Your podcast doesn’t need to be perfect to be powerful.

This conversation explores what it really takes to bring a podcast to life in a way that feels aligned, creative, and sustainable. From overcoming the discomfort of solo episodes to redefining sponsorship through collaboration, it offers a refreshing perspective on building something meaningful without rushing the process.

When you lead with creativity and intention, your podcast becomes more than content—it becomes an extension of your voice and your mission. Slowing down and trusting your path may be the very thing that allows your podcast to grow with ease and impact.

Connect with Aimee Carlson:

• dragonflyschool.earth
• sheforcecoach.com
• Creative Permission Slip Podcast
• kpcreativemedia.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Your Productivity Pulse: https://pod.link/1867957851

Hello there.

You are listening to Podcasting for your spiritual business.

I'm Kim Parkinson, and today I have on a very special guest.

She is a current client of mine, and she has an amazing podcast.

I'm going to let her explain a little bit about that and about a little bit of what she does, but we're going to just kind of dive into how she was able to launch her podcast and was able to bring her podcast to life with the guests and all of the different goodies that she does.

So welcome to the show, Amy.

Please tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do, and anything else you might want to let them know about you.

Thanks, Kim.

I have a podcast called the Creative Permission Slip, which I'll tell you more about in a moment.

And I do integrative.

I just call it integrative life and leadership coaching, because that is one of the skills that I have started to own, is that I think I really help people integrate the different parts of themselves and even live the.

I feel like we all are full of paradoxes, so kind of like pulling those.

Those pieces together.

And I found throughout the years that I really love interviewing people.

So as I started to do that, I was like, okay, maybe a podcast.

And then Kim has helped create the courage in me as well to do more solo episodes.

Yeah, yeah, super important to do those solo episodes, for sure.

Maintain that authority.

Right?

Keeping that authority, keeping those people.

Because otherwise you're just showcasing other people and people don't get to know you, the real you, the real who you are.

So, yeah, I think I was hiding behind, like, only interviewing other people.

I really enjoy that.

But I had to also recognize that there was a way that it was limiting me as well.

How did you get over that fear of doing the solo?

Were you really.

Was that a fear of yours or just a just discomfort?

I would say it was more of a discomfort.

I have done different things, you know, in front of people before, but I told myself I created this whole story, I think, really around what it would be like, you know, just sitting in a room by myself with a microphone.

And so I did a lot of practicing and did a lot of episodes that nobody ever heard.

Yeah.

Just to start to feel more comfortable.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It does take a little bit of practice when you are just recording on your own because you're used to.

You're used to talking to people.

You're used to having.

As a matter of fact, one person I talked to recently said that one of our.

Our traits as humans is when we are on a zoom call or when we are in person.

We have been taught all along to look people in the eye.

And so I'm looking at you right now in.

In the eye.

You know, we're recording this on zoom, but the camera doesn't reflect that.

The, the camera reflects that I'm looking in a different direction.

So it's a different way of recording whether or not that be interviews or whether or not that be a solo episode.

But yeah, those solos can be.

You really have to be comfortable talking to yourself.

Right.

Yeah.

And I think just remembering to tune in because so often we get feedback from another like, oh, okay, this, that's the way this conversation's going.

Oh, this, this is.

But instead we have to just rely on ourselves and tune in, you know, and I think, I think it's a great practice.

I just think it's often for me it was an undeveloped skill.

Yeah.

It's interesting.

I met with a client earlier today and she was just riffing off a couple of different episode topic ideas.

Not because she was thinking of them, just because we were having a convers.

And when she was done talking, I said, you just gave me two different episodes.

You already have two topics right there.

And she says, I just need you to be in the room with me.

So very similar to what you said, you know, that it having that other person right there to kind of say to you, yeah, yeah, or maybe not.

Yeah.

So tell me more about the creative permission slip.

Yeah.

I have always.

The word create and creativity, like they just are.

They've always been a part of my vocabulary.

And I didn't know why I haven't always thought of myself.

Well, here's.

Here's part of why I did the show.

A lot of people think of relate creativity to artistic ability.

And to me, I want to get the point across that creativity is like a big umbrella and our art and artistic endeavors fall under that, but so do so many other things.

True.

And so, you know, in my life, as I started to look back and get curious, like, why do I always use the word create and why am I so interested in creativity and what does that mean to me?

You know, I started to connect the dots and I started to see how important it's always been in my life because it brings this kind of life force to me and through me and I.

