Episode 15

Jenell Riesner and Rachel Bellotti of The True North Collective

This week on Podcaster Stories, I sit down with Jenell Riesner and Rachel Bellotti of The True North Collective.

The True North Collective is a gathering of un-sugar-coated conversations on authenticity, created by the real-life real-life documentation of two humans discovering and hacking what it means to reconnect with our own true north. 

Topics up for discussion this week include:

  • how their career backgrounds made for a perfect foil for their podcast
  • how Rachel's cancer battle in her teens made her question her identity
  • how their approach to life brought them together
  • their plans for a more nomadic lifestyle in 2021
  • how the conversations they have with guests on their podcast has affirmed the goals they have with it
  • how they've opened up more as their show has evolved
  • why being "messy" in life makes living more authentic
  • why they started the Amplify mini-series, to share the untold stories of black, indigenous, and people of colour
  • why we need to stop, listen, and truly learn about what others are going through
  • why we need to use our platforms more to help those that don't have one of their own
  • the episodes that have stood out for them, and why
  • why getting things wrong is perfectly normal
  • why new podcasters should follow Nike's slogan, and just do it when it comes to starting their show
  • who their personal heroes are, and why

Settle back for an engaging episode where Jenell and Rachel talk about why we need to look at our lives to see if we're making the most of our opportunities.

Connect with Jenell and Rachel:

Contact me: danny@podcasterstories.com

My equipment:

Recommended resources:



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
Transcript
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So when George Floyd was murdered, it was a major

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wake up call for me. I definitely have been privileged.

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And in that privilege did not have to face a

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lot of the realities that are here in our society.

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And as I sat in that space, there was actually

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two, two humans who started a The Amplify melanated voices

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movement right around that time. And I kind of jumped

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on to it and, and went dark on my social

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media. And it was just like, I need to learn

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right now and I need to listen and I need

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to figure out what the hell, what the hell, how

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could I have not just, I just need to listen

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and be aware of.

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So

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Hi and welcome to Podcaster Stories each week we'll have

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a conversation with podcasters across all mediums and share their

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story and what motivates them, why they started off as

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a group show. And More we also talk about their

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personal lives and some of the things that have happened

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that made them the person they are today. And now

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here's your host Danny Brown. Hi, and welcome to another

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episode of Podcaster Stories where we meet The people behind

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the voices of the show is by listening to it

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this week, I've got Janell Riesner and Rachel Bellotti cohost

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of The True North, Collective a show about authenticity and

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being true to yourself. I'm so Rachel Jenell and welcome

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to the show.

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I'm real excited to have you, and as I mentioned,

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your, the first cast for the new season, which is

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kinda cool. So how are we telling us a bit

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about yourself and to show up?

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Sure. Yeah. And thank you so much for having us

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again, we're super excited to be able to converse with

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other podcasters and share our story. I can tell you

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a little bit about myself, kind of, you know, done

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a lot of different things in my life from studying

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business in college, to running a fitness studio, which has

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actually where Rachel and I met to working at a

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tech companies doing marketing, too, teaching fitness classes. And we

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really have just been on this journey of self discovery,

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trying to let go of narratives that don't serve many

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more, trying to figure out how to be the most

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authentic version of myself.

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And we'll, we'll talk after I let Rachel introduce herself

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kind of how the inspired the podcast, but right now,

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you know, focusing on the podcast actually recently was laid

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off. So that's a fun part of my journey of

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our story with everything that's happening. And just couple coupled

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about two months ago, hopped in my car and put

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all my stuff in storage and said, well, why not

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just travel around the United States and continue the journey

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of self discovery? So that is where I'm at now.

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And I'm, I'm Rachel blahdy, no one ever gets my

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last name. Right. So kudos to you.

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I actually know how it gets to my last name,

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right. Either. And that was, I was like I said,

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I was like, whatever.

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Yeah. I've had a twisty journey as well. I grew

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up in the Midwest and went to school at Indiana

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university, minored in dance and sociology majored in business marketing.

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So I kind of like all sides of the brain

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I loved. And I didn't really know where I was

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going to nut out, but ultimately I went down the

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business path, advertising branch, or a corporate brand strategy. And

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it took me all over, which is lovely. But around

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in my early thirties, I started to realize that I

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was in, I was climbing a corporate ladder that was

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not necessarily fulfilling my self worth. And I had my

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self-worth really tied into title and how much money I

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was making.

