And welcome to another episode of stuck in my mind podcast. I'm your host, w I z e. And my well, actually, let me, thank everybody for all the kind words and and and all the the, the love you support you've shown me and my family and and I would say I'm a need. For those that don't know, my mother passed away last Saturday, and we just got back from Birmingham, Puerto Rico. But, I'm greatly appreciative of all the messages and all the love and support everybody sent. But, thank you so much,
man. I really do appreciate everybody's everybody's support. But now I'm excited. I'm back to to doing what I love podcasting. This is this is my outlet. This is my safe place and where I get to express myself, and I know she would be proud of what we're we're accomplishing here. So, just just thank you, everyone. Just thank but now let's just get back into the show. My next guest is a fellow podcaster. She has a a great story to share. She she's she's overcome a lot in her life, and I'm excited
to have her. Welcome to the show, Kathryn Lewis. Hey. Thank you so much for having me, and I do wanna say I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Thank you very much. It it was we we it was, we knew it was happening, and it it it it wasn't a surprise to us. But, either way, it was it was still something very, it's been it's been it's been kind of surreal for me. Like, I I I've, honestly, I've never imagined
a world without her. So it said have her not here is kinda it's still, again, like, not not I'm not used to it. And then and, of course, it's only been a week. So but, anyway, thank you for coming on the show. I appreciate you stopping by. Let's let's just jump right into it. Can can you share the story behind the title of your podcast, Opportunity Made, and what does it mean to you personally? Absolutely. So opportunity made is all about how we can make opportunities in our own lives.
And a lot of times we have different beliefs or ideas that hold us back. So we may see someone creating that company or achieving that dream and being on the fast route and we just feel behind or we feel like we'll never get there. And the message that I really wanna send with the shows that we do, is how anyone anywhere can overcome any barrier. It's just about having patience and persistence. So for you, you might have the
same dream as me. Maybe it takes you a year, maybe it takes me 10 because of the resources that we each have uniquely available, the demographics, the privilege, the previous exposure, education, all of those variables go into it, but it doesn't mean that we can't achieve it. So in the end, we can all get to whatever opportunity we
want. We just need to have that patience and persistence. And so it's all a matter of telling those stories of people who have overcome incredible barriers and how they still create the life that they want. Okay. So you your your journey involves a, a reconnection with with your father after 13 years. I I have a little kinda experience with something like this. I I hadn't had any connection with my father for over 25 years, and we do re we reunited. And a month so after we reunited, I went to go
visit him, and he he passed away. So it was it was bittersweet, but I know a little something of reconnecting with your father and everything. How was that experience for you? First of all, I just wanna say that that is amazing in a way that you got to reconnect before he passed away. And so, what like a beautiful moment. What a blessing in your life that that could happen. Because I know there are so many people out there who don't get to reconnect
at all. And it's not until after they lose someone that they're like, why didn't I do more? Why didn't we reconcile? Or why this, that? You start asking all of those questions. So I'm just really grateful that that you had that. And now let's go back to your question. You're gonna have to ask it again for me. So what what how was the reconnection with your father after 13 years of not having a relationship with him? Yeah. So we broke off our relationship when I was 13. It was my
initiative. I came to him and said, you know, hey. I I don't want you in my life anymore. And that was very hurtful for him, but he was very gracious in stepping back and giving me the space that I was asking for. Fast forward 13 years later, I'm in my mid twenties and we both grew and matured to a place where we could come back together
and we could reestablish that relationship. We had tried multiple times, in the years prior and we we still were too raw and we had too much hurt to where we could easily trigger each other and and easily reinvoke that anger and that pain. And we eventually came to this place after those 13 years where we were pretty healthy and we could forgive and we could say, okay, you know, just know that I need this boundary in place and I know that you need that boundary in place
in order for this to be functional. But it is just been absolutely incredible. When you think about those 13 years that he wasn't there, that's me coming into my prime maturing as a young woman and learning a whole bunch of different things about life, going through college, starting a career. And it's I mean, you always need your parents, but that's definitely a time in life when, I definitely could have used my dad for a lot of guidance and different things
and didn't have that. So I'm getting that now and it's kind of like making up for lost time. Not that you really can, but we're creating those special memories. I have him to guide me. I get to have input into his life. So it is beautiful and I'm just so grateful because I could have forgiven him and come back to him and said, I want a relationship and he could have said no, or he could have been bitter and resentful, and,
he wasn't. And so I'm very grateful. So as as a, multifaceted individual with experience in education, technology, and advocacy, How do you integrate all these diverse elements into your life and work? Yeah. So I have a pretty diverse background. I have a lot of experience or high level experience in a lot of different areas. And it they crossover, but it also lends me to doing a lot of different things. So, I have multiple roles within my day job. I run a nonprofit on the side. I'm on a couple
