Pick Yourself

You keep waiting for someone to discover you.

A journalist, a podcast host, big account that reposts your work, a moment that makes everything click.

I know this feeling, we've all wanted to magic pill that makes everything grow immensely.

In 2017, I owned a print shop in Beaverton, Oregon called The Printory.
I started a podcast called The Print-Story, inviting the people I worked with to share their stories, building real connections, offering value, spreading the shop locally through conversation.

It was the right idea. I just didn't take it seriously enough.

After a few inconsistent episodes with no visible growth, I stopped.

I was waiting to be discovered. I knew I needed to change my approach.

It sparked again in 2021 from the van, different now that it was around the concepts of my book. I moved and then went quiet again.

When I launched my book I was invited to be a guest on some podcasts. Though it was a great experience. The hosts weren't bad, but the experiences were not great. I saw a major gap.

For around five months I hosted Author Hour at Scribe. I would do 6-8 episode recordings per week. That sharpened my skills on multiple levels.

After being laid off, I knew the Van and podcasting would be back.

So when I dusted myself off, I got back in and started The Rising Authors Experience.

What I know now that I didn't know then is that podcasting doesn't have to be about downloads or metrics.

Sometimes the most powerful thing an episode does is land in front of the one person who needed it most that day.

I've had so many guests tell me that after their episode went live, they started getting DMs and emails from people wanting to work with them.

That is the whole point.

So the real question was never about having the right setup or a big enough audience.

It was always about whether you're willing to stop waiting to be discovered, stop waiting to be picked, and just pick yourself instead.

Nobody is coming to find you.

But the right people will absolutely find you once you decide to show up.

Here's a clip from back in 2017 - Keep at it, things come to fruition in a variety of ways.