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Hey, this is Dave. This is episode number 1014 of the school of Podcasting. And you always hear me say, your podcast leads to relationships and those relationships lead to opportunities which lead to more relationships, et cetera, et cetera. And today I brought proof. I got two great people that have shared a little bit of some stories and it's amazing. So if you're thinking about starting a podcast, you're going to find this inspirational to see what can happen when you start a podcast. And if you're a podcaster that started a podcast, but you're about ready to throw in the towel, well, maybe you don't throw in the towel yet because you're going to hear what's actually possible. Also, if you're an editor or thinking of starting an editor, you'll get some advice on that. For me, as I edited this, it just made me smile and I hope it does the same to you. Hit it, ladies. The School of Podcasting with Dave Jackson. Podcasting since 2005. I'm your award winning hall of fame podcast coach, Dave Jackson. Thanking you so much for tuning in. If you're new to the show, this is where I help you plan, launch and grow your podcast. My website, schoolofpodcasting.com use the coupon code LISTNR when you sign up for either a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription. And of course, that comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. And so one of the things I always say about the school of podcasting is you get five hours of one on one consulting with me and that can be via Zoom. But I also have an app where members of the school of podcasting can send me text messages, they can send me audio, they can send me video, they can even send me screen shares. And so there are people that I have almost a daily conversation with because a lot of times we're just like, hey, did you see this? Did you hear about so and so? Well, this is. And so I love Kim Newlove. She's one of my favorite students because she's, she's just great. That's an easy. I mean, I could go on, but she's awesome. And I'm going to tell you now, you're probably going to go, dave, why didn't you get different audio? No, no, this is Kim on her front porch. Because again, this app just lets you trade messages. So it's Kim on her front porch and she shared this story. And in the middle, the wind starts blowing and you're going to be like, dave, why didn't you like have Kim Redo this because of the authenticity, the actual excitement in her voice I don't think could be replaced or, you know, even if she did this. Again, I loved the actual authenticity. And so what this story is about is Kim does the show called the Pharmacist Voice. That's where she talks about how you can use your voice. And she does voiceover for, like, medical people, and she does a whole bunch of stuff. And she also does a show for Perrysburg, Ohio. And what's fun is because she's been doing this for a little bit. She's kind of turning into a little baby celebrity, and she's starting to get noticed in Perrysburg. And this is Kim telling me that story.
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Hey, Dave. It is Saturday night, about 8:45pm and the reason for the message is just to share something good that happened today. I went to a church event. Not my church, but a church here in town. And I got recognized and I got to meet some of my audience, and it was really cool. And at the church event, I got to say hello to the priest. So it was an Episcopal church, and they call him Father Matt, and he's been on the Perry's book podcast, right? And then there were also some people from the chamber of commerce and candidates for city council and. And a current city council member that I've interviewed for the podcast. So I'm shaking hands. I'm meeting people that are seeing people that have been on the show before. And then I walk out and I see this woman who hires me to do podcasting at the 577 foundation, that folks school that I've told you about. I see her, and she introduces me to somebody, and she said, hey, I want you to meet this person. I'm like, oh, hey, I'm Kim, New Love. And I said, you know, Heather hires me to do podcasting class at the 577 foundation, and I host the Perrysburg Podcast. And you could see on her face the recognition, like. And she said, I listen to your podcast. I'm like, oh, thank you so much for listening. And I said, how. How long have you been listening to it? And she's like, well, when I moved here from Toronto or the greater Toronto area, I started listening to it. And she said, that was about a year and a half ago. And she's like, I love it. I find out what's in this town and why people like to live here. And I'm like, yes, it's exactly why I do this podcast.
