177 | I stopped podcasting. Here’s why and what’s next.
Why I paused my podcast for nine months (and why I'm back)
Well, hello. Hi. Is this thing on?
It has been a minute since I recorded and published a podcast episode. Actually, it's been 388,800 minutes, or nine months, since I took to my microphone. If you're listening to this episode or reading this post, it's evidence that I've decided to return.
First, I want to say thank you to the longtime listeners who reached out to check in and ask why there hadn't been a new episode in a while. I really appreciated those check-ins. And if you're newer to me, welcome aboard. I hope you'll come to enjoy the podcast and make it part of your regular listening routine.
In this episode, I'm getting a little personal. Maybe even a lot personal. I'm sharing why I stopped podcasting, what I did instead, and what you can expect here on the pod going forward.
Looking back, I was in a real funk
Before we go forward, let's go back to December 2025.
I'd recently turned 50. I was eight years into my business, and sales were down. AI copywriting was everywhere, and things felt tough. I felt depleted, and I wanted to give up.
Around me, several freelancers, coaches, and business owners closed their businesses and got "real jobs." My own assistant, who'd been with me for years, was applying for a 9 to 5 day job too.
My business was still clearing six figures in top-line revenue. But it just wasn't translating into the wiggle room it used to for our family. Everything is more expensive, and those same dollars weren't creating the spaciousness they used to.
So I started thinking about applying for a J-O-B. I even applied for a couple of full-time and part-time copywriter positions. I didn't get them. Maybe it was the universe deciding for me, or maybe I just wasn't a great applicant.
Regardless, I was staring down 2026 with a mixture of fear, exhaustion, and wanting to give it all up.
One thoughtful conversation helped me find what to pause
Instead of making a rash decision, I did what all modern CEOs are doing. I opened ChatGPT.
I gave it a little context for how I was feeling and prompted it to ask me a series of questions to help me decide whether to pursue a real job or stay in entrepreneurship.
(Quick sidebar: I don't outsource all my thinking to Claude or ChatGPT. I have coaches and peers I turn to. In this case, I just wanted to see what AI would suggest.)
Chatty G asked some very thoughtful questions that helped me reflect. And it guided me to find one part of my business I could pause and close down to make more room for rest, recovery, and creativity. That's what I really needed.
After some reflection, I realized the one thing I could pause without my whole business falling apart was this here podcast.
In my heart and my mind, I knew it was a smart move. So I just stopped podcasting. I didn't announce it on the show. I didn't tell my email subscribers I was pausing. I just did it. I disappeared.
Pausing gave me the reset I needed
Let me tell you, it was the reset I really needed.
By freeing up the energy and time I was dedicating to the podcast, I had more time and energy for new things in my life and business.
In my business, I:
Doubled down on my niche of working with Gen X women in business, and tested my messaging and positioning around it
Launched a webinar, something I'd been wanting to do for about three years
Started running paid ads to cold audiences and built an actual webinar funnel
Said yes to summits and collabs to grow my email list
In my personal life, I:
Increased my fitness regimen by adding a dance class
Prioritized planning more fun activities and adventures with friends and family
Started hosting impromptu parties and gatherings
Set a goal to complete 10 hikes this summer (I'm one hike away from hitting it)
By all accounts, the podcast pause was a success
Over the last nine months, I've launched new offers, tripled enrollment in my Pivot to Premium program, and developed new habits and skills.
And even though I wasn't creating new episodes, the podcast still ranked on Apple's Top 100 charts for marketing podcasts from time to time. People kept finding it and listening to it, even without new content.
Now, after a nine-month pause, I'm ready to get back behind the mic.
Why quick how-to copywriting content isn't enough anymore
When the Ill Communication Podcast launched in 2022, it focused on making copywriting easier and faster with quick how-to episodes, writing prompts, and sales formulas. I'm really proud of that body of work, and I know it helped thousands of people.
Since then, a little thing called generative AI has shown up, and it makes copywriting a lot easier and a lot faster. Note that I'm not saying it makes copy better. But my previous value proposition isn't relevant in today's market.
Most of us who started businesses in our mid-40s, or around 2020, have different needs and challenges in our businesses today. Quick how-to content just isn't gonna cut it for the advanced, seasoned, mature businesswoman I want to support and work with.
What you can expect from the new era of Ill Communication
During my time away, I reviewed my podcast stats to see which episodes get the most downloads. I surveyed my community for input. And I thought hard about what I want this podcast to be.
