[00:00:00] Shannon Hernandez: Welcome back. And we are going to get to Amanda here real quick, but I want to remind you that today's episode was recorded using Streamyard. Now, what is Streamyard? Streamyard is a video and audio recording platform where you can create seamless recordings of your podcasts. Your podcast interviews, or maybe just stream them live to multiple platforms.
[00:00:18] You can use LinkedIn, you could use YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, Periscope, and you could create live events around your podcast interviews. If you're doing video podcasting in this particular case with Amanda, we just recorded it. And what I was able to do is I was able to go into Streamyard. Pull down the video and the audio and use it as repurposable content to promote my episode with Amanda, I've done this with previous episodes before, and this comes in really handy.
[00:00:46] If you're trying to create micro content, if you want to learn more about Streamyard through my affiliate link, check out thepodcasttherapist.com/streamyard now. Amanda, thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast.
[00:01:00] Amanda Valentine: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you. Ah
[00:01:03] Shannon Hernandez: yeah.
[00:01:03] And thank you so much for accepting my invite. You're like what? You're the second interview. That I have just scheduled out. This is an honor for me. It's huge.
[00:01:12] Amanda Valentine: Oh, same. I'm excited. It was someone that you even just thought of. I didn't know what it was. Number two.
[00:01:18] Shannon Hernandez: Yeah. You're like number two, I guess it would be like clay Aiken.
[00:01:20] Everyone wanted Clay Aiken to win.
[00:01:22] Amanda Valentine: As the first time I've ever been referred to as Clay.
[00:01:28] Shannon Hernandez: You're my, you're the clay akin to my Ruben Studdard. How about that?
[00:01:38] So it's very cool to have you on. And like I said, I want to talk to you today. And just so the audience understands and knows that you are someone who has been podcasting since I believe 2017. And there was a whole, process that went through that we can go through some of that process, but I really want to break down.
[00:01:57] Where this all started from and how you can help [00:02:00] a podcast or kind of get that confidence. I want to jump into some of those stories. And so when we talk about starting the podcast you started this in 2017. What was the catalyst that got you started with your podcast? It's called a pound, this podcast.
[00:02:12] It focuses on helping others with a weight loss journey and whatnot. So I'm going to let you go from there and take the reins. Yeah.
[00:02:19] Amanda Valentine: Where it really started is just because I've worked in radio all of my adult life, that's all I wanted to do. And I just, the reason why I fell in love with radio when I was a kid and why I wanted to work in it is based off connections.
[00:02:33] So it's never that I was really into the music or I wanted to be like some quasi celebrity or anything like that. It's just, for me growing up, there was a morning show I listened to on the radio. I'm in St. Louis called Steven DC. And I was obsessed with that because I was not a popular kid at all. Which will go into my weight loss journey.
[00:02:52] I was like, Fat funny, awkward kid. And so my friendship felt like from the radio, like I like felt like I knew these people. I just, I love them at the time. This is gonna date me. When I left for school in the morning, I put a cassette in a hit record, so I could record the morning show while I was at school for 90 minutes and then come home and listen to the morning show and fast forward through all the commercials and all that crap.
[00:03:14] Cause I just felt this connection with them, which is what. I went into radio four is I want to be that connection for someone else. And which is also why I really love podcasting. So I started listening to podcasts around 2009, 2010. I'm still my favorite podcast is Keith and the girl, which is one of the very first podcast who actually Mark Marin stole the idea to start his podcast from far back.
[00:03:41] So I've always just liked. Loved the concept of feeling a connection and knowing feeling even though you're technically strangers feeling close to someone and you know them. And so for me I started this podcast that technically started the very end of 2017, beginning of [00:04:00] 2018.
[00:04:00] So I've been doing it for three years now. Because I had been overweight. My whole life and a yo-yo dieted for a decade. And then finally, around nine years ago, it started as a new year's resolution to just live a life that felt more like me which at that I can get all into that if you really want me to.
[00:04:19] But so from there I lost over a hundred pounds. Completely changed. My life, went from never even going outside for a walk to summiting mountains, to running marathons, to, just completely flipped around. My life. And I know that a lot of people had mentioned that to me and talked to me about it.
[00:04:34] And it's something that's hard to do on a traditional terrestrial radio, because I was on a country station for a long time. I was on multiple country stations. I've moved all around the country and it's hard to be like, I been eat pizza today and I cried here's Brian. And so it became a conversation where.
[00:04:54] I started writing a blog about it and it went better than I thought it was going to. And the disc discussion came up at the radio station I was working with at the time of, podcasting was becoming more of a thing within the radio company. And I prefer talking to writing. I'm not a writer. And so I was like, can I start a podcast?
[00:05:15] It's just. Me and not my radio show podcast. One that's focused on health and fitness and weight loss because it is, that is my life. Like it's something that I care deeply about and something I really am passionate about helping other people through because it's difficult and people tend to not talk about the really ugly parts of it.
[00:05:33] And so they're like, if you want to do all the extra work, go ahead. And I'm like, and I will. And so it originally started where I had the intention of Oh, I'm going to do one or two of these a month whatevs. And from there it ended up being five episodes a week for a couple years. And just through COVID around may or so, I backed it down into three episodes a week.
[00:05:54] So now I'm doing. Three episodes a week.
[00:05:57] Shannon Hernandez: That's incredible. And when you started the [00:06:00] podcast and you started ramping up the amount of episodes that you wanted to start releasing, how did you prepare yourself for that? I guess that onslaught of scheduling out so many podcast interviews, cause you were doing them in person.
