EP. 47 - 1 YR. ANNIVERSARY OF THE PODCAST!! EMBRACING THE PROCESS WITH HAYLEY GASTON

Summary: Life is a Process- We don’t always know where we are going and how it will turn out. This is an Episode all about the Creative Process, Why Community is Important and Answering Listeners Questions with Hayley Gaston. Here is the Transcript of this week’s episode: The Podcast Project Playlist: (Enjoy!) This is a playlist of music used in the The Mommy Project Series Season 2. I chose songs which either represented the content, the person or special request from the guest. This was so much fun to create- and very eclectic in taste/genre.   Episode: 47… Hayley will act as host and ask the questions:   Why did you start the podcast? A few reasons: for a few years i had felt almost jealous of my husband’s creative work. I would see others start a blog, or work on a new project or create something… and I felt envious. Why can’t I do that? And was not really even sure why i felt jealousy. The Jealousy nagged at me until I started seriously thinking about writing and podcasting.  2. I have always LOVED stories – in any shape and form but my favorite is in audio format. I love listening to people’s stories. And when I became hooked on podcast- that love grew. 3. I had some serious bouts of post partum and would have anxiety over something tragic happening to me and thinking my kids would never know who I was… and I thought the podcast would be a way of recording time. People have pictures, my husband has video, I have podcasts as a way of recording. When I said one day in spring 2016 to my husband that I wished I could do a podcast- he said “why don’t you?” and so I did. Lastly- I wanted friends, i had just been too lonely for female friendship for too long. We are all so busy, we forget to be intentional about friendship, and this is how the desire to have people over manifested- through the guise of a podcast… (preference the name change)  So, I realize you are rebranding to The Mommy Project or themommypro… which we will get to that later, but tell me -Why the name The Podcast Project? I wanted the podcast to be seen as a project- Projects start with an idea, but its usually hazy, or we want to replicate someone’s, we know what we want, we just don’t know how to get there. And so we begin… I love my Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon’s book- where he talks about the Life of a project: we begin thinking it is THE BEST IDEA EVER, then THIS IS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT, THERE IS SO MUCH WORK!, THIS SUCKS, ITS BORING I HATE THIS!, DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, IT WILL BE GOOD TO FINSIH, FINALLY– ITS DONE, IT SUCKS, BUT NOT AS BAD I THOUGHT!  And that is exactly what is represented in the 1st season of The Podcast Project. My dark night of the Soul was so bad- we had to take a holiday break. I wanted to quit Every Day. I was weighed down the content that had been discussed in the “Woman Project Series,” there was some recorded episodes that malfunctioned and therefore lost, and I felt I still had not found the “thing” I was wanting to say, or discuss. But the Beautiful thing about a Project- is it is ever changing, if you keep going- keep showing up- eventually the Project will evolve into something new, something you love, and so ultimately the first year of The Podcast Project is a Project showing – fining my voice, finding my people, and in order for me to do that- I had to try on different topics, until I found the right fit! I did eventually with Season 2. What are the top 5 things you have learned this year doing the podcast? This is in no particular order: 1. Just start something- No clue who my audience was, i thought I wanted to discuss pop culture, or women’s issues, do reviews, and even a tiny dab of political… and it was not a great fit. But I kept at it, and listened!  2. Who I ask is important! And why I am asking the “ordinary woman,” the mom or the woman who feels like she does not have a voice or a large platform, the isolated mom, the working mom, the stay at home mom, the wise and the novice, I want this to be a place of encouragement, we are not comparing here, we are not judging here- we are in the business of encouraging moms, to be a safe place.. That’s a breath of fresh air. . 3. How to Avoid the Rabbit Trail. 4. Be able to Role with it. Equipment malfunctions, episodes are corrupted, website goes down, guest cancel… just have to role with it. 5. Be Brave. And Use integrity when editing. I am sure I will learn more this next coming year…   What are some of your favorite episodes? I love the Mommy Project Series Starting in Ep. 30- to present. And Some of my favorites are Ep. 30, I love the passing the faith series which is Ep. 42, 43, 44 and a soon to come ep., I love love love the Sunday Confession Series, and not to toot my horn but I have a Special Place in my heart for Ep. 23 which is my story/ testimony. But there was a Freedom in that episode that is only God! I also Love SC Ep. 09 The Marital Confession- which was actually a do-over.. Because the first recording was a little too controversial. But this is Marriage Confession that was one of my requests for our 7th year of marriage. It is hard to pick a favorite- because some episodes were on hard subjects like: miscarriage or sex trafficking.. Both are awesome! I love the Book Episode with Lyndsey Sikes and How Emily Raney and I gushed over our love of the Podcast Read Aloud Revival. There are so many good ones I can gush over! And there are some that have not been released yet that are Awesome!! Such a Hard Question. What do I love most about the podcast? I love that it is oral history- that years from now a mom who has guested on the podcast or a woman who has been a guest can play her episode for her children or someone she cares for and they can hear her and how she felt, what she thought, the triumphs and the conflicts at that particular moment. Whether it is a Sunday Confession and they are telling a funny story about their latest disaster and how they love to watch reruns on the Real Housewives while eating cookie dough- or they are sharing their heart on the Mommy Project – The Oral History of our lives is so cool!  