It is in the middle where the magic happens.
It’s been three and half weeks and I certainly feel like I’m in the middle of Quarantine. At first to be honest the working from home, with no commute, felt like a nice break. As the primary errand runner in my immediate family my tasks …
When I was a young girl I believed that all girls grow up, meet their partner and get married; like Barbie and Ken. I never gave any thought to the who, when or how this would occur, and I certainly never thought I would be …
We are all told to do it. Step out of the comfort zone. Okay, I understand this on an intellectual level. Its about growing and learning. However, when your anxiety rushes at the very thought of stretching one single hair out of the zone you so lovingly call comfortable, how do you actually force your frozen mind to move?
I am not a thrill seeker or someone who has a need for the spotlight. I am however, someone who has always known her basic self , known I have a voice and had a willingness to use it. When I was in my late twenties I was struck by an overwhelming urge to write. A story welled up inside me and I had to let it out. I turned on my computer, waiting for the dial tone (that’s the olden days!) and then, I actually closed my eyes and let the words fall out. It took me probably a year before I let anyone see those words, and only a select few. Since then I’ve written more things but never put them out there. This blog, twenty years after that moment is my first step out of the comfort zone. I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy. I was nervous about being vulnerable and exposed. The catalyst was doing a digital media class where this medium is an assignment. Some background for you – I love school and am a giant nerd. Plus, I’m a rule follower, so when the teacher says post on your blog, I do!
Have you ever experienced the emotional pain of personal growth? I am in the thick of it as I near the last stretch in my Last 90 Days Challenge. This is not a byproduct I expected from this challenge. Perhaps that was naive of me. …
– Hollis Co, #Last90Days Challenge Today is my 21st day in the #Last90Days Challenge and this third week has felt like I’ve switched on auto pilot. Get up early, workout 30 mins, practice gratitude, drink water and give up a food category. Has it been …
My current obsession is Podcasts. I travel in my car quite a lot for work and I got tired of my music, and the radio has too many commercials. I discovered podcasts and now find that I can’t get enough of them. Now, I almost never listen to music in the car, unless my family or other passengers are with me. Instead I consume a steady stream of motivational and thought provoking, one-sided conversations.
As I was driving and listening to one of my favorites it struck me that prior to having a family I consumed a lot of TV and never a podcast at all. I had thought then that TV was a one-sided conversation to passively participate in. Are Podcasts then the new TV for me? Am I, are we, now passively participating in a one sided conversation, without the visual element? Hey well you get to avoid all the commercials right? Wrong.
According to an article in Ad Week
Research Finds Branded Podcasts Are 22% Better Than TV at Engaging Consumers Who Avoid Ads.
From adweek.com article by Kelsey Sutton, October 8, 2019
Ads are more effective when listeners are performing other tasks.
Self-identified ad avoiders were 22% more engaged, emotionally involved and likely to remember brands mentioned in a podcast compared to TV ads, according to a new study from the BBC
I thought about this and I recognized that I have in the last few months looked up many of the items advertised on the podcasts I listened to, including the host(s) own products and conferences. In fact I’ve even purchased some items that were advertised on the podcasts I listen to!
Advertisers are savvy and appear to be one step ahead of us. Will this change my podcast obsession? Probably not, but I am more conscious of how I consume this new medium. Like all things being intentional about what we do seems to be the best course of action to ensure that we are controlling our own narrative.
If you want some suggestions of my favorite podcasts here are a few:
I listen to my podcasts through iTunes, but you can find them on their respective websites as well as other podcast platforms.
Enjoy — but watch out for those ads!
Song: My Favorite Things Julie Andrews Raindrops on rosesAnd whiskers on kittensBright copper kettles and warm woolen mittensBrown paper packages tied up with stringsThese are a few of my favorite things …(Source: LyricFind) The Sound of Music is certainly in my list of a few of …