I want to create a space where Gen X women in business feel seen, heard, and understood. We have a shit ton of responsibilities on our plates. I want to honor that, and help you find strategies that create more time, more freedom, and more money in this very difficult sandwich season of life.
When I polled my audience about what you want to hear more of, most of you asked for advanced marketing and sales strategies and more content on selling premium offers. So I'm gonna deliver that.
Going forward, I'll share:
Messaging, marketing, and sales strategies that work today
What's working in the launches I'm actively involved in, and what I'm seeing in the broader community
Resources, tools, and guests to help Gen X women thrive through a tough season and enjoy the ride a little more
Short quick-win episodes (and plenty of Beastie Boys references along the way)
There's strategy behind the new (very long) podcast name
Over the last few weeks, I've slowly been updating the podcast's description, title, and artwork. In case you missed it, I've renamed and rebranded the show to High Ticket Marketing and Sales Strategies for Gen X Women in Business: The Ill Communication Podcast.
Admittedly, that's a huge mouthful. But there's strategy behind it.
Adam Schaeuble of Podcasting Business School recently hosted a three-day challenge on improving podcast SEO, and I followed a lot of his guidance on naming strategy and keywords.
Help me build this next chapter
I'm building this new era of Ill Communication as I go, and I'd love your input. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, and what you'd like to hear more of. Reach out on social media, drop me an email, or shoot me a text.
I'll share updates periodically on how this shift in my messaging and positioning is going. If you'd like to follow along, make sure you subscribe, follow, and like the podcast.
And if I may be so bold: if you're happy to hear my dulcet tones in your ear holes again, please leave a rating and review. It's a small act that makes a big difference to my reach and success as a podcaster.
That's the peek behind my curtain. It was a difficult year, but it was also a fun year of experimenting. I've really missed showing up weekly and having a conversation with you.
I'd love to hear what you've been up to over the last nine months. Find me on LinkedIn, Threads, or Instagram and share your own updates with me. I can't wait to connect more over the coming weeks and months.
-
[00:00:00] Well, hello. Hi. Is this thing on? It has been a minute since I recorded and published a podcast episode. Actually, it's been 388,800 minutes, or nine months, since I took to my microphone. And if you're listening to this episode, it's evidence that I've decided to return. And as an aside, I just wanna say thank you to the longtime listeners who've reached out to me to see what's up, ask why there hasn't been a new episode in a while.
I've really appreciated those check-ins. And if you're [00:01:00] newer to me, well, welcome aboard. I hope you'll come to enjoy the podcast and make it part of your regular listening routine. In this episode, I'm going to get a little personal, um, maybe even a lot personal. I'll tell you why I stopped podcasting and what I did instead, And I'll let you know what you can expect here on the pod going forward.
But before we go forward, let's go back to December 2025. Looking back now, I see I was in a real funk. I'd recently turned 50. I was at eight years into my business and sales were down. AI copywriting was everywhere and things felt tough. I felt depleted and like I wanted to give up. Around me, several freelancers, coaches, and business owners closed their businesses and got, quote-unquote, "real jobs."
My own assistant, who'd [00:02:00] been with me for years, was also applying for a 9 to 5 day job. And while my business continued to clear six figures in top-line revenue, it just wasn't translating into the wiggle room it used to for our family. The cost of living, everything is more expensive, and those same dollars just weren't creating that spaciousness that it used to.
So I started thinking about applying for a J-O-B. I actually even did apply for a couple of full-time and part-time copywriter positions. Now, I didn't get them, and maybe it was the universe deciding for me, or maybe I just wasn't a great applicant. Regardless, I was staring at 2026 with a mixture of fear, exhaustion, and wanting to give it all up.
Instead of making a rash decision, I did what all modern CEOs are doing and I opened ChatGPT. I gave it a little context for [00:03:00] how I was feeling and prompted it to ask me a series of questions to help me decide if I should pursue a real job or stay in entrepreneurship. Now, I just wanna sidebar here and say I don't outsource all my thinking to Claude or ChatGPT.
I do have coaches and peers I turn to. But in this case, I just wanted to see what AI would suggest. And you know what? Chatty G asked some very thoughtful questions that allowed me to reflect, and it guided me to finding an aspect of my business I could pause and close down to make more room for rest, recovery, and creativity, which is what I was ultimately needing.
