We bring on a guest, Uniqueka Walcott, to talk about how to start a podcast and how failure is just the first step to success.
You've landed on the Go for It Podcast. I'm Joshua Plicque. Let's get it. Welcome to another edition of the Go for It Podcast, the podcast where we are pursuing our dreams, chasing our goals, and pushing towards them despite any anxieties or fears that we may have. With that being said, a lot of people have asked me about starting a podcast, this is number 17. And I have a treat for you guys. I have a fellow content creator. And rather than hearing it from me, I'd like for us to meet Uniqueka Walcott, who has started the Career Conversations podcast, I've seen it live on LinkedIn, multiple times checked it out a few times. And yeah, it's kind of cool to see somebody starting up their podcast, and I'd love to change it up this time. And have you Uniqueka present herself and introduce yourself and let's, let's talk about what it takes to start a podcast.
Uniqueka Walcott:Hey, Josh, thanks for having me on. Yeah, I'm the host and producer of Career Conversations, which is on LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify, quite a few places. Also, marketer by day, I work at an environmental science firm, mostly managing proposals, which is probably not what people think about when I think of marketing. And I have a BA from Georgia State University in journalism, and have a good amount of experience, working at commercial radio stations and things earlier in my career that I think were a huge plus, and feeling confident and taking the leap for the podcast.
Joshua Plicque:Excellent. Okay. Wait, it's Georgia State the one with the is that an eagle mascot? Or is that Georgia Southern?
Uniqueka Walcott:I think that's southern. And we have the wonderful rival of the real GSU versus we're Georgia Southern. We're out of the Panthers. That's probably why you got to, you know, mixed up, but it's all about the Panther life, you
Joshua Plicque:for sure. Okay. Well, so I was looking at your know. LinkedIn description. And you said something really interesting about the career conversations podcast. So number one, I'd like for you to tell us what it actually is, what made you want to start it but then you said, Hey, I'm just gonna record three episodes, no matter how it goes, like what? What had you thinking about career conversations? And what made you actually take the leap?
Uniqueka Walcott:Okay, so what had me thinking about career conversations is like, really my own career journey and experience is not what I expected or my plans for at all, you know, a lot of us grow up we go, Okay, I'm going to be a doctor or a lawyer, whatever specific thing they have in mind, like, for me, I grew up knowing, okay, I want to go into journalism. Like my mother would literally turn on the news anthem in our town, to get me to be quiet as a baby like so it was like really a thing that was like in my heart to do. Or as I tell people in college, I did not change majors I changed schools, like but what I wanted to do never change. So you know, flash forward, here we are in a decade plus into a career I started out in actually mortgage after college after like, probably way too longer retail. And then eventually, for more from retail to mortgage now to architecture, engineering, construction, marketing, or as people say, you know, AEC, Industry Marketing, professional services. And so when I decided to do this podcast, I was like, a lot of us are in this, you know, really roughed up space. There's a great resignation. Everybody's like having this identity crisis and like Great Awakening sort of experience of like, well, "maybe I'm not my job title", like that is absolutely the truth. And so for me for conversations, is the way to kill back the layers on identity for people who are Rapid City professionals. That's really what it is. And so that way people can get a sneak peek. Okay, well, maybe I'll be a mariner when I grew up, and I want to be on boats and ships. What does that look like? So I have a guest, you know, that was actually my first guest on the podcast, she talked about her experiences of black woman working on ships, and not actually in the ocean, but actually in the Great Lakes area of Michigan. So it's really fine. Those people that got these unique careers and Jeremy's and illuminated the whole person behind it, is really what career conversations is about. And also networking connection. A lot of my guests come on and say here, here's my contact information. Here's my credentials. I'm open to mentoring people. It's also a way to level the playing field and build equity. So people can't go, Hey, I couldn't find a job in industry or think I want to be when I grow up or that college experience, but I don't know that people, career conversations is your space, confined to people. Right. So
Joshua Plicque:you're saying like, if you can find an industry that you want to get into, and a lot of people that come on the career conversations podcast, they're already wanting to help people get into that career because that's what it's about right? Career conversations, you know, come hit me up.
Uniqueka Walcott:Yeah, exactly. Is a lot of great people. I've even talked to retiree Miss Micki(Michelle) Fields-Witherspoon. Great, great, yes. But she is like in her 70s, which I was like stunned to learn, but she like retired from Verizon and decided to go on and do some different things sort of life. And so now she's an artist, like and a travel agent. So she's got art has learned to be a soldier in Walmart, like, and, and making custom orders for like Domino's and different things like nobody thinks about retirement that way. We're all like, Okay, we want to get our little Tiki you know, cut on the beach on our, you know, fruit flavored alcoholic drink and like, ride it out until death comes like I've just made a rule on this, like, that's your retirement plan. And so she really reshaped the way that I view retirement like, life doesn't stop because you quit your job. But a job is not your life, like and so that's that's what I love about my guests and why I'm very open to like, who can be on like, oh, you know, is it just women? I was like, No, I talked to anyone who was really kindly share who was saying mindset that like we need to to help, you know, be the next rung on the ladder for somebody.
