Margy is in the holiday spirit and Jess has some hidden dancing talent. Today’s episode features an interview with Interview Connections client, Tim Cameron-Kitchen.

Tim, what do you do in your business?

Why did you decide to start a podcast?

Tell us more about what you cover on your show

What’s the value in bringing on your team members?

Does including employees help with employee retention?

How do you help employees practice?

What was your launch strategy for your podcast?

What benefits have you seen from hosting a podcast?

Do you have any tips for people who want to start a podcast to grow their business?

What should you NOT do as a guest?

What is your tech set up?

Resources Mentioned:

Digital Marketer Blog for podcast

Exposureninja.com

Blue Yeti

Zencastr

Margy is embracing vulnerability and Jess is feeling grateful! This episode features an interview with our awesome client, Tanya Conner-Green. In this episode we discuss:

• How does live video help you connect more deeply with your audience?
• What role does vulnerability play in a successful business?
• How do online haters affect vulnerability? How do you overcome that?
• What were Tanya’s biggest struggles starting her business?
• What are the differences between outward success and true meaning?
• How do you translate vulnerability into making more money?
• How do you stand out online?

Resources Mentioned:

How We Hustle Podcast

Tanya Conner-Green

Brene Brown

On today’s episode, we are live from Dallas interviewing our client, Jason Treu. (Excuse the background noise from the Sheraton lobby!) Jason helps successful leaders overcome management and career challenges within their organizations.

1. What are the most common pain points you find with your clients?
2. 1. Most of it stems from early childhood trauma.
   2. These traumas are holding them back.
   3. Jason helps them change learned behaviors from childhood that are no longer serving his clients.

1. How can managers deal with employee issues that may be personal?
2. 1. You have to get to know people personally to help with their work performance.
   2. No one can truly separate work and personal.
   3. Conversations about what people really want are important, too.

1. How possible is it for people to overcome traumas that happened during their early, formative years?
2. 1. You can do it quickly. Most things are just a slight shift.
   2. People have be willing to change.
   3. One person Jason helped was having sales issues, but it turned out to be a deeper reason of shame about her voice. He helped her overcome this, which turned her sales around!

1. What is the balance between being vulnerable and oversharing?
2. 1. You have to understand the moment and the people you are sharing with.
   2. People have to earn the right to hear your story.
   3. You don’t have to have it all figured out.
   4. Find like minded people in your life who you can relate to. That way you don’t have to explain the whole backstory.

1. What are some examples of questions a manager could ask to open up potential blocks?
2. 1. If you are leading, you have to be vulnerable with the people you are leading.
   2. Take advantage of ways to be honest about finances, etc.
   3. When you meet new people, be honest that you expect performance at a high level but that mistakes are okay.
   4. Encourage people to share their ideas before you share yours.
   5. Cards Against Mundanity helps people open up and get to know each other as people. It creates psychological safety.
   6. You have to create the culture in the company.
   7. Psychological safety causes people to be more emotionally invested and work harder.
   8. People want to show up and be seen.

1. How can managers show their staff that they are seen?
2. 1. You have to work on yourself first.
   2. You can’t deal with tough questions if you can’t deal with your own stuff.
   3. Everyone wants to be vulnerable, but only if someone else goes first. The leader has to go first to show they care.
   4. Walk around the office every day for 15 minutes and chat with people about their lives. This shows people you care.

1. What are some things leaders can do to work on themselves?
2. 1. Masterminds
   2. Coaches
   3. Internal self audit
   4. Therapy
   5. You have to dig down and figure out what’s happening inside of you and what you need.
   6. If you don’t deal with your issues, you will have blind spots. Your fears will manipulate what’s going on.
   7. Leaders who have done the work won’t allow people who are manipulative and toxic in their environment.

1. Tell us about Cards Against Mundanity
2. 1. Jason was seeking to understand how anyone can create a “Google” workplace.
   2. Studies have shown that asking certain questions can cause immediate friendship and bonding.
   3. Psychological safety is the only thing they found across every high performing team at Google.
   4. Card Against Mundanity creates this same vulnerability which leads to psychological safety.
   5. With the card asking the question, people are more comfortable than when another person asks you something.

