Self Improvement, post traumatic growth, relationships, & personal transformation. Sometimes w/expert guests in relatable chats.

Ginny Priem has an extensive background, including experience as a Master Certified Professional Life Coach and published author, in addition to a corporate career spanning over 20 years, focusing on leadership and emotional intelligence. She is the host of the popular "Drinking with Gin" podcast and has over 15 years of speaking experience. In her published book, "You’re My Favorite", she shares the true story of her own personal traumatic end of a romantic relationship with a shocking twist as the man she thought was living in her house turned out to not be the man she thought he was at all. This jarring experience sent her on her own path of healing and growing.
After the release of "You're My Favorite", people started reaching out to share their own stories of trauma, adversity or difficult times. This provided a clear indicator that people were seeking and receiving validation by opening up and sharing stories. It started to create connection and community and "Drinking With Gin" became a safe space for people to connect and my goal is to help remove stigma, shame and guilt for people that have experienced these tough times.
The content of "Drinking With Gin" is designed to inspire and empower people that are on a self-improvement or personal transformation journey. It's for people looking to be the most authentic and vulnerable version of themselves and wanting to live their best lives.
We have relatable chats over drinks discussing content that can help real people in real life. I reference credible resources and also bring on expert guests to provide valuable information in an approachable way.

The podcast started as a way to reach more people with my story and to help inspire them to acknowledge and share theirs. We all face tough times and have that one story, one that we may not think is big enough to share or manage through, but it's what we do with these stories that really matters. I share my story of what happened to me in my book, "You're My Favorite." But I realized the after story of embarking on a growing and healing journey was an even better one. Starting "Drinking With Gin" was a way to be able to connect with more people and dive deeper into the ways that we can evolve, grow and transform as people and as a community. I wanted to be able to begin sharing the tools that I developed and used on my own path, the GINpath. I discovered there was a way to not just bounce back, but to catapult your life forward after a traumatic experience. I knew that if I could experience post-traumatic growth, and find a new meaning and purpose in life, that I could help others find this way, too. It's about bouncing forward into a different and better place than we were before. "Drinking With Gin" is also about awareness and openness and being able to discuss every day topics that don't get discussed or people aren't aware of. This is where some of the expert guests come in.
I had only listened to a few podcasts before starting my own, like Oprah & Brene Brown. But I've definitely upped my game here!
My podcast just started on August 30, 2022 and I released 2 episodes on the first day. It only took me about a month to release them after I decided to launch. And they were by no means perfect! It's clear to see the improvement over time, but I'm glad I didn't wait to perfect things before launching, because I still wouldn't have started!

"Drinking With Gin" is released once per week. Each episode is generally anywhere from 15-60 minutes. Episodes with guests tend to be on the longer side. I record straight through without stopping and then I turn the file over to my audio engineer (who is amazing!) and then he edits it. You also have to put together a description and upload it, put it on your website, and promote it! Podcasting takes a lot more time and effort than people think! It started out as a passion project, but now I see the reviews and comments coming in and see it's helping people, just like I'd hoped.
When I started "Drinking With Gin", I still have a full time, demanding corporate job. So I had to find time in the evenings & on the weekends. My podcast is currently completely self-funded.

I don't currently have sponsors, but am just beginning to explore this option. I think beverage companies make perfect sense for "Drinking With Gin"!
Podcasting benefits me because it helps get me more brand awareness. Me, I'm the brand. It helps people know that I'm an available motivational speaker, author and life coach. It's also fun for me to learn about new topics as I'm sharing them with my listeners!I

Depending on the topic, I do a significant amount of research and also speak from my personal experiences. My guests so far have been completely sourced by me, either through my current network or my research. For example, I reached out to Joe Navarro (former FBI agent and internationally best-selling author of 14 books) early on. His assistant told me that he was too busy. So, I found another way to record an episode referencing his work. I then reached out to him again, shared the episode and he agreed to come on the show. It's my most popular episode to date! If I find someone that has interesting content and experience that I know could bring valuable information to my audience, I reach out to them directly. I've had really great luck with this so far because people see this work as meaningful.
Early on, I scripted my episodes and I think you can feel the difference. While now I still use notes in some episodes, it flows much more conversationally and naturally, which is my personal style. Someone told me it feels like they're having a conversation with me across the table at dinner....and that's exactly how I want it to feel!
I do have a studio, so if my guests are in the Minneapolis area, I interview them in person. For my guests that are in other areas, I interview them over Zoom. I've even had a guest from Amsterdam!

"Drinking With Gin" is available on the major podcast platforms. The current breakdown is about 43% Apple, 31% Spotify and the rest other.
I'm currently exploring additional marketing channels to continue growing the show. I've been using social media and my network to grow it so far. I've found that having other guests and guesting on other shows has been beneficial. I've also started doing promo swaps with other shows and want to continue finding ways to tap into new audiences and gain more followers.

Consistency is key. This is the advice that was given to me as I was embarking on my journey and it's so true. You have to really want to have a podcast in order to be successful with it. And that means sometimes recording when you don't feel like it and catering to your audience. You see a lot of podcasts start and then trickle out after only a few months or even episodes. It's important to understand all that goes into it; content creation, research, production, guests, marketing, etc. It takes time to build and grow. The podcasts that you see become overnight successes are usually the celebrity studded shows. Create great content and stay consistent and you will see the rewards over time.

You can hang out with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginnypriem/
Visit my website to see more about me and book me for speaking: www.ginnypriem.com
Order my book: https://a.co/d/ii5JYPZ
You can find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginny-priem-8a87248/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ginnypriem
I'm also on TikTok & Twitter, but not as active on those sites.