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EPISODE SUMMARY:
Ever wonder what it's like to start and keep a podcast going? For my 100th episode I'm celebrating by sharing some insights, lessons learned, surprising benefits, and the greatest challenges I've faced so far hosting a radio broadcast and podcast show.
Today we are celebrating the 100th episode of The Hard Skills!! It is no easy feat to show up consistently like this and plan things out each week, it’s also a great topic for this Season’s Focus on Endurance in Leadership. To celebrate 100 episodes, I’m going to “keep it 100” for you - I’m sharing:
- 3 reasons I started podcasting
- 4 insights about the time and cost resources needed
- 3 challenges about finding the right guests
- 4 unexpected benefits
- 3 mistakes and blunders
- 4 surprising successes, and
- what I have found tp be the hardest part
That’s 22 insights and lessons learned over the course of the 100 episodes I’ve done. So come join me and get the inside peek behind the scenes!
www.gotowerscope.com
:#BehindTheScenes #PodcastingLife #TheHardSkills
Tune in for this empowering conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
In this episode of The Hard Skills, Dr. Mira Brancu celebrates the 100th episode and reflects on the endurance required for leadership, emphasizing consistency in tackling the most crucial tasks over time. She shares key insights from her journey, including the importance of deep, meaningful conversations for personal and professional growth, and the value of navigating challenges while maintaining commitment to long-term goals. Dr. Brancu also reveals her personal decision to transition to a full-time entrepreneurial path, highlighting the role of learning and growth in making tough career choices, and offers practical advice for leaders seeking balance between ambition and sustainability.
In this segment, Dr. Mira Brancu continues to share insights from her 100-episode journey, diving into the time and money management behind her podcast. She emphasizes the importance of streamlined planning, including developing systems for guest outreach, onboarding, and creating social media assets, all of which help her maintain consistency despite a busy schedule. Dr. Brancu also discusses the challenges of finding quality guests, particularly leaders willing to engage in deep, meaningful conversations, and the importance of being strategic in selecting those who align with her show's mission of fostering vulnerability and growth in leadership.
In this segment of The Hard Skills, Dr. Mira Brancu highlights four unexpected benefits she has experienced after hosting 100 episodes of her podcast. She shares how reading books and conducting in-depth interviews with experts has accelerated her personal learning, while the live nature of the show has helped her overcome perfectionism, embracing authenticity and spontaneity. Additionally, she discusses how the podcast has refined her ideas, expanded her professional network, and kept her top of mind with potential clients by consistently showcasing her expertise and personality.
In the final segment of The Hard Skills, Dr. Mira Brancu reflects on the hardest aspect of her podcast journey: maintaining consistency. She shares the challenges of showing up each week, even during difficult times, and the need to balance her passion for variety with the structure required for regular broadcasts. Dr. Brancu also discusses the possibility of reducing the show's frequency to allow more breathing room and emphasizes the importance of staying consistent in leadership and network-building, all while offering insights into her leadership consulting work and the impact of her podcast.
00:00:52.530 --> 00:01:11.279 Mira Brancu: Welcome. Welcome back to the hard skills show where we take a deep dive into the most challenging soft skills required to navigate leadership, uncertainty, complexities and change today and into the future. I'm your host, Dr. Mira Branku, a psychologist leadership consultant and founder of Towerscope.
00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:21.089 Mira Brancu: Today we are celebrating a hundred episodes of the hard skills. This is our 100th episode. Woo, woo!
00:01:21.380 --> 00:01:29.720 Mira Brancu: It is no easy feat to show up consistently like this and plan things out each week.
00:01:30.010 --> 00:01:40.540 Mira Brancu: And I think it's a great topic for this season's focus, actually on endurance and leadership. Right? Endurance and leadership is all about consistency getting
00:01:41.218 --> 00:01:52.460 Mira Brancu: to do the things that are most important, but on a consistent basis. And because I've been doing this show for 2 years.
00:01:52.899 --> 00:01:57.649 Mira Brancu: You know, that's you know. And every single week that's a hundred episodes. So
00:01:58.080 --> 00:02:06.090 Mira Brancu: the theme for today is, I'm gonna keep it 100 for you. I'm gonna keep it 100 for you. And I am sharing
00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:12.099 Mira Brancu: 3 reasons. I started podcasting and doing this radio show
00:02:13.010 --> 00:02:17.020 Mira Brancu: 4 things about finding the time and the money.
00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:21.949 Mira Brancu: 3 challenges with finding the right guests
00:02:23.420 --> 00:02:36.149 Mira Brancu: 4. Unexpected benefits that I have learned, 3 mistakes, blunders, and challenges 4 surprising successes.
00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:41.619 Mira Brancu: And one thing that's been the hardest part about all of this.
00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:52.289 Mira Brancu: So yeah, oh, also, don't ask me why the 3 4 pattern. It just turned out that way. I have no idea how that turned out, but that is
00:02:52.830 --> 00:03:03.020 Mira Brancu: total of 22 insights and lessons learned over the course of 100 episodes that I've done so.
00:03:03.972 --> 00:03:06.600 Mira Brancu: That's very exciting, and
00:03:06.810 --> 00:03:13.470 Mira Brancu: before I get started into all of these, I you know we're also celebrating another big milestone. I am at least
00:03:13.580 --> 00:03:17.439 Mira Brancu: that I might have mentioned a few episodes ago.
00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:28.770 Mira Brancu: On July 1st I transitioned from having 2 jobs over the last 7 years to having just one job.
00:03:29.210 --> 00:03:34.629 Mira Brancu: You see, many of you may or may not have known that I was building my company
00:03:35.190 --> 00:03:37.820 Mira Brancu: on the side over the last 7 years.
00:03:38.210 --> 00:03:43.940 Mira Brancu: and I had started working for the department of Veterans Affairs. 17 years ago.
00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:49.509 Mira Brancu: 17 years ago, I thought I would only stick out around for a year.
00:03:49.950 --> 00:03:58.989 Mira Brancu: and I found myself in a life changing career I never expected for another 16 years, totally was not expected.
00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:09.970 Mira Brancu: Now, what's interesting is, by the time I reached like Year 15, I was like, okay. Well, I'm just gonna go for 20. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. Well, I didn't make it
00:04:10.130 --> 00:04:18.300 Mira Brancu: because the company started growing much faster than I expected. While also I was starting to
00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:34.659 Mira Brancu: no longer learn, I was. I was reaching yet another learning plateau in my role within the department of veterans affairs, and I didn't see any other opportunity that I really wanted that would challenge me in the right ways.
00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:58.230 Mira Brancu: So, as my learning plateau started, which is not a good place for me to be. I do not function well when I am not learning anymore. The moment I know that I'm not learning anymore. I start getting antsy and irritable and bored, and it starts seeping out, and it probably annoys other people. So I already knew that. You know
00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:16.850 Mira Brancu: it wasn't going to last until year 20, and I really had to make some hard decisions. And of course, those of you who know it's July. It's 2025. A lot of things are going on within the Federal Government and the Department of Veterans Affairs has been greatly affected, and of course that didn't help anything either.
00:05:17.270 --> 00:05:21.819 Mira Brancu: So anyway, it was good news, though. Right? So along the way
00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:25.859 Mira Brancu: I did start imagining life after the Va.
