► Tell us about you and your podcast
BFSF is the first and only podcast that focuses on speaking to trailblazing women, successful entrepreneurs, industry leaders about moments of "failure" and how those moments propelled them to where they are today. My name is Paola Soares, I'm a former national news journalist that feared, failed and overcame. After being let go from a dream job I not only felt like I failed but rather that I was a failure. I had this toxic mindset that people either win or fail. However, over the years I realized that all successful people fail, it's part of the journey towards success. Now I'm on a mission to normalize the idea of failure because it's a stepping stone towards success.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I love listening to podcasts, it's my favorite way to learn about a new topic. I'm also a journalist and looooove story-telling so podcasting seemed like the best way to create, the meaningful content I wanted to get out to the world. My hope is to normalize the idea of failing because its part of the process. I hope to inspire women that are afraid to go for their dreams because they are scared of failing or that may feel stuck in life to go after what they are called to do. I launched the podcast this past March 2021 but I started working hard on the podcast in August 2020, so it took me about 7 months to create my podcast and launch it. I'm glad I took time to refine the topic because the day after launching we made it to the top 50 Apple Podcast List in our category- Business Entrepreneurship! It was a big honor that I'm still excited about.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
I am a new mom to a pandemic baby, my son was born in April 2020. I returned to working from home 3 months after he was born but my husband and I made the decision that a few months after returning as things were gearing up for the podcast launch, that it would make sense for me to stay home with my son, help with his businesses and work on launching my podcast! However, taking care of a baby is more than a full time job so I spent lots of nights and weekends working on the podcast. Funding wise, I had actually first thought to start my podcast in 2018 and purchased all the equipment but due to a close family member's terminal illness I put the project on hold. I release a new podcast episode every Wednesday. I spend about 35hrs a week working on my podcast. I fund this podcast myself.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
I'm very passionate about the mission and the content I'm creating but I do hope to monetize from this podcast. However I haven't gotten there just yet. I hope to soon get sponsorships, affiliate marketing links and eventually creating an on-line course to help women in this area. I do hope to continue to build my career around this.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I use libsyn as my hosting site, I edit either on garage band or Descript depending on the episode and then auphonic to level out the audio levels. The guests I usually pitch to invite onto the podcast are usually women that I already follow on social media or that I come across on different interviews. Once I book them then I ask for a bio, headshot and send them sample questions the day before the interview. I do the interviews via Zoom and they usually last about 45 mins.
► How do you market your show?
I don't have a breakdown of listener Acquision, I wish I did. I market it on social media, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. I've also been building my email list and will start doing a weekly newsletter this week. I find Instagram the most useful.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
A super helpful resource/tool I found was Descript. It essentially transcribes the interview within a minute or two and then you can edit audio as if you were editing a word document.