► Tell us about you and your podcast
Hi, I'm Stephanie Thoma, author of the best-selling networking book Confident Introvert, and host of Holistic Ambition, the antidote to hustle culture, redefining what it means to be ambitious and successful. I interview millionaires, healers, visionary leaders and tastemakers who are successful, sometimes in unique ways or with unique methodologies. My listeners are aspiring or current entrepreneurs who are seeking expanders to show them that success can be achieved their way.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I actually didn't listen to podcasts before creating Holistic Ambition! I did however produce my own speaker series more than once in-person and many of those interviews were not recorded. I got the idea to do preliminary interviews starting in December 2022 and debuted the weekly show in April 2023 and still record, sometimes with a live audience, to this day. My goal and motivation is to have the knowledge to inform and inspire, and fill the pages of my second book. Stay tuned.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
Episodes are weekly, and they tend to take around 2 hours a piece including shooting (30-60 minutes) plus scheduling across platforms, coming up with copy and imagery and all that. Thank goodness I have a VA to support in the process. I was batch scheduling interviews and now I stick with most Fridays, doing one when I don't typically have other calls. This podcast is self-funded at the moment and welcomes support.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
Podcasting is for the intrinsic value of creating and knowledge sharing at the moment, however, I would be open to sponsorship in the future as long as it's aligned with the values of the show.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I use anchor which is now spotify for podcasters as well as zoom, calendly, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google calendar, Google Suite, Google Sheets, and I'm not sure of the editing tool my VA uses, although it's minimal since we typically only add a beginning and end intro/outro to the uncut interview.
► How do you market your show?
I market my show on social media across platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and sometimes LinkedIn. I would love to monetize my Youtube, so while I still have a ways to go I would love to see more traction there, and when it comes to viewership, Facebook Reels has been in the lead so far, 33 episodes in right now.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Check out episode 33 of Holistic Ambition where I break down the 16 things that helped me so much as I was producing the show Holistic Ambition.