00:05:26.440 --> 00:05:31.780 Mira Brancu: And I thought that life would start
00:05:31.880 --> 00:05:38.659 Mira Brancu: at like an early Va. Retirement year 20. I never made it to an official retirement, age
00:05:39.340 --> 00:05:43.520 Mira Brancu: or date right. The stars were aligning well before that.
00:05:44.190 --> 00:05:55.597 Mira Brancu: and towerscope my company just started building and growing right faster than I expected. So I did have to make some difficult decisions specific to
00:05:56.190 --> 00:05:58.690 Mira Brancu: You know how it might affect
00:05:58.790 --> 00:06:11.320 Mira Brancu: and the importance I place on healthcare and financial stability for our kids and our family. You know, our kids have been starting to enter and plan for college. I was starting to think about. Like.
00:06:11.590 --> 00:06:15.900 Mira Brancu: you know, this is is this just terrible timing
00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:24.239 Mira Brancu: versus my own sort of learning plateau, and could I hold back the desire for my own flexibility.
00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:30.030 Mira Brancu: creativity, growth, and ultimately it just could not sustain.
00:06:30.590 --> 00:06:33.120 Mira Brancu: And I made the decision to leap.
00:06:33.430 --> 00:06:34.580 Mira Brancu: And
00:06:35.171 --> 00:06:57.309 Mira Brancu: of course that came with support. Right? My husband. Also works full time for pay, and that makes it easier, and he works within an organization where he has healthcare, and we could lean on that. And that was a big deal. Right? So am I scared.
00:06:57.450 --> 00:07:09.579 Mira Brancu: Yes, of course, I'm obsessed with financial stability. Many of you had heard that on this show before, and healthcare is part of that stability, and so doing. This is scary, but
00:07:09.710 --> 00:07:20.779 Mira Brancu: I have proven to myself that I could bring in consistent income through the company multiple years in a row which was part of my decision making process and a milestone I was aiming for.
00:07:21.250 --> 00:07:42.170 Mira Brancu: and and on top of that we're lucky to have my spouse being able to contribute to the healthcare stability. So you know all of that. Indicated that it was okay. And of course he's always my. My spouse has always been very, very supportive. And that made it easier, too. So
00:07:42.852 --> 00:07:50.929 Mira Brancu: I've talked about my sort of career decision making and leaps, and all of that in past episodes as well. But this was a big one. This is a big one. So
00:07:51.840 --> 00:07:59.469 Mira Brancu: finally, before we get into the exciting juicy behind the scenes. Look at the lessons learned.
00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:11.629 Mira Brancu: I just wanted to share yet another exciting new thing coming up. Yes, okay. It comes in thirds. 3 exciting things. So this is the 3, rd because yeah, hey? Why not? Let's do all the things all at once.
00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:14.220 Mira Brancu: I call it a gift to myself. Okay.
00:08:14.350 --> 00:08:32.590 Mira Brancu: and that is that I'm adding another piece to my Towerscope Leadership Academy. Many of you know the Towerscope Leadership Academy is a longer commitment and investment. It's a year long. But I was thinking that there's all of these people that come to me that want to be part of this community.
00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:54.069 Mira Brancu: but aren't ready to commit that intensively to like a year long group coaching cohort like environment. But they do want to learn, and they really want to connect with the community that I have built. And so I'm adding a membership community part of this, which is at a lower tier, much more accessible.
00:08:54.090 --> 00:09:02.879 Mira Brancu: I don't have all the details yet, but I will. So if you are not yet on my newsletter, make sure you get on the newsletter to hear about it first, st
00:09:02.910 --> 00:09:09.699 Mira Brancu: before anybody else, and I will share more in the next month or so in the coming weeks. Really.
00:09:10.110 --> 00:09:17.620 Mira Brancu: okay, so let's get to the main focus here today. Folks ready. Okay,
00:09:19.410 --> 00:09:22.760 Mira Brancu: let's start with the basics. Why I started the show.
00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:28.399 Mira Brancu: Here are 3 reasons. I started 3 reasons. Okay, one.
00:09:28.810 --> 00:09:31.810 Mira Brancu: I listen and enjoy many podcasts. Myself
00:09:32.030 --> 00:09:48.370 Mira Brancu: right. You got to do the things you personally appreciate. Enjoy the reason that I wanted to write a book is, I enjoy reading books. The reason I wanted to start podcasts is because I enjoy listening to podcasts. I'm not going to start something. I don't enjoy for myself. Right? So that's reason number one
00:09:49.680 --> 00:09:50.950 Mira Brancu: reason number 2.
00:09:51.130 --> 00:10:02.150 Mira Brancu: When I started my company 7 years ago, part of my vision was to develop myself as a thought leader in the space of women in leadership, using mechanisms that personally spoke to me.
00:10:02.990 --> 00:10:07.289 Mira Brancu: and I remember specifically presenting this to a group of people. I convened
00:10:07.430 --> 00:10:13.200 Mira Brancu: as a temporary advisory board and sharing it with them. How I wanted to build my company
00:10:13.420 --> 00:10:28.150 Mira Brancu: through various strategies around thought leadership. So I wanted to build my psychology today blog series. And my thought Hive Newsletter, which is on my website. And I also send it out.
00:10:29.088 --> 00:10:31.480 Mira Brancu: I wanted to add books.
00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:41.440 Mira Brancu: I wanted more media presence like radio and online magazines. I wanted podcasts and videos, all of that stuff. I told them 7 years ago.
00:10:41.910 --> 00:10:47.880 Mira Brancu: 7 years ago, and it just sat there for a long time. Okay? And then one day.
00:10:48.040 --> 00:10:53.010 Mira Brancu: 2 years ago, I met Sam Lebowitz, who is the owner of talk radio.
00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:59.249 Mira Brancu: And he described some kind of hybrid that was like a podcast and a radio broadcast
00:10:59.350 --> 00:11:01.510 Mira Brancu: and a video all in one.
00:11:02.030 --> 00:11:04.650 Mira Brancu: And I was like interesting.
00:11:06.170 --> 00:11:17.579 Mira Brancu: And so it hit on multiple goals. Right? Because I mentioned, I was like interested in media. I was interested in maybe a radio show or maybe a podcast or maybe a video right it hit all of these all in one.
00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.100 Mira Brancu: So that's reason number 2. I decided to try it.
00:11:22.160 --> 00:11:26.510 Mira Brancu: Now, reason number 3, there are many ways to market.
00:11:26.750 --> 00:11:28.680 Mira Brancu: and I do most of them
00:11:28.880 --> 00:11:44.610 Mira Brancu: right heavy social media engagement. I do that talks at conferences. I do that. Training workshops. Yep, books, yes, blog posts. Yes, right. The books and blog posts, though, are very solitary activities.
00:11:45.010 --> 00:11:47.469 Mira Brancu: It's me and my thoughts.
00:11:47.610 --> 00:11:54.919 Mira Brancu: and when I put it out there people may or may not like it. They may or may not read it, they may not, or may not discover it. Right
00:11:55.990 --> 00:12:12.789 Mira Brancu: now. The social media conference talks and workshops are all the way towards the other end of the spectrum, talking with many people all at once, sometimes more talking at them. If it's a keynote instead of with them, which I don't necessarily enjoy as much.
00:12:13.250 --> 00:12:17.560 Mira Brancu: and the discussion needs to stay at a high level.
00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:23.260 Mira Brancu: But frankly, the thing that fits best with my personality.
