Recently I did something I absolutely loathe to do - I marketed myself and the podcast I share with two friends. It was really uncomfortable and the amount of anxiety I had made me wish I had never mentioned it to my co-hosts, Paul and Trecia. Why is this particular thing, marketing myself on social media or in person so challenging for me? Because I continue to refuse to do it.
The more we do the uncomfortable things, the easier they become over time.
I’ve experienced this with speaking French, with dancing, with publishing my writing, with public speaking, with playing sports, with so many things over the course of my life. Yet promoting myself continues to be a struggle and I hide from it, like I don’t even want to tell my family and close friends what I’m doing.
So what made attending this particular pop-up vendor event so different? Good question.
The power and support of community.
This event was held at my local dance studio and gym which I’ve been attending for almost two years. Every person there was a familiar face or a friend. This gave me the courage to share my podcast, my book, and practice my elevator speech in a nurturing environment without judgement. What a gift!
Was I nervous? At first, and then with each person that came over to my table, I gained a little more confidence in myself and the work that we do on this podcast. Slowly the talking about myself became easier, less uncomfortable, and maybe just a tiny bit enjoyable. I’ve always been proud of Rhythm & Roam - I just prefer to let anyone else but me talk about it.
Here’s the thing though, if I want the podcast to grow, then I need to grow. The two are intertwined. Sure there are three of us hosting this podcast, so I could theoretically continue to let Paul and Trecia do all the marketing, but that doesn’t help me as a person and it’s one third of the team acting out of fear. Not the best recipe for growth.
The key I believe is to find and rely on community to help you expand and take those challenging first steps.
This way the “uncomfortableness” becomes less anxiety producing with the support of your people. Now I know that I can “do” the marketing stuff. Do I like it? I’m still deciding. But it’s less scary and less vulnerable to put myself out into the world.
~Benef
