How to Create a Podcast That Will Attract Clients, Make You Money & Change the Culture with Chelsea Riffe

In this week’s episode of Creative Magic Club, I’m joined by podcast strategist, world traveler, and host of the top 1% show In My Non-Expert Opinion, Chelsea Riffe. Together we dive into the magic, strategy, and cultural impact of podcasting—especially for creative entrepreneurs who want to build deeper relationships, grow authentic communities, and decenter social media from being the primary source of new clients.

Chelsea shares her journey from corporate burnout to global digital nomad + podcast mentor, how podcasting became her “audio movie” medium of choice, and why long-form storytelling is one of the most potent forms of leadership and activism today.

We unpack:
 ✨ How podcasting builds trust, intimacy & devoted audiences faster than social media
 ✨ The surprising psychology behind podcast listeners—and why they convert so well
 ✨ Why creating “audio movies” is the future of content for creatives
 ✨ Storytelling as activism, cultural change, and community healing
 ✨ How to grow your audience without relying on the algorithm
✨ Podcasting as the ultimate networking portal for soul-aligned collaborations
✨ Rebranding, evolving your show, and using your voice as a visionary leader

This is a must-listen if you feel stuck in the social media hamster wheel, want to grow your business through deeper connection, or are craving a creative outlet that feels sustainable, intuitive, and fun.

Connect with Chelsea:
Podcast: In My Non-Expert Opinion
Website: chelseariffe.com
Substack: Slight Turbulence
Instagram + Threads: @ChelseaRiffe

Write a sales post to attract your soul mate client using you astrology chart with my FREE 5-part training series! https://withsarahmac.com/cosmic-attraction-copywriting/

The Cosmic Copy Mastermind is THE place to get the support that will bring your dream of becoming a 6-figure creative to life in 2025 by selling your high-ticket offers with sales copy driven by stories and guided by astrology.

Message me the word MASTERMIND on instagram @sarahmacmagic for the full details.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Guest Intro
• 4:48 Chelsea’s Path To Podcasting
• 9:11 Leaving Corporate And Starting A Business
• 15:57 Rebranding And Evolving A Show
• 20:47 Podcasting For Discovery And Ownership
• 25:22 Decentering Social Media With Long Form
• 30:42 Iceberg Model: Podcast First, Social Later
• 36:37 Metrics, Psychology, And Creator Burnout

Transcript

Sarah Mac: 1:43

What's up? This is Sarah Mac and welcome to Creative Magic Club. Together we'll discover inspirational stories of creative entrepreneurs living out their dreams, doing the work they are most passionate about, and building wealth in magical and fun ways. While building a six-finger income as a writer and coach, helping other women to launch their dream businesses. I've connected with so many incredible people and seen it proven again and again that you can add a pride financially doing whatever it is you are passionate about. I am here to share life-changing strategies for mindset, making money, and reaching more people with your work in a business and life filled with creativity, freedom, and fun. Hi everyone, welcome back to the Creative Magic Club podcast. I'm so excited for our special guest today. We have with us Chelsea Reif, who is a world traveler and the host of the Hit Podcast, in my non-expert opinion, a top 1% pod known for bringing transparency around business, creativity, and travel. She's also a dedicated podcast strategist helping women take down the patriarchy one episode at a time. And she's an Aquarius Sun, Virgo moon, Virgo rising, and a 6T reflector in human design. So, hi Chelsea, thank you so much for joining us. Hello, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Yeah, I can't wait to dive in and get to know you. Um we're gonna have a really juicy chat today about social media and podcasting and audience growth. So before we dive in to some of your wisdom around this, tell us how did you get here? How did you end up doing this work?