1. Are there any questions that people refuse to answer?
2. 1. The only person who refused ended up quitting shortly after.
   2. People tend to want to be vulnerable because the average person doesn’t have anyone in their lives who they can share with.
   3. Loneliness is higher than ever and climbing (40%).
   4. Loneliness goes hand in hand with fear and can cause people to lash out.

1. People’s personal lives are part of their work
2. 1. You need to learn about people’s lives and goals.
   2. Helping employees through the process of moving forward personally and professionally is what leads to success in business.
   3. Unhappy employees can affect your company’s productivity.
   1. People want to feel fulfilled in their work.
   2. Psychological safety can help people feel fulfilled.
   3. People make what they spend, so no matter what they have, they always feel like they need more.
   4. A lot of times outside success doesn’t mean people feel fulfilled inside. Even billionaires want more if they aren’t happy and fulfilled.
3. Modern workplace

1. Great leaders are self aware
2. 1. Your blind spots as a leader cascade into the business.
   2. Your business is always being held back by you.

1. What type of help do you need as a business owner?
2. 1. You have to find people who can help with your business and with you emotionally.
   2. Most coaches are too focused on the external.
   3. The internal hurdles are what is really stopping your success.
   4. Some people need a therapist, but a lot of people can just use a coach who can point out internal barriers quickly so they can be addressed.
   5. Coaching can be faster than therapy if you don’t need long term help.

1. The main reason people work hard?
2. 1. They don’t want to disappoint the other person.
   2. They care about the leader.
   3. This is why psychological safety creates harder working employees.

Resources Mentioned:

Jason Treu

Cards Against Mundanity

Arthur Aaron study on making fast friends

Creating Disney Magic Podcast

Fun Personal Money Facts:

• ● Jessica got her first credit card to go to Hawaii at age 18.
• ● Hilary had almost 20,000 dollars in credit card debt in college (twice!). She is the host of Profit Boss Radio. She rebuilt her credit and net worth after debt and foreclosure and now owns a seven figure business.
• ● Margy doesn’t use credit, and thinks the whole concept of spending money you don’t have is weird.

1. 1. How does what happens in your childhood affect your relationship with money?
2. 1. a. We learn about money in our childhood.
   2. b. Money is very conceptual. We think of it as solid, but it’s really just an agreement.
   3. c. This conceptualism can be really tough for kids to understand.
   4. d. When people have a scarcity mindset, they often spend rather than save.
3. 1. a. Margy feels like her attitude towards money is very simplistic and possibly a little childish.
   2. b. She feels a little embarassed about her lack of credit, proving that everyone has shame about their finances no matter where they are.
   3. c. Money is the stage the inner critic stands on.
4. 2. Margy, what is your relationship with money?
5. 1. a. Hilary felt a lot of shame about her own money problems, especially as a financial advisor.
   2. b. The more she shares her story honestly, the less shame she feels.
6. 3. Money and shame
7. 1. a. Hilary got to a point where she was really in a mess and had to be honest.
   2. b. When she discovered the power of money psychology, she realized a lot of people were being controlled by their attitude towards money without even knowing it.
   3. c. She realized she had been the victim of her own subconscious psychology.
   4. d. The first few times she shared it was messy, but she got better at sharing her story.
   5. e. Hilary shared her debt story very publicly on her TedTalk.
   6. f. The more she tells it, the more people tell her how needed it is for others to hear that story.
   7. g. It makes it easier to share her story because she has recovered.
8. 4. Hilary, how did you come out of the debt closet?
9. 1. a. Jess opened up to her dad first about her debt situation.
   2. b. Her debt started when she left her job, started a business and was paying a nanny on credit.
   3. c. She then opened up in front of a bunch of people at her dad’s conference, and found a lot of people could relate to her story.
   4. d. Shame and secrecy are best friends, so when you are honest shame can’t exist.
10. 5. Jess, how did you come out of the debt closet?
11. 1. a. Women have the power to make decisions about finances and control their own money.
    2. b. Culturally, women aren’t expected to be financially capable.
    3. c. Mony has power, so some men may be threatened by financially savvy women. 
12. 6. Could you talk more about psychology and money, especially for women?
13. Resources Mentioned:
14. Profit Boss Radio
15. ProfitBossLive.com
16. Jason Treu
17. Profit Boss Facebook Group
18. www.hilaryhendershott.com

Margy and Jess are excited to be exhibiting for the second year in a row at FinCon in Dallas! On today’s episode, we feature an interview with longtime client, Dr. Glenn Livingston.

