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Turning podcast listeners into coaching clients (Vikki Louise, F*CK Anxiety & Get Sh*t Done)

June 10, 2020

Published

Melissa Guller

By

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“I’ve always been someone that has wanted to do what I’ve wanted to do, like I don’t play it safe. And I just reached that point where I’ve tried all these things and moved halfway around the world. I’m going all-in on what I want. And for me, what I loved about coaching was really, that it was going to allow me to take people to that next level.”

VIKKI LOUISE

Meet Vikki Louise. She’s a certified Life Coach who specializes in Anxiety and Procrastination, and she’s on a mission to teach others how to live their best lives by facing anxiety head-on.

Through her short weekly podcasts, listeners get actionable tools to gain control of their mind and to feel confident, calm, and in control. 

And although not all of her early podcasting strategies worked out as planned, her podcast today is one of the biggest ways she brings new coaching clients into her business.

So today, Vikki will share how she went from finance to tech to coaching, and what she loves about being a coach. From there, she’ll share why she does all of her podcast episodes solo – as opposed to with a guest – and where she finds her best topics for new episodes. 

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Meet Vikki Louise

Vikki graduated from the London School of Economics and worked for finance and tech companies across London and NYC, before turning her personal development hobby into a successful career as an Anxiety & Procrastination Coach.

Her style of coaching is tough and successful, it is a no BS approach. It is a blend of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, life coaching tools, and tough love that teach people to understand their brain, learn tools on how to rewire their thinking to get the results they want – and empower people to actually use the tools and get it done! Vikki certified at The Life Coach School in the United States, and now hosts the F*CK Anxiety & Get Sh*t Done podcast.