Chelsea Riffe: 3:25

Yes, so I would say I have always been a creator in some capacity. Like in my childhood, I was reading the school news in elementary school. I was the in my sorority, I was like painting all the murals and walls at my college. Like I've always loved expressing and creating. And I ended up actually getting my master's degree in Chicago for digital media and storytelling. And in that experience, I got to try on all these different avenues of do I want to tell stories through audio, video, photography, etc. And I tried out several of those until I landed on podcasting. And there was something very electrifying and magnetic about podcasting that I was like, you can literally speak and create an audio movie in a way, in a format I had re really never seen before or felt connected to. And then once I tried it, I was like, oh, this is my platform. So in 2017, I decided like I'm gonna start a podcast. So I started it. It was very random. I was living in Chicago, interviewing anybody I thought was interesting. My first interview was literally with my chiropractor. Like, that's how random it was. I was like, I just want to talk to anybody and anybody I or anyone I find interesting. And from there, I was still working in corporate America. I had a job fully in an office in sales, very classic corporate American, like work nine to five, skip my lunch break, stay over time, work on the weekends. And it really hit me at some point that like this is gonna be the rest of my life. You know, I'm gonna get 10 days of paid vacation, maybe extra time if I become a mom and get Matt Leave. But like, this is it. You're just gonna work, work, work, live for the weekends, and maybe once in a blue moon take a 10-day vacation to Europe. And that actually like sent me into a tailspin because I started future projecting and I was like, yeah, it doesn't, there's no random adult summer break. You don't get like two or three months off. And I was like, holy shit, like I don't, I don't want to do that. So I just decided how can I develop a lifestyle or a life where I'm not involved in this toxic cycle of like work, work, work, live for the weekends. And eventually I was like, I think I'm just gonna kind of tower card moment, burn everything down and like rebuild. So I decided in 2019 to leave my corporate job and I moved to Australia. And from there, I embarked on this whole like eat pray love journey. It was during that time in 2020 where I started my business like a lot of owners did during the pandemic because I had nothing to do. And I was like, anything that I have been wanting to work on or she meing about or dreaming about, like this is the time. I had no responsibilities, no one was doing anything, there was nothing going on. So I really just laser focused my energy on a business. And so I started my business and it actually started out as mindset coaching at first. And after a year and a half, I was just like, I feel like I could be teaching people a different skill set. And then it just clicked like podcasting. Like at that point, I had my podcast for four or five years, and I was like, why aren't you teaching people about podcasting? So eventually I decided, why don't we see how that goes? And it turns out a lot of people want to use their voices, like you, Sarah. And it and it, that's what I've been doing since then is podcast strategy and helping people not just launch and grow podcasts, but really become voices in the space that are changing culture and becoming incredible storytellers. Like, I don't want people to just start podcasts just to like have another marketing channel. It's really about changing culture because I do think podcasts do that. So now that's what I'm focused on.

Sarah Mac: 6:53

I love that so much. And that's so interesting the way that you talk about podcasts as many movies. Because it's it's funny for me, like my entry into podcasting, I guess it was inspired by just being fed up with social media, you know, and like pouring my heart into this content and it having like a 24-hour lifespan and then just like disappearing into the void. And I knew that podcasting had this, you know, it had a really long shelf life. Like you can create all these incredible episodes and people can discover you years from now and binge all of your work. And people actually have that behavior. Some people have that behavior with social media, you know, like when you find someone and then you'll scroll all the way back and you'll just watch all their stuff. You're like, who is this person? I feel really connected, I want to learn everything about them. Um, but you know, like one of my Instagram profiles just like poof disappeared and was like taken away from me. And I was like, fuck that. Like, I want to own my content, I want to own my channel, I want to own my audience. And that's really what inspired me to step into podcasting. And I think it's yeah, it's come so naturally to me. And the longer I do it, I don't know, it it's just I've never like I love it, and I'm just more and more realizing like podcasting's the fucking best. Like it really is, especially with my 12th house placements. I did video for a while, and then I got long COVID, and that I was, you know, I just really was like, how can I simplify everything in my business? So I stopped doing video, and I think that just lit my son and my Mercury in the 12th house up and was like, oh, I can be my and my little cocoon and my mic about my message and like get it out there. Um but yeah, I've had my podcast. I started my podcast in 2020, actually. That was my yeah, that was the boom. The back all the backburner projects got their time in 2020. Yes. Um, so I'm curious with your podcast, how has it evolved? Like, is it the same podcast that you started? Have you ever like re you know, rebranded it? Like, what's that journey been like?