of different boards. And so I really have a wide variety of interests and show up in many different spaces but they they cross over quite a bit. For instance, I have a background just in working with students talking about emotional intelligence and leadership and advocacy and change and then I can bring that into my day job when I'm working on promoting digital accessibility and looking at how do we create products that work for all
people everywhere. So that's bringing in that emotional intelligence and leadership. There's so there's quite a bit of crossover. Okay. Alright. So the Leon Foundation of Excellence focuses on helping you feel inter intergenerational patterns of trauma. What inspired you to create this foundation, and what impact have you witnessed so far from the foundation? Yeah. So it really started from a place of pain. That's where, like, a lot of services
and products and companies get started is we have a pain point. And so for me, that pain was going through that journey of healing, all of the anger that I had within myself around my own childhood and, and losing my father, even though I recognized that I asked him to leave, but it still was a form of loss. And so I read a ton of books. Luckily I was able to go to
therapy. I would seek out mentors and I had to go through this whole healing process, not by myself because I had this village of people around me, but there weren't other people who were simultaneously going through that journey who were my age and kind of seeking the same goal. And I realized that not many people are going through this, you know, when they're 13, 14 and thinking about, okay, how do I heal these intergenerational patterns? And so I
wanted to create a community around that. It was my senior year in college when I formed the Leon Foundation of Excellence and it's focused on building foundations of excellence courage and bravery. You need that in order courage and bravery. You need that in order to heal these patterns and do that inner work. So we created a community and we've been
operating for 8 years. We've been mostly in Colorado in the United States, but then when the pandemic hit, we went international and it was pretty incredible. We've been able to serve 100 of students and help them kick start that journey. So start looking at those patterns that get passed down between the generations
and how do you heal that. So it's not necessarily therapy, but it's those initial steps to get you moving in that direction and recognize, okay, what do I actually need help on and what kind of help do I need and how do I break this cycle? So that way, let's say, my grandfather was abusive towards my
father and my father was abusive towards me. How do I stop that and heal that so I'm not replicating the same thing with my children or swinging to the opposite side, the other extreme because I don't wanna be like them and I become too passive as an example. And so it's coming back to this healthy middle ground, and that's what the organization is helping young people do.
Okay. Can can, in in your opinion, how does childhood trauma affect one's path to finding purpose and and per, purpose and focusing on personal I'm sorry. I'm my camera's going wacky on me. It's all good. When we are, I'll just start with the first part of that question. When we're looking at those patterns of trauma, let's say we have a pattern of poverty in our family. We may make different choices around our purpose. We'll have different beliefs around what we're capable of doing.
So if we have been raised in poverty, you know, our grandparents were poor, our parents were poor, we were raised in poverty, We might have 2 different responses. As an example, we might say, I absolutely don't want this and I'm gonna go to the complete other side. And that means that you are driving yourself. You're pushing. You're working super hard to get out of
that spot and to have this career. Now there's nothing necessarily wrong with that unless we're coming from this place of not running towards something, but running away from being poor to where we just cannot absolutely ever go back to that experience. And then we're probably in an unhealthy way driving ourselves to this other extreme. Or we succumb to that pattern and we say, you know what? Like, my whole family has always been poor. It's all
that I know. It's all that I've been exposed to. This is just the way that my life is and that's what you stay in. And then you're gonna spend money and you're gonna make career decisions and you're going to care about school in the way that like a poor mindset would. And so it's that's gonna change your purpose in life and that's gonna change the story that you write for yourself and
the decisions that you make. And so we can recognize, alright, there's these patterns and that has exposed me to certain types of behavior and ways of life and there might actually be something else out there. You can go and and change your purpose and seek something else. And then again, you don't wanna go to the other extreme, but eventually over time come back to that middle and say, I'm not necessarily running away from my past. I know I'm okay where I am now.
And I I can be driven. I can be ambitious, but I don't have to kill myself to get to the other side because I'm trying to stay away from what I once knew. Okay. So can can you share a specific moment of or realization that prompted you to shift from seeking affirmation and affirmation and relationships to focusing on your personal development? Because that's something that's very key is that people don't really realize is that your personal development is is is is something that that's very
important. So how did you get started on on on developing yourself, and and and what sets you on that path? Yeah. So when I was, young, probably about the same time that I ended that relationship with my father, I then was looking for significance and value and worth in other ways. Right? So when I was young, I felt neglected, I felt felt abandoned. I felt unworthy, all of these different things.
