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26. Start the Show, Skip the Spiral: Featuring Hayleigh Hayhurst, Founder of Espresso Podcast Production
39 Plays16 days ago
If podcasting has been tugging at your sleeve—but the tech, tools, and tactics have felt like a second job—this episode is your permission slip to move anyway.
In this conversation, I sit down with Hayleigh Hayhurst, founder of Espresso Podcast Production, the full-service agency helping experts stay in their lane while scaling their voice. From concept to editing, audience growth to monetization—Hayleigh’s team handles it all so you can focus on what matters: your message.
We go deep into:
- A real-time audit of Gritty is the New Pretty (yes, she gave me notes 👀)
- Ways to monetize beyond the “get sponsors” default
- What separates a podcast that builds trust from one that just adds noise
Hayleigh also shares lessons from hosting Employee to Boss and Podcast Café, two shows she built from the ground up—and the mindset shift required to lead the mic and the backend.
Spoiler: podcasting is simpler than you think. When you build from clarity, not chaos.
Learn more about Hayleigh at espressopodcastproduction.com or email her at hello@espressopodcastproduction.com. Seattle-based, dog-loving, and caffeine-fueled—she’s the real deal.
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Transcript
Introduction: Grit and Resilience
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to Gritty is the New Pretty, where resilience meets real talk. I'm your host, Crystal, entrepreneur, leadership coach, change maker, and outdoor enthusiast.
00:00:15
Speaker
Join me as I sit down with powerhouse women leaders, entrepreneurs, and small business owners who share their raw, unfiltered stories of success, struggle, and the grit it takes to make an
Redefining Success Through Grit
00:00:27
Speaker
impact.
00:00:27
Speaker
From navigating change to redefining success, we'll explore what it takes to rise, lead, and thrive. Expect raw conversations to fuel your journey, whether you're breaking down barriers in life or in business.
00:00:42
Speaker
We're redefining success, not by perfection, but by the strength it takes to rise again and again. Because in this space, gritty is the new pretty.
00:00:53
Speaker
Hit subscribe and let's get gritty with it.
00:00:58
Speaker
This episode is sponsored by Hey Becks Creative House, founded by brand strategist Becky LaFranche, known for building crave-worthy brands that blend story, soul, and strategy.
00:01:10
Speaker
Explore the work at heybecks.com.
Meet Haley Hayhurst
00:01:15
Speaker
On today's podcast of Gritty is a New Pretty, I'm excited to welcome Haley Hayhurst, the founder of Espresso Podcast Production, a full-service podcast management agency.
00:01:27
Speaker
And Haley is also the host of two podcasts, Employee to Boss, focusing on entrepreneurship and business growth, and The Podcast Cafe, a show that aims to elevate the craft of podcasting for both beginners and seasoned creators. Welcome, Haley.
00:01:42
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Well, I always start off with having everyone tell us
Haley's Podcast Journey Begins
00:01:49
Speaker
about you, your story. What can you share with us today? Absolutely. ah So like you said, my name is Haley Hayhurst. I'm based in Seattle. That's actually how I met you, Crystal. So I run Espresso Podcast Production where I help businesses start and scale their podcasts.
00:02:06
Speaker
I help them with the marketing of it, the actual editing of it. There's so many parts of podcasting that people don't want to deal with. So I make it easy for them. All they do is press record and I handle the rest.
00:02:19
Speaker
I love doing this. Actually, I've been doing this since 2018 with my own podcast and then started my own business in 2020. So we could talk all about that journey. I started it pretty young. i started my business when I was 22. So that was a whole thing in itself.
00:02:37
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, i just I love all things podcasting. So did you start... doing the podcast, knowing that you wanted to do podcast production, or did that sort of evolve from you starting your podcast?
From Journalism to Podcasting
00:02:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, I had no idea that podcast production was even a job when I first started my first podcast. so I was in college, I went to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I was studying journalism. And I thought that I was first going to go into like broadcast television I decided that wasn't for me. So then I switched my niche or my focus into social media and like journalism writing.
00:03:20
Speaker
And that was when the podcast studios were presented to me and a friend. We were working the same job and it we had a lot of downtime in this job. So we would just chat and we found some similar interests and decided that We should just start a podcast because we had access to the studios.
