Positively Midlife Podcast

The Road Ahead in 2023 - Ep. 30

January 02, 2023 Ellen and Tish Season 2 Episode 30
Positively Midlife Podcast
The Road Ahead in 2023 - Ep. 30
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Show Notes Transcript

Ellen and Tish learned a lot from starting their midlife-centered podcast in 2022.    After 29 episodes in the first season,  they chat about the four big ah-ha moments and why they changed the name of the podcast, and what's in store for the second season in 2023.

Things we talked about in this episode: Buzzsprout, Meyer lemons,  Pat Flynn, limoncello,  deer, collapsable Christmas trees, downsizing holidays in midlife, storage, Amazon, and more.

Obsessions:
Tish:  Midlife holiday decoration downsizing with the Pop-Up Christmas Tree
Ellen: Meyer lemons - Ellen gets her first batch of lemons from her Meyer lemon tree! 

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Website: www.thepositivelymidlifepodcast.com
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Tish Woods:

Happy New Year. I cannot believe this is our first podcast of 2023. And we've got a new name too. We've certainly learned so much from starting this podcast and sharing our midlife journey with you and the world. And the one thing I'm taking away from the first year are the three themes we've come back to threw out every episode in one way or another, embrace midlife with positivity, health and well being is a midlife journey, and friendships and relationships. They hold the key to so much at midlife. But I'm adding a big dose of flexibility to that to Tish.

Ellen Gustafson:

Oh, yes. Well, I am shocked that we are kicking off 2023. And I think you really nailed it on those three driving themes that we've talked about, no matter what the episode has really been about. And I know we'll talk more about the name change, too. But Ellen, can you believe that we've been doing our podcast for now six months?

Tish Woods:

No way. It's, you know what, it has been so fun. And so crazy what a journey to get here. Tish, almost 30 episodes back there and season one for us. And we've covered so much ground and learned a lot from this experience, too.

Ellen Gustafson:

Time has definitely flown by. And you know, I was thinking back to when we first started this, okay. And we had this dream of sharing and inspiring others, especially women that are coming into this midlife time. And we wanted to really get people to think about how could they live their life with intention, like really good intention, and just fill it with joy. And I don't know if it was golf, or just stupidity. But we thought we could do this without any podcast experience at all. We just jumped right in, like all in because well, that's how we roll isn't it? I know no dipping our toes for us. It really was kind of this Go Big or Go Home mentality. I think that drove us right from the very beginning. And I think what is most exciting is you know what we were willing to learn and be really transparent about it, too. We were willing to move forward, we fell down, we got back up. And we just kept work on I think it was really the gist of it was just to do it a little bit better each and every time.

Tish Woods:

So true. And you know, I think another thing that was really important for us was to take our tribe on this journey with us. And it really wasn't about being perfect. Our friends and family, especially our Trinity family has supported us so much and really jumped in the deep end with us on this too.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yeah, and I think doing this podcast was really about starting a conversation with other women like us. Just talking about all these changes in midlife. Yep. And so today, we're going to share some of what we learned about starting this podcast and share about our surprising name change to the positively midlife podcast but before we get there, you know I love to talk about our weekly obsessions. Tish, what do you got for me here in the first week of 2023? What do you got for me?

Tish Woods:

Okay, so the first week of 2023 I'm gonna look back a little bit because I think a lot of us are starting to put our Christmas decorations away and pack everything up and, and whatnot. And well, I have this group text of my local girlfriend's here. We call it the Tiga Cay girls, even though all of us don't live into UK, but we call the Tiga Cay girls and several of them were talking about this new Christmas tree that they have. And I'm absolutely obsessed about it, because it's a collapsible Christmas tree. So with a flick of a switch, it goes from being the size of a wreath to growing into a seven foot tree. And then if you do that, you can turn it off and it collapses. So if you think about it, you know, is we're starting to downsize and our midlife you know, we don't have tons of this attic space to to have boxes and boxes and boxes of Christmas stuff. One of my friends rents a storage unit, just for all her Christmas decorations. That's how many she has. That's insane, right? I know other people like that too. And it's not just Christmas, I wonder if your friend has Halloween. I mean, there's there's many holidays to decorate for.