And then I lost a source, my father who, you know, inherently we all know they're supposed to affirm our worth and our significance. They're supposed to care for us. That's the role that they take on. And so in losing that, I started to look for it in other places and specifically work. Now being in school at the time, the work was academics, sports, after school curriculars, internships, and then that continued
on to into college. And then in my professional setting, it was, you know, building companies and taking on board positions and all of this kind of stuff. And so that led to a good 10 or more years of just driving myself, pushing all the time. I was working 7 days a week, probably 16 to 19 hour days, sleeping for 4 hours ish, you know, something like that. It just was really, really crazy and unhealthy. And it was coming from this place of seeking significance, seeking that
affirmation, seeking that worth and purpose. And then finally, over time and through making a bunch of messes and stumbling quite a bit, I realized like that's not ever going to be enough. And what I mean by that is like there's no amount of work that I can possibly do that's ever going to affirm my worth and that's the wrong source to go to to get that from. And that instead that comes just from like the very nature of how I was
created. Like I was created as someone, as we all are, as someone who has inherent value and worth and there's nothing that I need to do to prove it. And if I have people around me who can't demonstrate it to me in the way that I like or in in a way that's healthy, that doesn't mean that I'm unworthy. It just means that they need more tools in their tool belt, that they need more practice, that they need more awareness, as do I probably for them to demonstrate their worth in the way
that they need it to be affirmed. So it was it was a a long journey, but that freed me and allowed me to then let go of a lot of extra responsibilities and to not drive myself so much, take time off, like, have more of a life outside of work. So it was a significant shift. As we mentioned earlier, you're you're a podcast host. How how which but your podcast often features raw and down to
earth conversations. How do you approach vulnerability, and what do you hope your listeners take away from these conversations? Yeah. I love podcasting so much because there are so many like, it it truly is a pleasure because there are so many moments. When we're just having a conversation, that's all that it is. And in that conversation, people are opening up and sharing things and we're having this dialogue.
Where live on the show, they realize things about themselves, about their journey, about their story, their patterns, and you can see them go, woah. You know, I wasn't I wasn't expecting to recognize that in this moment. And in terms of vulnerability, it's been a long journey to learn how to be vulnerable. I used to be a very prideful person where I have to have this perfect story. And so you're not gonna be able to see behind what I want you to see. You're not gonna be able to see the messes.
You're not gonna be able to see my pain. You're not gonna be able to see the ways that I'm broken, and have have room for growth. And over time, you you learn through life that everyone is broken in different ways. And what I mean by that is we all have faults. We all have things even in our in our bodies that aren't working correctly. Nobody has it all together. No one knows exactly what to do on their job. You know, no one knows where their path is is going particularly.
And so when you recognize that everyone is having the same experience in the same boat and you can acquire some humility, then it's very easy to have these conversation. It's like, let's just talk about life. Let's just say it how it is because that's gonna help us grow so much more and connect on a much deeper level than all of these, socially acceptable conversations, right? And talking about things
that keep it all pretty and like it looks, it looks like it's together. So, you know, and and it's been beautiful because they're the shows tend to be pretty long. They tend to be an hour to 2 hours, sometimes more. I have another one that's coming out that I think is about 3 hours long. And, it's you just get in the flow and you're just able to talk about what's real and what's true and what you're
going through. And time goes by so fast in that way because you're not pretending, you're not trying to structure it in a certain way or make people get a particular message. Oh, no. I I I agree with you. When I first started podcasting, I had a couple I had a couple episodes that that were extremely long as as a 2 part 2 part series. So once it was, like, 3 hours me and this and this, young man spoke for, and it it was it's been a great experience. Like I said earlier, this for me
is my therapy. This is for this is for me where I get to to share what what I'm experiencing now with the loss of my mom, what I've experienced in the past, where this this podcast journey has taken me.
