► Tell us about you and your podcast
Aoife O’Brien is the founder of Happier at Work, a business with the mission to support organisations in becoming more people-focused. She is passionate about ‘fit’ and specifically how creating the right environment can help individuals to reach their full potential and support organisations to thrive. She partners with HR and business leaders to focus on four pillars: engagement and belonging; leadership equity; performance and productivity; and the future of work. She is a self-professed data nerd, with a 20+ year career in market research in the fast-moving consumer goods industry working with clients like Coca Cola, Unilever and Heinz to solve marketing problems using data analytics. Aoife has been featured by several media platforms and public speaking events talking about imposter syndrome, fit, employee engagement, and productivity. Her podcast, Happier at Work, features a combination of interview-based episodes as well as solo podcasting, and has over 40,000 listens in more than 50 countries. She has lived and worked in Dublin, London, Perth, and Sydney and has a MSc in Work and Organisational Behaviour, a Diploma in Executive and Life Coaching and a Certificate in Career Coaching.
The Happier at Work podcast is for HR and business leaders who know that their people are their best asset, and who want to retain their top talent. Happier workers are more productive, more engaged, and stay in an organisation for longer. Through interesting guest interviews and solo episodes, the Happier at Work podcast episodes largely fall into one of four categories: leadership equity; engagement and belonging; productivity and performance; and the future of work.
Listeners are business leaders who put people first, but also I get feedback from entrepreneurs.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I have been listening to podcasts myself for years, and am a huge fan! I like the format, that you can listen "on the go" whether exercising, commuting, doing housework.
My initial goal was really that I had a message to share and wanted to get it out there - work can be happy, it doesn't have to suck. There are some specific actions that leaders can take to create an environment for their employees to thrive, which drives engagement, performance, productivity and ultimately retain staff for longer. Being unhappy at work has a knock on impact for individuals on other parts of their life - we spend so much of our time at work when it sucks, usually our whole life feels like it sucks too. Being happier at work equally has a positive knock-on impact on our life. Being happier at work has positive implications for businesses (improved performance, productivity and retention), individuals, and society as a whole.
I started the podcast in August 2019. I have taken some breaks over the last couple of years - when I finished my MSc dissertation for example, and another time I just needed and extended break. I released a trailer and about a month later I released the first episode.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
The Happier at Work podcast is released weekly, and typically takes around 5-6 hours to produce, between recording, editing, show notes, promotion. In addition to the guest recording, I also record an intro to the podcast and also a synopsis of the main action points from the podcast. I have received great feedback from listeners on this, so I feel it is worth the extra effort. For the last year or so, I have had support from a podcast producer who edits and creates show notes and audiograms for the podcast. Recently I have started working with a virtual assistant who will help with the promotion of the podcast. I have also systematised everything int he podcast - from the collection of headshots, bios and social media data, to booking the podcast recording, reminders etc. Again, this is something guests have complimented me on!
I find the time by prioritising. I know the podcast has to go out eery week. I tend to have specific days to work on the podcast and also batch record in advance (this wasn't always the case). I run my own business, and the podcast forms an important part of my marketing strategy and places me as a thought leader in the space of happiness at work. The podcast allows me to show my clients and potential clients how to solve specific issues, what I stand for and what it's like to work with me.
I spend around €4-5k annually on the podcast, and this is totally self-funded (I don't do advertising or sponsorship), though you could argue that it is a business expense!
► What do you gain from podcasting?
I don't allow any sponsorship or advertising on the podcast, I am quite strict about that. I do find clients reach out to me because they heard on e of my podcasts, so it is a marketing platform for me and my business. I started a Patreon account but didn't have much success with it.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I use a Blue Yeti mic for recording and have recently bought app shield and also some padding for improved audio quality. I record on my Mac and when I was editing myself I used GarageBand. I host on SoundCloud and happy enough with that for now, though having some issues with lack of XML and so the show notes turn out strangely on Apple. I use Headliner to create audiograms.
When I first started out, I reached out to people in my network to be on the podcast. As the podcast has grown in popularity, I receive around 5 requests per week to be on the podcast, so I have a backlog of guest applications now. I also reach out directly to people who could be potential clients.
The podcast is very conversational, so I don't prepare any questions in advance. I let the guests know (in automated reminder) what they are in for. We also choose a broad topic from one of the content pillars of: the future of work; leadership equity; performance and productivity; engagement and belonging. I also have a spiel at the start about what to expect in terms of length of recording time, questions I always ask ("what does being happier at work mean to you?" and also an opportunity to promote anything they are working on), the fact that I will be taking notes throughout our conversation etc.
I interviewed two guests in person since the beginning of the show. I used Skype at the start, but had an issue with the loss of a whole episode, and so I switched everything to Zoom and since then haven't had any issues at all.
► How do you market your show?
I promote my show across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I find LinkedIn best for my target audience. Most people still find it through recommendation of a friend.
According to Chartable, more than half of listeners are listening on Apple Podcasts (62%).
I send a regular email with my podcast links and also have just started a LinkedIn Newsletter where the podcast is embedded directly into the newsletter itself.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
When I was starting out, I did a 10 day email lesson (free), I can't remember the name. One of the key takeaways was to search for books that cover your topic and look at their chapter titles for podcast episode ideas. I thought this was genius!
A lot of the mistakes I see are that people don't have the time and become inconsistent. Be consistent in what you do whether it is weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Consistency is key. Make sure you have good audio, and promote the podcast across all your social channels, even if you think you're talking about it too much!