In this week's episode, I'm chatting with Helen Calvert, host of The No Bullsh*t guide to happiness.

Helen has been a guest before back in May 2022 and it's no secret that I LOVE Helen's podcast so it's lovely to be chatting with her again, seeing how she is doing with her podcast and her business.

Helen has published a book since we last spoke (in October 2022 and yes I have a copy!) The book is very much based on the first series of the podcast which as Helen explains contains, "crucial elements of being a business owner and having a happier life."

Helen and I also chat about audience engagement, podcast growth over the past 12-18 months, show notes, reviews(take note podcast apps!!), and how the podcast supports Helen's business.

A top tip that we touch on is the importance of reaching out to others and how your network and community can contribute to your podcast's success.

About Helen

Helen Calvert is The No Bullsh*t Coach who has been running the successful business support agency Clear Day since 2018. A divorced mum of two boys, Helen has twenty years of experience in admin and organisation, and also, knows well the personal challenges of anxiety, family health problems and just trying to get it all done! She qualified as a life coach in 2020 and her passion is in helping women to treat themselves with excessive kindness as the best strategy for gaining confidence and making progress.

Her podcast gets around 7,000 downloads per month and includes all of her no-bullsh*t tips for a happier life. It has proven so popular that Helen has turned the first series into a book which was published in October 2022.

Podcast: https://podfollow.com/the-no-bullsh-t-guide-to-a-happier-life

Book: https://www.clear-day.co.uk/product/the-no-bullsht-guide-to-a-happier-life/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearyourday/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-calvert-manchester/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearYourDay

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Rachael Botfield: 00:00:01

Hi everyone and welcome to this week's episode.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:05

I am very happy to announce that I have the lovely Helen

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:08

Calvert back on the podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:10

She came on as a guest May 22.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:13

So very early in, in the, the life of this podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:16

And we're here to hear about how Helen has got on and you know,

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:20

how things have the podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:22

So hello, Helen, welcome.

Helen Calvert: 00:00:24

Hello, thank you so much for having me back, Rachael.

Helen Calvert: 00:00:26

It's really kind of you to have me back again and you

Helen Calvert: 00:00:29

know, to give me a second go.

Helen Calvert: 00:00:30

I obviously didn't do too badly first time round.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:33

No, it was lovely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:34

I love chatting about your podcast and I, as many of you know, or hopefully

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:39

many of you know, I always talk about Helen's podcast and how much I love it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:42

So, and I always recommend your podcast to everybody that I speak to.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:48

So yes, I absolutely love love your podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:51

So to those that might not know what Helen's podcast is called, it's the

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:55

No Bullshit Guide to a Happier Life.

Rachael Botfield: 00:00:58

And Helen has started this podcast, it's been over two years now,

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:01

hasn't it for, for the podcast?

Helen Calvert: 00:01:03

Yes, I started it in May 2021.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:05

So I'm just coming up to the end of my third season, I've a

Helen Calvert: 00:01:08

season a year ish, you know, in my head, I've had a each time.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:14

But yeah, it's again, we were saying before.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:16

The interview started, how quickly time goes and yeah, it's flown by

Helen Calvert: 00:01:20

since the launch, I have to say.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:23

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:23

Cause I was thinking, Oh, what year was it?

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:28

It's those COVID years that make you kind of question what year it was.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:31

And you're like, was it that long ago?

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:33

Was it not?

Helen Calvert: 00:01:35

It's all a blur.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:36

Yeah,

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:37

it is.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:38

So I'd love to catch up with you a little bit about how things have been

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:42

going and what you've been up to in the interim between we last chatted.

Rachael Botfield: 00:01:45

One big thing I know that happened was that your book launched last year.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:50

It did indeed.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:51

Yes.

Helen Calvert: 00:01:51

So the first season of the podcast became the book, the no bullshit

Helen Calvert: 00:01:57

guide to a happier life, which I published in October, 2022.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:02

Which was so exciting.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:04

I think I will always remember the day when my lovely, cover designer and,

Helen Calvert: 00:02:08

and print coordinator, Vicky turned up at my door with the boxes and I opened

Helen Calvert: 00:02:11

them and there was my book in my hands.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:14

It was so exciting.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:16

And it's got this beautiful yellow cover that Vicky's designed.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:18

It stands out.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:19

It's just brilliant.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:20

So yeah, even a year on, I still look at my book.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:23

It's here beside me at the moment.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:24

I'm like, Oh, it's so pretty.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:26

So yes, that was a real, a really exciting moment to launch the book.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:31

And what was wonderful was you launch a book and of course.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:34

Bless them.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:34

All your friends say, oh, I'll buy a copy.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:36

And you think I'll, that's really, you know, that's nice.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:39

And then they come back and they tell you that they've read it and they liked it.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:42

I'm like, my God, I wasn't expecting you all to read it . I thought maybe you'd

Helen Calvert: 00:02:45

get a copy 'cause you feel sorry for me.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:47

But no, actually it has, I've sold quite a few and it's.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:51

The feedback's been amazing.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:52

It has actually proven to be really popular, really well

Helen Calvert: 00:02:56

received, which is just, yeah, I couldn't ask for more really.

Helen Calvert: 00:02:59

It's so exciting.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:00

Yeah, I have your book and I was saying to you

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:04

before we hit record that I keep it on my bedside table and I.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:07

Read it and I dive into it when I, when I need it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:11

And, and the same with your podcast as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:13

There are definitely a few of your earlier episodes that I go

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:17

back to that are my favorite ones.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:18

And the idea for the book came from.

Rachael Botfield: 00:03:21

Season one of your podcast.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:23

It did.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:23

It's funny, you know, Rachael, cause you're not the only person who says

Helen Calvert: 00:03:26

that to me that it's on the bedside table, ready to reach for when needed.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:29

You're definitely not the only person to have said that.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:32

So yes, it very much came from the first season.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:35

It's got some.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:36

Extra bits added in, it's got a bit of my story, it's got a few

Helen Calvert: 00:03:39

other reflections, it's got bits that sort of tie it all together.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:43

But season one was very much the crucial elements to me of being a business

Helen Calvert: 00:03:49

owner and having a happier life.