Through the creative permission slip, I wanted to remind people about that, that they've all got it, everyone's got it, you know, that you're working with it.

When you feel that aliveness and you and that excitement and the permission part of it is really about.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

Like, just get in there, try something out, allow yourself to connect with that, you know, I think so often as kids, we all can relate.

We let ourselves be that creative being and then something as we get taller, you know, as we get into the.

And get older, there's something about it that we recognize doesn't seem to be as valued.

So we kind of.

We might cut it off a bit.

So that's partly how the show came to be.

The other part is I have a collaborator.

We have always thought about how we might work together, do something together.

She is very behind the scenes.

She loves to support things that she believes in.

She loves to grow communities, but she doesn't want to be out front.

And so this is the result of our collaboration.

And it's just been a beautiful, beautiful journey of a way that we get to work together, both being in our zones of genius and then seeing what comes of it.

You are a great example.

I've had some people ask me before about sponsorships and about how can you go about getting sponsorships?

And, you know, when is it possible to start with a sponsorship?

And now, prior to you, Honestly, I might have said to them, well, maybe, you know, let's look at your downloads.

Let's look at, you know, where you are.

And in many cases, that's still true.

Right.

If you have a big corporation that you're reaching out to, you know, under Armour or.

Well, our communities, maybe not, but maybe some other type of a company, you.

You might need to showcase all of your downloads and all of that.

But you walked into our relationship together with.

Or our relationship with this podcast together, or your podcast together with a sponsor in hand.

And so you're like.

You're like the benchmark.

This can be done.

This can be done.

How did that come about?

Like, how did.

How did the conversation of, I want to do a podcast.

Yes, I would like to be your sponsor.

How did that come about?

Yeah.

So, you know, this would be a way to encourage people, too, to maybe get creative on how you define sponsorship.

Does it have to be from some big company, big entity?

Yeah.

And so this is an example of we had been in conversation, Julie and I had been in conversation for years of like, yeah, I know someday we're gonna do something together.

Someday, some way.

And we both just trusted and we both just, you know, let time pass.

And sometimes we'd float ideas and be like, ah, yeah, that I don't Think that's quite it or that's not.

Maybe the timing's not right.

And, you know, we're both also very polite with each other, so, you know, we don't want to push anything on one another, you know, just.

And so this conversation came about kind of gradually, and as it did so.

So that's one thing, you know, we.

We gave it some breathing space and then we let some ideas start to form.

And then, you know, the timing seemed just right, too, that we had the conversation to pull the pieces together.

She has an art studio and, you know, I do coaching and I like to interview people.

So all of this to say it could possibly be that you're in conversation with someone that you.

Here's a piece here.

You both mutually admire each other and what each other does.

And we can each have an idea of how we want maybe a certain thing to occur in our communities or even an idea of legacy, which can have so many different meanings.

And so just bringing your skills together and your resources together and what that means.

I love that because I feel like that was.

It was mutual.

It was not.

It wasn't.

You reaching out via, you know, emails and letters and, like, really, like, trying to sell yourself on was more of a collaboration where you just were, like.

It was divine timing.

It was just being almost delivered to that.

To that fruition of.

I'm looking for this, you've got this, I'm looking for that, you've got that.

And let's put both of those together and see what we can make together.

I love that.

I love that.

Yeah.

Not every sponsorship, I call it a sponsorship because that's what we would call it in the podcasting world.

Right.

But we're also considering this is a collaboration.

But in this particular realm, sponsorships come from all different areas.

All different areas, I guess, is the point to take out of this is it's not just I got to reach out to Under Armour or my local metaphysical shop or this.

And I do have other clients that actually do work, have a sponsorship with their local metaphysical shop or, you know, with a online app.

I've had those before, too.

But sometimes it's just a easy in if you are working together on one.

One thing.

So, yeah, congratulations on that.

That's good for you.

That's good.

Thank you.

Now, how do you feel in this case with the sponsor?

How do you feel or collaboration?

How do you feel that you are mutually bringing forth the podcast together?

Are you actively advertising her on there?

I know, I know.

But maybe the audience would like to know how does that look like in the back end for her and you?

Yeah, that's a great question.

And I can see that.

Just like how we came together organically, that portion may be organically shifting through time as well.

But, you know, like, right now, here's another part that people may consider as well.

Collaborating with someone who, you know, things are just going along really great for her in her business in this point in time.

And so she wasn't real worried about bringing in a bunch of traffic because she doesn't do anything online.