A
And I want to share. She shared another story this morning. One of the things she did, and this might be something you want to do, is she contacted the local library to conduct a how to listen to podcast kind of seminar. And of course, while you're there, you're like, yeah, if you want to listen to, in Kim's case, right, she's in Harrysburg, Ohio. She's like, oh, and if you want to listen to the Perrysburg, Ohio podcast, here's how you do it. And so people knew her from that and she was at an event and they're like, oh. And it's one of those where it's like, there's the podcast lady, right? And so this kind of older person, and we, we kind of forget this, but there are older people that may not be quite up to speed on their smartphone and so they might need a little help figuring out how to, you know, listen to a podcast. In many cases they might have an iPhone and not realize they already have an app right there. Apple podcasts to listen to podcasts, or if they're on an Android or something like that, you might have to show them how to install an app. But that's how you grow your audience one by one and helping them learn. Because really, do we need more podcasts? What we need are more listeners. And Kim is really taking a hands on approach to that. And I just thought it was awesome. And the fact now that as she's starting to go around town, she's going to be, oh, that's the woman from the Perrysburg podcast. And as you heard, she's only been doing this probably a couple years and it's starting to gain some speed. Now a little later, we're going to hear from somebody else. And you'll hear the magic phrase that I always say when it comes to how many years does it take? You're going to hear that answer come up in just a second. Hey, are you looking to make money from your podcast? Then check out my book, Profit from youm Podcast. Proven Strategies to Turn Listeners into a Livelihood. I interviewed over 70 podcasters who gave their best advice and insights on how to make money from all seven different ways to make money with your podcast. It's available as a paperback, as a Kindle book, and as an audiobook. Just go to profitfromyourpodcast.com books links in the show notes. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. The school of podcasting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I met John Almacy in a Texas airport. We had both gone to podcast movement and he was sharing his story and I was like, oh, you need to come on my show and share again how things have happened because of your podcast. So I know you started back in 2017.
C
I did.
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What inspired you to start a podcast?
C
So the first show that I ever launched was called the Apex Podcast. And the idea came really because I wanted to be like a Jocko. I mean, that's. I feel like there's so many people that that time frame listening to Tim Ferriss, they're seeing Rogan, they're seeing Jocko, at least in my circles. I was in the military at the time, so that's what everybody was listening to. And I live in a small county in northeast Ohio called Starr county. And we had the unfortunate circumstance of setting a national record for high school age suicides in 2016. So the apex Podcast was born out of that desire to show people that there were individuals in our community that had accomplished a lot and were really amazing people. So I called it. The thesis behind the show was ordinary people, extraordinary things. I found a local Nashville recording artist that was from our own backyard. I found those elderly folks that had amazing stories and backgrounds. I found local politicians. I talked to executives at local companies, you know, and just had them share their story. But one question that I always asked was, when is a time in your life that you thought you weren't going to make it, but you did? And how do you look back on that time now from where you're standing?
A
And local podcasts are something that are starting to take off a little more. They're a little more prominent in the space, because I know I live in Akron, Ohio, and what used to be the newspaper is now the pamphlet. And a lot of that story comes from a big news company. And they basically do Akron, they do Cleveland, they do Columbus. So nothing super hyper local and that stuff can take off. And that's what Jan found out.
C
Then 15, 20 episodes started to happen, and then it started to gain traction. And then local high schools started asking me to come in and talk. And then the Chamber of commerce started asking me to come in and speak. And then I got a sponsorship through the city to go into an incubator in downtown Canton and set up the first podcast studio in downtown Canton and then started interviewing even more people. And then it continued to grow. And before I knew it, this was around Covid time now. So about three years later, there it.
A
Is, that most common answer. I get to the question, how long did it take your podcast to really get legs? It's about three years.
C
Three years later, we're north of 100 episodes. When everything shut down during COVID I was still working at the hospital as an ICU nurse. And somehow through me just hanging out at the nurses station or people seeing me on Facebook, seeing clips of the show, I became known as the tech guy.
A
And so I want to jump in here because a lot of us are the tech guy, the tech girl, because we're the nerd, because we're the geek. And we spend most of our holidays fixing Aunt Martha's printer or whatever's going on. But here again, it's the relationships. You want people that know you to know what you do. When I was designing websites, my sister in law is a teacher and she knows all sorts of teachers and all sorts of teachers in the summers have side gigs and they needed a website and I got a ton of business from my sister in law. So make sure everybody knows what you do. They may not understand what a podcast is, but make sure they know what your website is and how to listen to it. Because they might run into somebody that goes, oh, yeah, my cousin Dave does that. Here's his website. But I know that you're thinking, yeah, this guy was up to 100 episodes. How is he growing it?
