Transcript via Descript
[00:00:00] angela: Hi friends. Before we jump into this episode, I wanna share with you that I actually recorded it a month ago, and it's taken me a while to actually edit it and put it out there, and I share that with you because sometimes things just don't work out the way we plan. Sometimes life starts life-ing.
And this is when the mindset stuff that I always talk about comes in. We can either talk ourselves out of publishing an episode, or we can do it anyway. So even though this is a little late, I hope it's still helpful,
There's some upcoming episodes that we're gonna talk about the same topic, And I hope, especially as this year ends, you know that this is something that all of us go through in podcasting,
There's just a lot of things we can't control sometimes. - The important thing is, we can pause, we can take breaks, just don't quit. All right, let's get into it.
[00:00:44] Hello, friends. I wanted to jump in here and do a little mid-year review and, take a look at things I don't wanna take a look at, and, also remind myself of some wins, to be honest.
And I want to encourage you to do the same thing Because in podcasting, it's all about [00:01:00] progress, not perfection.
My name is Angela Briones, and I wanna welcome you to the space where we talk about podcasting, sharing our voice, and life behind the mic.
All right, friends, so as we get started, I have to share with you that I'm getting over, yet again, another allergy something. I live in Texas, and I've been traveling a little bit this summer, so, maybe it's that. I don't know. So I have a little bit of a nasally voice, so I apologize for that. But I wanted to jump in here because I haven't recorded something in a while, and it's kind of weighing on me a little bit. I don't know if that happens to you, too, where, you know, you have every intention of recording, you have all these great ideas, you have all these things you wanna say, and then you blink and, you know, three weeks have gone by or three months have gone by sometimes.
That's happened to me, too, I'll be honest. so I've really been trying to focus on how can I make this process easier. You know, I enjoy being on the podcast. I enjoy sharing things. I enjoy sharing stories. But [00:02:00] finding the time to do it is a little difficult, and then of course finding the time to edit, et cetera, because I do wear all the hats.
I would love to not wear all the hats, but you know, that's not the case right now. But in a way it kind of is because I'm kinda anal about the edits and stuff. I don't know if anybody else is like that, But I think it's good to edit your own stuff because listening to an edit kinda makes you aware of what you need to do when you're recording.
That is a totally different topic and a different episode, and I'll, uh, stop on that topic right now because we'll get back to that another time, because I'm totally gonna digress and I don't wanna do that. But I do think it's really valuable to edit your own stuff, at least for a while.
But anyway, I wanted to jump in here because, you know, the beginning of l- or at the end of last year actually, On episode 18, I did a podcast review and planning the year ahead for 2026, And I kinda wanted to touch base and kinda let you know, and let myself know really, like doing a self-audit I guess, a podcast audit, where I'm at, you know, how things are going.
You know, in certain ways it's going great, and in [00:03:00] certain ways it's a little slow. But I think if we don't stop and, like, really look at how things are going, it's so easy to lose track of things. You know? It's so easy to lose track of... Honestly, it's easy to lose track of what you're doing well Which is a weird thing to say, but I think we have to remind ourselves, like, "Oh yeah, this great thing happened," or, "Oh yeah, I really need to work on this."
So in episode 18, where I talked about the year in review and the year ahead, I had three kind of main topics that I wanted to highlight. So I wanted to share with you the things I said then, which was December of last year, and how it's going now.
[00:03:35] Focus: Podcast Improvements
[00:03:35] So the first thing that, I shared was, what are the improvements you need to make to your podcast? How can you make it more joyful? And my answer was that I wanted to improve my workflow for my podcast. I wanted to improve my standard operating procedures.
And honestly the way that I'm working on that right now, I started working with Ana Xavier. Some of y'all might know her. She's, The Podcast Space.
I started working with Ana [00:04:00] in hopes of really, you know, ironing out my podcast procedures and stuff like that. So I'm still very much in the beginning of like making small tweaks, making small changes, ... it's not quite perfect yet, but it is definitely, progress, and it has been really joyful working with Ana.
I hope she'll join me on this podcast actually, 'cause I would love to talk about our time together, and I mean, I definitely plan on working with her again.
[00:04:24] Focus: What do you need to add to the process?
[00:04:24] Now, the second question I had for myself was: What do you wanna incorporate into your workflow? And one thing I wanted to incorporate was decluttering my digital workspace, really having better habits of everything, and I also wanted to do more, guesting on podcasts and podcast swaps. Now, the interesting thing about that is as far as decluttering the digital workspace, I'm still working on that, still creating better habits. I haven't really done a whole lot of work on that, I'm gonna be honest with you on that. But as far as the podcast swaps, what's really cool is maybe a lot of this is just putting things out into the universe, because I did [00:05:00] get a DM recently from a fellow podcaster who said, "Hey, let's do a podcast swap."
So I was like, " That's awesome." we haven't done it yet, Um, I've been doing this for five years. I think I've only done one podcast swap, and I'll be honest with you, it gets a little confusing for me because there are the podcast swaps where, like, you record one episode and you share the same episode on each other's podcast, and then there's the podcast swap where you guest on each other's podcast.
I don't know if there's a different word for each one, I imagine that there is, , but that's my entire point is if you're new to podcasting and you're doing this for the first time, and if the lingo gets confusing, that's normal, I think. At least I think it is.
