you've put that effort and work into it, you just

Sharon Louca: 00:20:05

think you want it to continue, want it to continue offering the value.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:08

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:10

That was what I was going to, one thing I was going to ask is like, I know we

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:13

have chatted and you said that you, you want to carry on the momentum.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:17

How have you felt with cause I know some people start their podcast and

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:21

they do a weekly one or perhaps they do you know, a continuous one or

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:24

episodic, I think they call it an apple.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:26

So, or choose to do it in seasons.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:28

And we've done this one as a six part series.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:30

Do you think that that was the way that you would continue or do you

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:34

think that you would, you know, try something different or how,

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:38

what are your feelings about that?

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:39

I think the

Sharon Louca: 00:20:40

way we did it where we launched a fortnightly episode,

Sharon Louca: 00:20:43

I think I would certainly do.

Sharon Louca: 00:20:46

That as a minimum, I wouldn't do it.

Sharon Louca: 00:20:47

I, I don't think I'd want to commit myself to a weekly one.

Sharon Louca: 00:20:50

I've got contacts who, who literally are dropping a seat a new episode every week.

Sharon Louca: 00:20:56

And I just think the thought of , of the pressure of having to do that

Sharon Louca: 00:21:00

felt a little bit too, too much unless you're in, in this position

Sharon Louca: 00:21:04

where you've got a good batch of of recordings already to, to work through.

Sharon Louca: 00:21:09

So I think it would be either a, a fortnightly, episode, or again, perhaps

Sharon Louca: 00:21:14

do another six, six episode series.

Sharon Louca: 00:21:17

But yeah, I think if I, if I end up going it alone, it's like, Oh, that

Sharon Louca: 00:21:22

this, that you've kept me accountable.

Sharon Louca: 00:21:24

And it's like, could I, could I keep myself accountable to, to do it?

Sharon Louca: 00:21:29

So I think, I think sometimes it is that you would need to, if

Sharon Louca: 00:21:34

you go in it alone, you've got to make that commitment to do it.

Sharon Louca: 00:21:37

Yeah, absolutely.

Sharon Louca: 00:21:38

And you all know this from obviously you've got your podcast, so.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:41

Yeah, it is.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:41

And I think like one of the biggest things that I tend to say to people

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:44

who want to launch podcasts is having that time in your business.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:48

Like you say, it is a commitment and making sure that you're

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:52

able to dedicate that time.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:54

That time that it, it needs to take to, to do your podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:57

I mean, lots of people run their podcasts themselves, you know, successfully

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:01

and, and because now you've had this experience, you know what's involved,

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:05

you know what needs to be done.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:06

Mm-Hmm.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:06

So you have got all that experience and skills from this, you know, the

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:12

series that you've just created.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:13

So that will, you know, stand you in good stead.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:16

And I think that you know, it's something that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:22

You know, you, you and also you've got these six episodes, now you've

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:25

got all that awesome content with your episodes and you can

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:30

repurpose those episodes as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:33

You know, whilst you are, you know, coming up with your next season

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:36

or deciding what you're gonna move forward with your podcast as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:38

'cause that's one thing that I do that's easy to forget for everybody

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:42

is about repurposing those episodes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:45

Yeah and I

Sharon Louca: 00:22:45

think it's remembering as well that podcasting is another form

Sharon Louca: 00:22:48

of marketing your business, isn't it?

Sharon Louca: 00:22:50

So again, it's, it's, it's time that it's important time that you can dedicate to

Sharon Louca: 00:22:56

another arm of your marketing strategy.

Sharon Louca: 00:22:58

So yeah, it is, I think just, just making that, setting that intention and setting

Sharon Louca: 00:23:04

that time aside to make sure that that it

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:07

does continue.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:07

I mean, we.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:09

We all set time aside for, like I say, for our marketing activities and having

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:15

a podcast is like, so for example, so the way that I use my podcast, it is my kind

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:20

of theme, my pillar for, for my content.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:23

So I've created that content once you don't, I don't have

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:26

to go think about more ideas.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:28

for my content because I'm using my podcast as that,

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:32

that basis for the content.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:33

Although there is that extra element of the production side of things

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:38

with the podcast, but I'm not doing it twice in effect of having to

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:42

think of other stuff for production.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:44

Social media as, as well as my podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:46

And it's not just every episode.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:47

It's not every post is like, listen to this, listen to this.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:50

It's, you know, pulling those key things that you've already

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:53

talked about in your experience.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:54

And then using those as, you know, jump off points for other

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:57

bits and pieces for your content.

Sharon Louca: 00:23:59

Yeah, no, that's right.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:00

It's funny.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:01

I was on a networking meeting this morning and there was a lady on there who does

Sharon Louca: 00:24:04

videos and she said exactly the same.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:06

You can record a video, but then you can do so many things with it.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:09

Like you say, social media posts, potentially a blog post.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:12

You could cut the video down.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:14

into small snippets and things.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:15

So yeah, yeah, it's yeah, it's the same.

Sharon Louca: 00:24:18

Does that again?

Sharon Louca: 00:24:18

It's

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:19

the time, isn't it in an ideal world, but I mean, it's

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:25

something that, you know, we all striving to do with our businesses

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:30

is create those bits and pieces.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:32

You know, sometimes we feel we have to do it immediately or straight away.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:35

It's not something that you're ever going to lose.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:37

You've always got those podcast episodes and they will always be there ready for

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:40

you, you know, do little bits on and take little bits from as you go ahead.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:46

So they're always going to be, be there.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:48

I know your episodes will always be, you know, the evergreen, they're always

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:52

there sharing your experiences and your guests talking about their experiences and

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:56

networking, the things they've learned.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:58

All those kind of advice and tips that they're sharing, they're

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:01

all evergreen for anybody that

Sharon Louca: 00:25:03

wants to do.

