S5E17: Closing the Chapter on my Your Next Stop Podcasting Journey

`

“Being curious is one of the most important things. I think it is so important for people to stay curious so they evolve and become a better person, the kind of person they're supposed to be.”

Step into the unexpected journey of a podcaster's farewell. But what if this goodbye was just the beginning of something even more remarkable? Find out how a dyslexia journey and a passion for storytelling led to a surprising career transformation. Stay tuned for the extraordinary twist that will leave you inspired and wanting more.

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Mastering the Art of Transition: Unlock Your Potential in Corporate Communications.
• Defying the Odds: Managing Dyslexia and Thriving in Professional Development.
• Unleash the Power of Personal Stories: Elevate Your Brand's Growth.
• Embracing the Journey: Finding Creative Passion in Midlife.
• The Magic of Storytelling: Elevating Your Business Marketing Game.

Transcript:

00:00:08
Welcome back to your Next stop. This is Juliet Hahn. This episode is not an easy one. This is probably going to come to surprise to most of you, I would think, but this is the last episode since I am retiring your next Stop. It is been a journey for the last year if this was going to happen or if it would keep going.

00:00:38
And in the last probably three months, it's been very evident that your Next stop has done what it is needed for me in my life in the trajectory of where I am and. And it is time to say goodbye. And as I said, it's not an easy thing. But I am so proud of what I have done with your Next stop with yns, live with my brand. I am Juliet Hahn, that I could not be more proud of myself for stepping out of a journey for starting your Next stop.

00:01:20
And uh, which I'm sure my longtime listeners know that original was called Next Stop Crazy Town. And just to go back a little bit for the history of people that maybe don't know about me or your next stop. So in 2019, I had moved the year before and my kids were a little older. I was doing a lot of stuff in the fitness world and that was coming to an end. I was feeling like, okay, I learned what I needed there, but it wasn't getting.

00:01:52
Giving me the joy and what I was getting out of it. And I knew it was time for that to kind of be set aside. And I walked my dogs every day. I walked my boxers. And this happened to be a day that I was really kind of.

00:02:09
I was in a. In a space I wasn't in the best space to truth be told. And I was really kind of searching for something and I was listening to a book called Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It wasn't something that I typically would listen to, as you know, you guys know my dyslexia. I like, listen to my books or podcasts.

00:02:30
And it wasn't a book that was really on my horizon because it was talking about creativity and writing. And I was like, okay, I'm not creative and I'm not going to write. That was the narrative I gave myself back in the day of when I was struggling in school because of my dyslexia. Instead of saying that I wasn't good at school, I said I wasn't creative because of a something that happened in third grade. If you're interested in learning learning about that, you can go to my podcast, Word Blindness or go back to one of the episodes here that I really Take you through my whole journey.

00:03:01
And that's not what this is about. This is really my kind of homage of what your next stop has done for me personally and my career. But so I started listening to this book, and I. It kept coming to me. I loved podcasts.

00:03:17
I loved that. And so I was like, I'm starting a podcast. I ran home, told my kids and my husband, and they were like, okay, do you know how to start a podcast? Do you know what you're gonna talk about? And I was like, I know that I'm in a time in my life that a lot of women, and I'm sure some men can relate to, and I feel like I have a lot to offer.

00:03:34
So I went full on. Like, anything I do when I make my mind up of something, I jump in with both feet and figure it out. And that's what I did. And next stop, Crazy Town was born. It was a personal journal story.

00:03:48
I didn't. I even spoke to a coach about it, because it was that time in my life that I was like, okay, what do I want this to look like? And I don't know how. And someone said, you really should talk to a coach. And I said, okay, I'll do that.

00:04:02
So I didn't put any pressure on it. It was going to be short snippets. Some could be longer, but they were stories of my life, how it was that I stopped working in New York City to raise my kids. And the journey of raising my kids in a world where, like, women can do it all. Excuse me.