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And I was really confused about how to bridge the

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gap between living a lie. I wouldn't have called it

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then, but like a heart led life versus one that

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I had been told I was supposed to live that

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was successful for a successful from the outside. I also

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have a cancer when I was 14 and 15. And

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so I think the combination of that, like at that

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point, I didn't realize it, but that was like a

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huge confusion point of like, who am I actually, because

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my identity, you get so tied up with, with that

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experience. And I spent a lot of years either rejecting

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that identity or not like kind of embracing it to

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use it for my benefit.

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Like there was a really weird experience. And when I

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left my, I was actually in Vancouver working for Lou

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lemon. And when I left that job kudos to them

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and their development programs internally, because I got so much

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personal development while I was there, that I started to

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realize like, who am I am? What do I want?

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And so I ultimately left, I kind of did what

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Janell is doing now and put what I could fit

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in my car and just drove back to the Midwest.

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I took a really long time, visited friends, ended up

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in Milwaukee because of a guy that I was dating

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long distance. And then I met Jenell and our, our

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paths kind of collided at this fitness studio, or I

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just was looking for a job in a community and

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that wasn't going to take me away from myself, but

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bring me closer to myself.

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And she hired me pretty quickly as the, I think

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this assistant studio manager at the studio manager. And then

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we became friends, as we talked about, like, what does

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it mean to be yourself? Like everybody says that. And

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I say that, and I've told

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People that, but like, what does

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That actually mean? And when the rubber hits the road

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and its not just a concept, but something you're actually

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trying to live into, how do you do that? And

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so we both were kind of in that space and

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Jenelle was brilliant in recognizing that there might be something

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worth capturing for more people than just us. So yeah,

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it's a little bit about me.

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That's cool. And that's also a weird, but that these

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conversations between the two of you is obviously where the,

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the podcast and a short originated. So how did that,

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how do we come up with a new idea? It

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was it just organic from the discussions or something different

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or

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I'm going to just jump in and say like, I

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think that my whole life I've been wrestling with who

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I am. And so it was like, I just ha

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it felt like I just happened to find another person

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who was like a willing to listen to me while

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I was just like, what the eff is this in

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the dark and, and just really wrestling with it and

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then participate with me and, and seemed to have just

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as much of like a fire in her to want

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to figure it out two. And so it was super

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in neatly passionate in both of us and organic. So

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I the idea, honestly, it was birthed out of us.

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It's not like we sat and were like, let's come

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up with an idea, let's create a podcast. So it

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kind of was there and we just saw it and

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captured it. So do you know, I'll let you be

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more specific than that?

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Yeah, I think definitely similar I'm at Rachel at a

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really critical part of my life and we have, it

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was pretty, I always forget how many years, but a

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pretty decent age gap between us, like eight years, nine

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years.

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Yeah.

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And like I was running the studio, I was burnt

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out work was everything for me. And when I met

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Rachel and a lot of times when we talk about

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this story, like I definitely wasn't in the greatest Headspace

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in my life. I think on paper, I had really

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what I thought I had wanted. I had a career

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that I was passionate about. I was doing well for

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myself. You know, I own my home and I was

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like 24, 23, but emotionally, mentally, if I was so

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unhappy. And when I met Rachel it was like, she,

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there was something about her and it sparked a lot

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of curiosity.

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I mean, like, I didn't know what it was like.

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I don't think I'd ever really met someone that was

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asking those questions, but it's, it was the, the concept

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of it was just like, ah, I felt like that

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it had always been in MI, but I didn't know

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if it was there until I saw someone that was

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also getting curious about it. So as Rachel mentioned that

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we were just having these conversations and we were doing

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different programs from nutrition programs to fitness programs. Two, if

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you've ever heard of the book, the book desire mapping.

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And we were calling people in, in this community that

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we had already started creating at the fitness studio. And

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that is kind of my business brain to cause also

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a background in business marketing. That's what I studied. It

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was just like this, this is something like, there was

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something here we can not be the only people on

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this planet that we have no idea of what we're

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doing or at least that's how I felt.

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I'm like I got an email and paid for. I

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feel like I had everything that I showed want. And

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yet in my life in some ways, is that really

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outside of my career, it felt pretty empty. And that

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was when I, at one point we were, we were

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cleaning bikes. We, it was a spin studio or a

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cycling studio. And I looked over at Rachel and I

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said, Hey, do you want to start a blog or

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something like so scared to ask her because it just

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felt very, a lot of left field. But like I

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knew that there is something there and that this was

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worth sharing with other people and from there, and it's

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been a journey in an evolution for sure.