Sharon Louca: 00:25:03

And I suppose that's the nice thing against your social media posts, that they

Sharon Louca: 00:25:07

just sort of get lost, don't they, after, in some cases, within minutes, can't

Sharon Louca: 00:25:13

they, they can disappear and you know.

Sharon Louca: 00:25:14

That leads on to the next thing.

Sharon Louca: 00:25:16

But but yeah, that is nice to have that evergreen content there, but like you

Sharon Louca: 00:25:20

say, new people will discover you at new times and be able to learn from

Sharon Louca: 00:25:24

the content that you've put out there.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:26

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:27

I do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:27

I do like that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:29

I do like that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:30

Have you got any.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:32

Lessons you've learned for the future.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:34

I suppose you've already touched on that a bit about knowing you don't want

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:37

to drop the momentum of the podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:39

Is that kind of like one of the biggest takeaways?

Sharon Louca: 00:25:41

Yeah, I think, I think what I am so grateful for

Sharon Louca: 00:25:44

is that you have, have started me on this journey that I don't think

Sharon Louca: 00:25:48

I would have started on my own.

Sharon Louca: 00:25:49

I, it's always something I wanted to do, but I think, I think in hindsight, it

Sharon Louca: 00:25:55

probably wouldn't have happened because I'd have had another look at the tech and

Sharon Louca: 00:25:58

thought, no, too, too much like hard work.

Sharon Louca: 00:26:00

I won't bother again.

Sharon Louca: 00:26:03

So, yeah, no, I'm just really grateful for what, what you've done, how

Sharon Louca: 00:26:06

you've, how you've helped me and, and even just, just sort of learning more

Sharon Louca: 00:26:11

about the process and how it works and, and how you set things up with,

Sharon Louca: 00:26:15

with your intro and your outro and, and show notes and things like that.

Sharon Louca: 00:26:19

It's just been a really good learning experience.

Sharon Louca: 00:26:21

So no, thank you very

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:22

much.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:22

Oh, you're welcome.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:23

It's been lovely working with you.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:25

I think.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:25

When you know those things now it does take away some of that

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:29

initial fear and overwhelm that you've got when it comes to it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:33

Because those are the kind of things that you don't need to worry

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:35

about now for your next season.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:37

You've already got those, you already know what those are and how you do them.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:41

So I think that, I mean it's the same with anything isn't it, once you start doing

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:44

it and learning more about it you've got, it gets rid of some of those, your fears

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:49

and stuff that you had to, to begin with.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:52

Yes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:52

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:52

I'd love to ask you just one last question.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:55

Have you got any advice for anybody that's looking to launch

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:59

a podcast for their business?

Sharon Louca: 00:27:01

As I say, I am so pleased that my podcast is finally launched.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:05

So I think if it is something that That people are like me have looked

Sharon Louca: 00:27:10

at it and haven't done anything with it, then definitely find somebody

Sharon Louca: 00:27:15

like come to Rachael and get her to help you to get everything set up.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:20

Because I think if you, if you, if you.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:23

sort of just looking at it and you just don't know where to, where to

Sharon Louca: 00:27:26

turn, then definitely go to somebody to help you at least get started.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:30

Then potentially they can, they can train you to, to be able

Sharon Louca: 00:27:34

to manage it yourself on going.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:35

But just that initial sort of setup means that now I've got, I've, I've got sort of

Sharon Louca: 00:27:41

things that I can work with to hopefully ensure that, that I can continue with a

Sharon Louca: 00:27:45

regular, a regular Series and episodes.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:48

Yeah.

Sharon Louca: 00:27:48

Brilliant.

Rachael Botfield: 00:27:49

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:27:49

And Thank you for your kind words.

Rachael Botfield: 00:27:51

I really appreciate it, Sharon.

Rachael Botfield: 00:27:53

And if anybody wants to connect with Sharon or go and find her podcast, I will

Rachael Botfield: 00:27:58

put all of her links into the show notes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:01

Where do you hang out the most?

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:03

Is it normally on LinkedIn?

Sharon Louca: 00:28:05

Yes, if you connect with me on LinkedIn, we've got profiles

Sharon Louca: 00:28:08

across Facebook, Instagram, we've got a LinkedIn page as well as my

Sharon Louca: 00:28:13

own profile, but probably the easiest is to connect, connect with me.

Sharon Louca: 00:28:15

Just find Sharon Louca on on LinkedIn and yeah, it'd be great to connect.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:19

And have a listen to the Connect, Unite, Empower podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:23

I will, as I said, yeah, I will leave links for that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:27

time of recording this episode.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:31

This episode five's coming out, isn't it?

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:33

And then there's episode six coming out of season one of many.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:37

I hope From Sharon, so so much for coming on Sharon and sharing

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:43

your experience with us today and I know you very well Thanks a lot.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:51

Thanks for listening to the show.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:52

If you'd like to connect with me or get in touch, then head on over to my website.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:56

If you liked the episode, then I'd love it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:28:58

If you could leave me a review in your chosen podcast app, your

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:01

feedback is much appreciated.

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:03

See you next time.