Latest / Let's Talk Podcasts from Feminist Podcasters Collective / There Are No Podcasting Rules with SuperKate
Transcript
- Becky Mollenkamp (00:00) Thank you for being here. we're joined today by Super Kate. Slepicka Slepicka I got it. I think. SuperKate (00:06) Yeah, yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (00:07) thank you for joining me, Superkate. SuperKate (00:07) Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Becky Mollenkamp (00:12) Can you start out by telling us the name of your show and just a very brief what it's about? We'll go into more of it in a minute. SuperKate (00:18) Yeah, my show is called Connecting with Super Kate. And it has been it's for all of those incredible women that we know out there who are just overwhelmed and stressed, exhausted, but they know they have to keep going because there's a better world that they're building. And sometimes they just need the support of how to move through the moment to moment of the chaos. And I'm trying to give them tips and tools. to get there, along with awesome people who are outside of my my expertise. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (00:49) Awesome. Well, I'm excited to learn more about that and about your podcasting journey. But I've been having people start by telling me the reason that you podcast. So if you can say the reason why I podcast is. SuperKate (01:00) The reason I podcast is I love connecting with you and with myself. Becky Mollenkamp (01:05) Nice. Excellent. So let's talk about the journey. When did you first SuperKate (01:07) Yeah. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (01:09) start podcasting and what made you think this is a medium I want to explore? SuperKate (01:13) So I started mid-April, but I have been kicking around the idea for probably a couple of years. I had at the beginning of 2025 the idea that I was going to finally start this podcast. It didn't matter that everybody was doing podcasts. I had an idea, but it was completely unconnected to my business. I just thought it would be a fun adventure. And it is, I mean, it had like it still could be a fun adventure. But I never followed through with it because I got stuck in the, maybe I have to hire a company to help me out. And that's money. Or you know, where do I even start? And it wasn't until October when our our mutual friend Julie Marty Pearson was offering a podcast accelerator course that I said, okay, this is it. I've got to step up. I I I know I need to do this for my business. I'm gonna do it. And so I took that, got overwhelmed again with the process, but at least I knew I could do it by myself. And then finally I said, I don't need a two-week launch. Nobody's waiting for this. Nobody knows it's coming. I'm just putting it out there. And so I finally did that in mid-April. And I just published my 21st episode. And I'm planning at least 45 by the end of the year. I just, I've been really enjoying it. I just yeah, it's so much fun. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (02:26) Nice. What was it about podcasting as a medium that you were like, I want to go down this path? And has it lived up to that or are there other reasons you're enjoying it beyond what you thought you might? SuperKate (02:37) so I did spend part of my career as a sound engineer for animated shows in the industry. And I thought I would enjoy this because it would get me back into sound again. But really, what I have been enjoying about it is it has been pushing me creatively. And I think I it's timed right in that I have a lot that I want to get out right now. And a few years ago, I wasn't, I just didn't feel that generation buzz at all. It was a struggle. But if you you had said you're going to happily write an episode every week, or maybe two, and you're going to start getting like interested in talking to people, not just because you love talking to people, but because you can see how you're mutually beneficial to each other to get out. Sort of a similar message. Yeah, I just wouldn't, I wouldn't have seen it from a more of a professional perspective. I just enjoy having the conversations. I grew up in a very small town, which has its ups and downs, but my family ran the newspaper. I'm I would have been fifth generation if I continued it. So I was just used to everybody knowing each other. There's always conversations happening. It was just easy. And so I think that that carried through and I didn't expect that influence to show up at this point in my life. But yeah, it's been fun. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (04:02) Yeah. Well, and you're new in the journey, and I love speaking with people who are at SuperKate (04:05) Mm-hmm. Becky Mollenkamp (04:05) like all sorts of places along this podcasting journey, and somebody who's only a few months in and is already feeling that like it's scratching an itch for me. I think that's great. What are the lessons that you've been learning as you've been doing this? Because you were nervous to start, as I think many people are because of perfectionism, because of overwhelm, just all the things that often hold us back of like. Do I know enough? What am I missing? What if I don't do it right? What if it doesn't sound good? And you got through those and now you're doing this. So like what are you learning? Is it as scary as you thought it was? Is easier than you thought it was? Are there other things that you've been learning through the process of doing this? SuperKate (04:44) Yeah, the so I I am grateful that sound editing has gotten faster and quicker. I could have had no problems with that even, you know, back in the day. But now it's just, it's so smooth. It's fascinating. But I also understand that I have a I come in with a learning curve that my sound engineering past helped with. So that was never going to be a hang up of mine. What I was concerned about was not knowing what to talk about. But everybody I had talked to kind of across the board was like 10 to 20 episodes in, you're you're just throwing stuff at the wall. I mean, unless you really have an idea, you won't find your voice until part way in. And I just kind of said, I'm tired of waiting on myself. I want to do this. I am, I have it in me. And part of that is because I am a natural performer. And so I don't mind being on camera. My podcasts are also video form. I don't mind voicing my opinions most of the time. So it felt like a very natural thing. The struggle that the I think the biggest struggle for me has been. Comp composing an episode in a in a fashion that people are going to be interested in listening to instead of me just rambling for, you know, five to ten minutes. There needs to be a cohesive arc. At least that's what I believe currently. And so that finding when I'm writing the episodes, how am I creating that arc instead of just getting on camera and talking that y at the moment I can only really do that on you know short reels on the social media stuff. So Becky Mollenkamp (06:20) Yeah. SuperKate (06:20) that has been a little more of a struggle for me. and then honestly posting that I have a podcast. I'm getting better about about marketing it, but most of it's just been word of mouth. but that goes, Becky Mollenkamp (06:32) Yeah. SuperKate (06:33) you know, goes into all like marketing anyway. Like that's yeah the struggle. So Becky Mollenkamp (06:36) I'm I think so many of us can relate to that. I I want to just quickly highlight something you said because it was so good, which is I was tired of waiting on myself because I think SuperKate (06:44) Mm. Becky Mollenkamp (06:45) so many people I talk to were like, I want to start a podcast. And then you will see it can take years and they still have never done it. And when you really explore the why, so much of it's just them waiting on themselves, waiting on themselves to have the confidence to do it, waiting on themselves to have the self-belief to do it, waiting on themselves to have the belief that they have something to say, like you said. That they have the ability, all of those things. And and once they do it, I think a lot of people I talked to are like, well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be. I I yeah, I should have I wish I had done this earlier. So for people who might be in that camp of like still waiting to believe on, you know, still waiting to believe in themselves or still waiting to get out of their own way, what would you say to them now that you're four or five months into actually putting a show out there? SuperKate (07:27) Well, you get to make the show yours. And I think for a while we all, or at least I and a few people I know were under the assumption that we have to have weekly episodes, they have to be twenty to sixty minutes long, they have to deliver all of this value all of the time. And when I got to step cause I had been considering doing guided meditations because my clients really enjoyed those. I thought, well, those could be episodes. Well, that knocks some stuff out of the, you know. And then I tried writing a 20-minute episode and it didn't work out. It was like seven minutes. And I thought, well, the okay, then it's seven minutes. Why not play around with this? If this is what I want to try right now, then great. If it ends up being a monthly only episode drop that is 40 or 60 minutes of really intense content, then that's what it becomes. But this is allowing it to flow with the energy that you have now because the rules are going to change in another six months and people are going to expect something a year from now. And this is another opportunity for us to connect with how we are both inspired to Talk to, or you know, inspired to do this fun, ridiculous thing, or however we're inspired to speak to our clients or what we think our clients need. Or if you're just doing it for fun, then make it fun. I think we keep putting these rules on ourselves because it makes us feel safe. If we can follow these rules, then it will work out a certain way. And I still battle some of those rules in my head. But then I start questioning if that's that worked for that person or this is not feeling right right now, but I think it will feel right in the future, then follow that. But a lot of that has been me on my own journey of what do I really want this to be? And I want this to be an extension of both my business, but Me as a human figuring it out. And I we're all trying to figure it Becky Mollenkamp (09:28) Yeah. Because whose rules are they? SuperKate (09:31) out. Becky Mollenkamp (09:31) Yeah, whose rules are they anyway, right? The rules are all made up because the podcasting is the wild west in so many ways. There's no regulatory body, there's no actual rules that you will face a fine or take an off the air or anything like that if you don't follow them. The rules are only what you decide that they are. And if they're not working for you, then why are you holding yourself to them? SuperKate (09:54) Exactly. Exactly. And I and I love that we've finally also gotten to the podcast video cast because I I would happily just do a podcast, but I am definitely more interested in adding the video aspect. And now most of the time it's just me here. But I think The ability to see people, if you have that ability in your body to actually see people, adds such a wonderful extra layer because you really get to know them in a new way. And you get to hear and vi and visibly see how they are sharing their information with you. And I I know it's not for everybody, but for me it's It's a super like ice cream on the top kind of a situation. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (10:37) Yeah. Well, that's the rules, right? There are no rules. There was one point where it wasn't a podcast if it had video, right? That was part of the quote SuperKate (10:44) Right. Becky Mollenkamp (10:45) unquote rules. And that's certainly not the case anymore. But it's also still now that so many people are video first, it's also okay if your podcast is only audio. That can that's now feeling like it's breaking the rules and it's allowed because the rules are arbitrary. SuperKate (10:57) Yeah, yeah. And I I've I've kind of been enjoying it taking this in a like I know my bet the best social media posts that I have tend to push the three-minute mark because I'm really getting into what I'm saying and I wanna talk about it. And this now this platform gives me that opportunity to just make a longer post that is certainly not gonna you know, show up in your feed if it's eight to ten minutes long. And nor are you probably gonna sit there and watch it because you're in the scrolling mode. So this really gets at least me the opportunity to go a little bit deeper than I get to on a daily basis on any of the algorithms. Becky Mollenkamp (11:39) Well, what are the quote unquote rules that you're following now for your show? What does the format look like for you? Are you saying there is no format? Sometimes it's me with a guest and it's an hour, sometimes it's me and it's five minutes. How are you kind of approaching the content? SuperKate (11:53) Well, originally I decided I would do solo episode one week, guided meditation, solo episode, and then guest episode. And that mostly happened in May. Didn't happen in April because I came in mid mid-April, but it happened in May. And then I just didn't I I just didn't have anybody in June. I just wasn't feeling compelled to talk to anybody. Nobody came across my path that showed interest in what my podcast was about. So that was fine. I wasn't actively putting it out there. So I thought this is not a great time for me to then just push more solo stuff because it is a little bit harder. And s in July, I ended up putting out a three episode, like three episodes in one week. Because I wanted to create a series, and that felt really aligned in the time in that moment. This week, I did my guided meditation. But this month I'm also, well, technically the first of September, because the recording is happening a little later than I wanted to, but I will have a guest. And for pretty much the rest of the year, I will have one guest a month. But that gives me the opportunity to both lean into the meditations that are getting repeat review, like repeat listens. People are enjoying them. It gets me the opportunity to put my voice out there, my beliefs, and how I support, you know, my people. But then when I find people that are aligned, I get them to come in and and have a good conversation. And I think some of them are also going to end up being good collaborators outside of this in the future, which is really fantastic. But if I change my mind and I decide it's only solo episodes, then that's what it will be. I don't foresee it ever being only guests though. That's yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (13:33) Yeah. Well, you mentioned that one of the things that maybe you weren't as weren't expecting as much when you were thinking about podcasting is just this like creative expression component of it, that it's the SuperKate (13:43) Mm-hmm. Becky Mollenkamp (13:44) space that is a is giving you such an area to play and be creative. And that still goes with this idea of breaking the rules because it sounds like you're allowing yourself to say, I can the podcast can just be what I'm feeling compelled or called to do in that moment and let that be the thing. And that when you're able to get to that place where you can break the rules, that really unlocks so much creativity and so much play. And I think allows people SuperKate (14:10) Yeah. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (14:11) to really see you for who you are because you are, you're saying, I get to show up fully me this week. And so that makes it even more intimate in a way, because it's like I get to see how you express yourself. SuperKate (14:22) Yeah, if I it definitely took me a while to get here from a sp very much from a marketing, you know, standpoint too, because this is very much tied to my business. But that idea of if I want people to work with me, they have to trust me, but they are going to binge everything that I do if they really like I do that with the people I follow and then I've worked with. I go through stuff. Because I get to know them more. I get more information from them. And me showing up in one way that isn't who they're gonna get on a call that doesn't benefit either of us. And I I definitely I there was there last week I was had written an episode and I really wasn't in the mood to because this is kind of like the outfit that I put on for everything. It's super easy and I don't have to think about it. But I was like, do I record the episode in the the very clearly like pajama like shirt I have on right now? I mean I could. It would get the episode recorded. I'm not ready to do that yet, but I have that option. I know I have that option because sometimes I will show up on a call like that. And that's okay. So that But knowing that there are people, one of the I haven't followed the podcast, it's Grave Conversations, I think it's what it's called. And they both like lay in coffins and have the interview. I'm like, that's fantastic. What a crazy like little thing. Okay, no rules. Let's go, let's go. Becky Mollenkamp (15:50) Yeah. SuperKate (15:50) but I definitely have been one of those people who doesn't always follow the rules throughout my life. Becky Mollenkamp (15:55) Yeah. SuperKate (15:55) So it has probably been a bit easier for me to Dive into that feeling. Becky Mollenkamp (15:59) Well, and you mentioned earlier that rules also create a feeling of safety, or at least a they give us a feeling of safe safety. Whether actually creating safety or not is a whole other story. But they're giv sometime for some people, and sometimes that's a trauma response, sometimes that's a conditioned response. It could be a whole bunch of things. But sometimes having some rules, some structure, some rigidity creates that feeling of some safety. And and we can honor that too, right? For those people, if that is what SuperKate (16:23) Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (16:23) it what you need. I think part of it though, what what I'm feeling from this is Exploring how much of that is for safety. And if that is it, that's great. But then where is it actually maybe about holding you back from actually starting, from putting yourself out there? Because sometimes we can convince ourselves, no, I need all these things to feel safe to do it. And that may be a story that we're telling ourselves because the truth is we're just afraid to be seen, to be heard, whatever it is, to to be creative, to be our fully authentic, to be ourselves. And so Trying to navigate that can be challenging, but I love the invitation to do that. SuperKate (16:59) Yeah, yeah. I mean, we all grow up with so many different conditioned responses, so many different trauma responses. What's clearly gonna work for me or for you is not gonna work for somebody else. but it I mean, that's one of the things I love exploring in my own body is is this a trauma response or is this just a conditioning and Why am I choosing to believe this? Or why have I been sort of forced to believe this through my lifetime? And I could have continued to hold myself back because I literally recorded the trailer two days before I said I was going to publish it on top of the first episode. And but I thought, no, this is totally no one knows. This is such a wonderful moment that no one knows about. And I just get to start. And I but that was I felt myself wanting to have the two-week launch cycle, wanting to let everybody in, you know, in newsletters and everything ramp up that. And I felt myself saying, Okay, maybe I'll do it next week. And my body was very much reacting. And I said, No, you're You this is this is unhealthy now. This is holding you back. Step forward. And then you can talk about it. Like you are not doing this. You've not been doing this for almost a year and a half now. Let's just get going. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (18:21) Well, and I feel like based on what you've said so far, I feel like this is is something you relate to and where we can go too. It's just around somatics because I think so many people in our community and the podcast collective are the kinds of folks who are more in touch with their bodies, with their inner knowing, who have more interest in that sort of dialogue. And I think it's important to pay attention to your body and what's it telling you. And I think sometimes with marketing endeavors and podcasting usually fits in that for most business owners. We try to step really into this logical brain and again back to the rules and doing it a certain way and where you think we're supposed to, without really checking in with does this work for me? And one of those ways to identify that is like, how does this decision, this thing I'm thinking about doing, this approach I think about taking, how does that