Website | Podcast | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

Episode transcript

NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by a free AI tool called Otter. Please forgive any typos or errors. Vicki Louise 0:00 I’ve always been someone that has wanted to do what I’ve wanted to do, like I don’t play it safe, I’ll change jobs. I was never staying in a job for a certain amount of time to look good on my resume. And I just reached that point where I’ve tried all these things and moved halfway around the world. I’m going all in on what I want. And at the time, I looked at therapy, counseling, coaching, all these different solutions. And for me, what I loved about coaching was really, that it was going to allow me to take people to that next level. Melissa Guller 0:31 Meet Vicki Louise. She’s a certified life coach who specializes in anxiety and procrastination. Vicki is on a mission to teach others how to live their best lives by facing anxiety head on. Through her short weekly podcasts, listeners get actionable tools to gain control of their mind and to feel confident, calm and in control. And although not all of her early podcasting strategies worked out as well planned. Her podcast today is one of the biggest ways she brings new coaching clients into her business. So today, Vicki will share how she went from finance to tech to coaching and what she loves about being a coach. From there, she’ll share why she does all of her podcast episodes solo, as opposed to with a guest, and she’ll share where she finds her best topics for new episodes. This episode does contain a very small amount of explicit language. So if you have a little one, I recommend grabbing headphones. It’s all coming up in today’s episode of win wire. Announcer 1:42 Welcome to Wit & Wire, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes with podcasters and industry experts to help you start on scale in binge worthy podcasts virally. Here’s your host, Melissa Guller. Melissa Guller 1:59 Hey everyone. I’m Melissa and I can’t wait for you to meet today’s guest, Vicki Louise. Vicki graduated from the London School of Economics and worked for finance and tech companies across London and New York City before turning her personal development hobby into a successful career as an anxiety and procrastination coach. Her style of coaching is tough and successful. It’s a no BS approach. And it’s a blend of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, life coaching tools and tough love. Vicki teaches people to understand their brain to learn tools on how to rewire their thinking to get the results they want. And she empowers people to actually use the tools to get it done. Vicki is certified at the Life Coach School in the United States. And she’s now the host of the podcast fuck anxiety and get shit done. Let’s say hello Melissa Guller 3:02 So Vicki, welcome to the podcast. Vicki Louise 3:04 Thank you so much for having me. I’m so happy to be here. Melissa Guller 3:08 Me too. And before we, you know, dive into some advice, which we’ll get to later on, I’d love to just start by learning a little bit more about you. So, before you even started podcasting, how did you first get into coaching? Vicki Louise 3:22 That was such a good question? I guess I always really wanted to help people. And then I did what was expected of me instead of what I really wanted to do, and studied economics, worked in finance, worked in tech for a bit. And I actually moved out to New York, worked in a super aggressive sales role that pushed because I kept wanting to work with people. And to me, I was like, oh, sales is people. So I went all the way to like New York’s super aggressive tech sales role, before I realized, actually, this isn’t what I meant by working with people and came back and went straight back into the city. in finance, and within a few months just decided, this isn’t what I wanted. Like, I’ve always been someone that has wanted to do what I’ve wanted to do, like I don’t play it safe, I’ll change jobs, I was never staying in a job for a certain amount of time to look good on my resume. And I just reached that point where I’ve tried all these things and moved halfway around the world. I’m going all in on what I want. And at the time, I looked at therapy, counseling, coaching, all these different solutions. And for me, what I loved about coaching was really, that it was going to allow me to take people to that next level, like it’s so basic and simple. The tools that I use aren’t complex, really, I think in 20 years time, maybe even sooner, everyone’s going to have a coach. So I loved how it was like growing at such a rate. Someone once said to me once don’t work for a big company, work for a growing company. And I think that’s how I’ve always seen the work that I want to do as well be part of the movement of moving Something forward rather than jumping on what already is. Melissa Guller 5:03 That’s great advice beyond podcasting, just in any work that you pursue, I think and when you did start, as you said, it’s a growing field, it’s not maybe as rigid. So that means maybe there aren’t as many answers or not as much guidance about what to do. So how did you end up finding some of your earliest coaching clients? Vicki Louise 5:23 So I went old school and I literally still encourage people to do this. And I just contacted people I knew and I coached my former roommate in New York sister and my former secretary at works three friends and, and someone that I went to high school with and someone that one of my best friends