Should I start my own podcast?

I get asked this question a lot, and while my natural tendency is to scream “YES” from the rooftop, (you know my love of podcasting) I thought it was time to answer this in more detail by sharing a little of my own podcast journey. 

How were you first introduced to podcasting?

Pre-2014 I was working in commercial radio and while I loved hosting and presenting, the one downside was I had to talk about topics that had a wide appeal to our range of listeners. At the same time my co-host, Josh Withers, was launching his own podcast and it occurred to me that it was the perfect way to talk about really specific interest areas to a niche audience, and that was something that appealed to me greatly, considering my interest for the world of dance. 

What prompted you to launch your own podcast? 

As a part of my dance school operations I was regularly bringing in guest teachers for masterclasses and they were all really influential people from the industry with incredible stories to tell. It didn’t take long for me to realise the conversations I was having with these people were conversations other people would love to listen to. As part of working full time in my dance school, PMPA, I had resigned from radio and I was already missing the world of audio. Combining these interesting conversations I was having with my audio experience felt like the perfect opportunity for a podcast. It just so happened there were no dance podcasts around at that time and so, Ask a Dancer was launched. 

Were there other podcasts after Ask a Dancer? 

Yes! Podcasting really took off for me when I launched Miss Bossy Boots Podcast with Jane Hillsdon in 2016. Rather than just speaking to dancers and dance school owners, it opened my audience up to women in business more generally which was a growing interest area of mine—and continues to be! Since then I’ve also become the host of Rhee Gold’s Dance Life and produced podcasts for many other people as well through the Morgan Media network.

How did you figure out the technical side of podcasting? 

My background in radio certainly helped, but a lot of it I was figuring out myself along the way. On the back of the success of Ask a Dancer people started asking me how to create their own podcast and that’s how my next business Morgan Media was born, a podcast production service. There are now numerous “How To” tutorials on YouTube about podcasting, but for those that want it all handled for them, that’s where services like Morgan Media come in useful.

Did starting a podcast change anything for you in business? 

Absolutely! Initially I was pretty gun-shy and did very little in the way of promoting the Ask a Dancer podcast. But it was clear to me there was great interest in what I was doing which really encouraged me to push on. I started batch recording 6 interviews at once and regularly releasing episodes, and with some momentum behind me things really started to take off. Not only were people interested in the experts I was talking to, but I also began growing a reputation for my thought leadership in the world of dance schools, which lead to numerous guest speaking and mentorship opportunities with dance school conferences and dance school owners around the world. As my podcast content has expanded, so too has my reputation as a business owner and entrepreneur, which is ultimately where the Simply Stacey Morgan brand was born. 

What do I need to consider before creating my own podcast? 

The two most important questions to ask yourself are

• “Who do I want to connect with?”

• “What message do I want to share?”

If you are clear on these two things, I have no doubt you have a successful podcast within you! 

What has surprised you about having your own podcasts? 

You never know where your listeners will be tuning in from! I’ll never forget being at a conference in Phoenix in the US and a person across the table from me said “You sound just like a host on a podcast I love!”. Turns out she was talking about Miss Bossy Boots! 

If you’re interested in podcasting but still have some questions, I’d be happy to answer them for you! Comment below or connect with me via email or Instagram!

And In case you missed it, you can catch up on 15 of my favourite podcasts recommendations here!