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Lessons From Jimothy the Raccoon for Every New Podcaster · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:04
  Welcome to the CarCast. Today we are podcasting
• 0:08
  from my Subaru Outback. Complete with stuff in
• 0:11
  the backseat from having a lake day. I actually
• 0:14
  tried recording this out on the pontoon at the
• 0:17
  lake, but there are kids playing in the lake,
• 0:21
  there are pontoons going by, there are neighbors
• 0:23
  playing the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Insert
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  clip of that here. The neighbors are playing
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  the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I feel like
• 0:30
  I need to stop and salute and, like, if only
• 0:33
  we made Whitefish Bay. Should have just put 15
• 0:36
  more miles behind her. So I decided, you know
• 0:38
  what? I really want to get this episode done
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  and I'm not going to let my environment stop
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  me from creating this content that I want to.
• 0:45
  So I'm going to practice what I preach and I'm
• 0:47
  going to record in my car. So you're getting
• 0:49
  a car cast today as we are parked at my parents'
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  lake spot as that is where I am hanging out.
• 0:55
  But today's podcast, I want to talk about Jimothy.
• 0:59
  jimothy the raccoon who is taking over my feed
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  everyone's for you pages everybody loves this
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  little weird deformed raccoon and i think that
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  this little weird deformed raccoon can teach
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  us a lot about podcasting. Like there are some
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  hidden lessons in Jimothy's existence and popularity
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  that we can apply to podcasting. So that is what
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  we are going to do today is we're going to talk
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  about lessons from Jimothy for podcasting because
• 1:25
  he is small but he is mighty. So the first lesson
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  that we are learning from Jimothy the raccoon
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  is that at first when you start something or
• 1:34
  you become something, in his case a small deformed
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  raccoon, in your case a podcaster, it's gonna
• 1:40
  feel weird. It's going to feel weird and different
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  and you might feel a little out of place because
• 1:45
  you don't necessarily know what you're doing.
• 1:48
  Whether that is learning how to navigate the
• 1:50
  world by missing half of your spine or if you're
• 1:53
  just learning how to podcast. If you're learning
• 1:55
  how to have a conversation with you and a camera
• 1:57
  or learning how to talk into a microphone or
• 2:00
  figuring out editing for the first time, you're
• 2:02
  going to feel weird. You're going to feel different.
• 2:04
  You're going to feel like you don't belong. But
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  it's important to power through those feelings
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  because life is all about getting past those
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  and having new experiences and feeling a little
• 2:15
  out of place sometimes. That's what makes the
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  human experience human is having those things.
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  Like we don't all just naturally start out one
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  day as experts. We don't come out of the womb
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  as perfect podcasters. We don't come out of the
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  womb as perfect raccoons sometimes. So what we're
• 2:32
  learning from Jimothy in lesson one is that it's
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  going to feel weird. You're going to feel different,
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  but you really need to push through that. The
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  next lesson our dear sweet Jimothy is teaching
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  us about podcasting is that when you first get
• 2:44
  started and you push past, people might double
• 2:48
  take when they find out what you're doing or
• 2:50
  what you're all about. Like, remember the first
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  time you saw Jimothy and you're like, wait, what
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  was that? Like what? You're confused. You didn't
• 2:58
  know what it was. You didn't know how to process
• 3:01
  what you're seeing, what you're experiencing.
• 3:04
  I think that we all had that with Jimothy and
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  we have that with new endeavors, right? When
• 3:09
  we see our friend trying something new, we're
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  all like, wait, you're doing what now? What?
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  People are going to have that reaction to you.
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  And it's important to not let that get to you.
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  Because like we talked about in lesson one, you're
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  having this new human experience. trying something
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  for the first time. And the key word there is
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  you're trying. You're being brave enough to take
• 3:30
  a bet on yourself and try something new. And
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  people are going to go, wait, you're doing what?
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  You have a podcast about what? What are you talking
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  about? And let them have that reaction because
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  they're not the ones putting themselves out there
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  and being brave and being a cute little raccoon
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  just existing in the world. You're going to get
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  that double take, but don't let the double take
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  stop you from doing what you believe in. And
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  honestly, that double take might come with some
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  judgments. People might be going, oh, oh, like
• 4:00
  once they double take and they get locked in
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  on what you're doing, they might have some judgments
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  about what you're doing. Like, who does she think
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  she is? Who does he think he is? Why do they
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  think they're the expert in something? They're
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  not qualified for that. They're not an expert
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  podcaster. They're not a real raccoon. Yes, you
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  are. Yes, you are. You're being brave. You're
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  taking a bet on yourself. You're putting yourself
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  out there. They can double take. Let them judge
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  you because it says so much more about them than
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  it ever will say about you. The third lesson
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  we can take from Jimothy is that people will
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  watch you silently for quite some time. Jimothy
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  has actually been around. Let's find out. How
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  old is Jimothy the raccoon? Jimothy the raccoon
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  is between one and two years old. Veterinarians
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  and wildlife experts believe the Seattle -based
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  viral star was born around the spring of 2025.
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  He's famous for his rare spinal defect. He is
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  super cute, but he's been around for a while.
