Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs

10 Lessons from 100 Podcast Episodes

• Melissa Snow - Powerful Women Rising, LLC • Episode 101

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Showing Up, Being Seen and Getting Out of Your Own Way...

After 100 episodes of Powerful Women Rising, the biggest lessons I learned weren’t about editing or promotions, they were about how I lead, connect with others and show up in the world.

These lessons apply to anyone building something meaningful - especially if you’re working toward consistent six-figure income and want to grow in a way that actually feels good.

In this episode, I’m sharing 10 lessons and behind-the-scenes truths I wish more women talked about - because they’ve changed the way I do business, and they’ll change yours too.

We’ll cover:

✅ Why your voice matters, even when you think no one is listening
✅ The truth about visibility (HINT: They're called vanity metrics for a reason)
✅ How to stop overthinking and start doing
✅ Why consistency is important - but not at the expense of your sanity
✅ How asking better questions transforms your business relationships

Whether you’re just starting out, somewhere in the messy middle, or finally feeling momentum - there’s something in here that’ll hit home and make you think differently about how you show up for yourself, your people and your business. 

If this show has helped you in any way...

Please leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify.  You can also Buy me a coffee to show your appreciation - it's basically how I survive!

And if you’re craving authentic connection with other women in business, check out our next virtual speed networking event!

Links & References:


Connect with Me, Your Host Melissa Snow!

Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth. Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She lives in Colorado Springs with her two dogs, three cats, and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, true crime, Taylor Swift, and buying books she’ll never read.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Powerful Women Rising, a podcast for female entrepreneurs ready to do business their way. Grab your coffee and join host Melissa Snow, business relationship strategist and founder of the Powerful Women Rising community, as she interviews industry experts and shares insights on strategy, marketing, mindset and more. Here you'll find the tools, strategies and inspiration you need to feel empowered, take bold action in your business and keep rising.

Speaker 2:

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Powerful Women Rising Podcast. I'm your host, melissa Snow. My cats are murdering each other. Hold on. Okay, that was a little outtake blooper for you. I thought I should put it in for the 101st episode of the Powerful Women Rising podcast. I can't tell you how many others there are. Maybe someday I will make a compilation and it will be super fun, but I just wanted to leave that one in there for you just for a good time. Anywho, welcome back. This really is the Powerful Women Rising podcast and I really am Melissa Snow, and this really is our 101st episode. I can't even believe that. If this is your first time listening, welcome.

Speaker 2:

I am a business relationship strategist, which means I help people figure out how to network better. I help them learn how to love it and how to get good results from it. Even if they think that they hate networking, they've never done it before. It sounds scary. They did it and it didn't work. I am a firm believer that networking is the simplest, most sustainable but underrated form of business growth that there is, and I am here to help you do it. I'm the founder of the Powerful Women Rising community, which is an amazing online community for female entrepreneurs just like you who want to build their business with the support of other businesswomen around them. It is a place where you can get answers to your questions, you can find support when you're feeling frustrated. You can find referral partners, people to collaborate with, people to co-work with, and it's such a more fun and enjoyable and sustainable way to build a business than relying on manipulative sales tactics or spending huge amounts of money on coaches, programs, courses that don't actually move the needle forward in your business. And if you've been with me since the beginning, whether you've listened to one episode or all 100, thank you Seriously. Your support means the world to me. I want to share a few fun stats before we dive in.

Speaker 2:

This little podcast baby of mine is actually the second podcast that I've had. The first podcast I had was called Love Starts here. I started that podcast when I was a dating and relationship coach for many, many years and I think we did maybe 85, 90 episodes of that podcast. I can't remember, but that was a super fun podcast. It's still around, so if you're struggling with romantic relationships, go check that out.

Speaker 2:

But this podcast in particular Powerful Women Rising started out as your relationship with podcast, and I thought that was really clever because I was working with people on their business relationships and I thought each episode would be a different interview with someone about some relationship in their life. Right, so it could be your relationship to fun, your relationship to sales, your relationship to time management. It seemed like a really good idea and it was very clever until I realized that it made no sense for me to have a business named Powerful Women Rising, a community named Powerful Women Rising and a podcast with a totally different name. So we rebranded pretty soon after starting the podcast and now this podcast has been downloaded 8,270 times across six continents, 78 countries and 1,038 cities around the world. The top four cities of listeners are right here in Colorado, where I live, which is amazing. But the number five and six cities are actually Frankfurt, germany and Jerusalem, which is amazing. But the number five and six cities are actually Frankfurt, germany and Jerusalem, which is incredible. So shout out to all the listeners in those cities and all the others worldwide. And if you're one of the hundreds of people who loved episode number 43, the Elevator Pitch is Dead you've got great taste. It is officially the most downloaded episode ever. And finally, I want to share that the Powerful Women Rising podcast is one of the top 2.5% most popular shows out of over 3 million podcasts globally, according to Listen Notes. So I share this information with you not to brag, but because this was a joint effort. This podcast would not have been nearly as successful without my amazing guests and, of course, you, the listeners. So thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