00:03:39
Speaker
It'd be good for us just to learn like the editing and the research and everything that goes into it. And I didn't see her very much outside of work. So we just thought it'd be fun to do So that was what prompted our first podcast.
00:03:53
Speaker
We did that for – she actually still does it to this day. I love that for her. And I moved up to Seattle during the pandemic after I had graduated and took a step away from that podcast. But it was a connection I had from Las Vegas.
00:04:09
Speaker
It was my cousin's cousin. was like, hey, Haley, I know that you used to have a podcast. Do you mind managing mine for
Business Growth Through Referrals
00:04:16
Speaker
me? I'll pay you because – i don't have time to. This is more work than I thought it was. And she was in person. She had a personal branding business back then.
00:04:26
Speaker
And during the pandemic, everyone was building a personal brand. So she was booked and busy. So me being unemployed was like, thank you. I will absolutely take any sort of money that you'll give me.
00:04:40
Speaker
So I started editing for her show, writing the show notes. I mean, it was really stuff that I already knew how to do. It was everything I was doing for my own podcast. So after about a month of doing that, my five year anniversary of my business is also coming up.
00:04:56
Speaker
But after about a month in that, she was like, I know so many business owners who need help with podcasting. Do you want to refer? do you me to refer them to you? And I was like, I mean, I guess. So that was how my business was born and started off just with referrals, got a few clients, I think around like four or five, and then started actually marketing and then grew my business from there.
00:05:22
Speaker
Wow, that's a really cool story. And I love stories that start with the word of mouth referral, it because it really shows that you, number one, found a niche, number two, that you were good at what you were doing, because people aren't going to refer you if they're like, oh, that wasn't a great experience. So um way to knock it out of the park there.
00:05:45
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah.
Strategy in Podcasting: Avoiding Burnout
00:05:47
Speaker
So what are some tips and tricks ah for people wanting to start a podcast? Yeah, so about two years into my business, I realized that I had all these great clients who were putting out great episodes, but sometimes they were random episodes. Sometimes their podcast wasn't bringing them the results they wanted to see, so they were stopping it.
00:06:11
Speaker
And I really took a look at what was going on and I realized it's because they didn't have strategy. They didn't know why they were podcasting or they didn't know what the purpose was. All of these different things. It didn't even tie to their business in some cases. They were just doing it for fun and then were like,
00:06:28
Speaker
well, this is actually a lot of work. Where are the results? And it ended up burning them out and really just they stopped it. So the number one thing that I think every podcaster should think about before even starting their show is what results will make you feel successful and what's the strategy behind why you're starting?
00:06:49
Speaker
Success means different thing to every single podcaster. I don't have any two clients that are alike in the way that would make them feel successful. Sometimes my clients are like, I would be happy with, you know, 40 listens on an episode. And then I have clients that are like, if I don't get...
00:07:06
Speaker
over a thousand, this isn't worth my time. You know, it's so different across the board. And sometimes it doesn't even come down to the listenership. Sometimes they want clients from it. Sometimes it's marketing materials. Sometimes it's a lead generation source for, you know, anyone to land. yeah There's so many different ways that you could podcast.
Crystal's Podcast Goals
00:07:29
Speaker
And so Number one, i always think that every podcaster should look at their strategy and what would make them feel successful and make it worth it.
00:07:41
Speaker
I like it. So I have a podcast, obviously. Gritty is a new pretty. I mean, that's not a secret here. um So what i ah you've heard, like my intro and what I want to do is obviously since I have you on, I'm going to like kill two birds with one stone, which is get your expertise.
00:08:00
Speaker
But I would love to open up this opportunity for some real live feedback on my podcast and even like the processes of getting you set up to be a guest and um I started Gritty is the New Pretty during the pandemic when we couldn't do in-person events for Grit City Women.
00:08:19
Speaker
And so essentially now my goal with Gritty is the New Pretty is to really carry that spirit of those events where we would have women um guest speakers every month come and essentially share their story and share tips and tricks about their expertise um in a way that we could obviously do it during the pandemic where we were on lockdown.