Helen Calvert: 00:03:51

So it's got all the good business stuff, marketing, networking, productivity, then

Helen Calvert: 00:03:55

it's got all the life stuff, so parenting, sex, relationships, it's got self worth,

Helen Calvert: 00:04:01

it's got money, it's got self care, so all of that good stuff is in the book as well.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:06

And then last year, so 2022, when the book was in production, the second series

Helen Calvert: 00:04:13

of my podcast focused a lot more on what I call the toolkit for a happier life.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:18

So I referenced that early on in the podcast and I talked about how we all

Helen Calvert: 00:04:22

need a toolkit and In that toolkit is all the different things we can pick out on

Helen Calvert: 00:04:27

any given day that might help us to feel better or feel healthier or feel happier.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:32

I'm not a big fan of consistent habits.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:36

We can sort of dig into that a bit more if you want, but I don't

Helen Calvert: 00:04:39

really believe there's one thing that solves everybody's problems.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:42

Like if you just meditate every day or do yoga every day, I think

Helen Calvert: 00:04:46

they're brilliant tools, but there's a time and a place for each one.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:50

So in the second season, I took a load of different tools that

Helen Calvert: 00:04:54

either I know work for me or other people had said work for them.

Helen Calvert: 00:04:58

And I kind of did a bit of a dive into each one and reported back and how it

Helen Calvert: 00:05:02

works and are there any bullshit elements, you know, maybe how it doesn't work.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:06

And we looked at just all the different tools that are available, because I

Helen Calvert: 00:05:10

think when people are feeling stressed or overwhelmed or a bit low, it's easy

Helen Calvert: 00:05:15

to forget what there is that can help.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:17

And everyone kind of thinks, Oh yeah, I'm supposed to exercise.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:20

It's like, well, yeah, but that's just one tool out of

Helen Calvert: 00:05:23

many that are out there for us.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:25

So I really enjoyed doing that as well.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:28

And then this year, series three has been all about our relationship

Helen Calvert: 00:05:32

with ourselves, which again is a whole other huge topic that I've

Helen Calvert: 00:05:35

had a wonderful time diving into.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:37

That's been really interesting.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:40

Yeah, I love talking about the second series.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:43

About when you talk about the consistency , doesn't necessarily mean it's every day.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:48

Like, you know, if you meditate every day, you're going to be okay.

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:51

. You don't always need those tools either, do you?

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:54

There are days where you feel better and you feel like you don't need

Rachael Botfield: 00:05:56

to dive into your toolkit today.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:58

Absolutely.

Helen Calvert: 00:05:59

And as women, we're not consistent, we're cyclical.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:03

So I don't know if this is true.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:06

I've heard, well, this is one of these anecdotal things that I've heard, but

Helen Calvert: 00:06:08

I have heard tell that men actually have a 24 hour hormonal cycle, which

Helen Calvert: 00:06:14

would make sense because that is why they can be consistent because

Helen Calvert: 00:06:17

every day It's the same, whereas regardless of whether that's true or

Helen Calvert: 00:06:22

not, women definitely don't have that.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:24

We have a monthly hormonal cycle.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:26

So trying to be consistent is just, it's setting us up for failure.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:31

And the amount of times somebody says to me, Oh yeah, I started doing Pilates, but

Helen Calvert: 00:06:35

then, Oh, then I kind of got out of it.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:37

And now, Oh, you know, I feel bad about it now.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:40

I don't really want to think about it because I failed.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:42

I stopped doing it.

Helen Calvert: 00:06:43

And I'm like, I assume what happened was you started in your up phase, your inner

Helen Calvert: 00:06:49

spring, if you like, of your menstrual cycle, and then you stopped in your

Helen Calvert: 00:06:53

premenstrual phase, when we don't want to do anything except eat chocolate,

Helen Calvert: 00:06:56

and that's like, totally normal, so just start it again when you're in the mood.

Helen Calvert: 00:07:01

That's how, that's how we work.

Helen Calvert: 00:07:02

It's really important

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:06

to that we're well I know myself, big on that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:11

And I know this is one of your, you know, phrase of be kind,

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:14

excessively kind to yourself.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:16

That is one area that we are not, that we tend to not be kind to ourselves

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:20

about starting these things that are supposed to help us with self care.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:25

And then it turns into something that's not self care at all.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:28

Although we've just made it about.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:30

Something that we've failed at, quote unquote.

Helen Calvert: 00:07:33

We make it into a rule, like, if I try this and I'm not going to

Helen Calvert: 00:07:37

do it because it'll make me feel better.

Helen Calvert: 00:07:39

I'm going to do it because I should do it every day.

Helen Calvert: 00:07:41

Like, I'm going to do this 30 days of yoga.

Helen Calvert: 00:07:44

It's like, well, why don't you just do some yoga and then

Helen Calvert: 00:07:47

tomorrow do something else?

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:50

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:50

There's so many tools.

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:52

Yeah, I still find myself falling into that, like, I wanted to do

Rachael Botfield: 00:07:58

stretching every day and I wanted to do walking every day and I was like,

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:00

well, it's just not possible every day because actually things change, things

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:03

happen and my schedule is different.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:06

Like I can't get out at the same time like every day or

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:09

the same time every week even.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:11

And yeah, but then you get, beat yourself up about it, but that's, I love that the

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:17

different things that you explored during that series and the different things that

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:21

you tried out to see whether or not you felt it worked for you or whether there

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:24

was a bullshit element to it as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:27

Was the one on like flotation tanks, I remember noticing that one.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:32

Now that's a really good example of what

Helen Calvert: 00:08:34

we're talking about because I happen to enjoy a flotation tank.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:37

I don't do it a lot, but I have done it and I do enjoy it.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:40

Now.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:41

As with all of these tools, but particularly with something like

Helen Calvert: 00:08:44

flotation, where it has a lot of different elements to it that you might or might not

Helen Calvert: 00:08:48

like, it's not going to be for everyone.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:50

And yet the amount of people who felt the need to explain to me

Helen Calvert: 00:08:53

why they couldn't do floating.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:54

And I'm like, it's, it's fine.