[00:06:18] And I know this is something that really. Is it's a lot of podcasts or struggle with it. They go, wow. I can only do one podcast a week. That's all I can do. You're a straight up juggernaut. When it comes down to that, like how do you mentally prepare yourself on the inside to say, I'm going to do this amount of podcasts?
[00:06:36] Amanda Valentine: Do want to preface it by saying if you do one a week or one a month, that's fine. I think that you have to have a realistic conversation with yourself about. How much you really want to do this and I'd say, give something a shot first before you really commit. You don't want to be like, Hey, I think I can do five episodes a week and then advertise it.
[00:06:55] And then, not give what you promise. So I feel like for me I just felt like I had so much to say in there was so much content and I did that. Did the turning point to decide to go to three episodes or five episodes a week was I ended up started with one or two a week. I wasn't very consistent with it.
[00:07:13] And I felt like that I was missing the Mark on that because I was just finding my footing at first, which again, and again, it's not going to be like jumping to know exactly what you want to do right away, knowing what you can do, knowing what you're motivated to do and what you enjoy doing, because.
[00:07:28] The first moment it becomes work and it's not fun. You're going to bail. So I, what would the changing moment was for me? So I had just been all over the map from January, 2018 til July. I think I went to podcast movement. So being at that conference was. Really helpful. In one of the sessions I sat in, they talked about the importance of having a daily podcast of becoming a daily routine in someone's life.
[00:07:56] And I knew that because of working in radio, like you have your benchmarks and [00:08:00] you talk about the same thing, because you are just become a pattern in someone's life and they choose that pattern. So it was like that makes sense. Can I bounce into five episodes a week. Do I have enough stuff to talk about?
[00:08:11] Is this a realistic thing without killing myself? And so the choice I made was not all of them were interviews. The thing I started at that point. Once I started doing the episodes called the daily way in where I started an Instagram in tandem with my podcast too, so they could promote each other.
[00:08:28] Like they're like a machine where they just, they compliment each other very well. And I don't think that one would be successful without the other. So I would mind my. Instagram following of what are your health and weight loss questions? And then I would take those individual questions and answer them one by one in the podcast.
[00:08:47] So then some episodes were 10 minutes long of me just answering one question, some episodes we're deeper dives into interviews. And whether, I don't know if this is the, the correct approach or not. But my approach with doing that was having so many episodes in so many different things in each one is if it is daily or a have more of a.
[00:09:05] More episodes per week. People have something to choose from. Some people just want those 10 minute episodes and great. You have things to choose from. Some people want a deep dive interview. You have that to choose from. So it's like almost all a cart of. You can pick which kind of own journey you want within my own podcast of, do you just want questions answered?
[00:09:23] Do you want to hear something? Which I always feel like the episodes where I just talk about myself. I'm like, who wants to hear about crap about me? And those are reasonable successful episodes, right? So it's it's a balance between. And I still do that between the three of them, which again, I don't know if that's correct, but it doesn't matter because I'm making the rules of, I'm sure if you go to a conference or whatever, or you talk to other podcasters, everybody's going to have their idea of what's correct.
[00:09:48] If just do interviews and stick to interviews or just do this and stick to this. And I don't do that. So I don't know if I'd be more successful if I did, or if I didn't. I think
[00:09:57] Shannon Hernandez: you, as I think you, as a radio broadcaster, this [00:10:00] is why I wanted to bring in my friends who are in radio broadcasting is because we you say, I don't know if there's rules or not, but.
[00:10:07] We as radio broadcasters, kinda we know the rules enough to know when to break them
[00:10:12] Amanda Valentine: really. Totally. And I feel like I, I borrow things that I have learned in radio, but also things that I feel like are anti radio. So the things that I brought into PA podcasting, one of the things that I love so much about podcasting, because just I quit my radio job at the end of 2019 to pursue this full-time.
[00:10:30] But because I, I. Do you listen to almost exclusively podcasts. And so that's just what I listened to and what what I enjoy and what I take from it. So I feel like one of the things that I do because of my radio background is I do very minimal editing. I'm not doing it. Doesn't sound like you're listening to the daily or two, this American life or anything like that.
[00:10:51] Or even just, a lot of these true crime podcasts. Mine is just very fluid. If people cough, I leave it in there. Because of my radio experience being so tight, like you got a minute and a half to talk and it's okay. It, cause I mostly done show is not like I'm always just on the air by myself.
[00:11:09] But even in those conversations, it's so heavily at a down, if we would interview an artist, we'd have a 15 minute interview and we'd whittle it down to 90 seconds. And so from that, I'm like, Oh, this just doesn't have room to breathe. So I took that into podcasting as my anti radio of, if you were just sitting in the room with two people, this is what the experience you'd get.
[00:11:30] You'd get all the ums, you get the, Oh, I brain farted, unless it's real bad then. And I'll edit it out. But that's, to me, what feels like more realistic than this highly polished thing of radio, which isn't bad. It's just that. But that's the choice I made in podcasting. But then I also bring borrow things that I've learned too, of like, how do people listen?
[00:11:52] What are habits like? What's a commute like, Oh, your commute is 10 to 20 minutes long. Then I'm going to put in some 2010 to 20 minute [00:12:00] long episodes. So you don't have to break it up. Like Joe Rogan, where you're going to have to, It's like putting on a second job to listen so freaking long.