Chelsea Riffe: 8:59

Oh my gosh, I always make a joke that it's like the longest relationship I've ever committed to because I've had it for so long. And because of that, it has evolved like a relationship as well. So it actually started out a totally different name. It was called Oh My Pod. And that name just came to me from a random idea where I actually was stalking the charts and looking at the top-ranked podcasts, and one of them was called Pod Save America. And I was like, Oh, that's interesting. It's obviously a play on words. And so then I was like, well, what other word can pod substitute? And then yeah, like oh my pod. And so I picked that name and I ran with it for a few months. And then I was running on pure adrenaline, by the way. I was like, whoa, we're doing this, let's go. I didn't check the name to see if it existed elsewhere. I did had no like business acumen to see, like, is this trademarked? I was just like, I'm starting a podcast. So I did that, and then what happened was I actually eventually Googled the name, and I'm like, oh, there's another podcast that exists that has 800 episodes out. Oh my god. And obviously they're taking over the SEO, the social channels, everything. And I was like, well, this is just confusing because if you Google Oh mypod, you're barely gonna see my stuff. Yeah. So eventually I was like, we need to rename it. And in my non-expert opinion, came from the fact that I had started a podcast just to have conversations like this. I'm a very curious person, I value curiosity and long-form conversations. And it was never meant to be an educational resource or like you're gonna come here and learn something. And so I was like, I don't want it to be uh a place where people are like, oh, I'm always gonna leave with something educational. And I have a lot of opinions. I also will say I didn't feel like an expert in all of them. And I think there was a little bit, if I'm being 100% honest here, a little bit of imposter syndrome saying, like, I don't want people to come to my podcast and be like, oh, well, you're not an expert, so you can't say that, or you can't, you know, have this strong opinion if you're not an expert. And I was like, what if I just address it on the nose and call it in my non-expert opinion? So it was also a play on words of, you know, when a doctor says, well, in my expert opinion, da-da-da. And I was like, Well, in my non-expert opinion, I think this. So I went with the name. And then because of that, also just because my lifestyle changed, right? I quit my job, I started traveling, I started a business. So through all these phases of life, the podcast has evolved. It was heavily focused on like health and wellness early on, then it shifted into spirituality, then it shifted into entrepreneurship and business. And now it's a little bit of like creativity, energetics, mindset, and business. And I'm sure it will evolve again. But yeah, it has done a lot of uh a lot of different rebrands in the last few years.

Sarah Mac: 13:35

But yeah, it's a really smart title because it means you get to maintain the brand of your podcast and the title without having to like switch the title, which I know is it's not the worst thing in the world to do that, you know? But I found the same for my podcast title, Creative Magic Club, you know, and I've considered rebranding, I've considered using SEO and the tagline to help ranking and help grow it. But I think, and I'm I have um Chelsea's chart pulled up. She's a Gemini mid-heaven, same as me. So that makes a lot of sense, you know, and we have that curiosity and we have that ability to speak on many things. We like to speak on many things, you know, there's probably gonna be a lot of evolutions. And um, and what are you which what's your human design again?

Chelsea Riffe: 14:22

Reflector, six-through reflector. Okay, wow.

Sarah Mac: 14:24

Yeah, and I'm a manifesting generator, so I know that um I like to switch things up and go on random tangents.

Chelsea Riffe: 14:32

Yes.