Helen Calvert: 00:08:55

It wasn't me telling you you had to, it was me saying you could

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:58

do it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:08:59

This is, yeah, this is one of the options.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:02

It's not a rule, but we, we seem to be, we, not

Helen Calvert: 00:09:05

consistently, but we seem to be always looking for rules to follow.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:09

It's like, tell me what the rules are and then I'll just follow those rules.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:13

And my only rule, as you say, is to be excessively kind to ourselves.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:17

So I find myself thinking some days I'm achy, I've got a headache.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:23

So I'm like, I definitely need to stretch.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:24

I realize I need to do some stretching.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:26

I don't have to, it doesn't matter if I don't, but it will

Helen Calvert: 00:09:29

make me feel better if I do.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:30

If I'm feeling overwhelmed and my head is absolutely full and you know, those days

Helen Calvert: 00:09:35

where it's just like a clown car inside your brain and it's all going crazy, then

Helen Calvert: 00:09:40

what I actually need to do is sit down with a coloring book and do some coloring.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:44

Or it could be that I need some fresh air, or it could be that I

Helen Calvert: 00:09:46

need a bit more of a break, or it could be that I need to see a friend.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:49

I did that on Sunday.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:51

I was a little bit in my head about things like we get.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:54

And I suddenly had this revelation, Rachael, that I could reach

Helen Calvert: 00:09:57

out to another human being.

Helen Calvert: 00:09:58

Imagine that.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:01

They had a and I must go to the gym.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:05

That's not always the tool that we need to reach for.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:09

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:09

And I think it's it is important to remember that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:12

And especially like you say, as business owners as well, we often feel like,

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:17

especially solo business owners or with small businesses, you know, a

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:20

lot of the time you're doing it on your own or with a very small team.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:23

And there's a lot of, and.

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:25

You know, with life, family life, whether you've got kids or not, there's a lot of

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:28

pressure there, and it's easy not to take care of yourself and forget about some of

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:35

the simple things that we could do that could actually just make us feel a bit

Rachael Botfield: 00:10:39

better and be able to deal with the day.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:42

Yeah, absolutely.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:43

And if we think, yeah, this is it.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:45

And if we think of them as just tools that we can pick up and put

Helen Calvert: 00:10:48

down, then there's no pressure.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:49

So if I think to myself, do you know what, I bet if I went for a run,

Helen Calvert: 00:10:54

I'd never think let's go for a run.

Helen Calvert: 00:10:56

Cause I personally am not a runner, but if I thought I bet I'd

Helen Calvert: 00:10:58

feel better if I went for a run.

Helen Calvert: 00:11:00

I just go for a run.

Helen Calvert: 00:11:01

I wouldn't think to myself, Oh, I should do this every day or am

Helen Calvert: 00:11:05

I faster than I was last time?

Helen Calvert: 00:11:06

It's like, just go for a run.

Helen Calvert: 00:11:07

If it feels like it'll make you feel better, do that and

Helen Calvert: 00:11:10

then do something different.

Helen Calvert: 00:11:11

And there's no kind of pressure to have a hobby or be progressing or reach

Helen Calvert: 00:11:17

a certain target unless you want to.

Helen Calvert: 00:11:21

just makes us feel good to begin with.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:24

Yeah, I think some of those things can get completely

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:26

lost you know, depending on things that you might've done in the past, a long

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:30

time ago, so, you know, doing exercise and things like that is something that

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:35

I've gone through different swathes of wanting to do different things and

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:38

now I'm just like, I just want to do something that makes me feel better and

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:41

that's the attitude that I'm trying to have in, in those situations to make.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:46

To just with feeling pressure of business life and, you

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:50

know, all of those family life.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:52

I just wanna do something that makes me feel better.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:54

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:54

And that's where I wanna start.

Rachael Botfield: 00:11:55

So I think yeah, the, the series there is really great for helping you.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:00

Thank you.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:01

You know, look at, explore those different types of things you can do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:04

So then moving on to the third series.

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:06

So how did you, how did you kind of think of the themes for these?

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:09

Did you have these kind of planned out beforehand?

Rachael Botfield: 00:12:12

Or was it like a natural flow of kind of progression between the series?

Helen Calvert: 00:12:16

A natural progression.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:17

I think after the first season.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:19

Because I talked about the tools in our toolkit and I work as a life

Helen Calvert: 00:12:24

coach, so I was dealing with a lot of clients who, I think, one of the things

Helen Calvert: 00:12:29

that came up was people didn't know what their needs were or didn't know.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:35

what would make them feel good, or didn't really know what they enjoyed.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:38

Because I work with a lot of midlife women who, especially if

Helen Calvert: 00:12:42

you've had children, you tend to have lost yourself a little bit.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:44

And you say, well, what do you like doing?

Helen Calvert: 00:12:46

And they're like, I can't remember.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:48

I thought a deep dive into a lot of these tools would be helpful.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:51

It's like a little tick list reminder of this is what we could do to enjoy life or

Helen Calvert: 00:12:56

feel better or get healthy or whatever.

Helen Calvert: 00:12:58

And then for this current season, season three, By the time I came to be planning

Helen Calvert: 00:13:04

this one out, the work I'd done with my clients, it was so apparent that the

Helen Calvert: 00:13:09

absolute silver bullet for everything is the relationship we have with ourselves.

Helen Calvert: 00:13:14

There's nothing more important or more fundamental to our healing,

Helen Calvert: 00:13:18

our happiness, our success.

Helen Calvert: 00:13:21

So that just became an obvious choice for what I wanted to dive into.

Helen Calvert: 00:13:25

And it's been really interesting because I've kind of done it with my audience.

Helen Calvert: 00:13:31

So some of it was things that I'd thought about a lot and other things

Helen Calvert: 00:13:34

were like, well, let's do this together and have a little think about what

Helen Calvert: 00:13:38

this means and dive into it a bit.

Helen Calvert: 00:13:39

But it's been so, to be honest, I think season three is almost like a little

Helen Calvert: 00:13:44

self directed coaching course at this point, because it takes you all the

Helen Calvert: 00:13:47

way through sort of meeting yourself.

Helen Calvert: 00:13:50

Who are you?

Helen Calvert: 00:13:51

What do you value?

Helen Calvert: 00:13:52

What are your boundaries?