[00:12:07] So it's yeah it's it's been a. A learning experience of what I take from re radio and what I choose to leave
[00:12:14] Shannon Hernandez: out. Yeah. And I think that's a really great point to make, because that is a question that gets asked on my YouTube channel. I'm sure it's going to be asked on this podcast and I get emails about, and people say what is the appropriate time for, or what's the appropriate length for a podcast?
[00:12:28] And we referenced it, in radio, we just, we leave. We just we just do it. It doesn't matter. There is the editing. Like I want to focus on this editing part that you brought up, because this is one of the things that. I think trips up a lot of podcasts. They say to me, God, it takes me like six to seven hours to edit a podcast.
[00:12:47] I'm like, Whoa, no they're like, there's no way you should be spending seven hours on one podcast just to get it out for the next week. If that's what you're planning on doing, there's no way. And then when I questioned them on what is it that you're struggling with? It's the ums, it's the us, it's the dead airspace.
[00:13:05] And then I try to communicate with them that it's not like podcasting doesn't have to be that way just because podcasters, some podcasters do that. Where there could be storytelling. Doesn't have to be the rule. It doesn't have to be your role if that's what you want it to sound like, then. Yeah. By all means, go through that.
[00:13:22] But that's going to take so much time. So determining your format in determining your format and. Getting over those humps of the technology side of podcasting. Did you find yourself frustrated at any point in time during the podcasting process or did it come certainly more natural to you? Because you were already in
[00:13:45] Amanda Valentine: radio.
[00:13:46] I feel like it came more naturally to me again, I think because of radio but also because of how much podcasts content I consume. I've been listening to podcasts for over a decade now. And and I just love that everybody has their own flavor. Again, [00:14:00] there's not any rule of I listen to plenty of podcasts that leave the and I have found that most people don't notice unless you're there.
[00:14:07] Person that's listed that you are interviewed and you're listening back. I'm sure if I listen back to this podcast, I'm going to hear myself. I'm like, God, man, how many crutches do you have? No one else is going to notice it. You know what I mean? You're just too cold to it. Yeah. I just think that it's all.
[00:14:20] Again, it was a personal choice. And if you listen back to it and again, have someone else listen to it because everybody is just too close to stuff like I'm too close to listening to my own podcast. I'll be like, Oh, that's trash. I hate that. That's my immediate kickback reaction is it's terrible.
[00:14:35] As long as there had been. Talking into a microphone since I was 16 years old, I'll still be like, Oh
[00:14:43] know, and what else? It'll give you real constructive criticism. That's not as close to it as you. Cause when you have a podcast, it's your baby. Like you care about it. So have someone else with different ears, listen, and be like, this sounded fine to me. Or or this, you might want to change this.
[00:15:00] This made me feel awkward or something. I just. I think that, yeah, I think everybody just gets hung up on what perfection is or whatever other people are doing. And I think that's it, as long as it's you like it doesn't matter. And I think, again, that's, what's so great about podcasting. If it's your choice and you're willing to be like somebody.
[00:15:18] Dogs, you want it. And you're like, I don't care. Then you're solid in what you're doing and you believe in it, then that's all you need.
[00:15:24] Shannon Hernandez: Now I want to go a little further into this because there, there is a self-confidence issue with podcasters that, who aren't, you're Joe Rogan's or whoever else may be, some business owner.
[00:15:35] And there's this issue of confidence and the YouTube channel generates a lot of this type of question is I hate. The sound of my own voice. I hate how it sounds. That is what's keeping me from podcasting. How do you overcome those? You know that hurdle of your voice sounding strange. I know [00:16:00] that when I first started just like you, your story is very similar to mine.
[00:16:03] When I was in junior high, I started listening to the radio station here in Phoenix, and then that was it. That was it. That was the thing. But when I recorded myself on the tape recorder, I hated the sound of my voice. When I got into radio, I hated the sound of my voice. How do you overcome that hurdle to build more confidence too?
[00:16:22] Create a podcast in and take the criticism as constructive as, and not as a dog.
[00:16:27] Amanda Valentine: I would say, it's just a lot of practice cause I was the same way and I even had one of my actually the first full-time job I had. First actually my first part-time radio job, I was told, I just sound too young.
[00:16:39] I sound too green, which is fair as a teenager. My first full-time job, my boss told me I also sounded too young and made me start smoking with him outside. That's a real store.
[00:16:50] Shannon Hernandez: Like you're talking like cigarettes,
[00:16:52] right?
[00:16:52] Amanda Valentine: Smoke some camels outside the ring station with him because he thought I sounded too young.
[00:16:56] I'm one.
[00:17:00] It's just yeah. I think that everybody hates. The sound of their own voice at first, it was just the more you do it, the more you get over it. So I think that you've, it's not just me and it's not just your voice. You look at somebody like Howard stern. It's not like he has this like big, booming radio.
[00:17:15] I got the pipe's voice, and I feel like that is so old school anyway. Like it doesn't. It absolutely does not matter what your voice sounds like. It's the content and everything falls back to what the content of what you have to say is people will look past an annoying, laugh to look past your voice as long as they appreciate and enjoy what you're saying.
[00:17:35] And that's, so you just have to know that in your heart anyway, and you're just going to have to listen to your voice. So much until you just get over it. I got to the point, I've been at the radio station, I was peeing in the bathroom and hearing my own voice, her thoughts, and it used don't even care anymore.