Sarah Mac: 14:32

So I really like that my podcast name, Creative Magic Club. You know, it's got the keywords in there that really speak to my audience for my business, which was the intention and the purpose of the podcast. But it it just gives me so much breadth and room to evolve. And I was the same as you. And I think a lot of people start that way where you start off interviewing people. And I think this we can kind of segue into the next thing that I want to talk to you about, which is how it's such an incredible tool for networking. You know, inviting people onto your podcast, it's such an easy yes. And it's such a great way to connect with other people in your industry where you're, you know, simultaneously creating so much value for both of your audiences. And I know that that's something that you talk about, how podcasting really is one of the solutions to um, and I love the phrasing that you use, decentering social media, which I know everyone in this audience, we have a love-hate relationship with social media, you know, and I try not to spiral about it because I'm so grateful for the life and the business business that I've been able to build as a result of social media. And there's so much that I love about it, but there are a lot of, you know, frustrating things as a creator and as a business owner. And so why don't you tell us a little bit about how you see podcasting as a solution to decentering social media, what that experience has kind of been like for you. And yeah, like what you think is really helpful for people to know.

Chelsea Riffe: 16:06

Yeah. Well, I think this concept really clicked for me when I had my first course launch. And my goal in my head was like, I would be so happy if three people signed up, five is a stretch goal. It's my first course ever. Let's see what happens. 20 people signed up. And I was like, where are all these people coming from? Like, I don't have a huge social media following. At that time, I didn't have an email list. And I was like, I genuinely don't understand. And then all my podcast listeners that had been listening for years were DMing me, being like, Oh my God, I'm so excited you're launching a course. I've been waiting for you to launch something. And then I had this aha moment of like, whoa, people, you can market to a totally different group of people that are actually opting into listening to you. And that's when my wheels started turning, where I was like, comparing podcasting and social media to me is like comparing an apple to a water bottle. Like they're two totally different things. And I think that's when I realized I really need to see and experiment if podcasting, if that was like a one-off thing that happened and I got lucky, or if this is real and like I can do it again and again. And overwhelmingly, the evidence was people are not only opting into listening to you, right? They don't hate listening to podcasts. I don't like randomly look at my phone and be like, ah, let me listen to this stupid podcast, right? Like I have to subscribe, I have to listen. So the opt-in already, when you're thinking of it from a marketing standpoint, is like someone's already halfway, if not all the way down the funnel. And now by the time they're listening to you on a 30, 45 minute conversation, they're pretty invested. So that started to click of like the investment level from a listener is just so much deeper. And they're really getting to know the context and nuance behind the conversations that you're probably trying to have on social. So this is where I realize the frustration with social is that it's so short form and it has to be optimized to compete with thousands of pieces of content that it then becomes a performance. And I think that that was the switch for me is like I started to look at social media as like this is a stage. And when I go on stage, I need a costume, I need a script, I need a set. Like it's not off the cuff. There's no, there's no nuance, there's no context. It has to be very like hooky and engaging. And that was exhausting for me as someone who does better in long form. So when I realized, okay, wait, people are coming to me through my podcast. I don't really like social media. How can I? But I don't want to get off of it completely because, for example, you and I were connected, right? Like we DM'd each other. I have found out that I'm in Chicago right now. There's people that live in Chicago that I wouldn't have known lived here