C
I was very intentional with getting the guest involved in the process from day one. It wasn't just, hey, I'm going to send you a questionnaire, you're going to come on the show, and then like, I'll tag you in a post. It was a here's the episode. What was your favorite part? Afterwards, let me make a personal phone call to you and thank you. Let me send you a postcard thank you letter after you came on the show. I bet I did that all the way through the first hundred episodes. And then it just, I was managing the agency and managing multiple staff and, you know, then it kind of fell off. But I attribute a lot of that growth early on to those personal touches after the episode happened. Because what I found is that each of those guests, because they got the thank you card, they would share that and then they would share the episode. They were excited about the fact that they had been on this thing that not a lot of people in the area had heard of. They're like, hey, I was on a podcast. People were like, what is that?
A
So here again, I've said it before. One of the biggest takeaways from an interview is not the money you charge the person. I'm not a big fan of that, but I know people are doing that. But for me, it's the relationship with those People that can lead to the serious cha Ching, not the whatever money you spent. And always remember that if you are charging people to be on your show, and yes, that's a thing not most people, don't do it. Just realize at the beginning of the episode, you have to announce that this person was paid to appear on your show. So keep that in mind. But I love the fact here that Jan is like, yep, it was the relationships that really came back and helped out his show. And so he had all these people going, hey, you're the tech guy, right? So what did he do?
C
We Talked to these 15, 20 people that had approached us from the hospital, and we figured out that the majority of what they needed or wanted was, okay, we need some basic Google help with, like, Google my business, Google search. We need some help with our website. A lot of them in this area were on, like, Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress templates. And we need to get the word out there about what we're doing.
A
And so he listened to people, found out what they wanted, and then gave them what they needed.
C
Our template on the back end was typically website optimization, Making sure your hours are updated and you have an accurate link and you have an online ordering process. And then we would bring a mobile podcasting studio to their location, and we had a DSLR camera on a tripod, and we would show up and we would record their story. We'd say, we don't want to just talk about your food. Let's talk about your why you're in Canton. What's your family history behind this restaurant? Right? And then as the agency scaled, we actually ended up getting away from restaurants because their margins are. Are super thin. But as we scaled, then we took that same model, a diagnostic and a templatized package, and we took that to larger companies.
A
And so there you got to find people that have a budget for this. So he figured out that, yeah, restaurants are not really my target audience. Went after bigger companies. But also he mentioned that he earned a grant to set up a studio in downtown Canton, Ohio. I wanted to hear how that happened.
C
So the grant was actually through Jumpstart. Jumpstart Inc. I think they're out of Cleveland. We submitted to be a member of an accelerator program. Part of that accelerator program was creating a business model. You got coached by a couple of folks. We met a wonderful gentleman named John Koon through that program, and he taught us the consultative approach. And we went through and had to pitch basically a. A value add to our local area. And so I use that story of the podcast, the storytelling, how we saw it affecting our customers, how it had personally impacted the audiences that I had and all the messages that I had received from people that, you know, how much more hope they had hearing these stories and the thousands of listeners a month that we had garnered. And through that process, Jumpstart linked us with the Canton City Council.
A
So here again, relationships that led to other relationships that lead to more opportunities.
C
And the local representative that was in charge of the Canton incubator, Linda Hale, we fielded the pitch and said, you guys are getting ready to build this centennial plaza here in downtown. You're trying to get more people to come to downtown. In order to do that, rather than just promoting events, why not promote the stories of all of the people who build businesses here in downtown? And that secured our pitch for the grant for the incubator in downtown. Our requirement for accepting that grant was that we had to build out a studio and then we had to interview all the people that were a part of, I believe they called it the fourth Street Collective. And so they were all business owners. Again, more relationships in downtown Canton.
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And so he has a podcast where people are going, I didn't know this about this person, or I didn't know this person was from our area. And he used that and it grew and everything was great. And at some point, he decided to pivot.
C
We expanded the scope of the storytelling to go beyond just local individuals and to find ordinary people doing extraordinary things, especially founders of businesses and telling their stories. For example, I remember interviewing a guy named Will Reynolds from Philadelphia. He's founder of a company called Seer Interactive. I had watched a bunch of his podcast episodes and it's like everybody was asking him the same questions. So I, when I emailed him, I said, hey, would you love an opportunity to talk about your founding story? I see these other episodes. I would love to give you the chance to talk about why you started SEER in the first place. Came on the show, we replicated that pitch over and over again. And what we would do is we would reach out to those founders, we'd interview them, and then two weeks later, I'd reach back out to them with their promotional information and posts that we were going to send out. And then I would also add in a little line at the bottom that said, hey, just to let you know, we are also a full service agency. We offer X, Y and Z services. If you're ever in need, we'd love to be a consultative partner. And I would just leave it open ended I wouldn't push for a pitch, I wouldn't hard sell, but the number of people that within a month would email me back and say, hey, we came across this problem. I really trust your opinion on this. Would you be willing to give me 30 minutes to just talk this through? And then I'd get on a complimentary 30 minute call with them and a good chunk of the time it would turn into a contract.