[00:17:50] And so you just have to do that. And then also, yeah. Just know that. And nobody's voice is perfect. And if Howard stern can make it [00:18:00] and he doesn't have that voice, then Oh my God, like why can't anybody? It comes with
[00:18:04] Shannon Hernandez: the territory. If this is what you want to do, this is just, you're going to have to hear your voice constantly.
[00:18:08] That's the thing. And I think positioning the, I guess that trying to position yourself out of that, I hate the sound of my own voice versus. How much impact do I want to make with my podcast? Do I want to entertain them? Do I want to educate them? What is that trade off for you? Are you going to worry more about your voice or are you going to worry more about creating content that people want to hear?
[00:18:30] Just like how yours is? A podcast like yours, like lb, this inspires, I don't know how many people. Around the nation around the world. You, I don't look at download numbers as the metric. Sometimes that determines the impact. It's more about the message that you are delivering with the podcast.
[00:18:53] Would you agree with that?
[00:18:55] Amanda Valentine: Oh, totally. And I think that's where people get really hung up on podcasts downloads and thinking first off, I think that if you're starting a podcast and you're doing it with the intention of making money, you're doing the wrong move because it's so much freaking work and you never know, like if there's going to be money behind it, especially at the current time of recording, this monetization of podcasting is so weird.
[00:19:18] Like it's, it's not the easiest thing to do. And I know that if you have like a. A hosting platform like Libsyn, they have to require what you get like 10,000 downloads or something like per episode before they'll even consider putting you into their monetization program or whatever.
[00:19:33] And even then it's just going to be like blue apron or something. Again, if you're doing great content in, you're doing something that's useful. People will pay you. I have a sponsorship for my podcast and I know that there's other people that have way less download numbers than me that also have sponsorships because they're so niche or niche, or however you want to say it, that they, that there's even if they have [00:20:00] 50 listeners to that podcast, if it's something that accompany finds value in, that those are 50.
[00:20:07] Barry diehard fans, and they will buy whatever you recommend. Or you're talking about, let's say it's fly fishing or something like that. That's 50 people that are going to buy a product if they are involved in a podcast. So that has nothing to do with downloads. It's just about, you having a passionate group of people.
[00:20:26] And if you think that if you showed up I hear this all the time about podcasting, where people are so bummed about the numbers of Oh my God, I only got a thousand downloads this month or whatever. It's
[00:20:36] Shannon Hernandez: it's geez, I would wish for a thousand downloads a month. Right?
[00:20:39] Amanda Valentine: If I went into.
[00:20:40] A room and a thousand people showed up to listen to me speak. That is something like that is freaking hard. If you've ever done any sort of live event, trying to get a thousand people to show up like good luck. And so to know that a thousand people made the choice to download your podcast is a win. Not Oh my God, it's not 2 million like Joe Rogan or whatever his numbers are.
[00:21:02] I don't know what his numbers are, but that, yeah, it's. Yeah. First, don't get hung up on monetization. Just worry about having fun, doing what you do, whatever your mission is, whatever your idea is and make sure you're following through. And you're consistent with that first. And then if you're worried about something like getting money then yeah.
[00:21:19] It's has, I don't think it has anything to do. So you're
[00:21:22] Shannon Hernandez: saying what you're saying is that. For this thing to work later down the line, if you decide to go down a monetization route and let me just say that monetization does not have to be in the area of a traditional sponsorship, like you're hearing on podcasts.
[00:21:40] It can be, it can come in many different forms. So what you're saying is that focus on the content to make it good to set yourself up later.
[00:21:52] Amanda Valentine: Yeah, totally. If you do those things will come to you. That's no guarantee, but out of anything, as long as you're having fun and you're proud of what you're [00:22:00] doing, like bed is the win.
[00:22:01] Like that needs to be the win. And this is a lesson I learned in radio as far as content goes is if you do the good content and you're not focused on the ratings or the money as. A personality, not as a salesperson or a GM or whatever, but if you're just focused on doing things that people will enjoy listening to the rest of the stuff will fall into place.
[00:22:23] And I think that's very true of podcasting like it's. Yeah. And also, I just think such a big piece of that too, is consistency because if you're not consistent, you're training people to bail on you. So if you say you're going to do once a week, do once a week. Or don't do it at all. Make sure you met because those followers or listeners that you do have, even if it's five, if you tell them you're going to do one thing and you don't, and you do that two or more times, you're gone, you're out of rotation.
[00:22:51] Shannon Hernandez: And when it comes down to consistency, do you think there are outside activities to help you jump into that consistent schedule for podcasting? So let's say for instance, I think maybe, where I'm going with this Would you say that taking up something that is a consistent activity outside of podcasting can really start carrying over into the consistency of your podcasts?
[00:23:12] Like for you? I would imagine it would be fitness and nutrition.
[00:23:17] Amanda Valentine: Yeah. And I think that it just goes into podcasting is because I care about it so much. So a lot of people would have, I don't know if you've ever gone into the phrase pod fading or. But pod fading or, by this point, to be three years into this, I think is a win in itself.
[00:23:31] And it's just because I chose a topic that I'm very passionate about and I care about because I do live that in my everyday life. I do care about the food that I care about, the exercise that I have, I care about helping other people. And so that keeps. The podcast fun and fresh for me. Are there times where I'm like, Oh God, I can't think of anything.
[00:23:51] And this sucks. So yeah, like it's just anything else, but there's never been a point in the past three years where I'm like, I'm going to stop doing this. Because I chose [00:24:00] something that is deeply ingrained in my life that I could talk about forever and that I could talk about all day long. And it has a lot of different topics and a lot of different people that I can talk to.