00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:31.539 Mira Brancu: an introvert at heart. Right is deep, meaningful one on one, conversations with smart people.
00:12:32.770 --> 00:12:45.709 Mira Brancu: This, let this lets me keep learning and exploring my ideas and learning from other people and getting to know more people and expanding my network and reaching a wider audience and increasing my visibility, which are all marketing techniques right? But
00:12:45.890 --> 00:12:50.780 Mira Brancu: all through a really intimate mechanism.
00:12:51.190 --> 00:12:55.579 Mira Brancu: and people get a much better flavor of what it would be like to work with me.
00:12:55.710 --> 00:12:58.480 Mira Brancu: and I get to learn from other people
00:12:58.610 --> 00:13:03.629 Mira Brancu: and have deep conversations. I mean, that's a perfect fit. Right?
00:13:03.780 --> 00:13:09.970 Mira Brancu: So those are 3 reasons, right? 3 reasons why I started now.
00:13:10.260 --> 00:13:13.129 Mira Brancu: I have seen great outcomes from this.
00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:20.120 Mira Brancu: But it's not easy, peasy work to do this. Okay, so I'm gonna share that in a bit.
00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:27.731 Mira Brancu: But now let me go into the next most common question. I get about my
00:13:28.520 --> 00:13:33.139 Mira Brancu: basically what I've learned about the podcasting process and how
00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:35.690 Mira Brancu: to set yourself up for success
00:13:36.550 --> 00:13:40.070 Mira Brancu: and one of the most common questions with that
00:13:41.020 --> 00:13:56.990 Mira Brancu: that people ask me is, how did you find the time and funding to do this right? Actually, they don't even they 1st asked, how do you find the time? Because they're thinking I must be like producing an awful lot which I am not. I didn't want to be producing
00:13:57.430 --> 00:14:01.490 Mira Brancu: all by myself, because that's a lot of time I don't have.
00:14:01.630 --> 00:14:08.810 Mira Brancu: So then that means I do have to find the funding to support it. Okay? So I'm going to share with you
00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:13.019 Mira Brancu: 4 things I learned about time and money.
00:14:13.550 --> 00:14:15.880 Mira Brancu: and the 1st 3 are about time.
00:14:16.180 --> 00:14:17.839 Mira Brancu: because the money buys me time.
00:14:18.210 --> 00:14:20.280 Mira Brancu: So that goes last. Okay?
00:14:20.560 --> 00:14:24.560 Mira Brancu: So I'm going to give you the 1st one out of the 4
00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:34.109 Mira Brancu: about how I found the time and money, and then we're gonna get into an ad break. And then when we come back, I'll give you the other 3. Okay. So the 1st one
00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:40.090 Mira Brancu: time for delivery. You need to find time for delivery. We air once a week.
00:14:40.390 --> 00:14:44.759 Mira Brancu: live on Tuesdays, and then it gets translated into a podcast effort.
00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:53.709 Mira Brancu: I needed to find a time. I thought I could show up almost every single Tuesday at the same exact time, because it's live.
00:14:54.180 --> 00:15:00.270 Mira Brancu: This alone is a challenge for someone who needs to also manage 2 jobs at least up until recently.
00:15:00.570 --> 00:15:07.289 Mira Brancu: many clients driving teens around everywhere for all of their activities and traveling a lot.
00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:13.019 Mira Brancu: And it's not just my travel. It's travel scheduled between my spouse and I, because my spouse travels, too.
00:15:13.250 --> 00:15:19.680 Mira Brancu: So there's a lot of moving parts. So I really had to make a commitment to this schedule and not move it around.
00:15:20.390 --> 00:15:32.379 Mira Brancu: But you know frankly, I have made other commitments to myself when I, you know, decided they were important to me, like I wake up every day around 6, 6, 30 am. To work out before work.
00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:44.839 Mira Brancu: I hold that commitment. I keep it right. So then I just had to add, once a week this one timing commitment to myself. I make lots of other commitments as well to my family right, taking
00:15:45.150 --> 00:15:56.629 Mira Brancu: my kids to certain lessons at the same exact time every time. So there is a way to do this successfully, and that is making a commitment to yourself, not just to other people. Right?
00:15:56.880 --> 00:16:17.769 Mira Brancu: Okay. So when we, I'm reaching an ad break here, okay, when we come back, I'm going to talk more about the timing piece and then the funding piece. You're listening to the hard skills with me, Dr. Mara Branco. We air live on Tuesdays at 5 Pm. Eastern, and show up later on your favorite podcast app.
00:16:17.890 --> 00:16:31.919 Mira Brancu: If you're joining us during this live stream, you can find us on linkedin Youtube or twitch@talkradio.nyc. And you could also submit questions that I can answer in real time. If you have questions about the podcast right now, or simply say Hi! And we'll be right back in just a moment.
00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:25.480 Mira Brancu: Welcome back to the hard skills. Okay, I am talking about and dishing out all of the deep, dark secrets behind the scenes, keeping it 100 for a hundred episodes.
00:18:25.670 --> 00:18:39.750 Mira Brancu: and I was starting to talk about the time and money piece. It's it's the most common thing that I get asked, how do you find the time and funding? So the second part of timing is timing for planning
00:18:39.950 --> 00:18:40.800 Mira Brancu: right?
00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:48.630 Mira Brancu: You have to make it as streamlined as possible. At least I did. I had to develop a system to find guests.
00:18:48.840 --> 00:18:51.749 Mira Brancu: walk them through the guest onboarding and prep process
00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:59.240 Mira Brancu: market the episode before and after it airs invite people to rate the episode to increase its visibility.
00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:11.890 Mira Brancu: And I needed to do that every single week. Well in advance, right? And I knew I wasn't going to have time to set up planning calls with every single guest to walk them through all of this, since it aired weekly.
00:19:12.070 --> 00:19:17.180 Mira Brancu: So I developed the guide to provide guests with everything that they needed.
00:19:17.370 --> 00:19:21.350 Mira Brancu: how to schedule the episode, how to understand what I'm looking for.
00:19:21.870 --> 00:19:31.580 Mira Brancu: how to prep a prep submission, form we do communicate but asynchronously to, if if they have questions, although the form walks.
00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:36.550 Mira Brancu: people really threw it very well, and very few people have questions about it.
00:19:36.976 --> 00:19:42.859 Mira Brancu: And so I created a Google form to help me collaboratively develop the skeleton outline for the introduction.
00:19:43.366 --> 00:20:04.550 Mira Brancu: Then I use all that information from the Prep. Form to develop the questions I'll ask them and the social media information to promote the episode. I send that social media part to my assistant, who sends it off to develop new images and information about what the episode is going to be about, so that we could put her on social media.
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:05.740 Mira Brancu: And then.
00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:35.829 Mira Brancu: I develop questions that I send to my guests in advance. If they have a book I will read their book in advance. And yeah, that's some time and so for the people who have books, I really do ask them to send me you know the information at least 4 weeks in advance, whether it is a Pdf. Copy or a hard copy of the book, so that I can be ready for when their episode. Actually, airs live with them.
00:20:36.150 --> 00:20:41.970 Mira Brancu: Okay, so that is time for planning now.
00:20:42.120 --> 00:20:44.139 Mira Brancu: time for communicating with the guest.
