Why I started a podcast

(and why it's not about marketing tips)

I decided to lose myself in storytelling this year, exploring snippets of stories people have shared with me over the years and bringing them to life.

This is how my podcast, Your Second Act, began to take shape. It is a monthly show focused on the nuggets of wisdom from women doing brave things during their peri and postmenopausal years.

It has been a nourishing experience to be outside of my area of expertise, experimenting with audio rather than written content.

Some may say it would make more sense to share content and marketing tips after 20+ years of creating content for the media, organisations and brands. I want a break from the day job and to create a project just for me and for those who have generously agreed to come on this journey with me as guests and listeners.

Sharing stories that stay with me

I've been interviewing people professionally for years, but the conversations that stayed with me are about women who decided it was never too late to start again or face a new challenge. These women taught me that your second act doesn't have to be smaller or safer than your first. It is usually braver.

Through them, I've learned that it's never too late to study something that fascinates you, move to another country, meet new people and build real friendships, try a completely different career, or change your mindset about what's possible.

I'm navigating my second act right now. I’ve found it powerful hearing from women who've looked uncertainty in the face and said "yes” anyway. Their stories are inspiring and proof that reinvention is possible at any stage.

Why starting a podcast is so difficult

I've been talking about doing a podcast since autumn 2024, but I still hadn't made any progress with it as spring came around this year. I was paralysed by the fear of the tech, commitment, letting guests down or discovering I couldn't even storytell through audio. After all, my experience is no guarantee I can create a decent podcast (I'd already spectacularly failed at a creative writing workshop).

The inspiration for starting one came after listening to

Clare Jackson

’s Dwellbeing podcast. I loved her approach and theme of looking around guests’ homes and asking insightful questions.

Clare knew I wanted to launch a podcast and she asked in April where it was. I confessed my paralysis and second thoughts. She said, "You won't know if you don't try" and that reassured me that she believed the podcast was a good idea. She set me a deadline to schedule my first recording and it gave me a huge kick up the backside to get going. I am not sure it would have begun without that conversation.

Working out the podcast tech set-up

The tech side has been a huge learning curve that nearly prevented me from launching the podcast. I am sure there are better ways to do and I have probably made it more complicated than it needs to be, but this is where I landed after giving myself just 7 days to figure out a solution.

1 Recording

I record audio-only, not video, because this is how I consume podcasts. I love being able to absorb myself in something else while listening, such as walking or creative activities. It feels more intimate somehow.

I use Zencastr ($20/month) to record remotely, capturing each person as a separate audio channel. It is fiddly and I’ve made so many mistakes with it. I can’t work out how to create audio clips that have my branding on it, so I use another tool. I also can’t publish from it as I can’t work out how to add my branding. Feel free to give me any pointers, as my brain is full!

2 Editing

Audacity is free editing software and shows conversations as sound waves that you can chop up and rearrange. I’ve used AI to help me understand how to tweak post-production with all the filter settings - I would have no idea otherwise.

Editing is the time-consuming part. I usually talk with guests for over an hour, but keep episodes around 30 minutes. There's genuine agony over what to include and what to leave out. Sometimes I edit to protect my guest, removing moments where they've overshared or included personal details that aren't needed to make the main point.

3 Branding

I use Canva Pro (£120/year) to create the podcast branding and episode covers, plus clips for Instagram and LinkedIn.

I wanted a punchy, punky presence that makes invisible stories visible, so I went for a zine-style collage effect with fun animations, such as a pulsating mouth. These women deserve to be heard after all.

I drop audio clips into Apple Notes to get transcripts for free rather than pay for another tool. I import the text into Canva and use the "typewriter" animation to get captions. I am sure there are nifty tools that do this, but they all seemed to cost money.

4 Music

Mobygratis is Moby's incredible resource that provides free instrumental music for creators. "Morning Span" perfectly captures the hopeful, contemplative mood I wanted for the intro and outro.

5 Publishing

I publish through Spotify for Creators, which is free and gives good analytics. I want to add other platforms but I'm currently out of brain juice to figure that out.

6 Onboarding

I learned so much with the first recording, such as trying to explain to a guest the set-up while trying to figure it out myself. Now I have a comprehensive PDF to help guests understand how it works, from set up to approving the edit.

7 Aftercare

The topics we explore can be revealing and leave people feeling vulnerable. I try to hold space and reassure as best I can. Guests get the first listen of the edit and help name their episode. The podcast isn’t just about extracting stories but honouring them.

What season one looks like

I'm planning eight episodes for season one, taking me through to the end of the year and covering a broad range of topics.

People have asked if I have goals to grow the audience but I started this for pure enjoyment, to lose myself in storytelling and satisfy my curiosity about stories I've only heard pieces of. I also wanted to push myself completely out of my comfort zone with technology and learning new things. Growth isn't what's driving me.

I have recorded two episodes so far…

Episode one

Sue Jessett was my first guest and she was such a champion. She believed in what I was trying to do and was happy to let me figure it out on the fly. Sue doesn't usually even enjoy having her photo taken, yet she lent me her wonderful tale to support the project.

And what a story she has! Sue left school with no qualifications due to undiagnosed dyslexia. She fought her way to university in her 30s to qualify in social work and spent her career supporting the most vulnerable, from the first Women's Aid refuge in Chiswick to at-risk children in 1980s Islington. When burnout forced her to retire, she embraced creativity and returned to university at 68 to study art. She's now an accomplished woven textile artist. Her take on vulnerability and "feeling the fear but doing it anyway" gives me huge comfort.

Episode two

Bryony Bishop's marketing career spans the British Museum, BookTrust, and English National Ballet. When she moved to Kent for a role at Turner Contemporary, she found herself working intense 12-16 hour days at an exciting new gallery but feeling isolated outside of work.

Bryony started Bee's Bookshare, a joyful, no-pressure book group that welcomes everyone. Thirteen years later, it's sparked countless friendships and projects, proving that sometimes the thing you need doesn't exist until you create it. We spoke about the reality of making friends as an adult, the hobbies we've failed at while trying to find a sense of belonging and how a great job isn't enough to meet all your emotional needs.

Your invitation to listen

Find "Your second act" on Spotify, and I hope you enjoy these stories that have mattered so much to me.