Joshua Plicque:Right? So is that what what made you want to start the podcast? Like what, like, what, what was the initial idea? Because now you started it, you're now creating this networking community where people can enter into brand new career paths, like what, like, take us back to the very beginning,
Uniqueka Walcott:oh, I was sitting on my desk, probably in the middle of a work today. And I have like a gajillion ideas floating around my head all the time. Like, oh, I could start this or I could do that. My friend. Like I said, I've been accused of being like an inspiration hoarder, like I can, you know, paint or whatever the heck or write a book. I've got all kinds of ideas of projects and things that I could pursue all the time. Just because I feel like I don't have to be great at everything. But I'm like really looking for what brings me joy. And so when I decided to take on conversations, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a long term project. I was like, this is a fleeting idea aside, but you always let these things go and don't really explore them. I said, What if you just decided that? Okay, you don't have to say that you're suddenly married to this thing. And you got to do it for the next 10 years. I think that's sometimes how we view a lot of the things we began, we go, we're going to become this and I'm gonna go all the way. Well, maybe you're just trying to offer two days. And if you don't like it, try something else. And so that was my thought process behind career conversations. I was like, I'm going to literally do just three episodes. So if I don't have strong feelings like I'm I'm bivalent. If I don't love it or hate it, I'll do 10. And so after doing tin we wish turned until a year later 30 or so episodes. And I don't have any plans to stop anytime soon. In fact, I've got probably seven interviews book this month that I'm prepared to, to put it together to put out soon. And so what I've just don't just kind of learn from that experience. Like my first couple episodes, were actually a dumpster fire in terms of like the process. Like it was not this like clean, crisp sort of thing, because I actually decided to do it with LinkedIn live. That's where this all started. And so these are Live episodes rule in the moment. I can't edit this or make somebody take you back sort of experiences. And so there was one episode as I was talking to Amanda Murphy. She works at a nonprofit, and she's a marketer there. She's also running for office in North Carolina, which is really cool. And during the middle of the interview, like I think my laptop battery was dying, and the internet connection was like shoddy and I was too far from the router. So I'm like literally picking up my laptop, like carrying it like out of one room into the next. And like plugging like the table for the laptop into my laptop. So that was my internet connection, or my last show, all the while still trying to hold the conversation with her like kind of thing. And then eventually, like realizing like my core is not long enough. So I like sit on the floor next to my couch. There's like a laundry on the back of the couch if you watch this episode. And I was still like keeping the conversation going. But like, that's what I knew. I was like, This is what you love if you're willing to go to those extremes and suffer a little bit of embarrassment even because nobody wants to be broadcast in their laundry.
Joshua Plicque:Right?
Uniqueka Walcott:That that this is this is it for me. And also, the phone calls and emails. Like the communication with family and friends really let me know like, this is something that I don't want to put down is realizing that you find things that feel like the thing you were born to do. And at first I thought people were like joking with me like but you know, Oh, this looks like you know so nationalist is like a thing or, you know, like uncles, I have great uncles, I haven't talked to him forever. Like I thought that was your job. I was like it's not it's just something I love to do. So that's why I keep doing it. People are you know, like, say they watch and they can just like see the joy like emanated from me as well as my guests. And whenever like I close out my episodes everyone's like, Oh, that was actually fun. I was so nervous that I was like that is literally my goal is to hold space for you to feel like you belong and are comfortable and can talk about your lived experiences in a real way. And after that fake fluffy way, when you show up to someplace and you got to code switch, and you know, put your wig on, or whatever it is you do to make people comfortable in your presence. So like that, that's really why I love it. Because it's such a like real thing. And it's a mutual thing.
Joshua Plicque:Right? So you glossed over the mental hurdle. And I think I really want to dig into that. Because what I what I really want to focus on what the goal for a podcast is, you said, specifically that I'm going to record three episodes, and I didn't want to commit, I think we limit ourselves when we try and commit to things long term as opposed to, hey, I'll be three episodes, I kind of like it or not, I'll do 10 episodes. Another thing you mentioned, I don't want everybody to see my laundry. Like, I think a lot of people get in the way of oh, I don't want to look stupid on LinkedIn. Like, this is my professional network. Like, I'm live I'm, I got my laundry everywhere I'm plugging in a laptop, I look ridiculous. Like, I like, I'm just saying, like, the mentality, I'm not saying what it was, I actually
Uniqueka Walcott:know. So mentality wise, like, I think that you have to be open to the risk of being embarrassed. Like, I think that's the biggest thing. But also what I have realized is like, everyone else is human to like, we're all having the same weird, uncomfortable experiences. And if nothing else, it makes me relatable. I could do imagine, like, you know, the fandom that people have, like, they see celebrities and things like, I feel like that's what makes it different is if you can show up and be like your actual self and be like, I mean, there's been episodes I've realized, like, Wait, you got like nail polish on three fingers do. And the rest is? Right, yeah. But it's like the content is like what you're doing is is for other people, then you have to make it make it about other people. It's not about you, like Yes, show up and make sure you're okay. And your well being and your mental health is all you know, in order and your physical health is in order, like don't show up sick, or or be so overly committed that you're, you know, destructive to yourself. But really keep it light when you make these kinds of commitments. So give yourself the grace that you will give total strangers. I think that's, that's so important. Because a lot of times the things that you are picking yourself apart about nobody even notices, like the stuff I'm telling you, I'm sure people are like, if they're really obsessed, and we're gonna go back and like look for this, but most people never notice. Like, that wasn't a part of the conversation for them. They were more interested in a woman who said, you know, Google feels like home.
Joshua Plicque:I love it. Yeah. So one of my actually, my most popular episode of go for a podcast was with a guy that I met that runs the largest political discord server on the discord platform, which is sort of like texting voice communication for gamers. He's got a huge server and it's most popular podcasts I have and I recorded in discord, I was using some sort of technology that that I've never used before. If you go and listen to that, is it completely unintelligible in certain parts, but his story was so compelling that it didn't matter. Like and I was recording it. I didn't know what I was doing, like, even 17 episodes, and I still don't have like a professional setup. Like so hearing you say like, like, you know, just go for it. Anyway, I think what I kind of want to transition to is as I'm listening to you, and my and I know my own experience of just just just put it out there, you can get better over time. Like, I've had people talk to me and say that, hey, you need to do an intro at the beginning of your podcast. And do you have any music and like, people are gonna give you feedback because they want they want to see you win.