A
And so he expanded from Canton, Ohio, to New York and Chicago and all these huge companies making lots and lots of money. But he always had this one thing in his back pocket in case somebody asked for it.
C
But I went on to produce and co host multiple other shows, companies.
A
Nice.
C
It became a skill set that was ingrained. And then we added into our consulting approach and came mightily in handy.
A
And so I asked him, you know, you're growing your business, you're doing things you haven't done before, and you're taking on systems. What's it like? And how do you know when to pivot?
C
I had a colonel when I was in the Air Force named Colonel Phil Brown. I still talk to him twice a year. Amazing man, huge influence in my life. And he was sitting next to me on a C130 while we were heading to, I want to say we were going to Alaska for a cold weather training. And he looked at me and he was like, you know what? Honestly, if you can go through life ready to seize any opportunity that shows up without seeking, then you'll be in a good spot. And so I always kept that in the back of my head as the business was scaling, as I was making decisions to leave the hospital and go into this full time, allow the doors to open, continue to walk through them. Some of them are going to be scary, but life has a really great way of hitting you in the face with a shovel. When it's time to make a decision, we would just leap. No matter how scary it was or how much we had thought we had to figure out or skills that we needed to learn if it made sense to make the move. After looking at all the numbers, making sure everybody was stable, then we made that leap. And that's kind of how we approached every decision as we were scaling.
A
So as the years went on and he's getting bigger and bigger, they got to the point where they really weren't doing as much podcasting and he was kind of hoping to get back on the mic. And during that time, something had come to the surface that Jan was not aware of, but now was something that.
C
Had happened over the course of that entrepreneurial journey is I got diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety formally. But after sitting down with that counselor, I'm like, wow, okay, so my. I'm not broken. Like me needing to feel like I'm working twice as hard as everybody else in the room just to get the same results is a byproduct of the way my brain's wired, you know? But that also comes with a lot of superpowers. But if I get really obsessed with the topic, I can learn it from molecules up to building the skyscraper in the course of a month because I just become obsessed with it. And that's something that ADHD gives people as a superpower. This next show that I'm working on right now with the Yan Almasey brand is something. I haven't come up with a name for it quite yet. I'm still kind of in the journaling stage, but it's going to be focused on talking to folks, especially entrepreneurs, who are diagnosed either high functioning autism, adhd, anxiety, depression, dyslexia, dyscalcia, and talking to them about their journey. How do you regulate yourself? Entrepreneurship is stressful. How do you keep yourself from going into a depressive spiral? What are your routines? What supplements are you on? But then also add in my expertise that I've gained over five, six years of obsessing over the diagnosis, like dopamine, epinephrine, all of these types of chemicals that are in your brain. Here's how they work, here's how that's different from someone that doesn't have this type of diagnosis and really lean into serving that population. Because I see so many Instagram reels, tiktoks of people that are just, I want to say, poking fun at those diagnoses, but it's become kind of like trendy almost to say, oh, I have an ADHD diagnosis. So I really want to educate more people on the science behind those diagnoses and then also share stories of people who are hyper successful with those diagnoses. Basically to prove to the adhd, the autistic and the neurodivergent community that not only is it possible to find success with those diagnoses, but if you understand how your brain and body work slightly differently, it can actually be a superpower and an accelerator.
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We've got a great story about Thomas Edison and no, not the one about 999 light bulbs. All that stuff coming up right after this. Ooh, now that's a good question. Oh, I do this every year and this Might be the last year I do this. So if you want to get in, now's the time to do it. And that is. If you only had one podcast to listen to on an island, what would it be? If you can remember, please give me their website address so I can link to it. And then the big question is, why? Is it your favorite? And feel free to go as long as you want about the why, because that's really what we're trying to learn about. And then, of course, don't forget to say a little bit about your show and. And your website address. I need this by December 26th. Just go to schoolofpodcasting.com? Oh, where am I gonna be? January 15th through the 18th in Orlando, Florida. I'll be speaking at the PodFest Multimedia Expo. Then February 17th through the 20th in Nashville, Tennessee, I'll be speaking at the NRB 2026 International Christian Media Convention. For more information, go to schoolofpodcasting.com where. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Check out this story about Thomas Edison.
