Episode 300: What 300 Podcast Episodes Taught Me About Power and Reinvention
To celebrate our 300th episode, Kara Duffy is joined by her sister and senior audio engineer Jordan Duffy, and podcast producer Amanda Kass, for a behind-the-scenes look at how the Powerful Ladies Podcast gets made. They talk candidly about how the show started, the work that goes into each episode, and what they’ve learned across five years and 300 interviews. From navigating imposter syndrome to building an intentional community, this conversation is full of heart, humor, and hard-won wisdom. You’ll also hear what’s next for the podcast and how the team is expanding the Powerful Ladies brand into its next chapter.
This episode explores podcast production, women in media, and the power of building something that matters.
“ I think a big sign of being powerful is what we do despite all the circumstances because we know it’s bigger than us.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:06) - Introduction to the 300th Episode
(00:01:07) - Behind the Scenes of Podcast Production
(00:02:29) - Meet the Team: Jordan and Amanda
(00:04:47) - The Journey of Podcasting and Stats
(00:07:45) - The Time and Effort Behind Each Episode
(00:17:11) - Reflecting on Guests and Their Stories
(00:20:01) - Expectations and Surprises of 300 Episodes
(00:54:53) - What Powerful Ladies Means to Us
(01:13:41) - Looking Ahead: Future Plans for the Podcast
Hey guys, it's Kara here. This is our 300th episode of the Powerful Ladies Podcast. This is so special because only 2. 45 percent of podcasts make it to this incredible milestone. It is such a big deal. And that is because of you, our listeners who have been here this whole time. And if you're new, welcome and enjoy the ride.
To celebrate. I want to take you behind the scenes with our team to share stories about what it's really like to make a podcast, share what we've learned along the way, have some funny stories about what it's really like behind the scenes and tell you about what's coming up for 2025 and beyond. To do that.
We have our incredible senior audio engineer, Jordan Duffy and producer Amanda Kass as guests with me on this episode, enjoy.
Guys we're here to celebrate our 300th episode. Woo. Yay. Yay. So I think everyone listening can already tell this is a different episode than normal. First, Jordan and I are in the same room again, which we haven't been doing since COVID happened.
Since 2019.
We also have Amanda on Zoom. Hi! Yay! I wanted to make sure for this 300th episode that we were Just kind of coming together to talk about what this journey has been.
A lot of people have reached out to me about making podcasts, how we do it, what this actually looks like. And I think this is a good excuse to talk about what it's like to make this podcast. You guys can tell some really annoying things that I do to everyone listening that makes your lives harder. Just kidding.
Wow. She's already started. And then we can just kind of talk about. What this journey has been for us as well, too. Similar to other episodes, let's go around and I want you guys to say who you are, where you are, and what you do for this podcast and maybe what you do the rest of the time when you're not working on this.
We'll start with Jordan.
Alright, I am Jordan Duffy. I am Kara's sister. I am a Senior Audio Engineer at Sirius XM, but most importantly, I am a singer songwriter musician.
Which may have had something come out recently. Do you want to keep talking about that? Yes,
I, yes I do. I recently had a single and video come out on the 9th named Not Your Dream Girl, and it was by far the most fun and exciting video to date, and it's one of my favorite songs from the album, coming out in
And where can everyone find your video and your song?
You can find the video on YouTube. You can just search Jordan Duffy, not your dream girl. Or you can and you can listen to my song wherever you listen to music. All streaming platforms.
Excellent. Well done. Amanda, tell us about you.
Yes, I'm Amanda. Work for Kara, as most of you know. For the podcast, I produce it.
So, Kara, we're going into our fifth year together, I believe. I think I started in 2020. Started with Powerful Ladies and now I'm KDCC and Powerful Ladies. But I really love the podcast. I love what I do and what we do. So this is a big deal to be 300 episodes in. It's very exciting.
I, whenever I think about how many episodes we've done and are we a real podcast and all those things because we all get That founder's fraud, right?
About like, is this a real podcast? Yes, it's a real podcast. Yes, we have listeners all over the world. Of course, we want more listeners. So if you're listening to this now, send this episode to a friend or your favorite one. But most importantly, what I always go back to to know that this is a real episode, or sorry, a real podcast, We, if you make it past seven episodes, you're already in the top 5% of podcasts.
Whoa. And we're at 300. Mm-hmm . Yeah. And there's more stats, which I'll include in our show notes about when you go past 2050. Most people are not doing this many episodes at all. And so I think it gives people a kind of peak of how we pass a podcast episode around. All of us and other people, whether they're past guests, other people who we work with in different capacities, friends of ours, they will refer people to us, we'll find people that we want to connect with, whether digitally or in person.
And what I do on my part, is I just send everything to Amanda. And then we build out a list. of who we want to be talking to and Amanda does all the outreach and communication. We get people scheduled. Sometimes I've never met these people before we've talked and then we record the episode. We send it to Jordan and that's when she starts doing her magic.
I'm a wizard.
I'm a wizard.
We get a lot of compliments about the audio quality of this podcast. And that's because of you, Jordan. Oh, thank you.
I would, I would like to say that majority of the time, I can only handle Kara's audio because we, we do you do talk to so many people who don't have the resources to record as nicely as you do with a microphone and other things, so you will hear a lot of episodes where we do have to use the guest Zoom audio, and that's okay.
But I'm very proud in at least how nicely you sound, so, and how nicely everyone on this episode sounds. But it's always a, it's whatever anyone can do, they try their best to record the best that they can do, and we're not, like, from my standpoint, I'm like, everyone should have a microphone, everyone should have headphones.
But a lot of people today, based on their profession, don't have those pieces of equipment. So we do our best.
And then to kind of finish our production process, you clean up the first round, get it back to me. I've been editing it, finding our quotes, finding intros, telling you where to cut, not. I gave you all the notes.
I sent it back to you. You, while you're finishing that up, Amanda's getting the graphics. She's setting up the website page, doing everything else to launch it. And then once you finish everything, Amanda gets it and plugs it into all the places and then emails out to the guests. It's a lot of steps. I recently spoke to one of our podcast guests.