00:08:44
Speaker
um Now my life has changed significantly. i am married. I've got another baby on the way, um all sorts of other things. But I still want to elevate women's voices and educate women and, and be able to help ah another woman with a story, even if it's one woman, an episode, that's like, this was helpful for me, or this changed the way I feel about something, or I don't feel so alone on my journey.
00:09:12
Speaker
That's kind of my goal. I should probably be more strategic business wise. I'm just not in that space at the moment, but that's where I'm at. So, I mean, I would love any insight as we're talking about this for the next 30 minutes.
Podcast Data: Focus on Connection?
00:09:26
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. So I love that. And I think you're definitely achieving that with your podcast. When I say strategy, I mean, not every podcast needs like to be looking at their analytics every week and really diving deep into like, oh, is this working? Oh, is this working? Because ultimately, your goal is to share stories and connect with your listeners in a way that will impact them. so I find that sometimes overanalyzing the data of the podcast can actually hinder you more than actually looking at it sometimes.
00:09:59
Speaker
So I work, I help people with their podcasting and I look at a few different spots. So one is content. One is how they're marketing it.
Marketing Tips for Podcasts
00:10:09
Speaker
And then what's the funnel?
00:10:11
Speaker
And then what are the trends in the podcast? So we can kind of break down those four parts. So I love your intro. but This is all the content. of i love the intro.
00:10:21
Speaker
I think that it definitely shares just the right amount of information to get people hooked and know exactly what they're getting into for the next 30 to 40 to 50, however long the episode is.
00:10:35
Speaker
Because it's almost like a handshake, right? You want to say, hey, thanks for listening. This is what you can expect. So 100%, I love that. I also love how you put your sponsor in the beginning too. I find that this is a spot where a lot of people put it in like the middle or the end. And what I have to say is With podcasting, you can look at the data, but very like not everyone is going to make it to the end of the episode.
00:11:03
Speaker
and So if you are promoting yourself or your sponsor at the end, only maybe 60% will hear it, sometimes less, sometimes more.
00:11:14
Speaker
And most people will just tune out. So I think... Those two things are fantastic. I love that.
Social Media Management for Podcasts
00:11:21
Speaker
I was looking at your social media too to kind of go over to the second part, which is marketing.
00:11:27
Speaker
You're sharing reels. You're sharing your merch. You have a lot of community over there. I think that tapping more into the community could be a space for collaboration. Like,
00:11:38
Speaker
Are you engaging the podcast listeners? Are you asking them like, you know, maybe like a monthly Q&A or a weekly Q&A or having like a form where they could submit their own questions or topics that they want to hear about?
00:11:53
Speaker
Since everything you do is so community driven, I think that could be a spot to tap into even more. ah Because that makes them like feel excited about it. That makes them feel...
00:12:07
Speaker
That's great. i I love that because yeah i do I have looked at my analytics um because I'm curious, you know, i wanted to make sure at least somebody was listening and there are. with it So if you are listening and you are like a consistent listener, know,
00:12:24
Speaker
you know Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Would love to hear from you. Please DM us or me and um any questions or feedback. Just I'm really appreciative of the support.
00:12:35
Speaker
um But I realize that I have listeners in Ireland. which is fun So if you're listening and you're from Ireland, hello. i would love to just say hi because I don't know who you are, but there is somebody who listens in Ireland.
00:12:52
Speaker
I'm just so curious of like how you even found Grit City Women. um But my question is for you with the social media. My main social media is Grit City Women.
00:13:04
Speaker
Because that's where I started with Grit City Women. But the podcast name is Gritty is a New Pretty, which I also created an Instagram account for. But it's just not it's just not my main account. I don't have as many followers on it.
00:13:17
Speaker
What should I do there? Like, is that a a missed opportunity or should I just focus where my followers are? what What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I've seen this pop up a lot lately of having two separate Instagram accounts. And if you can manage it 100%, my recommendation is it depends on how many clips you're pulling from your podcast.
00:13:40
Speaker
Because We don't want to like weigh down our main social media with a bunch of podcast content because usually the podcast isn't our main business, right? It's not even my main business and I'm a podcast manager. So i always share a few reels of the podcast clips onto my own social media.