C
Thomas had this interesting circumstance when he was a kid, and this is all documented, so you can Google this and look it up. But his mother received a letter from school that expelled Thomas and said, he needs to go to an institution. He's uneducatable. This kid is impossible to have in a classroom. His mother took that letter, put it in a box, and then chose to tell Thomas, you're too bright to be in traditional school. I'm going to teach you here at home, and then you'll go out into the world, and you'll be able to prove to the world how bright you are. Thomas then goes on, obviously, to become Thomas Edison invents the light bulb. And then his mother passes away. And he finds this letter and realizes the gift that his mom gave him by choosing to have him believe that he was bright beyond belief rather than inept. And that narrative rings so true to me because I was homeschooled until eighth grade, and I 100% believe that if I was in the traditional public school system with the set of diagnoses that I had and the stories that my mom used to tell me as a kid of how hard it was to educate me, I wouldn't have been able to do that in a traditional schooling system. And so I really want to share that story with a bunch of folks, too. It's like, hey, the narrative that you built for yourself, the way that you talk to yourself can either unlock superpowers, or they can become a myth that you just live in the shadow of for the rest of your life.
A
And so what is John up to.
C
Now in that time frame? I got married.
A
Nice. Congrats.
C
Thank you. And part of the flexibility benefited. When my wife and I sat down, we started having conversations about what type of life do we want to lead. But we sat down and I ultimately decided, you know, this has been a great run, the travel. I, I got to work living with my uncle overseas in Italy for a month and a half because I owned my own agency. You know, I've, I've gotten to go to Chicago, I've gone to nyc, I've spoken at conferences, I've, you know, done all this stuff. But with this last consulting role, I was actually, I last minute, like three days before her birthday, I was asked to fly out to Dallas for an off site. We sat down and I was like, I don't know if travel is really my priority anymore. You're my priority. Us starting a family is a priority at this point. And ultimately I decided to go back to the hospital. So it's kind of been a full circle journey. I'm going back to the cardiac ICU to work. But the beautiful thing about the nursing field and what I'm really excited about is that full time nursing workload is only three days a week. And so the other days of the week I'm going to force myself to take probably a month to just relax. If I get some one off coaching clients through yanalmacy.com if I want to work with some neurodivergent entrepreneurs that are already emailing me because they know that I'm leaving my full time role, I'll work with people, but I'm not going to aggressively start something. I'm going to take it slow because I have the blessing of having that flexibility thanks to this path thematically throughout my entire journey, I'm just going to do the research, I'm going to continue making connections, I'm going to continue talking to people and then I'm going to seize an opportunity when it shows up. And I'm a man of faith. So it's always been a big thing for me that like the door opens when it's meant to be there. You'll find the door. As long as you're willing to grab the handle and turn it, you know, it'll manifest itself at the right time.
A
And so I wanted to ask John if he had any advice for new podcasters.
C
And if you're hearing, you know, consulting coaching and you're like, I want to do that Someday. I felt that same way when I went to go launch the agency and I tried to jump into coaching and consulting too early and what I found was that I could sell the services. But then I ended up with this weird feeling inside where I'm like, I don't. Like I sold it. And I'm convincing people that I'm an expert in this. I'm convincing people that I'm a coach, but I don't know if I'm actually giving them prudent advice. And I had this really deep internal dissonance over that. But now exiting this journey, building the podcast, building the agency, doing a lot of that stuff on my own, I'm very confident in the things that I've learned, the process that I have actually implemented, and feel like I can reasonably and honestly charge people a good rate for my consulting practice. Build something of your own. Tangibly experiment on yourself first. Go out there and I know it's all over social media that you can launch a course, you can do this, you can do that, you can become this influencer, this expert. Don't underestimate the weight that comes with that and be willing to do something for yourself. Build your own following first. Build your own show first. Try and fail on yourself first. Learn those lessons so that you can come out the other side and be really, really confident when you actually have the space to go and launch your coaching consulting practice. And then maybe you'll be in a place where you have that full time gig and you can throttle the extra income just based off of your calendar. But it would be totally different if I didn't have this proof of my competence and my expertise that I built up over the last seven years. And I wouldn't trade it for the world, having done it for myself, to go out and then coach other people.
