61 - Secrets to manifesting and why you should have a podcast
Hannah: [00:00:00] Welcome to Happily Ever After, the podcast where we talk about life's big stories. From breakups and breakdowns, to icky secrets and happy endings, it's the stuff that makes us human. I'm your host Hannah Harvey. I'm a writer and a parenting blogger at mumsdays. Com. That's M U M S D A Y S dot com. I'd be really grateful if you could subscribe and leave a review because it basically means more people can find the podcast.
And I also really love hearing from you, so please do contact me through Instagram @Mumsdays with any of your stories really and, and, you know, how you relate to the episode or even questions that you may want answering. You can find all the details from this episode in the show notes.
Hello and welcome to Happily Ever After with me, Hannah.
Uh, I'm on my own again today, but I'm bringing you, [00:01:00] well, a chat like kind of special thing really, because it's a little glimpse into, um, a conversation that I had with Rachel last week, once we weren't on air. And basically when I listened back, I was like, this is, this was like a really special moment that we had together that I personally found very helpful because we kind of delve into, um, the way that Rachel works and specifically applying it to what I'm doing.
And I just thought it's such a lovely thing that has come about because I have a podcast. So I really wanted to just share that with you today. So, firstly, the topic, I guess, for this podcast is, Why should anybody start a podcast? [00:02:00] Um, so I'll kind of talk you through what my thoughts are for that, which is basically, it's really fun.
Um, I get that if it's your business or you might not have a lot of disposable income or whatever else, you might be like, no, no, there needs to be a bottom line. Like what am I going to get from this? But the thing that has driven me through the last, like, what is this? Episode 61. The thing that's kept me going is that I just really love it.
Like, I really love connecting with people and telling stories. And the more I do it, the more it's gaining momentum. Um, and becoming, becoming even more interesting. But the... You know, at the end of the day, it's fun for me. Obviously, there's like moments when I'm like, Why am I doing this? This is absolutely terrifying.
But, you know, [00:03:00] once I finish, there's that sense of achievement and that like, that feeling that I'm keeping, I guess, keeping track of what I'm doing and, and making it count because it's recorded. Even, you know, if it's just... A couple of us, or a handful of us listening, that's fine. Um, but I'm just really, really, really enjoying it.
So the next kind of thing along that lines of that is you get to meet some really cool people, um, and it's often quite serendipitous the way that I am doing it. You know, I might come across somebody, you know, like Caro for example, she'd listened to something, she's a hugely accomplished writer, she happened to come across something that I'd created, [00:04:00] reached out to me, um, in fact it was the, the one about single books for women, she reached out, got in touch.
And I was like, she needs to come on the podcast. Um, because somebody else had already told me about her book, and I was in the middle of reading it, so it was like, a weird collection of reasons as to why somebody might get in touch, and why they might end up on the podcast. But it's what we were talking about with Rachel last week, it's the little nudges where you go, Oh, this looks interesting, I'm gonna just reach out and see if, see if they can do it.
I mean, the worst that happens is they say no. Um. I've actually been quite a bit of a chicken about reaching out to people. It wasn't, um, until fairly recently that I've started reaching out to maybe, quote unquote, the bigger names. So, um, next week I will be interviewing Rob Biddulph. And for those of you who don't know, he is an incredible illustrator [00:05:00] and writes really gorgeous books for kids.
He's one of my absolute favourite authors of all time. And, um, Again, it was just one of those things where I'd mentioned him in something and then a friend had mentioned him in something else. Um, and I tagged him in a story and just said I love Rob Biddulph and I'd love him to come on the podcast and then he replied straight away and said, yeah, I'll come on.
So all the thinking and all of the, like I have written letters to that man in my head going, how can I convince him to come on the podcast? And what it actually took was just an off the cuff story. So it's kind of trusting in the process. And allowing yourself time to learn as well. It's not like you need to go straight for...
Like, another person on my list is Davina McCall. I would love to interview her. [00:06:00] But, I'm okay with taking my time about getting to her. And really spending time speaking to my loved ones and the people that I know in my circle and then their friends, honing my skills so that when it gets to the point that Davina McCall and RuPaul and, um, Michelle Obama, when they all come on, I'll be, you know, I'll have the skills.