And I I can remember the first few episodes like they were yesterday, and it's it's been an amazing ride to see the growth and the the development of myself from when I first started to where I'm at now, having these wonderful conversations with these experts and having some beautiful just so they're just so energizing, some of these conversations. And to have that, at first, I was like I felt kind of selfish because I was enjoying a lot of these conversations, and
it was like, man, I'm learning so much. I'm I'm I'm getting so much from doing these interviews and from speaking to these people. But then I guess the I guess point out that you're not being selfish because, first of all, I'm trying to I'm I'm wanting to learn and grow and develop. Second of all, I'm sharing it with my audience, and and they're getting to experience this, and they're getting to learn and grow with me. And so when when they said it that way, I was like,
okay. I I understand. I get it now. And it it's been one heck of a ride, man. I've I've loved all these conversations because it's so much fun to realize that when you when you speak to someone, and and I've spoken to people all over the world. I've spoken to people in Japan, India, Australia, Dubai, all over almost every state here in the United States. And it's been it's been it's been a a a great experience. It it's been something that I am thankful and blessed to be able to
do. Yeah. Absolutely. That's what's so cool about this is you can speak with anyone anywhere. And what are what are the chances of everyone meeting in this way? I mean, I I probably would never meet someone who's, you know, as you mentioned, like maybe Dubai or wherever it may be. It so it connects us all in a way that wouldn't otherwise be possible. And here we are strangers coming together having these deep conversations, and it truly is a unique experience.
Yeah. As a woman in the technology space, how have you navigated challenges and opportunities in the field that historically has been male dominated? Yeah. It has been, and and in many ways, it is. And there's definitely been some challenging moments, conversations where, you know, sometimes you feel like, you know, you're the only female in the room and you feel like you're being talked over and stuff like
that. But it's honestly been beautiful because, when I'm working with a group of women versus working with a group of men, there is a different dynamic there. And being able to learn how to navigate both is another aspect of the job that's intriguing. It does require you to stand up, to speak up, to have certain boundaries, to say certain things, but that's required across the board regardless. It might just be a different kind of
conversation than if you were in a different space. And, so for me, I would say that it's an exciting challenge. It's not something that is like a negative or is suppressive. But I will say for anyone who is looking to get into the tech industry, especially a woman who's looking to get into the tech industry. When I first started out, I was very much, hesitant about that, and I came from a place of
believing that I wouldn't fit in. That, that typical stereotype, that old one that's not true, that I'm a woman and so I can't be good at math and science. That held me back for quite a bit. And then you come to realize, like, that's not true. You can you can do whatever it is that you'd like and you have the capability. It's just about learning and giving dedicated time to that. And in those moments when you feel insecure, like, keep pressing through. And sometimes
it's best just to say that. I've had moments where I've said, hey, this is how I'm feeling. This is how that experience came off to me. What was it like for you? Is that actually accurate? Because I can be misinterpreting things and I can have a false filter that's creating a more negative experience than what is actually objectively
happening. Okay. Alright. What what because what what advice would you give an individual who's who's struggling with being a a workaholic and a professionalism perfectionist, what what what are challenges you do you feel that, you you've had because of these with because you you struggle with being a workaholic and and a perfectionist. What what advice would you give someone struggling with this right now? I can give advice that pertains to those 2, but I'll say, from my
experience, both of those are a form of an addiction. Right? It's something that you have to have and you can't let go and you just need more and more of. And so whether someone's suffering from that or any other kind of addiction, maybe this can be applicable for them. There's a couple of things that that I have suffered from because of those particular addictions. I mean, it's impacted relationships. It's impacted my health. It's
impacted my self esteem. Ironically, when I'm working and doing so much because I'm spread so thin, the quality of what I do, it's still good, but it's not my absolute best. And so sometimes that generates a cycle of being upset with myself, maybe some self deprecation or self hatred. And then what do you end up doing when you're in that cycle? You work more. It's like, okay, you didn't do enough so you gotta do more. When really the best thing to do
is to step back. Start saying no. Start taking things off of your plate. Start recognizing that it's never gonna be enough. You're never you'll never reach that end point. And so you have to build an end point for yourself. I'm only gonna work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week or whatever that is, and you have to build structure, discipline, and confine yourself. Otherwise, you will just keep going and keep consuming,
keep saying yes to things. The other piece that I would speak to in terms of the perfectionism is, recognizing that you're already perfect. And I say that in a in more of a faith based way where it's like you were created exactly as you need to be. There's nothing more that you can take away or that you can add. Yes, we can always get better, but once you can come to that place where it's like, I can just be and I'm good. Now what do I wanna go do? What do I wanna fill my time up
with? What am I gonna choose to experience in life? What am I gonna contribute? How am I going to serve? And that can help settle some of those incessant, obsessive feelings around I have to do more and it's not there yet and it's not perfect. The last piece that I'll add in here is to come back to what's right before you today. So a lot of that workaholism and perfectionism is future centered. And it's like, okay, I need to do this now so I can get to that in the
future and then that's gonna lead to the next thing and the next thing. And so you're very much focused on what's ahead which often leads to anxiety and overwhelm and feeling this burden of how am I ever gonna be able to handle this. If instead, you can come back to what's right before you today and just say, okay, what is my most important task? Like, my most important task today is this podcast. That was all that I had. And so
that's what I'm preparing for. That's what I'm showing up for. That's what I'm gonna do. And then beyond that, like, I've already won. I've already won the day. Anything else that I do, it's fine. If you are, you know, a firefighter, the fire that's burning right now is the the one that you need to put out. It's not the one that's gonna light in an hour from now. You don't need to worry about that one.