Now let's dive into today's episode. I shared last week five interviews that I did with the winners of the 2024 Powerful Women Rising Impact Awards, and it seemed like the best way to celebrate 100 episodes by celebrating some amazing women in business. So if you've not listened to some of those, definitely go back and check them out. But I also couldn't let this occasion pass without doing some reflecting on what I have learned over the past two years and over 100 episodes of the Powerful Women Rising podcast the good, the hard and the stuff that nobody tells you when you first start out. So here we go.

Speaker 2:

Lesson number one you don't need to be famous to be an expert. When I first started this podcast, I felt like I had to prove myself. I would get really nervous interviewing big names, thinking that I wasn't on their level. But after 100 episodes I realized we're all actually just people. The only difference between you and the expert quote unquote is probably just confidence, maybe more followers and a slightly more polished Instagram bio. And here's the thing my solo episodes, the ones that I was most afraid to do because I thought I had nothing important to say and I wasn't an expert, so who wanted to listen to me? Are now the most downloaded episodes of all the episodes I've done, and when I get messages like this is exactly what I needed to hear today, or I just found your podcast and I'm so excited that I did it's usually in response to those solo episodes. So if you're waiting to feel like an expert before you start showing up in some area of your business, stop waiting, just start showing up.

Speaker 2:

I recently got a review on the podcast from Joanne and I feel like she said it best. She said Melissa keeps it real and gets to the heart of the stuff that holds us back. Her episodes are packed with insights that actually make a difference. When I heard that, I realized I don't have to know all of the things. I just have to know a few more things than the people who are listening, and that is going to make all the difference. Lesson number two stop overthinking everything.

Speaker 2:

Now I know this is easier said than done, but, as I mentioned before, there was a point when I resisted solo episodes because I couldn't imagine talking for 30 minutes by myself. I had hired a podcast coach and she had said why are you only doing interviews? You are essentially spending all of this time and money producing commercials for other people. Meanwhile, you're not positioning yourself as the expert. And I thought, oh my God, but I'm not the expert, right? So we already covered that in lesson number one. But I also thought how am I going to come up with 30 minutes worth of stuff to talk about? And then she said who said they had to be 30 minutes long? And my brain exploded Like, oh duh, no one. I don't know where I came up with that. And we do this kind of stuff all the time, with podcasting, social media, emails, speaking, whatever it is.

Speaker 2:

We overcomplicate things that don't need to be that complicated. I see it with women in the Powerful Women Rising community constantly feeling like everything has to be perfect before they share it or having some idea in their head of how it's supposed to look or what they're supposed to have in place before they can move forward. But perfection isn't required for impact. All you have to do is show up and whatever it is you're telling yourself you need to have before you can take that next step. It's probably not actually true, all right. Lesson number three ask better questions. It will make you better at everything.

Speaker 2:

Podcasting has made me a better conversationalist hands down, and one of the biggest things that I've learned is that when you are having a conversation with someone, you need to start in their comfort zone. I used to listen to podcasts and they would start with that first question of like who are you Tell us about you? How did you get here? How did you start your business? And when I would listen to those episodes, I would think why do they ask that question? That's probably the thing we're, like, the least interested in, right? Like, if you've invited someone to be a guest on your podcast and I love your podcast I'm assuming that you have already decided. This person knows enough that I should listen to them, right? So I don't really need them to establish themselves as an expert. I'm gonna take your word for it. What I wanna know is what do they know that I don't know. What actionable steps do they have? What can they give me that I haven't thought about already? Right, let's skip all this bullshit in the beginning.

Speaker 2:

But what I realized is that when people feel comfortable, they are more willing to open up, and so if you start with a question like that that they're super comfortable answering. Their answer is very familiar to them. It helps give them some time to get comfortable with you and then move into the meat of the conversation, where the good stuff happens. And I've started applying that when I'm networking too and having conversations with new people is that if I can start them with a little bit of that small talk, a little bit of that like this is a really easy question to answer. Then it's much easier for us to move into the deeper stuff about why they started their business, what they're passionate about, what their values are, what they're hoping to achieve in the next year right, about what their values are, what they're hoping to achieve in the next year, right. Good questions build connection. In podcasting, in networking, in life. When you can get people to open up, that is how you start to build trust. You make people feel seen and that is the real secret to networking in a way that doesn't feel sleazy.