But, yeah, it's, you get to meet really cool people, you get to delve into their stories if that's what you want to do, in a way that is hugely accessible, um, and in my mind it's actually quite a bit easier than writing a blog post, because you sit down with somebody, you talk to them for 45 minutes, and yes, you might have planned some questions and done some legwork beforehand, [00:07:00] um, but then it's It's pretty much ready to go when you put it out into the world, see where the conversation takes you.
Like, that's the beauty of it. You're allowed to just show up as you are with the person that you're meeting and just have a conversation and see where it goes. So, yeah, I'm completely loving the way that it's developing and that, really, when I started the podcast, I had no idea where it would take me. I started it because I was doing a divorce retreat and I really wanted to promote that and I was like, right, I've always wanted to do a podcast, I'm going to do eight in one go, I'm going to use it to promote the retreat and then that'll be it.
But what actually happened is... The retreat is kind of on hold. We'll see what happens. I still think it's a good idea, but, um, it just wound around to being not the right time and not the right idea [00:08:00] quite, but it doesn't matter. Things start off as one thing and then they're completely allowed to take a, you know, a new route and a new direction.
So it's being open to that journey and not feeling like it has to be massive straight away. Um, another thing about why I think it's a great reason to start a podcast is that this shit puts you completely out of your comfort zone, like, all the time. It's hugely challenging. The first day that I showed up with Lewis in the studio, Um, I literally gave myself a week to prepare what I wanted to do, which was 8 podcasts.
And I was completely terrified. Like, to the point where I think I needed about 3 days to [00:09:00] recover. And now, like, I'll write my questions, turn it up in the morning, and I do still have that moment of like, Why the fuck am I putting myself through this? But at the end of the day, I'm leaving that studio with five things that I'm really proud of.
And I've connected with people that, in a way that I would never normally have done in real life. I've got a friend called James who's like, um, him and his friends sit in a cafe together and we're like, we should be recording this shit! And I'm like, yeah you should! Because it's in those moments when you're connecting with each other that, you know, it's like a little... look into what, what people are really thinking and those nuggets that can be shared with others, like, why not, if you can? Um, and yeah, it's scary, but once you overcome the first hurdle, that thing [00:10:00] then becomes easier. And so now I'm doing things that... I never would have thought in a million years I would be doing.
Like, I'm interviewing Rob next week. That's insane. And other opportunities that have come out of it. So this has basically become my CV. Because I'm interviewing people, um, and I have done over the last year. That's now a skill. I now have a skill in interviewing that I didn't know I had. Uh, and I didn't know I loved.
And off the back of that, I'm now being invited to speaking opportunities and to do other interviews with people. Um, in a few weeks time I am hosting the book launch of The Ripple Effect. So it's a live event which we're hosting on King Edward's Bay. And, um, I mean, it combines with the fact that I've got massively into sea dipping and cold water therapy and stuff like that, again.
But, like, you put the two things [00:11:00] together and it's like, oh, now I'm sitting on a beach talking to two incredible authors about their book. Um, yeah, like, I could not have dreamed that that could happen, even though that is what I would like. I keep saying to people, like, I just want to be paid to talk. And.
You know, if you put, if that's what you want to do, or if there's something that you want to be paid to do, then you are going to need to put a little bit of legwork in the background to make it happen. Um, and basically that's what's happened with this podcast. I knew I loved talking, I knew I loved delving into other people's stories, and so therefore, I started a podcast.
And again, that wasn't the reason I started the podcast, but it became the reason. And I've allowed it to evolve and to change and to become the thing that it is now. Um, [00:12:00] and I think the fact that it's been a labour of love and a project that I have funded myself, it's meant that it can be completely mine.
You know, me and Katie work really hard on this, and, um, but it also allows us the complete freedom to talk about what we're interested in and talk to the people we're interested in. And like I said, there's like, new opportunities developing all the time, so I just think it's such a wonderful way to demonstrate what it is you do.