went to university where they really just like asked everyone and I think sometimes now we go too far the other way. Well, I literally coached someone on this this week. She’s like, I’m just gonna run Facebook ads and figure out if I have an audience relevant. I was like, why not speak to people in the audience? You probably know 10 people here were French entrepreneurs, women that had gone into entrepreneurship from burnout. As you can probably find 10 women have gone into entrepreneurship from burnout and see if they would invest in coaching without doing paid advertising. So I really recommend it to anyone, and I’m sure we’ll speak about this a lot. What you do is also like, there’s all the planning that we can do. And then there’s doing, don’t be afraid to do. Melissa Guller 6:26 I think it’s interesting that you mentioned like, don’t be afraid of doing because I think there might be some fear in reaching out to people that you do know, versus reaching out to strangers on the internet, through ads. I think even for me when I was in my earliest stages of online business, I was almost afraid to tell people what I was doing because I worried that they might think like, oh, Who is she to do that? And I wonder if people might feel that way about starting their own business or podcast as well. I think Vicki Louise 6:52 people absolutely feel that way about starting their own business and podcasts because they’re projecting their fears onto other people. The reality is when you do it, people are going to be curious, interested, you will find some people that might think, well, you shouldn’t be doing that. But they’re probably people that aren’t happy with what they’re doing. Right? Because typically you are going to find people that are intrigued by it and also want to support you. And once you get over your thoughts about your own limitations, like the world is way friendlier and kind to you than you are to yourself typically. Melissa Guller 7:29 Yeah, well said. So you have your earliest coaching clients, how did your business then continue to evolve and grow? Vicki Louise 7:37 Yeah, lots of blogging and word of mouth and then just consistently going then on to a Facebook page and then building out an email list and then going into my Instagram and using my Instagram posts and my Instagram stories, and being on other people’s podcasts or blogging for other people writing for medium thrive and other major publications just really, I really went through everything and then obviously came across podcasting, which is, as he’s like, I’m sure you’re gonna ask me lots about this. But it was something that I’ve thought about for some time. And I think it is something that people do. Think about for some time. I just love it as a way of communicating and getting through the message and messages with people. So yeah, it’s been just over a year now since I launched the podcast, Melissa Guller 8:29 which is amazing. I think hitting that year milestone is such an important moment. And I’m excited to dive into what you’ve learned. But I’m curious, was there a moment where you finally decided, I’m actually going to start this podcast? What did your business look like at the time? Or was there a moment that you remember? Vicki Louise 8:47 So it’s so interesting, because I actually tried the cop out way and I had two friends and I messaged one of them today saying, isn’t it funny how he always did this together? And I had two friends that were coaches and I said, Let’s all meet and let’s do a podcast together. It can be really chilled and informal. And anyway, we met and then nothing happened and, and then a month later, I tried to instigate a meeting again, and it just clearly wasn’t working because I was the one that wanted to do the podcast. And I was going to have to coach them into doing the podcast. And it was that moment of realization of, Okay, I even do this on my own, if I really want to do this, or I don’t do it. And within that decision to get my first episode done was like, a few weeks, it was quite quick. Melissa Guller 9:29 I think that’s a really important piece of advice, because I think having a co host and podcasting with others can be really wonderful. It’s a great way to have something that you both really love and to bounce off of each other. But at the same time, if you’re not all equally invested, and especially if you could already tell that right from the beginning. That was probably a good, maybe gut feeling to listen to that it’s not going to get easier from there. Vicki Louise 9:54 So important completely and I actually have come across a few people in the podcasting world. Who later found themselves in a situation where that had been obvious, and they’ve kind of missed it and tried to pull the extra way. And I think you’re completely right. If you recognize that early on, there’s nothing wrong with it just, it doesn’t even need to impact and it won’t impact your relationship with them. But it just is you taking full responsibility for what you want to create in the world. Exactly. Melissa Guller 10:21 Now, something that I do love about your podcast that I think is actually fairly unique is that you’re doing, I believe, all solo episodes, if not almost all solo episodes, and they’re shorter about 10 to 20 minutes. Is that about right? Vicki Louise 10:36 That’s completely right at the beginning, actually, I had an idea to bring on guests because a lot of what I do is want to de stigmatize anxiety and procrastination and how our brain works. So the idea was to bring on guests, successful