Offline about how we do it. 'cause she wants to start her own podcast. And I was like, how much time do you have so how many hours do you think you contribute to each episode? Both of us or us? Yeah. We'll start with you Jordan. Like per episode, how many hours do you think you're working on it?
Since this is my profession, I'm a lot. faster than other people, but for me personally, an episode could take anywhere from an hour to four hours, depending on if the audio is rough, if I have to fix certain things. And that's also including when you send me edits back, cause just like Kara said, I will mix the episode. I sent it to Kara and Amanda, and then I get those notes, and then I have to go back in again and do those edits, and then piece the episode together, putting on the theme song, putting the little intro quote on top and yeah, making it just skimming it one more time for any thing that we might have missed.
So it's anywhere from one, I would personally say one to four hours per episode, but I'm That's me being a, this is my career.
What about you, Amanda? From when you, not even, before the guest is even confirmed, like how many hours do you think go into each episode?
Right. Like even finding them and like sending out invitations from the very beginning.
I'm mad it's like years. It's years. Years. No, no. I mean sometimes it's easy, right? Sometimes everyone's just like a yes, which we really appreciate. So like five, five hours is usually like the minimum because then you have the graphics to do, you have to email them to get their photos. We need all their information.
There's just a lot of steps. And, as you all know, Kara, she loves, like, spreadsheets. And she loves files and folders and organizations. So, it's a lot to do for each episode. But, we've been doing it for so long. It really is, it's just, like, so easy. You know, because there's so many steps, it just feels a lot easier because I don't think of it as hours per episode, but yeah, it's like five to 10 maybe per episode.
And you're doing it in probably five to 20 minute chunks throughout.
Yeah, stages. Yeah, definitely stages with the hours I put in.
And then on my side, I'm doing Prep and we and we bulk our episodes. So we'll do about four a day when we're doing a recording day So I have a full day that I'm doing four episodes and that includes the hours I'm with the guests and with said client the that hour I'm recording the episode with the guest plus a half hour after where I'm Uploading it saving it Doing the intro outro recordings, plus prepping my space and then taking it down.
Because I don't leave the podcasting stuff all the time. I don't have a dedicated studio. So it is a lot of work. And then I have to go back and edit it. And I account, depending on how long the episode is, usually I need 1. 5 times the length of the original episode for me to do the edits between Jordan doing her work.
So, just quick math, there's at least probably 15 hours between the three of us for an episode. It's like a part time job just doing one episode worth. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we also don't do it all in one week. No. Like, I'm recording.
But I think it, yeah.
No, go ahead. No, you go, Amanda.
Oh, I was just going to say, but there is so much joy in it. Like I get a lot of joy out of it. It's something that's kind of like fun. So when you're doing like a job, that's super fun. You don't think of it like that many hours, but I, but I really like doing a podcast and if it's something you're thinking, yeah, it's, it's very time consuming, but it's super fulfilling.
Anyways, I've said many times on the podcast. that it's the most selfish thing I do. Yeah. Because I get to find people that I want to talk to, that I think are interesting. And I'm like, Amanda, find them. Yeah. Yeah. Here's a TikTok. I want her. So I think this is probably a question people are asking. When I just forward you a random TikTok and say, add them to the list. How the hell do you find that person? How do you get their email? Amanda's also a wizard.
Wizard. I've gotten so good at it. Well, I basically stalk them. Go, I find their Instagram, their TikTok. See if they have a website, and I just, lot of people have their information out there.
And if they don't, you know, they have forms to fill out on their website, that you're just like, hey, we're huge fans, like, we would love to share your story. Or whatever it is that they, they can contribute. Yeah.
I think another thing people ask us a lot about is what is all the things that we had to do for the podcast that people don't see?
We took three months, Jordan, you and I, when before we even released. the podcast, where we had to work on the formatting, work on the strategy, figure out timing, find music, do the intro outros, find the space at the time. There's a lot we did the three months before. anyone even knew this existed. And we really probably started five months before.
It was like November, December through March that we were working on all those things.
How important is the formatting strategy part of this website, this website, this podcast and the other podcasts that you work on?
It's very important. I mean, where I work, it could be, I remember one show taking a year. They even, like, recorded stuff and put it out a year later because they needed to make sure.
that everything was as clean as possible. To be fair, that, that recording was outside, so it had multiple rounds of edits and like trying to clean it up. Why they recorded outside, I do not know why. In the middle of LA, who would have, who would have thought that was a good idea? But it's a great idea if you have. an idea for a podcast you think is going to benefit the world to take that time to write out exactly what you want to do and how you want it to sound to strategize it to the best that you can and it's it's as much as you want to like record something and put it out the next day you it's that's not how it should be like you really need to think like one does this sound good does it sound clean and it's what you're talking about Good for the world.
Like, I wouldn't work on something if I didn't think it was good for the world. And, yeah, it's, it's just, it's so important to take that time to look at what you are doing and mapping out the best it can be. It's very important to evaluate everything before you decide to put it out. And you're right, like we, when you had the idea of powerful ladies, we didn't We didn't start, like, actually putting things into motion until, like, you were crystal clear on what you wanted to do.
And, like, yeah, in the beginning, like, there's gonna be hiccups and changes, and that is normal with every podcast that I've worked on. But again, it's, it can be anywhere from three to 12 months before something is officially out into the world, and that's great. It should be that way. You should have multiple people listen to it or evaluate it or be like, you know what?
This is great. Or have people be like truly honest with you, be like, this is not that great. I don't know if you should do this. And that's why you should take the time before you put anything out into the universe to, to actually take the time to do it. I feel like I just talked in a circle, but that's okay. We can edit that out. Wanted it! I'm leaving it in.
You know, something that I think is crazy is that we have had about 350 people say yes to being on this podcast. So we're at episode 300, but we've had power couples. We've had a whole powerful conversation series panel of guests on episodes. The only way to make a podcast work is to have people say yes.
It started with me convincing Jordan to say yes. And then Amanda to say yes, and then Anna doing graphic design to say yes, and then Tomas, the website, doing yes. But then we, we can't exist if we don't have guests in this format that we've chosen. Most of our guests we have never met. And I don't think people understand.