Obviously I'm like, an individual who's doing this just, I say just, um, I'm doing it because I love it, but it also allows me. It allows me to reach loads of different people, it gives me a chance to talk about and discover what I'm interested in, so now I'm writing a book off the back of this. But if you're, um, you might have a company for example, you might be an expert in [00:13:00] lightbulbs, you know, in fact I had a friend who was.
She literally did that, like these, there are a whole industries that would be very interested in what you have to say on your subject. And I believe that podcasting is a, just a really gorgeous way of getting across your personality, who you are, and what you're interested in, and connecting with people in a way that you wouldn't otherwise if it was a written post.
I absolutely love books. I absolutely love Instagram and people's long captions and you know, having little glimpses into day to day life, but there's something about a conversation that is so precious. Like, you cannot recapture that moment. You have a conversation and [00:14:00] then it's gone. So to be able to record it and listen back It's like it's actual magic.
Honestly, the conversation I had with Rachel last week. And, you know, all of my guests, I listen back to them and I'm like, Oh, God, I'd forgotten we'd even said that. And it's like a gift from the past, especially at times when you're struggling with things. Like, I mean, at the moment I'm doing the relationship ban after speaking to, um, Amber a few weeks ago.
And having that resource to just be able to go back and listen to. It's like, like I said, it's a gift. It just allows you to know exactly why you are doing something and to, to get you back on track. So, with that in mind, I would like to share the conversation that Rachel and I had after we finished recording [00:15:00] last week's podcast.
Um, just as a little glimpse and kind of gives you an idea as to, you know, Rachel and I had never met before. We ended up connecting through mutual friends. Had this like... moment together recorded on the podcast and then we were able to go on and kind of deep dive into some things that I'm really interested in, and in particular about the podcast and what I do next with it.
And it's just a lovely glimpse as well into how Rachel works. Um, I think why she'd be such an incredible person to be coached by, uh, which hopefully at some point soon I will be. For context, during the conversation with Rachel, if you haven't listened to it yet, I highly recommend it. Um, Rachel for some reason decides that, I mean we have a long conversation about... How to become yourself [00:16:00] and how to create work and connect with people by truly being yourself and her analogy for this is to make me, um, Trucker Hannah because I swear like a trucker, which I don't do I? I don't know about that. Anyways, so the idea spirals to a point where we decide I'm going to have a truck with a podcasting studio within it.
Um. And yeah, I'll ride around and be trucker Hannah. So that's where the conversation kind of picks up from.
(Extract from Podcast Begins)
Hannah: All right, Lewis. He says perfect.
Rachel: Woo! Oh, that was so much fun.
Hannah: Oh, thank you.
Rachel: That was so much fun. I really hope you actually get a truck. That'd be so cool.
Hannah: Well, I feel like it's my journey now. Like every little nudge leads to something else where I'm like, Oh.
My financial advisor won't like it, but you know. [00:17:00] We'll manifest a truck?
Rachel: Yeah! Manifest a truck. Is there a fit trucker that drives the truck?
Hannah: I hope so. Maybe he, 'cause I'm on a sex ban at the moment.
Rachel: Are you?
Hannah: Yeah.
Rachel: How's that going?
Hannah: Six months off. Wow.
Rachel: That's what I did before I, I, um, got with my husband.
Hannah: Oh, really?
Rachel: Yeah.
Hannah: Because you were like,
Rachel: I, I wanna love myself. I don't want, I'm not gonna go out and rush into other men's arms to try and fill a hole. I'm gonna...
Hannah: that's exactly it.
Rachel: Spend all this time loving myself, dating myself, getting to know myself. So, like, it was, I think mine lasted 10 months. And, um, I take myself out on dates in London or go for fancy meals and be like, Oh, we're out on a fancy meal, aren't we amazing?
So, yeah. Oh, good for you.
Hannah: Yeah, I think it's what's necessary because otherwise I'm just going to keep repeating the old patterns, innit?
Rachel: Yeah, and that's what everyone does, or most, you know, that's what so many people do. Just, like, try and fill [00:18:00] that hole, by..