A
And I'll have a link to yannalmasi.com in the show notes. Jan, thanks for coming on the show, man.
C
Appreciate it.
A
Podcasts lead to relationships, lead to opportunities which lead to more relationships. And I love that bit about Thomas Edison. And I've never been diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure you could tack a bunch of letters next to my name, add adhd, any of those. And what's funny about it is I have a degree which is so old in electronic engineering and I have a degree in teaching and my first job out of college I was a copier repairman with my engineering degree. And yet I would get pulled into marketing meetings and the CEO. I made a newsletter for the company that really helped Let the left hand know what the right hand was doing. And he was just a big fan of me and would constantly pull in me into meetings, into. I'm like, why am I here again? He's like, just, we might call on you for some ideas because I just saw things differently now. We called it creative adhd. They used to just call me hyper. And a couple swats from my dad and, you know, I wasn't hyper anymore. But it's one of those things where so many times we look at anything that's negative about us and you find out later it's a superpower. My parents weren't wealthy growing up. I didn't starve, but we didn't have a lot of money. So I had a paper out when I was 14 and I had my first job when I was 16 and I bought a lot of my own stuff and I bought my car and I learned how to save money and I learned how to work hard. And my grandpa told me, when you go home, you go home sweaty and tired. You work hard. And so some might say, oh, it's such a bummer. And we could play the victim, that it's not fair that I didn't have all the other things, like all the other kids. I didn't have the expensive shoes and things like that. That's all right. It helped shape who I am. And that's what makes you unique. And that's one of the things that makes your podcast unique, is the fact that you do have a unique angle, different than anybody else, based on who you are and what you've lived through at this point. So I love his shows about helping people. He talked about the show with the letting people know that, hey, just because you live in Canton, Ohio, doesn't mean you're stuck here and your life is over and, you know, you turn to suicide. I love that idea. And now he's got one for people. Neurodivergent is something I need to go look up, but I think it just means adhd. And, you know, our brains are wired different. And that can be a bad thing and it can be a good thing. I know that when I really get focused on something, a time goes at warp speed. When I was a musician, I had a. I built myself a studio in my basement. And I remember once I had a sequencing keyboard, so it was playing a part and I was playing the guitar and I was programming drums and I looked up and it was 4:30 in the morning and I've got studio speakers like, this wasn't Me listening to my headphones. And God bless my mom, she never complained. But I just like, how is it 4:30 already? Because when I get hyper focused, like time just. It's just tunnel vision and I'm off to the races. I get that way sometimes when I'm making tutorials for the school of podcasting. And I'll look up and I'm like, oops, it's 2:30, I should probably put this down. But my brain is just going zaaa. And I'm ready to go. And so I'm like, well, I'm already here, I might as well keep going. So if you're a person that's like, oh, I couldn't do it because I have this or I have that or I'm an introvert or whatever, I'm here to tell you that might actually. I mean, introverts are great because they're great at noticing details. So whatever you think is your weakness might actually be your superpower. Hey. I announced a little while back one of the features we've added at the School of podcasting are what we're calling listener parties, where we basically take your episode and a bunch of us get together and listen together. And we all have the exact same goal to help you make the best content for your audience. So you explain kind of who your audience is, what you're trying to do with your podcast. And we listen and we hung out this weekend and did one. And it's so much fun because, number one, I see the attitude of everyone there. It's like, how can we make this better? And it's not that we're there to pick it apart. In fact, there was a lot that was really good. But there are a couple times where everybody's like, wait, you just lost me. I'm confused. And that's the kind of feedback you want where, hey, wait, is this a transition or is this the beginning? It was stuff that I just love to see because you never know when there's a typo or whatever's going on, or maybe the volume level is weird or you just miss this kind of stuff. So it's not only courses. And yes, you get five hours of one on one training with me, but it's also the community. And I know as we're talking after the. The listener party was over, everybody was. There was like, this is the