00:14:04
Speaker
But for my clients that have too, what I recommend is like obviously putting it in the bio of the main Instagram and vice versa. And then you could also add yourself as a collaborator on the posts on just a few. So then you can get the reach on the podcast Instagram that you might desire, or if you just want to use it as a resource to post extra content, that's what I would do with the two.
00:14:34
Speaker
So for me personally, I just have everything on my main page just because the podcast kind of ties into my business and you know same with yours.
00:14:44
Speaker
But I've seen, i have a business coach. Her name is Kate Perkovic and she has a, you know, her main Instagram and then she puts out five clips per episode on her podcast Instagram.
00:14:58
Speaker
And she uses that more for like she's building a whole brand off of that. So if you have the intention to build a separate brand from your podcast, that's when I'd say definitely, definitely, definitely separate the two.
00:15:13
Speaker
But if you're only posting one clip or so from the show, i always say it's easier to keep them together. it is it It is like a case by case basis, but that's usually my recommendation.
00:15:27
Speaker
Yeah, and i that I have started doing the collaborator because I don't want to saturate my Grit City Women content with just reels, even though the reels are awesome. um So, OK, that's good advice. And I think we were on like the second strategy, marketing, and then there were four tips, I think, or four areas.
00:15:52
Speaker
i think i interrupted you in your flow of... ah Oh my gosh. No, no, no ah Please pause me. I love like diving deeper into these. ah So the next spot that I look at, yeah, so marketing, we look at, you know, what you're posting, all of that.
00:16:06
Speaker
The next thing that I usually look at is the funnels in the podcast. So this could be lead magnets, freebies. This could be and invite to your newsletter and ask to follow on social media.
00:16:23
Speaker
And this is where the strategy comes in because
Podcasts as Lead Generation Funnels
00:16:27
Speaker
you can have people listening to your show and you have this maybe like a free ebook or workbook or a quiz that they can take and that might send them to your email list.
00:16:40
Speaker
This is what I see a lot. And Then you get to the email list and you're never sending email. So that's almost like a waste opportunity of you're sending people somewhere. They're actually taking the action and then you're not nurturing them from there.
00:16:54
Speaker
Another thing that I see often is just, you know, asking just like. really not a strong call to action of, well, if you want to download this, this is here, or not mentioning it enough, or just putting it in the show notes.
00:17:10
Speaker
The show notes is part of the content piece. That's a really great place that a lot of businesses don't optimize as much as they can. But if you're just putting your lead magnets in the show notes and never mentioning it,
00:17:24
Speaker
it's going to be hard to convert those. It's all about nurturing, right? Podcasting, if you think of it as a funnel, is like, yes, they might find your podcast episode. Maybe a friend sent it to them or maybe they saw a clip on social media. like They somehow came across it Then it's up to you to be able to nurture them to then get into your atmosphere more.
00:17:48
Speaker
And then if you want to sell to them, that's when you can sell. But It's a big nurturing platform. So that's usually the third thing that I look at when I look at like podcasting and dive into that data.
00:18:05
Speaker
I never thought of that. I never thought of it that way. I guess I don't send out a lot of emails because I hate getting emails. um But i also don't push my email that much either.
00:18:19
Speaker
ah So I think it's it's good feedback for when I do want to start being more visible and start, like you said, nurturing that.
Aligning Content with Events
00:18:27
Speaker
If I'm not prepared to nurture it, then that's not where my effort should really be at that point.
00:18:34
Speaker
Yeah, well, I mean, it can always change too is the thing. Like I have clients that have different asks in their episodes. Like sometimes they're hosting a masterclass or sometimes they're hosting, you know, an event or sometimes it's like they have different things that they're pushing through different seasons. So it should, the you know, the thing about events is you always want to make sure that whatever you're talking about in your podcast has an evergreen sense to it because you might have an event next week. And if you're only talking about it the week before and you look at, you know, the trends in your podcast and some people listen week of, but most people listen like a month later or whenever it comes up in the SEO, like there's just so many, there's so many details in it. And I don't want to make it feel overwhelming because it's
00:19:27
Speaker
Podcasting is so fun and it's such a good tool just to get your message out and connect with your audience and nurture them. Like I don't want to make it feel overwhelming, but if you are using it for business, these are the things that you want to look at to make sure that it's working for you. Absolutely.
