For the 1000th time, I sat down and hit record. This is a goal I have worked toward for 10 years. When I launched the podcast on March 15, 2016, my goal was to “feel this out.” I wanted to see if I liked podcasting as a medium for coaching, community building, and exploration. I quickly knew this was going to be my jam.

If you don’t know the origin story of this show, you might be surprised to learn that this little show that could largely exists as it does today because I was hit with a cease & desist within 48 hours of launching. The way that situation transpired lit a fire underneath me. In that messy moment of panic, I knew that if someone was going to try to take me down, I was taking this show TO THE TOP.

The show became a Top 10 show in multiple categories on Apple Podcasts. Today, in a sea of 3.4 million podcasts, our show is ranked in the top 0.5% globally. The show has been downloaded over 7 million times in over 140 countries. It is currently a Top 30 Management show - a category of over 30,000 shows.

These numbers are fun for me to see. But the story behind the numbers is so much more impactful. In this episode, I’m sharing the story of the show. From that cease & desist to building an international community of women, to landing on international stages to speak, to Glennon Doyle Zoom bombing our membership community, to a global shutdown, to failed IVF, PTSD/Anxiety/ADHD diagnoses, rebranding and renaming the show, a Masters Degree, returning to my roots in healthcare, and supporting Fortune 10 companies, this has been a wild ride I could have never predicted.

The impact of the show is so much bigger than me. And, that was always the plan. That was the goal. You all showed up and listened. You did the work. You got uncomfortable. You changed your behavior. You made your life better. You modeled to others how to make their lives better.

Collectively, we have changed lives. Thousands, if not millions, of lives impacted across 7 million downloads and 5.25 million hours of listening. For my fellow math nerds, that’s 600 YEARS of continuous listening.

I set out to do this alone. But I am never actually alone. At any given moment, someone somewhere is listening in. In every moment, one of you is with me. We are constantly in this together. And that means everything to me.

In this with you. Always.

Links Mentioned:

Early Bird Enrollment is open for my Aligned Leadership Incubator! Save $500 if you apply by June 30th: saradean.com/aligned
Hire Sara to speak: saradean.com/speaking
Coach with Sara: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services
Connect with Sara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks
Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

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