We're not famous. No one gives a shit about talking to me. So for us to get people to say yes, it's a different ask and when people do say yes We're so thankful for it. And I know Amanda, you were very relieved every time you can make sure you're securing a spot on the spreadsheet that glares at you empty, knowing we have to fill at least 50 spots a year.
How does it feel to you when people say us?
They might not know you, but I feel like everybody who leaves the podcast. Is happy to be there, you know, like I think you've changed a lot of people's lives as far as having you Like because then they're like, oh she's a business coach, you know, you've gotten clients from it is one thing But also just like we're this is what we're Trying to build is like that powerful community of ladies and we have it, but we're just not, that's our goal is now to use this huge community that you've built and, you know, how can we all support each other?
Cause that's what being a powerful lady is all about. How can we all support each other, you know? So that I get excited about a yes. because hopefully we can do something for them by them coming on our podcast, but also, you know, it's, it's great to have a new person in our community and who can they introduce us to because that's how we also meet a lot of guests.
So Jordan, when I pitched you this idea, remember there being some, okay, my sister's insane and wants to do a podcast. Was there any part of you that thought we would get to 300 episodes?
No. You want my honest answer? No. Now that I didn't, now that I didn't believe in you, it was more of, I was like, there's no, I know so many shows who have it.
Shows that had. really big numbers who just decided to end it at, I don't know, 100, 150, 200. Yeah, that's, that's a lot of, a lot of episodes. It's, you know, what I'm most shocked at is that you still want to talk to people. Yeah, that's what I'm most. I'm just shocked that for you to now tell people who you're going to keep having on the podcast, be like, Oh yeah, I've talked, I've had 300 episodes.
I'd be like, what do you mean you talked to 300 people? That's 300 plus hours of talking to people. You're never going to get those hours back. I'm just kidding.
But, no, I never, I, I, I do think it was a grand plan of you getting me out here so you could secretly have your own podcast, and I would run it, or I would engineer it at least, and your plan, just, spoiler, it did work, you're at 300 but no, I did not expect 300, and now I feel bad because I feel like I should have I'm so flustered, I should have gotten like a 300 cake or something, but these fires have distracted me.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Happy 300th to you. Look, we got a cake. Put it in post, right here.
I know that I can be crazy to both of you. And what I want and when I want it. Like, you guys think I'm ridiculous on a regular basis. I know this. I've accepted this about myself long before you guys started thinking this. What are some of the things that I've asked for or wanted to do or asked you guys to do that you still think I'm insane about?
You thought I was insane. We did it anyway and it worked. And, like, just what are the extreme things that I'm doing on a regular basis? That you guys can share.
Amanda's like, breathing.
Oh, let me get my list out. Hold on. No, I'm just kidding. I mean, you know, this is a great thing, but I get nervous like our powerful conversations we do. Sometimes the topics can be Challenging, right? But that's a whole reason for them. And I get nervous, like, okay, well I don't wanna offend, I never wanna offend anyone. Like I, I wanna make sure that we're being appropriate, you know? But, but then after them I'm like, oh my gosh, this was amazing. Like giving these people voices like it there's in no way was that offensive, you know, and they usually have a powerful outcome, you know, so I do get a little nervous, though, when we lot of times when we talk about that, but that's just me personally.
So I'm putting all the faith and care to You know, hold that conversation and yeah. Not get cancelled. Yeah, not get cancelled.
It is, it is nerve wracking. I mean, as someone who's worked on a ton of diverse shows, it's, you need to make sure that it's not appropriating, it's like, it's appreciating and you're not offending anyone.
But I agree with you, I think Kara has asked to be a part of those, they are very aware. Of what's going on and why they're, why they're being asked and they are amazing speakers and they have the floor I think Kara is just there to ask like questions from time to time it's fully whoever is there so it's I think it's good to have those crucial conversations. Yeah, I'm very, I'm also impressed with that Kara handles that very, very well, so yeah, yeah. I think for me personally and I think it was just more of me being nervous because I work with these people is how many famous people you've had on the on these episodes and I'm not saying that you're not famous.
I'm sure you, you and I are Google and I don't know. I don't know. I, Amanda, I haven't Googled you. I will later. Don't do it. Those tapes are not meant to come out. We're going to find crazy things. But no, I was, I think I was always nervous to, to be like, all right, like Kara's going to ask this host that I work with and I'm always like, Kara, they're probably going to say no.
And immediately they're like, yeah, sure. Totally. And I'm like, what? Yeah. Like, okay. And then it's, it's fun conversations. And they're, I, it sounds so stupidly cliche, but it's like, they're like us. They're like normal people. Which they are. I mean, I, I work with them. I know how normal they are, but I also know, I think it's comes from the fact of like, oh, they're really busy.
Like why would they take this time? And each one is always like, I love Jordan. I of course would love her sister. Like, let's do this. Like, let's have fun. So then I'm always impressed. And I think in the beginning, which it took, it took so long for us to kind of change things. I was I was I, my thought of My Sister's Insane was when you were having like three hour conversations.
I don't know how anyone was thriving after those conversations, but they're still great conversations. And Some of my favorites. Yeah. So, yeah, they were, they were a lot to edit. Yes. But so now I think we've found that sweet spot of like somewhere between 45 and like an hour. And I think that's really great.
Yeah. But yeah. Which we fought about. What? You and I have, you pitched me every two weeks for like three years to shorten the length of the episode.
I had to send you articles. Yeah. If anyone needs to know anything about Kara, because she doesn't talk about herself enough, Kara is, guess crazy is the right word to use.
No, Kara is a machine. She's a machine. She's very determined. She will talk to you for hours and hours, and if no one stops her she will do it all day long, which is an amazing trait to have. I don't think a lot of people have that trait. I think after 15 minutes, they're kind of done. So the fact that you can even entertain someone for three hours is shocking in itself.
But yeah, it is, it's an incredible way you can do how you can get people to open up how people could be vulnerable to you. So it's very, That's very impressive. And in that, you are crazy.
Well, and I just think the main reason I didn't want to shorten the episodes at first was because I didn't want to truncate where a great conversation was going. Because sometimes There have been episodes that it was a struggle for us to get to 30 minutes.