Helen Calvert: 00:13:54

Allowing ourselves, allowing our emotions, kind of seeing ourselves

Helen Calvert: 00:13:59

just all kinds of different.

Helen Calvert: 00:14:01

Areas of who we are, and then it gradually brings us towards sort of more nitty

Helen Calvert: 00:14:06

gritty, if you like, like body image a bit about our mental health, a bit

Helen Calvert: 00:14:10

about our money mindset blocks and then for the business owners amongst us, a

Helen Calvert: 00:14:15

little bit about promoting ourselves.

Helen Calvert: 00:14:18

So it's just everything to do with how we see ourselves and how we look

Helen Calvert: 00:14:21

after ourselves, because I really don't think there's anything more important.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:26

Yeah, you're absolutely right.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:27

Those are, I was having a little quick look through and the, you

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:31

know, the topics that you've been doing and yeah, it's really

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:34

interesting what you're talking about.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:36

And I do love how the whole seasons have flowed from where you're going to.

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:41

And of course, when you're talking about, you know, you're taking, you

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:44

know a guide from your audience and then, and the people that you're

Rachael Botfield: 00:14:47

helping, which are the people that are listening to your podcasts.

Helen Calvert: 00:14:50

You know, women like us.

Helen Calvert: 00:14:51

It's a lovely kind of cyclical thing because people who listen to my podcasts

Helen Calvert: 00:14:54

become my clients and as I work with them, they give me ideas for podcasts.

Helen Calvert: 00:14:57

So it kind of goes round and round, which is lovely.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:00

Certainly this season we've had a look at healthy and unhealthy relationships.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:05

Because that's something I talk about with my clients a lot.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:08

And I know some of my audience, I think one audience member said that she'd found.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:14

I think she used the word triggering.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:17

I'm almost certain she did.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:17

She said she'd found one episode a bit triggering, you

Helen Calvert: 00:15:19

know, like a bit confronting.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:21

But it was exactly what she needed to listen to that day.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:25

So I said, well, I feel like my work here is done really, because I don't

Helen Calvert: 00:15:28

want it to be such a fluffy, easy listen that it doesn't make you think at all.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:32

But equally, I don't want to be upsetting anyone.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:34

But she said, no, no, it was just what I wanted to hear.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:36

I just need to kind of take a minute and think it through.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:39

So it's like, yeah, that's, that's what I'm here for.

Helen Calvert: 00:15:41

I think.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:43

That's great direction then from people who are listening.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:45

Cause , you're creating episodes and talking about topics that are relevant

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:50

to, to what they want to hear about.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:52

Not necessarily the easy thing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:54

And like when you talk about saying, you know, it sounds simple, but

Rachael Botfield: 00:15:58

it's not necessarily easy to do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:01

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:01

You think, Oh yeah, well, I've just got to do that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:04

Have I?

Helen Calvert: 00:16:04

Yeah, I've just got to figure out what my

Helen Calvert: 00:16:06

values are and live them up.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:07

According to them.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:08

Oh, that's a piece of cake.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:09

Yeah.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:10

Yeah.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:10

Simple to say what you need to do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:12

Write them down.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:13

Yeah, exactly.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:14

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:15

Yeah, I love that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:16

And talking of kind of your community and your listeners, how have you

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:20

found Has there been a lot of growth in your, in your podcast and

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:24

your community in the last year?

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:25

I know you have a Facebook group that goes alongside the podcast

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:29

so people can come in and talk to you or each other about the

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:32

different topics that have come up.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:34

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:16:34

So how have you kind of found that over the last kind of 12 months?

Helen Calvert: 00:16:37

It's been really interesting actually, Rachael,

Helen Calvert: 00:16:39

because I do have a Facebook group, the Happier Life Facebook group,

Helen Calvert: 00:16:42

and anyone's welcome to join.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:44

And it's, it's got, you know, a few hundred members and it's

Helen Calvert: 00:16:47

actually a really engaged group.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:48

So in terms of.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:50

participation in the group, it's brilliant, and I do get a

Helen Calvert: 00:16:52

lot of good feedback in there.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:54

But it's a drop in the ocean compared to the download numbers I've got.

Helen Calvert: 00:16:57

I've actually got really healthy, I'm surprised by my download numbers,

Helen Calvert: 00:17:02

but I think that's really interesting because in my show notes it mentions

Helen Calvert: 00:17:06

the Facebook group, when I send out my emails promoting my episodes that

Helen Calvert: 00:17:10

mentions the Facebook group and I also talk about how you can leave feedback

Helen Calvert: 00:17:15

and different things like that.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:16

But I think like, I listen to podcasts myself and hardly

Helen Calvert: 00:17:19

ever read the show notes.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:21

I probably am not on a mailing list for the hosts.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:24

So I think a lot of people listen and never really become part of a

Helen Calvert: 00:17:28

community, which on the one hand, it's lovely that they're out there.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:31

But on the other hand, it's like, come, come and talk to me.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:34

I want to hear more from you.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:36

So I think, I suspect a lot of podcast hosts would probably say this.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:40

It's converting those listener numbers to an engaged community.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:45

And.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:45

I don't have to, you know, my listeners are very welcome to just

Helen Calvert: 00:17:48

listen and carry on with their lives.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:50

They don't have to engage with me in any other way, but I'm curious.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:53

I want to know a bit more about them.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:55

I'm fascinated to know who's, who's listening.

Helen Calvert: 00:17:57

One thing that did make a difference was actually a

Helen Calvert: 00:18:01

fortuitous bit of free advertising.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:04

I think I'd seen someone post somewhere like they do that somebody was looking for

Helen Calvert: 00:18:08

books to review for psychologies magazine.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:11

So I submitted mine.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:13

And nothing came of that.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:14

They obviously had, you know, plenty of books to choose from, but the woman came

Helen Calvert: 00:18:18

back to me and I think I'd mentioned my podcast and she said, Oh, but I'll,

Helen Calvert: 00:18:21

I'll pop your podcast in the magazine.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:23

So she just literally on their podcast review page, but a tiny little thing

Helen Calvert: 00:18:27

directing people to my podcast, but my listener numbers jumped and it

Helen Calvert: 00:18:31

really showed me that, you know, a recommendation in, a trusted publication

Helen Calvert: 00:18:36

obviously made a big difference and people reading Psychologies magazine,

Helen Calvert: 00:18:40

they're interested in personal growth.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:41

They're interested in how people work.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:43

So it was ideal.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:45

And so, yeah, that was very interesting.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:46

But I think there is definitely a discrepancy now between my, what

Helen Calvert: 00:18:50

I think of as my community and the actual number of listeners.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:53

Whereas at the start, the two were one in the same for sure.