00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:55.750 Mira Brancu: I mentioned this a little bit before I developed a template to pull all this information together, to send to the guest so that they know what questions I'm planning on asking, based on the responses on my form.
00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:03.480 Mira Brancu: and my assistant uses a template I created to develop the social media assets and draft announcements we use
00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:06.710 Mira Brancu: because of the system that I put in place.
00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:12.520 Mira Brancu: It takes me one to 2 h to prepare each episode every week.
00:21:12.780 --> 00:21:20.080 Mira Brancu: So that's not a lot, especially because I have a great team behind me. Through talk radio.
00:21:20.280 --> 00:21:42.990 Mira Brancu: Just. Sarah Lynn is behind the scenes right now as our engineer, and she is, you know, helping to you know, pull all of this information together, get it on the podcast, get it on Youtube, you know, manage all the production behind the scenes. Right? So that helps me a lot. So that goes into the 4th aspect about funding
00:21:43.210 --> 00:22:04.479 Mira Brancu: right from a funding perspective. It does cost some money to produce it. If I'm not going to do it myself. You can do it yourself. But that's going to add a lot more hours that I personally didn't have with 2 jobs and 2 kids, you know, and and a family right? So I decided that it was you know, worth some investment for me to buy my time back.
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:28.770 Mira Brancu: and that meant I had to make sure I had a business that was successful enough, that it could cover this expense, which is by far the largest part of my overhead, but it kind of also covers lots of other needs that I have all in one right marketing, advertising, networking, professional development, product development all in one.
00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:33.079 Mira Brancu: So it's something I'm always assessing from an roi perspective
00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:50.550 Mira Brancu: podcasting doesn't have a direct one on one monetary benefit, right? And especially right now, because I don't have sponsors, but I use it to enhance my personal brand. I use it to increase awareness and connection to new folks who don't know me yet, that top of the sales funnel stuff.
00:22:50.970 --> 00:23:01.009 Mira Brancu: and just to keep learning. And it improves my thinking around the things that I'm working on as well. So it improves me as a business owner as well in my own thought leadership.
00:23:01.170 --> 00:23:05.189 Mira Brancu: So that's a time and funding question.
00:23:05.590 --> 00:23:11.709 Mira Brancu: No, let's get into what I've learned over time.
00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:19.510 Mira Brancu: And yes, I'm going to start with 3 challenges about finding the right guests.
00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:22.650 Mira Brancu: Yes, so
00:23:23.107 --> 00:23:28.110 Mira Brancu: getting guests on a weekly basis. We're going to start with that getting guests on a weekly basis.
00:23:28.530 --> 00:23:33.310 Mira Brancu: In the beginning I invited many folks in my own network to join me as a guest.
00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:44.789 Mira Brancu: and once I started reaching 50 to 60 episodes. I had fewer folks in my network I could invite directly or easily, or that made sense because of what they were doing.
00:23:45.350 --> 00:23:49.509 Mira Brancu: So I had to start finding a way to get more guests. Now
00:23:49.850 --> 00:23:53.810 Mira Brancu: the good news is that I began receiving outreach
00:23:54.040 --> 00:24:04.639 Mira Brancu: from podcast Pr folks wanting to get their clients on my podcast and from business owners wanting to get on my podcast and this significantly started increasing.
00:24:04.930 --> 00:24:11.219 Mira Brancu: Once I got to the top 10% of podcasts.
00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:17.799 Mira Brancu: So I hit the top 10% list, probably at the 8 month mark.
00:24:18.120 --> 00:24:22.679 Mira Brancu: which partly comes from just being consistent, right?
00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:24.870 Mira Brancu: Because very few people are consistent.
00:24:25.090 --> 00:24:44.900 Mira Brancu: And once I hit that top 10%, I started opening it up to guest applications. And I developed an entire guest application list. Okay, so number 2, getting quality, good fit guests is the next challenge. Right? So once I opened it up to people who are not known to me.
00:24:45.310 --> 00:24:47.140 Mira Brancu: so I couldn't vet them right.
00:24:47.470 --> 00:24:51.739 Mira Brancu: and they were also being pitched by generalist pr folks.
00:24:51.930 --> 00:24:56.550 Mira Brancu: So the pitch is we're like sometimes on.
00:24:56.710 --> 00:25:02.089 Mira Brancu: you know, brand with mine. Sometimes it felt like a little offer I just couldn't tell.
00:25:02.610 --> 00:25:08.119 Mira Brancu: And so I started realizing that not everyone was a great fit or qualified.
00:25:08.490 --> 00:25:16.330 Mira Brancu: So I had to develop another Google form specifically as a pre-qualifier assessment for the folks
00:25:16.530 --> 00:25:18.910 Mira Brancu: who I'm not already familiar with.
00:25:19.360 --> 00:25:26.619 Mira Brancu: They fill out the form out, and are asked to also review a set of criteria that I have
00:25:27.120 --> 00:25:29.910 Mira Brancu: for the level of expertise and topic area.
00:25:30.760 --> 00:25:31.880 Mira Brancu: And
00:25:32.130 --> 00:25:41.079 Mira Brancu: as a result. I have met some interesting folks that way, and it's helped me keep learning what's a good fit and not a good fit, like.
00:25:41.700 --> 00:26:04.339 Mira Brancu: What I learned over time is people who have already written a book or do research are often a great fit, because they've thought about their topic at a very deep level, and able to translate really complex things into digestible, understandable concepts and frameworks. So it helps me have a much much richer conversation.
00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:12.819 Mira Brancu: whereas people who are speakers as their main professional identity generally actually have a much higher level
00:26:12.990 --> 00:26:17.525 Mira Brancu: thinking to share. And that higher level kind of
00:26:18.140 --> 00:26:26.889 Mira Brancu: discussion speaks to a wide audience, but it makes it really hard for me to have a meaningful, deep conversation that I personally crave.
00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:31.449 Mira Brancu: And then I also
00:26:31.600 --> 00:26:49.859 Mira Brancu: started getting more professional podcast guests, folks who were not new to the podcasting game folks with much larger audiences. And once I hit the top 5% of podcasts which took me about, maybe at the year and a half mark.
00:26:50.414 --> 00:27:00.630 Mira Brancu: That's the level that I started getting people who were pitching to top 5% podcasts, who have been doing this a long time. We're very professional.
00:27:01.083 --> 00:27:05.670 Mira Brancu: That doesn't mean they were a good fit, though, right? So
00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:19.589 Mira Brancu: that meant it required me to be even more specific about what I was looking for, to weed out again the ones that were more like professional speakers, but spoke at a much more surface or high level
00:27:20.045 --> 00:27:23.950 Mira Brancu: as opposed to being willing to go real deep into something.
00:27:25.780 --> 00:27:29.180 Mira Brancu: So number 3, the 3rd one.
00:27:29.360 --> 00:27:33.620 Mira Brancu: okay. Getting leaders willing to be coached.
00:27:34.130 --> 00:27:37.649 Mira Brancu: Getting leaders to be coached was another challenge I had to be thinking about.
00:27:37.800 --> 00:27:43.890 Mira Brancu: I really, really, really wanted to include guests who were willing to be coached on air
00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:49.849 Mira Brancu: and or just share their leadership journeys similar to a podcast I personally listen to and love
00:27:50.420 --> 00:27:54.079 Mira Brancu: leah, Neederthal's smart gets paid podcast
00:27:54.420 --> 00:28:12.530 Mira Brancu: love that podcast she does a lot of that. But unfortunately, my topic doesn't lend itself as easily to this right. I've noticed that the topics that lend themselves easily to this are geared more towards business owners speaking to business owners, and that's not quite like I don't speak to entrepreneurs in that way.
