Starting a podcast can feel overwhelming. You’ve got an idea, maybe even a name, but the sheer number of steps involved—from recording and editing to marketing—can make you second-guess your decision. It’s a great way to contribute to the richness of public discourse, become a leading voice or a thought leader in your field, and engage with other people. It's a lot of fun, but it’s a commitment.
When I launched Choices & Chances just a few months ago, I had no idea what to expect, but I was certain I wanted to do it. I still had a busy full-time job in the first few months of launching.
Fast forward to today, I ended 2024 with a few milestones I’m really proud of. Choices & Chances reached over 1,000 downloads with just 14 episodes, garnered 10,000 views on YouTube, and hit over 304,000 reel views on Instagram. I don't compare my numbers with others, I just know that these milestones are significant for me because:
I’m sharing the process of starting a podcast, putting together what I did in case you find it useful.
1. Define Your Purpose and Audience
Before recording anything, I spent time clarifying the purpose of Choices & Chances. It was a long process and I must've changed the podcast name more than a dozen times. In the end, I boiled down what I wanted to achieve to this: I wanted to empower people to take ownership of their lives through actionable insights, compelling stories, and mindset shifts. Identifying my ideal listener—action-takers and high achievers navigating life or career choices—helped guide every decision, from episode topics to marketing strategies.
Takeaway: Know the person you’re speaking to and why they should listen. This clarity becomes your compass.
2. Start Small, but Start Smart
I began with minimal equipment: a decent microphone, earphones, an LED key light, Canva, a recording software and an editing software (it's perfectly fine to have one software that does both, I have Adobe Premiere because of my TV background). The focus wasn’t on perfection but on starting. I recorded my first episode, and while it wasn’t flawless, the conversation was real and authentic. I will forever be grateful to the wonderful Helena Humphrey for being such a supportive friend in this endeavour and being my first guest. Each subsequent episode improved as I learned more about efficiently producing each episode, pacing, and audience engagement.
Takeaway: Don’t let perfection be the enemy of done. Your first episodes won’t be perfect, and that’s okay.
3. Aim to Stay Consistent While Always Being Kind to Yourself
Consistency is key, that's true. I committed to releasing episodes weekly, but I also realised quickly that a weekly posting schedule wasn’t as doable as I thought it would be given my time commitments. I kept going anyway. I kept releasing episodes whenever I could with the aim of eventually keeping to a weekly schedule. I intend to be more consistent with social media posts and marketing efforts this year, but I'm not beating myself up over not having achieved that initial goal.
Takeaway: Plan ahead and create a content calendar to stay on track. But when life happens, that’s okay, just keep going as best you can.
4. Leverage Video Content
I made the decision early on to film my podcast episodes for YouTube. This allowed me to repurpose content across platforms. Posting snippets as reels on Instagram and YouTube Shorts helped me reach a broader audience. One of these reels unexpectedly went viral, hitting over 120,000 views and driving traffic back to the podcast.
Takeaway: Meet your audience where they are. Repurpose your content across multiple platforms.
5. Engage, Engage, Engage
I made it a point to engage with my listeners, whether through comments on social media, DMs, or polls asking for topic suggestions. This not only fostered a sense of community but also gave me valuable insights into what my audience wanted to hear.
Takeaway: Treat your audience as collaborators. Their feedback is gold.
6. Celebrate Small Wins
Every milestone—from the first download to the first listener message—is worth celebrating. These moments fuelled my motivation and reminded me why I started. I also never lost track of why I was even doing this. I really want to see the world a better place and if a podcast conversation helps one person do one small thing, that’s a meaningful win.
Takeaway: Acknowledge your progress. It’s the small wins that build momentum.
7. Analytics Are Your Friend
Tracking metrics like downloads, view counts, and listener demographics helped me understand what resonated and where to improve. But I also know that sometimes, posting the same content might do better this time around than last time. I give each piece of content enough time before deciding it’s not working.
Takeaway: Use data to refine your strategy and double down on what works.
Key Lessons I’ve Learned:
Starting a podcast has been one of the most rewarding pursuits for me so far. If you’ve been on the fence about launching your own, take the leap. You might just surprise yourself with what you can achieve.
What would you like to know about the process? I’m happy to help!
When I launched Choices & Chances just a few months ago, I had no idea what to expect, but I was certain I wanted to do it. I still had a busy full-time job in the first few months of launching.