people to come and speak about their story. But what I found and I think you’ll find this interesting is the number of listeners significantly dropped in those episodes. So I think because normally my episodes last for 10 minutes, and each episode gives a specific tool and actionable something that you can apply if it’s an interesting, something that that can move you forward. That’s the goal with every episode of mine is like something you can apply and digest and move forward slightly. And then with these stories, I think it’s just like two different audiences. And I completely missed that at the beginning. And then quickly realized, actually, people are coming, listening to get tools, not too heavy interviews. Melissa Guller 11:29 I think that’s a really important distinction because interviews are a great format. And I’m hoping that people are enjoying our interview right now. But the purpose of this episode is much different than the podcast, you’re building where people like you said, knew they could come get something actionable, something that gave them just a little bit, that they could move forward. And I’m sure that your audience just continues to fall in love with you, the more and more they learn and feel like you’re helping them and so I feel like that makes perfect sense. But probably isn’t something that you could have known before you tried, Vicki Louise 12:03 totally. And that’s something that I think is so important for everyone listening to realize it, get out there and try and the market will speak to you. It could have just as easily gone the other way where those episodes were listened to more, but again, part of my audience are people that procrastinate and don’t have enough time. And so they love the 1012 minute episodes, and the interviews in themselves with 2025 minutes. So even that is a different audience. Melissa Guller 12:29 Mm hmm. That’s great advice, too, because a question that I get from students all the time is, how long should my episode be? And I often tell them what they don’t want to hear, which is that it depends on your audience. And I encourage them to think about who is tuning in Who is your listener? What do they need from you? And in your case, like you said, You’ve got maybe procrastinators, or I’m sure a lot of us have audience members who have a lot going on. And I think a short podcast can be as powerful Not more powerful than a very long episode, Vicki Louise 13:02 right? I have a client but when she came to me, she said, I used to listen to you driving to the supermarket. That was it. Like That was my 10 minutes because she had kids and a job and a really busy life and it was perfect for her that she could just listen to it in that 10 minutes and then to listen to a different one on the way back. Melissa Guller 13:19 I love that. And so you’ve got these shorter episodes. How do you come up with your topics for each new episode? Vicki Louise 13:28 Honestly, from coaching clients, they said there’s some big themes I coach on, you know, people pleasing, procrastination, fear of failure, perfectionism, indecision, and anxiety and they all tie in together. But underneath that there’s the more subtle, hidden things that come up with my clients all the time. So even this week’s podcast episode that I’ve just recorded for next week is called not good enough because fat with five clients last week for one week. reason or another, they came thinking that they weren’t good enough. I was like, I need to get an episode out on this. Because if these five people are thinking this, everyone is thinking this. Melissa Guller 14:12 Mm hmm. I think that’s a great point too, that a lot of people probably aren’t saying what they need directly. So even hearing a couple of people bring up the same topic could be a good indicator that more people would want to hear about it. Vicki Louise 14:25 Definitely. And don’t be afraid also to go into the details and the specifics, right. Like I have five episodes on decision making, and they’re all covering different parts of decision making, for example, why we backtrack on decisions, why we sit in indecision, why we love saying, I don’t know, just like breaking down all the different things of what it is and then some people relate to all and some people really just relate to one. Melissa Guller 14:48 I think that’s really helpful to hear that even one topic could perhaps have different approaches because I know that something I often worried about as an early podcaster years ago was what If I run out of topics, But to your point, I think it’s less about the name of the topic and more about even a small new perspective on that topic. Vicki Louise 15:10 Totally. And for most people, what you are podcasting on you are an expert. And you remember that people listening are not experts. They’re not thinking about it all the time, that’s your job, to present that information in a way that’s digestible, and informative. So like repeating something from a different angle is going to allow them to learn better. Mm hmm. That’s great advice. Melissa Guller 15:33 Now, you have been podcasting for a year now. But thinking back to maybe the earliest months, were there any challenges that you faced as a podcaster? Or things that you may have been surprised by? Vicki Louise 15:47 It was actually far easier than I thought it was gonna be? I think I’ve pre recorded my first episode three times. I just wanted it to be exactly right. And I was editing it a lot myself. And then I realized actually, that isn’t myself. style isn’t what my audience