And I love that through this I have talked and seek out community in a way that as a recovering hermit I never ever would have! It has made my life so rich! What does your workflow look like?…What does your editing process look like? This is a hard one: I listen and ask questions of what women are worried about or interested in learning how to do.. Etc. I try to figure out who would be good to talk about xyz… I ask them via email, text, instagram.. Facebook stalking… whatever. I pray A Lot! I write questions out- send the questions – and then the recording. I record 2 ways: if she lives in town- she comes over, sits in my makeshift dining room-made into a recording studio- and we chat.. Or if she lives out of state or driving distance- I call her.. And all they have to do is pick up the phone. Then I hit Save!  Post recording, is the editing.. Which involves listening to the recording, taking notes, figuring out what needs to stay/go.. We try to keep the edit to just dead space or rabbit trails.. Because I want the episode to sound as natural and organic as possible… Like if you were sitting at a coffee shop and having a conversation with a girlfriend.. How would that sound.. And that is the tone I am after. Then- when it comes to the actually chopping and dicing.. I pretend I am super tired and can’t possible learn how to use our editing program.. And then my husband works his magic! While he congratulates himself on how much of a magician he is.. And I applaud. I am sorta not kidding.  Then there is the show notes, the social media, all the website, the uploading.. All that is me. You are at year with The Podcast Project, why are you rebranding to The Mommy Project? I am rebranding- because I finally found my “niche” or the space I want to “set up camp.” The Mommy Project is more specific- I wanted to keep the word Project- because often times that is what being a mom feels like- a grab bag of tricks, some work/ most don’t, lots of feelings, and a work in progress. And the word Mommy- is the large umbrella where everything ties back to the role of moms in this world. The word mom is not exclusive either– that mother figure is present in our lives whether we are moms to our own children, step mothers, Adoptive mom, the motherless child/ adult, single, married no kids, aunts, sisters, god mom… the list goes on.. And I want all women to feel welcome and encouraged.   Are you a Mommypro? Absolutly NOT! It is just short for The Mommy Project. Our website will be www.themommypro.com   I am not a mommy, I am not married, so how can The Mommy Project benefit me?  This podcast is for all women of any age and season. It is for the soon to be mom, the I am a caregiver of children mom, I work with teenagers- mom, The Single mom with grown kids, the Heart Mom who is struggling with infertility, the I am 20 something and have no desire to be a mom – I hope to broaden the perspective of the role of motherhood in our culture and in our lives. We have such polarizing ideas of what it is like to stay at home with 3 kids, or have a career, what marriage looks like or being divorced feels like. We compare ourselves and struggle to not judge the woman standing ahead of us in the grocery store. I want the podcast to be a place where women can go to find their people, to know how to comfort a woman who just experienced a tragedy, and to celebrate the wins of life with each other. Also- Sunday Confessions are for anyone- woman, child, man, teenager, college kid … it is a fun series! What is the Sunday Confession Series? The Sunday Confession Series is so much fun!! It is where one guest comes over or calls in and shares what they are really excited about, their unpopular opinions on any topic, perhaps a funny anecdote and their guilty pleasure. And we have had a variety of guilty pleasures shared confessions revealed. I do have a format I give them more as a brainstorming aid… but usually once people get started they can think of a lot of confessions. And Confessions can be anything from pop culture, sports, parenting, church, fashion trends, to diet or marital confessions..  Not much is off limits in this episode. What is next for The Mommy Project? Well- I have some personal goals.. like learn how to do ALL the editing, and not be afraid to mess up. But als0- With the new branding and new direction- I am posting a Podcast Project playlist from Spotify of all the music played in past episodes. So if you are interested- go check that out in the show notes… I want to revamp the website to make it easier to navigate. I plan on placing this podcast on Stitcher and Google Play Music- I am hoping to take on more sensitive topics regarding MOMLIFE, and have some regular collaborations with some moms who have come on the show, as well as try to get some “big namers” on the show…  and As always showing the realness of motherhood, in a world that likes to make everything glossy or hopeless. Which neither picture is real. Because Of Christ- we have Hope, and what we see on Instagram, on Sunday Morning, at the PTA meeting or the Birthday party.. Is not real- it is the churched up, glossed over version. And The Mommy Project is about encouraging women in the realness of their lives.   Last thing– I am going to place this list of questions on our website- so anything said today can be found there- as well as  HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST. I will also work on placing instructions on how to leave a comment on our website, and a review on iTunes. The Easiest way to listen to our podcast is by downloading the podcast app on your phone. We are on iTunes. And in the search button Type in The Mommy Project and click- There you will find our episodes – the weekly and the bonus Sunday Confession- it is all free. Hit the Subscribe button– and you will never miss an episode. It will download into your feed automatically once we upload it. We try super hard to get it up on Fridays and Sundays.