We are celebrating one year in your ears. Thanks to everyone who has been listening from the beginning (or maybe we should say, "Thanks, Mom!) and thanks to new listeners who are just now joining us in this collective creative journey. 
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​We feel like we have truly reached a milestone and look forward to what's to come.

This is a phrase normally associated with parenting, but it couldn't be more true than with our voyage into podcasting. The idea started simply enough through a series of casual conversations and then some experimental recordings - none of which you will hear as they were barely more than incoherent ramblings.

As our ideas became more substantial, The Everyday Creative podcast began to take shape. This phase, by far, felt the longest as we procrastinated to press the record button on what we agreed was our “finished” product.

We look back and smile at those naive women thinking that the podcast would ever be finished. We continue to evolve and make changes to our process while simultaneously reflect back with pride on our past episodes - flaws and all!

Like with anything in life, we faced challenges big and small. And when you’re in the thick of it, it’s difficult to tell the difference because they all feel big. Luckily, with perspective, what once felt insurmountable is now commonplace.
Here are a couple of mountains and molehills we’ve scaled:

Fortunately, we were starting at Step 0 as I (FYI, Emily is the author of this post) had previous experience working as a podcast producer for The Sustainable Dish podcast (check it out if you are interested in all the sustainability and nutrition).

This made me the default IT department for our business, and Evie was just along for the ride. It cannot be understated how tenuous this situation is as I get flustered by the most basic TV remote control. But fueled by my belief that I could figure out anything and Evie’s remarkable ability to talk me off the ledge, we got the podcast up and running.

Practical Tip: If you are starting a podcast, go with service providers with highly rated customer service departments. While you can spend time on Google and Reddit threads looking for answers, it’s almost always easier going to the source. Huge time saver!

For Evie, the challenges were a little bit different and mostly internal. She had to develop comfort and confidence around communicating with an unseen audience and absence of immediate feedback. Without the benefit of knowing if her message was accepted and understood, she had to quickly come to terms with discomfort and not being perfect, trusting the process.

An unexpected challenge Evie faced was how much she was personally affected by our work. She realized how much work she needed to put in and focus on herself in order to be able to do this in the way that she wanted.

Here’s her quote, “It's very much about the experiences of women as they move through middle age, and being able to focus on my health and supporting women as they go through this same stage, encouraging people to focus on their health rights, yeah, and that's something that I'm still… that we're still like fleshing out. Because women tend to put the needs of others first, traditionally, as wives, mothers, caretakers. We're in positions that are expected to help others and prioritize the needs of others over our own, and I think that is very common for women. And then when we get into middle age, it's like, what am I doing? Who am I? What's important to me? My health is deteriorating. I don't feel good, I don't have energy. I'm not doing what I want to do. And then we begin to resent the people that are in our lives. And I think that's common. I don't think that's just me. That's not just my experience. And our health is important, and we need to be thinking about these things. We need to attend to ourselves, give ourselves time and space that we need to figure out what really makes us come alive, because that's what life is all about, isn't it? It's like being able to enjoy life fully, and you can't do that if you're constantly helping others or constantly neglecting your own needs.”

While I didn’t experience quite the same epiphany as Evie, I did have to confront some of my own demons. It’s only been very recently that I’ve been able to admit that I’ve got through periods of disordered eating and chronic overexercising. While these two foes are not completely out of my life, they’ve been acknowledged, I recognize the triggers that bring them on (hello, stress!!), and have assembled a toolbox to help me deal.

My second big demon is the diet industry and government-sanctioned nutrition advice. This was a major factor in my delay in becoming a registered dietitian. There is so much I don’t agree with. There are too many mixed messages, all-or-nothing dichotomies, diet culture toxicity, and overly prescriptive plans with little regard for how difficult life and behavior change can be. It was an overflowing wave pool I was reticent to wade into.
Deciding to focus on brain health and its connection to overall health has made the first steps easier. 