People are scared. People are scared to talk on microphones, especially when they came into the studio. It was, it was, everyone was so nervous and it's like, just pretend like we're talking and it's like, how am I supposed to talk when there's this big microphone on my face? This isn't normal.
Well, and I don't think people a lot of people haven't gone through speaking and media training Yeah, and so you ask them a question they go. Yes, you're like, wow. Thank you This is like the dates I go and this conversations going nowhere So I think it's been interesting to learn how to pull things out of more people but in general the people that we have as guests, there's a lot of there's a lot of layers to them.
There's a lot of experiences, a lot of stories. So it's quite easy to talk about all these different things and how they layer it and make this person more interesting because if we just come on and talk about your business or the mountain you climbed, the whole perspective of powerful ladies is that everybody has all these different layers.
and the person becomes more interesting when we find these hidden pieces. I'll never forget having Jemmy Bertrand on and we're talking and all of a sudden she goes, and that's when I had to get evacuated by a helicopter. I was like, what? We brought her on to talk about the work she's doing in neuroscience and there was this whole other story.
Not Google able about how she adopted her daughter in Haiti under a coup and they had to be rescued. It's such a wild story. And she's such an incredible human, but then suddenly having that whole story mixed in to what we thought we would talk about, I couldn't keep the episode shorter just so we, like, oh, we can't talk about that really interesting thing because Jordan said we gotta stop.
You can't blame me for cutting people's good stories short. And we have it. It's
Jordan's fault. It's my fault, yeah.
I'm like, too, it's too long. You have to cut it short.
But it, and, After you've edited, all of us have touched 300 episodes, you want to find ways to streamline it. And the, honestly, it was me looking at, okay, how can we tell great stories?
How can we highlight these amazing, incredible women and do it in 45 minutes? It's a little bit more work. Like we started putting more research in and what are the key highlights? What is something we don't know about them that could spark everyone else's helicopter evacuation story? And we had to get, I don't know, I had to become a better interviewer to get it shorter and get people to warm up faster versus like, come on, slowly taking them through and letting them get comfortable because most people I've never talked to before.
So it's like being on a blind date with someone that. I'm on blind dates every day, so this is no big deal for me, but they're like, who are you and why are we talking? And we've, you know, had a lot of first timers in regards to being on a podcast as guests.
What are some of the guests that you guys have loved having? Oh, I was going to ask you that same question. Yeah,
I want to know like your most memorable and like who's someone that we got that you were like, wow, I cannot believe we got this person. I've been waiting, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of them.
One of the things that I always think about in ridiculous moments and what you'll never know what people will share with you is when Casey Wilson from bit sesh, the actress.
podcaster admitted to burying her mother with a Diet Coke on our episode. Oh my gosh. That's hilarious. And that was surreal in general because these are, at least Casey, Danielle, I hadn't realized I had seen her in things because she's not as talked about as Casey Wilson is as an actress. You agree, Jordan, I'm not insulting Danielle in that statement.
She's a lot more writing, a lot more behind the scenes. But like, I knew who Casey Wilson was. And to have her on a video screen during COVID, I remember that episode, I had to film it in my bedroom. And there's like a stack of books, four feet high, holding my laptop up. And I'm talking to these two celebrities.
And we're having a great time, and laughing, and then I find out about a Diet Coke being buried with her mother. I love them, yeah. So that was surreal. Mm hmm.
Think for me, my favorite, and Kari, you're gonna have to remind me of their name we had an indigenous woman on, who was a runner. Rosalie Fish. Yeah, Rosalie Fish was one that has always stood out to me. to this day talking about her community and why she runs and who she knows who is of the missing and murdered indigenous women and just sharing. Her story and, yeah, I think about it to this day.
How about for you, Amanda?
I like them all. I like the power couple ones. Like, I like, like, Chris and Alex. They're amazing. That was an older one. I don't even know if I was with Powerful Ladies yet, but like Tomás and Chelsea, I like, for some reason, I like the dynamic of like having a power couple, maybe because like they talk more freely, like you said, and they're warmed up already, but I've always liked the ones with multiple people, even like the sisters, like Carolina and, natalia. Natalia. Yep. Like, they're amazing.
Yeah. No, they've all been great. I, I know for me, a really special episode because I couldn't believe how quickly it happened with Sasha Sagan. And she was one of the last ones in person before COVID happened. I had read her book. I loved it. I knew who her dad was.
I just cold emailed her, said, I read your book. I loved it. Here's what I loved about it. I love to have you in the podcast. And within 24 hours she wrote back and said, yes. And then she said, I'll fly out to LA. No problem. I'm going to hang out with my mom. Anyway, we have a carpet thing for I think something that was showcasing some of her dad's work.
And she was just so fun and delightful. I brought the books. I had it marked to talk to her about in the episode. And she's like, Oh, can I sign it? Like, of course you can. She was just lovely. And then she was so generous in offering So many of her amazing, incredible best friends to also be guests who were also amazing to talk to.
And I think that speaks to the power of this community, like, we're inviting people on who are powerful in all their own ways, but they're so generous. And they really do care and pay it forward is important to them. So there, we're always getting recommendations from people. People are always saying, Oh, I have a friend.
Let me email you. They'd be great too. And I think that's part of why, like, I don't, this will probably horrify both of you, but if someone asked me the other day, like, When, when will the podcast be done? And I was like, well, I think we have a list of like 2000 people currently, and that doesn't even include all of the coolest people we could talk to.
So I don't know how this could end. And Jordan is squealing me into a seat.
She's a robot. I am a robot. No, Kara's a robot.
Oh, Kara, yeah, we're both robots.
Yeah, you guys, the Duffies are robots. You know who else I love? I think, because this is my favorite topic, is Sophia Yen, who's so passionate about women's health. Her podcast was just so inspirational. I think I've listened to it three times when I'm just like, I need to hear someone talk about like women empowerment and women's body and women's choice. Like she is so amazing. I would actually love to have her back. She did like a she did a panel with us as well, but she, And they're doing so much cool things right now. Like, she's really amazing.
I think to kind of like shift this conversation, like things that I see for the future of Powerful Ladies is I do see not that you can't have 2000 new other people on this podcast, but I do see in moments of having guests back, kind of like from 2019, from 2020, kind of to do like a, like, hey, you were on this last time, this what we talked about, like, what's new? What's going on? I think that would be. Really, really nice.
