How a Momprenuer of 2 Reached 100 Million Podcast Downloads From Her Closet with Katie Krimitsos

0:01Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Side Hustle Pro. Today, we'll be breaking down how a mompreneur of two reached 100 million podcast downloads from her closet. To draw these value bombs, I am brought to Katie Kramotsis and the EO Fire Studios. Katie is the creator of the Women's Meditation Network, a collection of 15 meditation podcasts. She's a mom of two young girls, loves a good margarita, and wants to save all the animals in the world.

0:39And today, for our nation, we'll talk about our inner voice. We'll talk about ego. We're going to talk about growing bigger and asking one question to do that and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Katie and our sponsors. The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by Jenna Kuchar, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business hacks, inspirational stories, and so much more. One of my favorite recent episodes is titled, How I've Built an Unmatched Team Culture, an insanely important topic for all business owners to dive into.

1:16Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts. Many EO Fire listeners have launched non-food franchises, and Franbridge Consulting has guided them. Franbridge's founder and frequent EO Fire guest, John Ostenson, has done more placements than any other in the country, and his service is free. sign up for a consultation with John or get a copy of his book, Non-Food Franchising, at FranBridgeConsulting.com. Katie, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Hey, Fire Nation. So excited to be here. Oh, I can answer that one right away.

1:57I believe as a mom and as a business owner that I do not have to choose one or the other to put the full gas on in order to really find success in both. It's often believed that in order to have a successful business or profession, you really need to spend less time with your kids or have less of a family life or less of a personal life. Or in the opposite, if you want to be a really phenomenal mother or parent, you have to put a hold on your business. and put a hold on your professional life. And that ruffles a lot of people's feathers because it's a very real feeling, that pull, I call it. But I do believe that it's a limiting belief.

2:40And my question is always, well, how can I? So I really believe heavily that I don't have to choose between those two. Well, as I mentioned in our pre-interview chat, you are a trailblazer in this area. And I'm really excited that Kate and I have somebody that we can kind of follow in the footsteps of this mentality because that's definitely the direction that we want to go. And Fire Nation, to circle back, I mean, this is all about how a mompreneur of two reached 100 million podcast downloads from her closet. And we'll talk about exactly what a closet is because if you're not a podcaster, you might not get it.

3:16But we'll get there in a second here. But you believe, Katie, that listening to our inner voice can lead us to success, even if it does take a while. Tell us more. Yeah. And even if that line or that journey looks very weird and different and jetting all over the place, right? I'll tell you this story. When I started the Women's Meditation Network five years ago, in the breath right before I started it, I found out that I was pregnant with my second daughter. And at the time, I had a very successful business called Biz Women Rock that, you know, whose podcast kind of supported a whole coaching business.

3:57And it was a really beautiful model. I loved the business. It was amazing. And then in early 2018, we found out we were pregnant. And within a heartbeat, I just knew I heard that whisper that was like, I don't want this anymore. And it was a very scary whisper to hear. And that was my intuition talking. And I, you know, kind of went through all of the emotions that come up and all the second guessing and I don't know, but if I don't do this, what am I supposed to do? And in the time and space I gave myself to sort of like sit with all of it and all of that discomfort and what do I do? I really did a lot to tune into that inner voice and like, what do I need to be doing?

4:36And am I just trying to self-sabotage myself and tell myself that, no, I don't want this business? Like, what is it really? And it was in that space that I really heard, no, I don't want this old business. I want to start a women's meditation podcast. And having been in the podcasting space, I knew enough to go do my research and see what was out there and was simultaneously surprised and also incredibly encouraged that there was very little that existed in that space in the podcasting world already. And so I just knew I needed to go forward with it. And if you stood by me as an outsider, somebody who was not me, it looked really weird for me to go from a business podcast and a business company to one that was all meditation.

5:23No one really knew me as someone who meditated or even talked about meditation. I wasn't a meditation teacher or guide. I've never done any of that stuff. But my intuition kept telling me this is the direction to go. And that's the direction that I just continue to really courageously show up and take action on because I've had a lot of practice listening to that intuitive voice, right? So I'm like, okay, I'm just going to take the next best step forward and figure it out along the way. And I believe that that is the reason why I'm here today and why we've had the reach that we've had and we've been able to impact so many women's lives across the globe because I just continue to listen to that intuition along the way.

