We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Siren Soapbox a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Siren , appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
Siren Soapbox released their first Episode: Getting to know the Sirens, on November 13, 2020. After more than two years of producing a podcast episode each week, the Sirens look back at how it all started.
Siren TC: That moment I said: “We should start a group chat.”
The Sirens live all over the world. I live on the island of St Croix, in the US Virgin Islands. I moved here from Cincinnati, Ohio, putting almost 2000 miles between my friends and me. One night, as I watched Dino texting with his group of friends in a text stream that has been alive for over five years, I thought, “I want to have an ongoing group chat with my girlfriends!” I missed the everyday chat over the simple things, and the updates on the important things. I missed “hearing” their voices. On July 11, 2020: In a message to Mur, I said, “Dino has this group of 5 guys (including him) with an ongoing text chat. They call themselves “the view”. They text every day. I’d like to try to start that… And on July 12, 2020: In another message to Mur: “Maybe we should start a text chat with the sirens?” It turns out some of the sirens were already in a shared facebook messenger chat, so Mur just added me to the group. Soon, plans were being discussed for a craft night. Though they were all able to meet and enjoy the fun in person, I joined via group chat. We had so much fun, we decided to do the group chat every Monday. The Sirens still get together to chat every Monday . . . but now we do it for the Soapbox.
Siren LC: That moment I said: “Do you want to start a podcast?”
“One day you will tell the story of what you are going through and it will be someone’s survival guide” -Brene Brown
In comes 2020. Talk about shaking things up – things were about to get turned upside down. Have you ever looked back on your life and you were able to pinpoint exact moments when your life completely changed course forever? Work sent me on a trip to the Brookville Zoo in Chicago for a week in February, 2020. It was cold and miserable. I hate winter with a fiery passion, but I actually enjoyed myself. The reason I was sent was to earn my Interpreter Guide Certificate to teach our volunteers how to communicate educational material though stories, so that it will resonate with the public. My first quote on my first page of notes: “If you want someone to remember your message, tell them a story” Rachel Gillett. It was on the drive home from that trip that I decided it was time to return to my roots, step out of my comfort zone and go part time in my career. My notice of change meant I was furloughed when the world shut down just days later. It was a blessing. Boring, but a blessing. Our family was on high alert and isolated because of chronic health issues. To combat loneliness, I listened to a LOT of podcasts. It became comforting, almost filling the void I had from missing my friends. Wait a second . . . What if WE START A PODCAST?! I wrote out these words in the group chat on October 25th, 2020, “Ladies- I would like to propose an idea… we are all uniquely different- different backgrounds, jobs, personalities, etc. and all badass women… What if we made a podcast? It can be like a 30 min chat, debate, talk, about what works for us or what we want to improve on, all positive uplifting things that could benefit other woman and give them a sense of girlfriend time…it could completely flop, but the upside to that is that we have some recordings of some great talks!” Deleted it. Keep walking. Wrote them out again. Delete. Focus on your walk. Wrote it out again. SEND! I held my breath and waited . . . . Slowly, hesitant responses started to come through and a podcast was born! In the beginning, we were just a group of girlfriends sharing our ideas on a specific topic. It was SO much fun! For the first time in almost 6 months in the middle of a pandemic, there was hope and happiness! Here is a group of people I have known for years and we are discovering new things about each other that I don’t know we would have ever revealed just chatting casually. We were on to something, but there was something missing though. It was TC that was searching for more – why are people going to listen to just a group of friends? What more can we offer our listeners? We are glad she “explored” that topic!
Siren Mur: That moment we restarted everything.
A few months into recording the podcast, we felt compelled to be more than just a group of girlfriends chatting about a topic. Three of us took on executive creator roles, began to meet weekly, and worked hard to fine tune the work we were doing. We also listened to some honest feedback from a long-time listener, and used it to polish our podcast. We purposefully stopped cursing – not that an expletive doesn’t sneak out every now and again, but in the beginning we thought it was fun to see who would drop the F bomb first. We began writing our soapboxes instead of winging them. We set requirements for the length of the soapbox. We assigned homework and deadlines. We pushed ourselves outside our comfort zones in a thoughtful and meaningful way. We began to see ourselves as “Sherpas of Exploration.” We wanted to share our experiences with the world and provide the tools to help others explore outside their comfort zones. We created a network of Sirens, celebrity guests, and friends. We developed a formula for exploring that we’re sharing with the world in the near future. What started as a group of girlfriends recording their social hour has blossomed into a powerful message to the world. Stop living that mediocre life and bust through your comfort zone. Amazing things are waiting for you there.