00:28:12.830 --> 00:28:15.349 Mira Brancu: Now, I did have a few of those episodes.
00:28:15.620 --> 00:28:42.980 Mira Brancu: but it's hard to get folks willing to have vulnerable conversations publicly, especially about hard skills. Right? So that was a kind of challenge that I've decided. I'm Con continuing to play around with. You know who I might be able to bring on in a way that doesn't bring on that vulnerability, but still gets to help us understand leaders, personal experiences. Right?
00:28:43.580 --> 00:28:49.509 Mira Brancu: Okay, let's get into 4 unexpected benefits, though
00:28:49.680 --> 00:29:04.970 Mira Brancu: they were completely unexpected. I didn't really realize this would happen. I am reaching an ad break. So when we come back from the ad break, we're going to go back, we're going to get right into 4 unexpected benefits
00:29:05.230 --> 00:29:14.059 Mira Brancu: of starting this radio show and podcast and what I've learned over a hundred episodes. 2 years we will be right back in just a moment with the hard skills.
00:30:44.860 --> 00:30:51.750 Mira Brancu: Welcome back to the hard skills. All right. Let's get into 4 unexpected benefits
00:30:51.930 --> 00:31:01.169 Mira Brancu: that I realized after having a hundred episodes, 2 years of this radio show and podcast number one
00:31:02.030 --> 00:31:07.519 Mira Brancu: books and reading, because I like meaningful conversations. And I mentioned
00:31:07.850 --> 00:31:13.200 Mira Brancu: that folks who are a better fit for my show, have
00:31:13.470 --> 00:31:16.479 Mira Brancu: written a book or do research.
00:31:16.830 --> 00:31:20.669 Mira Brancu: I am forced to read a lot a lot more than I've ever
00:31:20.840 --> 00:31:25.190 Mira Brancu: done in the last 10 years and read it fast.
00:31:25.700 --> 00:31:31.750 Mira Brancu: There's been multiple times when I would need to read a book on the weekend before the Tuesday
00:31:32.360 --> 00:31:43.099 Mira Brancu: that I had the show develop a Prep plan with a pool of questions based on the book and send out the plan just days in advance of the live episode. Now.
00:31:43.760 --> 00:31:50.060 Mira Brancu: there are not a lot of podcast hosts that do this, there are
00:31:50.260 --> 00:32:01.510 Mira Brancu: way, more podcast host that just have authors on a show or researchers and just kind of ask questions, and I think that would be okay if I was in a bind.
00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:04.990 Mira Brancu: But the level of depth
00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:17.559 Mira Brancu: that our conversations can get into. If I read the book and think about the questions that I personally have that are interesting to me make the episode better. So I'm willing to put in the time. And frankly, that is a benefit to me.
00:32:17.690 --> 00:32:21.119 Mira Brancu: I get to learn a whole lot more and pretty quickly.
00:32:21.820 --> 00:32:23.799 Mira Brancu: So that's 1 benefit.
00:32:24.448 --> 00:32:30.590 Mira Brancu: Benefit, 2 live the live aspect. Yes, I never imagined doing a live show.
00:32:30.830 --> 00:32:33.750 Mira Brancu: When I got into podcasting, I
00:32:34.010 --> 00:32:38.330 Mira Brancu: liked, when I, even like got into podcasts themselves, right, what I liked
00:32:38.540 --> 00:32:44.320 Mira Brancu: is the very clean edited versions, right? And in fact,
00:32:45.630 --> 00:32:57.579 Mira Brancu: I had a painful experience where I was the guest on another. Podcast and they told me, I really needed to work on my ums because of how much they had to edit out. So I told myself.
00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:05.860 Mira Brancu: I need to find a podcast producer who edits ruthlessly to make me and the whole episode sound good.
00:33:06.250 --> 00:33:13.290 Mira Brancu: So I entered the situation with this live idea with a lot of skepticism
00:33:13.410 --> 00:33:18.290 Mira Brancu: and hesitancy about whether I would like doing live episodes.
00:33:18.600 --> 00:33:20.889 Mira Brancu: and what I learned is that
00:33:21.570 --> 00:33:25.399 Mira Brancu: it was a nice way of letting go of my fears and my perfectionism.
00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:29.339 Mira Brancu: I came across the way I came across mistakes and all
00:33:29.630 --> 00:33:32.810 Mira Brancu: which can be more authentic, and
00:33:32.970 --> 00:33:40.450 Mira Brancu: I thankfully don't have the luxury of working on it more than one to 2 HA week, because I can't edit or fix much. So I let it go.
00:33:40.710 --> 00:33:47.090 Mira Brancu: And that was a completely unexpected benefit that started with skepticism. Right?
00:33:47.690 --> 00:33:48.460 Mira Brancu: Okay.
00:33:48.670 --> 00:33:50.120 Mira Brancu: Number 3, benefit.
00:33:50.550 --> 00:33:55.549 Mira Brancu: Refining my ideas, I mentioned this. The conversations with so many guests
00:33:56.190 --> 00:34:11.289 Mira Brancu: focused in an area of interest that I have helps me keep presenting and honing my own thinking about it, and including other ideas, right and recommending others. And I'm constantly growing and iterating my ideas, and therefore
00:34:11.650 --> 00:34:18.959 Mira Brancu: my other services and products and frameworks all benefit. As a result, I'm not taking their ideas, obviously.
00:34:19.170 --> 00:34:24.840 Mira Brancu: but it is helping me think more deeply and refine and refine over and over
00:34:25.350 --> 00:34:33.299 Mira Brancu: my own ideas and thinking, because I'm learning from other people. And it's expanding my perspective. Right?
00:34:33.830 --> 00:34:42.679 Mira Brancu: Okay, number 4 benefit the radio broadcast community talk radio. Nyc itself
00:34:42.810 --> 00:34:54.249 Mira Brancu: has a community of other radio broadcasters and podcasts. And we meet once a month. And we get to know each other, and some of them have been on my show, and I've been on their shows, and it's kind of fun
00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:55.980 Mira Brancu: to be among them.
00:34:56.100 --> 00:35:04.129 Mira Brancu: We're all very, very different. And yet we have some things in common about wanting to bring a certain level of positivity.
00:35:04.310 --> 00:35:05.680 Mira Brancu: authenticity.
00:35:05.860 --> 00:35:19.889 Mira Brancu: and good work out there into the world at a time when the attention economy on social media and podcasts and things like that are heavily focused on amplifying conflict entrepreneurs.
00:35:20.540 --> 00:35:24.289 Mira Brancu: And we are not that we're definitely like, not like that.
00:35:24.570 --> 00:35:29.889 Mira Brancu: And if you're curious, you should go to Talkradio, Dot, Nyc online
00:35:30.110 --> 00:35:32.990 Mira Brancu: and check out the other shows.
00:35:33.090 --> 00:35:56.269 Mira Brancu: You will see wide range, crossing, healthcare and business and leadership and all kinds of other other things. Psychedelics, you know, like it's super interesting spirituality. But it's all from the perspective of bringing humanity, positivity, authenticity into the world.