feel in my body? And I just think those embodied experiences can be such valuable information. Especially when we're talking about stepping outside of what you think is the norm or the rule, to check in with your body and see what information it's giving you about what you're thinking about doing. SuperKate (19:25) Yeah, I mean, we are, especially those conditioned as women, are we are taught to do everything all the time for everybody else and don't pay attention to what's happening. I I think a lot of society, even men, get that too, in that just power forward. It's very yeah, a masculine identity, not to be confused with men, but like a masculine identity. right, feeling of just go forward and Because we spend often spend years and years doing that, we don't know what the answer is that our body is giving us. And that's, I think, what I was taking time with was just, you know, sort of breaking apart, is this because it's not aligned? Or is it because I don't want to do it right now? Or is it because I'm actually just terrified of doing it, period. and I mean, there's like i whatever the you know, the branch out of those those answers are. But I knew at that point I'd done enough work with myself that I felt I'm holding myself back because I don't think I'm doing it right and whatever that means. And this is just something to push to move through. Push through. I kind of pushed through it, but I knew on the other side of it I would get the release that I needed, which was that it was out there. And I could stop at 10 episodes. I could stop at 500, like whatever it is. But I needed to say just go, no matter that it feels scary. But I have again done that work where I know in many situations. Is it scary because it's bad? Or is it scary because it's just kind of scary and things can be scary? Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (21:09) Yeah. Well, and I think that's a key piece of that too, is that it's one thing for someone to say, Well, you're just holding yourself back or, you know, just get over the fear and do it. Sure, that all sounds great, but if I'm still not really if I'm believing my story or whatever it is, I that's not helpful. But I think hearing people talk about how you actually check with your body and learning to listen to your body's response and the answers are there more than somebody else just saying, Just do the thing or whatever. And Usually if you can get quiet and listen, your body's gonna tell you the truth to those questions of am I just afraid or is this not aligned or whatever? So thank you for sharing that. And I love that you said SuperKate (21:45) Yeah, absolutely. Becky Mollenkamp (21:46) I can just do it for 10 episodes or I can do it for whatever. So I because I want to talk about like moving forward. You've been out for a few months now already. You're experimenting and playing and having things be what they are. And some weeks there's an episode, sometimes there's not. Sometimes there's the interview, or maybe I'll go a couple of months and there isn't. What is it feeling like for you moving forward? Like What's the horizon look like? Are you feeling like I'm definitely gonna be doing this longer than twenty episodes? Right. It sounds like yes. like SuperKate (22:12) Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (22:13) what are you thinking moving forward about how you see the show developing? SuperKate (22:17) Right now, I haven't sort of focused any farther than 45 episodes, which I I I do believe I will have done before the end of 2026. This platform has given me it's so it's so interesting. I have struggled for years to create lead magnets, and somehow this is it's way easier to. Do a series, a focus series, and say, okay, how can I connect this as a lead magnet for my clients? So that is actually pushing, and maybe it's just the momentum that I have now a cadence of every week I'm writing an episode, which means I have to have an idea or a theme or whatever to move towards. I see episodes easily happening for the next several months. I don't see I don't see myself stopping. I am curious if I will maintain weekly episodes next year. But I right now my body's like, that is that's this that's too far. You know what your goal is. Get to your goal and then make a plan then. But it feels natural. Becky Mollenkamp (23:23) Yeah. Soup future superkate can deal with that. Yeah. But you're you're loving it. And you see, it feels like a future. And honestly, everything inside of that and what we've been talking about, the thing I just keep coming back to and hearing is it's like when you find the thing that's right for you, SuperKate (23:37) Mm-hmm. Becky Mollenkamp (23:37) and and you allow yourself to play, you allow yourself to try it, it becomes, I don't want to say easy, but it it feels right. Like there's this feeling because you're saying, like, I because I feel I know the same thing of like in the past I would struggle with this. And now that I've found this path towards this thing, suddenly it's unlocked something. And I just think that really speaks to finding the thing that works for you. And for some people, that's not going to be podcasting. But if you give yourself that chance to try and experiment, it could be that that's