Start Rising Podcast

Episode 53: From Fear to Empowerment: Celebrating 50 Podcast Episodes

• Caiti Courtier • Season 2 • Episode 53

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Today, we're raising a toast to a significant milestone - the 50th episode of Start Rising. As we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane, we'll unpack the highs, the lows, and the moments of revelation that have graced this entrepreneurial journey. We'll unveil the importance of celebrating small victories, the power of translating knowledge into action, and the transformative nature of stepping outside our comfort zones. 

In the process, we'll confront an obstacle that plagues many of us - the fear of judgement. Hear my personal wrestle with this fear and the liberating realization that not everyone needs to understand our dreams to support us. Moreover, we'll discuss the silent, yet profound impact we all have on those around us, drawing inspiration from the relentless Terri Mullen, a midlife women's empowerment coach. So, buckle up for an episode filled with wisdom nuggets that could potentially be the catalyst for your own podcasting journey.

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Leave a review on itunes (screenshot before submitting) and email the screenshot to StartRisingPodcast@gmail.com for a snapshot of Books and Podcasts that I’ve been loving, perfect addition for mind nourishment


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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to the next episode of the Start Rising podcast. So today I wanted to offer a lesson I've learned in 50 episodes now that I've done of the Start Rising podcast, not just because it's a huge milestone for me and I'm so surprised that I mean I'm so pleasantly surprised, but also so surprised that it's hit 50 episodes, like I just it feels like a lifetime ago and I'm just so proud and impressed on myself that I did the things that I needed to do to get that commitment to reach the big 5-0 for the episodes. So this is the day after the 50 episode has dropped and I want to share a few things with you that I've learned along the way. The first thing that I'm going to share is to any milestone you might reach, whether it be big, whether it be small, to take some time to give yourself a huge pat on the back, because this is something that is so important for us as entrepreneurs to recognise those milestones, because quite often we're so busy, busy, busy and we don't take the time to acknowledge how far we've come. And that's hugely imperative to having us keep going is to recognise those milestones and celebrate. My goodness, celebrate, happy dance.

Speaker 1:

Whatever you need to do in order to celebrate those wins that you have, because that's the fuel that goes to the fire, and as entrepreneurs typically solo entrepreneurs you don't necessarily get those chances to have other people recognise your wins. So you have to be your own best friend and you have to be the person that has the win that you're back to keep on going and celebrate these things, and this is the fuel. This goes in your win category. So one thing I would recommend you doing is, if you have Notes app on your phone, or maybe just a journal, you can write down your little wins that you accomplish. So things like maybe you interviewed your first guest, maybe you got to episode 50, maybe you did something that pushed yourself out of the comfort zone, maybe you are doing your first video recording for your podcast and you are doing that in honour of reaching that milestone. So that is what I'm currently doing. So those aspects are some things that you can do to put in your win bank.

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Because we are entrepreneurs, the ups and the downs it's like a roller coaster. Those things will come, and having some things in your arsenal, having things in your back pocket to help you with your wins, is going to be so important when you hit your days, while you're wondering why did you even consider doing this? And you are just feeling a little bit down on yourself, feeling a little bit beaten up, feeling a little bit about like you've swung out and you've unfortunately struck out and you need those little pick me ups. And that is where that comes in clutch for you to remind you how far you've come and then, after you get in a better mind space, you can see why you're doing what you are doing. So that's my first takeaway for you.

Speaker 1:

With my episodes, I very much focused about the journey that I've went on, because I want to bring you along with it, because we really don't see those things that are the in-between, messy, early stages of us when we do decide to do something new, entrepreneurial. So that's what I've really tried to embody. As I went through this, I've been talking through my mental mind game, like the things that are going on in my head, the things that I'm processing and the things that I feel can benefit you as you go through this too. And my hopes is that with these 50 episodes, you've had a chance to see some of yourself reflected in my story and the things that I'm working through and there are definitely repetitive themes that have emerged and went through as we've moved through the different pieces of this journey. So take some time to even go back and flick through the episode titles and pick one that resonates with you and either if it's a re-listen or if it's a brand new listen, I've done my best to try and title them in a way that you can see a snapshot of what the episode is about, but probably also that if you're stuck in a bit of a rut for something, you can kind of look at the episode titles and you can pick one and go yep, that one is the one that I need to hear. Or, if you're in the womb, like me, feel the guidance. Sometimes you were just intuitively guided to what you need to hear, and that may be the case with some of these episodes. So hopefully that can benefit you too and, like I've said in I'm sure, many, many, many episodes now, it's like uncovering a new level. It's. We never want to get trapped in the I already know this situation because you may already know something. However, if you're not doing it actively and you're not doing it in a way that shows results, you really don't know it yet. It's about the adage of you can read a book about learning to swim, but until you are actually in the water it doesn't mean anything. While the book probably helps you, it doesn't mean you can swim if you've only read a book. So that's the part where we are starting to get the traction, get the determination, get the movement forward for us in our entrepreneurial journey to help build our business. Our next takeaway is doing the things that scare you multiple, multiple, multiple times, and they scare you less and less.

