It’s Episode 200!

November 3, 2021

I’m so thankful for all of you who have supported this show, recommended amazing guests, and encouraged me to reach 200 episodes! In today’s episode, I’m sharing how it feels to reach this milestone, what this experience has felt like, and what I’ve learned in nearly three years of the Brand Strategy Podcast!

Three Lessons I’ve Learned as a Podcast Host

Over the years that I’ve been a podcast host, it has been an incredible journey! I’m excited to share three lessons that I’ve learned over the last few years and the last 200 episodes! I’m so grateful for your support, your reviews, your subscriptions, and your guest recommendations. It’s an honor to share this journey with you!

1. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be impactful.

While this may sound a little cliché, the reality is that it’s the truth. There is so much that goes into planning and producing a podcast, which means you can get stuck in a cycle of refining and perfecting every single step of the process. While my show hasn’t always been perfect, each step of the way has given me an opportunity to learn.

Even if my show isn’t the highest quality or most professional, I’ve heard from so many of you how different episodes have influenced your business, and for some of you, even helped you take the steps to start your own business!

2. It’s only a failure if you don’t learn from it.

Let’s face it, you’re going to make mistakes, and that’s ok. I know I’ll make even more mistakes, but failure is a teacher if you let it be. Therefore, you should be open to failure, but still be empathetic in our experiences.

When you make a mistake in your business, don’t beat yourself up over it. Instead look at what you can learn from it. This helps you reframe your relationship with making mistakes. This allows you to grow as a result.

3. It’s a chance to create the encouragement that an earlier version of yourself that you needed.

This gives you an opportunity to show up for real people in the present. Whatever service you’re creating, this is a chance for you to create the resources you would have benefited when you first got started.

When you choose to take that action, it gives you the opportunity to show up for others in a real way.

Catch the Show Notes

My Time as a Podcast Host (2:27)

Lesson 1: It doesn’t have to be perfect to be impactful. (2:53)

Lesson 2: It’s only a failure if you don’t learn from it. (6:10)

Lesson 3: It’s a chance to create the encouragement that an earlier version of yourself that you needed. (8:45)

RESOURCES MENTIONED

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Review the Transcript:

Hi, friends and welcome to the brand strategy podcast. A show created to equip you with the inspiration, encouragement, and clarity. You need to build the brand of your dreams. I’m your host, Bonnie Bakhtiari rain designer, strategist and founder of the Illume retreat. From sustainable strategy to part encouragement. Each episode is designed to equip you with the tools you need to chase after your dreams, because you deserve a brand that empowers you to do what you love, connects with your dream clients and offers a deep sense of fulfillment along the way. So grab a cup of coffee and join me on this journey. Won’t you?

Hey friends. Welcome back to the brand strategy podcast, where today we are celebrating episode 200 over the years that I have been podcasting, this has been such an incredible joy. And so it is incredibly exciting to get to share episode 200 with you, the amazing humans that make this podcast possible. In today’s episode, I want to share three quick lessons that I’ve learned over the years that I have been podcasting here on the BSP. So they, you are able to glean my biggest takeaways and some of the most impactful lessons that I have gleaned over the years. And I, again, have to say, I’m so incredibly grateful for you for your support for you tuning in for your kind reviews, your subscriptions to the podcast for recommending incredible guests. All of this has been so impactful over the years, and I’ve been really honored to get to share this with you.

And as always, it is my hope that what we talk through on the BSP is content and education and encouragement that meets you right where you are on your journey as an entrepreneur, so that you can take that imperfect, that thoughtful action towards growing the brand of your dreams. And today, even if you have no plans of being a podcaster or ever launching a podcast, the lessons that I’m sharing can absolutely relate to where you are on your small business journey. So let’s dive in, shall we first step when I look back over the years that I have been podcasting, when I look at, I think my very first episode went live at the end of 2019. When I look back on all of the conversations that I’ve had, the interviews, the solo episodes, the show notes, everything, everything, it has been. The biggest thing that stood out to me.