Helen Calvert: 00:18:57

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:58

That's interesting.

Rachael Botfield: 00:18:59

I think you're right.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:00

If I think about the podcast that I listen to.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:04

I'm, some of them I am part of the community, but some of them I'm not.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:09

So I guess it depends on the reason that you're listening to that podcast, I guess.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:13

So, you know, like yours is about as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:17

So something like, you know, different style of podcast, maybe there wouldn't be.

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:23

The want?

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:24

I mean, I suppose there's always a want for community because it's always nice

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:26

to find your people around, you know, the subject that you're talking about,

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:31

but I suppose it depends on how many of those people, I don't know, some

Rachael Botfield: 00:19:36

people just like listening and lurking.

Helen Calvert: 00:19:40

If I like someone that I'm listening to or if I'm watching

Helen Calvert: 00:19:43

a TV show that I enjoy or anything.

Helen Calvert: 00:19:45

I'm more likely to look them up on Instagram and follow them there.

Helen Calvert: 00:19:48

And I do every now and again get, you know, Instagram followers that I've no

Helen Calvert: 00:19:52

earthly idea where they've come from.

Helen Calvert: 00:19:53

Maybe that's where they come from.

Helen Calvert: 00:19:55

Maybe they're listening to them find me on Insta rather than

Helen Calvert: 00:19:57

wanting to find me any other way.

Helen Calvert: 00:19:59

I do wonder though, for people who are not...

Helen Calvert: 00:20:01

You know, not really into podcasts.

Helen Calvert: 00:20:03

have never had one have never produced one.

Helen Calvert: 00:20:06

I do often wonder whether people even know what we mean

Helen Calvert: 00:20:09

when we talk about show notes.

Helen Calvert: 00:20:10

It's only because I listen to Tim Ferriss and he used to talk about his show

Helen Calvert: 00:20:14

notes all the time and how there was all this other information there that I

Helen Calvert: 00:20:17

figured out how to find them on Spotify.

Helen Calvert: 00:20:19

Before then, I had no idea that there were such things as show notes.

Helen Calvert: 00:20:22

So maybe a lot of listeners just have no idea they can find other

Helen Calvert: 00:20:25

information on the episode.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:27

Yeah, I mean, I know that a lot of the bigger podcasts,

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:31

so some of the, like one of the ones I listen to Go Love Yourself on Spotify,

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:36

they only have a very small description and then they don't actually have

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:40

any show notes or description really.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:43

. And I myself use my, put my full kind of show notes as my description.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:49

And somebody in my podcast community was talking about how he has a

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:53

shorter description, but then links to full show notes in that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:20:58

So you would put a link and say, you see the full show notes here.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:01

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:01

So I guess it depends on how much information you're planning

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:04

on putting in your show notes.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:07

I mean, this year I've started taking a little bit of sponsorship

Helen Calvert: 00:21:12

for my episodes, which is really exciting.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:14

So of course I want to make sure that my sponsors get noticed and I

Helen Calvert: 00:21:17

talk about them at the show notes.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:21

To make sure people can find those the sponsors there.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:25

So that's another use for it.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:27

The other thing that people understandably get confused

Helen Calvert: 00:21:30

about is how to leave a review.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:32

Because of course you can leave a review on Apple, can't leave a review

Helen Calvert: 00:21:35

on Spotify, but you can leave a five star, or maybe you can leave a comment,

Helen Calvert: 00:21:38

but you can't leave, it's really complicated where and how you can review.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:43

I absolutely, I was going to ask you about that because

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:46

this came up the other week as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:48

So one thing that somebody did say to me do you, how do, who

Rachael Botfield: 00:21:52

do you use to host your podcast?

Helen Calvert: 00:21:55

I have a producer, the lovely Lisa.

Helen Calvert: 00:21:58

So I would have to direct you to her to answer that question

Helen Calvert: 00:22:01

because Rachael has no bloody idea.

Helen Calvert: 00:22:05

I send my stuff to her and she does something magic and

Helen Calvert: 00:22:08

it appears on the internet.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:10

Brilliant.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:11

So so I don't know if you've heard of, well, Spotify have, they used to call it

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:15

Anchor, but it's Spotify for podcasters.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:17

So, like, I use Captivate to host this podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:20

But when you distribute it, which is what your producer would do,

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:24

you link it all up to the different platforms and it appears there.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:27

But a tip that somebody gave me, so in Spotify if you have a Spotify for

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:32

podcasters account, and not just link it through your hosting platform because they

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:37

like, they provide like a link to Spotify.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:40

You can put you can add polls and you can ask people to leave, people can

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:44

leave a comment on the episode now.

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:47

So what I did the other day was I literally just...

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:50

went to create an account with them and added my RSS feed and it

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:54

pulled all the information and then it should now with, if somebody

Rachael Botfield: 00:22:58

listened to my podcast on Spotify, it should come up with the comment box.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:04

So even if you're not hosting it on there fully.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:07

Yeah, it comes up with that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:08

So you can ask a poll question or you can ask a standard question.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:12

I think like, you know, what did you think of this episode?

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:14

Or you can put a specific question.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:16

Oh, that's a great idea.

Helen Calvert: 00:23:17

I'm glad they pulled that through because I also have the

Helen Calvert: 00:23:20

episodes on my website and they, they go onto my website in the same way

Helen Calvert: 00:23:24

that you would put up a blog post.

Helen Calvert: 00:23:26

So there's the option to comment on each of those if people

Helen Calvert: 00:23:29

find the episode they like.

Helen Calvert: 00:23:30

on my website.

Helen Calvert: 00:23:31

But yeah, it isn't always clear to people how they can leave feedback.