the thing that really unlocks something for you. SuperKate (24:08) Yeah. And I wouldn't have been able to tell you even a year ago that podcasting was gonna unlock something. Probably even honestly nine months ago when I, you know, when I signed up for Julie's course. I just thought, okay, this is something that interests me. I'm finally gonna take some step towards it. But I certainly didn't feel like the world was opening up at the end of that course. I was looking at because she's so good at giving you so much information. I was like, my gosh, there's so much information. okay. I didn't I didn't even think about this stuff. Okay. And I I didn't see yeah the doorway. But Becky Mollenkamp (24:46) Mm-hmm. SuperKate (24:47) now I'm I see the doorway and I and I do love again coming back to the video aspect. I could move this all over to just YouTube lives or YouTube priority Becky Mollenkamp (24:57) Mm-hmm. SuperKate (24:58) that then gets pushed to podcasts. Whereas I feel like in the past, but again, I haven't been in this world very long. There were people who did stuff on YouTube and there were people who did podcasts, and there was no repurposing, crossover, anything. So the crossover aspect is really just, yeah. So I'm I'm excited. Becky Mollenkamp (25:17) Yeah. SuperKate (25:18) I'm I don't see it ending. but it could sh it will change. It will change. And that's exciting. Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (25:22) Yeah. Permission granted, right? To allow it to be what it's gonna be. And to if that if it changes, it changes. But I just I think it's a really lovely example of giving yourself that permission to try something and to play with that something and then discovering that sometimes it unlocks something. SuperKate (25:38) When was the last time you let something just happen and see where it went? Becky Mollenkamp (25:43) Well, I mean, speaking of podcasting, I do it all the time. So I I don't know about the last time. But with podcasting, what I've discovered too is if I have an interest and I want to explore something, I can just podcast about that thing and let it be that exploration. And then it that can be it. It doesn't have to go on forever. Speaking of like you said, so last summer I did a series called Assigned Reading, where we read feminist essays. Me and a friend would read an essay and talk about it. And I loved it. And then I kind of got what I needed from it, at least for now. And I also give myself that permission to say it could come back. If I feel inspired again. This summer I did an ex I've done this exploration called assigned assigned no analogish. Sorry. And that one is exploring what does it mean to be human in an AI world? And I've done, I think each one has around 20 episodes. And that felt each one felt kind of complete to me for now. But again, SuperKate (26:31) Awesome. Becky Mollenkamp (26:31) I also love that permission to say, but if I call feel called again, I could always go back for a season two. And I use transistor. not that this is a big ad, but they allow you to have as many podcasts as you want, right? So you pay one monthly fee SuperKate (26:43) Nice. Becky Mollenkamp (26:43) and you can have as have as many shows as you want to have. So I can add a show and then I can just let it live. And they both continue to find audiences. They still are getting new listens, no new episodes coming out, which also kind of defies the rules that you have to have these. Sometimes it can just sit there and find people who are interested in that topic too, because maybe they're having that season of life now where they're like, this is the thing I'm interested in. So I love it. SuperKate (27:06) Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (27:06) I love that you're open to play and experimentation. I think we can get so rigid about anything, including podcasting, where it has to be this and it has to be forever and it has to be this big commitment. It has to be blah, blah, blah. There's no has-to's. You get to play. Let it be what you want to be. And I think it's such a great example of that. So thank you for sharing. And where can people SuperKate (27:23) Yeah. Becky Mollenkamp (27:23) go to find connecting with Supercade or more about you? SuperKate (27:26) Yeah, you can go to my website, the Superkate, or the, depending on how you pronounce T-H-E, Becky Mollenkamp (27:31) Yeah. SuperKate (27:32) thesuperkate.com. I'm also on Instagram at the underscore superkate. And I'm on the other socials, but those are my two primary playplaces. and YouTube, which is connecting with superkate. Yeah, thank you. Becky Mollenkamp (27:41) And probably YouTube, right? Because you said you liked the video. All right. Perfect. Because this will also be on YouTube. So I will try to make you a collaborator so you can share it there if you want. And SuperKate (27:52) Thank you. Becky Mollenkamp (27:52) that's an easy way for people to find your channel as well. Thank you so much, Super Kate, for this conversation. It was fantastic. Everyone go take a listen to SuperKate (27:58) Yes. Becky Mollenkamp (27:59) Connecting with Super Kate. Follow on YouTube, Instagram and join us in the podcast collective. Thank you. SuperKate (28:05) Thank you so much.