We're also excited because in 25, we're shifting our formatting slightly. We have always had profiles, and then we've always had the Power of Conversation series. And we're going to start mixing in what we're calling deep dives. There have been a lot of people who have expertise and knowledge or firsthand experience.
That we can't go in depth enough if they're on a panel, but talking to them less about themselves and more about the thing they're passionate about and what they know and, you know, almost like a masterclass that I'm excited to be mixing in. So now having kind of three types of episodes, I think we'll also mix it up and bring some other things in.
There's just so many things that. I know everyone listening wants to learn more about, we want to keep meeting these people we have and haven't heard of in bigger and deeper ways, but there's so much room to be also having a little learning experience throughout this too. I think there's some of the things that I can go back and do more of.
would be asking some of these women to give us a little lesson on just the expertise that they have, because there's so much depth. Really mean it when I'm asking guests at the end of the episodes, how can we help you? Because I know between The networks, the three of us have the clients that are in the space and all these guests, we really can solve almost any problem that they might be facing or want to make adjustments on or learn more about or connect.
connect to. I think what people don't know who listen is how many emails get sent after an episode's done, connecting guests with each other, sending them resources. Like we have action items after every episode we do because there's so many things I've promised people. Especially when they have overlapping concerns.
We've had a lot of guests. Who care about fashion and sustainability, fashion, the environment, and they don't know each other yet, and they absolutely should because they can be working on all this together versus being on an island on their own.
I've always liked that part of the podcast where people don't get to hear. This part, because we cut it out in the episodes, of course when Kara says thank you, she then pauses and then says, well that's it, like you did such a great job, and they get to, they talk for a little bit, and Kara's usually good at like, stop, stopping the recording, but a lot of times, she will continue recording until the guest goes, comes they decide, like, to end or leave the cut, or leave the Zoom, and Kara and them will talk, and that person always is like, You need to record this person, and this person, and that person, and like, I have so many people for you to meet.
and talk to you and to me that is a really nice moment especially when you're meeting a stranger to then have that stranger meet other strangers as a as a in today's world at least in the U. S. is kind of unheard of to want to meet other people so.
Other guests that have been favorites of mine I'm such a nerd for National Geographic.
I love Anthropology. It was part of my minor. If I had another job it would be a National Geographic Explorer, if I could. Like, I wanted to be a female Indiana Jones for such a long time. And then to have guests come on who have been part of National Geographic, like Carol Dunham, like Dr. Tierney Tice, these people who are doing incredible, cool things that are so opposite Or disconnected from some of the celebrity guests we have or some of the entrepreneur guests we have and just hear what they're doing like a completely different perspective.
And again, these are women who I'm like, you're so busy. You have so many things to do. You're talking to me between adventures, projects, research that you're doing. And they're like, yes, of course, we'd love to talk to you. It's very humbling. And I have so much gratitude for everyone that said yes in that way.
And I think for people who want to have their own podcasts, and maybe this isn't me and who I am, but I now take it a little bit for granted that I know we can get the people we want on the podcast. It might take months, years. But we, but they're not coming off the list. And I know that this is how I am in general and like doing sales and stuff where I'm like, Oh, you're just not yet.
I understand.
Well, you know, we have, we have somebody recording in two weeks who is like that. We reached out to her in 2019 and she. Said she's gonna pass what, you know, for whatever reason. But and you read her book and now she is gonna be on our podcast next week. Mm-hmm .
Which is so awesome. This just goes, but Kara and Amanda are persistent.
I would give up, I would've been like I know, know, I know. I talk to fine.
Well, actually it's because Shae knows her now and like was like, you got to talk to Karen. She's like, oh, okay. So she was a yes because somebody
else knew her, you know? Well, and this is the power of working your network. Yeah. I also got to meet her at Mountain Film this past year. Oh, nice. Yeah. And I already knew her boyfriend. So this is me working my six degrees of separation to be like, okay.
It works. So, when is Oprah going to be on?
Well, what's interesting is that there are people who we modeled this podcast off of, like when I was looking for podcasts I really admire and how do I, you know, borrow the success I see in their formatting and what they're doing, that I get so excited when we're one degree away from.
Like the list of people who I would love to be at a dinner table with includes Rich Roll and Richard Branson has been on that list too. Am one degree away from them because of this podcast and Rich Roll, I'm one degree away from in multiple directions.
When you said Rich Roll, I thought you meant Rick Roll and I got really excited for Rick Astley because I love Rick Astley. Can we have Rick Astley on the show?
Well, this comes up a great point about the fact that I have ideas for other podcasts. That every time I mention them, both of you start sweating because there are some people who we could always justify, you know, we have spots for powerful gentlemen throughout the year because I think it's important for men to share their perspective of powerful women because it's not happening enough.
It's happening more now, which I appreciate. But it's an under discussed thing from men's perspective, especially in media. So we can always justify what's the angle we're going to have them take. But I do think that there's so many female stories that we have room to share in this podcast that I need another podcast where I can talk to anyone that fits into this space of people being ridiculous and extraordinary.
And being originals in their spaces. So of all of you listening, when another podcast, please email us at hello at the power of ladies dot com.
And if any of you want to edit that podcast.
Yeah, they work on Saturdays.
Well, because this is for all three of us. Working on this podcast is not our full-time job. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No. And you guys get paid. I don't. Mm-hmm . Yeah. Yeah. So, and I'm the one who's like, let's do more . I know, I know. But in defense, this podcast has led to. Clients that have come to working with me on the KDCC set of things because they've heard an episode and they related to it.
It's opened up other doors. So, am getting paid in a, in a non direct way through this. But I really love doing this. The last episode I recorded this morning, we were talking about how all of my businesses are conversations. Coaching's a conversation. Group coaching's a conversation. The podcast's a conversation.
I really do need to get voice insurance because if I lose my voice and can't talk, all of the businesses are gone. That's also why I need to record all of my courses now too. But I think it's important that everyone knows what's their fastest way. to communicate. Some people it's writing, some people it's creating art, some people it's creating music.
