What if a few micro tweaks could grow your podcast by 43% in three months without a heavy lift? That is exactly what happened for my guest Kellie Lupsha, and in this episode she is sharing everything she did.
Kellie is the host of Thriving in Midlife, a former physical therapist turned entrepreneur who helps women navigate their 40s, 50s, and beyond through health optimization and wellness. She publishes two episodes a week, runs a women's membership and an intensive 12-week program, and recently built two quiz funnels that completely changed what she knows about her audience.
Kellie was one of my students in my beta mastermind, and she is one of the best implementers I have ever worked with. After making small, strategic changes to her podcast titles, descriptions, and show notes, she saw 43% growth in downloads in just three months. Then she switched to Captivate, applied everything she had learned about SEO, and matched four years of total downloads in just four months.
In this episode of Podcast Growth Tools, Kellie shares the exact changes she made, what surprised her most about her quiz data, how she manages two episodes per week without burning out, why her first membership failed and how it led her to build a better podcast, and her honest advice for anyone wondering whether podcasting is worth the long game commitment.
Here's a glance to the episode:
- How Kellie grew her podcast downloads by 43% in three months through micro tweaks
- How she matched four years of total downloads in just four months after switching platforms and optimizing for SEO
- The two biggest needle movers: SEO-optimized titles and quiz funnels
- Why her quiz data surprised her and told her exactly who to create content for
- How she built two new quizzes after learning the process (one product-based, one for audience segmentation)
- Why quizzes outperform traditional PDF lead magnets for driving email opt-ins
- How she publishes two podcast episodes per week with minimal editing and a VA
- Why her first $19 membership failed and what it taught her about what her audience actually wanted
- Why raw, unpolished podcast content is connecting with female audiences more than ever
- Her strategy for finding and vetting guests through relationships instead of cold pitches
- Why building an email list from day one is the number one thing she wishes she had done sooner
- Her advice for anyone thinking about starting a podcast: the 10-episode test
- "It is never crowded because nobody is in your space"
Timestamps:
- 4:00: How she started podcasting during COVID and let the show evolve
- 6:35: Why her first $19 membership failed and what it taught her
- 7:30: How she realized her audience wanted conversations, not courses
- 8:45: Letting your podcast name and format change without fear
- 9:15: How she publishes two episodes per week
- 10:05: Batching content, minimal editing, and hiring a VA
- 12:05: Why raw and real content is winning with female audiences
- 16:05: How her podcast feeds into her business
- 16:30: Why she never looked at her analytics before the mastermind
- 17:15: Her goal to guest on more podcasts in 2026
- 18:05: Finding and vetting guests through relationships
- 21:30: Creating content from program questions and real life experiences
- 25:00: Why two or three conversations give you your best episode topics
- 27:05: The two biggest aha moments from the mastermind
- 27:25: SEO in podcast titles and show notes
- 28:05: Why quizzes outperform traditional lead magnets
- 28:30: How her first quiz drove leads and what she learned
- 29:00: Building two new quizzes
- 30:05: The quiz data surprise: what she expected vs. what happened
- 31:05: How the quiz told her exactly who to create content for
- 32:55: Why the curated quiz experience creates raving fans
- 34:25: The growth results: 43% in three months, four years of downloads in four months
- 36:05: Why monthly analytics tracking is now part of her workflow
- 36:25: Advice for anyone thinking about starting a podcast
- 37:00: The 10-episode test
- 38:25: It is never crowded because nobody is in your space
Your Next Steps
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Mentioned in This Episode
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