And the biggest thing that I’ve realized over the years of recording and interviewing and all the things I’ve realized that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be impactful. And I know that sounds maybe a little bit cliche, but it’s, it’s true running this podcast, creating this podcast, planning out the calendar, finding guests, finding an incredible producer who can help with the production of it. All of it. There’s a lot that goes into this and I’m the kind of person where it’s easy for me to get stuck in this self-imposed cycle of refining and perfecting to the point where I might not take action. And it’s, it’s been actually a behavior that I’ve had to unlearn and something that I’ve had to work through over the years that I can take imperfect action and it can still have impact and it can still be a good thing.

So especially if you go back to like the very beginning, like episode one of the podcast, it’s probably not the best quality I’ve learned a lot about, you know, how to, how to record and how to produce and how to, you know, plan these episodes. And I know, I know that it hasn’t all been perfect. I there’ve been mistakes. There’ve been times I’ve tripped over my words. There’ve been times where, you know, like it just, all these different little mistakes, some bigger than others have definitely played a part in this podcast growth over, over time. By one thing that has really, really stood out to me is that despite the, you know, imperfect audio sometimes, or despite this not being like the most, maybe the most professional podcasts you ever listened to, I have been so incredibly humbled to know, to hear from incredible people like you, different episodes that have stood out different conversations or interviews that have really resonated with you, the support that you feel that you’ve received.

I’ve, I’ve received messages from people who have started their businesses because of things that they’ve learned, turn tuning into this podcast. And that is like, oh my gosh, that is so incredibly humbling. And that is like, this is such a joy to be able to share my knowledge and the knowledge of my guests with y’all in this way. So what I’m trying to say is if you’re holding back on doing that thing or taking that next step, because you’re telling yourself that it needs to be perfect before you launch, or it needs to be perfect before you move forward. I want to remind you that every day you spend believing that is one more day, that the people who need your offer or who need the result that you’re going to create, don’t get it. They don’t have it. So when you choose to take that imperfect action, you are able to fast track the impact that you can have in the world around you.

So don’t get caught up in believing that perfection is something that’s, don’t get stuck waiting for that to happen. Instead, believe in yourself, believe in the power of the message you have to share and go out there and watch it impact people for the better. Now that leads me to the second lesson that I’ve learned over these years. And it’s this idea that it’s only a failure if you don’t learn from it. So nothing is actually a failure unless you don’t learn from it and take away a big lesson from it because let’s face it, you’re going to make mistakes. And that’s okay. I mean, I was literally just running through a laundry list of some of the mistakes that I’ve made over the years, and I’m know that I’m going to make more mistakes, but here’s my attitude with it. Failure is a teacher.

And if I am open and receptive to the lessons that my failures, that my mistakes have to share with me, then I am still learning and I am still growing. And so it’s not, it’s not so bad now with that being said, of course, we, we want to have empathetic and self-aware experiences as we move through the world. So we don’t want to be just like moving through the world and like hurting people and causing harm and things like that and saying like, oh, this isn’t, this isn’t bad. And learning from it, no, be, be kind, be considered, be compassionate, uh, have a sense of self-awareness as you carry yourself through the world. But when you make a mistake in your business, which inevitably you will, don’t beat yourself up over it. Don’t shame yourself. Don’t tell yourself that you’re a failure or you’re a bad business owner or any of those kinds of stories.

Instead, take a step back from it and look at it and ask yourself, what can I learn from this? What does this experience have to teach me? And what that does is it begins to help you reshape and reframe your relationship with making mistakes. And it also allows you to grow as a human so that you can continue to build your emotional intelligence. You can continue to develop your self-awareness and you can continue to grow as a result. So don’t get caught up in your failures and just leave it at that. Look at them, sit with them, get familiar with them and see what you can learn from them and how that can help you grow because when you grow and when you choose to get back up again and try again, or try in a different way again, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to have that impact and to change lives, which takes me to my third and final, big takeaway.