Fast forward to today, I ended 2024 with a few milestones I’m really proud of. Choices & Chances reached over 1,000 downloads with just 14 episodes, garnered 10,000 views on YouTube, and hit over 304,000 reel views on Instagram. I don't compare my numbers with others, I just know that these milestones are significant for me because:
- I did it all on my own — from planning, to recording, editing, reaching out to people, writing show notes, creating thumbnails, social media posts… everything.
- I started with a plan of publishing one episode a week, but only managed to put out 14 episodes given all the balls in the air — I’m proud I kept going.
- People I don’t know actually listened or watched the episodes.
- People have reached out to say how something in the episodes touched them, resonated with them or helped them.
I’m sharing the process of starting a podcast, putting together what I did in case you find it useful.
1. Define Your Purpose and Audience
Before recording anything, I spent time clarifying the purpose of Choices & Chances. It was a long process and I must've changed the podcast name more than a dozen times. In the end, I boiled down what I wanted to achieve to this: I wanted to empower people to take ownership of their lives through actionable insights, compelling stories, and mindset shifts. Identifying my ideal listener—action-takers and high achievers navigating life or career choices—helped guide every decision, from episode topics to marketing strategies.
Takeaway: Know the person you’re speaking to and why they should listen. This clarity becomes your compass.
2. Start Small, but Start Smart
I began with minimal equipment: a decent microphone, earphones, an LED key light, Canva, a recording software and an editing software (it's perfectly fine to have one software that does both, I have Adobe Premiere because of my TV background). The focus wasn’t on perfection but on starting. I recorded my first episode, and while it wasn’t flawless, the conversation was real and authentic. I will forever be grateful to the wonderful Helena Humphrey for being such a supportive friend in this endeavour and being my first guest. Each subsequent episode improved as I learned more about efficiently producing each episode, pacing, and audience engagement.
Takeaway: Don’t let perfection be the enemy of done. Your first episodes won’t be perfect, and that’s okay.
3. Aim to Stay Consistent While Always Being Kind to Yourself
Consistency is key, that's true. I committed to releasing episodes weekly, but I also realised quickly that a weekly posting schedule wasn’t as doable as I thought it would be given my time commitments. I kept going anyway. I kept releasing episodes whenever I could with the aim of eventually keeping to a weekly schedule. I intend to be more consistent with social media posts and marketing efforts this year, but I'm not beating myself up over not having achieved that initial goal.
Takeaway: Plan ahead and create a content calendar to stay on track. But when life happens, that’s okay, just keep going as best you can.
4. Leverage Video Content
I made the decision early on to film my podcast episodes for YouTube. This allowed me to repurpose content across platforms. Posting snippets as reels on Instagram and YouTube Shorts helped me reach a broader audience. One of these reels unexpectedly went viral, hitting over 120,000 views and driving traffic back to the podcast.
Takeaway: Meet your audience where they are. Repurpose your content across multiple platforms.
5. Engage, Engage, Engage
I made it a point to engage with my listeners, whether through comments on social media, DMs, or polls asking for topic suggestions. This not only fostered a sense of community but also gave me valuable insights into what my audience wanted to hear.
Takeaway: Treat your audience as collaborators. Their feedback is gold.
6. Celebrate Small Wins
Every milestone—from the first download to the first listener message—is worth celebrating. These moments fuelled my motivation and reminded me why I started. I also never lost track of why I was even doing this. I really want to see the world a better place and if a podcast conversation helps one person do one small thing, that’s a meaningful win.
Takeaway: Acknowledge your progress. It’s the small wins that build momentum.
7. Analytics Are Your Friend
Tracking metrics like downloads, view counts, and listener demographics helped me understand what resonated and where to improve. But I also know that sometimes, posting the same content might do better this time around than last time. I give each piece of content enough time before deciding it’s not working.
Takeaway: Use data to refine your strategy and double down on what works.
Key Lessons I’ve Learned:
- Real stories win: Authenticity is more than just a buzzword (overused as it is). People connect with real, imperfect stories.
- Experiment and adapt: Some ideas will work; others won’t. Learn and iterate.
- Value over vanity: Focus on providing value to your audience rather than chasing metrics.
Starting a podcast has been one of the most rewarding pursuits for me so far. If you’ve been on the fence about launching your own, take the leap. You might just surprise yourself with what you can achieve.
What would you like to know about the process? I’m happy to help!