Krista Williams and Lindsey Simcik are best friends, business partners, and the young women behind Almost 30, a top-rated lifestyle podcast with more than 10 million downloads. On the show, the hosts have honest conversations with celebrities, experts, and inspirational guests covering topics such as health and wellness, entrepreneurship, self-development, culture, social justice, and spirituality. Almost 30 consistently ranks in the Top 5 on the Apple Podcasts Health chart and was recently nominated for Best Health Podcast by the iHeart Podcast Awards. Listeners live in over 120 different countries, and through the Almost 30 Ambassador Program and events during the world tour, these fans have been able to connect in person.
Lindsey Simcik and Krista Williams are the creators and hosts of the Almost 30 podcast.
Here, Williams and Simcik offer their top 8 tips for creating a successful podcast:
1. Realize that it’s going to be a lot of work. We have talked to many hopeful podcasters in our “Your Podcast Pro” course who say they didn’t realize how much work launching and maintaining a podcast would be. While it might seem that podcasting is just talking behind a mic, the pre- and post-production work can be extremely time consuming and tedious. The good news is that if you love this medium and the content you are sharing, the motivation, consistency, and commitment are natural attributes that will aid in your process. Be sure to carve out ample time for “deep work,” which is described by Cal Newport as “the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. ” That means no social media, streaming shows, or surfing the web while you’re doing it! Your idea deserves this time and attention.
2. Listen to other podcasts. This might seem obvious, but it was a key step for us. You need to hear what you like, what you don’t like, how podcasts are structured, what the flow is, how they work with sponsors, etc. It’s important to understand the medium before you decide to get into it.
3. Just start! Record yourself on your computer or phone. Play with the microphone and Garageband or a similar program for a while. Practice editing sound and hearing your voice. You need to get super comfortable with yourself.
4. Identify for your mission, vision and values. This will help you to focus on why your brand exists, where your brand is going and how you commit to growing and engaging in relationships. To start, answer these questions:
• What is your podcast about?
• Why is it important that people hear the topics/messages discussed on the show?
• What problem are we seeking to solve?
• How will you produce and edit your show? How do you want your show to make people feel?
• If your podcast was a person, how would you describe them?
• How will you integrate creating this podcast into your workflow?
• How will you launch and market your podcast?
• Will you have other people on your podcast? If so, who?
• What values are unique to your brand?
• What values should guide the operations of your podcast?
5. Promote your show. You need listeners, right? It’s your job to promote your show and drive people to all platforms. Get creative. Tap into your existing communities, ask friends and family to share, trust the power of word of mouth, and be consistent. Your show will grow. One of the ways that our show exploded was when one of our biggest guests shared on their socials, driving traffic to the podcast and to our brand. If you have a show with guests, make it easy for people to share by providing them with assets and marketing collateral.
6. Invest in a professional production team. For us, investing in a great team to help us with sound and the technical part of the podcast was a no-brainer. You can find affordable help on UpWork and Fiverr, as well.
7. Be consistent. Nothing is worse than when someone starts a podcast, or any project, goes full throttle for a month, and then stops. Like any business venture, you need to be committed to creating consistent content.
8. Build first, secure advertisers later. Grow your podcast before seeking brand deals. They want to see that you have reach and staying power. In order to pitch brands to sponsor, you can use templates. Describe in detail the way you can help elevate their brand. Additionally, you’ll need to use a media kit which shares about your podcast, audience and numbers. It’s a lot of sales, relationship management and work for partnerships like these, but they are the best way to make your podcast a business. We monetized after eight months of growth and work, and when we felt like we were proud of the show we produced. Don’t rush this since you may not get more than one chance with a brand to impress them.
An initial failure enabled Williams to connect to her podcast partner and her purpose.
Williams studied mass communications and broadcasting in college, did events with a company internationally, then worked in digital media before auditioning for SoulCycle as an instructor. Although she didn’t get the job, she did start taking lessons with a voice coach because she wasn’t comfortable on a microphone.
“The failure to become a SoulCycle instructor connected me to Lindsey, my podcast co-host. And through my pain in not getting a job I wanted, I also connected to the pain and confusion that can arise as you enter your 30s,” Williams says. Now, with Almost 30, she feels that she has tapped into her life purpose. She enjoys sharing authentically, using humor as a healing modality, asking questions, getting curious, laughing each week.
“Doing a show that I produce with my best friend is a dream beyond anything I could have ever imagined,” Williams says. “Also, I know what it’s like not to live my life’s purpose. It’s a really hard feeling to wake up and not feel excited about what you’re doing.”
Williams says she and Simcik face challenges as female podcasters who run a business around said podcast independently, without a network. Almost 30 was one of the first podcasts to go on tour and to create a business to support other podcasters with Your Podcast Pro. “There are all these feelings of insecurity on top of no roadmap. Doing something for the first time can be challenging. I am often unsure if what I am doing is right,” Williams says. That having been said, without taking these risks, she wouldn’t be where she is today. Williams advises young people to “be unafraid to do something different, to be the first at something, to fail.”
Simcik feels creating the Almost 30 podcast is aligned with her life purpose.
Simcik says her parents gave her permission to follow her passion in life. “They stressed that success was doing what you love,” she says. “I know what it feels like to be on purpose. It is heart-opening and raw, it is personally energizing and energizing to those around me. When I’m on purpose, I trust myself. I actually freak myself out with how fearless I am.”
Simcik has always juggled multiple jobs to maintain her passion for creating. So, when Almost 30 became her full-time job, she says, “It was uncomfortable expanding to step into my potential.” Having her best friend Krista Williams by her side to serve as a sounding board and support expedited the evolution.
Simcik’s favorite part of the Almost 30 success is creating community, connecting with and supporting other women. “In middle school and high school, my experience with girls was not the best,” Simcik says. “I didn’t think that surrounding myself with women would empower me. But I love meeting members of #Almost30nation. These women are smart, hilarious, conscious, curious, and some of the most loving and kind people I’ve ever met. Their vulnerability is beautiful.”
Simcik advises young people looking to align their career with their life purpose to let go of what you thought your life was going to be like, and of what your parents thought your life was going to be like. “Your life has the potential to be better than you could ever imagine. Not to sound cheesy, but I’m living the dream,” Simcik says. She suggests “creating more space to be in order for the most random, beautiful, fulfilling thoughts and ideas to come through. Play more, whether it is out in nature or off your phone making music, dancing, whatever makes you feel uninhibited. Your soul will tell you what it needs in order to find its purpose for that day. Just ask!”