00:35:57.610 --> 00:35:59.980 Mira Brancu: Okay, now.
00:36:00.300 --> 00:36:10.360 Mira Brancu: let's talk about my own mistakes and blunders and challenges. 3 major ones stand out. I know that one of them that I'm going to bring up
00:36:10.670 --> 00:36:19.739 Mira Brancu: our engineer is probably snickering in the background right now, and knows exactly what I'm gonna bring up. But I'm not gonna share that just yet. I'm gonna start with this one. Cancellations.
00:36:20.020 --> 00:36:22.120 Mira Brancu: Okay. There was one time
00:36:22.490 --> 00:36:31.269 Mira Brancu: when I was traveling and there was a flight delay or cancellation, and it meant I couldn't get to the destination on time for the live show.
00:36:31.930 --> 00:36:44.319 Mira Brancu: and I know I was cutting it close by trying to travel on the same day as my show, but I had done it successfully several times before, and I was like overconfident, and this time it didn't work out.
00:36:44.610 --> 00:36:48.170 Mira Brancu: So I caused the station quite some panic.
00:36:48.530 --> 00:36:52.766 Mira Brancu: because, as I cram scramble to identify a backup plan
00:36:53.910 --> 00:37:04.259 Mira Brancu: you know, they were wondering, what is she gonna do right? And I was panicking. And I also had a few times when guests canceled on the last minute, and I didn't have a backup plan.
00:37:05.180 --> 00:37:11.730 Mira Brancu: Once I wrote an entire show within a few hours of airing.
00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:22.110 Mira Brancu: because the backup plan is really to re-air old episodes, but I try to avoid doing that if I can. I know I know the lesson in here
00:37:22.510 --> 00:37:24.550 Mira Brancu: is to have a backup plan.
00:37:25.061 --> 00:37:32.139 Mira Brancu: The owner, Sam Lebovitz, has told me that the lesson here is to have a backup plan or 2 for these situations.
00:37:32.630 --> 00:37:34.909 Mira Brancu: But right now
00:37:35.090 --> 00:37:42.750 Mira Brancu: my only backup plan is to re-air old episodes and scramble for 2 h writing something which I didn't do this time, by the way.
00:37:43.450 --> 00:37:44.320 Mira Brancu: so
00:37:44.610 --> 00:37:58.930 Mira Brancu: I still need to carve out some backup time. Some some plans to create a backup plan right? And create some solo episodes and have emergency backup guests willing to come. I haven't done that yet. There it is
00:38:00.160 --> 00:38:01.000 Mira Brancu: okay.
00:38:01.170 --> 00:38:01.825 Mira Brancu: So
00:38:04.380 --> 00:38:29.519 Mira Brancu: fault number 2. And my engineer is already saying one word, vera pre-record. I know. I know we should pre-record some things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. But here's what she'll really laugh about. Okay? Because our engineer, Jess Saravin, still, to this day, 2 years after the 1st episode aired, still reminds me of this heart attack that I gave her on our 1st episode.
00:38:29.810 --> 00:38:39.370 Mira Brancu: I didn't realize that when she posted in the chat the links to all of the places we are airing, that if I click on one of them while we're airing.
00:38:39.660 --> 00:38:42.130 Mira Brancu: I would hear myself in stereo.
00:38:42.310 --> 00:38:55.040 Mira Brancu: And so for like 30 seconds, that 1st episode I was like, Hey, hey? I think there's a technical issue. I'm hearing myself. She was like scrambling like what? Until we both realized it was my fault.
00:38:56.540 --> 00:39:00.460 Mira Brancu: Rookie, lessons, Rookie lessons.
00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:04.309 Mira Brancu: Now here's the final one.
00:39:04.810 --> 00:39:11.620 Mira Brancu: I was late to one of my own podcast hosting episodes.
00:39:12.020 --> 00:39:17.780 Mira Brancu: There was one episode where I warned the guest and Jess.
00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:23.890 Mira Brancu: So the guest was Dr. Cedric. Cedric Williams, Dr. Cedric Williams.
00:39:24.695 --> 00:39:36.730 Mira Brancu: who wrote brick by brick? Okay, so I warned him and our engineer that I would be cutting it close, arriving from a meeting right when the episode would be airing. Okay? So I prepared them
00:39:37.430 --> 00:39:49.300 Mira Brancu: okay, and just met Dr. Williams 15 min in advance, as usual, to prep him. Unfortunately, I ended up being 3 min late than our usual 5 Pm. Start.
00:39:49.950 --> 00:39:52.860 Mira Brancu: and as I entered it was quiet.
00:39:53.020 --> 00:40:02.640 Mira Brancu: and Dr. Williams was just like by himself, airing, live, waiting, so embarrassing.
00:40:02.990 --> 00:40:06.550 Mira Brancu: They had already played the intro music like a million times.
00:40:06.740 --> 00:40:12.990 Mira Brancu: and I felt terribly, and thank goodness that it was Dr. Williams.
00:40:13.410 --> 00:40:35.039 Mira Brancu: because not only are he and I colleagues, and I had already earned some trust with him, but he is unflappable. Okay, served in the military just like even keel Guy, totally unflappable, complete, professional, so totally chill, took it in stride, ready to just start. Love him for that.
00:40:35.490 --> 00:40:43.150 Mira Brancu: But I'm sure I gave our engineer a complete heart attack, because I promised 5 o'clock sharp, and I was 3 min late.
00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:50.379 Mira Brancu: So and here in the background, in our chat.
00:40:51.160 --> 00:41:09.110 Mira Brancu: she said, she said the worst part. It was like my 3rd month working for the station, and now it's on your show. And she was having a heart attack for that, too. She's been a lot through a lot with me.
00:41:09.630 --> 00:41:31.890 Mira Brancu: Okay, let's get into surprising successes and unexpected outcomes. Okay, subscribe. So I think I have 3 of these, number one, success simply comes from consistency. I mentioned this within the 1st 8 months of doing this podcast. Consistently and sharing it online with minimal tolls, the podcast quickly moved up to the top 10%,
00:41:32.140 --> 00:41:34.050 Mira Brancu: and within another 6 months.
00:41:34.330 --> 00:41:41.780 Mira Brancu: bringing in guests who are really good at bringing visibility to a wider audience helps you get into the top 5%.
00:41:42.170 --> 00:41:45.399 Mira Brancu: And of course, you need to sort of follow all the instructions on
00:41:45.600 --> 00:41:48.989 Mira Brancu: search engines like, listen notes right to bring more visibility.
00:41:49.400 --> 00:42:01.980 Mira Brancu: And you know, up until recently it was looking like I was getting nearly 9 1,000 views and downloads a month, and it seems like it's going up incrementally consistently each month.
00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:09.930 Mira Brancu: So consistency. Okay, the second success and unexpected outcome is networking.
00:42:10.920 --> 00:42:13.679 Mira Brancu: So I ended up having the opportunity
00:42:13.820 --> 00:42:29.470 Mira Brancu: to increase and broaden my network with either people I didn't know, or people who were kind of in my network. But it's been a while since I reconnected with them, and I really wanted to strengthen and cultivate those relationships, learn more about them and or just reconnect.
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:33.159 Mira Brancu: And this is important for really anybody. But you know.
00:42:33.390 --> 00:42:43.279 Mira Brancu: anyone who is especially a business owner right? Guess I didn't necessarily know I could learn a lot from, and the people that I did know I could get better acquainted with them.