Uniqueka Walcott:But you were talking, you wanted to talk a little bit more mindset. I think that's when we were on before I got like, distracted.
Joshua Plicque:But no, so no, this the new thing is like if somebody were to say, hey, I want to start a podcast, you need to like do you have any advice? Like what would you say? In terms of like, just technical things?
Uniqueka Walcott:technical things. I would say don't get hung up on the pack podcasting. I think that that was one of those places that stresses people out way too much. Here's the thing, whatever you decide, you can change your mind. Like there's no law that says you can't. So you know, go update it shift and redirect people to a new link, whatever it needs to do. But like you said, if you've got a recording device, and internet access, you can do a podcast so you don't have to have the fancy Yeti mic or whatever it is and wind screens and super top notch you know stuff like I mean zum zum is free for 30 minutes, you can have a conversation with somebody and and hit record and then download and edit it. Heck, Adobe Premiere Pro is a free editing software so maybe you don't have money for I mean scuze me is if we're Pro, it's not Premiere Pro this is this premiere pro because this is one that's shorter. Okay, so I'll double check. It's actually in my toolkit. I have like a little embodying the brand tool kit that I put together for personal branding for training I did a while back, but yeah, like there's actual like, you know, cheap and free tools when you do this. Like there's really no reason you can't get it done like other than just committing to time and maybe you'll go well this is overwhelming and I can't produce, you know, four episodes a month or Whatever, what once a month is a consistency, the biggest thing is just consistency and commitment. I think those are the two biggest barriers to get started, commit to something and be consistent. That's it. And you know, relax, and you can reserve the right to change your mind. I tell people that all the time they go, oh, you know, like my personal life three sort of pillars as far as like life and careers to turn this reading resilience in relationships. And so when I talk about resilience, I make sure that tell people that arrest is important. We reserve the right to change your mind is important. Like, if something doesn't suit you, or who you become, because we're all changed, none of us are the same person we were yesterday, much less two years ago, have survived a global pandemic. So they're gonna be things that no longer interest you have the audacity to walk away from Him and walk in says what's next? Right. So, so yeah, from a technical point, like, yeah, if you, if you get a mic, get a webcam, all that's great. But really, if you've got a voice recording device in some place to load it, that's how you need like, the rest of it will come. In fact, I wouldn't suggest investing money and ring lights and special cameras and all this stuff. To say you get three episodes saying like, I didn't say, this is the worst thing I ever decided didn't invest $200 You could spend a little concert tickets and sell the equipment.
Joshua Plicque:Well, okay, so there's somebody listening to you right now who's saying, Oh, that sounds good. But that's gonna look bad for my brand. And I want my stuff to be Joe Rogan level and very production quality, like what would you have to say to the person
Uniqueka Walcott:who has a team and a whole lot of money, and a hole? I mean, in frankly, if we're talking about dismantling this sort of cultural norms, the way to do this for you to show up as your whole self exactly as you are right now, and not wait for permission for other people to tell you that what you got is good enough. Like, it's just that's the, that's simple to me. Like, you can wait for somebody else's permission to validate you or say, in order for for my voice to be valid, if we're gonna be worthy of being heard, I've got to have a Joe Rogan style podcast where he's probably got a team of 20 or 30 people, there's someone that's editing, you know, the broadcast piece of it, there's someone that is probably uploading the darn thing, there's someone that is going on booking his guests, there's so much work that goes into being a content creator, to ask yourself to produce something that someone else does with 20 people is not fair. Right? Or really, even to ask yourself to do something that they do with three or four other people is not fair. That's all we talk about. We talk about equity, we talk about race, like, Don't silence yourself. Because because you don't have all the right tools. If anything comes to the table, say look, this is what I'm aiming to create, if you can support me in this, load some money on to my Patreon so I can upgrade.
Joshua Plicque:I like it. Yeah, I mean, I know that there's huge holes in my own podcasts, I definitely want to get a real microphone, like Music Intro Music outro like,
Uniqueka Walcott:oh, a good tool for some of this. I mean, Canva or for some of you probably got a bunch of talented friends that are like making music and beach, trying to find their break, call every talk to your network, I think that used to raise the example of that. She says, Look, when I got started before she was you know, Easter radio, HBO insecure, she was like, I was talking to my college friends and shooting shows in my dorm room, like talking to people who want it to be this or that, and bringing those templates together, like so really, like, you know, I think bone in both has a coalition of the willing. So find your coalition of willing to people who are willing to believe what you got, and maybe you can pay them $1,000. But if you got 100 bucks to respect their gift, do that. Or maybe it's a barter and an agreement that like look at this, you know, we decided that we were suddenly you know, on our Heart Radio level and responsive podcast, here's the percentage or whatever agreement you want to broker with your people, but really, like, just be committed so much to whatever the vision is that it doesn't stop you like, what if it's not perfect? Because, I mean, I'm a firm believer prescription is this, your gifts will make room for you. And so if your gifts are going to make room for you, then you have got to be willing to take the steps like like I can't expand what don't exist. Right? Exactly. Like so. So you know, give God a little bit and let him make it a lot.