00:19:45
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So those were the first three. Contents. Then we talked about the funnels. Oh my gosh, I'm blanking. What's the fourth one What's the funnels? Are the funnels the like emails and stuff like that? Is that what you mean when you say funnels?
00:20:02
Speaker
Okay. Yep. So content. Yeah. So beyond that, I always think that you should look at the data.
Using Data Insights for Strategy
00:20:12
Speaker
So there are some things to look at in the data where you want to see how many people are listening. Depending on your hosting platform, it shows you when people are dropping off. If you're using like Spotify for creators, it'll show you how like the audience retention, like how much consumption your episodes are having. and
00:20:33
Speaker
Apple Podcast Connect shows this too. So i always look at those two places. But... No, there's just so much good with good stuff with it. And to see that information, do you have to like have an account with them like a podcasting account or is it accessible just on how you got it on there?
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah, it depends on your podcast host. So like for you, where do you upload your podcasts to get them out into the world? so I use Zencaster and that's how they get, it reaches the other platforms. Somewhere along the beginning, I did some things that worked and now they get uploaded into Spotify and Apple. I could not tell you how I did it, but, um, the app Zencaster obviously walked me through it. i used to use in the beginning, I used audio boom.
00:21:30
Speaker
Um, And i think I kind of outgrew it a little bit. Zencaster had a lot of other features that I was interested in and I ended up trying it and liking it. So, so far it, you know, it's been working for me and I feel like I'm not even using it to the most of its capabilities right now. So there's some learning there, but um yeah. So that's what all I do is I upload it on Zencaster and then it goes out into the okay other ones. Yeah.
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah, so Zencastr should... Does it give you, like, and insights into everything? It gives me
00:22:07
Speaker
Metrics on are people using like Apple or Android or web, like computer gives me metrics on listens, when they're listening, times, days, et cetera.
00:22:24
Speaker
um Metrics of locations of where like my audience is, but I haven't seen anything and maybe I'm not sure.
00:22:35
Speaker
sure what I'm looking at when I'm looking at I'm going to look closer now. um I'm not sure if it gives me that retention information. so that's why I was asking, like, i is there a way that I would get it off of Apple yeah or Spotify? Yeah. So you're going to go to Spotify for creators.
00:22:53
Speaker
You'll create an account on there. um That'll show you some insights. And then the other one is Apple Podcast Connect. And You already have an account on this if you set ah if your podcast goes to Apple Podcasts. Oh, okay. Good to know.
00:23:08
Speaker
See, it's all things you only have to set up once. and yeah I never if he's looked at it again. Yeah. I'm like, I think I have an account. Okay. So I do probably have accounts. I just need to log into them and look at it.
00:23:20
Speaker
Cool. But that'll give you a lot of data to look at.
Aligning Podcast Themes with Goals
00:23:24
Speaker
Good. See, I'm learning lots of stuff here. This is awesome. Mm-hmm.
00:23:30
Speaker
Okay. So we've talked about some of the strategy and um it seems like it's pretty unique to each business. What are some tips to, if people are looking to sort of elevate their business, what, what through their podcast, what are some tips outside of what we've already talked about that you might be able to offer?
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah. So number one I think, think about your podcast and your business as, you know, like a marriage, right? They should be together. They should be working together. So if you have a launch in your business, make sure that your podcast episodes are supporting that.
00:24:11
Speaker
So let's say, you know, Crystal, you you have an event coming up. Let's say the event is, well, do you have any events coming up soon? No, I'm having a baby. So I'm going to disappear. I'm disappearing for a little bit, but yeah. Yeah.
00:24:25
Speaker
Okay. So let's use the example of like, you know, you're having a baby. So the next phase of your life is motherhood with two children, right? I don't have children, but I'm assuming there's a big jump from one to two. At least that's what it looks like to me when I see, you know, family members or friends that have multiple children. so Maybe you want to talk more about how you're going to make mom life and business life work. And maybe you want to talk about schedules, right? Let's say you're going to have this online virtual event where you're talking about optimizing your calendar to work with your life, like make your life work with your business and not feel overwhelming.
