Shanti Joy Gold hosts Stories We Haven't Shared, a campfire-style interview series where underrepresented people talk about the extra layers they navigate in their careers. The show grew out of her "LinkedIn coming out," when she posted about coming out at work and friends told her they'd had no idea she'd gone through it.

Two years in, Shanti talks with Becky about getting help to launch (shout-out to FPC member Alicia Galati), switching from biweekly to monthly without losing listeners, keeping her coaching business and her podcast in "orbits" that sit close together without forcing it, and why the vulnerability of her guests still takes her breath away.

Timestamps

00:00 Meet Shanti Joy Gold and Stories We Haven't Shared
04:52 Why hearing someone's story makes it hard to hate
06:58 Hiring a consultant to get past perfectionism and overthinking
09:53 Season two: moving from biweekly to monthly
13:12 What happened to downloads after going monthly
14:20 Keeping the podcast and the business in close orbit
15:38 Unexpected business results: clients, side gigs, and planting seeds
20:44 How hosting has shaped her as a person and a coach
23:45 Worst podcasting advice: believing there's one right formula
24:26 Best advice: make sure you still love doing it
26:39 Why community matters for independent podcasters

Links

• Shanti Joy Gold: https://shantijoygold.com/
• Stories We Haven't Shared podcast link: https://shantijoygold.com/podcast/
• Shanti on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@shantijoygold-coach

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Heather Vickery (Was It Chance, The Brave Files, author of Fck Fearless: Making the Brave Leap*) joins the Feminist Podcasters Collective to talk about why she podcasts, the origin story behind her first show, and what five years of co-hosting with Alan Seals of the Broadway Podcast Network has taught her about partnership, division of labor, and keeping a show fun and sustainable.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome & why Heather podcasts
01:52 – The Brave Files origin story & the Brave Method
03:43 – How a kitchen brainstorm became a 6-week podcast launch (2016)
05:12 – Why quitting early is the biggest podcasting mistake
07:03 – Sunsetting The Brave Files: capacity over cash
09:28 – Meet "Was It Chance" with co-host Alan Seals
10:22 – The Podcast Movement meet-cute & how Broadway Podcast Network began
13:00 – Choosing a podcast partner: opposites, values & division of labor
16:06 – Five years in: what keeps a co-hosting partnership alive
18:11 – When co-hosts disagree (the on-air joke that almost didn't make the cut)
20:44 – Advice for anyone considering a co-hosted show
25:10 – Why the "why" matters more than the "how"
26:34 – Would Heather ever go solo again?
27:52 – How co-hosting changes you
30:04 – Final advice & love for the podcaster community
31:36 – What "Was It Chance" is about + where to find it

Resources & links mentioned:

• Was It Chance: https://www.wasitchance.com/
• Broadway Podcast Network: https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/
• "F*ck Fearless: Making the Brave Leap" by Heather Vickery: https://link.amazon/B0fIc69cK

🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: https://feministpodcastcollective.com/

What if the way people find your podcast has nothing to do with the algorithm gods — and everything to do with what they're actually typing into a search bar? Kandas Rodarte, host of Gratitude Geek and a longtime FPC member, has spent two years turning her show into an SEO case study, and she's sharing exactly what's working.

Kandas walks through how she splits her SEO strategy across Apple, Spotify, and YouTube (they're not the same game), why she moved her intro music to the 60-second mark instead of the first 15 seconds, and how running every episode through Auphonic changed her retention. She talks candidly about relaunching Gratitude Geek mid-metastatic breast cancer treatment, why she turned down a "superstar" guest because he didn't fit her niche, and the worst podcasting advice she keeps hearing ("just start" — she disagrees). Plus: the best advice she ever got, from her auto mechanic, about compassion.

Learn more about Kandas and her podcasts at https://kandasrodarte.com/

Join us in the Feminist Podcasters Collective at https://feministpodcasterscollective.com/