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  And when is he going viral on the internet? Right
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  now. It is July 19th, 2026, and this is the week
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  of Jimothy on the internet. So people are going
• 5:06
  to sit and they're going to silently watch you
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  for a while. How many videos have you seen lately
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  of little itty bitty baby Jimothy? Like, sitting
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  there with his mom taking such good care of him.
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  She is such a good mom. And she's taking care
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  of this small little rotund raccoon. people were
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  just filming this silently. And now all of a
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  sudden, because it's cool and popular, these
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  videos are populating on the internet like crazy.
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  So for a year and a half, we all silently watched
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  Jimothy and his family existing in the world,
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  not really sharing about it, not really doing
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  anything about it. There's going to be a lot
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  of silent lurkers when it comes to your podcast,
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  your fan base. If you're not starting out with
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  an already established audience, it's going to
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  start pretty small. It's going to be a pretty
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  tight circle, but When it expands and the right
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  people start talking about it in the right rooms
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  to the right people, sharing it with friends,
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  sharing it with family, sharing it with colleagues,
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  that's when that reach just continues to expand
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  and expand and expand. So like Jimothy, it was
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  a slow start. I didn't know about Jimothy last
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  year when he was just an itty bitty baby, but
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  now I know all about Jimothy because the right
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  people were silently watching all this time and
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  now finally sharing it with the right audiences.
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  When you start your podcast, do not be discouraged
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  if you're not getting engagement right off the
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  hook, if you're not getting the downloads you
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  want, if you're not getting the followers on
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  social media that you want, if you're not getting
• 6:35
  the comments on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook,
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  all the places, because it just takes the right
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  person sharing it with the right platform for
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  it to explode. Savor that silence, sit with it,
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  be okay with it, and let people silently watch
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  you. Because trust me, they're watching. And
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  the last lesson I think we can all take from
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  Jimothy and apply to podcasting is that you can
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  become iconic just for being yourself. This is
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  a vermin we are obsessed with. It is a raccoon,
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  a trash panda. These things carry rabies and
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  the internet is in love with Jimothy just because
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  he's himself, because he's different. He is not
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  your normal. run -of -the -mill raccoon he's
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  got this stubby little tail his spine is a circle
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  he's just this like lump of cute raccoon fur
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  and it's just a raccoon like he is just a wild
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  raccoon he's not in a zoo or anything we're just
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  all obsessed with him because he is uniquely
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  himself. And I think your audience is going to
• 7:39
  fall in love with you for the exact same reason.
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  They're going to love your podcast because you
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  are uniquely you. You are the only person who
• 7:47
  has your perspective on life. You are the only
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  person who has lived your life, who has had your
• 7:52
  experiences, who can translate them into lessons
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  or stories or entertainment. You are you. And
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  there is only one of you. And you can become
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  iconic just for being you. Think about any other
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  famous figure in the past. Remember Punch, the
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  little baby monkey who was getting bullied by
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  all the other monkeys in that enclosure over
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  in Japan? We all loved Punch because Punch was
• 8:18
  uniquely him. He was a sweet little guy who was
• 8:20
  getting picked on. He was the underdog. And we
• 8:23
  all rallied around him because he was him. Your
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  favorite celebrities are the same way. Jenna
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  Marbles is someone who comes to mind for me.
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  She was a huge inspiration for me growing up.
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  I loved her YouTube channel. I loved her Jenna
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  and Julian podcast she did. She was just an amazing
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  content creator. And what she did was just hop
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  on the internet every single week and be herself.
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  like almost to a fault. Like she shaved her eyebrows
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  and dyed her hair so many times and did so many
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  weird things to her face and body, but it was
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  just in the name of being herself and being uniquely
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  her. And it inspired an entire generation of
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  people to also just be themselves. And share
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  their experience with the internet. Share it
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  with the world. And you find your audience by
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  being truly, authentically, uniquely you. So
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  that's my last lesson I think we can learn from
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  Jimothy. And there might be more in the future
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  if I come up with some and see things. But I
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  think that is huge. You can become iconic for
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  just... being you and sharing your experiences
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  with the world. You will find your people if
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  you put your story out there. So that's what
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  I got for you this week for my podcast. This
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  was not a planned episode. I had something totally
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  different planned for this show this week. I
• 9:38
  had it edited. I had it scheduled the whole nine
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  yards, but we're blowing it up to talk about
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  a raccoon because I am obsessed with Jimothy.
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  I think he is awesome. I just love that little
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  guy so much. And I just hope that you... Take
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  even one of these lessons and apply it to your
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  own podcast, getting it started out in the world
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  and just being true to yourself. And if you see
• 10:00
  any cool videos of Jimothy that you think I haven't
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  seen or you think I should see. send them my
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  way because I love animal videos on the internet.
• 10:08
  And if you're looking for help getting started
• 10:10
  with your podcast, be sure to sign up for the
• 10:12
  wait list for the bet on yourself podcast coaching
• 10:15
  program. I got the link to sign up for the wait
• 10:18
  list down in the bio. And of course you can work
• 10:20
  with me deeper as well at abbygravesproductions
• 10:23
  .com. I will catch you next week.