00:25:09
Speaker
Okay, this is like a made up event that I'm making for you. Okay. Oh my gosh, of course. So you you're going to want your podcast episodes to kind of build up to that. And I always think it should be like a three-month buildup.
00:25:23
Speaker
So let's say this event is in, we're recording real time in April. So the event's going to be end of July. From now until July, you're going to want to be reinforcing why it matters. You're going to want to be reinforcing okay, you're overwhelmed, but why do you want to add this to your plate of like figuring out how to deal with multiple schedules or, right you know, so that could be a topic.
00:25:49
Speaker
What else are you going to care about? You're going to think about, you know, when you can even have time for yourself or does my business need to sit on the back burner? These are topics that, you know, those frequently asked questions, that's what,
00:26:04
Speaker
you're going to want to talk about up until the event. And throughout that, you're going to be talking about this event that you're hosting, really building buzz around it. But every single podcast episode should be reinforcing that. Now, if you have guests, you know,
00:26:20
Speaker
find some guests that reinforce that, maybe let them know what you're doing, maybe find like a, like a time schedule or or like a you know, so a coach who talks about managing your time and business.
00:26:33
Speaker
There's so many right aligned things out there. yeah that's where I see a lot of opportunities for like alignment. Planning out your communication.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah. I love the idea of having guests that are similar to what the event is going to be in building that up. That's a great idea. yeah So I have one more question and it's literally something I know nothing about, but how do I monetize my podcast?
Monetization Strategies
00:27:02
Speaker
o Okay. This is a good question. And I have a lot of thoughts about this to be honest So there's a couple different ways to monetize your podcast. One is through like affiliate marketing, right? That's one way.
00:27:17
Speaker
Another way is sponsors. If you're going to have someone sponsor the episode. And the third way is through marketing your own business. So I find that as business owners, we are so fast to want to find like the next big sponsor or, you know, when is x Y, and Z going to sponsor me? I see them sponsoring all these other shows or,
00:27:40
Speaker
With affiliate marketing, you know, putting all these ads in your podcast when you only get like 15% back or, you know, whatever that affiliate promo is.
00:27:52
Speaker
And what we're missing is talking about our own businesses. We're missing putting our own commercials in. so That's where I see a lot of podcasts can monetize because if you look at the numbers, a podcast sponsor, if you go with like a big company, usually pay like $50 per thousand listens.
00:28:14
Speaker
It's not that much. And a lot of the podcasts I work with aren't getting a thousand listens, right? They're more niche. They're not going to be like the call her daddy level podcasting or, you know, diary of a CEO level.
00:28:30
Speaker
And that's okay. They can still have that impact on the people who the people's lives who are listening to them without that reach. So I always say like your services are probably more than $50. So focus on selling, but so building that trust to sell your service.
00:28:50
Speaker
That's where I see a lot of opportunities. And if a sponsor comes, I have clients that do get sponsors and Amazing. Great. We love that. that's That's just like a cherry on top.
00:29:01
Speaker
But if you're looking at it from only looking for sponsors or only looking for affiliates, I think that's, you know, promote your own brand. so I have some affiliates on my show, like editing softwares and email marketing.
00:29:18
Speaker
you know, hosts like CRMs and stuff that that I would be talking about anyways. But I really don't go out of my way to be like, yes, use my HelloFresh link and right i will.
00:29:29
Speaker
And so the affiliates essentially, do they they give you a little kickback for every episode or how does that work? Yeah, so they give me a the affiliates, they give me a unique code. And so basically, whenever anyone signs up on those links, I'll get a percentage of what they spent.
00:29:48
Speaker
So every affiliate has a different agreement. But normally, they'll have like an affiliate partnership um page. It's sometimes at the bottom of the page, and you could just join, but they won't pay you unless people are actually taking action.
