Taking My Shot by Monique A. J. Smith

Podcasting began more as a reason to assist someone in reaching their goal than having one myself. The person wanted to set the Guinness Book of World Record for having the most extended podcast ever.  So, I was asked, would I serve as a guest or a host.  I said I have control issues; I will be the host for a 3-hour show where I will select the guests.  I chose all women to talk about women’s issues. It went well, but the person did not reach his goal.  I was discovered by a publicist looking for potential shows for a  Blog Talk Radio Network called “Survival  Radio Network.”  I was brought on board and became a Nationally known host of a Podcast for Women of Color in Athletics and Sports Business with a following of 1.7 members in a companion Facebook Group called  “A Chat in the Garden with Monique A. J. Smith”.

Six years later, I am dialing in to begin my show, but there is no prompt “Your Show will start in 3 minutes." There was a message “There is no show scheduled in your queue.” I began to panic and started trying to locate my engineer. I later discovered my engineer, my friend, my CEO, my wingman for six years had become ill and would not be returning. 

In Basketball, when you pivot, you must be aware of three things, or it will cost you to lose possession of the ball. First, be aware of your time. Second, know which foot is planted and cannot be lifted. Third, know your options out of your dilemma.  I knew I had to pivot, the network that housed my podcast would dissolve in less than 30 days, and the links of my podcasts would no longer work 30 days after shutting down. My pivot foot was planted, I had made an imprint in the marketplace, had received sponsorship dollars already, and had booked guests for the next 12 months. My options were to shut down too, 2) join another network, or 3) shoot my shot and create my own account.

Also, consider these assessments before releasing the ball or launching your next.

1)Accessed your skills and choices quickly.  I asked myself if my skills were up to par to address this new challenge or if I needed to invest in additional training.

2)Accessed collaborations, because you can always scale a wall faster with collaborations. I hired a Virtual Assistant to download all the shows and going forward to serve as my engineer.

3)Access timeframe, I had less than 30 days to quickly download and upload all podcasts for the last six seasons and get training for myself and staff.

I took my shot and continued 
chatinthegarden.com podcast on my own and repurposed season 1-6 content to an educational course for Sports Management students called “200 plus Interviews with Black Women on Career Advice in Athletics Administration and Sports Business”.  Enroll today 200plus.expert, SWISH.

Learn more about Monique at 

http://seedsofempowerment.info/ Twitter: 
@HostofChat