I can leave an audio note faster than I can type and I am a very fast typer. If you want me to write a book, I have to say it out loud
and then edit it. I want to hear what you guys are proud of about yourselves. How have you and how you view yourself and what you're capable of changed since you first joined this podcast? So now
I can go first. Okay, you go first things that have changed for me. I think what has changed for me, I've and every engineering job I've had, I've, I, I think the first episode I was on with you was early 2019. I was still in my head, a baby engineer and didn't know what I was doing. And I felt, I felt like such an imposter. I can tell you today that I'm not.
I do not have imposter syndrome when it comes to this anymore. If anything, I get so annoyed at people who are not doing things correctly, which I've made Kara now a snob on certain things. I'm an audio snob for sure. But I also know that like, not everything is perfect and we do the best we can with, with what we have.
But for me it really shows me, I think for a really long time, I was very much of like, I need to work at a company. I need to, like, there's no way I could do freelance stuff. And I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I still, I still work at a major company doing this as my job. But I also have so many other dreams.
Like, in the first time we recorded, I was working on music, nothing was out, which is crazy, and now I'm now putting out my second album, which is insane and, but I think working on this podcast and mixed with other things, it has given me the confidence to know, like, okay, if I, like, if anything happened, I could do this on my own, and I could figure out how to do it And I also know that the main reason I know that I can do it is because I'm surrounded by you, Kara, by you, Amanda, by so many people who would support me and figure out how to support me if it came down to it. And it's nice to have that knowledge and confidence to be like, if anything, If anything changes or if anything happens, I know that I could do this on my own if I had to, and I have plenty of people backing me. That's nice.
You've always been the best audio engineer I've ever known. What? Even when you thought you were like, I don't know what I'm doing.
Yeah. You knew How to click things at a minimum. I was like, I don't know how to do any of that. She'll figure it out. I do how to click things. Well, no, like that's my job. I'm just a clicker. Even today, we're using my Scarlett, which I never use because I rarely have people in person. Oh, yeah. And I had to switch the app on my computer to record the whole thing.
And I was like, Jordan, can you do it?
And I was like, Oh God, fine. I'll do it. I'm a professional.
What about you, Amanda? What are you proud of? How has your confidence shifted?
I mean, same story with Jordan. Like when you hired me, I knew. Zero. This is not what I came from at all. My background, I have an English major.
I worked in customer service for 25 plus years. Like this was not something I ever thought I'd be doing or even have any knowledge of doing. But, you were just like, well, you can learn. Here you go. I wrote it all out for you, step by step. Have any questions? Well, we'll deal with that later. So, now, you know, I'm, we're creating everything from what we learned.
So, I feel like we've got, come really far, you know.
I have so many memories of both of you. Either your voice telling me, or your actual face telling me. I I think this is a bad idea and not about the podcast as a whole, but, and it wasn't always, this is a bad idea. Sometimes it was, that's terrifying. How are we going to do that?
One thing I want to acknowledge you for Amanda is how calm you are now in reaching out to people that we don't know. There used to be conversations about, okay, but how do I do it and what do I say? Like, you were so concerned about making sure we were honoring the guest and doing it the right way, and knowing that, like, we're a bunch of nobodies.
Why would they say yes? How do we do this? There was, like, trepidation. That's the word I was looking for before. And, you know, Jordan, you were mentioning how when you would invite guests that are high profile that you work with to be on the podcast, I knew that you were, like, I cannot believe I'm giving this really important connection for my career, for my personal, you know, list of connections.
Like, I cannot believe I'm sharing this that I might need to use later with my sister and she might ruin it all. And I'm really glad that I haven't ruined it for you. I wasn't worried about that part. I think also because You never saw or were exposed to how many high profile celebrities I was talking to in my past life.
Yeah. So you're like, I don't know how you act around these people, because you weren't at work with me in my corporate life. It's also part of why I don't fangirl almost over anybody. Anyone's fangirling, it's me. Yes. Which I still can't believe. You guys do a really good job of keeping it under control.
Internally we're like, Oh my God, this is incredible. Yeah, but what you were saying is, yes, I agree. I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't reach out to this person. But now I'm like, yes. I'm reaching out to every single person because what's the worst that they're gonna do?
Say no. Okay. Well, we have you on our list. We'll call you in four years. We'll ask you in four years because you're, you might be a yes. You know.
When you guys think about powerful ladies in general, like what does this podcast mean to you? How would you describe it to other people?
Always say that it's always your last line. 'cause I love it. It's I hope you're being up to something powerful and awesome, right? Mm-hmm . Is that your last line?
I hope you're being awesome and up to something you love.
You think I would know the last line of everything that I edit? I've said I've this 300 times, so I remember Yeah. Well over 300 times. It's one of my favorite lines. You say indeed I can't recite it. That's how I describe it to people. I'm like, you're listening to people who are powerful, who are up to something, who are trying to make a difference. And it's very much of like what gets me. And I say this about my own company because it, it annoys the crap out of me.
And I, and I, and I get it. Like, you want to hear certain celebrities and stuff. But what I love about powerful ladies is, is, yeah, you're, you get celebrities from time to time, but majority of the time you're, you're hearing nurses, you're hearing lawyers, you're hearing the stay at home mom who's trying to make a, a glitter work.
Who is the one guest who had like a glitter, like edible glitter line?
Yeah, eucalyptus, organic glitter.
Yeah. Earthshine. Yeah. So you're, you're listening to so many people of different backgrounds, of different upbringings all around the world. And I think that's what makes it, that's what makes the difference.
I'm so tired. of hearing celebrity after celebrity after celebrity on these podcasts just talking about the same thing. I worked on this show. I worked on that show. And yes, that is their career. They have every right to talk about that. But I want to hear about real people. I want to hear about the 98% of the population, who's doing real things, who have families, who have pets, who have hardships, who have so many other things going on and they're not in the entertainment business.
To me, that's real life. To me, this is a very real life episode. And it's talking about how you can be better, how you can be uplifting. And yeah, there are plenty of episodes. Even in my episode, I talk about my trauma. No one is. Perfect. Yes, I might be very optimistic, but I'm also, if you can sense my humor, I have a lot of trauma from my background.
