[ANNOTATIONS 197] Your podcast looks great on paper… But where’s the spark?

The edits and insights that got cut from episode 197 of EDIT HISTORY

🧠 Key Takeaway: “It worked for the business, but it did not work for me.”

On episode 197 of EDIT HISTORY, Jeremy shares why he quit his podcast after 6 months… Despite being a podcast expert 👀

✨ Cheryl commentary

As entrepreneurs and creators, we often cling to projects that no longer feel aligned… Not because they’re working, but because they *should* work. We convince ourselves that if we just keep pushing, if we stay consistent long enough, the results will follow.

But when something starts to feel draining or misaligned – even if it makes strategic sense on paper – it’s worth asking: “Is continuing with this going to serve who I’m becoming?”

More often than not, the tension we feel is a clash between two identities:

• The you who made the decision in the past – with the best information available at the time.
• And the you who is now evolving, changing, growing into your next version.

Circumstances change. And so do we.

The truth is, success doesn’t just come from persistence. It comes from choosing the right things to persist at, and letting go of everything else (i.e. Not quitting blindly, but quitting intelligently)

If something in your business no longer aligns with where you’re headed, continuing may not be a sign of grit… It may be a refusal to adapt 👀

So instead of asking, “Will I regret quitting?” try asking: “What becomes possible when I stop spending energy on something that’s no longer right for me?”

 Because sometimes, the decision you’re resistant *might* just be the most strategic move you can make.

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Here are 3 key takeaways that didn’t make it into the final episode:

🎙️ Cut 1: Podcast vs newsletter as a conversion tool

Jeremy described his podcast not as the central engine of his business, but as a “sales and conversion accelerant.”

His daily newsletter gives his audience frequent, bite-sized touch points. But those short emails can’t replace the feeling of spending real time with someone – hearing their voice, following their thought process, building emotional connection. 

That’s where the podcast comes in: to deepen trust, familiarity, and relationship.

“They don’t get that much time with me through a two-minute newsletter… [The podcast] supplements that – and it’s always going to be one of my smaller audiences, but it’s a really important one in terms of business and sales.”

✨ Cheryl commentary 

If content is a relationship, then the podcast is the third date.

Meaning: The moment when trust begins to deepen and surface-level impressions give way to something more meaningful.

Your social media content, for instance, might serve as the first conversation: Brief, efficient, and informative. It offers value, but only in glimpses. It might even be polished and curated, but fleeting by design.

A podcast is different. When someone chooses to listen to your voice for 30 uninterrupted minutes, they are not simply consuming content – they are choosing proximity. They are allowing you into their routine, into their thinking space, and into moments of their life that are otherwise reserved for people they trust.

This is the quiet power of long-form audio. It doesn’t demand attention the way algorithms do. It earns it through consistency, tone, and depth.

Creators often make the mistake of evaluating every platform using the same metrics. They expect their podcast to grow as quickly as their email list or produce the instant engagement of a tweet. 

But a podcast isn’t meant to be viral. It’s meant to be visceral. For reals.

So the real question is not, “How many people are listening?” It’s, “Who’s still here, and how deeply do they trust me now?”

THAT, my friends, is where the real return on podcasting lies.

🎙️ Cut 2: When your niche finds you… But you don’t love it back

Jeremy explains how he ended up focusing on wellness businesses – not because of a personal passion, but because of momentum. The work kept coming, so he leaned in.

“We already had all these wellness clients… So I guess I might as well lean into it.”

At first glance, it looked like a smart strategic move. But over time, the lack of genuine alignment started to wear on him – not because the niche was “bad,” but because it wasn’t truly his.

✨ Cheryl commentary

An accidental niche is a lot like a situationship.

You didn’t exactly choose each other. One thing led to another, you got comfortable, and before you knew it… You were several months in, going through the motions, unsure if this was really going anywhere.

You’re showing up. It looks fine on the outside. But deep down, there’s a quiet knowing: this isn’t it.

That’s what happens when we follow momentum instead of alignment. We say yes to the clients who come in. We build a reputation by default. We keep going because it works… Until we start wondering if we’re slowly becoming someone we never intended to be. Oops.

There’s a cost to staying in a niche that you’re not emotionally invested in. It’s not just creative fatigue. It’s the erosion of clarity. The longer you stay, the harder it becomes to imagine something different.

But here’s some good news: You don’t owe your niche forever. Just because it started casually doesn’t mean you have to turn it into a commitment.

And walking away? That doesn’t make you flaky or ungrateful. It makes you someone who knows what kind of work is actually worth building a long-term relationship with 🙂

🎙️ Cut 3: You’re showing up, but it’s not really you

Jeremy reflects on the solo episodes he pulled from his newsletter and published inside a podcast that wasn’t quite the right fit. They didn’t align with the show’s original concept, but they were the pieces he felt most excited to create.

“The solo episodes didn’t belong in the feed… But that’s the content I really wanted to create.”

“I had to shoehorn in examples… But that was the voice that felt most like mine.”

He also admits that, in the early days, guest bookings came more from convenience than intention – based on who was available, not what the audience truly needed to hear.

“I was just trying to fill up the bucket… Okay, I need somebody for this week.”

“I was looking at my network and thinking, who can I get on? Not, what does my audience need to hear?”

Looking back, those solo episodes – the ones that felt misfit, out-of-place, and off-brand –  were actually previews of where his content needed to go next.

✨ Cheryl commentary

Let’s be honest: Some of your content feels like the digital equivalent of a date you’re trying to impress. You show up polished. You say all the right things. You’ve done your prep. But the whole time, there’s a quiet voice in the back of your mind saying, “This isn’t really me.”

I’ve seen this so often, especially in podcasting. We build shows that sound good, make strategic sense, or follow what everyone else in our space is doing. But deep down, we know: there’s no chemistry.

Meanwhile, the solo episode you almost didn’t publish?
The off-brand idea you slipped into the feed with a disclaimer?
The blog post you wrote in one messy sitting and couldn’t stop thinking about?

That’s the “drunk text” (lol) of your creative life – unfiltered, unguarded, and probably closer to your truth than anything else you’ve shared.

It’s easy to dismiss that content as “just an experiment,” or tell yourself it doesn’t match the brand. But what if that misfit moment is actually your creative clarity slipping through the cracks?

What if the thing that feels too personal, too raw, or too different… Is the only thing that sounds like you?

You can create a successful show without ever letting your real voice come through. But it’ll be a show you’re always performing inside.

So, to wrap up:

You don’t need to ghost your podcast. But maybe it’s time to admit: You’re just not that into it anymore. 

And the content you thought was “off-brand”? That might be the one worth calling back 😉

Sounds good? Awesome. Let’s get to work.