With some reflection, the one thing that I could pause without my whole business falling apart was this here podcast. In my heart and my mind, I knew it was actually a smart move, so I just stopped podcasting. I didn't announce it here. I didn't [00:04:00] tell my email subscribers I was pausing. I just did it. I just disappeared.
And let me tell you, it was the reset I really needed. By freeing up the energy and time I was dedicating to the podcast, I had more time and energy for new things in my life and business. I doubled down on my niche to work with Gen X women in business. I really tested some of the messaging and positioning around that.
I launched a webinar, something I'd been wanting to do for like three years. And then I started running paid ads to cold audiences and created an actual webinar funnel. I said yes to different summits and collabs to grow my email list. And on the personal side, I increased my fitness regimen by adding a dance class into the mix.
I prioritized planning more fun activities and adventures with friends and family. I started hosting impromptu parties [00:05:00] and gatherings, and I set a goal to complete 10 hikes this summer season, and I am one hike away from hitting my goal. By all accounts, the podcast pause was a success. Over the last nine months, I've launched new offers, tripled enrollment in my Pivot to Premium program, and developed new habits and skills.
And even though I wasn't creating new episodes, my podcast still ranked on Apple's Top 100 charts for marketing podcasts from time to time. People are still finding it and listening to it even though I wasn't creating new content But now, after a nine-month pause, I'm ready to get back behind the mic again.
The time away has allowed me to review my podcast stats to see which episodes get the most downloads. I surveyed my community for input, and I've really thought about what I want this podcast to be about. [00:06:00] And for me, I wanna create a space where Gen X women in business feel seen, heard, and understood. We have a shit ton of responsibilities on our plates, and I wanna honor that and also help find strategies that allow you to create more time and freedom and more money in this very difficult sandwich season of life.
When it launched in 2022, The Ill Communication Podcast was focused on making copywriting easier and faster with quick how-to episodes, writing prompts, and sales formulas, and I'm really proud of the body of work that I created. And I know I helped thousands of people. But since then, a little thing called generative AI has popped up, which makes copywriting a lot easier and a lot faster.
And note that I'm not saying it makes copy better, but my previous value proposition is no longer relevant in today's world, in today's market. And let's be honest, [00:07:00] most of us who started businesses in our mid-40s or around 2020 have different needs and challenges in our businesses today. So quick how-to content just isn't gonna cut it for the advanced, seasoned, mature businesswoman who I want to support and work with Going forward, I'm going to share helpful messaging, marketing, and sales strategies.
I'll talk about what's working today in the launches I'm actively involved in or what I'm seeing going on in the broader community. I'm also gonna bring in resources, tools, and guests to help Gen X women thrive through a very tough season and help you enjoy the ride a little more. I recently polled my audience to ask what kind of content you want to hear more of from me, and the majority of responses indicated you want to hear more about advanced marketing and sales strategies and more content on selling [00:08:00] premium offers.
So I'm gonna deliver that, and I'm gonna keep dropping some short quick win episodes and Beastie Boys references along the way. Over the last few weeks, I've slowly been updating the description, the title, and the artwork for this podcast. But if you missed it, I've renamed and rebranded the show to High Ticket Marketing and Sales Strategies for Gen X Women in Business, The Ill Communication Podcast.
Now, that is admittedly a huge mouthful, but there is some strategy behind it. Adam Scheible of Podcasting Business School recently hosted a three-day challenge to improve podcast SEO, so I followed a lot of his guidance on naming strategy and keywords. I'll drop an affiliate link to his school community in case you're curious about doing the same with your podcast.
At any rate, I'm kind of building this new podcast, a new v- [00:09:00] era of ill communication as I go, and I'd love your input. I'd love to hear what you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to hear more of. So please reach out to me on social media, drop me an email, or shoot me a text to share your feedback and thoughts with me.
I'll be sharing updates periodically on how this shift in my messaging and positioning is going. So if you'd like to follow along, please make sure you subscribe, follow, and like this podcast. And if I may be so bold, if you're happy to hear my dulcet tones in your ear holes again, I always appreciate if you can leave a rating and a review.
It's a small act that makes a big difference to my reach and success as a podcaster. So my friend, that's the peek behind my curtain. It was a difficult year, but it was also a fun year of experimenting. But I have really missed showing up weekly here and having a [00:10:00] conversation with you. Al, I would love to hear what you've been up to over the last nine months, so please find me on LinkedIn, Threads, Instagram, and share your own updates with me.
I can't wait to connect more with you over the coming weeks and months. Bye for now.
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