1. What was life like when you were obese, personally and professionally?

   1. Glenn grew up in a family of psychotherapists, and always wanted to be a psychologist on the radio (like his dad)

   2. Glenn started as a couples and family therapist

   3. His work required a lot of presence, but he couldn’t say present because he was so preoccupied by food

   4. In addition to his concerning mental obsession with food, he was also experiencing serious health risks

2. What role did shame play in your life when you were binge eating?

   1. Shame played a big role

   2. Glenn has realized that bingeing is only possible when you are also self shaming

   3. This led Glenn to think about the survival role that guilt and shame play in keeping us alive

   4. Like physical pain, shame can draw your attention to mistakes and prevent you from doing destructive things again

   5. Glenn calls his inner destructive self his “pig”

   6. Removing shame and guilt made it possible for Glenn to recover

3. What can we do as individuals and as a community to help people struggling with shame and disordered eating?

   1. As a community, we need to recognize the economic, sociological and physiological forces aligned in the culture to create binge eating

   2. It’s amazing that anyone is able to eat normally

   3. Billions of dollars go into engineering super concentrated starches, sugars and other unhealthy food chemicals designed to short circuit the pleasure centers of the brains

   4. When rats can directly activate the pleasure center of the brain, they will do nothing else (sacrificing things they need to survive like food in favor of pleasure)

   5. The mammalian brain will engage in serious self neglect in pursuit of pleasure

   6. The advertising industry also helps convince us that we can’t live without unhealthy foods

   7. The addiction treatment industry gives the message of “you are powerless to resist”

   8. As a society, to remove shame we can look at what’s happening in the society as a whole and have compassion for how it’s creating binge eaters

   9. Glenn presents the idea that people whose drug of choice is food are more selfless, because unlike drugs addicts they don’t affect the people around them with their addiction

4. Who have your biggest critics been over the years?

   1. Glenn is a compassionate person and is also highly educated on these topics

   2. Ultimately, Glenn figured out that he couldn’t “love himself thin”

   3. Glenn has developed a paradigm where you distance yourself from the lizard brain (which he calls his “inner pig”)

   4. He draws clear boundaries (no chocolate on weekdays)

   5. Some people believe Glenn’s philosophy and use of the word “pig” is fat shaming, but Glenn’s theory is that this lizard brain (or “pig”) is NOT you

   6. This relates to the Buddhist practice of realizing that your thoughts are not you

   7. What we think of as our identity is a subset of thoughts driven by our neurology

   8. You can make a statement of character like “I’m not the kind of person who eats chocolate during the week,” forming an identity around that statement of will

5. What’s the balance between loving yourself and also wanting to be thinner and healthier?

   1. Glenn doesn’t know if a happy fat person exists

   2. From what he’s seen, there are a lot of health consequences to being overweight

   3. Plus sized people should be loved and accepted, and because of the perfect storm, it’s not easy to get control over eating

   4. Hopelessness can cause people to give up on getting thinner and healthier

   5. If you can be a happy, healthy fat person, Glenn is ok with that

   6. He hates to see people give up on being a thin person without really understanding what’s going on psychologically and how they can leverage that to get thin

   7. Glenn is not very supportive of the notion of just “accepting your weight.” He feels people should strive for a medically healthy weight

6. How has being interviewed on podcasts so frequently impacted you?

   1. Glenn’s goal is to help a million people a year stop overeating

   2. He’s had almost 300k downloads of his kindle book

   3. He is consistently in the top 5 Amazon books for eating disorders

   4. He sees a spike in book sales every time a podcast goes out

   5. Podcasting has also helped with Glenn getting more personal coaching clients

   6. Another benefit is that podcasts are a “safe” type of publicity to hone his message before going on more mainstream media outlets