if I didn't post that I was in Chicago. So I just started to look at everything a bit differently. And I was like, podcasting not only is helping people get so much more details about who you are, what you do in your belief system, it's also where they get to know the real you and all the constraints that you're feeling of like, oh, character count limit, video limit, um, yeah, my post got taken down because I violated a guideline, but they won't tell me and I can't get in contact with anybody. Like all that frustration is because you're being put in this really tiny box where podcasting, we could talk about whatever we want for 60 minutes, and it still is really valuable to someone. Because even if it's you and I talking about, I don't know, matcha lattes for an hour. Well, at least they know we like matcha, that's our fun thing to do. Like they're getting to know the human. And now, more than ever, humans are buying from humans when they know their whole story. Not that you have a beautiful logo or brand or your feed is super aesthetic. They want to know who the human is. So that's when I really double down on not just podcasting for my business, but teaching folks that podcasting can be the solution. And now the way I think about it is podcasting is like the iceberg, and that's where all the content is. That's where my thoughts are, my deep opinions, my very contextual layered conversations go. And then social media is the distribution of the podcast and they're the ice cubes. So, like just chipping off at the iceberg to get the little pieces of content for social media, that is how I use social media now. So almost 95% of my posts in my feed, if you're reading them, are gonna be driving to a longborn piece of content, whether that is my podcast or my newsletter or my Substack or my website. But it is, I my goal is not to grow my social media following. I don't care to beat the algorithm. I don't care to have a beautiful feed because I have overwhelming evidence that that's not where clients convert and I don't like spending my time on there. So I've also reframed it as well because I was having a hard time a few months ago where I was like, is this like a necessary evil? You know, like is this just something I have to suck up? And I'm like, but why? Like, if I'm feeling that way, then why don't I just get off of it? But I think a lot of business owners have this fear too of like, if I get off of it, I'm gonna like lose all my clients, I'm not gonna get any new inquiries. And I was like, I have to figure out a way to re-reframe this. And so the way I look at it now is it's like a tool to just connect with people as a second inbox or like a text line. That's literally what DMs are, and sharing bits about my day behind the scenes so that you get to know the human being behind the mic on stories. But other than that, I don't run like social media campaigns, I don't do paid ads, I don't have a graphic designer, social media manager. Like it is not the center of my universe for so many different reasons. And I think the last thing I'll say too is um knowing the psychology of how social media keeps you addicted is not the same at all with podcasts. Like the whole point of a social media platform is to keep users on or growth or engaged, and the way they do that is by constantly rolling out these new features. So for Instagram, for example, that's why we see like the bubble on top of our name now. And now you can like they added another font, and now you can do this thing, and now you can make AI images. And it's like, that's not just for fun. Like, they need to keep people on the platform so that we don't plateau and just leave. And once you realize it's pretty much made the same way as a casino slot machine is made, you can start to be like, is that really how I want to spend my time and energy, especially as a business owner where I have very limited capacity. I don't have team members, I don't have full-time employees, like I have a very concentrated capacity. I am not going to put all my eggs in a slot machine. I'm gonna put it in a long-form piece of content where I actually have more control. I have very direct data of like who's listening. I can see, not only see, I can feel more confident in what I'm putting out because I know I don't have to fit it into a character count or video limit, et cetera. So I could talk about this for five hours, but those are my initial thoughts about podcasting and social media.