[00:05:42] Focus: Letting Go and Letting In
[00:05:42] The other question I had for myself was, what do you want more of and what do you want less of? And I said I wanted more in real life events, and I wanted to celebrate more. And again, I'm going back to, like, just sharing it out with the universe, I guess, because I did have that actually.
in [00:06:00] March,, I live right outside of Austin in Texas, and in March, of course South by Southwest is always going on, and I usually try to avoid it, to be honest with you. It's a very clustery time of year as far as traffic and stuff. But I had a podcast friend who was going to speak at a podcast event, and the long story short is , she wasn't able to speak at it. There was a whole travel thing, and she wasn't able to do it. But I still went to the event, and it was so amazing. I met so many wonderful people.
I was able to connect with one of my fellow Latina In Podacst(ing) people, And I also met a really wonderful person who is actually gonna be a guest on a upcoming podcast, so that was really exciting. You know, it was one of those things where we have to remind ourselves as, podcasters, and even in the writing space, you know, 'cause I'm a writer, this just happens.
These are things that we do, you know, by ourselves. We're alone in a room, et cetera. We gotta get out of our space, and it's so important, I think, to connect and to be in [00:07:00] community with other podcasters. So I wanted more of that, And I did have that wonderful experience, so that was really cool.
Also, the friend that I met, you know, finally in real life, from Latinas in Podcasting, who lives in this area, she also did a live podcast event recently,
so that was really cool, 'cause I got to attend her event and support her and kinda see what it was like, to have a live podcast event, and that was really fun
So overall, like things are moving, although, you know, maybe they're not as big moves as I think they should be, or maybe they should feel bigger or what have you. But I think it's really important for us to like stop and really reflect on our year . and really notice just how much we are moving,
And even though it, they might be small moves, it's progress, you know? And w- I'm gonna just say that again. It's progress. It's not perfection.
[00:07:56] Focus: How are you celebrating your wins?
[00:07:56] It's progress. And as far as the celebrating more, that was the last thing. I [00:08:00] just realized I didn't mention that one., I haven't been celebrating that much, and I need to celebrate more. I had a couple of really great things happen even recently that I haven't really taken the time to enjoy as much as I should. And one is a shout-out, a, a really nice review and a nice article that I got from Earworthy, which is really awesome.
I'll put it in the show notes if you're interested in reading it. It was just a really nice surprise. I had no idea that it was gonna be written, and it honestly, came to me at a day that I was so down. Like, I'm sure this happens to so many of us, right? We're like, "What am I doing? Is anybody listening?"
Et cetera, et cetera, right? And then you're like, "Should I keep doing this or should I slow down? Should I stop? Should I quit?" Whatever. And I kid you not, I'm thinking that, and two seconds later, a fellow podcast friend sent me a link and said, "Hey, did you see this?" And I was like, "What?" And I'm telling you [00:09:00] right now, y'all, this is the one thing nobody tells you about podcasting.
[00:09:03] The thing no one tells you about podcasting is....
[00:09:03] You know, I ask this question in my podcast a lot when I have a guest, right? The one thing nobody tells you about podcasting is, number one, you're gonna doubt yourself a million times, and You are your worst critic, period. And number two, the podcast community, oh, it's so amazing.
Like, it's so amazing. There are people who, like, really care about you and really cheer you on, and there is no competition. . It's really just enjoying the process and cheering other people on. And to have a fellow podcast friend, you know, say, "Hey," like, "This was written about you.
I wanna make sure you saw this," that was really cool because it came to me at a time when I really needed it. So those are just universal truths. Like, that doubt will always be there, and honestly, I don't know how to I don't know how to shirk it, I'll be honest with you. It's just a part of the gig, I think, and I think what I'm gonna do as far as celebrating is I'm gonna reach out to my podcast friend who [00:10:00] lives, you know, nearby, who I met through Latinas in Podcasting.
We met in real life, one that I just told you about, who had the live podcast event, And I met other podcasters through her. And I think what I'm gonna do is say, "Hey, you know what? Let's get together. . Let's go to brunch or do something, whatever. And let's just go in with the intention of celebrating things that have happened in the last six months, because why not?
I know it sounds a little cheesy, but I think it's really important to do.
[00:10:25]
[00:10:25] Before I end the episode, you guys, I have to share one very insane, one very interesting thing. I was like, " in June, I'm gonna buy myself a birthday present.
I'm gonna buy myself a Samson Q2U because my other one broke." I told that story in that episode. My other one broke. I broke it by accident. Anyway, spoiler alert. So I was gonna buy it in June. Well, I bought it in May, you guys
And here's the thing, have I done an episode since then? No. I didn't do an episode in May. I didn't do an episode in June. I bought myself a brand-new microphone [00:11:00] in May, and it has sat for two months. So when I say it's about your mindset and not the microphone, I mean it.
I mean it is 100%. You can have the nicest microphone all day long. I had this brand-new microphone. It's been nicely set up. It's been ready for me to go, and I didn't use it. We have to make the space for this. , And I tell myself this more than anyone
because I have not made the space for it lately, and I need to. I need to make this process easier and more enjoyable, and all of the above. And I really hope that this encourages you to do the same. And honestly, I would really love to know if this is helpful to you it would mean so much to me if you would
Click the link in the show notes where there's a direct link to text me something and just let me know if you're enjoying it or not. I'd really love to know. . All right, you guys, until next time