7. At what point in your journey as a guest did you start to see the effects of podcast interviews?

   1. Glenn averages an extra 100 downloads every podcast, 10-15 opt ins and about one paid client per podcast

   2. It took a couple of months for the podcasts to start coming out and then it became a very steady bump in Amazon stats

   3. In retrospect, he wishes he had bought a word of mouth domain for his call to action

8. Are there certain types of shows that are more effective for you?

   1. Glenn is against the 12 Step programs, which makes him unpopular with some mainstream addiction recovery shows

   2. The best are any type of health podcasts, particularly the fitness shows because his approach is very disciplined

9. What is the connection with religious shows?

   1. Glenn isn’t religious, but the structure of his philosophy is very compatible with religion (like separating the angel and the devil on your shoulder

   2. His average review on Amazon is higher among people who buy religious books

10. What role does isolation play in addiction?

    1. Addiction is an isolating behavior

    2. “Narcissus didn’t die of self love, he died of self neglect”

    3. You can fight addiction with connection, and it’s part of the process

    4. What Glenn objects to in the 12 Step process is not the community, but the concept that it’s a disease and people can’t help themselves which leads to fear and the feeling of powerlessness

Resources Mentioned:

FinCon2017

Health at Every Size

Milner and Olds Studies

Jack Trimpy Rational Recovery

Jean Paul Sartre

Rat Park

NeverBingeAgain.com

Margy and Jess are excited about their new podcast, Womensplaining! This episode features an interview and strategy session with our client, Aaron Hendon.

Why did you start getting interviewed on podcasts?

• Aaron was planning on writing a book and wanted to do interviews to promote credibility and practice telling his story

How have you grown through this process?

• Aaron is a residential RE agent, and he was looking to build credibility online
• He puts all interviews on his press page
• Aaron has become a better speaker from doing interviews
• He wasn’t aware of what his audience wanted, and found his content wasn’t as interesting to others as he thought
• Through feedback, Aaron has become a better guest and better at speaking to people in his professional life
• Often when an interview doesn’t go well, you learn the most from it

What are the biggest victories you’ve celebrated this year?

• Aaron did his first 3 million dollar month!
• The work in Aaron’s business is finding people and talking to them
• Podcasts have helped him improve in his career talking to people
• Aaron has been able to finish his book because of inspiration from podcasts and hosts
• He has been booked on 40 shows, and will email all those hosts when his book is out
• A conversation with a podcast host is what developed one of the key pieces of the book
• Podcasting as a guest can be a big part of your creative process

Tell us more about the book

• It’s a look at the psychology people use to approach buying their home (which is the same as how they pick a restaurant for dinner!)
• To do it more rationally, you have to do different things
• This book is for people in the US buying or selling who are information seekers
• Many listeners of podcasters are information seekers, which is a good match for Aaron’s target market

Resources Mentioned:

@womensplaining

Joe Fairless

Aaron Hendon

Jess and Margy are recording live from LA Podfest. We feature an interview with Paul Gilmartin of The Mental Illness Happy Hour. This episode contains discussions about mental illness and child abuse. Listener discretion advised.

