Summary

The article reflects on five key lessons learned from 300 episodes of the "Movies & Us" podcast, emphasizing the importance of fun, consistency, individuality, community, and purpose in podcasting.

Abstract

In an article celebrating the 300th episode of "Movies & Us," the author, part of the podcast duo, shares insights gained over five years of podcasting. The journey began with a passion for discussing movies and has evolved into a sustained endeavor with a dedicated community. The lessons highlight the necessity of maintaining fun to sustain the podcast amidst life's busyness, the benefits of establishing regular recording and posting rhythms, the importance of focusing on one's unique path rather than comparing to others, the value of building a community of like-minded individuals, and the significance of remembering the core reasons behind the podcast's creation. These lessons serve as guidance for creators to cultivate a successful and fulfilling podcasting experience.

Opinions

The author emphasizes that enjoying the process is crucial for long-term success, as it has allowed them to continue podcasting through various life changes.
Regularity in content creation is seen as essential, with the author detailing how a consistent schedule helped maintain the podcast despite personal and professional challenges.
There is a recognition of the temptation to compare one's success with others, but the author advocates for focusing on personal growth and journey instead.
Building a community is celebrated as a rewarding aspect of podcasting, enriching the conversation and providing new perspectives.
Rebranding the podcast to "Movies & Us" was a strategic decision to align the name with the core mission of connecting people through stories and movies, underscoring the importance of staying true to one's original intent and values.

5 Lessons from 300 Podcast Episodes

5+ years of podcasting and many more to come!

It’s so funny how things change over time. Five years ago, when Jennifer Han and I decided to start our podcast Movies & Us, we didn’t know anyone else with a podcast. We just knew that we loved talking about movies with each other and wanted a way to do more of that.

Our original name was The Strategic Whimsy Experiment, which was a reminder to us to have fun with our podcast and never let it get too serious. We are both strategic people and wanted to make sure that whimsy was always a part of what we did. We didn’t know what we were doing, but we were happy to figure it out together.

Earlier this month, we celebrated our 300th episode!

So, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on our journey to 300 episodes. Here are five lessons that I’ve learned in 300 episodes. I hope that these lessons will encourage you whether you’re a podcaster, writer, or any other type of creator.

Lesson 1: Remember to Have Fun

This may seem like a no-brainer to some, but it’s something that I have to remind myself of all the time. I have a tendency to want to monetize the things I love doing, thus taking the fun out of those activities. But, at every step of the way, we’ve made sure that we were having fun with our podcast, which I think has helped sustain us through busyness, life changes, and more.

From the beginning, we’ve said that if this ever stopped being fun, we’d stop doing the podcast. It’s been a blast through 300 episodes, and we have no plans of stopping any time soon.

Lesson 2: Develop Regular Rhythms

We started our podcast at a really crazy time in both of our lives. One of us was moving across the country, and the other had just started a new job that required weekly travel to another state. In the midst of all the craziness, we developed a regular recording and posting schedule. We made a calendar and created systems to ensure everything got done so that new episodes could go out.

Over the years, this regular weekly meeting to talk about movies has been an important marker in our lives. And as we have grown, we’ve also grown our rhythms and systems to match.

In podcasting, as with everything else, consistency really is the name of the game.

Lesson 3: Run Your Race

I really struggle with comparison. I’m a pretty competitive person, and I don’t like it when I’m not as successful as I feel I should be. There are plenty of other podcasts out there that are wildly more successful than we are and have only been around for a fraction of the time. And that’s okay.

Our journey with Movies & Us has been a beautiful learning and growing experience. Our little podcast has grown so much over the years, and I celebrate that. Now, we’re planning for ways to help it grow even further in a way that’s sustainable and appropriate for who we are and who we are becoming.

I’m learning that we don’t have to be like everyone else. We don’t have to be like the biggest podcasts out there. Success is found in loving what we do and doing the best we can with it.

Lesson 4: Find Your Community

One of our favorite things about Movies & Us is that we’ve been able to find so many other people who also love movies. We’ve had the privilege of having some wonderful guests on our show who are able to provide great insight into our conversations. We’ve been able to meet people online (including on Medium!) who have come onto the show and helped us see movies and the world around us differently than we had before.

Our incredibly connected world allows us to create communities around the things that we love. It’s been wonderful to use this podcast to connect with others and build community and belonging.

Lesson 5: Remember Your Why

We rebranded the podcast earlier this year because we knew that we couldn’t scale how we wanted to with our old name. After many, many meetings about a new name, we finally landed on Movies & Us.

This name now appropriately reflects what we had learned after having hundreds of conversations about movies. Our favorite thing about the podcast is connecting with and celebrating our community.

Our episodes aren’t just about the movies themselves but about us and our shared stories. We believe in the way that movies and storytelling help connect us to each other and the world around us.

Remembering that helps us make decisions and focus our dreams. If our plans for Movies & Us don’t revolve around movies and people, then it’s just not a good fit. Remembering our why is an important guiding principle in everything we do.

I cannot believe that we have released over 300 episodes of Movies & Us! We have recorded over 300 hours of us talking about movies and the way that stories help us connect with each other and the world around us. And it’s just the start.

If you’re a podcaster, what lessons have you learned along the way? Share them in the comments and let’s chat about them!