Helen Calvert: 00:23:34

And of course, as podcasters, we want feedback.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:37

We love feedback.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:39

Oh, absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:40

I really struggled to to get reviews.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:43

I, I direct people to Podchaser.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:45

So I claimed my podcast on Podchaser and you can go on there and rate and

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:50

review other podcasts you've listened to.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:52

So I actually, I think I have two there now.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:55

One lady I was talking to, we said, Right.

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:57

We were listening to this podcast and I said, we're going

Rachael Botfield: 00:23:59

to go ahead and leave a review.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:02

So I always try to, because I know that I would like people to leave podcast.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:07

So, and when I do listen to episodes, I, I do, I think I need to write a

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:13

review, but I tend to listen in Google app and my phone, and that's awful.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:18

You can't leave anything in Google, in the Google.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:19

I don't, I can't actually figure it out.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:22

So I'm just like, and I don't have Apple, so I can't just leave.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:26

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:27

So I can't just leave a review.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:28

I always do the follow and do if I've listened to it in Spotify, but I often

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:32

don't listen in Spotify, but I've, I mean, I have a bit of industry news.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:35

Someone sent me the other week.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:36

I think Google podcast is going, it's been absorbed into YouTube.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:41

So that won't be available much longer.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:45

So I guess I would have to change my app.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:48

So perhaps.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:49

With Spotify adding that feature.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:51

I know in Podbean I listened to someone's podcast in there, they

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:55

had some kind of feature, but I found the whole website quite busy.

Rachael Botfield: 00:24:59

Like it wasn't, I didn't find it very user

Helen Calvert: 00:25:02

friendly.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:02

There's so, as well now for listening to the, that's why we say, isn't it?

Helen Calvert: 00:25:05

Listen, wherever you get your podcast, 'cause there's so many

Helen Calvert: 00:25:08

places people can get their podcast

Helen Calvert: 00:25:10

. Rachael Botfield: Yeah.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:10

I, I must say, I dunno what the review is like on, you know, the Stitcher

Helen Calvert: 00:25:15

and geezer and stuff, I guess.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:17

I should probably have a look and see whether there's any

Helen Calvert: 00:25:19

functionality within that.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:20

But you would think it would make it easy.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:23

They would, the apps would make it easier for you to listen because

Helen Calvert: 00:25:28

you want to keep people on your platform and if people can leave

Helen Calvert: 00:25:31

reviews, surely that would help drive.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:35

Podcast listens as well because people are going to be coming

Helen Calvert: 00:25:37

back and listen to that.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:40

So if you're listening, anyone from anywhere else, make it easier.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:45

That's just, that's just the inside of confusion of

Helen Calvert: 00:25:47

hosts not knowing how things work.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:49

So goodness knows how listeners are supposed to know how things work.

Helen Calvert: 00:25:51

Yeah,

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:53

absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:54

But I think leaving like I say, I leave a link to Podchaser.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:57

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:57

You couldn't.

Rachael Botfield: 00:25:58

It makes it very difficult, well if you're on Spotify, do this, if you're on so and

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:02

so, do this, it makes it very convoluted, and ideally you only want to leave a

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:07

single call to action or a single thing for somebody to do, because otherwise

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:12

it's like, no, there's too much here to do, and I would find that as well, if you

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:16

go, oh no, I only want to do one thing,

Helen Calvert: 00:26:18

I don't, you know, we haven't got time for

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:20

more than one thing, no, yeah, exactly, that's it, you've

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:23

only just had a chance to listen to the episode, now I've got to do

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:27

all of this so yeah, reviews is one thing I, I thought about as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:34

So how do you feel with your podcast and your business?

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:38

Do you feel that they are?

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:41

Well, they still, they still sound like they're very aligned with

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:44

what you are doing as a business.

Rachael Botfield: 00:26:46

Like how do you feel that the podcast supports your business?

Helen Calvert: 00:26:50

Yeah, it all, it all fits together quite nicely

Helen Calvert: 00:26:53

actually, Rachael and I've, I've seen how it works as I've gone along.

Helen Calvert: 00:26:56

What does happen sometimes people listen to the podcast and then they

Helen Calvert: 00:27:01

inquire and they want to become a client, which is obviously fantastic.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:05

What also happens though is that.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:07

It can be a really good kind of taster for people.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:11

So I'll often get people say, Oh, my friend, so and so, you know,

Helen Calvert: 00:27:14

she, she should coach with you.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:15

And you always think does poor so and so realize they should coach

Helen Calvert: 00:27:18

me, or is this just your opinion?

Helen Calvert: 00:27:20

But, you know, fair enough.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:20

But I always say, well, get her to listen to the podcast, because that gives people

Helen Calvert: 00:27:25

a really good indication of who podcast.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:30

That's what you get when you coach with me.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:32

So equally, if you don't like it, people can kind of self select away

Helen Calvert: 00:27:36

and I never have to hear about it, but it's like, right, I had to listen.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:40

Nope.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:40

Can't stand her or, oh my goodness, absolutely love her.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:42

And then that kind of helps people to understand if they

Helen Calvert: 00:27:45

would want to work with me or not.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:46

So for that, I think it's been brilliant.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:49

And then the book obviously, you know, goes alongside that

Helen Calvert: 00:27:53

compliments that very nicely.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:54

I've had a fair few speaking opportunities over the last 12 months.

Helen Calvert: 00:27:59

And I've definitely found that that is when I sell the most books, because people

Helen Calvert: 00:28:04

will hear me speak and then, Oh, okay.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:06

Really like your style.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:07

Definitely interested in the book.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:09

And I've got some bookmarks with links to like a QR code on for the podcast as well.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:13

So again, that brings in listeners cause they've enjoyed hearing me speak.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:16

So they want to hear a bit more of what I'm doing.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:18

So it does, it all kind of pulls together really nicely.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:22

And It was all pulling together so nicely, Rachael, that I decided to do something

Helen Calvert: 00:28:26

else because why would we ever want to be bored or not have enough to do?