Hannah: Literally-
Rachel: filling the hole, exactly.
Hannah: With your penis analogy.
Rachel: Exactly. I can't believe that went there. Obviously, that's what I'm going to talk about on a podcast.
Hannah: And it'll definitely be the soundbite, I'm sorry.
Rachel: Brilliant. Don't worry, I have no shame and I have no, um, Yeah, I'm here for it all. I just, I just, like, it get, life should, people aren't having enough fun.
That's the other point of the armpit hair licking. It's like, why are you taking everything so seriously? Let's just, we've got one life. Let's enjoy it. Just get out there and have some fun and, yeah, not take it so seriously.
Hannah: Oh, I'm totally here for it. But this is my last one and I just feel all, like, filled up.
Rachel: Oh, have you done, like, a whole day of podcasts [00:19:00] today?
Hannah: Yeah, I've done five today. So you're in my fifth. So now I'm like, yay!
Rachel: So are you monetized? Is that the goal, to monetize it? Or are you just doing it for fun?
Hannah: So, so far I have had three of the episodes sponsored. I just need to pull my finger out, really, and do the media pack, and...
Rachel: What do you want? Like, if I, if I, I mean, I do, I haven't got it here with me. I do have a magic wand, but if I was waving my magic wand at you, what would you, what would be, hold on, hold that thought.
Hannah: Right, I'm gonna really get deep with this now, and think what I really want.
Rachel: Yeah, like, I have got my magic wand right here for you.
Hannah: Oh, it's lovely.
Rachel: Legit got my magic wand.
Hannah: You do. I love that. Um, okay, so I would like... I think what I would like is like an umbrella branded, Um, sponsorship. Like say [00:20:00] a childcare brand, for example, where they are interested in female mental health. And they were like, we love what you're doing. We love the fact that you swear like a trucker.
Rachel: Yeah.
Hannah: And we're going to give you a van with a podcasting studio and you can go and share people's stories.
Rachel: And it's going to have our branding all over it. And you're going to interview our mums.
Hannah: Yeah.
Rachel: We can have our mums on the podcast. Tell women's stories.
Hannah: Mm hmm.
Rachel: I'm like, fully visualizing that with you right now.
Hannah: Does that feel like a good thing? Because I wonder if like, you do go, I would say it was Tommy Tippy or something, and it's like, does that actually work?
Rachel: Have you got a brand in mind?
Hannah: No, I wonder who it will be? That will be me tonight. Who's the sponsor gonna be? I can't wait to meet them.
Rachel: They're [00:21:00] gonna be cool and funky.
Hannah: They need to be cool and funky.
Rachel: They're gonna be slightly feminist, or maybe quite feminist. And they're gonna have a big, world changing vision.
Hannah: Yeah, like maybe Spanx.
Rachel: Yeah, or like, um, I mean, they're not, they're kind of, the kind of brand I'm imagining. So I'm not in the mummy daycare world now because my, because I live in the arse end of nowhere. Um, but like the equivalent of like Snag Tights and Lucy and Yak and those kind of companies, those kind of like really cool, funky, cutting edge type companies that are shaking things up in their industries.
Hannah: Yeah, it'd be nice if they were sober as well. Like maybe trip or something like that.
Rachel: Yeah.
Hannah: Trip drinks. That'd be nice. Something kind of cool that you could then turn up at festivals and stuff and just be interviewing people or.
Rachel: I'm gonna, I'm gonna hold it in my thoughts as well.
Hannah: That whole [00:22:00] truck thing is got me buzzing.
Rachel: I actually think it's genius. I, I genuinely do. Like how much you could, like you say, you could rock up to festivals in your truck doing your podcast.
Hannah: And it could also be an outsourcing thing, like, do you want to create your own podcast? I've got all the tools here.
Rachel: And you can like, record, come in and for a week, the truck, truck rocks up and you can record like, a week's worth of podcast, you know, do podcasts.
Hannah: Yeah. Because you could do, say, eight in a day if you, if you set it up right. And then that's. You know, eight weeks of podcasts, or if you only want one a month.