Right? You need to worry about the one that's burning now. So it's that idea of what's right before me and how can I just give my all to that and we'll deal with the rest of it later? Okay. How do you balance being being an advocate, an educator, a podcaster? And with founding a foundation, how do you how do you specifically strategize for maintaining balance and focus? Because these are a lot of hats you're
wearing. Yeah. You know, there's a lot of different thoughts around the word balance nowadays. Can we actually balance it? Is it actually important to balance it? But what I would say is I have a pretty regimented, schedule. Now I will take some time at the end of every day and I will map out exactly what needs to happen. And so I'll be rigid in that moment where I say, okay, here's where I'm, you know, working out. Here's where I'm getting ready. Here's where I'm taking that meeting
and I'm doing this task. But then I also recognize that life happens and I don't actually have control. And so I will start that next day from a place of surrender. Okay? Whatever needs to happen is what's going to happen. So show me what needs to happen today and you just start rolling through it and making those decisions and you'll get to the end of the day and there's things that haven't been done. There's things that took longer than you wanted to.
There's unexpected things that came up. But but it's just having this disposition of that's okay. Like, we did the best that we could. You're never gonna be able to balance it, especially if you're striving for perfection. I know you can idolize and obsess around a schedule. It has to be, you know, perfect and I have to get everything done. So it's weighing out how can I be regimented and plan ahead, but then how can I hold it lightly
and just surrender and accept to what's coming? And I think it's in that mentality that you can find more balance in your life. If you're too rigid or you're too loose, you either, are hard on yourself or you're not getting everything done that you could. Okay. How do you see the landscape of of personal development evolving, especially in the content of the challenges people face today? Okay.
Ask that question again. How do you see the landscape of personal development evolving, especially in the context of the challenges people face today? Okay. That's interesting. There are so many different paths for personal development because there are so many different things that people are going after. And yet, at the same time, we're kind of all going after the same things. We want to be seen, we want to be heard, we want to be loved, we want to be
understood, we want to belong. Right? And so that's when people are going after personal development, a lot of times they're going after how can I get the lifestyle that leads me to feeling those things? Or how can I become the person that's gifting those things to other people depending on where you're coming from and sometimes it's it's a mix? So there are many different ways out there. There are lots of books and conferences and workshops and,
experiences, right? Sometimes we will eat or we'll move or we'll do things in certain ways to to give us that experience. And so what it looks like moving forward, you know, will depend on advances in technology. It'll depend on themes in culture. It'll depend on just the general ethos and mindset of society. But ultimately, it's still is us recreating this wheel and trying to come back to
feeling those things. And so I found in my own life, the more I can limit those inputs, the more I can actually get to those basics of how do I be seen? How do I be loved? How do I see others? How do I love others? And there's really not a whole lot that needs to be developed within us to get to that place because we already inherently have that need within us. And so we have the ability to do those things, to give those things.
And, it's really clearing out that clutter that brings us back to that core, not adding a whole bunch more into our lives in order to fulfill that need. Okay. What what does living out one's divine essence mean to you, and how can individuals begin to embody their own divine essence? So the way I'm going to interpret that is basically being your authentic self and, the, you
know, the way that you were created. Now we're all made in a certain way and then we accumulate a lot of beliefs, a lot of experiences, a lot of traumas over the course of life. And sometimes that weighs us down and turns us into a different kind of person. Sometimes we can release that and go back to who we were before we we had, you know, these
hurts and these angers and things like that. But for me, that that is a faith journey and that's, me letting go of a lot of things that I thought were real and mattered for life and realizing that they don't. And coming back to what does matter. And when I'm focused on like what is most important in life in terms of, my faith and in terms of like why we're all here, then that allows me again to kind of clear out the clutter of everything else. And I'm just focused on the core of who I am.