00:04:23
Women can do it all. And, you know, we need to show this next generation you can work, you can be a mom. And all of these things that I was like, I don't want to do it all. I want to be home with my kids. I don't want to have to work.

00:04:35
And so it was a journey of that and then raising my kids and my body changing and all of these different things, and I loved it. Things that I wasn't like, you know, things that happened as a mom that I wasn't proud of that I remember, like, maybe would. Would have judged someone else. So, like, letting judgment go and just becoming a better person. That's where it really all started.

00:04:56
And it took off. People loved it. I would get messages from around the world of like, thank you for sharing that story. You have a gift. And I was like, I love this.

00:05:05
I feel like I do have a gift in this. And I then. Then Covid happened, and Clubhouse came out, and that was a social audio app and I got put together with some really powerful people in the podcast world, and my podcast started taking off even more. I pivoted. I started interviewing people from around the world.

00:05:23
I called Covid Quarantine Stories. You can actually go back to your next stop on any podcast player. You can also go back to my YouTube channel, and you can see where this all kind of evolved. So it was your next stop because that's kind of what I was doing. That's how I pivoted and I was interviewing people.

00:05:43
That followed a passion and turned it into a business. I didn't realize I was doing it. At the same time, it was kind of just evolving. And it felt so good. It was like when the universe and God are like, this is your path.

00:05:52
This is what you want, I want you to do. That's what I started doing. And it lit me up. I would skip downstairs, I would say to the kids, oh, my God, think about this. This is how this country is.

00:06:01
People in England, they can't go outside of their garden more than, you know, once a day, and there's police on their streets. Like, you know, it just brought this. This light to me that I hadn't had in a long time, this. This creativeness. And I realized I am creative.

00:06:15
That story that I was telling. So I started talking about that, and I really started talking about my journey, started talking about my struggle, the struggles that my, you know, my oldest, who's dyslexia, what he was going through, and I was just evolving. I then created a workshop. I built websites. I.

00:06:33
I mean, I had photo shoots. It was this amazing journey that I was so in love with. And as it kept evolving, I kept evolving. I kept becoming a better human and helping more people around me because I was doing what I was meant to do. And it was.

00:06:51
It's been a beautiful, beautiful journ. From there, I met. I interviewed Cynthia Zordage, who I. You guys, if you don't know the story, I had babysat when her husband played for the Eagles. By the way, the Eagles just won the super bowl last night.

00:07:07
I'm recording the day after the Super Bowl, E A G L E S. And I learning about her story, I was like, I want to be able to help you be able to, like, talk more about what the women behind the scenes are doing. And she was doing all this amazing stuff with NFL thread. So we partnered. I had another segment.

00:07:27
So your next stop then went to YNS Live. I started doing live segments. I was already doing live segments now on another app called Fireside. So I become an early creator on Fireside. That was right when I started interviewing again, Cynthia.

00:07:39
And I was. It was right around a hundred episodes of your Next stop, Fireside came out and I did. Started doing YNS live. And I was doing live shows on this. So I said to her, let's, let's have a series within a series on that app.

00:07:54
And I was an early creator there, so I was having some great success there as well. And that was Mark Cuban, or it still is Mark Cuban and Fallon, Fatima's social art. It came out of Clubhouse. And so it was the same sort of thing. I had kind of left Clubhouse and started, you know, really diving in to Fireside and was getting some great, really great.

00:08:14
I was getting speaking engagements at podcast conferences. I was meeting just amazing people. And I knew I was doing what I was meant to be doing. I knew that what I was putting out was. Was people were feeling.

00:08:26
It started a workshop from there, and it was about finding your passion. How can you take that passion and turn it into a business? And I was really talking to so many women that were in that same stage as me, as our kids world. We decided to stay home or, you know, whatever it was. But we weren't in the same careers that we were doing.

00:08:44
And to see where that went was. Was so cool. So I wanted to be able to share it. So as that evolved, more things happened. My podcast, then I interviewed.