comes for. So that was a great realization. One of the questions I get asked a lot because mine’s 100% organic marketing, but it still does well. So one of the things that people ask me a lot is how did I do that? And obviously organic marketing and so on, but I think when you’re creating a podcast for every episode, just focus on giving value and it being relevant and really having it something that people want to share with the people they love, because it’s going to help more than just one person or, or if it’s like, based around a specific thing. I don’t know, like I can Settlers of Catan fan group, make it good so that people in that community want to spread it with them. People in that community, like one of the biggest things, I would say, have served me by telling my listeners to share it. I wasn’t shy about it. I wasn’t polite. I was like listen, if you are getting value from this podcast and someone you love will get value from this podcast. Melissa Guller 17:00 I think that’s so important because I don’t think we’ve given podcasters permission to ask for things. We need to ask for reviews, we need to ask people to share. And it’s great to do that. Because like your podcast is such a lifeline and a feeling of support for people. And it’s a gift to be able to give that for free to a friend. And so I hope that anybody listening now is feeling like, Oh, I could do that. That’s easy. I could just ask people to share this message. Vicki Louise 17:31 Right? Because when people come to me even for coaching, and I’m sure you find this with people that come to you for podcasting, we always focus on the one on the people that don’t want it like all people that don’t want me to share it, to ask to share it, again, to be offended versus like, actually, people just haven’t thought to share it. Right. Like if someone’s getting lots of value and they’re listening to your podcast, of course they want to share it to other people, because they’re getting help from it. So you ask them to do it, the people that are actually listening. They’re gonna be like, Oh, yeah, great idea. And they’ll probably already have someone in mind. So make it so easy for your users. Don’t expect them to do the work to come up with the ideas. Give them the idea. If you have someone you love that you think would you know or someone you are working with, or someone that you think will enjoy this episode, share it with them, their brains gonna say, Oh, yeah, good idea. Or it will say no. And it doesn’t matter. Melissa Guller 18:27 That’s so funny, I’ve never heard it phrased as we focus on the people who don’t want it. But I think you’re so right. And often, I’m sure I’m guilty of this too. But we don’t think about how valuable the people are, who are right in front of us. I think a lot of us tend to worry about getting more and getting new people. But the people who are already tuned in, those are the most important people in your world. And I want to just go back to what you said before about how the biggest way to correct me if I’m wrong and that your podcast has grown is just by having amazing content, and then asking people to share it. And I think a lot of people want to hear that there’s a magic solution. Like, oh, if you use this social media strategy, and you do it in exactly this way your podcast will grow. But the truth is, if you don’t have a great foundation, if you don’t have great episodes worth sharing, I don’t think any marketing strategy will ever fix that. Vicki Louise 19:21 Totally. And I love everything that you’ve touched on there, because it’s even something that I see people focus on like the number of Instagram followers rather than, rather than the ones that are already there and engaging. It’s like, we’re taught, oh, you know, 1000 people will get you 10 clients no 10 people 10 followers can get you 10 clients. I like my listeners on my podcast is way higher than my number of like Instagram followers, because like you said, I focused on value and quality content versus pushing it everywhere, I guess and getting like one hit wonder of CLI of listeners. And I think actually that is the formula to create good content focused on the content. People will hear it, they will stick with it, they will speak about it. Like organically people will ask them what they’ve listened to. They will speak about what you speak about on your episodes. If it’s that good. Even last week, I had someone email me saying, Hi, a friend recommended your Coronavirus panic episode because I’m having a lot of high anxiety right now. I listened and I would love to come and speak with you and excited for one of your console calls. That means that someone just seemed like the value of the content was so useful that someone recommended someone to listen to it and then as soon as that person listened to it, they wanted to talk with me directly. Melissa Guller 20:47 Hmm, so smart. And before we talk more about how you do build your coaching business using your podcast, something else you’ve just brought up is the value of creating very topical content, like having some episodes that people can listen to anytime, even a year from now I think is really important. But if something is going on in the world, and something is happening right now, I think as podcasters it’s important for us to talk about that too, because often, that’s what people need. And that is what they’re talking about with friends. And so the balance of those two things, I think, is really important. Vicki Louise 21:20 Yes, and one of the big reasons I created my podcast and I