[00:24:12] And a lot of different areas. You talk about health. Wellness fitness, weight, loss, sleep hygiene, all of these sailing. Did not, pigeonhole myself to just say weight loss. So I would be able to be consistent with something and always have something to talk about. And I usually, this is my specific podcast.
[00:24:32] I know every, a lot of people are creating stories and they're not, everybody's like talking about their life. But I just feel and I lost my point.
[00:24:39] Shannon Hernandez: I'll just pick up from right there. Everyone has a they, everyone who creates a podcast has a purpose for their podcast.
[00:24:45] So if you want to create seasonal podcasts, you do 12 episodes. Wait a season. Just like you would see with I don't know, a game of Thrones or something like that. And then go onto the next one versus someone who is creating a daily podcast or, a three time a week podcast. Like you were.
[00:25:01] It's still some form of entertainment or education. That is, it could be that one podcast that you create that you think, God, it sucks. This is horrible. I have no idea what I'm going to talk about. And you just go off the rails and talk about the thing that you thought was not going to make an impact in.
[00:25:17] That happens to be the one podcast that people resonate with.
[00:25:20] Amanda Valentine: That happens every time this is a rule of my life is if it makes me feel like I'm gonna throw up, that means I'm supposed to do it. Yeah. And that's what I live by, like the episodes where I'm like, this is trash.
[00:25:31] I want to delete it. I hate this. I did. And I'm like, Ugh. Am. I make myself posted anyway, and those are always the ones that I get feedback on because having a podcast, you don't always get feedback. You don't know who's listening. Really. You don't know what they think. Unless you give them a reason to reach out to you, which sat being said, the podcasts that I love and I've paid for their VIP, I have.
[00:25:54] Bought their crap as Keith and the girl I've listened to them for over a decade. And I [00:26:00] never sent them an email. I've never given them any feedback. I don't even know if I've written a review on iTunes. Oops. As a mega fan, I don't reach out to them. So the fact that that you do something. That people would contact you over.
[00:26:14] I think again, that's such a huge win. And is it like a thousand people or people like falling at your knees over it? No, but it's but you made, you evoked an enough of emotion, whether good or bad in somebody to make them contact you and go out of it. It's huge.
[00:26:30] Shannon Hernandez: And it's like when I was a teacher wasn't I was a high school teacher.
[00:26:34] And, you go into every day and you teach students whatever lesson it is for that day. And you wonder, am I even making an impact with these kids? Am I helping them do whatever it is that will help them become a better human being in the next five years or whatever. And little did I know back then that.
[00:26:53] There was some form of an impact. It did not necessarily come in education. It came in the relationship that I was building with those students. And because I have run into students now, since I've been in radio full time that they come back to me and they say you were one of my favorites teachers, not because you were my favorite because you were the human being that I could relate to.
[00:27:13] And you're still that human being that I can relate to. So trying to become someone else other than who you are on your podcast might be. It, it doesn't resonate as well. Just like how you do with your favorite podcasts. You clearly are our fan of that podcast. And yet you haven't communicated with them.
[00:27:31] You haven't sent them a note or anything like that. So I think that is the lesson that we have to learn here for other podcasts. Is that, that one episode that you don't want to put up should be the one that you're actually putting up. It should be the one that you're. You're pushing yourself to the next limit.
[00:27:46] I think you get that probably from your nutrition and exercise and all.
[00:27:51] Amanda Valentine: Yeah, it's just and then for me, I just share so much, Personal stuff that's the stuff that's Oh my God, am I going to be judged for this? Which is really why anybody [00:28:00] is afraid to put anything up, whether it's about you or not.
[00:28:02] It's still coming from your brain. It's coming from your heart. It's something that you created. And it's really scary to put like your little baby into the world. And you're just afraid people are going to crap on it. And. Sometimes people do. And that's just part of the game, because again, if they do, this is a lesson from radio, you still evoked an emotion, even if they trash you and they write a bad review, which sucks in like you hold onto that you can't help it.
[00:28:28] But it also, they still went out of their way to listen to it. And they went out of their way. To crap on it. So you sparked something in them and that's ultimately a win, even though it doesn't feel good, but anytime in radio, we, you get haters or complainer's or anything like that. Like at least the good bosses I had are like, you're doing it right.
[00:28:51] Shannon Hernandez: Because yeah. The answer that I give to people who hate my, my, my program on the radio, or whether it be this podcast or my YouTube channels, like you have every opportunity to not. Watch listen to anything that I do, but thank you for listening, because it means so much to me,
[00:29:08] Amanda Valentine: like it's easy to turn everything off or unsubscribe or delete or change the station, so yeah.
[00:29:15] They're they, you they care.
[00:29:17] Shannon Hernandez: Yeah. So thank you can keep listening. I like, if you want to keep hating, keep listening because it's, you're just helping me out. I really appreciate that. I want to talk to you about. This area where I want to go back into downloads and revenue, but I don't want to talk about downloads and revenue.
[00:29:32] I want to talk about the opportunities that you have opened up for yourself in terms of merchandise. So you and I just as a reference for the audience, do you and I met about, I think a year and a half ago, and it was. As a result of an email that your program director had reached out to someone in my market and Phoenix, looking for someone who was going to be talking about.
[00:29:55] Podcasting and needed some help with maybe possibly a YouTube channel. You just were exploring.