best part of the school of podcasting is the friends you make, the fact that you're not going through this together and that we're all just trying to lift each other up. So if you want to check it out again, it comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. Go over to schoolofpodcasting.com start, use the coupon code LISTNR and that will save you on either a monthly, a quarterly, or a yearly subscription. And I got to tell you, right now, the quarterly thing seems to be. That's just something I started this year. I should have done that like 19 years ago. Everybody's like, hey, quarterly sounds good. I get to save a little more and it gives me three months. So if I want to do three months and quit, you can do that. But a lot of people stick around because again, that community. So thanks so much for listening. If you have a because of my podcast story, hey, I wouldn't have been able to do this, but because of my podcast blank, I'm always looking for those. Feel free to go out to schoolofpodcasting.com contact or. Or just go to schoolofpodcasting.com feedback and you can leave it there. I'm always looking for feedback. So I'm Dave Jackson. I help podcasters. It's what I do. It's what I love to do for 20 years. And I can't wait to see what we're going to do together. So take care. If you're on the east coast, stay warm, be cool. We're all being cool, whether we want to be or not. And class is dismissed. If you like the show, please share it with a friend. If you like the show, pretty, pretty please share it with a friend right now. And that's what Jeremy found out. Except his name's not Jeremy, it's Jan. And if you're thinking, this is not a blooper, this is future Dave. If you thought today's interview sounded a little weird, long story short, we ended up using Zoom as a backup, and so. And we didn't have separate channels. I really wasn't set up for this. And when our first ring kind of went down, I'm like, let's just use Zoom. And later I was like, yeah, I should have taken time to fix that. But to me, it was listenable.
C
You worked in Canton. I worked at Sidetracked, but I'm literally.
A
Right up the street. I'm in Akron. Yeah. Wow. Okay.
C
Yeah, I live in North Canton now, so I'm even closer to where you're at.
A
I worked at Graphic Enterprises when they were in downtown Canton.
C
Wow.
A
Fifth in Maine, I think it was, if I remember.
C
Yeah.
A
Yep, I remember. My favorite was during hall of Fame week and a woman got out of a cab. She was old and probably drunk. Pooped in the street, got back in the cab without wiping her butt because there's no toilet paper on the sidewalk, and took off in the cab. And we're all like, okay, that's in front of our company. Like, who? Like, are we drawing straws? How are we getting, like, who's going to figure out clean up the poop in front of the company?
C
That is Canton in a nutshell, man.
A
Yeah.
Host: Dave Jackson
Guests: Kim Newlove, Jan Almasey
Episode Number: 1014
Release Date: December 15, 2025
Dave Jackson delves into one of the enduring truths of podcasting: podcasts build relationships, and those relationships open doors to opportunities—which in turn, foster more relationships. He brings on two guests, Kim Newlove and Jan Almasey, to share tangible stories about how their podcasts changed their lives and communities. The episode is packed with inspiration, practical advice, authentic personal moments, and Dave’s signature mix of humor, wisdom, and encouragement.
(Introduced at 01:40 | Kim’s Message at 03:08)
Kim Newlove, host of “The Pharmacist Voice” and “The Perrysburg Podcast,” shares how her podcasting led to unexpected recognition and influence in her local community.
She is recognized at public events, ranging from church gatherings to Chamber of Commerce happenings, meeting people she previously interviewed or who listen to her show.
Kim’s authenticity—recording a spontaneous voice message from her porch—underscores the value of genuine moments over perfect audio.
"I got recognized and I got to meet some of my audience, and it was really cool."
— Kim Newlove (03:18)
Community Visibility: Kim is becoming locally known as “the podcast lady” and is regularly introduced as a community connector.
Grassroots Growth: She’s growing her audience one listener at a time, going as far as offering tutorials at local libraries on “how to listen to podcasts”—especially for older residents.
"That’s how you grow your audience one by one and helping them learn. Because really, do we need more podcasts? What we need are more listeners."
— Dave Jackson (05:10)
(Interview begins at 07:42)
Jan Almasey (aka John in the transcript, but clarified as Jan), inspired by podcasters like Jocko and Rogan, starts “The Apex Podcast” in 2017 after a community tragedy to spotlight “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”
Focused on local stories: musicians, business leaders, and educators, always probing for moments of adversity and perseverance.
"The thesis behind the show was ‘ordinary people, extraordinary things.’"