6:04I love that phrase that you used, which is courageously show up and take action on. What is it for you, Fire Nation, that you're waiting to be courageous to show up and take action on? Because it's there for you. Be courageous. Fortune does favor the bold. And Katie, I want to talk about how your belief that ego can be an enemy and that dropping our ego will actually allow us to see answers that are right in front of us, maybe have been the whole time. So tell us more about this line of thinking and give us a real world example. Oh my goodness. So our egos are part of us. So there's no such thing called like, oh, we're going to transcend our ego.

6:43And all of a sudden we don't have this human ego, right? But the ego that I'm speaking to is sort of the loud voice that constantly tells you either, I'm not good enough. I can't do this. It's too much. Who am I to do this? And we all sort of have those whispers and they all sound a little different. But, you know, identifying that as ego and identifying when you have those thoughts or those feelings is such a powerful tool to allow you to sidestep some big, you know, bombs that are going to be in your way. or allow you to really become the person that you need to be in order to fulfill the path that you're on.

7:28And so I'll give you a real world example of this. This is a couple of years ago. And the way that I had worked at the time was as a, you know, my traditional business model is very traditional media company. So a good chunk of my income and revenue comes from advertising, host read advertising, programmatic advertising. And back then I was non-exclusive. I was working with a lot of different agencies who would all kind of bring me different, you know, advertisers. And it was great. Everything worked great. And somewhere in my brain, I kind of got it in my head like, oh, well, if I want to really do this well and really be considered kind of an expert and, you know, somebody who's successful, then I need to be exclusive with a media agency.

8:11And, you know, basically saying, OK, I have a partnership with just one agency and that's the agency that's going to bring me all this stuff. They'll give me a minimum guarantee. They'll do all this stuff for me, right? And I made it mean a lot about what it was. And so to make a very long story short, I basically ended up in interviews with two different media agencies. And on one call, I felt great. The energy was awesome. I was like, yes, this is it. On another call with a different agency, my stomach was in knots the whole time. And I was like sweating by the end of the conversation. And I had great relationships with both agencies already.

8:50But by the end of those calls, both agencies came back with an offer for me. And the company that I felt great about gave me a really low ball offer. Like it was almost like, I don't know if it's actually going to be worth it to do this. The media company that I had had kind of the sweaty, nervous conversation with gave me a very sexy offer. I was like, ooh, this is a great offer. and I ended up completely going against my gut and signing a deal with the agency who I you know obviously my intuition knew that that wasn't right what happened in all of that is because I was now exclusive with that company I literally had to shut down all of the opportunities the opportunities I had everywhere else and the universe completely taught me you better pay attention to your gut you better not listen to that ego voice that is telling you oh I need to do this I need to have the higher numbers.

9:44I need to have the better contract. And that's what legitimizes me, right? That's the ego. Because what ended up happening was not only did I have to shut down all of the, you know, potential revenue that was coming in from the other agencies, but the agency that I was now exclusive with, within like three months, brought me zero deal. And thankfully, there, you know, we had a really good contract that was like, okay, we need to like, you know, renegotiate at three months time if these, you know, things aren't being hit. And so we very, you know, graciously got out of it both parties, and we still work together to this day.

10:19But it was such a big lesson for me to say, who's doing the talking here? Is this my ego? Or is this really my intuition making the decisions? And how can I really distill that and learn to listen better for the voice that is guiding my actions? Fire Nation, this is a really powerful thought experiment to go through. And I love when people really do trust their guts, trust their instincts, and then they follow up and say, you know what, man, that was the right move. And I'll tell you, so many times, you know, just like Katie was sharing, there's a reason why you have that nagging little sweaty negative thought process when your gut's telling you something and say, let's just be honest.

11:01Let's follow the gut. And especially when it hasn't proven you wrong time and time again. Your gut is there for you. It's there for a reason. And we have a lot of important things to talk about around this topic when we get back from thanking our sponsors. If you're anything like me, then you're looking forward to a lot of outdoor time this summer. I'm talking about hitting the pool, going on epic hikes, and maybe even getting in a few pickleball matches. But in order to do all that, you and your team need to work smarter, not harder. That's why we're so excited about HubSpot's integrated AI tech.

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14:08That's FranBridgeConsulting.com. Kitty, we're back and I want to talk about growing bigger because a lot of people want their business to grow. They want to scale. They want to leverage. but when we want to grow bigger and we're already overwhelmed as it is, you believe in asking a simple question. How can I? Tell us more about this. You know, when I launched the very first podcast, that's a part of the Women's Meditation Network, which is called Meditation for Women. I was, you know, six months pregnant. I had a two and a half year old at home and I had a whole other business that I was still managing.