[00:29:59] Amanda Valentine: Yeah, [00:30:00] I was asking it because I had saw that your station Blake was doing stuff on Twitch. Oh yeah. I was wondering, because I do on my Instagram every Sunday I show my meal prep process and I was wondering if that was worth going on Twitch or doing a YouTube thing, or I'm like, I'm not going to put all this extra work into something.
[00:30:18] Cause this is all, this podcast and everything. For years was my side hustle. And so I'm like, this is, do I want to invest in this? I don't know how this works. Yeah. So we reached out to you. Yeah. So you, I
[00:30:30] Shannon Hernandez: mean, that was it. You reached out to me and we started we started the conversation.
[00:30:33] We started the communication process and this is when I started learning all about you. You're wildly inspirational for a lot of people. But one of the things that you started doing that I noticed that you had already been doing was this process of meal prepping. Can you explain to the audience what that is and how it has opened up opportunities for you down the line?
[00:30:53] Amanda Valentine: I've been I've learned through my own weight loss journey that I'm just meal prepping helps me of just basically what I do is take a Sunday and make everything for the week, which They're not for everybody. And I'll fill a lot of people. Don't like making the same things everyday.
[00:31:05] Don't worry. I have all the facts for that. I'm not going to go all into that stuff, but it's from just a couple of years into my own weight loss journey, I just learned that. That's helpful to me. If the food's already made, when I opened the fridge is not digging around and making bad choices.
[00:31:19] I ultimately do it because I'm lazy. So it's not everybody's Oh my God, it's so motive, you have so much motivation and you're such a hard worker. I'm like, do it. Cause I don't want to do that stuff. Turn my brain off. And From that's something that I did before I started doing it on Instagram.
[00:31:33] I just did a couple of Facebook lives of showing my meal prep process. And it was just beyond successful where I was like, man, that many people just want to watch me like cook chicken on a Sunday. Like it's interesting. And so what I, when I started to being consistent about it on Instagram which is also my advice for social media because I had shown a little bit of it.
[00:31:55] After. This is already after I started this podcast. This started as a new year's resolution in [00:32:00] 2019 to make it more consistent was I try to use my social media is how is it helping somebody? There's so many influencers and stuff like that, and they don't give you a damn thing. They're like buy my thing or whatever.
[00:32:13] Look at my hot ass. And I'm like, okay, but how is that helping me? I'm like, you look great, but what is that helping? How is this helping me at all? It's not, you're not giving me anything. And so I'm like what can I give to people? And people are interested in it. How do you meal prep? And what are your recipes?
[00:32:31] Are you making up? And use that as they're going to keep coming back to me because I'm giving you something. And every Sunday, since. New years of 2019, I show my meal prep process on Sundays and I try to make it really fun also because meal prepping doesn't have to be a snooze Fest, like a mess around with tiny hands and scream at my animals, like dance around the kitchen and show me shutting off smoke alarms.
[00:32:58] Like it's not, it's just like real life sort of stuff. And because of that, it's also shown, I would guess in a world right now, you think that people aren't appointment setting because everything is so on demand that I can listen to his podcast whenever I want. I can watch this TV show on Netflix whenever I want, but for this it's only lives on my stories for 24 hours from Sunday into Monday.
[00:33:19] So it is appointment setting. Once it's gone. So you've got to be there and. The analytics that follow that definitely refresh, reflect that. The numbers that I have of people viewing my stories on a Sunday, sometimes quadruple. And so it's. I, because of that, I'm like I, haven't created a very highly engaged segment that can be sold.
[00:33:43] And so I can sell sponsorships or, Hey, do you want to be a part of this? And put me put a swipe up in the middle of this. And that was just one of my, it was never my intention starting that's not what I started it for, but it might've became that because. It's so useful to people. And that's also the [00:34:00] time that I promote my podcast the most if you ever watch my meal preps on the, on Instagram, you will notice here are links to my podcasts that came out this week.
[00:34:07] I have a podcast. Don't forget. I have a podcast. So it's not only, it can be a tool to make money from. Other potential clients, which I have, but it's also just to promote me. And when I'm promoting my podcast and more people listen to my podcasts, that also gives me another opportunity for revenue of not only do people watch me on this Instagram page, which could Instagram could get shut down tomorrow when it's gone.
[00:34:31] And that's, what's scary about social media. The podcast is mine. So as long as I'm dragging some of those people over to know, I have a podcast, I still have people here. Or I will, I haven't done this in a while, engage people to sign up for my newsletter. So I have an email list and everything like that.
[00:34:48] So it's. That's how that kind of, where I talked about how having the social media and the podcast where they help each other out it's, that's how they some people find the podcast first will follow me on Instagram or they'll find me in Instagram and follow and listen to the podcast.
[00:35:02] And it's. That I have found is the best way to use social media for it. And not just to be like, here's my podcast episode, because that doesn't really do anything for people. I am not a fan of the audio grams or whatever they're called. Yeah. I personally never listened to them all. It looked like wave forms and I scroll right past it.
[00:35:20] I've never heard anything that made me want to listen to the episode. This is my own personal take, add At a podcast con or a podcast movement last year, someone from Ted talks and NPR talked about how those also were unsuccessful for them. And the only thing that was successful for them was if it was a video that.
[00:35:39] Again, helped somebody. If you're giving somebody a moment of help in that, and that will intrigue them to listen to more. So again, if you're going to use social media, which I think a lot of podcasters do as your main driver to let people know here's a podcast to listen, to make that social media valuable within itself.
