What Are You Creating?

  Chelsey Benkner has the kind of story that does not fit neatly into a single category. She is a travel advisor. She is the founder of Ready Jet Go Travels. She is a co-founder of Outwork Collective, a VA company serving travel advisors. She is a wife, a mother of 8, a business owner, a leader, and someone who seems to have a long history of noticing needs around her and then doing something...

In this conversation, I sit down with Mike Skiff and ask a simple question: How would you describe what you feel most called to create? His answer came quickly. “Divinely inspired greatness.” From there, we explored the long arc of his journey. From growing up with a vision of becoming a teacher, to entering the military, to developing leadership under pressure, and eventually stepping into the wo...

In this episode, I sit down with Brian and Liz Deacle, the creators behind It’s a Drama and NZ Ahead . This conversation is a real-time look at what it means to build something without having it all figured out. We talk about their journey from running a traditional business to experimenting with blogging, courses, dropshipping, and eventually finding alignment in a completely unexpected way. What...

In this conversation, I sit down with Jackie Ulmer, someone who has been building businesses online since the early days of the internet and continues to evolve how she shows up in the world today. We talk about her journey from network marketing to content creation, coaching, and YouTube, and the patterns that have stayed consistent through every season. One of the biggest takeaways for me is her...

I’ve had thousands of conversations over the years. Today I am sharing a conversation with someone who has shifted how I think about every conversation I’ll have going forward. In this episode, I sit down with Lauren Ready, and we explore what it looks like to lead with curiosity instead of assumption. We talk about her journey from journalism into documentary filmmaking, the leadership lessons sh...

In this conversation, I sat down with Emily Perry, someone who first discovered podcasting years ago and decided to use it as a way to share a message she deeply cares about. What started as an idea she wasn’t quite ready to release eventually became something much more focused and consistent. Today, Emily hosts a podcast devoted entirely to A Course in Miracles , and over time, it has become the...

In this conversation, I sat down with Debra Prinzing, founder of the Slow Flowers movement and host of the Slow Flowers Podcast. Debra has been showing up consistently for more than a decade, producing hundreds of episodes while building something much bigger than a podcast. What began as a book and a simple idea grew into a recognizable movement, a trusted media platform, and a membership-based c...

In this conversation, I sat down with Randy Wilburn, someone who has been consistently creating in the podcasting space for more than a decade. Randy shares how his journey moved from personal expression and curiosity into building a highly intentional, niche podcast centered around a specific geographic region. We explored how his show, I Am Northwest Arkansas , has become a platform for storytel...

In this conversation, I sat down with Jason Cabassi, someone I had the privilege of helping launch into podcasting back in 2011. Since then, Jason has gone on to produce more than a thousand episodes and build an entire podcast network centered around the shows he loves. We talked about how it all started with a fan podcast for The Walking Dead , the unexpected opportunities that followed, and how...

In this conversation, I sat down with Clinton Haby, a legacy filmmaking pioneer. Clinton creates films that preserve the essence, energy, and lived experience of a person so that future generations can feel who they were, not just know facts about their life. We talked about how this work began with his own desire to preserve the essence of his grandparents, why he started with audio before eventu...

In this episode, I sit down with Ken Freire for a conversation that began with a simple LinkedIn connection request and quickly turned into something deeper. Ken and I discovered that we’ve been moving in many of the same circles for years. His work with Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus team and his partnership with Dan Sanchez connects closely with people and communities that have been part of my world...

In this conversation, I sit down with Erick Rheam. Erick is a keynote speaker, author of the book Rise Above Chaos , and host of the Rise Above The Chaos podcast. But long before he became a professional speaker, he was someone searching for direction. In fact, Erick first discovered my Podcast Answer Man podcast back in 2012 while he was training for a marathon. He told me that during those long...

This conversation was recorded at the Cincinnati Podcast Studio with Brian Erickson. I originally invited Brian to join me for an episode of my What Are You Creating? podcast, which I typically produce as an audio-only show. Since Brian runs a studio devoted to high-quality video podcast production, he invited me to come to the studio and record the conversation there. This is a very unscripted co...