Ellen Gustafson:

So during this midlife something that, like, can actually, you can take it down yourself. You don't have to have the kids over to help you hauling this stuff. But this collapsible Christmas tree, and we're gonna put a link for one on Amazon, I'm telling you, if you're ready to switch out a tree or go from the real ones to an artificial, this is the deal for you for midlife. So that's my obsession.

Tish Woods:

I know why you're obsessed. And I do think a lot of us are downsizing our holiday decorations. But also, like you said, wanting to be able to do it on our own. Right. I think that's another big part of it. So yes, we will post a link to that. And Tish has a few photos that she'll share on our social Yes, of of her friends tree, which look beautiful.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yes. Well, what about you, Ellen, what is your obsession for this week?

Tish Woods:

Well, my obsession is something called a Meyer lemon. And these are lemons that are kind of a combination of a lemon and a mantra in orange. And a good friend gifted me a Meyer lemon tree a few years ago. And this is the first time I got five lemons from my Meyer lemon tree. So big haul is a big hall and I'm going to do something special with them. I don't know I wish I had enough to make some lemon cello. But you and I talked about me kind of slicing them and and doing some things like that with some sugar. So we'll see what I do. But they are so fragrant. And so beautiful. Have you had one Tish

Ellen Gustafson:

I've never had one. I've heard a lot about the Meyer lemons, I've got to go out and try one I got to go to one of these specialty grocery stores and get one just to try it out and maybe try some different things. Now let me ask you do you have to have them in pairs? Do they have to like you know how you have to have some things and it has to be a pair so it can pollinate each other something? Do you need that? Are you can you just grow one? No.

Tish Woods:

This one is all on its lonesome. And last year a deer got through my fence and a baby deer and ate it down to a nubbin. That's why it's the first year that I'm getting anything from it. But it's survived pretty hearty. And I'm excited. I do have a couple of other citrus trees in my yard. And I think I've talked about the fig before. So this is a nice addition.

Ellen Gustafson:

Well, I can't wait to see what you end up doing with yours. Well, Alan, I think we need to start this big year with our big new news about our name change and rebranding, and why we decided to make these changes.

Tish Woods:

You're right. I mean, we are entering a new year with a new name. We are now positively midlife the podcast. And when we launched our podcast, I know we're going to talk about this more. But we were learning as we went along. And one of the steps was naming the podcast and part of that process was to do a trademark search and get a business license. And you know, funny enough, our initial search was clear. But we learned later that those initial searches are just not sufficient. You really do need some legal assistance on getting a full search. And this was one area that we should not have rushed through. But we were just super excited to get started. And so we can no longer use our former name.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yeah, so we were contacted by the owner of the trademark that we were kind of infringing on them, that we didn't know it, and that we needed to change our name, you know, we got what was referred to as a cease and desist. And the owner of the trademark was very gracious with us, I have to say that because the original request was we had 10 days. And we thought that's not enough time to do all we need to do to switch things around. And we wrote back and said, you know, would you please give us a little bit more time so we can properly without rushing this time? You know, change everything over? And you know, I have to say they were very agreeable to that arrangement. So definitely a big thanks for giving us the extra time. No, it's true. So we had to quickly make changes and big lesson learned and we're going to talk about this a little bit more in it as we move forward with the podcast here today. But we decided to go with our new name that was keeping really with the essence of who we are and what we feel our podcast is about and our podcast. Has is really all about positive positivity and a positive twist, twist excuse me on approaching midlife. So positively midlife felt perfect to me. How about you? Tish?