00:08:55
I was asked to interview someone for a television show. His name is Brent Sopol. I have my other podcast, Word Blindness, Dyslexia Exposed with him. I interviewed him for a. A show that was on addiction.

00:09:11
So I was flown to Chicago, interviewed him and had this connection with this dyslexia. And I was like, I really want to be able to help him in this foundation. What he's doing is amazing. It's everything that I always wanted to do on a big SC with dyslexia, but I've always done it in small batches, like with people that were local or friends of friends that would set me up with someone. Can you help someone with your iep, which is an individual education plan, once you get diagnosed with like dyslexia or dysgraphia or just calculia or ADHD or something.

00:09:42
So I was talking to a lot of parents one on one, just taking them through, because that journey for me was so raw when my son was diagnosed and opened my eyes to a lot of different things and how there was no help. And I felt so alone. And it was all these Things. So everything Brent was saying was resonating so much with me that I was like, okay, I need to do this now. Along the way, everyone would say to me, you do so much.

00:10:06
How do you do it? And I would say, it just flows and I can do it. It feels so good. I am in the element that I'm in. I was never overbooked.

00:10:14
Maybe there was times where I got a little overwhelmed, but a lot of it was just. It just flowed. It flowed. And I remember asking Brent that same question. Have.

00:10:22
Do you remember a time in your life when things flowed? Now, he won the Stanley cup in 2010 for the Blackhawks. He played in the professional hockey player for 18 years. And you can hear his story if you want to go to word blindness, which is still around and will be around. But he was like, no, what are you talking about?

00:10:44
And I was so fascinated with that. That, like, that's some of the conversations we have. But so finally he said, yes, and we started that. And then I really helped. I started helping with the foundation, doing little things here and little things there.

00:10:57
Where can I support you? You know, I want to help here and talking to more people and sharing the podcast, and that really started evolving. And so I was doing your next stop. Yes. Live word blindness.

00:11:09
And, and, and before that, before I met Brent, I had really dove into storytelling consultancy because people that were on your next stop were hiring me to help them with their story. So now only did. Not only did I have a workshop that then at that time, the workshop, I was like, you know what? I like that. But it wasn't ever.

00:11:30
I loved. I literally did it in a weekend and I had people that really enjoyed it, but I never really went out and sold it. Like, I was like, I just. It doesn't feel right. And you know, it, it.

00:11:41
I loved doing it and I learned a lot about it. And that was like, really cool. So I would have, you know, people still would go to my website and they would purchase it and I would do one on one coaching, but it was a little bit more one on one coaching. And I had stopped kind of really doing the fitness stuff that I was doing. And it was more one on one coaching on kind of how you find your creative passion more than just the workshop.

00:12:03
So I was seeing where that was going. And then from there, because of people would reach out and say, hey, I was just on your podcast and I loved how I was able to tell my story. Can you help me do that? Can I hire you? And I was like, oh, you Know, I guess I.

00:12:17
I don't really have, like, a framework for it, but, yeah, of course. So I then started to become a storytelling consultant, which really was taking off. And I was loving. And a longtime friend from high school that we had lost touch, reached out and asked me to help her with her story because she had a company, has a company in the biotech world called FET Tech, that some really crazy, amazing things were happening. They just found out they had tested and can.

00:12:46
They can inactivate enveloped viruses and do all these things in the medical world. And I was like, yeah, I'm happy to, you know, jump on and help it, but I don't. I'm not going to charge you. And she's like, you're going to charge me because I'm hiring you. And we need to meet weekly.

00:12:59
And I have really important story. And so Danielle Fetty used to be Danielle Filler for any of my Morristown, you know, friends listening hired me, and we started doing what I was doing with other people. And I was loving it, loving it, loving it. So now I'm doing your next stop. That was weekly.

00:13:17
There was a time where I was doing two episodes a week, so I was recording like, six or seven times a week. I also had my clients. I was doing Y and S live stuff, more of, like, the live event. So at the super bowl and at the draft and working with Cynthia on doing interviews. But those weren't every.