Rachel: I think that's brilliant. I can see the truck. I can, can feel the umbrella brand. I don't know that world well enough to think of any companies, but I know that, like, and it might, it might surprise you how it manifests, I reckon.
Hannah: [00:23:00] Yeah.
Rachel: What it ends up being.
Hannah: Well, exactly. Like, I don't know if I know what it is, because obviously I'll need to be paid. I want it to pay for the, how much it costs to do a podcast, you know what I mean? It's like, could be quite a big thing, and how that even looks like. I couldn't get my head around, like my, the logical side of my brain is like, Ugh, it doesn't exist. So you have to hand it over to the other side.
Rachel: Yeah, that's the point, isn't it? Like, so much stuff, if we listen to the logical side, we never create it, because we're like, well that's not possible, that could never happen in the real world.
Hannah: There's no such thing. Everybody's on a budget cut, so nobody wants to spend money on stuff like that.
Rachel: Right. So, there is a reality where this sponsorship deal is, is there, it's already happening, it's already done.
Hannah: Yeah.
Rachel: It's already done.
Hannah: And I don't need to worry about how, I just need to work out what it is I want.
Rachel: Yeah. And play with the [00:24:00] possibility, like expand what's possible, like one of the things I always get my clients to really play with is like, how good are you willing to let it get? How good are you willing to let it get? And maybe, you know, because sometimes we have to stretch what we're allowing ourselves to receive.
Hannah: Definitely. And being like, oh why would they want little old me? It's just me chatting about armpit hair and swearing and
Rachel: swearing.
Hannah: Where it's just like, you know, we covered some really good fucking shit in that.
Rachel: Yeah we did. We did. We like, and I think stuff that's gonna be really, I don't know, it's just really, I love, I feel so genuinely hopeful for the world. Yeah. Even though we're in such a shit state.
Hannah: And it's important that other people hear that so that they can vibrate at that energy level too, just because you are.
Rachel: Exactly. Exactly. Cause we're so, so many people I speak to are so hopeless because that's what they're fed. Like, I love the fact you don't watch the news. I [00:25:00] don't watch the news. I don't consume anything and I have the belief that it, what I need to know, reaches me and it always does.
Hannah: Yes.
Rachel: It always finds its way to me, one way or another. It's always, always fine.
Hannah: All right, my darling, I'm going to let you go. Thank you so much for your time and your energy and your coaching. I managed to sneak a little sneaky coaching episode out of that.
Rachel: Yeah. If you ever want to have a, if you ever want to get live coached on air. I am up for it.
Hannah: I've just been live coached on air.
Rachel: That was nothing babe.
Hannah: Oh really?
Rachel: That wasn't even scratching the surface. Yeah.
Hannah: Let's do it.
Rachel: Full on magician.
(Back to Hannah Alone)
Hannah: There you go. I um, yeah, I just felt like it was a bit too special not to share because um, that's just the joy of podcasting. Like you just don't know necessarily where it's going to take you next. [00:26:00] New opportunities, meeting new people. Potentially getting new coaches, new opportunities to collaborate, it just feels to me like it's just one long lesson and you just literally can't predict what is, what's going to happen next. So, I mean, I talked about my 10 lessons from podcasting. A few, a little while ago, in fact, it was on the one year anniversary of the podcast.
So you can listen back to that one, which is episode 52. I had to go and check. Of course it was. It was a whole year of podcasting. Anyway, so if you're interested in podcasting, have a little listen to that. See if it's of interest. But the other thing I wanted to tell you about is since meeting Rachel and talking about this idea of, um, podcasting and different ways that I can maybe, [00:27:00] um, I guess make it more of my job because I love it so much. Is I then, the very next day, sat with Katie and we came up with this whole idea to do a podcast academy.