I love therapy. And you'll get real people like that talking about their therapy. I have my personal trainer. It's someone I met through, through Powerful Ladies, who I thought, for some reason, Kara and her were best friends. Not at all. Had no idea. And I just was, like, we immediately clicked. We became friends, and it was about, like, two or three years later, I was, like, I want to just Get stronger.
And she was like, let's do this. And she's one of my favorite people. So without this podcast, I wouldn't have my phenomenal personal trainer. This is not me bragging that I have a personal trainer. And it is, it is not for the faint at heart. But I love her and I would not want any other personal trainer.
Cause she makes me laugh. It makes me feel good about myself, and that's what matters. But that's what I tell people about this podcast. Oh, you want to hear real people? Go listen to this podcast.
Forgot your question. I want to hear more about Jordan's therapy.
My question was Did I forget my own question now?
It was, what do you tell people about, how would you describe the Powerful Ladies podcast? Like, what does Powerful Ladies mean to you?
Well, I just think it's It's more of like a process for me, of being brave, because I'm super shy, which is weird, nobody would think that, but I, I'm not shy, but I take a long time to warm up. I like to be in the background, and then once I get to know you, I'll just be your best friend for the rest of your life.
You definitely pick and choose.
Sorry.
No, no, no. In a good way. In a good way. Oh, okay. I remember, I remember when we first met, I, I did get that feeling and then you had made a comment to me and I think you and I, like, looked at each other and we were like, oh, we're going to be friends now. Okay.
That's fun. I don't do that intentionally. I just, like, I do have, like, a guard up. I don't know why, but and I can be shy. Like, I would never do a podcast, right? But here I am doing a podcast. Yeah. Yeah. But just like, it's powerful to say yes and do something uncomfortable and you're a perfect person to do that, Kara, because you make people feel comfortable.
You ask great questions that is like, Oh yeah, I don't know her, but now I do, you know? So just being a yes. The things that make you uncomfortable and you never know, like, that's the whole thing about this podcast is we end up with an amazing community of women. So hopefully in the next few years we'll be able to do something with this community.
But we need people to follow and like us and click that subscribe button. And then we can really move forward with a lot of other things, like utilizing our community that we have.
Yeah, that's our big commitment for this year, right? We know that we've hit this 300 mark. We're going to keep going with episodes. We also know there's such a demand just from the guests, not even our audience, to be bringing everyone together. And that's what we're looking, we're working on what shape that should take, because we know that powerful ladies are busy. We know that powerful ladies have limited time. This is a global audience.
It's a global group of guests. You know, a lot of people have asked, are you going to move to video podcasting? And I'm like, sure, we can do it on zoom, but I don't want to limit our ability to talk to people who are not local, can't become local. Yeah. I just don't want to limit the story opportunities. And it's really interesting to create community when it's global.
And how do we still have depth? So that's kind of what we're working through. How does it make the most sense? And we have some other fun things coming this year, too, which we'll be announcing in the next couple of months. We're really looking to Span this team and make sure that there's a dedicated kind of person every day working on this versus each of us working on it in small moments.
I'm also really excited that I'm handing off editing to Amanda this year. Oh boy. Oh. So we're getting that kind of in process so I can be freed up to do some other things. I'm not always like, I do not consider myself a perfectionist. I do have high expectations. And just like I coach people on, you mentioned it earlier, when I brought you on board, I wrote out everything I was doing.
And I was like, here, just follow these instructions. You'll figure it out. And we're doing that now for the editing part. And just like people say, Oh, I can't replace myself in my creative work. I can't put that on paper. I know that's a lie because I coach people on all the time. And so now we're putting it on paper.
How I edit, what choices I make, what am I listening for? Because it is delegatable. And I'm excited for you to just take that on. And there's nothing on the list that a producer doesn't do that you are doing now. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm just also the confidence. Yeah. I can do it. Anybody can. So you're way more an attention to detail person than I am.
So you might even make Jordan happier that you're doing it than I am.
Yeah. I got you,
Jordan. But I really just want to say thank you to everyone who is listening because just like we can't exist if guests don't say yes. We can't exist if you're not listening and it means so much to us when you email us, when you comment, when you post it on Instagram, when you ask more questions about who the guests are, letting us know that you're out there and you exist changes everything for us.
So please keep doing to that. Please keep doing that. Please talk to us more often. I really hope that we continue to make something that you guys are excited and proud of. And if you have recommendations, if you want to know more, if you have requests for topics that we're going to cover, either in the powerful conversation series or deep dives, people who you just want us to interview, let us know.
We have an email. Hello at ThePowerfulLadies. com. So send us your requests. You can also fill out a form on the website, too. But we really want to make sure you know that you, as the listeners, you are this community, too. So get involved, please. Yeah. Anything else you guys would like to say?
Kara is She's the most epic rock star there is. She's the Podmother. New episodes coming soon under Podmother. I want to say thank you to Kara and Amanda for making this job very fun and very easy and a very big shout out to Amanda who always tags me on Monday just being like, I'm just checking in. Hey girl. She knows I'm so busy and there are definitely moments where I forget that I need to work on certain things and she is very patient with me and I appreciate that. very much an impatient person, which is why it's so funny to me that sometimes you'll tag me and I'm like, Oh, I have to do this now. But it's always like, Hey, whenever you get this done, let me know.
Hopefully in an hour. That's our deadline.
Yeah. Yeah.
Thank you guys so much. I'm so thankful for having both of you make my crazy dreams come true. And just being a yes, like having you guys on the team, I can delegate 1000 percent and go to bed at night knowing it's handled. And that is a freedom that many people don't, they've never experienced it, they don't have it.
And to have people like you on this team that makes this happen, and I know is taking so much care of our guests, so much care of each episode as it's, you know, being birthed into the universe. You know, you guys are what makes the quality of this podcast what it is because if I was doing this all by myself, I'm an insane person as we've qualified.
So I probably would still do it, but it wouldn't be this good at all. It wouldn't sound this good. We, it would take forever to launch. Like there's so many things. So. Thank you. So, thank you for making this fun. I really enjoy it as part of our work. And I'm excited to do more with you guys! Yay! Yay! So, before we go, I have to ask you guys some questions I ask all guests.