Helen Calvert: 00:28:31

So I decided that in April 2024, I'm bringing the podcast to a live event

Helen Calvert: 00:28:37

and I'm doing the Happier Life Live two day event in Manchester in April.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:43

As I say, because clearly I was I needed more things to do.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:48

But I'm hugely excited about it.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:50

And what's lovely about that, just going back to what we

Helen Calvert: 00:28:53

were saying about community.

Helen Calvert: 00:28:55

Because my Facebook group, my community have been with me since the podcast.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:01

When I started talking about doing an event, they got it immediately.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:04

You know, sometimes you're like, I've got this brilliant idea,

Helen Calvert: 00:29:06

but no one seems to understand.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:08

But no, this time around, everyone totally got it straight away.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:10

And it's been really exciting because people have been very enthusiastic and

Helen Calvert: 00:29:15

keen to sort of see it all brought to life and have other speakers, but on

Helen Calvert: 00:29:19

the same sort of topics I talk about.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:21

So yeah, so that's happening next year, apparently.

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:26

Wow.

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:26

That sounds fabulous.

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:27

So a live, are you going to record an episode at the live event?

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:31

No, it's not.

Rachael Botfield: 00:29:33

You're just going to do the.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:34

Yeah.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:34

It's kind of linked to the podcast in the sense that if you love the podcast,

Helen Calvert: 00:29:38

you'll love the event and the event is for and about my podcast listeners.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:42

completely.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:43

But no, we won't be recording at the event.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:44

I'll be speaking.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:45

I've got a lineup of other amazing speakers and much like,

Helen Calvert: 00:29:49

well, exactly like the podcast.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:51

It's not a business event, but most of the people there will be female business

Helen Calvert: 00:29:55

owners because that's my audience.

Helen Calvert: 00:29:58

So there'll be a lot of talk as if people are self employed, for

Helen Calvert: 00:30:02

instance, even though employed people are more than welcome.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:04

There'll be a lot of talk as if everyone is.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:08

You know, female, although every gender is welcome, you know, but it's

Helen Calvert: 00:30:11

just that happens to be my audience.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:14

But I think it's going to be really, it's going to be really good.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:17

We're going to have a lot of people there talking about the different tools

Helen Calvert: 00:30:20

that we were talking about earlier.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:21

The different tools for wellbeing and happiness and just all the things I

Helen Calvert: 00:30:25

talk about kind of my, my core values of freedom, passion, joy, adventure, owning

Helen Calvert: 00:30:31

our own story, all that good stuff.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:32

Of course, excessive kindness.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:34

So I'm very, very excited.

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:37

Oh, that does sound exciting.

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:39

Well, if, if you would like to leave any.

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:42

If there's any links, any more information, I can pop those in

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:45

the show notes or the description.

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:47

Yes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:47

Well, yeah.

Helen Calvert: 00:30:49

And those, it's actually, I don't, I don't want to sound too cocky

Helen Calvert: 00:30:52

because these things never, never sell out straight away, but it's selling quite

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:56

quickly.

Rachael Botfield: 00:30:58

Quietly confident,

Helen Calvert: 00:31:00

but yes, I will definitely give you the link to

Helen Calvert: 00:31:02

where people can get tickets.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:04

Yeah, where

Rachael Botfield: 00:31:05

is the event?

Rachael Botfield: 00:31:05

Just out of interest.

Rachael Botfield: 00:31:06

You said Manchester, but what kind of venue is it at?

Helen Calvert: 00:31:09

Yeah, so it's in Greater Manchester.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:10

So it's actually in Sale, where I live, which is part of Greater Manchester.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:13

And this is, this is one of the reasons this event seems to have come together

Helen Calvert: 00:31:17

because My network now, I seem to know everyone who has anything useful to

Helen Calvert: 00:31:22

offer for such a thing, because one of my friends is hugely connected to

Helen Calvert: 00:31:27

the Trafford Metrovic's rugby club.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:29

So as soon as I mentioned this, she said, Oh, come and see the rugby club.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:32

It would be perfect.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:33

And I went down there and it is perfect.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:35

It's got, it's got what people actually want at these events.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:40

Because we've all been to a lot of these events and sometimes they can be, you

Helen Calvert: 00:31:43

know, in gorgeous hotel type venues in the centre of town, but there's

Helen Calvert: 00:31:49

no parking, or there's no outside space, or, you know, it's not ideal.

Helen Calvert: 00:31:53

Whereas this, it's a lovely venue inside, but then outside, it's

Helen Calvert: 00:31:58

obviously got the rugby pitches, it's right by the river, lots of parking.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:01

Nice loos, Rachael, which apparently people told me was very important.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:04

It's got to be nice loos.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:06

So I checked the loos.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:07

The loos are acceptable.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:10

So

Helen Calvert: 00:32:11

it's got all these things that people actually care about, you know,

Helen Calvert: 00:32:13

but it's a really, really friendly team.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:15

They're taking very good care of me.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:16

So I know we're going to make it into something really special.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:20

Oh, fantastic.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:21

Well, best of luck with all the planning

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:23

and everything to do the event.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:25

I'll have to take a look about when it is myself, see whether

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:28

or not I can make, yeah, to, to make the trip up to to Manchester.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:32

I've not been able to make any of the events that you do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:35

And also Caroline Boardman, who is how I met you originally.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:41

Through like the organized entrepreneurs club Caroline Boardman is my accountant.

Rachael Botfield: 00:32:46

And that's, I know that you guys also do some events, which is together, which

Helen Calvert: 00:32:52

is a lovely community.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:52

I mean, I, I joke, but she really is my business wife.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:55

She's my accountant as well.

Helen Calvert: 00:32:56

I'm her coach or one of her coaches and we run the organized

Helen Calvert: 00:33:00

entrepreneurs club together.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:01

And that is a network of.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:03

Our clients, our team, our suppliers.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:06

So genuinely our network, there's no one in there that doesn't actually work with

Helen Calvert: 00:33:10

us or we work with them in some capacity.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:12

And that's, I mean, that's another community that's just been absolutely

Helen Calvert: 00:33:16

fantastic and we have done events.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:19

We've done some down South.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:20

We do a lot up North where we live.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:22

We try and.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:23

Kind of reach out as much as we can, but there's only two of us,

Helen Calvert: 00:33:25

but we absolutely love it because it's such a supportive community.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:29

So yeah, watch this space for different OEC things coming up next year as well.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:33

We have plans.