Speaker 2:

Lesson number four your metrics don't equal your mission. Listen, it is easy to obsess over downloads and followers and views and comments and all the things, but if I only focused on numbers, I would have quit this podcast a long time ago. And, believe me, there were times that I wanted to. My business besties can attest to the number of conversations that we had where I was like, okay, I think I'm done with this podcast, like legit, ready to throw in the towel because I only got 150 downloads on an episode. But I had to remember that that was not why I started this podcast. I started this podcast to give women the kind of business advice that I wish I'd had before dropping 10K on a coach that didn't do me any good.

Speaker 2:

I wanted to start this podcast because I wanted to create a space for women to grow their business their way, not to have to follow the cookie cutter advice and try to become someone that they're not comfortable being, because that's how business works. And I recently got a testimonial or a review that said Melissa is a fantastic host. It feels like she's truly growing a community of powerful women via her podcast and I am here for it and I just want to say, live March. Same girl, same. I love this podcast because it feels like a community, because, even if I don't know who's listening in Frankfurt, germany, I still know that she's showing up every Monday and we're having a conversation. I know that all the times that I say, hey, how's your week going? And I can't actually hear the response, I know that there is a response and I keep doing this podcast for that reason, and I know that 150 downloads means 150 women have decided that what I have to say, or what my guests are sharing, is important enough for them to tune in, and that is huge.

Speaker 2:

Lesson number five collaboration sounds sexy, but it takes work and it doesn't always work. What I've learned is that not every podcast guest turns into a great collaborator. I have had some people on this podcast who have huge followings, huge audiences, and I was so excited when they agreed to come on the podcast and then I promoted the shit out of their episode and they never even once mentioned that they were on my podcast. I have also had to pull podcast episodes because I realized later that the people I interviewed didn't have values that aligned with mine, and part of that is on me for not doing my homework right. I remember a long time ago when I first met Connie Kircher, who's been a guest on this podcast. I heard her speak and she was talking about how to make collaboration successful, and she said something about how, anytime someone wants to collaborate with her, she always tells them that sounds great.

Speaker 2:

Let's circle back on this in six to 12 months, and at the time I thought that is insane. Who's going to wait six to 12 months? But what I realize is you have to give yourself time to really get to know that person, to see how they work, how they promote themselves, how they make sales, what they're all about. Do they say that they value certain things, but then the way they show up on social media shows that they don't value those things. Maybe it's somebody that you work with first before you start promoting them to other people, and you realize this is actually not the great situation I thought it was going to be.

Speaker 2:

So collaboration requires you to do your homework to make sure that the person you are collaborating with really is the kind of person you want to be collaborating with, and I also learned that collaboration has to be mutual. Lots of people want you to promote them, but they don't want to promote you. Sometimes it's because they see you as competition. I've had people on this podcast who do similar things to what I do and I think that they don't promote the episode that they've been on because they are afraid that their people are going to become my people. Or they have their own podcast and they're afraid that they will are going to become my people, or they have their own podcast and they're afraid that they will lose their listeners to me, and what I've realized is that people like that just aren't my people.

Speaker 2:

Real collaborators know that community over competition isn't just a cute phrase on a coffee mug. It's really something that you embody by living in abundance, by recognizing that there is enough out there for all of us and that if somebody wants to listen to your podcast and mine, super. If someone is listening to my podcast and then they discover yours and they're like you know what? I only have 30 minutes a week for podcasts. I'm going to go with this one Great. I want them listening to your podcast because it is what is going to go with this one. Great. I want them listening to your podcast because it is what is going to help them the most, and when we focus on that and when I find other people who are focused on that, that's when I know those are the people that I truly want to collaborate with.

Speaker 2:

Lesson number six kind of goes along with this one, and lesson number six is not every opportunity is a good opportunity. We fall into this trap a lot as business owners, whether it is looking for podcast guests, we're looking for someone to do an email swap with, maybe we want to do an online summit and so we're looking for participants, and we fall into the trap of thinking that someone's audience size is equal to the value they're going to bring to our thing. I see this a lot when I'm applying to be a guest on other people's podcasts. It's very common for one of the application questions to ask about how big is your audience on Instagram, how big is your email list? How many people do you have following you on this? Because we think that that is going to give us the better opportunity. But the reality is I have had big name guests with huge followings who brought very little value to the podcast is. I have had big name guests with huge followings who brought very little value to the podcast and I have had much lesser known guests who brought absolute gold, and I'm not just talking about audience size and their willingness to promote their episodes, but I'm also talking about how much value they gave in their interview. I have had people who show up ready to just share everything that they know and everything that they know is going to be the most helpful to the listeners. And then I've also had people show up where it's very clear that they are just here thinking this podcast interview is a commercial for their stuff. They're really just roundabout pitching their products with every question that they answer. So it's really important to pick your guests, pick your collaborators and pick the people in your network based on alignment, not audience size, not what you think that you can get from them because they're a big name or they're well-known or they have a lot of followers. Ultimately, in the end, there are a lot of things that matter a lot more than that.

