Let’s start from the beginning… I think it goes back to reminiscing my earlier days in Radio, working the Sunday Vibes and Rhythms Show at the Dominica Broadcasting Station (DBS), to stumbling upon some amazing podcasts like Business Wars, Masters Of Scale and my most recent favorite Peleton”s Fitness Flipped. This last one got me through this past summer to kickstart my exercise spin journey as I want to have super bursts of energy to keep up with my two young kids under nine. There are so many other great podcasts I listen to but these are the top ones I have consistently binged on not including some awesome Netflix international series.
When I started the podcast in February 2020, it was part of a New Years resolution to create a podcast that had all the great topics I enjoyed in business as well as meet more fascinating people in my neck of the woods and around the world.
In February, 2020, I published, the trailer of the Livewithirenia Podcast and then reached out to my friends. Unfortunately many of them were very shy to be recorded and I quickly realized this was going to be much harder than I thought. A month later, two weeks into March, the City of Fredericton went into full lockdown when the pandemic hit and of course, I became even more curious about what was happening in my neck of the woods and other places worldwide. The pandemic took out my fear and gave me courage to take the leap into the podcasting world because I so enjoyed the side-bars and off the record conversations with my guests.
Fast Forward 2022, I am still going three podcasts later which was very ambitious for one person with very limited time given my juggling act between my full-time job as a Business Advisor and my full-time job raising my kids. I know adding the third podcast was crazy but I did it because of the volunteer work I was doing at a time with Google Women Techmakers, Technovation and the Women in Tech Network. Given that growing an audience for the third podcast is much harder than I expected, I have made an executive decision to shake things up by collapsing the Technostarter podcast into the next season of the Livewithirenia Stories ~ a remix so to speak. If you notice, I also made another slight change to the name of the podcast from “Livewithirenia” to “Livewithirenia Stories” because of the diversity of leaders who were coming in as guests and I think this new name is just a bit more intuitive.
Listeners going forward I will be focusing on only two podcasts. Why? My inspiration was waning since I am an individual who gets very bored if I do not have a wide kaleidoscope of interesting things around me tap into. Everyone in the podcasting world knows that when you are on the podcast journey, you need continuous inspiration for the creative process to keep flowing. This past summer, I disconnected completely from the Pod for a while and went to coach my little boy”s soccer team. I know, it was not the best thing to do for the podcast but I did it because it was right decision for me. Being outdoors bathing in the sunshine and listening to all the kids laughter made me come back refreshed and fully energized. Since September, I have been focused on interviewing new guests and releasing new episodes on demand for the Canadian Side Hustle And Business Podcast and I am very proud to be eight episodes in with a few more on the way. I think it is my best season yet since I am getting better at finding those great golden nuggets and the leaders who genuinely care about making a significant impact in their neck of the woods.
Looking back starting these podcasts from scratch was a blessing. It brought me to the homes and offices of many dynamic leaders and entrepreneurs during a very difficult time in all our lives and I am just simply grateful for this since we were able to inspire so many people. To my avid listeners, my community, I want you to send me a note and let me know what you want me to add to Season 4 of the Canadian Side Hustle and Business Podcast for me to be able to meet you where you are since we are growing and learning together.
Now, we know that inspiration comes from many places in our life and for me it is reading, learning, playing and speaking with people who are much smarter than me. Short conferences/seminars are a must for me whether it’s virtual or in person. I recently attended the Master of Scale Summit via livestream and was blown away by all the smart people who spoke candidly. I am still digesting the learnings from this awesome conference, however, I am deeply inspired to do even more in my neck of the woods in New Brunswick, Canada!
The advice from four conference speakers which I will bring forward with me :
HubSpot CEO, Dharmesh Shah who said:
Competitors can copy your marketing and product but they cannot clone your community because it is all about your connection to them.
Air BNB’s CEO, Brian Chesky who said:
It is better to have 100 people love you than millions of people
Both Mr. Chesky and Mr. Shah gave powerful insights into the the secret sauce to building community around your service/product which is starting with one person at a time. Just like a flower which needs water to grow, so does the new relationships we make. We have to connect and nurture these relationships. As we have all learned, nothing comes overnight and starting small is the way to go and building from this.
Calendly”s CEO Tope Awotona and Metricstream”s ~ Shellye Archambeau who said:
Embrace your difference and build with it.
This makes so much sense to me as a person who always sticks out in my neck of the woods and I am so used to it now.
Lastly, I was left in awe by this question posed by Endeavour’s CEO, Linda Rottenberg who asked the audience:
How big is your bubble?
She got me thinking about my network that’s for sure since my bubble is quite small and I like it. How will I continue to grow it? With just one person at a time because I enjoy meeting new people from different walks of life who are making an impact in their neck of the woods. Listeners, inspiration comes from many places so please do send me a note to let me know where yours come from and I will read it on the podcast.
I hope my story help to inspire you! Let me know if it did, I would love to hear from you. Connect with me here: Connect – Livewithirenia Audio Podcasts
Livewithirenia Audio Podcasts 