Joshua Plicque:Yeah, that's important because a lot of people get get stuck on trying to do it perfect the first time and like, why not just get better over time? It's a great in my opinion, it's a great story because people the OGS that have listened to you originally they're going to know where you came from, and that's only going to endear themselves to
Uniqueka Walcott:you because our favorite artists in the terrible mixtapes they put out, right? Right. You would never hear some of the stuff that's on these mixtapes on the air because not just because of the foul language and FCC regulations but because the quality is not up to the standard to put it next to some of the other stuff. But say Cardi B never did mixtapes Well, we know Cardi B exists. We would not. Luda sellin, you know CDs out of his trunk in Atlanta. How will we know these people is this and they have audacity to believe in them. selves are what their message in their voice so much that nothing stopped them that there was no obstacle, there was only How can I use what I got in my hand to make it happen. So you got a phone, you got access to the internet, you got a digital voice recorder, one here, nine out of 10, you don't even have to have the fanciest most up to date equipment, like you could produce a whole show with your phone. Like there's literally nothing stopping. If you got a phone, you got a way to get it done. That's like, anchor is free, you know, anchor.fm. That's their way to distribute all your content across Google, Spotify, all of these places all at once. Get an account, upload your files, give it a title, pick a stock image, use Canva if you need to, there's free free for so many tools and resources that are free to you to get started. There's just there's no excuse other than the excuses you offer yourself. And, you know, do you really want to be on your deathbed and go I wish I had an excuse was I didn't I didn't think that it was good enough to show anybody. I mean the other reality is when you get started three people are watching anyway.
Joshua Plicque:Right? Exactly. Exactly.
Uniqueka Walcott:Like, we're able to watch it anyway, your grandma, your mama and probably your cat like have the audacity to to put on a show that is world class for them to the best of your ability and grow from there. And honestly, if I had focused on numbers and viewership for my podcasts, I wouldn't be doing it a year later, because I can't tell you how many times I logged into LinkedIn live. And the little red.in the corner said I had one or two viewers. But what kept me going is I would get these phone calls, text messages. inboxes from complete strangers. I really enjoyed your show. This is fired me. I mean, just out of nowhere. And so the US like I was like so if I was waiting on numbers, like we're waiting on likes and followers that I would have missed, minimized and diminish my own impact. You know, I met one young lady in Arkansas, she was eventually guest on my show. She said my whole life has changed in the way that I moved through my career has changed all because of one Saturday morning, I couldn't sleep. I found your show the next thing you know, we didn't advocate for a mentor. So that's what I want you to realize, like that's how your voice matters. Like we are, you know, last time we were told that our influence, you know, is is based on you know, our ratings and scores and our reviews of our podcasts. You know, we have five star podcasts do we have, you know, a million plus viewers, you know, every time I post something new, I get like 500 likes, like that is not impact. And so when you understand how important your voice is how important your stories like stories are, so time was like, even until 2022 We're still writing books and publishing books because people love stories. Stories are like, the most basic of human social currency, because they teach us what not to do or what to do, or how to overcome different things that shift our mindsets like books are important. But books aren't important because of the physicality is because of the stories, the knowledge and you are living, walking breathing book, how dare you not share your story?
Joshua Plicque:Right, right. Yeah, so I actually have a, an anecdote, a small anecdote on that, because this podcast, my last episode only had six listens. And it was about I was talking about getting your first job after college. And the two episodes before that had like 55 lives. So for me, this is 55 listens. 58 listens. For me, that's big, because the episodes before that were like 20, and 20. And then like, the episode came out that I was very passionate about, but it was very niche because I was talking to a particular subset of people engineers in college, particularly my college. And I think that it was it was very valuable content. And so if I was doing it purely for the numbers, or like the accolades, like that would be so I'm mentioning of course, because it was discouraging, right. So yeah,
Uniqueka Walcott:yeah. No, I think that as much as we talk about things like you know, sitting with our discomfort, like we're always pointing that at other people and going, you got to sit where'd this come from when we talked about race or gender, similar discomfort, and in doing things that make you uncomfortable, but you think are important, like, takes and so that's how go forward podcast is still going like, and I'm so glad that you've decided to keep going like thank you for for inviting me. I think this is probably the only second second podcast I've been invited to speak alone. And I was like, Oh, that's cool. Like, I'm excited for me like you're creating space for me, and I appreciate
Joshua Plicque:you. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, well, actually, that that leads to another thing that somebody may want to may want to ask the vast majority of podcasts out there are this style where there's a host and a guest and all that stuff. So how do you find all the guests for your podcast specify all these different career verticals that you're trying to reach? Like? I'm sure your network is going to dry up at some point like, you know, how do you find these people?
Uniqueka Walcott:Ah, Look, if my network dries up, I'm doing it wrong. I'll start there. But really like a lot of it has been truly my network and talking to close family and friends, even people I have just met, and being genuinely interested in who they are and what they're doing and why. And so sometimes I'll have people call me and be like, I know you said last week, you really want to talk to a scientist. Well, guess what, girl, I ran into a scientist. So that's a lot of how it's like happening. Like, I really just, you know, say very clearly what it is I desire. I share that with family, I share that with friends. Hey, what am I looking for? If there's something particular, you know, one of my sisters, she's my godsister said, Hey, why don't invite me I said, because I didn't know what you do. But she was she's a mortician.