14:47And so I went into it knowing I had this vision for a larger network because I knew that there was enough content and enough interest and enough niches that I could really fulfill and make an impact within this space. That said, I was completely intimidated by how much work, obviously, just the one podcast would take. Again, I was a podcaster already. I understood the time I was about to put in and the effort I was about to put And so for the first two years, really, I only had that one show and, you know, had my baby, eventually slowly kind of put that other business and podcast to rest. And so, you know, here we are in early 2020.

15:31I finally, my baby was one years old. I was sort of finally out of the mommy fog. And I had finally put the other business to rest. And so I was able to be like, okay, I'm ready to show up 100%. And then I started putting more and more content out. It's, you know, the pandemic hits. And all of a sudden, I see my numbers skyrocket because obviously so many of us were terrified and looking for solutions, natural solutions to help us calm down, help us sleep, all that stuff. And in that, in all of that motion, the world was telling all of us that we should really stop and slow down. But what I was feeling inside was like, no, I need more.

16:09I need to do more. I need to put out more content here. I need to put out more meditations. And I need to do that while we're in quarantine with two kids and figure this out. And so long story short, we came to like, you know, I basically was like, I need to launch the next show. Like it's been two years now. It's time for me to launch another show. There's enough interest in this. Looked at my analytics, realized that eight out of my top 10 episodes were all sleep related. And so I launched Sleep Meditation for Women. and the the mindset point here is really what I want to talk about I went into it thinking like oh my god how can I I'm barely doing this with one episode per week with one show how in the world can I conceptualize doing two shows and so asking that question how because I'm an operator so I'm really you know I'm always thinking in like here are the steps and so I'm very realistic about like the steps it's going to take and the energy and time it's going to take so I had to step out did that operate a role and really start asking myself, like, I don't want to look down the road and see like, oh, two times a podcast is going to be two times the work.

17:14So how, how do I make this work? And in that asking, it opened up a space for some creative thought, it opened up a space for like, oh, well, can I already take the podcast episodes that I have that are that are on topic for this that are sleep podcasts? And can I just sort of seed that podcast with these? And I've got about 20 or 30 episodes. Like that's, that can definitely see this for a long time. And then eventually, I'll get into a rhythm to, you know, do drop and create like one new episode a month, that'll be great. And within like three weeks, that podcast completely skyrocketed and took off.

17:48And I was like, Okay, obviously, I need to create more content. And I went from, you know, basically going through all of those episodes that I had already had and knowing like, Okay, I need to go to three episodes a week, and eventually more and more and more. And my question in that and in every single podcast I've launched since then, and we now have 14, has always been how? If I know I'm at max capacity in writing or voicing, how? How do I possibly keep growing without completely burning me out? And in that question always lies some sort of creative answer on what the next best thing could be.

18:25And I always do my best to just follow that. and I swear everything ends up working out. I love going through that process that you just went through because it's so important, Fire Nation, to challenge what you believe are these self-imposed limits that you have and when you break through them, it just makes you feel like the world is yours. And the reality is a lot of people, they think that they're being productive, they think they're maxed out, but they're just not being productive. They're not producing the right things, which is my definition of being productive. They are spending time scrolling through Instagram, watching YouTube videos.

19:00They're doing all the busy work that's not really the productive work. They're not getting, what I like to say, the most important things done. So talk to us about some practical ways to get the most important things done. Yes, and this actually is the perfect bridge to that last conversation because I apply that question of how into my sort of mompreneur life, right? Like these two big components of my life that are incredibly valuable to me, and I want to make them both work. And to me, the answer to that is, how am I being productive? How am I approaching the things I want to do in each of those areas with the right energy, the right intention, so that I can get all the things done that are important, so I can keep the ball moving in all of these courts.

19:49And so some very practical things that I do is being able to distinguish between time management and energy management. Time management, we all know, right? And they're all very practical. And I'll talk about a few more of those things. But, you know, that's batching work, you know, like, okay, you're showing up, and you're going to do six interviews all at once, or I'm going to sit down and record, you know, 10 meditations at once. I'm going to sit down and I'm going to write 20 meditations all at once, because I'm in, I'm already in the flow of writing, right? And so that's, That's batching content, right?

20:21So there's a lot of tips and tricks that you can find out about time management. Energy management is a little bit different, but the two have to dance together. Energy management is sort of going back to what I said, like, oh, I'm in the energy of writing right now. Like I'm in writing flow. So instead of just writing one meditation and then showing up to record it, I'm going to write as many as I possibly can right now. When I'm sitting down, Usually I do recordings in my closet after the kids go to bed. It's the quietest time of the day. And so I'm not showing up to do just one meditation. I'm showing up to do, you know, five, 10.