Sarah Mac: 22:30

I just want to pull out some really important points that you mentioned because even before I had my podcast, I was creating those more in-depth, longer form pieces of content because those are the places, like you say, where real relationships are built. And yeah, and obviously it got to the point where I was like, I had a Facebook group and I would do masterclasses in there, or I would do, you know, like a Zoom masterclass, I would do a lot of live streams, and I still do, even though, and I kind of phased out live streams for a bit because they didn't get a lot of reach, and it's that gamification, it like tricks you. It's like, oh, not a lot of people are watching this. However, the people that are engaging in your longer form pieces of content are the people that are gonna buy from you, you know? And so it's really important to understand the purpose of all of the pieces of content in your ecosystem. And again, looking at what has worked for you is really helpful. But if you know you're starting something new, taking it from business owners who have experience, I can tell you that the people who buy my offers are on my email list. They are listening to my podcast, they've been through some of my longer form content events, they've watched my live streams. And, you know, yes, there are content pieces, those like catchy, you know, virally, hooky pieces of content, they can be really great for getting you in front of new people. Um, but yeah, you can put a lot of love and heart and energy and work and money into producing a piece of content and it can fall flat or like disappear, and it can be very disheartening. So, and with we have actually quite similar charts. I've got um, well, obviously we've got Pluto and Scorpio, which is the generational placement. That's the name of my Substack blog blog. Um, but yeah, we both have Scorpio third house, and third house, like you know, that's where I'm looking for for someone who's into podcasting, is like, where's Gemini? What's going on in the third house? Like, what is, you know, the placements around these areas that are like all about communication and community. I see you have some 11th house placements as well, but Scorpio is all about depth, and I I know that that's something that people come to me for, you know. So I think it's really worth reflecting on what are the pieces of content that I like creating. Like maybe you're an incredible graphic designer and you can like bang out a carousel in 20 minutes and you love doing it, and that works really well for you on social. Like, that is not me. So it's a personal question. And um, yeah, like I built my business on Facebook writing like 800-word posts, which I would just crank out in like 20 minutes because I'm a writer. So it is really worth reflecting and just knowing that there is no one way. And whenever I'm talking to clients and they're spiraling about their strategy or social media or whatever, I'm like, people had businesses before social media was a thing. You know, at the heart of any business is just human-to-human conversations. And the fact is, Instagram has our attention, and probably a lot of our clients are on there, and that's why it's worth, you know, that's why I'm I'm on there, like it has my attention. And wonderful things can come out of that. So it's such a personal relationship, but it's so important to have that clear strategy and to get to a point where you know what's converting for you, whether that's through mentorship and trying on someone else's strategy, seeing how that feels for you. Um, but also we have to be flexible because everything is changing all the time. So rather than spiraling and being overwhelmed, um, just remember it's just to have a conversation with a human. You know, what's one more platform I can serve today? How can I get in front of them? What feels like the easiest, most fun way for me to do that? And um, yeah, and to really trust, trust your skills and what you're naturally good at. So tell me a little bit about um what I would love what you mentioned before we jumped online about storytelling as a form of activism. And yeah, just tell me more about that.

Chelsea Riffe: 26:39

Yeah, so I don't think it's a surprise that the world feels like it's on fire and I'm American and uh especially coming back to America after two years. I forgot to mention I'm a digital nomad, so I'm always traveling around. And I haven't been in the States for a very long time. And obviously the headlines just keep getting, in my opinion, worse and worse and worse. And I started to feel very weird about selling or storytelling or doing anything because I was like, I made a comparison. I was like, it feels like I'm selling cotton candy in the middle of a war zone. Like big things are happening, there's bombs being dropped, there's families being ripped apart, and here I am being like, hey, I have a course about pitching or like launch your podcast. And it felt very like fluffy and silly. And so I just didn't really market my stuff for a few days. And I started to feel weird of like, okay, but then when is the right time? Like, is there one day where we just wait for a good headline and like, okay, well, now I can market? Like, there was no clear path forward. And I had a really hard time with this, and I posted about it in a community I'm in, and someone told me about this work, I think by her name is like Deepa Ayer, that is about how there are roles in an ecosystem when we think of social justice and equity and activism that everyone plays, and we all can't be all of the roles at once, and we're not really meant to, because that's why it's an ecosystem. Like everyone plays their part. So we have healers, we have guides, we have the actual activists that are like the frontline activists, we have storytellers. And when I read that, I literally almost broke into tears because I was like, that is the truth, right? I just said the word headlines. Well, guess what? Headlines are to stories. The reason we're all getting this information is because someone wrote a headline and is writing a story, the news is telling stories, podcasts are telling stories. When I started zooming out, I was like, oh my God, like the fabric of our world and our culture is made up of stories. The stories that presidential candidates tell to get themselves elected, the stories they tell on podcasts, the stories that marketing advertisements, like everything is a story. And it really clicked that like my work is not fluffy or silly or like, oh my God, come buy my program. My work is teaching people to activate their voices and become better storytellers. So, not just storytelling of like about my personal life, but amplifying people's voices. The conversation we're having right now, right? Choosing to have people on your podcast or bring them into your Substack or your Instagram Live or whatever it is, you're amplifying other people's voices. And so when you start to think of activism, usually what activists want is a new way of operating or like a new world or a new paradigm. If we want certain headlines and voices to stop leading the conversations, well, we need to crowd them out, right? They're not just gonna be like, oh, I'm done talking. I'm gonna go never post anything again. We just need to take up more space and become louder. And I don't mean that in an aggressive brash way of like middle fingers up, let's go, torches blazing, but like we need to start showing the world we want to live in. And I remember this quote from a book, I can't remember what book it was. Um, it was something around like feminine leadership that's essentially saying, like, kind of like be the change you wish to see in the world, but like create the utopia of a business you wish to see in the world. So if I want a world where people are talking about leadership in a different way and showing how they live their values and operating in a new paradigm, well, then I need to not only be investing in those people, I need to bring them on my podcasts, I need to amplify their voices, I need to be talking about these things. And then my world just lit up. And I was like, this is how if you think of any leader in the world, when you immediately think of a leader, they were speaking, they were telling stories. They go out, they tell speeches, they they're posting things, they're sharing. And I'm like, they're storytellers at heart. So this really reframed my mindset where I was like, storytelling and selling and marketing your work is not frivolous. It's actually like the number one thing that can change a culture. And ever since then, I have felt even more fired up about activating storytellers.