It's a.

It's a physical space and.

And we've, you know, it's located in our town.

And so in a podcast, maybe there would be.

Draw some local people in, but maybe not.

But depending on what people do or how their partnership might look like, that could definitely be a piece of.

Of how to draw in.

But in our situation, it's really been.

She sends people in whose stories she has heard at her studio.

And so if they're willing to be interviewed, then I interview them.

And that's one of the ways that we kind of reciprocate with each other.

And it's an outlet for people in her studio to.

To share their stories if they would like to.

And then, you know, as I said, Julie is like, so much about letting people shine.

So she's always asking me, are you enjoying it?

Are you.

Are you getting out of it what you want?

Which is so lovely and so unselfish, but that's where we're at at this point in time about how we work together and how we reciprocate and.

But yeah, it's just a nice thing to continually check in on, just like with any collaboration or relationship or just to see, like, how are you doing and how is this working?

Now that you have your sponsor, is there any kind of feelings about that that bring up.

Yeah, you know, one of the things that has really been a driving force in the podcast is as we are working together.

You know, knowing this collaboration with Julie and I, and with you as well, has this certain sense of accountability for me that I really enjoy, as well as an inspired kind of just making sure.

Keeping that integrity, you know, keeping that.

Sometimes when we do something 100% solo, that can be a little tricky to do.

But when you come together in this, like, I consider this whole thing, you know, a collaboration as well with you too, Kim, is there's this.

I mean, I just want to bring my best.

I want to show up in each episode in this certain way because.

Because I've got other people that are not only listening, but other people that have decided that they want to work with me on this endeavor.

And I feel myself wanting to rise to the occasion.

Uplifted, for sure.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I love that you're.

You're feeling supported and I love that you're feeling uplifted.

And as long as you are, like you said, Julie asks you, as long as you are having fun and as long as it's enjoyable to you, then you continue it as long as you'd like.

And when it no longer serves, and no longer serves that inner part of you, that's when it's time you listen to that intuition part.

Yeah.

Yeah, I love that.

I love that.

Thank you for sharing.

I also love that you bring on real people that don't necessarily have businesses.

Yeah.

They don't necessarily have a call to action for you to share with your audience.

They are real people in some type of creative space sphere, whether that be art or music or just life in some, in some fashion.

I love that realness of just almost, almost to the point where you're doing like a.

An old fashioned.

I'm on the streets of New York City and we're just talking to this person here, you know, like, kinda like that.

Because they are.

They don't always have something for the listener to like move on to.

It's always.

It's a real true story that you're telling.

Almost a documentary.

Yeah, yeah.

Good way to say it.

It just popped in my head that.

Way, but yeah, I hadn't thought of it using that word either, but I like that.

Yeah.

So.

So now if you could just tell the audience if you remember how we met.

Do you remember?

Yeah.

Gosh, it's been years ago now, hasn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

It was through Facebook, but it was some.

Maybe another coach's group.

Yeah.

And then I never used to trust social media.

I was like, I don't know.

Can you really meet nice people on social media?

I don't know.

And the fact is, yes, yes.

I ha.

I really have.

And so know that I could tell that you were just like someone that I really enjoyed being around.

And then as we connected a bit more, it was like we found what we had in common.

Yeah.

And then I think I interviewed you before I ever had a podcast was when I was doing a little series of like, oh, let me find out what other people are doing online because I'm not used to this online business thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I actually, I do remember and I Actually think so.

We were put together by a unicorn type group and we were in, I think it was like the Fox and the Hound or something.

I don't remember what the whole premise was around it, but I do remember those pieces.

And she put us together and I honestly, truly believe she put us together because we were both projectors.

I think she had done human design at that time and I feel like that was the direction because maybe there's not too many of us, but we were definitely the two of them.

And so she put us together and we just really worked.

It just really worked for us to do that program together.

And just I, I have loved being a part of your life and seeing how your business has unfolded and changed.

Changed too.

Because I think originally you were doing something different, correct?

Yes, yes.

It was still in coaching.

But honestly, it's taken me a while to get clear and I think what's.

What's taken me a while is just to own what am I good at.

You know, like to really own that.

And I think that that's just fun to bring up here and now too.

Is this our own evolutions?

Yeah.

And allowing, allowing that to be.

Yep.

Kind of pulls back to what you mentioned about you and Julie.

Right.

It was, it was a long, like it.

That collaboration didn't start immediately.