As Evie and I continue to work on ourselves as we help others, we’ve honed our message to become one of self-discovery - discovering (or re-discovering) your Creative Self and experimenting with what nourishes your body and mind.

We've learned a lot along the way and here's what we have to share (some of it applies to more than just podcasting):

Everything began to fall into place once we published the first episode. Having the external pressure of expected publish dates provided the extra push to finish episodes and push them out. It was easier to let go of our perfectionist tendencies when we had a deadline and a schedule to keep.

With that said, we knew a weekly episode would be too much, given the learning curve and our other life obligations. A biweekly rhythm worked for us. If you are starting out, pick a release schedule that works for you. There are very few rules in podcasting. Trust us, having a deadline is a good thing.

Talking is easy, right? Well, throw a microphone into the mix, and suddenly, even the natural act of breathing takes on a layer of complication. With practice and a series of voice and breathing exercises, we are getting better.

​Our favorite resource for this is NPR’s Podcast Start Up Guide by Glen Weldon (co-host of Pop Culture Happy Hour). It is a wealth of information, from creating a compelling story to eliminating p-pops. Can’t recommend enough to all aspiring podcasters.

You’d be surprised at the number of podcasts that are scripted word for word - even if they don't sound like it. Maybe that works for you or maybe not. We have a blend of scripted and off-the-cuff conversations. Evie works better without scripts, but I, on the other hand, prefer to write out what I want to say. My brain works better through writing. It helps me figure out what I think. As a result, we have a mix of both.

Even if you don’t have full-on scripts, note-taking and outlines help for several reasons:

Since podcaster is not our main gig, we benefitted from having a cushion of episodes ready to publish. Let’s face it, life gets in the way, but it was important to maintain our release schedule. The only way we were able to manage this was by getting and staying ahead. Luckily, our content is evergreen. Is it ever a bad time to work on your mental health? No, we didn’t think so, either.

This is probably the best thing about podcasting. Don’t like the way you said something? No worries. Say it again. Too many “likes,” “umms,” and weird mouth sounds? All fixable. If you get really good at editing, you can even switch around the entire order of how you originally recorded. Editing is something that gets easier with practice, too. I use Audacity, a free, open-source audio editing program. It’s relatively easy to use, and there are plenty of free resources that teach you how to use it.

This is probably the best piece of advice we have, and it’s something that everyone says: just do it. As I mentioned at the beginning of this section, everything got easier once we published our first episode, but to do that, you have to record something first.

Like any project, we expected to be further along. It always takes longer than you want it to. At this point we expected everything up and functional. We were going to have so many listeners and be in all the social spaces. The website would be fully functional, but it’s still a WIP and probably always will be.

Evie laments that she tends to overestimate her ability to get things done. She acknowledges that she is not a future-oriented thinker, opting for being “in the moment.” As such she had minimal expectations for where we would be at this point. We balance each other out in that respect. She keeps us in line with our Big Vision, which is to help women create a life they love. In the end, she trusts the process and that everything will happen in time.

Starting this podcast and business has provided us with a unique opportunity to connect with each other and like-minded women. Plus, it’s provided us with the ability to grow as individuals and come together to make positive change in the world. For this, we will forever be grateful.

During this show segment, we introduce four ways to interact with the material presented: A question to answer, a quest to complete, an aspect of creativity we've noticed this week, and a quote to ponder.

What's next for The Everyday Creative Collective?
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​As we move into next year, we're putting together a course for women who want to start a creative practice and are looking to make some positive changes in their lives.
In the meantime, you can get our free guide for self-discovery. Click the link below. You’ll get the guide and be notified of course updates.

Send us an email! Let us know how we are doing and if you have questions or suggestions.
​hello@theeverydaycreativecollective.com

This podcast is our creative outlet and opportunity not only to connect with our audience but also with each other as sisters and coworkers.

"Show up messy, show up imperfect, but just keep showing up​"
- Jenna Kutcher