Speaker 1:

My podcast at the beginning was me sitting in a closet in the apartment we used to live in and I was terrified, as I spoke about in the earlier episodes, like I would physically have a sore throat that just happened to come on in any day that I was planning to do my recording. It was uncanny about six weeks worth of this sore throat that would come on and it was after I kind of realized it was the physical manifestation of my fear and feeling like I just didn't have something good to say. So I physically had that happen to my body and it's not uncommon for those people who may feel a little bit reserved, who may feel a little bit, just a little bit withdrawn, held back, questioning themselves am I really good enough to do this? Will anyone want to listen to me? And all of those question aspects that we actually say and think about. So back in those days, it terrified me to the point where my body shut my throat down to make it physically painful for me to talk, and so I would sit in the closet and I would have to put my hands over my heart. I would breathe in deeply, exhale deeply, and I would just ask for what needed to come through me to come through me and to also, at the same time, to reassure myself that I am safe and I am okay and that nothing bad is going to happen, from me sitting in my closet, pressing record on my phone and sharing my truth.

Speaker 1:

And that's something that I've had to practice over and over again as I've moved forward into the podcasting space. I've been upgraded from a well, I suppose it's more of a downgrade because of the space. I was in a bigger closet when we lived in our apartment and then, when we moved to our house and we were renovating absolutely everything, the space I had was either sitting in my car or sitting in a tiny like slide closet. So, while upgraded, but not quite upgraded, I've learned from different spaces. So now I'm sitting in my office with my fancy Mano Mano, mano caster, however we say it microphone that was gifted to me by my husband when he realized that I was committed to my podcasting journey. Now you don't need anything fancy, you just need determination. I started with a lapel mic. You can easily do it with just the recording device on your phone, if you wanted to start out that way, and things like that have gotten less and less scary and has helped me move forward and prove to myself that I can and I will do these things, and I can and I will share my journey to benefit of someone.

Speaker 1:

I'm someone who I can acknowledge that at the beginning of my podcast journey, probably not many people listened because not many people knew about it, because up until only recently, I actually spoken about my podcast publicly on my Facebook page, like my personal Facebook page, which I was just we'll put cards on the table. I was scared to be judged by my friends and family, which, in hindsight, someone who's judging you for doing something like this or something outside of the traditional box. It's probably because they're scared to do it themselves or they just don't understand because they weren't. That calling was not put on them, and so we have to recognize that when we put things out to friends and family, we maybe met with some constructive criticism. We'll call it because it's not given, the idea was not given in their head, to them, so they may not understand. They may not also run in the same circles as entrepreneurs, like someone who wants more than a JOB. They may just be happy with that, and some people are, and that is perfectly fine.

Speaker 1:

But my brain, my determination, my thriving in life is not going to be satisfied by just a JOB. And that's something that I know is on my heart. And I sometimes listen into meetings and I'm in meetings. I'm like, wow, some people really, truly, deeply care about this stuff and have a stock in the company or like their heart is in being an employee of a company and that, while I enjoy being able to interact with my coworkers, enjoy being able to work part of a team, that's not something that's on my heart for my forever and that's perfectly fine. You can use your job as something that is a stepping stone to help you fully, truly live out what you would like to, and you can also have the job on the side of a entrepreneurial business. It depends on how big you want to go, how hard you want to go and those aspects.