Sarah Mac: 30:36

I love that so much. And yeah, we've been having this conversation on the podcast. I've been speaking to it because I've had so many conversations with people in my community who are like, I just feel weird selling right now, or like I just feel overwhelmed being on social media. And it's so true. Like, I especially when you have a voice, especially when you have a platform, you know, and you've built that, or you have the urge to build that, you have the desire to build that, it's the single most powerful tool that we have. And you saying that just makes me think of every single one of my clients, you know, like all of the offers that we're we've been putting together that they're selling. I'm like, the more people that get to do this work with you, the more our world will embody the values that we stand for. And this was spoken by you as a true Aquarius son in the sixth house. Like, you're revolutionary, do the damn work, you know, like show up every day, share your story. It and comes back to you again, that conversation that I literally built my business on, which is like, how can I serve one person at a time? I think we get so overwhelmed and we feel so disempowered, percival. Like, just let let's let go of the word overwhelm. That was one of my I also started out as a mindset coach for my coaching business after my copywriting agency. And that was one of my favorite lessons from my one of my first coaches, is just be unavailable for overwhelm because it's literally a choice, right? Like when we can't breathe, when we're in a head scramble, like we are in control of that. Take a deep breath, tell a different story, refocus, do whatever you have to do to take care of you and keep putting one foot in front of the other. And truly, you know, especially when you have a small business or you have a high-ticket business model, you're not here to influence millions and pe millions of people today, maybe down the line, but with whatever your reach and your capacity is today, with the team and the resources and the skills that you have today, focus on the people that you can help and, you know, share your voice in the way that feels like it has meaning and intention and longevity with your vision for your business and your work. I think that's such a powerful message. So thank you so much for bringing that and all of your friends.

Chelsea Riffe: 32:49

And I think it's so weird, just to add to that. I think a lot of times people feel overwhelmed because they're trying to save the world and that's overwhelming, right? Like saving millions and billions of people, like, of course you're overwhelmed, and you're like, I don't have the bin with their capacity to save the world, and I don't believe you should save the world. I think you should focus on your corner, your community, your own orbit, and nurture those people because that does have a butterfly effect, right? It ripples out, and now if someone in your community is probably gonna go take care of someone else in another community, and then it just it just escalates to now that is the way you start to change the world is by changing it in your own neighborhood, whether that's online or physical.