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That was cold. And I know you had mentioned earlier

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that, do you know, we are currently, you are traveling

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across the us, you know, last year I've watched the

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middle of August and minimalism a documentary and it was

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so eyeopening, you know, like just hearing all these people

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talk about like, you both say it, but at the

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corporate, you know, we were told, this is what you

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should be doing and that's on the way to succeed,

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et cetera, as opposed to you actually being yourself and

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being happy with yourself and enjoy, and that success. And

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I'm curious when you're traveling either of, you know, what

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you're doing at the moment, Janell or rich, or if

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you're, you know, a new community outreach, et cetera, do

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you ever do something similar to what the minimalists would

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do and, and, you know, talk to other people in

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it and you have people speaking to you about what

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they want to change with their lives, et cetera.

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So you are touching on something that is in our

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2021 roadmap because, and I'll let Rachel speak for herself,

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but I know both of us have started to envision

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more of a nomadic lifestyle. And it, I always joke

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that I feel like I'm living my twenties backwards because

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I, you know, focused on being successful and really setting

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myself up or, you know, contributing my 401k. And now

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I'm almost 30 and unemployed and just running around the

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United States are really no plan. And I'm trying to,

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you know, I'm living out of cars and Airbnbs and

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what not, but we do want to and plan to

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start talking to people on the road.

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So that is in our roadmap for 2021, just to

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capture more voices. Really we've had conversations on the podcast

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where sometimes we get to have a really cool conversations

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with strangers from the internet sometimes were speaking to people

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that our in our lives and were going a little

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bit deeper than maybe what we would get to do

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in day to day interactions. But a large part of

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the concept of the podcast is that we're fellow travelers.

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We are trying to figure it out and that, that

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we want to make sure that we're capturing authenticity from

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many different angles, because it is really easy to categorize

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and label people. And we want to make sure that

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we're not just putting a blanket story on one type

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of person, just because they might fall into a category

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and the traveling around and interacting with people and meeting

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new people is a huge part in a way that

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we want to be able to expand the stories that

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we're sharing.

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Yeah. T to add on that. I think when, when

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it flipped from a blog to a podcast, I was

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a little bit hesitant because I didn't know how much

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work it would be. And so we committed to one

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season and that way I can have an out to

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know what works for me. And what we soon realized

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was that we would have these conversations that were so

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life giving. I have recently moved. We had actually both

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recently moved from Milwaukee. I had moved to Dallas, Jenelle

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had moved to California and it was kind of like,

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we were like, let's do this thing. And it will

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be an excuse to stay in touch better than if

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we didn't have a thing.

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And I swear, it kept to me like connected to

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myself. And during the, during the transition, when times get

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hard and you can be like, what was I thinking,

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why am I here? What was I doing? You know,

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every few weeks I was getting to have these just

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honestly breathtaking conversations and to hear the people sharing their

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stories, who, you know, we were like, why, why do

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you want to hear my story? And then they would

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share it. And they be like, Oh, that was so

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amazing to be able to share that like, Oh thank

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you for seeing me. Thank you for hearing the coolest

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shit I have done. And the hard stuff I've done

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and like all of it.

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And so we, you know, we committed to a season

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two and now obviously we're, we're in season three and

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this is the year that we really decided we want

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to do this. This is important. And we often have

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heard from people, I love listening to the conversations you're

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having, and I want to jump in and, and, and

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be like, Oh, here's my experience. And so we've slowly,

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this year has been dabbling in some ways to kinda

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open up that conversation and not have to have it

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be within that one container. And so once a month

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we have something called the Collective and it's an open

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conversation where anyone can join it's free.

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And we just kind of have an open dialogue with

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whoever joins on a different topic around authenticity. And again,

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we are, especially this year, we've been hearing so much

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from people just how grateful they are to have the

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depth of conversation and the, the depth of connection with

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strangers and that they are like, I've been seeking this,

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but I didn't where to go. And so taking that

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were kind of figuring out how, how do we, how

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do we create or allow or enable more of these

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containers to exist, whether we're there or not. And so

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it's really, it's an exciting time.