Speaker 2:

Lesson number seven consistency is hard, but burnout is harder. At one point I was feeling completely overwhelmed Okay, who am I kidding? At many points I felt completely overwhelmed by this podcast. It is a lot to juggle life and work and podcasting. And I remember at one point venting to my coach about how stressed I was and she said why don't you just skip this week? And I was like, wait, I can do that. I can just not record an episode this week. I mean, even today I'm recording this episode at 11am and it usually goes out at 6am. But these are all rules that we've made up for ourselves. Skipping one episode it doesn't erase your progress. Putting an episode out at 11 instead of 6 am is not going to make someone be like well gosh, I'm never listening to that podcast again.

Speaker 2:

Taking a break when you need to doesn't mean that you're failing. Perfectionism is very sneaky. It's often the reason that you're stuck and it's often the reason that you feel burnt out and struggle to be consistent. Lesson number eight you have to be willing to quote, unquote, fail even when it's working. Some of my episodes flopped. Some episodes didn't land. Some interviews I thought were going to be so popular and hardly anyone listened. Some solo episodes I thought this is so juicy and they really weren't that great. And some were surprisingly successful. But you don't get to the good stuff without going through that messy middle. You have to keep going even when no one is clapping yet, you have to clap for yourself until everyone else catches up. And that's what I remind myself over and over again when I want to quit. I ask myself why did I start this podcast? What is in it for me, not just the listener? And if I'm enjoying the process, connecting with amazing women and getting to say things that matter, then this podcast is a success, no matter what the statistics show.

Speaker 2:

Lesson number nine you will grow into the person you were pretending to be. When I started this podcast, I hoped that people would think I was an expert. I hoped that they'd take me seriously, and now I know the value that I have to offer. And that growth didn't come from faking it. It came from showing up imperfectly over and over again and just seeing what happens. So if you're sitting on something a podcast idea, a blog, a course maybe it's your new business that you haven't even started yet. Don't wait to be ready. Just start. I promise you will become who you need to be in the doing process. And finally, lesson number 10, people are listening, people are watching, people are paying attention, people are noticing you, even when you don't think they are, as I mentioned in many of these other episodes.

Speaker 2:

It's so easy to get caught up in the metrics. To get caught up in how metrics to get caught up in how many people are buying your thing, how much money you made this month, how many downloads you got, how many new subscribers there are. And then you get a note from a listener that you didn't even know existed and she says I just found your podcast. I've been binging it all day. Thank you so much. This is exactly what I needed. And suddenly none of those metrics matter, right, because you have impacted that one person and that is what you set out to do.

Speaker 2:

I recently got to interview Alex Sanfilippo for the podcast. His episode hasn't come out yet, but he is the founder of Podmatch and I have been watching him for a very long time. He's honestly like a podcasting God, and after the interview he left me a review that said Melissa is an amazing podcast host, a brilliant conversationalist who brings the right amount of humor to her interviews. It is rare to meet a podcaster who can do that, and I damn near cried.

Speaker 2:

So the lesson here is you just never know who's tuning in and what they think. You don't know who shows up week after week to hear what you have to say. You don't know who reads every single one of your blog posts but never comments on it. You don't know who's lurking out there, who is your biggest fan, and you don't even know it. Who's going to be your next client and you're not even ready. So keep talking, keep sharing, keep showing up, because there is someone out there right now who needs to hear exactly what you have to say. Maybe today, maybe six months from now, but they're listening.

Speaker 2:

Okay, friends, there you have it 10 lessons I have learned from two years and a hundred episodes of the Powerful Women Rising podcast. I'm sure there are a lot more, so maybe I'll have to come in with a part two, or maybe part two will be after 200 episodes. In the meantime, thanks for celebrating with me. Here's to 100 episodes and to every single one of you who's tuned in, shared an episode, left a review or just quietly listened in the car while wondering if this business thing is ever going to get easier. If this podcast has helped you in any way, I'd love to hear from you. Leave a review, come say hi at our next virtual speed networking event, or you can click the link in the show notes and buy me a coffee If you're feeling generous and you want to support the show. I do love coffee. Thank you for being there, thank you for making this show what it is and thank you for letting me be fully unapologetically me week after week. Here's to the next 100 episodes.

Speaker 1:

That's a wrap on this week's episode of Powerful Women Rising. Thanks for hanging out with us. If you love the podcast, make sure to subscribe, share it with a friend, write a review or buy us a coffee. Your support helps more women like you step into their power and grow their businesses in a way that feels real and true to them. Want to keep the party going? Check out the show notes for details on our next virtual speed networking event, or join us in the powerful Women Rising community. Until next time, remember that building a business your way is the best way.

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Melissa Snow

Host