And as I'm focused on that core, that core continues to grow. It continues to solidify. And then my actions are able to come from that place rather than all the pain and all the false beliefs that I took on over the years. Yeah. And then that's something that it's a lot of us has have struggled with is the programming over the years. And for me, just stripping down a lot of the stuff that you learn that
you're programmed. And and for me, really getting into reading more and and seeking mentors and and speaking to people who are where I wanna be at. And Mhmm. And being able to to have these kind of, like, that's one, like, that's one thing I'm so grateful right now is the fact that I've been able to make an impact on people's on people's lives with the podcast and that the the podcast has given me some purpose. Like, when I I say this When I first started my podcast,
I I didn't know what I wanted to do with life. I was 44 years old. This pandemic had hit. It was like, I was out of work. I was home. Kinda lost, and it gave me a purpose. It gave me something that I didn't know I was missing. Like, I didn't know that this was gonna be something that meant so much to me. I didn't know I was gonna love podcast. Yeah. It was just I had started getting into listening and watching podcast, and I I honestly, I wanted to start a sports podcast.
And something I just kept making excuses to why not. I couldn't do it. And when I finally did start podcasting, I wanted to discuss self development. I wanted to talk about the mindset. I wanted because it was
something that was affecting me personally at that time. It was, like, something that I I wanted to get back to, because years before, I I was into self development, and then life happens, and you kind of lose your way, and and and podcasting has given me an opportunity to get back into self development and and get back into discovering who I am and being my authentic self, being able to be
me. Like, I don't have to put out the facade for anyone. I can actually just be me and not be judged for it, be able to to show vulnerability, be able to show that as a man. It's okay if I show emotions. It's it's okay if I if I show being vulnerable. It's there's nothing wrong with it. And so being able to do that and have these conversations and and realize that, like you said earlier, we all want the same thing in life. We all wanna be happy. We all wanna be
recognized. We want our family to be healthy and and we wanna be successful and all these and when you when I started having these conversations, I I realized that we're different, but, yeah, and at the core of it all, a lot of us are the same at what we want in life. Yeah. That's so beautiful how through your pain, you birth something new. And it's you it's also a part of you finding purpose in
giving back and contributing. Right? You were able to serve others and then you felt fulfilled and felt like you had this purpose. I'm curious. You mentioned that you had these excuses and reasons I can't do this. I can't do this. Well, you're doing it. Like, this is I would have never met you if you didn't do it. And so what switched you over from that place of I can't to I am? For me, it was just I I I decided I I decided to face fear of because it was more of I can't fail if I don't do
it. Right? So but that was my excuse. It's like, oh, I can't I I can't but, technically, I had already failed because I didn't go out and do it. So for me, it was like, you know what? Let me just stop being afraid. The first episode was, like, 5 minutes long, And when I when I was about to release him, I left him. He was like, no. Let's let's let's work on a little
bit more. Let's I was like, no. I want people to see from where we start, and and and you can see from episode 1 to my first 20 episodes to just lose because it went from, like, 5 minutes to 10 minutes to so with each episode, it just started growing. And with each episode, I just gained more and more confidence. It it was just like something like, oh, man. I can do this.
And so when and and I when I really, really started really wanting to get into podcasting and everything, like, when I once I really truly immersed myself in everything because, like, for the 1st few months, I didn't do thumbnails. I didn't do descriptions. I barely had titles. I just wanted to release it. I just wanted to just I
was just challenging myself just to get it out. But then when when I started, people started listening and and friends started commenting and all this stuff, then I started doing the, the thumbnails. I started adding descriptions. I started adding all these different things, and it just started growing and growing. And and then last year, I started doing automation. I weekly emails, building my my email list, building my subscriber list and all this stuff. And then the show really started
growing. And it was like, okay. Like, I went from 8,000 downloads my first year and a half, almost 2 years, till 2023 going over 16,000 downloads. So, basically, doubling what I've did my first two and a half years. Wow. And that to me was amazing. Mhmm. It it was like, oh, man. And and it's because I started doing certain things, and I I really started learning about podcasting, really started focusing on little things that I that I
didn't do when I when I first started. And it it it's it's really been an amazing ride to see where I've come from, to where I'm at now, where, as far as my audio podcast, I've released episode 220. Hey. Yeah. 220 episodes. And that's not counting. Well, like, all the other stuff, like, the video. Because when I originally started, I was just strictly audio. I didn't go video to, like, episode after I had recorded 132 audio
episodes. And so it's only recently that I've started doing video, and I I do I record 3 shows a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I I release 1 audio podcast a week, and it it's been it's been, so much fun to be able to just for me, like, it's been able it's been so great to just to impact one
person's life. Mhmm. It's where whereas I don't know what what kinda, like, I don't know what kinda impact I've had on their life, but if I've impacted their life, and it's how now how they're gonna impact other people's lives. So it's like a ripple effect. So I impact one person's life, and they go on and impact the 1,000 or whatever. To me, that's that's that's success to
me. Mhmm. To be to to be able to do that and and see that get receive messages from people that have said thank you for this episode or that conversation you had with such they'll name the they'll name the episode. They'll tell you when in the episode that they when where they heard it, and it's those moments that I'm like, this is why I do it. This is this is why I get up and record, and and I do what I do because you never know who's listening. Mhmm. That's so beautiful.