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And I think if you had mentioned, obviously we know

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you're on season three and you have this as a

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year of your life. This is the season that you

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are really gone for an hour. And one of the

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things that you liked when I was listening to your

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episodes and, and written your, your, your website of information

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in bio was etc, is the fact that its not

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a one size fits all. You know, and you're not

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telling people that you can be amazing, you know, like

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the normal was that a self-help template. If you like,

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they're at the study, stereotypical one, instead your goal is

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to dig into at the topics that people don't normally

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want to talk about it because they've been told, you

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know, that's just not the done thing. So it was

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this always a goal from the offer is that certainly

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growing as the show is going on and your confidence,

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if you like in the shower has grown over the

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seasons.

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I think its been both actually, because as we've grown,

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I think we have gotten to know new sides of

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ourselves. We actually didn't know we were keeping it closed

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if that makes sense. And so we always want it

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to be like raw to put it out there, you

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know, whatever anyone is comfortable with. We obviously don't want

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our guests to feel like there are going to have,

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you know, an oversharing hangover afterwards, you know, and we

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want them to feel safe and we want them to

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go there, like a say, what's what's here se what

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you wish you had heard. If you were having this

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experience and feeling all alone and isolated, what, what would

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you have wanted to hear?

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And it took a lot of courage on both of

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our parts in different ways to also do that ourselves.

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So I think being in a partnership has been really

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helpful for me because we both kind of balance our

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each other really, really well. And the areas where I'm

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a little bit like, I don't know, you know, Jelke

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Jenelle can hold that space for me to, to get

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there and she could be patient and vice versa. And

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the more that we kind of held up, held each

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others hands and been like, we're doing this. I mean,

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I know it's on a bit big, but we, we

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do want to help evolve the way that humanity connects

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and talks. And our original goal was just to be

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able to make a difference in one person's life.

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And so that's kind of where we came back to

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me is like, we're not trying to solve the world.

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We just want to make a difference in this guest

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life or if one person's life. And when you go,

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you can go to that small, you can go super

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deep. And I think that, that we found the magic

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there and as we've continued to grow, we've continued to

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find a new territories to go, man, no one's talking

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about that. Or we both know you don't have to

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go there. They're like, okay, let's do a search for

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themselves up there and you know, be okay making a

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mistake and allowing it to, to live.

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Yeah. I think that's one of the things about the

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podcast for me is that we highlight other people's journeys

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and we highlight not the completion, not the I've made

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it out and made it through the fire. I know

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the answers we are trying to capture the real life

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messiness that were all kind of always in, even though

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we do cross thresholds and in my own journey, for

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example, we just launched a mini series called The Amplify.

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And we're speaking with people basically about race racism being

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in a system that doesn't allow you to be authentically

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you or celebrate you. And I know that's something, you

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know, Rachel have this beautiful brain child have an idea

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and we set it up and I've been so grateful

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because those are the types of conversations that I have

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passion for it.

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But I'm so scared to be a part of it

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because I feel like I don't, I don't know what

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to say. I don't know the right thing to say.

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And I think the podcast has been a platform, whether

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it be on that topic or other topics where we've

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really pushed ourselves. And I know I've been pushed, but

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in a space that does feel safe where I'm publicly

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saying like, Hey, I don't know the answer here. I'm

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going to get it wrong and I'm going to be

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a messy and can we all be okay with that?

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Can we not judge each other and not judge ourselves

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for being in that place because we're all learning and

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growing. And I, I mean, that's been a huge just

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for me personally and I hope are guests and anyone

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that listens to it can take something away from that

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too.

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And it's interesting, you mentioned Amplify because that was something

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he was going to ask you about. It, it, it,

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it really piques my interest. You have this many serious,

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like almost like an offshoot of the main podcast, but

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it's very specific, as you mentioned, its about, you know,

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untold stories of indigenous and black and people of color.

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I mean, was there something that sparked that is why

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is it like the societal stuff that's going on? You

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know, maybe in America and North America across the globe

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at the moment where does its origins in it and

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what's your, your hopes for it? Or is it an

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education, you know, like as you mentioned, because we are,

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we are white often, you know, we don't under it,

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but we can understand why people of color are going

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through and it's, I think is important.

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And as you mentioned to really be open to learning

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and not saying, well, you know, it's not as bad

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as you think because that's the hate have privilege. It's

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a crazy, I'm real curious about where that, that spark

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of an idea came from and, and your hopes for

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the show.