do the work that I do is because I think there’s a lot of misinformation out there about anxiety and about our brains and our procrastination. And so with what happened right now with Coronavirus, and the fact that I was seeing everywhere media and misinformation and panic and lots of disempowering attention grabbing headlines, shall we say? I felt like it was my duty to step in there and say, Hey, I know that you think that your brain is freaking out and there’s something wrong with you and everything’s terrible. This is like a perfect time for my tools and for me to teach you something To pull you back into normality. So I absolutely think that we have to address these big things, especially as they relate to our audience, and what our audience needs. And you should always be thinking about what your audience needs. Which means maybe if you do have this gamer podcast about Game of Thrones, throwing random things out there, maybe it’s not relevant, and you don’t need to do an episode on it just because there’s a big topic, but you know, your audience shows up for your audience. Melissa Guller 22:29 Oh, that’s such a great piece of advice. As we mentioned, it’s important to talk about something if it does relate to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to bring it up just because everyone else is talking about it. Oh, I think that’s such a good point. Now, let’s talk about your coaching business. So something that I do love about your podcast is we talked about how you’re not afraid to ask people to share and although you don’t have sponsors, which I think is maybe the way that people assume you must use to make money as a podcaster. I love that you don’t shy away from mentioning your own coaching services. So how do you encourage your listeners to start working with you? Vicki Louise 23:07 Yeah, so there’s two ways at the end of every episode, they can opt in for the free, like anxiety guide. And other than that, at the end of most episodes, I make an offer for them to sign up for a consultation call with me, which is like a one hour chat where we can start getting into their brain and understand a bit more about what in particular, they are struggling with why they feel stuck, and I can give them that prescription. And that’s the only way to find out more about working with me right now is that one on one call. So then, you know, maybe I’ll offer them a place, maybe they’ll take a place we can take it from there. And the thing is, I genuinely see it now. That it would be a disservice for me not to make that offer. If my podcasts and my tools are helping people, then I absolutely feel obligated to invite them to this console call because they were looking for Help. That’s why they found my podcast. They’re looking maybe there was a certain episode on perfectionism or people pleasing, worrying too much what other people think. And that’s like a problem for them. And here I am sat with the solution. I feel like it would be such a disservice, to not make that offer. And I think anyone that is thinking about doing a podcast to promote their business and their service, like how much do you believe in the business and the service that you have? Because if you believe in the value of what you are offering, and it’s rude not to offer it, because people are listening to you for the tools and for the advice, and they just need the invitation. It’s like, it’s almost lazy, again, to ask them to think about how to get in touch with you, and again, the people that aren’t interested will just ignore it. And the people that are will be so pleased that you’ve made that offer. Melissa Guller 24:54 Yes, that’s so important. I’m so happy you’re bringing this up, and I think it’s easy to assume. We’re getting the end of the deal as a service provider, because we’re getting something in the form of money, but it’s really not even just an even trade. But if you’re really great at what you do, hopefully the other person is actually benefiting even more than you are because they’re gaining knowledge. They’re gaining experience, they’re gaining the ability to have or do something they couldn’t do before. And so maybe we can hopefully give some listeners a new reframe on what selling can mean and that it’s not just this one sided, like give me your money kind of approach. Vicki Louise 25:32 Yeah, I see it. I’ve done work on this. And I do this work with my clients all the time. Shifting the mindset around sales like money is you can just remake money all the time. Even if it’s hard, even if it’s a job that you don’t really like, you can remake money, but the value that you can give is so much more like the value that I can give someone that works with me changes their whole life. It changes their career path, it changes their relationships with their family, it creates memories. relationships, it can move them countries and cities and empower them to create their own piece of something in this world like a solution for a problem that I didn’t even know existed that they’ve created once they’ve got out of their own way. Like for me, absolutely, I have such strong belief in the work that I do. I easily think that anyone that works with me gets tenex the value of what I have what I charge, and I think anyone that is creating a podcast to sell something, work on the value that you are giving and be so convinced of the value that you are giving, that you are able to easily do this. Because if you listen, if you are charging a place where you’re like, I’m charging X amount and I’m giving, you know a little bit of