Siren Jess: That moment I decided I wanted to remain a part of this
Nothing profound happens in your life when you remain in your comfort zone.” – Bill Courtney
January of 2021 was rough. As a peacemaker I hate fighting, especially among friends. I want everyone to always get along. As an empath, everything is personal. So, when the original sirens had some differences of opinion (growing pains, if you will), some decided not to continue regularly with the podcast and I thought I had to fix everything. Well, it’s been a hard road learning that you can’t fix everything. After a few months, the ch-ch-changes were made permanent, and I had to make the decision if I could stretch my comfort zone and roll with the new changes. I knew I wanted to continue this journey. For me, it was never an option to get off the crazy train, just how could I do it and not feel like I was choosing a side and keeping everyone happy. I felt that it was my job, my responsibility. I had an open, honest conversation with everyone involved (which is sooooo important to everything in life) and I felt much better about moving forward. I was also in the process of moving to Hawaii. Thankfully, the sirens were willing to work with me – and I pre-recorded my soapbox for some episodes. I missed the conversation after, but that’s the beauty of the internet! I can still talk to everyone, even from the other side of the world. Through all of this, I learned you just have to “Dive In” to the deep end for great things to happen. They may not always be comfortable, but they will be worth it.
Siren Sara: That moment I was asked to be a Siren.
My first invitation to be a guest Siren came in April, 2021, and was for the Adventure Challenge. My initial response was, and I’m quoting, “You mean people would see me and I would be talking?” with an immediate follow-up comment: “This will be so far out of my comfort zone that it pretty much makes it all the way around the world and ends up right beside me.” I had listened to episodes of the podcast, and had heard Siren TC talk about it for months, so I was actually pretty excited to have been invited on the podcast, plus the episode wasn’t being recorded for a month, so I had some time to work up some courage for it. So I was in. But wait. The universe, and the Sirens, decided not to let me stew in my anxiety for that long. A week later Siren TC asked if I’d like to be on a different episode that was being recorded in 5 days (check out episode 25: “Queen of Your Own Life”, to hear Siren Sara’s first episode on the show). My response: “Talk about smashing comfort zones!!” That particular episode, however, featured a celebrity that I was thrilled about being on the podcast, so how could I say no to actually meeting her! So, I dove in, and honestly I haven’t looked back since. I was very nervcited, (it’s a new word, I invented it so it may not be in Webster’s yet) for that first recording, but I loved it. I can’t honestly say now when it was that I became an official Siren, it feels like I just never left after that first episode!I am honored and proud to be part of this amazing adventuring group of women, and I can’t thank them enough for helping me find all kinds of ways to smash those comfort zone walls.
Every podcast has its own story of how it began. Some started with a period of great planning. Some started, stalled, and restarted. Some, like ours, just sprang from the energy of friendship. If you are interested in starting your podcast, more important than HOW to begin, is just to begin! Explore podcasting, we dare you!