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Yeah, I can, I can take that one. It was

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really, it is something that I could not do. So

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when George Floyd was murdered, it was a major wake

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up call for me. I definitely have been privileged. And

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in that privilege did not have to a lot of

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the realities that are here in our society. And as

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I sat in that space, there was actually two, two

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humans who started a The Amplify melanated voices movement right

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around that time. And I kind of jumped on to

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it and, and went dark on my social media.

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And it was just like, I need to learn right

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now and I need to listen and I need to

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figure out what the hell, what the hell, how could

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I have not just, I just need to listen and

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be aware. And as I, as I went through the

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next few weeks and connected with some of my black

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friends, some of my Brown friends and I just started

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gaining some different perspectives and you know, I was like,

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how in the hell do I have a conversation about

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authenticity and not acknowledge the fact that me being able

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to say like, be true to yourself is, is almost

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a privilege for, for some people. And like, I can't,

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I actually can't continue this podcast.

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If I can acknowledge that and hold a space for

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whether that reality is true or not a space for

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people who are actually experiencing that and here from them.

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And so I just started asking some of my friends

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and who are black and Brown and, and said, do

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you want to be, is this like, what do you

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think? And you know, and, and, and as I had

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those conversations, literally every person I've talked to has been

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like, I will absolutely get on there and have this

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conversation. And I get, and everyone has a different take.

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And that's kind of, I mean, there's a lot of

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points, but one of the big ones is that it's

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really easy to look outside of yourself.

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It's easy to look at people who look like you

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and just assume that everybody is the same and, and

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they are not that everybody is so nuanced. And so

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to create a space where we can hear those nuances

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and experience the bridge that actually exists between people that

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we may have thought we were so different from is,

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has been really, really cool. So I don't totally know

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where it's going to go. A lot of our journey

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has been being in the moment, trusting, showing up, creating

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a space for it and allowing it to tell us

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what it wants it to get to be. And so

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right now we're just, we're just trying to capture the

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Stories and, and see where, see where they go.

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But we definitely knew that in that space, we were

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not the ones who didn't need it to be a

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docking, but we also knew that we knew how to

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hold the space. And so it was like, what can

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we do? What can we do? What can I do

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that I am that I do well, there is a,

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there was a big invitation to like find the areas

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where are you already are and how can you make

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a difference within that space are, how can you shift

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in that space? So we really ourselves within

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Like, this is the space that we have that we

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own and what can we do here? And we know

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how to hold space for really real conversations. And so

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we were like, let's get it, go and see what

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happens, you know, is there anything that you would add?

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I would just add the, or at least I hope

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this is what it is for people, but I think

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the modeling of having messy conversations, because I do think

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we, we listen to a lot on Amplify and for

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me, I feel like I put myself out there and

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I ask really stupid questions that aren't necessarily PC. And

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I say things, and I just admit, like, I might

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not say this, right? So like definitely challenged me if

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you think it doesn't make sense and let's talk about

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it. And I personally, haven't had a ton of opportunities

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in my day to day life to have those types

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of conversations and feel safe to do it.

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So one of my hopes from Amplify is that we're

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showing and modeling that for people. So they can take

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that into their day-to-day life and hopefully have those tougher

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conversations that maybe they're not comfortable with. And at the

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very least, I'm learning how to do that for myself.

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So maybe that modeling shows up in my day-to-day life

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in someone learns that even outside of the podcast.

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And I think that's that that's like such an important

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point that, that he bought made a boat using your

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platform, you know, because you have a platform, you can,

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you know, how to get our message out, you know,

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through the medium of podcast and, and the guests on

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Amplify men, not, you know, the people that are used

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in our stores and Amplify are not. And I think

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that's seems to be a, a big difference this time

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around is for whatever reason this is sticking. And it's

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great to see, you know, the, the, the, the, the

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questions that were being asked or at the moment, and

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they're, you know, the demonstrations in it and everything that's

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happening it's seems to be stick. And where does it

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seems to have been focused on it before? And I

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think it's so important for folks like yourself, that I've

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got an, a, a platform want to share that and

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help you if you get the Stories though.

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And it's, it's a really cool to see a lot.

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So kudos for that. It was like, I saw it

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on your website. And I thought, this is something really

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cool. I haven't seen a lot of people to do

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that. So kudos for that. We had mentioned earlier, you

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know, on season three of which is awesome. So I

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congratulations for that. Are there any episode, because you have,

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obviously, did you do it, but it was a 30,

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30 plus episodes per season.