Tish Woods:

You know, it does. And I just mentioned it to another friend that I play pickleball with. And she said, You know, I like it. I like that I love the new name. So I was excited to hear that. So hopefully you come that it's a clean transition for people to come over to our new name. But But Ellen, do you remember when we wanted to start a podcast? And we went back and watch this 10 part video series from our platform Buzzsprout, which I can't say enough about, we could never have done this without them. I've got to say that Buzzsprout is amazing. We have links, if you're ever thinking about a podcast, we have links for you to to use them to set up. Definitely say that, but we jumped right in and we just did the launch. We just did it. It cracks me up that we took right in. And, you know, we did listen to the advice from other people that we found online like Pat Flynn, this kind of podcast guru on YouTube. And you know, one thing we heard over and over again, was to just start it, and you'll get better over time. So true.

Ellen Gustafson:

Oh, yeah. And again, not everybody agreed with that decision of our thriller. No, no, it's a little rough. But we really did listen to Pat, who said look, in the beginning, you're just gonna sound bad. Just get over it. Just keep doing it. Keep doing it. He even on one of his podcasts played his first episode. And he goes, it's bad. And it wasn't good. It wasn't good. But, you know, every time he just worked on getting a little bit better. And so that's what the advice we really took from such a great expert is Pat. And, you know, so I look back at this year. And I would say that there were four top key lessons that we learned, kind of these takeaways that anyone can do, or kind of learn from our experiences. If they're considering wanting to have their own podcast.

Tish Woods:

I know. Well, I'll jump right in with the number one I'm not sure this is the top but just the first one that comes to my mind is that you first and foremost need to know what you want to talk about and who the audience is. And I think taking that time at the beginning to have a clear vision and a clear message of what we wanted to do did really work for us. I mean, Tish, don't you think that we are embracing just this unique, positive midlife message, which is really part of our personalities and who we are.

Ellen Gustafson:

Oh, yeah, I think we were that was one thing we were super clear of what we wanted to have the podcast message to be about that positive message. And who our audience was. You can't you everyone's not your audience, your audiences. And everybody you have to figure out really? Who are you speaking to? And speak to them?

Tish Woods:

Yeah. And I think we have been getting so much feedback across the different episodes that something we said made somebody really think about something really reflect or change something about their mid life, kind of it could have even made their day. Yeah. And let's face it, Ellen, you and I were just storytellers, we've always been storytellers. We wanted to share some of these great stories by people who inspire us. I know in tissue always asked me, What's the story? We're talking about an episode? I think we both love the story.

Ellen Gustafson:

Absolutely. I think the biggest thing I've learned, though, is growing and launching a podcast is really how much work it is, you know, it's so much more work than you think it's going to be. I always like to refer to it as a labor of love.

Tish Woods:

I like that word labor. Yeah, it is harder than you think. And it's not just creating the episode content. So you really have to understand things across social media across some technical things, you know, and I think that was really surprising to both of us.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yeah, but we just kept learning, right. And we started to develop this great toolbox. So we were looking at what are the right tools, and how do we use them? And you know, I have to name I think, again, you know, our number one resource or resource that we couldn't have lived without would be

Tish Woods:

BUZZSPROUT

Ellen Gustafson:

I mean, If they really if you if you know nothing about podcasting, and you just think this is something for you, that has to be your first resource, they have so much there to help you go step by step. Yeah.

Tish Woods:

I agree. And you are only as good as your tools. But I'm telling you Buzzsprout they held our hands through this right? Tish? I mean, I would put it that way. Yep. They were there with steps 1,2,3,4. There. That's where we started. Absolutely. All right. The other thing that was really important to me, I think, you know, number three, if I could say was learning from experts, and doing the research, you know, Pat Flynn, again, throwing him out there, because he really taught us a lot. Don't wait to be perfect to launch, you're going to be horrible in the beginning, just keep doing it. Because that's the only way you will get better. But we really turn to a lot of people who had successful podcasts, and who were out there. So a lot of research that that the two of us did, I think really helped us out.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yeah, just I think we just really approached it with this attitude. We're gonna keep learning and growing. And, you know, figuring out what did we like best about, you know, the last thing we did? And how could we do it a little bit better? Yeah, I think it was, you know, it was hard for us to launch. But when I look back at those first six episodes, and with a bit of bravado that we just, we just kept going, we didn't care and people, we didn't always get super positive feedback. You know, some friends were like, oh, no, no, we're learning we're learning. And so I'm glad we kind of really hung on to that, because it really did see us through,