It's crazy how perfectionism is a dream killer, and yet success is done by a 1000 steps. And you've you've made those 1,000 steps. You've done those 200 and more podcasts all because in one moment, you just decided, alright. Let's do this. Mhmm. And I just love that. I love that that's how life works. We're so so scared and we put things off for so long. Put it off. Put it off. Put it off. And all we had to do is just press record. And there you go. Like, we've that is
the act of crossing over the threshold. You are officially a podcaster. Like, you're not And you say and you say it and you say it, like, you know, you gotta do this first you say it's it's just that simple. It is. It really is. It it it really is. And I don't want people to think, like, podcasting is easy because it's not. Because there there are podcasts out there that they put a lot they put a lot of work, especially independent podcasters who so
I'm yes. I'm I'm not saying that podcast isn't easy, but it is. You can technically just take your phone and record the converse record yourself. It it is. People make it more difficult than what it's supposed to be. But it takes a lot of work and dedication to to build a successful podcast. Mhmm. To start a podcast is simple. Yeah.
But to sustain it and build it up, that's where the journey lies, and that's where you have so much fun getting to build something from scratch and and grow and develop it and see see it take off from its infant stages to where it is now. Mhmm. And that's the thing. Whenever we wanna start something and we feel that overwhelm, we feel that heaviness, and, oh my and I don't even know how I'm gonna do this, Our minds aren't thinking about the moment when we just push record and now we've
done it. We're thinking about the how are we gonna sustain this? And I all the work that I'm gonna have to do and this and that and this and that. And, oh my goodness, I don't know how that's even gonna happen. But our mind condenses it all into one thing as if we need to climb the highest mountain right now and we forget that in order to climb the highest
mountain, it's a 1,000 steps. And so that's why, you know, getting over perfectionism and workaholism and just fear in general, whatever it is you wanna start, come back to just what do I need to do today? Today, I'm only gonna allow myself to record myself for 5 minutes. That's it. And then I'm cutting myself off. That's all I get to do. And tomorrow, you know, and the next day and the and so you break it down that way. And you're so right. It's that consistency, that's where you build
the kingdom. That's where you summit the mountain. It's not by doing it all at once even though our minds like to frame it in that way and that's what blocks us, that's what keeps those barriers in place and paralyzes us so we can't move forward. But you just say, what what's that one thing I can do today? And ask that question for 365 days in that year, and you're gonna be a complete different person at the end of it. Yeah. No. It's at like, I've I've built the
system on how I do my podcast. I like I I I have certain tools that I use to do the thumbnails and do titles and all this different stuff, But it's it's taken me time to develop it. It's taken me time. I've had to learn and build the system on how I want to build my show. And so it's it's been, it's it's just funny because to see to to see from where I started at. And when I first started interviewing people, I was interviewing friends and
people all over. And it wasn't with it wasn't until the last year and a half that I really focused on bringing on coaches, entrepreneurs, and focus more on mindset and development and wanting to help people grow and everything. So it was when I started focusing on that. Right? Really narrowed down my niche to who I wanted to speak to. That's when it it really it it for me, it really solidified what I wanted to do. It really kind of nailed it for me, and
it was like, alright. This is this is the path that I wanna go down. These are the people I wanna interview, and this is what I want the show to be about. Yeah. And I love that you mentioned that because sometimes people will try and define their audience ahead of time. And if you know, you know, I specifically wanna talk to this demographic only on these topics, that's awesome.