Joshua Plicque:Oh, that's very interesting. Yeah. So
Unknown:like, really like, I mean, I think that the best thing about this podcast is that it's it's something that most people have as a job. So people don't want to talk about that, right. And then we dive into the personhood part. But finding guests can definitely be tough. I would recommend, you know, exploring networks, like there are podcasts, Facebook groups, so people are looking for guests, or Yeah, so like, jump in a couple of those groups on Facebook, there are people or entrepreneurship groups, entrepreneurs, or whatever it is, you're focused on. Maybe you want to talk about gardening and horticulture, go join the beekeeping group and the gardens route, like those groups of people that have those interests, go be a little fly on the wall, maybe you don't have a lot to say about something as an expert, perhaps. But the invitation amplifies people's voices in their passions, is really not usually a hard game and finding guests in that way. Because if people are passionate about stuff, they're gonna talk to you. Even if they're a little shy of having belong really uncomfortable, I'm really nervous look sooner than me, I'll help get them ready. Like, um, you know, part of my work in my day to day is like, I work with engineers, a lot of them tend to be very interesting, introverted, people. So like, I don't want to talk in front of people, this is really uncomfortable. So we've gotten really good at like coaching people to find their way and to just talk to folks. But yeah, that would be my suggestion, check out LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, you know, jump in the clubhouse, you know, different things like so really just look, again, you gotta phone, like the internet is your oyster, like, like, find the spaces where the people you are looking for hanging out like, and marketing we talk about, like psychographics and like dropping yourself into the mindset of persona of the person that you want to, to be around or attract to your product. Very much the same goes for looking for podcast guests, like you're looking for guests that have got like a very go for attitude entrepreneurs to obviously one of those groups has got a very go for it sort of attitude. You might find a lot of different variety of folks in that space, if you join some some groups of that nature, or a mastermind. So like, just depending on your topic, like, you know, there's some people that want to talk about fraud blogs, maybe you you, you know, might want to spend some time at the local law school, like or reach out to the professor's there and hey, do you have students I want to talk about this? Or do you have professors who would be open to talking about this, a lot of times people are looking to build a network and exposure or talk about their research and build around the body of knowledge that's available. So like, there's so many ways, I think it's just important to like, drop yourself into like, Okay, this is the guest I want or these people I want to have as a pool of guests, go where they are, and make the invitation. And also get your get your group of people who are really keep in for you when excited about what you're doing to let people know, hey, this is what I'm looking for. So when they meet somebody that can just make the introduction.
Joshua Plicque:Right. I love it. Yeah, it kind of just happens, at least for me, when I find people that are interesting, like yourself, I typically just say had lived Hey, I'd love to have you on my on my podcast. And typically just that is enough, because like it's flattering. You know, everybody gets their 15 seconds of fame. Like it's really easy like to get somebody on a podcast because people want to talk about themselves. So and it's flattering to people. And like if it's just top of mind, like for you like career conversations is top of mind, like when I'm talking to somebody, and I hear something that's really cool. And I think it could be really encouraging to somebody. I'm like, Man, I'd love to have you on my podcast. And I've always had just over the moon responses to that statement or question. Oh, that's
Uniqueka Walcott:great. Yes. Or no, like, this is podcast. Yes. This is not as difficult as it could be. And I've been very grateful for that.
Joshua Plicque:Right? Yeah. So I'm just trying to ask on behalf of the person who's listening to this.
Uniqueka Walcott:Yeah, we're fine guest we're fine these people. I think that the other part of this and finding guests is like having a clear mechanism for like booking because for some people that hurdle is the stress point at which they fall off and go look No thanks. I'm not dealing with this stuff. I gotta go five rounds email, we need to figure out what do we do on this Calendly great tool. They've got you know, at least one calendar you can have for free. Say for me. If I know that Tuesday and Thursday evenings are best. I'm going to open my calendar for the next four weeks. Have some slots. Hey, I sent out an email, Hey, would you be open to interviewing? Here's my calendar, let me know which time has worked for you. I think the only caveat says if you're working with like international guests or things of that nature, you might have to be mindful to open up slots that are going to work so that people aren't recording or join your podcast at two o'clock in the morning, their time. You laughing like I had those moments. I was like, Wait, it's three o'clock is two o'clock. They're like, 8am. Okay, and we're gonna have to move this to Saturday. And, you know, yeah, those sorts of things. But yeah, like use tools that make your life simpler. If you know that six o'clock on Tuesdays and Thursday for the next three weeks is your availability, we make the invitation, give that to them. And that way, you can connect the dots quickly. I think that that helps solidify things because verbally. So it's one thing to have, like an actual agreement is another. Right?
Joshua Plicque:Yeah. So what? We've talked about a few different things. And so what if somebody says like, Oh, what do you what do you find the time you need? I mean, don't you have a husband and like, you got a job where you find the time to do all this podcasting stuff. Seven podcast was fun.