Tish Woods:

you know, and I do want to just add there, we had a lot of friends that gave us a lot of feedback. And it really came from the heart. And we appreciated every bit of it.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yes, some, you know, some of it was a little hard to hear, you know, was that Ooh, really Oh, but even if we didn't agree with, say, their opinion on where we should go with things, there was still something in there that we learned from each piece of feedback. And so it's not always easy for a friend to tell you things that are hard to hear. But a real friend is going to tell you what you need to hear. And we took those little nuggets, and we grew from them. So whether it was positive, or, you know, had some constructive criticism. You've heard it all, we took it in, and then we ebbed. But still we held when we held with this, you know, again, about, you know, some people thought we should do this different or that different, but we held with our original, we wanted to keep things positive. And so I'm glad we stuck with that as well, though. Me too. Okay, so I think too, we needed to know what direction you're headed in. So if you're thinking of doing a podcast, you really need to have a good idea of where is it you're going and, you know, you also need to be able to be flexible enough to be able to pivot. Okay, so we had a good idea of where our direction was. But yeah, we had to be open to making adjustments as we went.

Tish Woods:

You know, it's true. And sometimes you have no choice, but to pivot. And that's where our name change came in, you know, and I think we really took it as an opportunity to come up with something that fit us possibly even better.

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, I think so I think at first, it really hit us hard that we felt we had done all this work, and and were we going to have to start over or something, but that just kind of just like midlife in general, we embrace that we had to make changes. Yeah, it was just what it was. And we dug in and we move forward. And you know what I really do like our new name and our branding. I really liked that as well.

Tish Woods:

I know, we dug deep, I have to say and moved forward. And I think here, you know, at the end of 2022 it really gave us a good kind of inflection point. Right. And we are super excited to start this year with our new name and our new brand, but the same old podcast in a way, right? Tish

Ellen Gustafson:

it is. So it was bittersweet with the name change. But again, we embrace that change and we move forward. And yeah, we're gonna go positively with it.

Tish Woods:

I think we could make a whole bunch of jokes around this in a way right but so 2023 Here we come the positively midlife podcast with Ellen and Tish, yay.

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, we have so much in store for this new year, more amazing guests that are going to be coming, more challenges that we're going to have for each other, just more things that help us just to be healthier, and happier in this new year coming.

Tish Woods:

I agree. And you know what we're gonna have to check in on a few of these challenges. I remember surfing and salsa dancing, and there were a few others. But of course, we are going to have more obsessions. You know how much I love the obsessions. This year, we're gonna list them all on our new website that we're going to be launching soon. So that's exciting, too.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yeah. So if you've ever struggled with facing changes, or, you know, challenges, you know, positively mid life, we want that to be like your go to place to get that piece of bravery to go forward. We want it to be a place where you come and get inspired. And and I just really want to be that little piece of motivation, that someone's like, Yes, I can do it, too.

Tish Woods:

I love that. And we are the place to find a tribe of women lifting each other up and our podcasts, we're going to be funny. And as you said, we're going to be brave, we're going to be smart, informative, and just like everyone's midlife, full of changes, and sometimes there are unexpected changes.

Ellen Gustafson:

Opening up and starting 2023 With just a lot of love and gratitude for our tribe of amazing listeners who have been through the first six months.

Tish Woods:

And a big thank you to everyone who listened to our guests who came through for us when we were just at the beginning newbies out there. And just everyone for being there for us. I cannot wait to see what we have in store this year. So please join us on Instagram or Facebook and drop us a line so we know more about you and what you'd like us to explore so we can bring you more episodes that you'll enjoy here in 2023. Till next time. Wait, it's until next year right. Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year to everyone.

Ellen Gustafson:

See you on the podcast next time.