[00:35:57] And once you're giving people value, then you know that they [00:36:00] can find even more value on a podcast pimping out. I talked to this week,
[00:36:05] Shannon Hernandez: right. And that's where I think I liked the idea of the meal prep that you were doing, because I try to give this example with. Podcasters and anyone who's looking to go into that realm of, yeah.
[00:36:17] If I want to monetize, you're going to monetize, but will you make a million dollars out of it? Maybe not. Unless you're selling a training course and you really got a highly engaged email list. And even then I have found that the training courses that I have bought into where it has been someone that, this teaching me how to do.
[00:36:36] I don't know, video editing or start a business or whatever it may have been. Was it fell short with the questions that I had. So when it came down to watching you doing your meal preps, I thought this is like going to Costco and getting the sample. And tasting the sample and going, Oh, I like that a little Totino's pizza roll, that was good.
[00:37:01] I'm going to go back and get another couple of samples, get another couple samples. And then pretty soon it's I like these enough to where I'm just going to go get the whole box, and so when I saw your. Meal prep. I was like, this is just her going a version of what Costco does. She gives them a sample of what she's doing, but you go far more in depth.
[00:37:20] Sometimes your stories run deep, they run deep and you learn the exact process. And then you do say those things, like by the way, I have a podcast, what better way than to peak someone's interest and to say. Hey, I'm showing you how to cook something, but I have also talked about the reasons why maybe I have cooked this.
[00:37:39] And I talked to this person, who's a nutritionist on my podcast, which is so great. Mike is brilliant.
[00:37:46] Amanda Valentine: And you just get a vibe of who I am of like my personality. If you like this, if you enjoy this, then listen to me, talk in deep dive stuff. And that's where something that's gone on for me in the past couple months, because 2020 is a [00:38:00] trash fire that I have been really struggling with depression.
[00:38:05] And I've never really struggled with this before, like where the color feels grained out of life. And I'm like, I'm having a hard time dealing. And it's like one of those things where everything's going great. Like how come this sucks so much and how come I can't stop crying today? And it's that said something that I can I could, but I don't want to go into on Instagram.
[00:38:23] That's something that I am going into. On my podcast, because that affects my healthy lifestyle. And so by me, going into these deep don't remind a couple like a month ago, I've just balled on a podcast and I'm like, should I delete this? And I didn't, I'm glad I didn't, because it's one of those things where I'm like the people that have reached out to me from that has, it's just been insane.
[00:38:43] Again, I'm like being those vulnerable moments, but it's also where I've touched about that a little bit on Instagram. Of Hey, things are changing for me right now. I'm shifting around what I'm doing and that's because I am dealing with some depression or I'm dealing with something right now, please listen to my podcast.
[00:39:00] So you can hear me explain this because no one wants to hear that like an Instagram stories or whatever in the I can't even. What am I going to do? Post a picture of me holding like a pill bottle,
[00:39:11] Shannon Hernandez: right? It's not a laughing matter, but I get what you're saying,
[00:39:15] Amanda Valentine: but it's also one of those things where that is deeply affecting a lot of people this year.
[00:39:21] And that's an, a very important topic. And, if people that generally wouldn't listen to my podcast, we're happy to see this meal prep or whatever, and that lesson of but they care about you. They, again, the connection, they just, they develop a relationship with you. And I'm like, Hey guys, I want you to know.
[00:39:38] What's going on with me right now. Here's an episode about this. If you con, if you want to know more about what's going on with me right now, and then they'll, we'll go listen to that podcast. And then just then that deepens that relationship with them on a podcast to listen to more has where they, it works really well, where it's I sometimes you can express yourself and be on, in, on social media more.
[00:39:58] And sometimes it's in the podcast [00:40:00] more, at least for me. And I'll, you can. Yeah, balanced them out and have them use each other. Sure.
[00:40:06] Shannon Hernandez: Now let's move into this area of we talked about the meal prep, but now this has opened up some different areas of your life which you know, are not necessarily depressing, but they are also they're more about.
[00:40:19] Branding for yourself. And this was something that really I was so happy that this was existing for you. You have come out with your own coffee with a part you've partnered, I believe with someone. So tell me a little bit about this partnership and tell me a little bit about the products that you have done that help you.
[00:40:35] Amanda Valentine: While I started with, with me leaving the radio station and then having a plan and for like, how do I, launch into an entrepreneur, which I've never done before. I don't know anything about business. This has been a very much a growth
[00:40:47] Shannon Hernandez: here. A big tip for you. Most entrepreneurs don't know what the hell they're doing.
[00:40:51] Amanda Valentine: Oh, I know. That's what everybody tells me. And that's, what I've really learned too is just entrepreneurs are so my people. The most passionate, caring people that are also Oh my God, I'm going to lay in the road today.
[00:41:05] So
[00:41:05] Shannon Hernandez: true.
[00:41:06] Amanda Valentine: So true. But so through that I started an LLC the end of last year.
[00:41:12] And I started that as Amanda Valentine Bites. And it's one of them is bites has multiple reasons of just like pound. This kind of sounds like porn, and so does multiple things. And and plus it was just a wink to myself that working in radio, I've never owned myself. I've never owned my own name.
[00:41:30] It was always owned by someone else. And now I own my own name, which is fine. And so it just. Starting some of those products were things that came up during the process of me doing all of this and things that I couldn't do on my own. And so I'm like, I w I really is such a big believer in small business.