Over these years of podcasting, it’s a chance to create the encouragement that an earlier version of yourself would have needed. And as a result, it gives you the chance to show up for real people right now in the present. So what I mean by that is when I look back on my podcasting journey, it’s been an opportunity for me to create the kind of support and encouragement and content that an earlier version of myself could have learned from and would have appreciated and would have valued and whatever your doing, whatever service you’re creating, whatever business you’re thinking of, launching whatever kind of YouTube channel or podcast you might be thinking of creating it is a chance for you to create the content or the resources or the kind of growth that an earlier version of yourself would have really benefited from, right? There’s someone out there who needs what you have to offer.

And when you choose to believe that, and you choose to take action towards realizing those goals, then it gives you the opportunity to show up for real people, to help them in real ways in the present. And I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty exciting. I think that that is packed with immense possibility for you to do the work that you love, whatever that looks like while knowing that you are impacting people here. And now something that I’ve, I’ve really been observing and thinking about over, I’d say maybe the last two years, especially it’s this idea that it’s so incredibly powerful. When we see people like us having the kind of success doing the work or achieving the kind of growth that we dream of achieving. And what that does is it shows us what’s possible. It’s an incredible way for you to take action in a way that shows a younger version of yourself or someone who can relate to your journey or who can resonate with your experiences, what is possible.

And so when we think about that, when we think about how these brands, we’re building these businesses, we’re creating these podcasts, or, you know, anything that we’re creating, how those actually can be these really incredible beacons for others. That means that you’re having an immense impact through the work that you’re doing. And I feel like that’s kind of a theme that I keep coming back to in today’s episode is this idea of impact of how you can help others, how you can show up for them, how you can support them. And that’s coming from a very real place of that’s the entire purpose of this podcast to, to show up for you today right now, and to support you and encourage you and share with you practical ways to grow your most profitable and purposeful brand. So, friend, I hope that this bite-sized episode today, as we celebrate episode 200, I hope that it reaches you right where you are today in exactly the ways that you need as always, I’m incredibly grateful for you.

I so appreciate you. Whether you’ve been hanging out here from episode one, or you are a more recent listener, I appreciate you sticking around on this journey as always, if you want to check out any of the show notes or check out the full transcript for today’s episode, you can just go to brand strategy, podcast.com and click on the latest episode link. And all of that will be there. If you are looking to get into podcasting yourself, I actually want to point you to my incredible podcast producer, Haley Gaffin, uh, you can find her@gaffincreative.com. I’ll make sure that her link is in the show notes as well. And she has got a ton of freebies, all about podcasting that I think can help you get started. She’s someone who’s been a crucial and integral part of this little podcast team over the years. And she’s a great person to learn from in this.

I certainly, even though I have had this podcast, since I think yeah, early 2019, I’m still learning and she teaches me so much. And so if this is something that you’re wanting to start and you’re wanting to grow, definitely a great person to check out and to learn from. So again, that’s, Gaffin creative.com or if you go to brand strategy, podcasts.com in today’s show notes, I will have her link so that you can check out all these amazing free resources that she has living on her website as always friends, thanks for your support. Thanks for being a part of this community. I’m massively, massively grateful for you and I’m cheering you on from Waco.

Thank you so much for joining me today, friend, before you go, I would be so grateful to receive your feedback on the brand shies podcast. If you enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general has helped you grow your brand and really appreciate it. If you left us a review in iTunes, your positive reviews enable the brand strategy podcasts to continue to grow and reach like-minded creatives. Just like you. Plus, I’ll be randomly selecting a handful of lucky reviewers each month. Thursdays, a little, thank you. Surprise for me in the mail. Thank you for all your support and encouragement as together. We pursue building brands with purpose and intention, and till next time I’m cheering you on from Waco.

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My name is Bonnie – I’m a brand designer, strategist, and writer which all adds up to one eclectic conglomeration of qualities that enables me to serve you well! Past clients have dubbed me "the Joanna Gaines of brand design," and I've had more than a few call me a dream maker, a game changer, and a design wizard (my Harry Potter-loving heart didn't hate that one, let me tell you!). At the end of the day, I'm a big-hearted creative who will get teary-eyed as you share the heart behind your business; who will lose sleep over the perfect font pairings and color selections to bring your brand to life visually; and who will work tirelessly to empower, encourage, and equip you to share your work with the world intentionally. 

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