Speaker 1:

But the lesson here is not to be afraid of putting things out publicly to your friends and family, because if they truly are your friends and family, they'll they. Even if they don't understand it, they will probably still support it and love on you because you are valuable in their lives. And for those people who may judge you or may say that's stupid, well, you just have to water off a duck's back. You just have to let that comment you know what that says more about you than about me and be the mirror, like you're, essentially a mirror for them. So it's more what they're saying about themselves and their own limitations than it is about you. And last piece about that is that you always think that people are paying more attention to you than they actually are. And in reality people are paying more attention to them than anybody else and they have that same fear. But everyone is just worried about themselves. So, realistically, we're not as big of a spotlight as we seem to think in fear. So don't be worried about putting stuff out into the world. You may be the silent inspiration for someone that you don't even know about A great conversation that I had recently with Terry Mullen who was on one of the previous episodes of the podcast.

Speaker 1:

She is a midlife women's empowerment coach and she essentially has been. We've connected through a program called Made to Do this and became just each other's cheerleaders as we went through the process and while I didn't necessarily say anything to seeing her really well post, like she would be going live, she would be posting videos like consistently posting about her Hello Red Lowe brand. I would see it and I wouldn't necessarily interact with it, but I knew that she was crushing it and I knew that she was posting these things and consistently showing up and it was so impressive. I never really said anything to her at the time but when we connected for our interview I shared that with her that I've kind of been like a I don't want to use word lurker, but essentially a lurker, like a silent observer, like I haven't interacted with it, but I've acknowledged I've done the nod like yep, I see you there and you don't know the impact that you can have for the other people in your life by seeing you go after these things. And for her she was that. For me, she was showing up, empowering and being like, hey, you know, if she can do it, I can do it, and that's something that you can be for other people and you may not always get that gratification. That program that I did with her was two years ago and she's been showing up consistently for probably the entire two years there, if not more, but at least within my radar. And I've only just recently talked to her about it and said thank you for showing up. You empowered me, even though I haven't publicly commented and like actively talked about it, but it's just interesting. And another thing, as far as the silent effects that you may find you have, I've shared before about being being worried.

Speaker 1:

So I first started my own trip. Gosh, I don't know when it was, but one of my ventures that the parents sex ed blueprint was something that I started in 2020 and threw myself into it because at the time, with the pandemic, there were really no jobs to be had and I thought you know what? This is the perfect opportunity. My husband said look, I've got the job, I've got the income, let's have you dive into this and like fulfill what you want to do as an entrepreneur and create this program. So I wholeheartedly threw myself into it, created this program, put everything together. Hindsight didn't go about it the right way, put way too much in it, didn't really design it in the exact way that would be fitting for a parent as far as like how much information they can consume and what they need to know and how they consume it. But anyway, those are lessons learned.

Speaker 1:

I was so scared to say I was doing another entrepreneurial venture. Because of that I thought that other people would say oh well, didn't you? What are you doing this and didn't you like what happened to that or how did you like? Basically asking me questions like because I didn't fully succeed to my level that I wanted, I was afraid to put it out there and then need to justify to people while I was like friends and family, like why I was doing something else and I let that hold me back for quite some time and it really wasn't. It was my protection mechanism. It was something that I wasn't putting myself out there because I thought people would judge me because I had another venture. And that's not what happened at all. It's actually been a breadcrumb to leading towards other people and other connection points that I have this massive resources, that's still sitting on my hard drive and will eventually find a home and a benefit for people.

Speaker 1:

But the work that you've done in your previous businesses, if you've tried and you haven't succeeded to the level you want, it's not lost. It's learnings and lessons James Wedmore talks about. You either get the lesson you needed or you get the outcome you wanted, and so we need to look at those things a little bit differently as far as how we approach those. So I know I got the lessons that I needed in that venture and I can then use that in other things moving forward, and so that's something that I really wanted to share with you. Sprinkled it through our other things within this podcast, but I feel like I can be more. I can show you behind the curtains for all of the different things that I'm doing and that I'm leading into.

Speaker 1:

So sharing those things, being vulnerable, sharing like the stages of my life that I'm in, like the breakthroughs or the limitations that I find myself stuck in. I share them because I know not many people talked about them at the level that you probably need to hear, being that early to mid-stage entrepreneur where you earning under $50,000 a year, so I share to make you feel like I'm in the trenches with you. You're not alone. I may be one or two steps ahead of you or you may just see something in yourself, in my story and how we relate and I encourage you to please continue reaching out to me on my Instagram is at Katie Courier, always in the show notes for the spelling, and let me know your takeaways as they're. Let me know what your favorite episode was. There's a whole host of wisdom bites and knowledge goodies and all those things in the last 50 episodes. Here's to 50 more, doing more things that scare you and getting better along the way and leveling up together on your entrepreneurial journey. So till next time, bye.