Helen Calvert: 00:33:34

We always have plans, Caroline and me.

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:37

Well, it's lovely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:38

And I always I was, I was actually, I emailed her the other

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:41

day, actually, because I was recommending someone and I met.

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:44

A lady called Jenny who was also Caroline's, she introduced me

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:48

to a different networking group.

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:49

So we're part of the WIBN now, I found a group of ladies there as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:53

So it was really nice to kind of like have a bit of a full circle.

Rachael Botfield: 00:33:56

Yeah, you know, meeting different people and.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:00

you know, recommending because Caroline was recommended to me by

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:03

a fellow VA that I knew as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:05

So it's yeah, it's all really lovely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:07

And it's it's nice to be part of that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:09

I just love how Caroline worked and got me involved when I, when I signed up

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:13

with her and she's good with you as well.

Helen Calvert: 00:34:16

She's fantastic.

Helen Calvert: 00:34:17

She really has created something.

Helen Calvert: 00:34:19

Brilliant for, again, not just for female entrepreneurs, but that is a lot

Helen Calvert: 00:34:23

of her client base and she just takes such good care of us, doesn't she?

Helen Calvert: 00:34:27

So thank goodness.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:27

Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:29

I know everything is sorted.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:31

I have full confidence in Caroline.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:35

It's brilliant.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:36

Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing all about your

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:39

journey in the past 12, 18 months.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:42

Just wanted to ask one last thing.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:44

What's your biggest learn from your podcast kind of as a

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:48

whole or in the last 12 months.

Rachael Botfield: 00:34:50

Yeah,

Helen Calvert: 00:34:51

that's a good one.

Helen Calvert: 00:34:52

And it's something that some people don't have to learn.

Helen Calvert: 00:34:56

But with my kind of brain I have had to learn to reach out and talk

Helen Calvert: 00:35:00

to other people, which is not news to many people, but to me it is.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:04

What I mean by that is that I am the kind of person who will plan everything

Helen Calvert: 00:35:08

out in my own head, which is what I did with the first series of the podcast.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:12

I had it all planned out what I was going to do and it went brilliantly.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:15

You know, it's great.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:16

But I've realized that there is so much power in reaching out to your

Helen Calvert: 00:35:21

audience, asking them what they want, asking them what they would

Helen Calvert: 00:35:25

enjoy, especially with this event.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:27

It's been very collaborative and listening and thinking about,

Helen Calvert: 00:35:30

you know, other people's views.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:32

And like I say, with this venue, you know, when I actually asked

Helen Calvert: 00:35:35

what do people want in a venue, it wasn't what I thought it would be.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:38

So I've reached out to talk about.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:41

What season four of the podcast is going to be about.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:43

And again, some of it's like, Oh yeah, that's what I thought.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:45

And other things, Oh yeah.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:47

Wouldn't have thought of that.

Helen Calvert: 00:35:48

So I have definitely learned to trust in my audience as much as they trust in

Helen Calvert: 00:35:54

me, which I think is a really important learning because yeah, we're all just

Helen Calvert: 00:35:58

stronger if we work together, aren't we?

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:02

Absolutely.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:02

I do.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:02

That's a great, a great a great learn reaching out.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:06

Sometimes it is easy to forget to speak to people.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:10

You become, you know, insular in your planning.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:14

Especially if we're working at home alone.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:15

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:16

I often find myself doing this and I found that within my business as well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:20

And you think, Oh, why can't I?

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:23

Why is no, why am I not getting any, Oh, because I'm not talking to anybody.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:26

I've not gone out and actually had lovely conversations with people

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:32

because I'm not talking to them.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:33

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:33

So I remember that last year I did that a lot.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:36

And this year I've really pushed myself to . And I've really enjoyed it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:40

I have really enjoyed it.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:41

I do find it quite draining sometimes.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:43

Like I did a conference a few weeks ago, which was such a fantastic day, but after

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:47

talking to lots of different people and it was, I had an expert pod and I was

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:51

so over the moon that I was booked out.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:53

I was so pleased.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:54

I was so very worried.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:55

I had no one would book in with me and I was very scared.

Rachael Botfield: 00:36:58

You know, it's one of those things like, well, what if no one comes?

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:01

So that was such a lovely surprise.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:02

It was wonderful.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:03

But yeah, I was, I was very drained the next day.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:06

day, but I did feel a real big sense of achievement for actually I've built

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:09

up this year to go and speak to people.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:12

And there was lots of women there who were just like us and they wanted to

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:15

start their podcasts and they just didn't know where to start and that is.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:18

You know, that's what I want to help with, getting,

Helen Calvert: 00:37:21

you know.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:22

And I think you're so right there, Rachael.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:24

We have to block out time after things like that to recover.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:27

It's so important.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:28

You can't just push on through after something as draining as that.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:31

You need a bit of time to rest and recuperate.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:33

Even if it's been brilliant.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:34

Well, maybe especially if you've been brilliant, because that's just as

Helen Calvert: 00:37:36

exhausting as if it doesn't go well.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:39

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:39

Cause you, you kind of want to high and you're like, Oh, cause I've got a back

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:42

and I was like, Oh, this is so great.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:45

It's such a great day.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:45

But yeah, I was like, Oh no, I need to, I need to wind up and chill out after that.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:50

But yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:52

So get out there and talk to people.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:54

Absolutely.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:54

Yes.

Helen Calvert: 00:37:55

Top tip.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:56

Top tip.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:57

Yeah.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:57

Brilliant.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:57

Well, thanks again, Helen.

Rachael Botfield: 00:37:58

It's been lovely chatting to you.

Rachael Botfield: 00:38:00

Maybe we look at each other in another year's time and see where you are

Rachael Botfield: 00:38:03

then and see how your events gone on.

Rachael Botfield: 00:38:05

That'd be fantastic.

Helen Calvert: 00:38:06

Oh, thank you so much for having me, Rachael.

Helen Calvert: 00:38:08

It's been a really lovely time.

Helen Calvert: 00:38:10

. Take care, Helen.

Helen Calvert: 00:38:11

And you.

Helen Calvert: 00:38:12

Bye bye.