It was, it's a, it's a build up.

It's a accumulation of maybe years of trust, years of working together in one fashion or saying hello, meeting, saying whatever it might be.

And finally then it was whatever that catalyst is that just.

Is that flick the switch, let's do it type thing.

So.

Yeah.

So what was the I'm going to work with Kim switch?

Do you have one?

Oh, yeah.

As soon as.

Okay.

You know, as soon as Julie and I started talking about doing this, it just dropped in immediately for me.

I know who we could work with.

I know who could help bring this together because that was something I was getting more and more clear about too.

Like, I'm all about DIY in a lot of kinds of things, but also in my wisdom, as I age, it's appreciating other people's zones of genius.

And so I just knew that if this.

I had thrown enough spaghetti on the wall in various things in my business.

And as she and I came together, that's another thing about a really aligned collaboration is that you, like, we both had this desire, if we're going to do this, like, let's do it right.

You know.

Yes, we can totally bootstrap some things.

But also like, that was part of our mutual respect, too.

If we're going to do this, let's utilize the people that we know could really help us do this.

And so immediately your name came to mind.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's amazing.

I love that.

I really appreciate that and appreciate your business and your friendship, because you're not just a client, you're a friend first.

So I love that.

I love that about all of my clients.

Yeah, Yeah, I love that, too.

And the feeling is real, which just makes everything much more approachable.

So I'm really.

I love the way that the.

The way that you do business.

Aw.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So if somebody was going to start listening to the creative permission slip, what is the very first episode that comes to your mind that you would have them start on?

Yes.

I would suggest episode 28.

And it's all about giving yourself permission to, you know, simplify, move forward in a way that is easy and uncluttered and imperfectly perfect.

Love that.

Yeah, yeah.

Because it's.

It is all about giving yourself that permission and all about giving it creatively, however that might be.

So, yeah, I love your mission.

I love what you have to say.

Do you have a.

Another collaboration that you'd like to speak about?

Oh, yes.

Yes.

Dragonfly School.

Thank you.

Yes, absolutely.

This is a season in my life.

I'm just finding, like, collaborations are so rich for me, helping me move from being maybe too independent to really trusting my intuition on who to work with and then really leaning into each other's strengths.

And so Dragonfly School is created with my friend Gemma Liberty.

And it's really just a reflection of what we've been doing with one another over the past year.

Kind of moving.

Recognizing life as this experience of the cycle that the Dragonfly goes through that is kind of like the butterfly that has this messy middle.

And so it's just getting ready to open.

And it's a space.

It's a space for people to breathe and become and remember and be safe and be accepted and just normalize that that is part of our personal growth.

It's not always pretty, but it's okay.

Yeah.

Oh, my goodness.

That just lights you right up.

I can totally tell.

So I'm so excited for you.

Is there a website that you can send people to?

Yes, it is.

Dragonflyschool.earth.

Oh, nice.

And Earth Day's coming out soon, so that's.

That'll be perfect.

Nice.

Yeah.

Excellent.

And your own website.

I will definitely put in the link for your show itself.

Creative permission slip.

And Amy, I don't know that we mentioned your last name, Amy Carlson.

And Amy is spelled uniquely.

So if people are searching for you, you want to tell them how you spell your name.

Yeah, it's A, I, M, E, E. And then Carlson is the.

Just the easy one.

C, A, R, L, S, O, N. And the name of my business is Sheforce.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

Sheforce.com.net where are we sending them?

Sheforce coach.com.

There we go.

Thank you.

I'm glad that you mentioned it.

Perfect.

Excellent.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell people about a podcasting journey, finding a sponsor, anything like that that you'd like to give them your wisdom on?

Yeah.

You know, what I would say is, in the past, I've rushed into things thinking that that was inspiration.

And what I learned, especially through this podcast journey with you, is that go slow, to go smooth, to go fast.

You know, take the time to do the things ahead of time about the intention, about all the steps that you walk people through so that you have a real strong foundation.

So in whatever you're doing, if you really want it to last, take the time.

Wise words.

Wise words.

Yeah.

Yes.

Thank you so much, Amy.

I really have appreciated you being on and telling your story and can't wait for people to now click the little button and hop on over to creative permission slip and start with episode 28 so that they can have that permission to simplify, too.

So thank you.

Thanks for having me on, Kim, and thanks for all that you do for the creative Permission Slip.

You're very welcome.

It is my pleasure, truly.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for being here and spending this time with me today.

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