Uniqueka Walcott:Well, no, it was the interviews have to go in and edit one of the tools that another fellow podcaster told me about, she told me about the script. And so I'm using that tool. It's great, it's, it's really, really easy. You can to text, the text version of like your interview, and like so then you can literally look at it and like edit out all the ohms and stuff like it like editing a Word document almost. So that is been a really good tool and reducing the time that it takes to edit stuff. So that's one of the tools is time saving. The other thing is just like anybody else, like if there's something you love doing, like you're gonna make time to play your video games, if you love video games, excuse me, or go to the hairdresser, or whatever it is. That is your thing. For me career conversations is like my thing. And I know like I teach people how to like, Yeah, this is probably a weird hobby. But if you know me, you get it. And so I just I carve out time very specifically, and I set specific goals. And the first year what I learned is that doing this episodes live at noon on Saturday was really instructive to my personal life. Wow. Okay, so like so that's the other thing about trial and error. And why tell people like pivot change your mind. So like doing a live was great economist, the interaction piece, and like getting real time feedback from people. But the other side of that was my husband's like, Yo, we're going to brunch, and I'm still in here doing this thing. So that's part of the pivot I'm making while I'm recording, you know, seven episodes this month is because now if I'm only if my publication schedules for a weekly publication, I'm now ahead for several weeks. So like, if everything's calendered out, I can also start to announce that who's coming so that I can build anticipation for these guests in these interviews, I can take snippets and I can promote them that way. So like, for me, the making the time is like being intentional about how you use your time. So now if I'm seven episodes ahead, and I just had to sit down somewhere for two weeks, and don't do anything related to the podcast and engage in my actual real life, I've got that space. The other part is, sometimes I would just get up before work and be like, let me you know, do this thing or that thing, maybe, you know, send out a couple emails, like my invitation email is a template, actually, at this point. So Google allows you to create email templates. And so all I think, is probably terrible. My guests are gonna be like, Oh, no, that's terrible. But I go in and you know, change the name a Calendly. Link is pretty, you know, pretty ever. Evergreen, it's, it's the link is the link for this particular calendar. And it's, you know, I've got it open for six year old and daystop got the link and as a Hey, hello, you know, thank you for agreeing. We've already talked at this point. I'm not just Colton in this email with somebody that's already said yes to me. So I'm sending them an email with the details about okay, expect to get a stream yard link at this. This juncture, here are the questions and I've got the same eight questions I started with from the day my podcasts that have just been went to repeat, because it's a way to get the conversation going. So like, by automating these, like I can literally send out like my five like official invites on the way to dinner on Wednesday night. Like we had the car chat and I'm like, type types and type types and type types. And by the time we you know, the drug was 25 minutes to go to dinner or whatever. And he's like jamming out to whatever music I'm now back to my regular life in prison to to enjoy my evening. Like, so just kind of find a small hacks in like small pockets to do some of the tasks like Not everything has to get done. Like, if I sat down and said, I'm gonna edit like all seven episodes coming up, like in a day. I mean, that's a little bit of saying absurd, but if I say okay, I'm gonna block out two hours this week, to edit through these links or whatever, however I want to do it. Like I think it's about finding those little pockets of time and figuring out what little tasks are redundant and repetitive. That can be automated or or simplified. I mean, imagine typing 10 emails when you could just like, you know, change the name and and drop a link and say thank you and let people respond and their time. I mean, even something as simple as scheduling the emails, like maybe you don't want to send them at 7pm because you don't want people to have the impression that to call you at 7pm about something. So I can, I've scheduled emails to God, you know, 830, the next morning all the way to dinner that way everything is within this space and realm of like, these are business hours, let's let's keep it this, you know, sort of sort of way. So yeah, just using the tools and the time and like realizing, okay, if this takes me 30 minutes to do, how many can I do? So that's the other part. Like, really, if you kind of like, sit down and go sit down, I started at this point, and I finished up to this point, that like gives you an idea of how much you can accomplish, and you can set realistic goals.
Joshua Plicque:Right? So you touched on a very passionate topic of mine at the core by being actually the reason why I actually do this podcast, which is you mentioned mistakes. And like someone booking at 2am. For me, I recorded a whole episode I forgot, I forgot to hit record on the recording software I use. So now at this point. And so that's why this is episode, I think 18. But it's actually Episode 17, or whatever it is. Like failure is feedback. And like that's like, that's the that's how you actually go and pursue these goals and dreams. It's like you actually, like all these things that you're mentioning. uniqa. Like, they, they're powerful, because they come from the real world execution of doing the podcast and oh, man, like I had to run around while the podcast is going, how can I be more prepared next time and like, it's taken me a long time to set up these these interviews with people? How can I be more prepared with templates next time, like, it's just you just get better and better over time? And like, there's no experience is one of the best teachers and like, I think that's really what I'm trying to communicate with this podcast is like, I think you really embody that and a lot of ways when you mentioned all those mistakes, because you're just you're getting better and you're getting more efficient. Like it's it's, you're able to you just mentioned editing six episodes in two hours, I'm sure. That probably took you six if not 20 hours back in the day. And now you're able to get it done faster. You've got new tools, like I don't know, I I just like to hear your thoughts on specifically that like, even in a macro perspective, like just doing it like that there's so much value in just that no matter what the outcome is.
Uniqueka Walcott:Yeah, failure. Oh my gosh. Failure. I'm so I'm gonna agree with you is an excellent teacher. I think that one of the books I read fresh out of college was by Kathy Shipman called the Confidence Code. And one of the the sort of tenets in the book was to fail fast. And that changed how I looked at a lot of life because, like, if I wasn't focused on like, fast failure, and really not for the sake of like, failing for the sake of failing, but really stepping back and go, What did I learn in this particular situation? What I learned about myself, like, you know, not just the task piece of it, but like, how did this make me feel? How did I respond to it? I think that was a game changer for me, like I graduated magna cum laude with, you know, five internships behind me to land in a contract position making 13 bucks an hour with no possible permanent hire at a mortgage company. Like, to me that was like, a very, very low point. I was like, dang, I did everything right and by the book and nothing I mean, how do you intern you know, at like major companies like have networks that people who are working in the industry to participate in every you know, thing you can get your hands on writing for the school newspaper, guerilla marketing for tapware records all
Joshua Plicque:about that life.