So it's called the Podcast Academy, you can find it on Substack. Thepodcastacademy. substack. com and we will be launching that very soon. But the idea behind that is we'll share behind the scenes stuff about, um, how we produce the podcast, how we find guests, um, technical side of stuff. How to find your voice and how to decide what you're going to talk about. Um, and then kind of each month we'll do a live Q& A where we can, we can basically just talk through what it is you're wanting to do and any questions that you've got. And kind of brainstorm ideas, I guess. So if [00:28:00] that's of interest to you, make sure that you sign up to thepodcastacademy.substack.com and you will be the first to notify, to be notified when it's live. But yeah, I think, have a good think about it because I honestly think having a podcast is awesome and really good fun. And please get in touch with me because I would love to be on your podcast and to be interviewed. Get in touch immediately.
Um, but yeah, maybe connecting to why you would want to do it, that might be a good start. But don't overthink it. Remember, I started mine because I wanted to promote something that didn't even happen and it's developed now. In fact, I was talking to somebody the other day about this. He said, what's my why?
And it's actually my why for life, I think. But basically my hope for this podcast and the reason I do it. Is yes, it's fun. Yes, I get to meet cool people. Yes, it pushes me out of [00:29:00] my comfort zone. Yes, it's like a CV and I get to meet, you know, all sorts of different new opportunities. But more than that, is that I hope that by sharing the stuff that I've gone through and the things that in the past have kept me feeling alone and isolated from my loved ones. That's really where it started. I wanted to let other people know that, I guess let people know by sharing the things that used to be my secrets. And in the hope that if I share those things, then other people will feel less alone. 'cause there have been times in the past, um, where, you know, I couldn't really see a way out.
And I felt desperate, and isolated, and trapped, [00:30:00] and deeply unhappy. And by connecting with people, either in conversation or by sharing my story on here, it's released that thing. You know, in, at the end of The Labyrinth, when she looks at David Bowie and she's like, you've got no power over me. Like, David Bowie to me represents secrets.
They keep us small and they keep us trapped. And so by talking about shit that is important to me on here, I really, genuinely hope that it helps other people see that they don't need to keep trapped by their secrets and that they can reach out and know that, you know, they don't need to have power over you and there is a way forward.
You know, and so as I'm having conversations with people all the time, it's like little nudges from the universe. I need to speak to this person. I'll get introduced to somebody else and I'll [00:31:00] connect with them and I'm like, I need to talk to them on the podcast. Each time that I do this, I'm keeping in mind that I'm hoping that this is gonna set somebody free.
You know, that this conversation might be the one that helps somebody get out of a situation that is keeping them trapped. So yeah, sorry, that got a bit deep there, but you know, it's important, like life is important, but it can also be super fun. And we're always having a laugh and joking around, but it's with that in mind, at the back of my mind certainly, that I want other people to know that you can get out, and that you can be set free, and you can live the life of your dreams.
Um, So please keep reaching out to me. People are getting in touch more and more. Like it's a compound interest of people being like, I found your podcast. I listened to this episode. It's [00:32:00] helped me get. You know, do X, Y, and Z, and I just love hearing those stories, so please, if you're local, reach out, and you can come and hang out with, um, me, and I've now got a lovely little group of people that I've reached out through the podcast, and we go on walks, and we get in the sea, and we do yoga, so please, get in touch if you, if you are close enough to come, please let me know, and otherwise, message me, and tell me how you're doing, and what you're up to.
And, of course, if you've got a story that you think is interesting and you would like to share, then, again, get in touch. Let's see if we can get you interviewed. Okay, I'm going to stop rambling on. I'm really passionate about podcasting. I think it's a wonderful medium. I hope you can come and join the Podcast Academy, um, so we can work together on creating, creating your podcast and helping [00:33:00] you find your voice.
Okay, loads of love. Thanks ever so much.
Alright then, thank you so much for listening and I'll see you again next time for another episode of Happily Ever After with me, Hannah. It would be amazing if you could leave a review and subscribe. And of course, if you've got a friend who might enjoy this episode, please do pass it on instagram @mumsdays or by my website mumsdays. com. And did you know that I've got a newsletter? So it's the best way to stay in touch and to make sure you don't miss any podcasts or any freebies or competitions that we're running. And again, you can sign up to that through the website.[00:34:00]
