Work towards your business goals with the help of these podcasts
Being a female entrepreneur can be both daunting and exhilarating. We can go from feeling on top of the world after a successful meeting to feeling panicked and overwhelmed when a client sale falls through.
Whatever stage your business is at and however you might be feeling about it, having a strong team around you that helps you stay aligned with your vision and motivated to make consistent progress is vital.
Securing effective mentors is necessary for business success—so much so that, according to this Forbes article, founders are three times more likely to become highly successful if they themselves are mentored by a top-performing entrepreneur. For women in particular, mentorship is hugely important. It can create better opportunities, reduce feelings of Imposter Syndrome and help them create stronger networks—all of which give them a better chance at succeeding in business.
Now, if you’re reading this and thinking either a) I don’t have a team to fall back on—I’m working solo or b) finding a highly successful mentor isn’t that easy—it’s not as if I’ve got Sheryl Sandberg on speed dial, fear not. Mentorship can come in many forms and it doesn’t always have to be a direct skills transaction between you and another person.
As a freelancer, I consider myself to be an entrepreneur. My business may be words rather than commodities but I am completely in charge of finding and keeping my clients. Speaking from experience, I find podcasts to be an excellent source of informal mentorship. Not only are they easy to access, they also give you the opportunity to hear the wisdom of some of those top mentors you may not meet in person (type “Sheryl Sandberg” into any podcasting app and you’ll find a list of podcasts she’s been featured on as long as your arm). Podcasts, in my opinion, remain one of the greatest resources for entrepreneurs, offering mentorship, guidance and expertise from successful businesswomen for free.
These are some of the most useful ones to listen to if you’re a female entrepreneur.
Women Taking the Lead
Hosted by Jodi Flynn—a business coach who helps high performing clients achieve their goals and overcome obstacles—Women Taking The Lead is a mixture of interviews with female business owners and guidance from Jodi herself. This is particularly useful for Type A personalities, something Jodi identifies as, and covers everything from the lessons established business leaders have learnt to reprogramming fear and doubt to your advantage. As Jodi is a Psychology major, expect to find lots of advice on overcoming mental blocks and using aspects of higher consciousness and spirituality in a practical sense.
Find out more here.
Being Boss
If you’re thinking of starting your own business, going freelance or are fairly new to the game, Being Boss is a podcast that provides a light in the dark. Hosted by friends and colleagues Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon, it helps female leaders navigate self-employed life and episodes such as “Rest for Productivity” and “Word of Mouth Marketing” are goldmines of advice for those just starting out. Choosing your own hours and clients, taking home all the profits—there are many benefits to working for yourself but one of the biggest challenges is creating a clear sense of direction and actionable goals. This podcast will help keep you on the right track and offer guidance on honing that growth mindset.
Find out more here.
The Strategy Hour Podcast
If it’s actionable tips you’re after, head over to The Strategy Hour Podcast—a series of (roughly) half-hour episodes on building a business that will last. Hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams from Think Tank Collective, it covers the nitty gritty details of running a successful business doing what you love. From growing an audience organically to getting your website to rank on the first page of Google, the episodes are the perfect combination of highly practical and easily digestible, helping you to come away feeling motivated and informed rather than confused and overwhelmed. The only difficulty is deciding which episode to listen to first.
Find out more here.
Girlboss Radio
Sometimes, we just want to sit down with other female leaders and have a frank heart-to-heart about the realities of running a business. Girlboss Radio offers exactly that. In each episode, founder Sophia Amoruso talks to other entrepreneurs about what it really takes to navigate all the professional and personal obstacles in order to run a successful business, with each episode focusing on a particular theme, such as dealing with the boys’ club mentality with Tina Brown and building a purpose-driven company with Shivani Siroya.
Find out more here.
So Money
Talking about money is still something that many of us find difficult, particularly women. Farnoosh Torabi is an award-winning financial strategist with access to some of the top financial minds in the world. So Money reads like a Who’s Who of financial experts and each episode tackles a different aspect of finance, from saving to paying back debt and gaining financial freedom. If you’re having a moment of financial insecurity or going through a bout of money worries, this podcast will help you reframe your mindset and get you back on track with your money goals.
Find out more here.
Goal Digger
Marketing entrepreneur and photographer Jenna Kutcher brings us Goal Digger—a podcast all about setting and managing goals. Whether you’re just starting out in business and wondering how to go from side-hustling to full time or are looking for new ways to expand what you’ve already established, each episode offers a wealth of tools and advice that you can implement in your own business today. As Jenna herself is an entrepreneur, you really get the feeling that she both cares about and understands the struggles of entrepreneurship and her generosity in offering expert strategies makes this a must-listen for every female entrepreneur, whatever stage of business you’re at.
Find out more here.
