When I first started flying the freelance flag, one of the first goals I jotted down was:
‘Be a guest on a podcast’.
Three months later, I backtracked and took it off my ambitious to-do list.
Why? Because I held up a mirror to myself and let my inner voice question:
What’s the actual purpose of being featured on a podcast?
What’s the message you want to share?
Ewww… listening to your own voice? Really?
Negative self-talk aside (I’m working on it!) the uncomfortable truth was, I didn’t have any answers that justified the means - only the familiar flutters of FOMO, “well, everyone else is doing it? Surely, I should want to do it too.”
But, I really didn’t want to. I had no desire to go on a podcast like a shiny end product and start spouting off sound bites when I was still fumbling around trying to nail down my copy services and dream client personas.
And being featured on a podcast felt so permanent. Not a fleeting, gone in 24 hours, yesterday’s chip paper, kinda vibe. It felt like a much bigger responsibility and I did not want it to come back to haunt me down the line, because I threw myself into something when I wasn’t ready.
So, I let the dream die and politely declined any podcast pitches that came my way.
That is, until Oli Anderson popped up in my inbox. With one simple and honest request: Can we have a ‘virtual coffee’ and chat about how you tap into your creativity? And if all goes well, can we chat about it again on my podcast Creative Status?
What set Oli apart from other pitches I’d had in the past, was that he wasn’t looking for a secret formula or hack to make the podcast ep, at best: go viral, at worst: get 'thumbs up' love from fellow copywriters. He was looking for a genuine conversation about one of my fave ever topics - Stories: where we find them, the best ways to craft them and how to stay true to ourselves along the way.
Screw it, I'm in in.
And naturally, once we started chit-chatting, we veered a bit off course and started digging into topics like the power of air-tight research and the perils of imposter syndrome.
LISTEN: To the full episode here 👇
Want to skip to the good stuff?
Here’s what we cover (pulled from Oli’s ep description):
I reached out to Elena after I kept stumbling across her work online and I really loved the way that she injected her authentic personality into the words that she wrote. After an amazing pre-chat that was filled with energy and insight, we decided that this conversation would focus on the 'story' stuff and so that's what we did.
Check out this episode if you're interested in telling your own real story in a creative way and you wanna give some thought to:
Story structure - Amplifying the real stuff about you
Researching and getting out of your EGO so your assumptions don't kill your ability to tell stories
How to be relatable by solving specific problems
Crafting a bigger picture for yourself
Figuring out your storytelling tone
+ LOADS more
⭐ BIG thanks to Oli for my first, ever podcast feature! Oli (I know you're likely to read this!), you've created such a welcoming, safe space to share and I'm so grateful you reached out and continue to put out well-considered, insight-packed, content. Aaaaand if you haven't checked him out already head to: Olianderson.co.uk ⭐