All together now: The moment we kept moving forward
On the technical side- other than zoom and a record button- we had nothing figured out! We dove head first into a Podbean subscription. Siren LC would take her tablet and computer to “edit” the best way she could. Thankfully, Siren Mur has taken over audio! It is much more polished now with actual editing software instead of basically the Home Alone handheld recording device LC was using- LOL. Siren TC pushed us to explore! She reached out to her favorite author, Paul Boynton, and he said YES! Over 100 episodes later, we are growing and adapting like Madonna, Beyonce, or Lady Gaga. You have to roll with the punches and adjust. As the world has been opening back up, we have been struggling to fit this amazing adventure into our lives. We have figured out how to slow down and be more intentional. Instead of interviewing a new person every week, we do every other week. The weeks we are not interviewing, we are being intentional with the time and walking our listeners through how to explore alongside us. Because, at the core of it all, we started this podcast to make people feel a part of a community and to help guide them on how to explore. Everyday we are working hard to honor our mission! So many ways to explore with the Sirens, pick one today and experience life outside your comfort zone!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
This answer for each of us would take way longer than we have now because there are 5 of us with vastly different backgrounds.Yet, somehow, there are some stark similarities too. At one point in another in all of our lives, we hit a rut. Life was mediocre. We did what society preached to us to do and we did it. And yet, we found ourselves surviving instead of thriving. This could look like divorce, overworked, tired, depressed, all around “I am doing everything I can, what am I doing wrong?!”. Each of us did the inside work, dug deep, and rose like a phoenix to ascend to living the best life possible. Since all 5 of us in our own unique ways have “been there, done that”, we want to help pave the way for other women to help them explore outside their comfort zone. We know there is not one path for all towards happiness. That path to happiness begins with you. Only YOU know what makes you happy. BUT, you have to dig deep and explore who you are, to discover what you like, what you are capable of and what you value in order to achieve great things! The Siren’s each help to give multiple ways to approach stepping out of comfort zones and stepping into happiness.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
This question is so funny because we literally used the Ross moving the couch in Friend’s “PIVOT” meme”. We covered a little bit about pivoting before when a few of us decided that a podcast was not in their best interest. This was very early on- about 15 episodes in. More recently, episode 100, we had to “PIVOT!!!” again. We truly believe the difference between those who fail and those who succeed is in who is willing to get back up after a blow.
Episode 100 should be a huge celebration right? However, as the world has been slowly opening back up, it has caused each of the sirens to spend less time on the podcast and focus more on their Monday- Friday jobs. It had been a bit of a bumpy road leading up to 100. No one was really ready to admit it, but the strain was there.
During the recording of celebrating our 100th, it all came to a head. We were discussing future challenges and frustrations slowly creeped in and let’s say things got off the rails. We finally had to face how we were going to work in a podcast- which in and of itself is a full time job- while our full time jobs and social lives were now back in full swing?
We will be the first to admit, we want to interview EVERYONE! Everyone has a unique story and message to tell. However, as a podcast, how can we honor each guest that comes on our show? Literally every single author that has been on our show has been taken aback by having to listen to a 2 minute soapbox from each of the 5 sirens. Never had they had that opportunity to listen to 10 minutes of positive feedback from different individuals. That is a unique gift we feel we can give to our guests and we wanted to honor that. We also wanted to honor our listeners. How can we show them how to explore alongside us and grow outside of their comfort zone?
As much as it pained us not to interview a new person each week, we pivoted and came up with Pre-Dive Episodes. Now we do one week of prep, we record our exploration steps 1-5 (stay tuned for the book on those steps). We go through the thought process of how to prepare for the interview of our next guest. The challenge and materials are listed in the podcast description so that our listeners can participate alongside us in real time and they have the option to email us questions or ideas. Then when we interview the guest, our listeners will feel just as invested as we are in the topic.
This is still a work in progress. We had to rearrange our schedule and adjust some things. However, we feel that this will ultimately see huge dividends! It gives our guests more face time and our listeners more time to prepare alongside us! Pivoting is the difference between success and failure!
Any advice for managing a team?
We have 5 active members of our podcast and 15 rotating members. We have a facebook group for all Sirens on the podcast and admittedly, sometimes participation is not what we expect it to be. Here’s the thing- you want participation? You have to participate too! Someone not answering when you want them to answer? You have to call on them and ask them the question directly! I have witnessed in the business world, unless people are specifically called out, they will not participate. The other piece of advice, put their aces in their places. You know someone is good at a particular skill? Highlight that! They will shine and in turn do what they can for the company.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.SirenSoapbox.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sirensoapbox
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sirensoapbox
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/siren-soapbox
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sirensoapbox
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ZaP95SsYOvkROxgzliZgg
Image Credits
JL Aerial Views