00:42:43.900 --> 00:42:52.270 Mira Brancu: and with a few of them it's led to new opportunities, totally unexpected right or next steps or ideas for potential collaborations, which is
00:42:52.540 --> 00:42:53.900 Mira Brancu: really exciting.
00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:57.750 Mira Brancu: The last is staying top of mind.
00:42:58.330 --> 00:43:02.799 Mira Brancu: 3rd unexpected outcome is that I end up staying top of mind
00:43:02.950 --> 00:43:16.109 Mira Brancu: for a lot of people. Now I do that through multiple mechanisms like when I write something in psychology today, and I share it with my network, or those who subscribe to my newsletter. It reminds them of the things that I'm working on.
00:43:16.740 --> 00:43:27.170 Mira Brancu: And it's also sort of like updates, people right like, Oh, she's now interested in this area, whereas maybe she was interested in that area. And you know, that's where I, you know, I might want some help, or
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:29.239 Mira Brancu: whatever. I post on Linkedin for example.
00:43:29.500 --> 00:43:34.180 Mira Brancu: it does the same, and the podcast is also another mechanism to stay top of mind. And
00:43:34.460 --> 00:43:38.399 Mira Brancu: honestly, right now, it's really easy to forget about people in your network
00:43:38.660 --> 00:43:48.679 Mira Brancu: and to go about your business and have your attention constantly be divided and stretched by so many things. You know. That doing something really consistently.
00:43:48.900 --> 00:44:04.100 Mira Brancu: that shares what I'm working on. It reminds people, oh, yeah, Mira's out there doing that thing, and you just never know when the right moment strikes, when I've been working on and sharing something on the podcast at the right time, when somebody else is looking for that very thing.
00:44:04.340 --> 00:44:06.559 Mira Brancu: And it's happened several times for Me.
00:44:08.060 --> 00:44:16.960 Mira Brancu: Number 4, I forgot to mention. There's 1 more positive relationship with future clients.
00:44:17.120 --> 00:44:19.260 Mira Brancu: Perhaps the coolest.
00:44:19.410 --> 00:44:26.019 Mira Brancu: craziest thing that I have noticed is that for folks who have been thinking about working with me for a while.
00:44:26.520 --> 00:44:32.520 Mira Brancu: Maybe I was on their radar, or maybe they weren't ready. Or maybe it's just not great timing.
00:44:32.810 --> 00:44:43.900 Mira Brancu: And I just stayed, consistently showing up top of mind, right? Or folks who were introduced to my podcast but somebody else in my network kind of were following me and shared it with them.
00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:46.089 Mira Brancu: In a way.
00:44:46.530 --> 00:44:53.489 Mira Brancu: they've been developing a relationship with me because they've gotten a chance to get to know me and my personality, and how I think
00:44:53.610 --> 00:44:58.599 Mira Brancu: way before I ever meet them. So it's not uncommon
00:44:58.750 --> 00:45:02.640 Mira Brancu: that when somebody new who has not been in my current network
00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:04.950 Mira Brancu: comes to me, saying, they want to work with me.
00:45:05.250 --> 00:45:07.549 Mira Brancu: They might start off with a comment like, Hey.
00:45:07.800 --> 00:45:12.669 Mira Brancu: I've been listening to your podcast. And I really like what you had to say about truth telling and diplomacy. For example.
00:45:12.870 --> 00:45:14.370 Mira Brancu: I had that comment recently.
00:45:14.710 --> 00:45:19.750 Mira Brancu: or we get to talking, and then they reference some episodes that they heard me sharing
00:45:20.150 --> 00:45:29.139 Mira Brancu: where they heard, like me, talking about my career journey or channels, challenges that resonated, and stories about my family or interests that I've shared on my podcast, and I think.
00:45:29.600 --> 00:45:30.540 Mira Brancu: know that.
00:45:30.720 --> 00:45:37.669 Mira Brancu: And it's probably because of this podcast, which I think is so fun and interesting and wild.
00:45:37.950 --> 00:45:43.559 Mira Brancu: that people might have a relationship with me before they meet me, and before I have a relationship with them.
00:45:43.980 --> 00:45:48.089 Mira Brancu: and they're already comfortable with me, and I've already established trust with them simply
00:45:48.250 --> 00:45:58.359 Mira Brancu: from them, kind of like just being a fly on the wall, of how I think and what I say, and how I do and act over time, and how I interact with people. And that's been like super interesting and super cool.
00:45:59.100 --> 00:46:02.370 Mira Brancu: So with all of that said.
00:46:03.190 --> 00:46:07.310 Mira Brancu: we are reaching an ad break perfect time, because when we come back
00:46:07.770 --> 00:46:11.200 Mira Brancu: I am going to share my last one insight.
00:46:11.550 --> 00:46:13.909 Mira Brancu: What has been the hardest
00:46:14.560 --> 00:46:26.799 Mira Brancu: out of all the things that I've experienced with the podcast what's been the hardest. So you will get to hear that when we come back you're listening to the hard skills with me, Dr. Mira Branku. We'll be right back in just a moment.
00:48:12.470 --> 00:48:26.230 Mira Brancu: Welcome back to the hard skills my engineer, Jess Saravin, is back there just reminiscing with me on chat about all the nightmares I've given her
00:48:27.730 --> 00:48:34.359 Mira Brancu: so so funny all the things we've been through in just 2 short, wonderful years together.
00:48:34.480 --> 00:48:38.120 Mira Brancu: So the last thing that I wanted to share with you. All
00:48:38.390 --> 00:48:45.289 Mira Brancu: is out of all these things. What's been the hardest right? And I suspect maybe you can guess
00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:51.799 Mira Brancu: the hardest has been to show up consistently every single week. Right?
00:48:52.170 --> 00:48:56.124 Mira Brancu: There are times when I just don't feel like it.
00:48:57.020 --> 00:49:06.139 Mira Brancu: you know, when you do the same thing at the same exact time every single week for multiple years. You know, you sometimes want to break right like when I work out.
00:49:06.710 --> 00:49:34.039 Mira Brancu: There are days where I take breaks. There are weeks when I take breaks like right now, I'm actually on vacation. Yes, the reason that maybe my sound might sound a little bit different, or I might look a little bit different, or my lighting might be a little bit different is because on vacation right now. And yeah, I could have pre recorded this. Yes, yes, I hear just in my ear, I could have pre recorded this. I just didn't want to. And the thing is that
00:49:34.350 --> 00:50:01.279 Mira Brancu: I do take breaks right from other routine. Things like my kids, only need rides to certain activities during certain parts of the year during seasons. And this is not your typical, podcast it doesn't have the same kind of like like seasons where you take longer breaks in between because it's like a radio station and a radio station is always available, with a few exceptions. Right? So
00:50:01.990 --> 00:50:09.799 Mira Brancu: that's been by far the hardest remaining consistent really, at anything is hard, and it's especially hard for somebody like me.
00:50:09.990 --> 00:50:12.999 Mira Brancu: who also really enjoys variety.
00:50:13.360 --> 00:50:17.920 Mira Brancu: and at the same time I thrive on structure as much as I love variety.