Uniqueka Walcott:Like, I mean, I'll put it to you this way. My senior year this is years ago now but my senior year I would walk into a career fair I handed some of my resume the man was also an entrepreneur. He looks at my resume he said How long are you going to work for me six months and start your own company straight face deadpan asked me that what how long are you going to work for me six months to start your own company. So to go from that to be I'm like I got this contract gig my auntie cold so friends at a temp agency before and and to go to the temp agency for the telling me take like 80% of the stuff off my resume and give them this information. So they'll give you a job like literally talk about failure, like failure is not always well Dang. You know, I tried everything and it worked out sometimes. You know? It's it's just it is what it is you know, like people Oh, I did this and it led to everything right and so still things will fall apart. Because what you do next that matters and I think that's what we what you're getting at what you do next matters there's one of my mice mentor six that was really frustrated about
Joshua Plicque:some what mentors what was that? You said
Uniqueka Walcott:what Mr. One of my mentors, she said to me, she said, you know, a lesser person would have done something different when she watched me transition through one of my other recent failures. Okay, okay. And she was like, I like I liked how you bounce back and finesse the situation. I was like, thank you. But like it comes from like a mindset like that's really What you're trying to hone it like understand it felt it was a very natural part of life. Like none of us were born, knowing how to walk, we had to fall down and wobble all over the place and scrapes and knees. And then next thing you know, we're off, you know, running triathlons and things at some point in life. But it's a process to get there. We got to respect that process. In effect, failure is such a gift because it teaches you also how to be a better leader. Okay, wow.
Joshua Plicque:How's that? Like?
Unknown:I mean, could you imagine like, having never failed, and then having a team of people that does fail, like, and being able to mentor them, walk them through that and have empathy? Right, right. You can empathize with your team, you don't have to necessarily have a skill to do what they do. But if you can't empathize with the bad days, and the rainy Oh, crap happens, moments, then you are not an effective and suitable leader, in my opinion, like you've got to be able to level folks in and sit with them and their humanity on their worst day, and not decide that this bad moment surmises their qualifications. You got to be willing to go okay, we've spent 400 days together and there's just no one really crap day, let's chalk it up to this person that no better or this thing is literally beyond their control. Perfect examples, not so much podcast related, but like, I my my for my adventure into like my current career. That's my eight week contract position. But had I had 18 months of contract work before coming out of school, I would have been terrified to take the contract job and move out of state. So that failure really produced the setup for where I am now. So what would you what would it
Joshua Plicque:been? would have been? Had you afraid? I don't understand.
Uniqueka Walcott:Okay, so we're talking about failure. So we talked about, okay, I did everything right in college and up with a 18 month contract drop and mortgage, the recession is hit, we are blaming the housing crisis for this further reason, there are no jobs like and so the so that's a little bit ironic, but having to pay my rent every month and my car, my car insurance, and like show up with a smile on my face and a positive attitude for like, 18 or so months. And three different roles at the same company, no potential for like, actual hire really gave me the courage to bet on myself. So flash forward a few years. Two years or so into this situation. I'm dating my husband long distance we're trying to figure but then boyfriend now husband long distance, and we're trying to figure out who's gonna move because he's in Maryland, and I'm in Georgia. And so we're back and forth, back and forth. And I was like, Well, I recognize fully that I didn't want to create a mortgage. So I was like, you know, literally very prayerful, I was like, I was like, these are the gifts and skills that I want to use. And I don't want to bottle them up into this place where I lose the ability to do them with the same dexterity. So eventually, he vouched for me at the company he worked for they had a woman going on maternity leave, and they needed help for eight weeks doing marketing in this industry. Yeah. And so at that point, I was like, I got 1000 bucks in my savings account. I'm gonna quit this job, move to Maryland, which is high rent district in comparison, and see what happens. But I wouldn't have had the audacity to do that if I hadn't worked 18 months contract, Pam owned Derman, and feels like I have mom and dad to call him Look, I used the money. It was like Gnosis you got to figure this out. And so I bet on myself eight weeks turning into eight years in this business, and I've been wildly successful and just super blessed with like a great network of mentors and people. But if I wasn't really you know, comfortable with failure, the failure I thought was the failure was really the setup.
Joshua Plicque:Wow. Oh, man. I wish like I had sound effects or something. Like, put a dime on that, like, I don't know. Tie that up with a bow. Wow. What a story.
Uniqueka Walcott:Yeah, it was the setup to go from like, you know, oh, you know, peanut butter and jelly. I got like, one solid middle, like, you know, plus lid to, like, you know, me and my husband just bought a house last year and like, you know, things are beyond my wildest imagination. Like I think about like, you know, 18 year old Nikka now 35 And I'm like, doing better than I hoped and I'm blessed. But but if I wasn't open to failure or possibility, like I wouldn't be here this long God's grace. So a lot of times we think our failures, you know, I had this plan, and it didn't work out. It's like, if you really believe that all things are working together together for your good you got to embrace the failure to write
Joshua Plicque:Yeah, like you said, it could be the setup like you know, getting fired. One of the best things ever happened to me was getting fired from a job
Uniqueka Walcott:talking about getting fired. I'm done like firemen phone in my day off.
Joshua Plicque:Oh that's cold.
Uniqueka Walcott:Yeah, I mean, it was so like, but but it also is, is, is life like control over everything. So Although we will talk about failure I mean, I've talked to plenty of people did like the best thing that happened was getting fired. I launched my consulting firm and it's really worked out and I love to hear those stories. Like because it is you know, believing in something bigger than yourself that like, like this this can work out like whatever it is, you know, or somebody said, Look one door closes another one opens like right like you don't you don't really want the wrong Yes. You want the right yes. Like that's what no is. No is hey, I got you know, they had the audacity you have to give me Yes. For the second give me a yes. Like you need to be in the right place. Right. Like, yeah, now you got me thinking I'm like, even like think back to like my mortgage job. There are some people I met at my mortgage shop that had been like, my life rafts like my good friends. Like I call like, on my worst days, like ugly crying in my car.
