Celebrating 100 Episodes of Faithful on the Clock

Welcome to Faithful on the Clock, everybody, the podcast where every piece of bacon sizzles to get your faith and work aligned. I’m your host, Wanda Thibodeaux, and today is an incredibly exciting episode for me, because I’m taking time to celebrate 100 shows. I’m gonna reflect on the wins and losses and share my biggest takeaways and goals, so let’s dive in.

So, I wanna start off by just saying thank you to all you listeners out there, because whether you’re new to the show or check out every episode as soon as I release one, I don’t have a podcast without you. And so, I’m gonna stay committed to trying to address topics that are gonna be practical and healing for you, and that are going to help you. That is my top priority, is just helping you connect with God, OK?

That said, I wanna talk a little bit about this struggle I’ve had to grow the show. Because on the one hand, I’ve got all this pressure around podcasting where, you know, the so-called experts are really focused on the quantifiables, things like downloads or how many sponsors you have. That to them is what makes a successful show. And in my head, I still want big numbers and I pay attention to that because I want as many people as possible to know Jesus. And I’ll be honest. It kind of feels like failure if I can’t get the message of the gospel out to more people, because I’ve had this sense like I don’t want to lose anybody. So, sometimes it’s hard to see the lower numbers because I feel like I should be able to do more for God. And it’s been hard because I have had people tell me that this isn’t worth it, that the return isn’t high enough for the time I’m putting in. But I had, kind of, this epiphany about it. And the idea is, you know, God puts you where you need to be. He equips you for the job you’ve got to do. And if my job is to reach thousands or even millions of listeners, cool. But I realized that maybe that’s just not the plan He’s got. Maybe right now, He’s entrusting me to help just a few people because that’s what’s gonna to be the biggest overall benefit. Maybe it’s those couple of people who, you know, He hasn’t equipped anybody else to get through to them. So, my philosophy now isn’t so much on growing the show, although that’s wonderful, although I do want to do that. My focus now is just making sure I show up for the people who are supposed to get His message from me instead of somebody else.

The second thing is that I think now the show has finally settled in. You know, I feel like the brand has kind of clarified itself as I’ve gotten more comfortable getting in front of the mic. So, what I’d like to encourage you all to do from that is just be patient. Because you might not really know what your career or business is going to be. And everybody is gonna tell you you’ve gotta be clear. But you can only be as clear as the moment you’re in, right? Every time you learn something or have an experience, you’re gonna be shaping the vision you have. It’s not a static thing. So, there’s a lot of value in being willing to let God work on you, let Him develop your job or your company as you become ready to tackle more things.

A third big lesson I’ve taken from doing the show is, you know, people are people. One of the reasons I started this show as a solo podcast is because I’m so introverted. It’s honestly really hard for me to engage with people, not because I don’t like people, but just because I’m so hypervigilent around a lot of things that it kind of wears me out. But you know, I’ve been trying to address that. And so I’ve said yes to a couple of guests, and when I scheduled those people, I gotta tell you, I was pretty intimidated. I’ve talked with a lot of executives and helped them get a lot of content out there, but I’m still, like, I see their credentials and that imposter syndrome hits me pretty hard. But the interviews I did, they really gave me some confidence, because after a point, you understand you’re just having a conversation. It’s not about producing anything anymore. You’re just learning about each other and trying to understand each other’s story. And I was just so encouraged by how warm and supportive the guests I had were. You know, they were all so willing to lay their experience on the table, and I was just so grateful for the honesty they gave me alongside their expertise. And while I did put interview questions together to prepare, I think if I would have approached it going in that I wanted to get a specific message out of them, it would be different, because you know, that would have really limited the way we talked to each other. So, I guess the advice I can give you there is that, while you might need to structure a little to what you’re doing, you know, I think the best episodes, the best content comes where you allow some room to go where the conversation needs to go. Not necessarily where you wanted it to go, but where it needs to go. And that’s as true for a podcast as it is an innovation or development team. So, I’m getting comfortable being a lot less scripted, just seeing people as people in the way I try to say things. And the last thing I want to say on that is, I know this might be a little weird, but focus on people’s struggles. I mean, I think a lot of the reason we get intimidated and feel imposter syndrome is that we focus so much on everything they’ve accomplished. But I promise you, there’s not a person out there who hasn’t suffered or sacrificed in some way, okay? And when you look at the person across from you or you listen, and you understand that, even with their titles or their money, they still need other people, they still need comfort the same way you do, and that recognition, it has this way of helping you get them off of a pedestal and reorienting you to what you can give. You know, it shifts everything from you trying to impress them or not make mistakes to just serving them the best you can. And the feeling of that when you’re interacting is very different. It lays a completely different foundation for the relationship.

Now, let me talk for a minute about something else that’s been a little rough, and that’s time. Earlier in the podcast I went down from a weekly show to biweekly because I just had so many other commitments. You know, it was really hard to do the other work I needed to do for income and do the show at that pace. And lately, over I’d say, especially over this past six months, life has just kind of thrown a lot of different lemons at me. And I know those lemons, God and I can handle them, right? But there have been things that have happened or come up that’s really helped me understand that some of the things I thought had to be a priority really don’t. And that’s not to say it’s always been easy to see the silver lining in things. It hasn’t been. But I have reached a point where I’ve had to accept that doing your best is actually more important than reaching the goal you set sometimes. Because what I’ve had a tendency to do, and I don’t think I’m alone in this because a lot of you professionals out there are go getters, ambitious people, I’ve had a tendency to way overshoot. Like, I’m visionary and idealistic to the point where I kind of lose the logic on what’s practical. And emotionally, I’ll be so wrapped up in it, and I’ve got such a perfectionistic concept, that I don’t wanna admit it when something is too hard for me. And so shifting away from this idea that you have to hit every target, that’s a big deal for me. And you don’t necessarily have to, because sometimes the targets you set, they’re not bad ideas. But like, your perception can be skewed. And so all the planning you do, you do plan. It’s not like you abandon reason completely. It’s just that your planning or reason, it’s faulty because it’s not really grounded in the truth of things. You can’t possibly come to the right conclusion or go in the right direction because you start out with bad data. So, I’m really trying to just focus more on doing my best and really being willing to admit it when I miscalculated something. And maybe that doesn’t mean I have to quit, right? Maybe if you realize something isn’t gonna work, you get other people to help, or maybe you rethink your strategy. But it’s just this idea of being willing to pivot and not be so rigid, just trying to ask myself if my goals are even the right goals and being satisfied with the effort of trying even if I don’t get the result I set out for, that’s becoming really important to me, and I think it would benefit a lot of you out there, too.

So, to just kind of wrap up, in terms of goals and what I’d like for the show, I’m focused right now on getting more materials out. You know, I’m creating devotionals and whatnot, but I’d really like insights from the shows to be in other formats that are useful, whether that’s infographics or worksheets or whatever. So, it’s giving you, the listener, the opportunity to learn, but also to share what you take in and help other people along the way. You know, that’s what I think is going to have more of an exponential impact. And as I work all that out, I’d like to explore having more guests on a more regular basis, and I’d like to be more proactive about making sure people have an opportunity to find the show, rather than just creating the content and, you know, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

Now, if you’ve learned something from the show, I’d love to know about it. Or maybe there’s something you think I could do better. I want that feedback, too. So, drop me a message at wandathibodeaux@faithfulontheclock, or you can find me on social media using the links on our main show page, faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm. Next episode, it’s all about knowing when it’s time to leave a job. What are the biggest signs it’s time to move on? How do you do that gracefully, still pay your bills, and trust God to bring you to the next position that’s right for you? Until next time, everybody, be blessed.