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It's been a mix. Rachel kind of mentioned our first

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season. There, there was an hour always because we just

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didn't know what it was going to be. So our

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first two seasons own one had 12, one had 13,

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and then our third season were on 36 or 37.

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So it would be over 40 by the end of

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the year, I'm in our season's are really just yours

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to, so this is our third year doing it. So

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we've definitely ramped up significantly it in 2020.

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And, and there are any episodes that I've stood out

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in particular are not picking favorites. For example, you're not,

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I'm not, I would like to guests was better in

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this

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Case or whatever, and I want people to get upset

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with you, but this is what I mean, any episodes

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they have stood out as particularly other for a topic

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for the way the conversation went. There was an unexpected

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run, a thing.

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One of the ones that really stuck out for me

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and solidified the direction that were going in with the

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podcast was we have a conversation with someone and we

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actually used to work with in Milwaukee, Megan, on purpose.

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And one of the beautiful things about that episode in

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particular is Megan, as a podcast listener, we would just

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organically reached out on social for anyone to respond and

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said, Hey, what are you struggling with right now that

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prevents you from living an authentic life? And she had

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responded, and we said, do you want to come have

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a conversation with us on the podcast?

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And she agreed, which is amazing. And for me personally,

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that episode sends out because it, it was so authentic

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and real, and Megan just so beautifully, just shared are

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really where she was at and how she felt like

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she didn't know, you know, she didn't know what our

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purpose of it. She didn't know that she was looking

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for. And also in that Rachel does a really beautiful

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job of celebrating people and has an amazing coaching skills.

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And I think that was kind of came out in

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that episode. Just a lot of showing, like, yeah, you're

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in the mess. Yeah. You might not know. And actually

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you do kind of know, but it's letting go of

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other things in your life to really allow your own

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truth to come out.

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So I think it was a really beautiful unfolding have

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that in a very natural and messy and authentic way.

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Yeah. I would say the one that always sticks out

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for me is Anya. I think it was that season

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two Jenell season two. So Anya, when I worked with

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her, she was Allen and transitioned. And so it was

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like years later, I reconnected with her and was like,

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do you want to share your story? I'm SU like,

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you just want to share. And she was so open.

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And the way that she explained the experience of transitioning

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was so different than what I thought the conversation was

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going to be. And so relatable. I thought it was

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like a lot. I feel like I've experienced that just

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as in a different form.

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And it was one of the most beautiful conversations. It

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was also the first time that I really didn't want

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to get it wrong because I wanted to honor something

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that I knew very little about. And I want to

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say the right words And and, you know, I, I,

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it was perfectly imperfect and it was, it was a

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turning point for me. And like, we can share these

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stories, we can do this. And so, yeah, I th

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I think that one for me is probably The has

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been the most impactful. But if you want one where

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Rachel is blueprint all over the place earlier this year,

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Jesse Nelson's podcast, we talk about pronouns and I just

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mess the whole thing up royally, and we keep it

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because it's a very real, and that's what they want

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it to be.

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And so I was like, thank you for me. So

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gentle and its it's to your earlier answer to Janelle's

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earlier point, its a, it's a way to, to show

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a modeling of like, you're gonna get it wrong. And

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the more you get freaked out about that, it actually

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puts the stress on the person who the, the other

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person on the receiver. And so your ability to self-manage

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through your mistakes is probably one of the biggest gifts

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that you can give to people. And so yeah, those

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would probably be the two that really stand out for

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me. You

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Have to look out for the blooper episode or that

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stands out one for sure. And it's interesting, you mentioned

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that about just go on with it and keeping it

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in there at the raw mistakes and hours, because that's

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how you grew up in that. So, you know, you,

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you understand stuff more as a two podcasts are those

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that have you're in a new season for you and

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you'll be starting a for us soon. And I'm guessing

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with the 20, 2100, which is fairly quickly, is there

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a piece of advice that you would give new podcasters,

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either looking to do something similar in your niche or

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just in a podcast and in general?

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Yeah, I would say just start, that's always been our

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motto. I'm not sure if were allowed to swear, but

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if you can believe that out, but really the, I

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think Rachel and I, for most of it, like we'll

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have conversations, but really it's yeah, sure. Fuck it. Let's

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do it. We say that all the time, like we'll

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throw ideas around. It's like, should we be doing it?

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Shall we not doing it in? It's like, just do

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it. Just start try. We can always change your mind.