Like, kudos. Sometimes, we don't really know and it's just like, I just wanna have conversations and I'm not sure where this is gonna go and who wants to tune in. You can block yourself by spending too much time overthinking and overanalyzing and trying to narrow that down. Sometimes, again, you just need to go do the thing and then see who's responding to you and that'll help you formulate who your audience is, who's listening, who's tuning in. That'll be defined over time. And then
once you have that information, you can go back. You can revamp the system and add more structure around it because you know exactly who you're targeting. You've got your base laid down, and you can bring in those strategies you're mentioning around the thumbnails and building your email list and specific targeted ads and stuff like that. But people try and do that ahead of time, and and sometimes you just gotta go for it. It'll be defined over time.
No. Yeah. No. It when I tried to do all this when I first started, I would've would've probably been overwhelming. I probably would've quit. Like, it would've been too much to so I I'm I I I've enjoyed the process because I've learned so much in in in doing it all and and wanting to to to improve and and taking courses on editing or and and audio and video and all the diff these different things that has that has helped me in really developing what I want. And and and it's been
like, okay. This this is the lane that I I feel comfortable, and this is this is the lane that I'm having so much engagement on and and everything. So so when I did, it zeroed down and focused more on these topics. It was like, okay. Alright. This is where my audience lies. This is this is where I wanna be at. And and and it was it was crazy because when I first started, I I went to, Podfest 2 years ago. Mhmm. And someone told me, like, I they they told me I
needed to niche it down. And and in my own head, I was like, no. I'm enjoying what not realizing what they were really trying to explain to me. What they were trying to say to me was like, listen. I get I understand you wanna talk to everybody, but target your audience. Really find out where your audience is and and and focus on that. And when I really truly started doing that is when things really shifted for me. Mhmm. Yeah. That's beautiful. This this has been wonderful. I've
we've almost fell for an hour. This has been a great, great time. But now is the time when you get the solo screen. You get to plug away, let everybody know where they can find you, what where they can check out the podcast, everything. Yeah. So Opportunity Made is available on all podcasting platforms. I also have a newsletter that goes along with that.
Sometimes I'm talking about the show. Sometimes I'm talking about lessons I'm learning in life, but you can find the opportunity made newsletter on LinkedIn only. So you can follow me on LinkedIn. It's the LinkedIn URL slash opportunity made, and there you'll find the articles as well and you can subscribe to that newsletter. And the last resource I'll throw out there for y'all is leonfe.org and that is the Leon Foundation of Excellence website. So leonfe.org. On there, you'll find our free
Leadership Academy. It is geared towards high school students, but anyone anywhere can take it and it's 30 modules helping you get started with developing emotional intelligence, self awareness, looking at those intergenerational patterns, and figuring out how to break that cycle. Alright. Thank thank you once again for being a guest. This has been a great conversation. I have had a great time talking to you.
I'm gonna close out the show now, but don't leave just yet. We'll chat a little bit off the air, but it's been a pleasure having you on the show. This has been good. I I said, I I can tell when the conversation is going pretty well when it it exceeds some of the like, I've been trying to limit myself to, like, 35, 45 minutes. But when you have such a good
conversation, I I don't mind extending it. I I I actually enjoy it more when I get when I do get those conversations where I do get to extend it because, I mean, that that means the conversation is so so engaging and and entertaining and and just being able to learn and and see speak to someone who's gone through struggles in life and and been able to to really make an impact and and and show people that, hey.
We all struggle and all those things, but you get all the wonderful things you're doing out there right now with starting the foundation and having the podcast and and doing all the things that you're doing. So kudos. I I I appreciate you, and and thank you for being a guest. Thank you for having me. Alright. Let me close out the show. Big shout out to everybody who's stopped by in the in the chat. Snowman, what's going on, brother? Love you too. Appreciate you. My man, Drew, what's going on?
Thank you for all the love and the support. Once again, shout out to everybody out there who's who's shown me so much love and support and my and show my family so much support in in this time. And, listen, I'm I'm just grateful that I had 80 wonderful 84 wonderful she had 84 wonderful years. I'm just grateful that I got 47 great years with her. And and without her, I wouldn't be the man that I am today.
So I'm just I'm blessed to to have such a wonderful family that we've, it was it was a great it was a great experience to be around my family and and having all that support, but it it was just all the support from all my my friends and and and a lot of coworkers and I is I've just been blessed, but thank you so much, everybody. Shout out to my nephew, papa j. Shout out to the boss lady. Love you and appreciate you. And as always, a big, big
shout out to all the essential workers out there. God bless y'all. Be safe. You know how your boy wise does it? He's out.