Oh gosh, I'm just kidding. I know.
How are you doing with it? Oh, my earphones died! I can't.
I quickly want to know where you guys put yourself on the Powerful Lady scale. Zero is everyday human, 10, Most powerful aid you can imagine. How are you feeling today?
Today, I am feeling an eight. Only because at this very moment we're going through the fires in LA and I haven't been home since Tuesday night.
And so that's a little crazy. I had to run out. Before this recording to go buy makeup, because I wasn't taking makeup with me. That wasn't an important item to take with me. So I've, even though I'm at, there's a lot of things going on. I still feel like an eight cause I'm getting things done. I'm feeding myself and making sure I'm eating and feeling okay.
And I'm on this recording. So it's, it's nice to be here with you, ladies.
We had an A for time, Amanda.
Well, I've been really sick. It's been a rough year for 2025, I would say, for everybody, but, I'm like a seven today. I'm just thankful that I'm getting better and healthy and yeah, like I'm a seven, I guess. I don't know what else to say.
No, even for me, like I think this is the power of having to recreate yourself in a moment.
I've been a three all day. Like I'm, it's been, I can feel the overwhelm having built all this week so far. And it's Friday. My cortisol's high, my serotonin's low, like, I can feel how, like, not well I am today. Yeah. And we're recording podcasts anyway. So you know, the credit of being able to be like, okay, we're generating who we need to be because 300 episodes is a big deal.
I'm so proud of us. I'm so thankful for everyone who's been a part of this. And we're just getting started, right? Like, there's so much more to do. We could have spent this whole episode. Talking about what's going on around us right now, but it wouldn't leave us room to celebrate what we've done up to this point.
And that's kind of what being powerful ladies are, right? We've all showed up anyway. You've been sick, the fires are going on, Jordan has been home in a couple of days. You know, I've had eight humans, three dogs, and one cat. At my house the past couple of days. So there are plenty of reasons why we shouldn't have recorded today, just like there are plenty of reasons why we never should have made this podcast.
And I think a big sign of being powerful is what we do despite of all the circumstances because we know it's bigger than us. And I think it's fitting that that's what we've all had to overcome to get to episode 300 today. Last question for you guys for today. What do you want and how can we help you this year?
Oh gosh.
Amanda wants to be adopted. What else would you like?
I don't really want anything. I, I'm pretty blessed. I would like, I'm turning 40, so I'm doing my best to I know it's a big year. So I'm trying to go to Ireland. So I'm just trying to save for that. Would like to travel for, to Ireland. this year. So any recommendations or anything like that, let me know.
I have some for you. Okay. That also reminds me that maybe a request you have is for when guests say yes to keep their recording schedule time. Because when they do that, that allows you to take a stress free vacation.
Yeah. Well, sometimes it's not their fault.
Of course not. Yeah. Jordan, what's on your wish manifestation list?
My On my list for this year, I'm trying to be far better with my finances. I felt that I did a lot in 2024. Had two music videos, I had photo shoots, I had, I I had a PR team trying to get everything like out and about. I took myself on a trip, which to New Jersey, New York, New York City, I should say.
Every time I told everyone New Jersey, they're like, why are you going to New Jersey? This is very confusing. I'm new. I went to New York City. It was very fun. I did so much in 2024 that by the end of the year. I had like no money left and it was a very stressful December. So I'm trying to have 2025 be where I'm still cranking out things because of my album comes out in 2025.
I'm very excited and proud of it. It would be ideal to tour if that is in the cards, but my main goal is. finances, just getting them better, which hasn't been like a huge goal for me in the past years. I think it was very prevalent for me in this year. And so it's, it's just making sure that I'm still having fun and doing what I need to do, but also saving money.
And I also want to do more improv stuff. I'm part of an improv team now. That's like actually. performing. And that's crazy to me to think that little Jordan was not going to be doing improv. And thanks to Kara giving me a gift card. I was like, I'm not doing this. I did do it and now I'm an improv graduate and actually doing things with it.
Which is funny. One of my favorite things that has happened with Powerful Ladies and, like, some of the events that Kara has had is a personwe will keep their identity a secretcame up to me and said that I was her favorite comic stand up, and I'm not a comic stand up, so that is a very big compliment.
That's mine. So, yeah.
You're the funniest person I know, Jordan.
I am the funniest person I know. I'm just kidding. What about you, Kara? What do you want for 2025?
But you only have one minute.
Yeah, this sun I'm being attacked.
On my manifest list for 2025 is definitely getting more exposure for this podcast. It's creating that container for what that community and connection looks like for everyone who wants it within the Powerful Ladies space.
And really driving powerful ladies to the next level. Powerful ladies was supposed to be the primary business when it started and coaching was just something I'm going to do to make money, to get it off the ground. And that pivoted so hard because of COVID and I'm so thankful for it. I never imagined the coaching consulting to be such.
The thing it is today. And I'm so thankful and proud of that. And it's time to come back and start investing resources into Powerful Ladies, be able to go to the next stage as a media company. And all the things we've had on the vision board for it for years now, you know, we, we, the company was founded in November of 2018.
The podcast launched in March of 2019. And so we've done such a good job of having our systems fine tuned where the podcast part. is on semi autopilot and now it's time to kind of give the brand the love it needs to kind of go to the next level. So anyone who would want to be a part of that, has ideas for what that could look like, I'd love to talk to you.
Reach out to us. But yeah, we're, I'm excited to really make this kind of, you know, Powerful Ideas 2. 0. Thank you guys for taking time to share your souls with everyone listening, but really just to be a yes, to be a part of this 300 episode. this unique episode format. I want to make sure you guys are getting the recognition you deserve for what you're creating.
They hear my voice all the time. So I'm sure they're really excited to hear anyone talk but me. But thank you. for saying yes to coming out from behind the scenes. Thank you.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with a friend. Come hang out with us on Instagram at powerful ladies. You can find all the show notes and all episodes at the powerful ladies. com and you can find me and all my things at Kara Duffy. com I'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @powerfulladies
Website: www.thepowerfulladies.com
Email: hello@thepowerfulladies.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