Heather Bayer was one of the very first people in her industry to ever launch a podcast, and more than a decade later she is still showing up every single week. In this conversation, I sit down with Heather to look back on the long arc of her creative life. From buying podcasting equipment in 2007 and letting it sit untouched for six years, to launching Vacation Rental Success in 2013 and publishi...

In this episode, I share a powerful conversation with Laura McClellan, host of The Productive Woman podcast , who took my Podcasting A to Z course more than twelve years ago and has now published over five hundred episodes. Laura almost never launched her show. She recorded her first episode, then let fear stop her for six months before finally deciding to publish an episode she recorded from a cl...

This episode is the first in a special “Where Are They Now?” series. Over the past several weeks, I have been sitting down with graduates of Podcasting A to Z who said yes to creating something more than a decade ago and kept showing up through many seasons of life and work. These are people who did not just launch a podcast. They built bodies of work that now span hundreds and, in some cases, tho...

In this episode, I sit down with Jessika Suter, founder of Social Media Week Lima, to explore how a single conference experience sparked the creation of one of the most heart-centered marketing communities in the Midwest. After attending Social Media Marketing World for the first time, Jessika returned to her hometown of Lima, Ohio and, within two weeks, launched what would become an annual gather...

In this episode, I share a conversation with Nick Pavlidis, CEO of PodFest Expo, where we talk about: How he got into podcasting through conversations with his kids. Why he bought PodFest and what he is trying to protect and grow. How PodFest is different from other podcasting conferences. Why the event is built around independent creators. The Podcast Hall of Fame and why it now lives at PodFest....

Today, I had an incredible conversation with Austin Armstrong, an entrepreneur, speaker, and creator whose journey perfectly embodies what it means to stop thinking like a content creator and start thinking like a business owner who creates content. Austin is the founder of Syllaby , an AI-powered video marketing platform that helps entrepreneurs and service-based business owners simplify content...

I’m working with a client who is a gifted communicator with years of real-world experience. He kept hearing that paid speaking is off limits unless you are already well known, can sell tickets by name alone, or have a massive audience. I knew that wasn’t the full story. So I brought in someone I trust and have known for nearly 15 years, Grant Baldwin, to walk through what actually works today for...

In this episode, I sit down with Kevin Thompson, a man who has built an extraordinary business around something most people only do out of kindness: connecting others. I’ve met plenty of people over the years who are natural connectors. They love introducing friends, clients, and peers to each other. Those introductions often lead to life-changing opportunities. But Kevin is the first person I’ve...

Over the past few years, I've heard several people suggest that "blogging is dead." However, one of my favorite coaching clients earns her primary income from her blog and also hosts retreats and an annual conference for an entire community of food bloggers who earn an income from their blogging efforts. So I invited my client, Megan Porta, and asked her the question, "Can you still make money blo...

In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend Pat Flynn to explore the creative process… not from strategy, but from center. Pat and I talk about what it looks like to create without pressure to learn everything all at once, to unsubscribe from all the distractions without losing clarity, and to build something meaningful without needing to chase every bit of information calling for your att...

In this episode of What Are You Creating? , I sat down with Aleasha Bahr: sales strategist, black sheep, and author of Black Sheep Sales: How to Win More Sales Without Acting Like a Douchebag . This wasn’t a discussion about tactics. This was a conversation about identity. We explored what it means to sell without manipulation, to serve without auditioning, and to build a business that doesn’t req...

In this episode, I sit down with Corey Koehler—a musician, marketer, and entrepreneur who has mastered the art of reinvention. Corey's journey is a testament to adaptability and perseverance. Once a mechanical draftsman, he realized that the traditional 9-to-5 wasn’t the path for him. Instead, he picked up his guitar in his 30s, launched a music career, and later pivoted into digital marketing to...