00:50:18.130 --> 00:50:43.509 Mira Brancu: and so, having something set up for me where I'm not constantly like struggling with coming up with something different each time. Should I do it? Should I not write all of that does help me show up easily and get it done. I have lots of lots of systems to just show up, and you know, not having to think about it, but just literally like literally show up
00:50:43.900 --> 00:50:45.890 Mira Brancu: does help me stay consistent.
00:50:46.170 --> 00:50:49.439 Mira Brancu: But it's very difficult to do this consistently, because
00:50:49.900 --> 00:50:54.389 Mira Brancu: not every week is an easy week for me, right? And I would say the last
00:50:54.570 --> 00:51:13.989 Mira Brancu: 6 to 8 months have been very challenging, working for the Federal Government right and having 2 jobs and having one job that has sort of started increasing in its demands and success. Right? So prior to that, I used to be able to prep for multiple shows at once. Have it all ready.
00:51:14.300 --> 00:51:20.359 Mira Brancu: But in the last 6 to 8 months I've been prepping up until the last minute, one week in advance.
00:51:20.540 --> 00:51:29.719 Mira Brancu: which you know one week in advance, is last minute for me 2 weeks, if I'm really lucky, so this, of course, makes it hard for my assistant, Maria
00:51:29.740 --> 00:51:58.630 Mira Brancu: as well, because she's the one who has to turn my prep. Materials into the announcements that go out the day before the podcast episodes, and you know, for folks also who are coming on the show, relying on me to get things done on time, like my guests, the station engineer, you know my assistant. All of those folks, I'm sure, would appreciate me sending things out to them, not at the last minute, but way way ahead of time. So all of that requires a lot of prep, which I try to do for other people.
00:51:58.890 --> 00:52:13.690 Mira Brancu: But I don't always have the luxury to do it in at like at the pace that I want, which is way more in advance. Right? So. You know, I have been thinking about reducing my
00:52:14.380 --> 00:52:43.359 Mira Brancu: frequency, and that's possible. That might come up in September. Just to get a little bit more sort of catching up and breathing room and being able to catch up with. You know all of the episodes and feel like it's not every single week I'm gonna maybe see how that works. Hopefully. So that is also kind of you know, something to look for coming up that you'll have to relish some of these episodes a little bit longer, you know, because of that.
00:52:43.880 --> 00:52:47.470 Mira Brancu: So with all of that today.
00:52:48.430 --> 00:52:52.629 Mira Brancu: what did you take away from this? If you're thinking about a podcast
00:52:53.275 --> 00:53:21.030 Mira Brancu: what did you take away from this? Are you leaning more towards it, more against? If you are very interested in talk radio, of course. Reach out. Yeah, I'd be happy to talk more about it or introduce you to Sam Lebowitz and the team and or have it? Has it sort of helped. You think about consistency and the impact of consistency or the impact of developing your network right? And what it takes.
00:53:21.570 --> 00:53:24.079 Mira Brancu: I'm really curious about that. So reach out
00:53:24.706 --> 00:53:32.640 Mira Brancu: and if you want to keep learning and growing with me outside of just this podcast, time.
00:53:32.750 --> 00:53:37.959 Mira Brancu: and you know, engage with me. I am a leadership, consultant and coach
00:53:38.450 --> 00:53:55.730 Mira Brancu: and an associate professor and psychology today, columnist and author of Millennials Guide to Workplace politics, and I had my own leadership career before transitioning to helping teams and high achieving women navigate their leadership complexity. So I bring all of that experience
00:53:55.960 --> 00:53:58.530 Mira Brancu: and expertise to everything that I do.
00:53:58.890 --> 00:54:02.849 Mira Brancu: And I love
00:54:03.150 --> 00:54:18.269 Mira Brancu: to work with organizational misfits and socially conscious growth, oriented high achieving women leaders in disrupted industries. I love to work with any leaders interested in finding their leadership path and making a greater impact.
00:54:19.280 --> 00:54:24.289 Mira Brancu: I love helping leaders and teams avoid being blindsided by missteps
00:54:24.440 --> 00:54:36.089 Mira Brancu: or managing highly complex, stressful workplace politics or problematic team dynamics and gain more clarity and agency to become more effective leaders.
00:54:36.410 --> 00:54:39.330 Mira Brancu: If any of that resonates reach out
00:54:39.795 --> 00:54:54.309 Mira Brancu: you can check me out@ww.go towerscope.com, and of course, the best way to keep track of all these opportunities to track what I'm doing, what I'm working on, what offers, and especially like special offers.
00:54:54.480 --> 00:55:00.210 Mira Brancu: subscribe to the Newsletter because there's a lot of special offers. I only offer Newsletter subscribers.
00:55:00.520 --> 00:55:05.770 Mira Brancu: and usually those are early access and preferred rates
00:55:06.120 --> 00:55:08.609 Mira Brancu: before I open it up publicly.
00:55:09.317 --> 00:55:20.439 Mira Brancu: You know the the major thing that I've noticed coming up in the last 6 months is about leaders coming to me, who are trying to do 2 things at the same time.
00:55:21.405 --> 00:55:32.230 Mira Brancu: And asking my help with a dual approach. Approach number one. Help them navigate a situation that is
00:55:32.420 --> 00:55:52.859 Mira Brancu: very concerning stressful, untenable, and has them wondering whether they should continue within that system, and navigating the politics and navigating how they just feel about what they want to do in the system, whether they continue or not, and the second part of the approach
00:55:53.050 --> 00:55:59.519 Mira Brancu: is helping them set themselves up for their next transition. It might not come soon. It might be
00:55:59.750 --> 00:56:25.939 Mira Brancu: like what I did, you know a 7 to 10 Year plan moving into a company, or it could be something else. I do a lot of career transition planning well in advance while people are navigating a current system that they're not sure they'll they'll be able to continue for the long haul, or they're going to want to transition in 5 to 10 years and want to set themselves up for success. So if you're interested in that, I also do those kinds of things.
00:56:26.310 --> 00:56:29.770 Mira Brancu: So getting back to the show.
00:56:29.990 --> 00:56:39.450 Mira Brancu: we are a live show where you can find us in lots of places you can find us on Apple spotify? You know. Amazon.
00:56:39.940 --> 00:56:43.020 Mira Brancu: Twitter Twitch Linkedin all over the place.
00:56:43.467 --> 00:56:48.940 Mira Brancu: I would love for you to subscribe to the podcast leave a review
00:56:49.140 --> 00:56:57.190 Mira Brancu: and share it with others, to help increase our visibility, reach and impact. This is the way that I feel like I can give
00:56:57.390 --> 00:57:01.980 Mira Brancu: back to the world through a ripple effect in greater and greater reach.
00:57:02.320 --> 00:57:04.140 Mira Brancu: And I would love your help doing that.
00:57:04.340 --> 00:57:15.980 Mira Brancu: and I would like to thank talkradio Dot, Nyc. For hosting, giving me a chance, giving me lots and lots and lots of support and leeway as I've gotten to the 100th episode
00:57:16.290 --> 00:57:22.679 Mira Brancu: together, all of us will navigate the complexities of leadership and emerge stronger on the other side.
00:57:22.890 --> 00:57:27.470 Mira Brancu: This is Dr. Mayor Branco, signing off until next time. Stay, steady.
00:57:27.720 --> 00:57:32.869 Mira Brancu: stay present, and keep building those hard skills muscles.
00:57:33.210 --> 00:57:34.470 Mira Brancu: Bye, everyone.
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