Jun 26, 2020
There are two main reasons I started a podcast.
- I was encouraged by another pharmacist podcaster.
- My podcast is a business tool.
Mentioned in this episode
- Medipreneurs Conference is a business conference for pharmacist entrepreneurs and healthcare entrepreneurs.
- Dr. Erin L. Albert is a pharmacist, entrepreneur, and podcaster.
- Dave Jackson and The School of Podcasting (course and podcast)
- So, You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community That Will Listen by Kristen Meinzer
At the 2nd Medipreneurs Conference (Asheville, NC) in April 2019, Dr. Erin L. Albert gave a talk about becoming a thought leader through writing and publishing. She also mentioned that podcasting can help you become a thought leader. Dr. Albert encouraged me to start a podcast.
That was 14 months ago, and I barely knew what a podcast was. I barely listened to them either. Audiobooks were more my thing. That has changed! Now, I listen to both! I don’t know that I ever would have looked into podcasting if it weren’t for Dr. Albert. I didn’t understand how podcasting could help my career, and I didn’t know how to start a podcast.
Why start a podcast then? When a successful pharmacist entrepreneur gives you advice, it’s important to at least consider it. Plus, I wanted to see if Dr. Albert was right. Should I start a podcast?
The second reason why I started a podcast has to do with my business, The Pharmacist’s Voice. When I tried to connect podcasting and being a thought leader to my business, it didn’t make sense. It didn’t fit because I’m so early in my voiceover career. How can I be a thought leader already? But, I kept an open mind and researched podcasting more. Eventually, I learned that I could use my podcast as a business tool.
I learned how to podcast from Dave Jackson and his online course The School of Podcasting in October 2019. I built the podcast in November, and I launched it on December 4. Because I already knew how to record, edit, and produce audio from my voiceover industry training, building a podcast using Dave Jackson’s process was pretty straightforward. All I had to come up with a name, a format, and the other details. (This episode won’t dig into all those details.)
If you are interested in starting a podcast, I would recommend doing three things.
- Join The School of Podcasting
- Listen to The School of Podcasting Podcast
- Read Kristen Meinzer’s book, So, You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community That Will Listen. GREAT BOOK!
There is more than one podcast format. Examples include roundtables, daily news, list shows, advice shows, recap shows, documentary shows, fiction shows, and more.
One day, I heard about journey-style podcasts. That’s a format using story to tell how they got from point A to point B and what they learned. In my case, I was on a journey from pharmacist to voice actor. It was easy to pick the journey-style format for my podcast. A journey-style podcast would allow me to share how I used my voice as a pharmacist, where my journey took me, who I met along the way, and how they use their voices too. It was a great choice for me.
The Pharmacist’s Voice Podcast is a podcast, not a statue. Down the road, I could change the format of the podcast to something else, like an advice show.
What I learned from both Dave Jackson and Kristen Meinzer’s book is that I can use my podcast to get the word out about my business! I’m a pharmacist, voice actor, and audiobook narrator. When I put that out into the world on a podcast, I position myself as those things for the world to see. That’s how it’s a business tool. I may have accidentally become a thought leader too. People interested in doing what I do contact me all the time.
During my career - both pharmacy and voiceover - I have met all kinds of great people. I use my interview shows every other week to help them share how they use their voice as well. Here are 11 examples.
Episode 3, Tom Titkemeier, my uncle who introduced me to the profession of pharmacy
Episode 5, Harold Kinker was my first boss at Walgreens
Episode 7, Nate Kehlmeier is a friend from the Wood County Addiction Task Force
Episode 9, Dr. Asha Bohannon is a friend and pharmacist entrepreneur who I met at the first ever Medipreneurs Conference in 2018.
Episode 11, Sue Paul and Michelle Fritsch, co-founders of the Medipreneurs Conference
Episode 13, Dr. Bruce Berger, motivational interviewing expert who I met through the Medipreneurs organization
Episode 15, Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin, a counseling psychologist and author I met on LinkedIn. She’s an expert on Imposter Syndrome, which I struggle with.
Episode 17, Dave Bitkowski, an Ohio pharmacist entrepreneur and rare disease advocate
Episode 19, Patty Weltin, rare disease advocate and Founder and CEO of Beyond the Diagnosis
Episode 21, Longhaulpaul also known as Paul Pelland, a NH man with MS who is increasing MS awareness through long-distance motorcycling.
Episode 23, Dr. Anna Garrett, hormone expert and author of Perimenopause: The Savvy Sister’s Guide to Hormone Harmony.
This is episode 24, and my next four interview shows are all planned out. Let me tell you about them.
Episode 25 will be next Friday, July 3, 2020. My guest is Dr. Muhammad Umar Hafeez, a pharmacist with an MBA living in Abu Dhabi, which is located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is a telepharmacy advocate, and his practice sites include oil rigs (both onshore and offshore), remote sites in the desert, deep sea platforms, oil barges, and natural and man-made islands in the Arabian Gulf.
Episode 27 will be Friday, July 17, 2020. My guest will be Dr. Wendy Stephan, Ph.D. She’s educator and epidemiologist with South Florida’s poison control center.
Episode 29 will be on Friday, July 31, 2020. Dr. Jerrica Dodd will be my guest. She is a pharmacist entrepreneur. We met in April 2018 at the first Medipreneurs Conference in Asheville, North Carolina.
Episode 31 will be on Friday, August 14, 2020. My guest will be Dr. Allie Xu, a registered pharmacist from Australia. She is a holistic health and life coach specializing in emotional intelligence and the mind-body connection.
In closing, I started my podcast because I was encouraged by another pharmacist podcaster, and I wanted to use my podcast as a business tool.
I’m happy with how my podcast turned out. I get to share my journey. No one else has the exact same set of variables in their life that I have. I have a husband and two kids who I build my voiceover career around. 3 months ago, COVID changed life as we know it. The job I planned to do “in the margins” when my kids were at school got interrupted. I suddenly had to home school my kids. My husband lost his job May 1. I worked on my voiceover business full-time until my husband started interviewing for jobs again. It’s life; it’s interesting; and it’s my journey!
The Pharmacist’s Voice Podcast has listeners in 39 US states and 23 countries. Thank you for reading the show notes!