00:30:04
Speaker
Yeah. And it's spending money. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. Okay. So I sort of, I guess I would say a sort of am monetizing. I didn't really, and didn't really realize I was, um, which makes me sound silly, but I, you know, I've had sponsors before and have a sponsor now and, um,
Sponsor Influence vs. Creative Freedom
00:30:23
Speaker
I, I am very picky about my sponsors in the sense that,
00:30:29
Speaker
it's really important to me that grit city women has the freedom to be gritty as a new pretty. And when you have sponsors involved, sometimes it, uh, can influence content or discussion on your podcast. And so I don't really necessarily go too much out of my way to like hunt down sponsors at the moment. Um, but they are a great way to at least fund your podcast and fund,
00:30:57
Speaker
you know, if you need a production person to help you out, or if um you just want to put pay for your subscription to your platform or whatever, there are great ways to do that. um So I love the idea of sponsors. And then, yeah, I think you're spot on about doing the marketing your services and using that because that that is where you make money. And most of us, at least the women that I roll with and Grit City Women, you know, their services are of value. So definitely marketing through that. so that's really sound piece of advice. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to go over that.
00:31:36
Speaker
um So what is your biggest piece of advice that you would offer Grit City Women?
Women Using Their Voices for Impact
00:31:44
Speaker
e I think as women, we need to use our voices more.
00:31:50
Speaker
And whether that's showing up online more, showing up in your community more, or if it is showing up in a podcast, this is such a big opportunity for us to impact our communities, leave you know, our message in the world.
00:32:06
Speaker
And who knows how long our podcasts will be around, right? People could find this so long from now. And so I think as women, we need to be speaking up more and showing up more.
00:32:18
Speaker
i mean, we've seen this a lot lately with, you know, I won't get into the whole political field, but, you know, with the last election, ah podcast made a huge impact on the results, right?
00:32:34
Speaker
And I saw so many people say, how could they do that? How could they do that? Like, why does this podcast have so many listens? And that's because people are giving it the attention and they're showing up every week.
00:32:45
Speaker
So my challenge to women is if you don't like the voices being amplified, speak up. You could be that voice. That's where I've been putting my messaging all around. I really just want to inspire more women to...
00:33:00
Speaker
speak up and share our voices. And there's so many ways to do that. So that is, that's my advice. Yeah, I love that. I remember when we were at the live event in February, somebody said, and I don't remember the exact statistic, the ratio of men podcasters to women podcasters. And of course, it was pretty small um amount of women podcasters out there. And i i agree. I just think that
00:33:31
Speaker
regardless, everyone has different beliefs and women have different beliefs across the spectrum, you know, that um we may or may not agree with, but just having space for women to be visible and to share those, i think is really important. And I think it's um valuable. And so that's one of the reasons why I also continue to do this with Grit City Women is just having various women through from our community be able to come and elevate themselves and talk about their story and their brand and share their voice. And I've learned so much from all of my guests. And it's I really consider it an honor and a privilege to be able to essentially be a student of ah for 30 minutes from every woman that sits here. And so I hope that others find value in it.
00:34:24
Speaker
um And I appreciate your your advice. And thank you so much for joining us. Oh my gosh. Thank you so so much for having me, Crystal. You're killing it with your podcast. Like you were saying, what could I do better? But I honestly think you're doing great.
00:34:38
Speaker
um So I'm really happy that you have this out in the world for all the women to listen to. Yeah, I appreciate that. I always am asking for feedback and, you know, I feel like
00:34:51
Speaker
I think people are always like, it's good, but it's, I'm like, is it really good? Or is it, you know, you want to, so having your expertise and, and, and having that opportunity to be like, okay. And I give myself grace. I know it's not perfect or I'm not perfect, or I don't get things out as fast as I would like with my lifestyle.
00:35:10
Speaker
But you know, um it's nice to hear that. So I appreciate that. Oh my gosh. Of course. Well, thank you so much for having me today. Of course.
00:35:21
Speaker
Born from the spirit of Grit City Women, Gritty is the New Pretty carries the torch, amplifying the voices, stories, and power of women who lead with resilience, purpose, and unapologetic grit.
00:35:34
Speaker
To support Gritty is the New Pretty, follow us on Instagram at Grit City Women or shop our online store at gritcitywomen.com.