Joshua Plicque:Okay, yeah,
Uniqueka Walcott:so like, there's so many gifts in failure.
Joshua Plicque:Right? Yeah, lifelong friends. It's the setup for the mentality to approach that temp position later in life. Yeah, like it was like, it was meant for you like straight up, like, wow. Wow. I don't know, I just gotta go. I almost need like a moment of silence like this. I just like the way it all plays together. It's just, it's just beautiful. And then now, you know, you're doing career conversations and helping other people do similar things.
Uniqueka Walcott:And that's the goal. I was like, I don't ever want to have my journey in a vacuum. Like, my experiences are not like exclusive or, you know, unique to me, like, my name might be Uniqueka, but like God is like your best specialist is like other people that have the same experiences. And I think about the days I wish I had mentors and people so like, walk me through some of them dark trying times when I was like, you know, up all night, you know, put in the 50 of the resume, like, we need to be community for each other so that people understand like, like, this is not the end of your story. This is the beginning of something extraordinary. Like you got to just hold on for like the dawn to break. Right. Right. But if I'm not telling that story, then then how many people gave up?
Joshua Plicque:Yeah, you know, you don't hear those stories. Because you it's all survivorship bias. You only hear the people that made it through. Right, people that don't make it, right, like, Oh, I'm doing my
Uniqueka Walcott:magical amazing things. But we didn't talk about the time. Like he was like, I'm glad I got the peanut butter to go with this jelly. It's all good about that. Yeah.
Joshua Plicque:Oh, what's next? What's next for career conversation? So you're at a point now you're doing? I mean, it's the beginning of May, you got seven episodes this month. So that's, you know, at least two a week doing it on lockdown. You're getting messages? Yeah.
Uniqueka Walcott:I'm gonna stick to weekly for broadcast. I think it's too much for me to like, put it all out there. Like the point is for me to kind of free up some space. Now that I've really committed to crew competitions being a part of my life, making it work for me and not making it like you said, how do you manage being a wife and having a job and I've got to create structure around it so that I have a life. B, also, I'm creating a structure so that if I want to invite the Joe Rogan team, at some point in my life, there is space for them. And you can't do that. If you're all over the place being like sometimes I do this, but then sometimes there needs to be some consistent structure so that when you're teaching it educating people about the process, or what used to happen, or if they're bringing new ideas to you have a framework to work with. So what's next for Current Conversations, I really want to this year, have a guest from each continent like that's like random, crazy goal. I know like this, okay. But yeah, super relevant. But I want to, like bring this to a space where it's so much more global conversation. That's the other reason like I'm reaching out to different people in different places. I have my first international guest a couple of weeks ago, from India. She's a graphic artist. And her story is amazing. She talks about how she actually went to school to school to be an engineer, and self taught to be a graphic artist. So that's my goal is to like just strike the world over the next like year is to serve the world so that people can have access to stories from the viewpoints of people that are not just Americans. I think sometimes we think we are the world and that's dangerous as well, right? I want to get a little bit more precise in the way that I promote my shows and doing the scheduling. I think that's really important to me. Maybe year three might get to the place where I've got a solid audience and sponsorship, or right now I'm very much traveling away on the thing that we talked about earlier. Oh, it's got to be perfect as like it doesn't have to be perfect, but I know better. Based on my own skill set and experience, I have the capacity to make it better. But before I can focus on making it better, I had to get it done. So Now that we've got a solid process around getting it done as like now how do we do it better? Right? So that's where I'm at and I'm like okay, so what is better look like to me and I have to define that for myself does that mean you know more international guests? I think that's important but also like, consistency and length. Do I have an intro song you know, all those little things updated my website because there's a hot mess like but if I didn't get started when exist, right right. And so and that's that's what I tell people I dare to do it ugly. I think one of my favorite like, you know, coaches on Facebook, boss architect, he was like, "If you can't do it unsexy, then you shouldn't you sure can't do a sexy. you gotta do ugly like, ugly the first time like it's okay. It was ugly. It's like traveller had been your makeup is probably gonna be a hot mess the first few times
Joshua Plicque:yeah. Very good. Yeah, I mean, I do honestly I'm I'm super pumped with the with what we discussed today. And I don't know I I'm happy to just wrap it up here. I think this is what I love about this is like we're capturing a moment in time. You know, you're taking career conversations to the next level. You know, you got past the I just want to do it phase like you now have a body of work and yeah, like let's I don't know, like you said the promotion level. Let's get some sponsorships. Like I love like to be able to capture this, capture you at this point in the process it's truly a blessing and I appreciate you Uniqueka
Uniqueka Walcott:Look, you gave me chills like this is massively epic, and I don't know it yet.
Joshua Plicque:Thank you. Why not? Why not you?
Uniqueka Walcott:Thank you. Thanks so much for having me. It's been a pleasure everybody remember to Go for It.
Joshua Plicque:Right! Oh, yeah. So how can people find you? How can people find you?
Uniqueka Walcott:Oh, uniquekawalcott.com that's uniquekawalcott.com Find me on LinkedIn. I'm also on Instagram@uniquekawalcott, heck call me, I'm pretty sure my number is on LinkedIn Yeah, I'm happy to help however I can help you know if it's you know, career advice or just you know, somebody talked off the ledge on the bad day like let me know.
Joshua Plicque:That's noble. I love it. Excellent. Well till next time Uniqueka.
Uniqueka Walcott:later guys.
Joe Plicque:Stock Music provided by Maxamillion1, from Pond5 Podcast edited by Joe Plicque