Sarah Mac: 33:26

Yeah, and I think, you know, I think one of the The great things about people like us is that we are delusional because we're visionaries, right? And but I think one of the sh the shadow side of the delusion is thinking that we have the power to change the world, you know? And I always try and bring my clients back to you like, what is that tip of the iceberg? What is that layer of like the most nutritious cream at the top, the fattiest, densest part of your capability and your gifts and your abilities? Like, focus on that. Focus on what you can do the absolute best. And because that is truly gonna create the most ripple effects in your community. And that even if there are people that you're not directly supporting, other people seeing you doing that are gonna be activated to do that for themselves just by seeing you as an example.

Chelsea Riffe: 34:20

Oh, a million percent. I just had someone message me the other day that's like, I've been listening to your podcast for like five years. I've just never reached out to you or told you. And I'm like, what? And I'm like, they and they said, like, I've actually been so inspired. I've done this thing, I've done that thing. And I was like, imagine if I stopped because I didn't have the validation of numbers, right? If I was like, oh, only whatever, a hundred people listen per week. I guess I can't podcast. It's like I wouldn't be making the impact that I have. And again, I don't, I don't need to have a thousand followers or listeners or whatever the case is. And I genuinely think this is bringing it back to social media for a second. This is the issue, is social media has numbers. And so we can be perceived. And we are such a, at least in America, we're such a country that's obsessed with metrics and status. Like, how much money do you make? What zip code do you live in? What's your tax bracket? Like, there's all these numbers that qualify us. And so we like adapt that same model and put it on social media. But with podcasting, I think that's what's so freeing, too, is it like it equalizes everybody. And I don't know if you saw this, but Spotify tried to roll out uh a metric system where they were gonna show how many listeners each podcast had. Right. There was so much backlash because people are like, you are going to discourage people from sharing their voice, and you're actually gonna, it's gonna do the same thing that it's done in other communities, where now the people that are have the highest listeners are just gonna get louder and louder, and now you're gonna like de discourage people from posting or sharing. And it's the whole beauty of social or excuse me, of podcasting is that we have equalized ourselves, and I think that's really important because there's we need to get out of this mindset that like my following equals my worth, or what how many listens I have does this. Because, like I just said, if I would have stopped podcasting because my numbers were low, I don't know the impact I would have made. And what a disservice, right? What a disservice to people that are in your world that don't get to hear your gifts because you're worried about like numbers.

Sarah Mac: 36:11

Yeah, I love that. And my favorite thing to remind people of whenever you're getting upset because you don't have 10 Schooling followers already, or downloads or whatever, is like, okay, so you got 30 downloads of your episode, your podcast episode. Like, imagine 30 people in a room. That's a lot of people.

Chelsea Riffe: 36:27

That's a lot of people. I always say that like, imagine 10. Imagine 10 people coming to say, hey, I love your outfit or your work or whatever the case is. I'm like, you'd be like, that's a lot of compliments I got today, but all of a sudden 10 likes or 10 DMs is like, oh, I don't have enough engagement. And I'm like, what a warped world we've created for ourselves. And that's why I refuse to get involved in that cycle anymore.

Sarah Mac: 36:48

Yeah. Mindset is absolutely everything when you're growing online. So I could continue talking to you for 10 schooling hours. Thank you so much for this awesome conversation. Can you tell everybody who wants to learn more about you? Where can they find you? What have you got going on?

Chelsea Riffe: 37:03

Yes. Well, we talked about my podcast. It's called In My Non-Expert Opinion. So that's where I'm definitely having like juicy layered conversations like this. And then I have a substack called Slight Turbulence where I write essays and things about travel. And then if you want to work with me, my website is just chelsearife.com. I have different programs to help you launch a podcast or learn how to pitch yourself. And uh on Instagram at ChelseaRife. If you want to DM me, we can chat there. And threads, I'm on threads a lot. So you can find me there too at Chelsea Rife.

Sarah Mac: 37:29

Awesome. Thank you so much, Chelsea. Thank you everyone for being here. Please share this episode with someone that you think will love it and go check out Chelsea's work, and we'll see you next week. Thank you.