— Jan Almasey (07:55)
After 15-20 episodes, the podcast gains traction; Jan is invited to local schools and business events and gets a city sponsorship.
Ecosystem Building: Jan sets up the first podcast studio in downtown Canton and becomes a recognizable voice in the community.
"Before I knew it, this was around Covid time now. So about three years later, there it is…”
— Jan Almasey (09:59)
Dave’s Core Observation: Most podcasters report it takes around three years to really gain traction (10:05).
Jan credits much of the show’s early growth to personalized post-interview follow-ups: handwritten thank-you cards, phone calls, and invitation to share their episode.
Outcome: Guests become enthusiastic promoters of the show.
"I attribute a lot of that growth early on to those personal touches after the episode happened.”
— Jan Almasey (11:40)
Community Relationships: As his “tech guy” reputation grows, opportunities arise for consulting, agency work, and partnerships. The relationships built through podcasting directly lead to paid contracts.
Business Evolution: Jan refines his services (originally helping restaurants, shifting to larger businesses with greater budgets).
"We’d record their story… but as the agency scaled, we actually ended up getting away from restaurants… and we took that to larger companies."
— Jan Almasey (13:45)
Jan wins a grant through a local accelerator (Jumpstart Inc.) by pitching storytelling as community value.
The grant outcome: a dedicated podcast studio and further embeddedness in business networks.
“Through that process, Jumpstart linked us with the Canton City Council… and our requirement was… we had to interview all the people that were a part of…the Fourth Street Collective.”
— Jan Almasey (15:46)
The guest list grows beyond local figures to prominent founders and industry leaders in major cities, using each interview as a soft lead-in for agency services—never hard-selling, always relationship-driven.
"What I would do is reach out to the founders, interview them... then two weeks later... send a little line at the bottom: 'Hey, just to let you know, we also offer X, Y, and Z services...'"
— Jan Almasey (16:43)
This approach leads to new contracts and nationwide growth.
Amidst business success, Jan receives a diagnosis of ADHD and anxiety, shifting his self-perception from “broken” to empowered by neurodivergence.
Plans a new podcast focused on entrepreneurs with neurodivergent backgrounds to showcase both the struggles and unique strengths of these communities.
"If you understand how your brain and body work slightly differently, it can actually be a superpower and an accelerator."
— Jan Almasey (21:55)
(24:02)
Jan shares a personal connection to Thomas Edison’s story—being told as a child by his mother that he was “too bright” for traditional school, despite a much harsher letter from the school.
Jan parallels this with his own (homeschool) experience, re-emphasizing the power of narrative and positive self-belief, especially for those who are neurodivergent.
"The narrative that you built for yourself, the way that you talk to yourself can either unlock superpowers, or they can become a myth that you just live in the shadow of for the rest of your life."
— Jan Almasey (25:18)
(25:36) – (27:37)
Jan reflects on his entrepreneurial independence: working internationally, speaking at conferences, and ultimately choosing to step back to prioritize family and return to hospital work (cardiac ICU) for a healthier lifestyle balance.
He plans to continue consulting, but with a renewed focus on quality of life.
“You’re my priority… us starting a family is a priority at this point… Ultimately, I decided to go back to the hospital…"
— Jan Almasey (25:41-26:00)
(27:42)
Dave Jackson (on podcasting’s ripple effect):
"Podcasts lead to relationships, lead to opportunities which lead to more relationships." (29:35)
Jan Almasey (on seizing opportunity):
"If you can go through life ready to seize any opportunity that shows up without seeking, then you’ll be in a good spot." (18:58)
Kim Newlove (on community impact):
"I love it. I find out what’s in this town and why people like to live here. And I’m like, yes, it’s exactly why I do this podcast." (03:50)
"If you thought today's interview sounded a little weird... we ended up using Zoom as a backup..." (Post-episode coda, 36:56)
Dave Jackson wraps up by reinforcing the episode’s message: Podcasting is not just about the content—it’s about the connections. Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran ready to quit, your next big opportunity may be just one conversation or episode away. Both Kim and Jan’s stories remind listeners that authenticity, community engagement, and patience are the foundations not only of podcast growth but also of unexpected—and sometimes life-changing—professional and personal opportunities.
Resources and Links
Summary by Podcast Summarizer AI — December 2025