The Value of Conversation: Why I’ve Launched a Podcast
You never know how your perspective will help someone else on a parallel journey.
For a I’ve been working on this podcast launch for over six months, but the dream was born over a year ago. It took a great deal of courage to get started, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before. For the very first time, I’ve included my friends, people in my community, in content creation. Involving others who know me best keeps me very accountable to showing up as my authentic self. It challenges me to enjoy the journey, be myself, and embrace all the mistakes and learning opportunities.
When the idea of creating audio content was first pitched to me over a year ago in a women’s coaching group, I resisted. They suggested it could be a gateway to other ambitions, like public speaking and talking head videos. I didn’t entertain the idea seriously, because I believed it wasn’t my ideal medium for expression. As I continued to reconnect with myself after years of disembodiment—through voice lessons, dancing, and spending intentional, quality time with friends—I discovered I already had a lot of insight to share from my personal experiences and my conversations. As I spoke more openly about myself both on and offline, people in my community engaged. People told me I had a smooth and calming speaking voice. It was mentioned a few times that I should have my own podcast. The universe continues to affirm that I needed to bring this project to life.
Through practice, anybody can become an effective interviewer. I’ve found that I am already fairly well-suited to the role. In my start-up career, I had interviewed hundreds of candidates and developed a reputation for conducting the most engaging interviews that encouraged deep self-reflection. When I interviewed on behalf of my alma mater Wellesley College, prospective students shared that I managed to extract all sorts of insights that they hadn’t prepared for and certainly didn’t expect to share. There isn’t any magic or mystery to my method. I simply want to get to know the human being across from me. As they speak, I listen for the little nuggets of insight and opportunities to dive deeper. I have an insatiable appetite to learn more about people, and I’m not shy about asking questions.
These are my foundational values and purpose for hosting this podcast:
1. We Thrive On Human Connection. In Fact, We Crave It.
The podcasts I enjoy most feel like deep, introspective conversations between two friends. These are not simply questions and responses to a set theme. These dynamic conversations are organic, full of wonder and exploration. It’s the reason I record these episodes on my cozy living room couch and serve my guests tea. We dive deep to reflect on challenging life experiences. I need the right environment to cultivate the right headspace, so I do this for the benefit of my guests, as well as myself.
We often feel we know someone, but it isn’t until we move from the surface level of conversation that we realize we don’t know them all that well. Unless you spend quality time with someone and connect at the heart level, it’s difficult to know the depths of their reality. Getting to know a person is like uncovering an exciting story. I have an irresistible desire to know the inner world of people—their hopes and dreams, their experiential wisdom, their areas for greatest personal growth. Everyone has a compelling story to share, whether you are an entrepreneur, a carpenter, or a philosopher. To uncover it requires skilful listening, curiosity, and continuously asking thoughtful follow-up questions. It’s all about experiencing awe and wonder about the human being in front of you. Doing so helps you to learn something new about them, whether they are new or old friends. There is always something more to learn about someone.
I often wonder why I’m able to hold this space for others. Maybe it has to do with what I wish for myself. When your audience is truly listening and connecting with what you are saying, it’s suddenly easier to take up space and to get into a state of flow. When you are in a state of flow, something beautiful happens. You speak more openly, more deeply, more authentically. It becomes easier to explore the harder questions. It becomes easier to observe the truth. Often then it feels safer to share.
2. We Can See Ourselves More Clearly With the Help of Others.
People constantly change, because everyone is on a personal journey. We are never the way we have always been. Each one of us is a work in progress. We’re often in the throes of life, navigating difficult scenes in work, community, and self. Often we haven’t stopped to reflect on the progress we’ve made in our journey so far. Sometimes we haven’t explored our experiences as deeply as we thought.
During interviews, I most enjoy seeing our minds percolate as we reflect and shape our stories. It’s a special moment when we revisit memories we haven’t thought about in a long time. We can create new insights about old memories and redefine how they fit into our current world view. Having a heart-to-heart conversation with a friend is like having a mirror held up for you. We can more easily see ourselves—our complexities and our depths—with the help of others.
We each have dreams and ambitions we are working towards. Sometimes we receive acknowledgement and honors for achievements that we don’t yet feel like we have earned (e.g. being labeled a “successful CEO”, an “inspiring leader”, or even an “excellent dancer”). We are in the midst of our journey, and we feel that we still have a long way to go. I value the snapshot in time that celebrates the progress we have made so far. The active daily progression towards our greatest dreams is beautiful and worth examining in and of itself.
During major milestones of my life, I have paused to write my reflections in the moment. I did this the day I got married, the week before adopting a dog, and twelve hours before the initial public offering of my last employer. Returning to these journal entries over the years, I’m always surprised how reliant I am on this very personal documentation to remember the state of my inner world at that time. A podcast episode is simply that journal entry spoken aloud. It is a snapshot of ourselves in the midst of a lifelong journey. We memorialize lessons learned, attitudes, victories, insecurities, hopes, and dreams. It may feel vulnerable and daunting at first to record ourselves in this way. We all know the feeling of having our photo taken and not wanting it to be seen. It is important to resist the temptation to delete the photo or not to take it in the first place. No matter how insecure you feel looking at yourself today, decades from now, your feelings about this snapshot of yourself will be nothing short of sincere admiration and awe.
3. We Pay It Forward, As Others Have Done For Us.
To go through all that we do in life—trialing, failing, learning, and growing—without any witnesses is a tragedy. We have gained all that we have from our experiences with the help and support of others. We stand on the shoulders of family, teachers, friends, and our community to reach new heights so we can live and learn. I find it incredibly valuable to share our stories, experiences, and insights with others, because you never know how your perspective will help someone else on a parallel journey. You may pave the way for somebody else to navigate a difficult decision, try a different approach, or embrace a new experience.
Often in the middle of a great conversation, I will say, “I wish we had recorded this, so we can listen back on it!” If these conversations inspire the people speaking in it, imagine how helpful it would be to let others listen in.
Since college, I’ve been asked by family, friends, classmates, and even strangers on LinkedIn to share about my experiences. They seek perspectives that could help them navigate a decision about the college they got into, the job offer they received, or the business they dream of building. I already love speaking with others about this. I can only imagine how much more insight and confidence they could gain through the collective experiences and wisdom of my friends. In my podcast, speaking openly about our experiences is as much for the benefit of our listeners as for ourselves.
The Big Launch
What I love most about hosting The Helen Merlin Podcast is spending quality time with my friends. I regularly enjoy heart-to-heart conversations offline and in the real world. Yet when I put myself in the interviewer seat, I always learn something new about them and myself. Join me and my guests as we dive deep into what we’ve learned in life, the paths we took, and the choices we’ve made. We go deep into topics of personal growth, relationships, work, spirituality, well-being, and much more.
As entrepreneurs, business owners, and community leaders, my guests have some phenomenal accomplishments and experiential wisdom to share. But at the end of the day, we are all human beings, figuring it out and doing the best we can. It feels so good to be here, doing the work, and enjoying the process. Our journeys are rich with taking risks, pursuing big dreams, and discovering self. We will pull back the veil on these leaders and changemakers and get to know the human beings behind the achievements. You can listen to the podcast episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and you can even watch the full episodes on YouTube. I hope you enjoy listening to these conversations, and thank you for coming along on the journey. I’m so excited you’re here with us—it’s going to be a great time!