1. The Mental Illness Happy Hour
2. 1. Paul started the show in 2011 because he felt it was needed
   2. He didn’t know he would someday make a living off the show
   3. People get so wrapped up in not laughing about this subject matter, but a little humor can be healing
   1. You either have that skill or you don’t
   2. It’s important to be respectful
   3. Paul tells all guests that nothing is too dark or off limits, and that he will delete the episode afterwards if the guest asks
   4. The things that you are most nervous to talk about are the things that are most healing to other people
   5. Empathy is everything, so it’s good to stay in the moment and not prepare too much
3. How do you make a space to have such vulnerable conversations?
   1. Paul gets emails from people all over the world who were thinking about suicide before they heard the podcast
   2. The show helps people deal with shame, especially around sexual trauma
   3. Paul has personally dealt  with incest as a child and the podcast has helped him open up and find support
   4. Paul has always felt a deep need to be told that he’s ok and to be seen as he really is- the podcast has been the perfect platform to let that out
   5. Paul feels his show is less about his courage and more about a desperate need to feel heard
4. What differences have you seen the podcast make in the lives of your listeners?
   1. It’s a personal decision for everyone how much you want to share
   2. Share what you’re comfortable with and keep in mind what you are trying to achieve
   3. Is your sharing of service to the listener?
   4. Paul always beats himself up after sharing, and then opens up about that too
   5. Nothing bad can get worse if you keep a light on it
   6. Share the stuff that’s difficult to share, as long as it feels appropriate for the circumstance
   7. It’s important to know when to share, and when to listen to others who are sharing (and not making it all about you) - support groups are helpful for this
5. What advice do you have for people who may feel vulnerability hangovers after sharing “too much” ?
   1. Paul keeps the comedy to a respectful level on the podcast, and doesn’t make jokes at the expense of a victim
   2. Paul started comedy in 1987 and quit standup and TV hosting in 2011
   3. He never felt safe enough to discuss these issues in his standup, and he found that the podcast was the best medium for this
   4. Paul started his satirical political character because he was sick of just complaining and sounding like everyone else
   5. His comedy satire is his form of protest
6. Tell us about your comedy
   1. DON’T TRY TO BE ANYTHING YOU’RE NOT
   2. The most valuable commodity in podcasting is authenticity
   3. People are drawn to the things that are the most authentic and the most compelling
   4. Every good podcast has a host who is passionate and curious
   5. You don’t have to be funny
   6. People deep down think they aren’t enough
   7. Most people need to let go of something deep down; shame, pride, etc.
   8. Paul used to think he needed to be revered and stand out, but the more he did that the lonelier he got
   9. Strive for excellence but also stay connected and be “one of many” in your daily life
7. How do you feel that your background in comedy helps the show, and what are your tips for people without a comedy background?
   1. Being featured on iTunes
   2. Going on other people’s shows
   3. Having high profile guests
   4. Things being written about the show
   5. There is no better way to grow an audience than putting out a consistent, quality podcast
   6. One bad episode can lose your audience
   7. When you are doing podcasting for a living, you have to make certain decisions
   8. If Paul’s podcast wasn’t his livelihood, he wouldn’t be so conscious of having high profile guests and curating episodes to break up the heavy ones
   9. Paul works to balance growing the show with serving the needs of listeners and those struggling with mental illness
8. Over the six years that you’ve been podcasting, what are the top things that have grown your audience?

Resources Mentioned:

The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast

Mentalpod.com

PaulGilmartin.com

LA Podcast Festival

Jess has a brand new look, and Margy is spreading the gospel of bangs. Then, we discuss expectations as a podcast guest and a real-life example of a smaller show going VIRAL!

Setting Clear Expectations as a Guest:

1. The speed of results
2. 1. Podcast interviews are a long-term strategy
   2. It takes time to get first interviews booked and released
   3. The bigger the show, the longer the wait
   4. It takes time to get on those bigger shows
   1. Understand that you may not be ready for the bigger shows; interview practice is valuable and being on a bigger show after you’ve had more experience is going to be more valuable
   2. Knowing how to be a great entrepreneur doesn’t mean you automatically know how to be a great interviewee; it takes practice!
   3. We want you to be ready for big shows before we place you there
3. It only takes one show (or one listener) for the strategy to pay off
   1. If they aren’t a fit for you, OR you aren’t a fit for them, we should NOT pitch you!
   2. Being in front of your target audience (big or small) is more valuable than a big audience who isn’t a fit
   3. Don’t let ego make you lose sight of your goals for interviews
4. A lot of the big shows might not be a good fit for YOU

How a Tiny Show Beat Joe Rogan:

We were just discussing how to go viral on our last episode, and this week we saw a small podcast GO VIRAL!!! Here are some reasons why: 

1. Jo (the host of Zealot) went to see My Favorite Murder live
2. 1. If you go to see comedians (or anyone) live, they are more likely to talk to you! (SUPPORT THEIR WORK FIRST!)
   2. Find your target audience, and go see them in person
   1. They get lots of pitches to go onstage
   2. Jo’s pitch was totally unique because she offered to do The Moonwalk
   3. Show what is unique about you and how it can bring value to the host!
3. She gave a unique pitch
   1. Everyone listening to MFM is a great audience for a comedy cult show
   2. Be in front of the people who will care about your topic (the right audience is everything!)
4. Her topic was relevant to listeners of My Favorite Murder

Resources Mentioned:

Hair Tech

EOFire

My Favorite Murder Podcast

Zealot Podcast

Congressional Dish

@interviewconnections