value, then of course you’re not going to be able to sell it. How could you increase that value? How can you make it so good? How can you put something out in the world that’s really going to help people? Melissa Guller 26:58 I think that’s so well said Now speaking about your area of expertise generally I know we’ve been touching on it throughout the whole episode. But I have a feeling that launching a podcast or starting something new is probably a cause for anxiety for some of our listeners. So do you have any advice that could help our newer podcasters with some of those anxious thoughts that might be creeping in? Vicki Louise 27:24 Yeah, well, I love exactly what you said, because it’s completely true. We’re supposed to have anxiety about the unknown. That’s the role of anxiety, the fear of the unknown. Our brains’ one job is to keep us alive. And so it senses any potential change or any potential danger. And those hormones are released from our brain like cortisol and adrenaline, that were very useful in the wild, when the danger was a predator that we needed to run away from. And those hormones allowed us to run faster, longer and be on high alert and feel less physical pain in that moment. So it’s kind of like learning to take action without It like anxiety in itself is harmless. The more you do it, the easier it gets. And I’ll actually speak. And I speak about this on my very first episode because it was such a profound moment for me when I was actually live on a stage in front of a lot of people. And just as I went on my anxiety shot through the roof, of course, I’m gonna die. And instead of resisting it, I really leaned into it and just allowed it to be there. So if you are experiencing anxiety, and you’re making it mean that there’s something wrong with you, let me tell you that the anxiety is supposed to be there. The anxiety is a joke. Sometimes, anxiety is the first step towards creating something new. You’re supposed to have the anxious thoughts, and then you’re like, Okay, now I know all the worst case scenarios, I can still move forward because when your brain tells you you’re going to die, when you’re about to record your podcast episode, it’s like you know that that’s not true. Melissa Guller 28:55 I’ve never heard of it in that way, though before where it’s not that you’re supposed to get rid. have anxiety is that you’re supposed to have anxiety and it’s about just how do you embrace that? And how do you lead and do it as you said during your speech? Vicki Louise 29:09 Right, totally. And I speak about that in the moment, because once I let go into it, my whole body was suddenly vibrating together, and I felt so empowered and unstoppable. Because my brain and my body, we’re working together on this high level. Now, it’s not to say that the work that I do isn’t teaching people to manage and master their anxiety. But the first step is not resistance. And everyone listening that has anxiety knows this, because that’s what you’ve probably been trying for a while you’ve tried fighting, whether you’ve tried arguing with it and judging it, you’ve tried avoiding it with Netflix and food and alcohol, maybe through like, really, this is the only option that’s left and by allowing it, you become the authority of your anxiety the same way. If you allow a kid to have candy, you’re the authority in that relationship. So really, think about like, Can I just allow this to happen? Melissa Guller 30:01 And something you said earlier, too, that I think is so important is that the more you do it, the easier it gets. And I think that not many people think about podcasting this way. But I do think it’s kind of like working out a muscle and the more you do it and the more you practice, it’s not just that you’ll become more comfortable. But in fact, you will get better as well. Nobody’s born a natural. I don’t think about podcasting. I think the greats and the people whose podcasts we love, they’ve been practicing for a long time, whether it’s practicing in their actual podcast, or in their speaking or in their work, but they’re not day one. And so your day one shouldn’t feel like what you’re seeing in other people’s podcasts, and that’s okay. Vicki Louise 30:43 I love everything that you just said, because it’s true for all the things it’s really true. In order to be good at something. You have to be willing to be validated. There is no shortcut. And our brain is always looking for that comfortable, safe place and the opposite needs to happen for you. I completely agree with everything that you just said, anyone listening, right? You have to be willing to be bad. In order to be good, you don’t jump over that step you grow through that step completely. Melissa Guller 31:09 And I hope too, that people will stick with podcasting for a little while I know, advice that I often give is that one month is not enough to know if you like it or not, or if you have growth potential, because podcasting is a relationship that you’re building with your listeners. And I think it takes a little bit of time for you to find your footing as a host, and for them to start tuning in and to start recommending you. And sure, maybe it only takes one episode sometimes, but I think it takes a little while to grow into it. Vicki Louise 31:40 Totally, and for your audience to grow completely, completely. I think if I would have I could have quit at one month and been like, oh, not that many people have listened. And then I wouldn’t have had the impact that I have. I wouldn’t have built the following. I wouldn’t have you know, given