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We can always just laugh it off and say like,

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Hey, that didn't work. Let's try something new. And I

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really think that's the hardest part that people can get

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in their heads. We did the same thing. It's like,

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Oh, other people are doing podcasting and it's so popular.

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Everyone has a podcast.

Speaker:

And then just to talk yourself out of it. So

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I would just say start like, if you are really

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passionate about it, just get it started.

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Yeah, definitely. There was a moment in season one where

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we were all over editing, everything was just terrible. And

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I, I was just like a total perfectionist. It was

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disgusting. And it was just like, you listened to the

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conversation and it was like robots and that was a

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big lesson and it's good enough and like leave the

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heart and let it be, let it be messy. And

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then the other thing I always remind myself is do

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I want to be sitting down in having this conversation?

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Because if I don't want to be having conversation than

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I probably should be recording it. And so that's been

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like a good gut check as we go along to

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just have the conversation checking in on how it feels

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afterwards.

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And then when we're were lucky, because we got to

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Jenell, it does the editing and I do the show

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notes. So we both, but we both listen back to

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it. And if, when we're listening back were just like

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texting each other, like this is gold and you know,

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it's like a good reminder of like, okay, we're on

Speaker:

the right track. So yeah, those short, short checkins are

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helpful to you

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A year. He bought the out of 10. That was

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my, that has been the bane of my podcast and

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not courier a bit podcasts in Germany, you know, like,

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and even now I still get two bits of, and

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I'm thinking, should I leave that I'm in? Because it's

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like, you see, it's more organic. It's a part of

Speaker:

a normal conversation that you wouldn't cut someone's arms. Or

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as I was speaking to them in a street or,

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you know, in a library or a bar or something.

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So that's definitely one of these things that's, you know,

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50, 50 all the time. Yeah.

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Yeah. And it's an honoring of them too. Like as

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the person that does, as Rachel mentioned most of the

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editing now, sometimes I CA I feel like I'm being

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protective of our guests, but like when I'm making a

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decision for them, that something they did wasn't quote unquote.

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Right. And that kind of feels yucky to me. Like

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just accept people as they come out.

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That's a good point. Actually. Damn someone mentioned that on

Speaker:

a Facebook podcast clip about, I'm making an edit to

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a power of a conversation that was 20 minutes, then

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that would have fit better. And New York one in

Speaker:

five minutes and they were going to swap The the

Speaker:

audio Boom and it was a lot of feedback and

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put, what are you taking away with the integrity of

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that person's statement from the 20 minute session? And it

Speaker:

could, you know, and backfire. So that's a, it's a

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really a good point, actually. So I know you've both

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got like, you know, a really interesting backgrounds and, and

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what you want to do, you know, with your journeys,

Speaker:

moving forward, do you, who is your, your personal hero,

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your all-time hero and why that person,

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The first person that came up to two people, two

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people that came to mind for me were bill Murray

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and David Bowie and more So. And I actually often

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say Einstein as well, because I think in all of

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them, there was this rebelliousness towards just being who they

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were and their journeys weren't linear. You kind of don't

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really know what to expect, what you see on the

Speaker:

outside. Isn't exactly what it is, what you think is

Speaker:

going to show up. And I love that. So I

Speaker:

would say just from like an essence standpoint, those three

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like popped up right away as, yeah.

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As heroes that I like look to have, like, you

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can break the mold in honor of your heart. So

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Out of the person that's coming in for me right

Speaker:

now and more recent, but a Glennon Doyle wrote the

Speaker:

book untamed. And I feel like that there are books

Speaker:

in our life that hit us hard. And that was

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definitely one of them that I read. And I'm like,

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I feel like this is my Bible now is just

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a reminder of a similar topics that we talked about

Speaker:

on the podcast, but just showing up, being messy, not

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having it figured out, changing your mind and being an

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untamed, being wild 'cause, I've lived most of my life,

Speaker:

Rachel kind of shared this. I know as well to,

Speaker:

but feeling like I had to be someone that I

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wasn't to make people like me and reading that book

Speaker:

was just another reminder of how that such a disservice,

Speaker:

not only to myself, but the people around me as

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well.

Speaker:

Sorry. It was just going to have to have to

Speaker:

redact it's in my wife's library actually. So that's a

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really good,

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Yeah. You thought it was going to say Gary Vee

Speaker:

or the angry

Speaker:

Me or the anger therapist.

Speaker:

It's a personal favorites too. How dare? I don't think

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of that.