20:58How many can I get done? Because my energy is already there. And therefore, you're producing a lot more. I mean, it really is the jet fuel to productivity, not just the time management sort of logistics of how you're managing your time, but the energy with which you're approaching your time. So for example, I do this to organize my weeks. I think this is a very practical approach. So I might say like a week at a time. Okay, today happens to be Thursday. So on Thursdays are gonna be my meeting days. That's when I'm actually meeting with people. So anytime I'm scheduling meetings or scheduling interviews, I'm doing my best to put it on a Thursday because I'm already in the energy of showing up to a call and I can bring that energy to each individual call and it sort of snowballs on each other.

21:46So I can be incredibly productive with my energy and the time and the things that I'm creating in those meetings. And then I can save all the time that I might need that's more like introverted time to sit down and write meditations for a different time. I don't have to spend the energy to shift tasks. So those two things I think are really important to get and to start distilling how you show up practically to your schedule for that. I love that thought process. and I said this before and I'll say it again, Fire Nation, like a lot of people say, John, how have you been doing seven interviews a week for 10 and a half years?

22:20And my answer is simple. I have one day per week that I dedicate as my quote unquote Super Bowl. Like that's the day that I show up. It's one day per week. I pour all my energy into seven, eight, nine interviews that day. And then the other six days of the week, I'm not having to do that. I couldn't show up every day and give what I give to just every single individual episode that I can give to seven or eight back-to-back when I know that this is the one day I'm here, I'm dialed in, there's nothing else distracting me, and I'm making this happen. I love that process, it works so well. Now, let's do two things.

22:58Number one, I want you to give us a final takeaway, Katie, of everything that we've talked about here today and what you really want our audience to get from our conversation. And of course, we need to close the loop about podcasting in your closets. Yeah. The real secret of every podcaster, right? You know, I think the biggest takeaway that I would share with everyone, John, you do such a great job of bringing on so many incredible people who have, you know, their specific experiences and tools to share and processes to share. And I think at the end of the day, it's so important for each of us to ingest that information but then go through a process to ask ourselves, what is it we need to do now?

23:43What is it we feel called to do? What is that intuition telling us? And then how am I going to take action on it? And surprise, surprise, it's not going to be the hundred things you just learned. It's going to be one, maybe two. And so, um, the, you know, ultimately really the big takeaway is you have to listen to yourself and create your own path in this entrepreneur journey because it's no one else's. You can listen to everything you want to listen to. You can take as many courses as you want to. You can read all the books you want to. But at the end of the day, it's your journey. And so take what you can from them and then you go create your own cobblestone approach to your journey.

24:22Fire Nation, wise words from a wise and successful mompreneur. Katie, if Fire Nation wants to connect with you, wants to learn more from you, give us a call to action. So first of all, whatever podcast player you're listening to now, just go search for Women's Meditation Network. You will see the 14 different podcasts that we have available for you, including Meditation for Anxiety, Sleep Meditation for Women, Meditation for Moms. Literally, there's something for everyone there. So that's one. And then you can always go to womensmeditationnetwork.com. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

24:59You've been hanging out with KK and JLD today. Keep up that heat. For links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Katie in the search bar. The show notes page will pop up with links to everything from this episode. Katie, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, and value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you, and we will catch you on the flip side. John, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Hey, Fire Nation. A huge thank you to our sponsors and Katie for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation. What can 3 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs teach you?

25:35How about how to achieve financial freedom and fulfillment? My first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, is a revolutionary 17-step roadmap that will lead you to the lifestyle you've been dreaming about. This book took me 10 years of accumulating the genius of the world's top entrepreneurs, and you can get it all in one place when you visit UncommonSuccessBook.com. I'll catch you there or on the flip side. The Gold Digger Podcast, hosted by Jenna Kuchar, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. The Gold Digger Podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips, social strategies, business hacks, inspirational stories, and so much more.

26:17One of my favorite recent episodes is titled How I've Built an Unmatched Team Culture, an insanely important topic for all business owners to dive into. Listen to Gold Digger wherever you get your podcasts. Many EO Fire listeners have launched non-food franchises, and Franbridge Consulting has guided them. Franbridge's founder and frequent EO Fire guest, John Ostenson, has done more placements than any other in the country, and his service is free. Sign up for a consultation with John or get a copy of his book, Non-Food Franchising, at FranbridgeConsulting.com.