[00:41:49] And just, I'm all about helping these small businesses. Again, I just love entrepreneurs. And so one of them I had worked with was a seasoning company. And we had talked about making stuff together, [00:42:00] doing stuff together, and I'm like, Oh, I just really can't. And then when it came out to me being my own business, I'm like, Hey, let's do something together.
[00:42:08] We originally talked about, cause I say on my meal prep all the time, chicken titty chicken seasoning. But that wasn't where they were at the time. So we came out with a bagel seasoning, which was. Super cool. And I still think is one of the coolest experiences. So what they did is they came up with multiple formulations, would send them to me and like packets that were like one, two, three, and then I would tell them which one was my favorite.
[00:42:29] And we did that multiple times until we honed down the one that I really liked, which was cool. So it's like a collaboration, which that's was the whole thing was. That's been really successful. Those guys are freaking great. And yeah I just love that they are willing to work with me and how we we've sold a lot of bagel seasoning this year, and I know from people that listened to my podcast and follow me on Instagram is just, again, it's just.
[00:42:52] Yeah, the secret for me is like of healthy eating is you don't, it doesn't have to be this plain ass chicken, broccoli, rice, even though I actually like that, it's all in how you season things or, how you make them. And I think, everything, bagel seasoning, I eat an insane amount of it.
[00:43:07] So to have like my own that I actually prefer than any other one that I've had is super cool. So there's that then that's available now the coffee was another thing too with them. A local coffee shop here. And that it w it was interesting to, we came up with the concept of cause I'm always in a bad zone with coffee.
[00:43:28] Oh, I
[00:43:29] Shannon Hernandez: understand,
[00:43:29] Amanda Valentine: Man. And we talked about my favorite, my having my favorite blend there and selling that too of cause I'm a believer of using coffee versus a pre-workout that's a bunch of chemicals and crap. And so it's here's another option of things that. You know of not only just promoting other people's products, which I will only do, and I've done this my entire career that I actually really believe in and I use, I won't pimp out something just for a buck.
[00:43:54] And that, I love this coffee shop. I think you should use coffee as a pre-workout versus [00:44:00] using just a powder mix from some company that I, who knows what the hell is in there. The thing with this, here's a handcrafted bagel seasoning where you're supporting a local business or a small business.
[00:44:10] If you don't live here in Cincinnati. And like you both were in then super successful in something I'm really proud of too is soon as the pandemic hit I came up with the idea and pitched it to the hospital. Who's a sponsor of my podcast and the coffee company of let's really help the health care workers.
[00:44:26] How can we help the health care workers? How about can people buy bags of the coffee? And we donate it to, people on the frontline so they can stay caffeinated and motivated. And through that, so through that, we, that was really successful for a month. Until people stop caring about healthcare workers, but when people really cared about health care workers, pandemic we had.
[00:44:50] Hundreds of pounds of coffee that went to the hospital to help frontline workers. So then there was a way of not only supporting small business and the things that I believe in, but it's then it's also helping the community. It's just been really cool and those things wouldn't have happened.
[00:45:03] I couldn't create those things on my own. Again, it's just through the people I've met through my podcast. Every connection that I've made it as very meaningful to me right now is all from my podcasts. I've interviewed people that have recommended me to people or reached out. And again, the networking you can find from just doing your own podcasting is amazing too.
[00:45:21] And through that networking, I was able to create these products that I would have never dreamed of or could ever possibly really do on my
[00:45:29] Shannon Hernandez: own. So the main lesson here is to say do your podcast regardless, what other people think. Continue to push, just push at it every single day, work at it every single day.
[00:45:41] Am I wrong or right,
[00:45:43] Amanda Valentine: or what? Yeah, totally. Yeah, I would just, I would say that. Do it as long as you have passion for it, the moment that, you don't like, I even do this too, even with three episodes a week. And I am try to be fiercely consistent with that. If there is a time that I just don't feel it and [00:46:00] I don't have a podcast for that day, I'm like, I'm not going to put out crap just so I can stick to it.
[00:46:05] You know what I mean? I'm like, I'm going to choose to take a break that day because I would rather. Skip a day and be a little inconsistent than to put out something that I'm just putting to put out there. So I think it's, yeah, it's important that you're it, that you just do it to the point where you're like, This is good.
[00:46:23] This is what I want to put out there. I'm not doing this because I said I was going to do a podcast and Oh, just crank it out.
[00:46:28] Shannon Hernandez: Amanda Valentine. Part of the podcast. I'm sorry, the pound, this podcast. Pardon me? Pardon me? Pardon? The porno part of podcast. I can't go. Can't get it right. Okay. Oh Amanda, how can people get in touch with you if they want to check out your podcast and your Instagram?
[00:46:45] Amanda Valentine: My I have a couple websites. It's poundthis.com also not porn, amandavalentinebites.com. The podcast is wherever you listen to podcasts, it's everywhere. And my Instagram is @youcanpoundthis (http://www.instagram.com/youcanpoundthis), which sounds even more.
[00:47:00] Shannon Hernandez: But it's very catchy and people like to look at it. I know. I check it out.
[00:47:05] So thank you so much for being on today's podcast. I really appreciate
[00:47:09] Amanda Valentine: it. Thank you so much for
[00:47:10] Shannon Hernandez: having me not a problem. We'll talk to you soon.
[00:47:12] Amanda Valentine: Okay. Later.