Speaker:

And every time I'm like, Oh, Jenell, I don't know.

Speaker:

She'll look put out some Gary V quote or a

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video. And I was just like, okay, I got it.

Speaker:

Thank you.

Speaker:

Or maybe if you had to, Gary V is since

Speaker:

college is always driven my, my passion for just moving

Speaker:

quickly and taking risks and don't give it a crap.

Speaker:

Exactly.

Speaker:

That's fair enough. I know you are now, Rachel, this

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has been really enjoyable and I'm looking forward to digging

Speaker:

into more of your, your episodes and, you know, catching

Speaker:

up on season two and looking forward to what comes

Speaker:

in season four. And especially with, as you mentioned, the,

Speaker:

the plans to take it out to a wider audience,

Speaker:

you are physically, you know, hopefully we cover it has

Speaker:

got her a little bit less to see a problem

Speaker:

with that when it comes for people that want you

Speaker:

to find it more. So I'll listen to the show

Speaker:

are just catch up with your own line and connect

Speaker:

with your online and, and learn more about, you know,

Speaker:

what you're doing well, can they find you, where is

Speaker:

the best place to find you?

Speaker:

Yeah. On our website is The True, North Collective dot

Speaker:

org. And that has all our episodes and will give

Speaker:

you links on. Or if you're listening on Apple music,

Speaker:

Spotify, or basically on every single platform I'm out there,

Speaker:

but we do have links there as well, or you

Speaker:

can search for the True North Collective podcast. And then

Speaker:

a lot of what we do is on our Instagram,

Speaker:

which is The True, North, Collective underscore in that's where

Speaker:

you'll find a lot of those really timely, you know,

Speaker:

what events or coming up and what are we talking

Speaker:

about? Who we are, our guests and some quotes.

Speaker:

Yeah. And I'd say we're looking at expanding channels. So

Speaker:

definitely go to Instagram first right now. And that's where

Speaker:

we would share some of these other places as we

Speaker:

go into 2021, how you can engage with us in

Speaker:

different ways.

Speaker:

Okay, cool. And I'll make sure that I drop these

Speaker:

links and to the show notes, all of your listen

Speaker:

on, you know, you have your, your preferred podcast app.

Speaker:

I made sure to check out the show notes as

Speaker:

usual, and you can get all the links there. So

Speaker:

that's the thing I really appreciate your time today. It's

Speaker:

been a real enjoyable chat in and hearing those stories

Speaker:

of how is your podcast evolved and where do you

Speaker:

want, especially with the Amplify show up and as mentioned,

Speaker:

it just jumped right out. I, which I thought it

Speaker:

was like a really cool thing for a podcast if

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you're doing and like having a mini series attached to

Speaker:

it, is that a specific, so I'm really do appreciate

Speaker:

your time today.

Speaker:

Well, thank you so much for your you're an awesome

Speaker:

space holder. I have to talk to you anytime you

Speaker:

want.

Speaker:

Well, thank you. Thank you for coming from, get from

Speaker:

there. Yeah. I'll take that as a big conflict. Thank

Speaker:

you very much. Yeah. Okay. So this has been another

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episode of Podcaster Stories. If you've enjoyed this week's show,

Speaker:

be sure to share it with people. You, you know,

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you think you would enjoy the episode today and you

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can find out all the regular podcast app like Spotify

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or Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, or hop on over to

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Podcaster Stories dot com to find a lot of episodes

Speaker:

you can even send for the newsletter, if you like,

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and till the next time stay safe, take care of

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you've been listening to podcasts or stories. If you enjoyed

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this week's show, be sure to subscribe. So you don't

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miss an episode and feel free to leave a review

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About the Podcast

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Podcaster Stories
We listen to our favourite podcasts, but don’t always get to know the stories of the people behind these voices. Podcaster Stories looks to change that.

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About your host

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Danny Brown

Danny Brown is the host of One Minute Podcast Tips, the show that helps you be a better podcaster in just a minute a week. He's also hosted, and co-hosted, several other podcasts - if you called him a serial podcaster, you wouldn't be wrong! He's been in the podcasting space for over 10 years, and has the scars to prove it.

He's the Head of Podcaster Support and Experience at Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization platform for the serious indie podcaster.

He lives in beautiful Muskoka, Ontario, Canada with his wife and two kids, where he spends winters in front of a cozy fire and summers by the lake. Well, when he finds time away from podcasting, of course...