so much value I wouldn’t be hearing from people all over the world about how you know just listening to the podcast has helped them. I wouldn’t have grown my business from it like one month is absolutely not enough. Like, I mean that from the bottom of my heart, one month is not enough now. Melissa Guller 32:10 And actually, as we kind of start to wrap up now that you are at the one year mark for your podcasts are right around there. What are you thinking about next for both your podcast and for your business? What are you excited about? Vicki Louise 32:25 So actually, I just decided so you’re hearing this before anyone which is fun. So I send out emails Monday to Friday, I’ve been doing that. Only that since that for the past month, but really a lot of people are taking to it as well, just short episodes. And then I have my podcast. And what I’m going to start doing is tying it in. So there’s like a theme for the week. Versus like, you know, doing all the things together. I’m really going to focus one week on decision making and focus one week on letting go of what other people think of you and focus one week on managing anxiety around work or Whatever it might be, and really just get really clean and consistent in my content. And for my business, I’m still working one on one with clients. And I absolutely love it. Melissa Guller 33:13 I think the theming advice is something that any podcaster could take, whether it’s like the themes you have that are weekly or even thinking about monthly themes or just kind of grouping content together, I think for the host and for you, I imagine it must be nice to have something to work around instead of having to start fresh every day over and over. And for your listeners, it must be nice to kind of feel like there’s a bigger picture going on. Vicki Louise 33:40 Yeah, I think I’m always thinking about how I can give the most value to the people listening because it doesn’t matter that podcasts are free people are paying with their time and time is, you know, more valuable than money and then knowledge is more valuable than time. So I always want to be thinking about like, I do my podcast because of the impact I want to have in the world. And I want to empower people to manage their mental health and to create their dreams and to just live the lives that they really want to live. So because of that, I feel this responsibility to always be serving. And that’s something that you touched on earlier as well is definitely create this podcast for the people that you want to serve in mind. Melissa Guller 34:22 I think that is incredible advice. And before we do say goodbye, how can people learn more about you or stay in touch or find your podcast? Vicki Louise 34:32 Yeah, sure. So the podcast is called fuck anxiety and get shit done but the polite way with an F Asterix ck and then sh Asterix T and you can also go to Vicki lewis.com that’s vi kk Ei l owe you is a and if you go to the bottom there you’ll see a sign up where you can put your email for the free guide. And yes, social media Vicki we is coaching Melissa Guller 35:00 That’s it. Perfect. And I’ll include links to everything in the show notes. But before we go, for anybody listening today, do you have any maybe final words of advice, or even comfort for them? Vicki Louise 35:12 I love that you use the word comfort, because what I’m going to say is this, if you are waiting to feel really good until you do something, you’ll never do it. Our brain always wants what’s comfortable. And sometimes the best things come from doing things that aren’t super comfortable at first, right? Like, don’t be afraid to just get out there and do something. No one cares about the fact that my podcast episodes with interviews don’t get as much as many listeners and I thought, well, people would drop off but they don’t they just skip through it. No one else cares about all the things, all the ducks you want in a row before you get out there and produce something. So really, instead of giving you comfort, I’m gonna tell you that you can do it Even without comfort, and trust me, Melissa Guller 36:02 because that’s what I did. Even better. Well, Vicki, thank you again so much for joining. I know I’ve personally really enjoyed this episode, and I think that our listeners will too. Vicki Louise 36:11 Thank you so much for having me. It’s been so fun and I’ve learned a lot from you as well. Melissa Guller 36:17 Thank you so much for joining us this week. To learn more about Vicki Louise, our free podcasting resources at Wiit and Wire and everything mentioned in today’s episode, check out the show notes at witandwire.com/7. That’s also where you’ll find Vicki’s incredible free resource just for one wire listeners. She says stop being a victim of anxiety. This guide will teach you the first steps to mastering your anxiety including reusable worksheets for whenever anxiety strikes. Grab it for free at witandwire.com/7. Lastly, I do have a quick favor to ask before we go if you enjoyed today’s episode, I hope you’ll let No. I love reading through your reviews in Apple podcasts. And if you have a minute to spare, I’d love to read yours too, or even to have you leave us a five star review. Reviews let Apple know that great listeners like you enjoy our show. And that helps us expand our search results and apple. So it really does make a difference and I can’t thank you enough. Thank you again for joining me, Melissa Guller In this episode of Wit and Wire. I’ll see you next time, podcasters.

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