00:13:32
Like, every week. Those were more like monthly. And then I was doing word blindness, which was new, and that was weekly. And then having my own business, and it all flowed, and I was still able to be showing up for my kids, showing up for my family, and it felt really good. And it was like, okay, I'm evolving.

00:13:50
I'm evolving. I'm learning so much about myself and where to step out of my comfort zone and things that are scary. This was, like, in my late 40s and, like, okay, this is so. I love that. I'm, like, starting this whole new thing.

00:14:04
It's probably more like 46, 47. So, like, I guess it's lame. Whatever you want to say. I don't. In my 40s.

00:14:10
And it was very cool. I was, you know, just in a really great space. My kids were in a great space. It just. Everything was flowing and felt good.

00:14:19
And then you have the times where it doesn't, right? It's like, okay, what do I need to think about? What do I need to adjust? What. And what am I missing?

00:14:27
Where can I be better, right? Where can I Be a better person. All always walking my dogs. That's where I would creative think. I would do a lot of podcasts.

00:14:33
Sometimes I would do soul ones. I was also on other people's podcasts talking about my journey, because now it was like, I don't. I opened an LLC years before, and so I was telling people and talking to people like I was in the advertising world. I worked in New York City, and I've evolved into something different. My major in college was communications.

00:14:54
I never thought that I would use it where now I'm back with it with the podcasting and all of the stuff. And so it was this really just incredible journey that I was absolutely in love with. And from Danielle hiring me and us working together probably for a year, she said, I need to hire you full time. And I said, what? And she's like.

00:15:17
I was like, danny, I don't science. And like that world, like, that makes me sweat. Like, you know that that's where I like, really was not good in school. I can't even imagine what are you talking about? And I was doing a lot of stuff at the foundation with the Sople foundation for Dyslexia and Word Blindness.

00:15:32
And Danielle's also dyslexic. So it was also this just an interesting, like, huh, I wonder how that's matching there, right? Like, I wonder where that's connecting and where I can see that go. Being curious. I talk about it all the time.

00:15:45
Being curious is one of the most important things to me, I think is so important for people to remain and stay curious so you evolve and become a better person and what. What kind of person you're supposed to be and meant to be. So this whole year of. Of going through this and then sitting down with my husband when Danielle asked me and you know, my. My company was.

00:16:09
Happened to be though, at a time where a lot of my clients were ending and I was entering in the summer and I was like, oh, I could take the summer off. That's great. But again, I was getting an influx of money and I was like, ah, it's. You're gonna have to go out. Being an entrepreneur, you have to go out and hustle and talk to people.

00:16:22
And I had some clients that were word of mouth, but I also had clients that were also on your next stop. And I was like, I love that. This is kind of like this whole circle. And I sat down, Danielle sat down and said, this is what I really want. Like, I know that you can help.

00:16:38
Help. She's like, I kind of want Someone that doesn't know this medical world, that doesn't know, you know, the technology world, that doesn't know where I've like, you know my story. And that's the kind of person. And she's like, and the way we collaborate and work together, which we do, we work really, really well together. We can brainstorm and, like, just get each other.

00:16:59
And I think a lot of it has to do with our dyslexia. She was like, I just need you in my life, so let's figure this out. So I remember sitting down to my husband and I was like, so the Feddies just offered me a full time job. This is the salary I will have, the insurance. Like, I'm gonna like, let's talk about this.

00:17:19
And he's like, okay, this is amazing. Like, you're just an end. By the way, it was a chief communications officer job. Okay. And it's right in my, like, 49.

00:17:31
This is when I was 49. And I was like, this is so exciting. Like, okay, let's, like, let's sit. What are their expectations? Like, Danielle's a friend.

00:17:40
We grew up together but had lost touch for many years. She was, you know, a year younger. We played lacrosse together. We always had this understanding and connection, but it was like, okay, this is so cool how this is coming all together. Like, this is so incredible and amazing.

00:17:55
And I'm just gonna, I'm gonna say yes because these are those opportunities that people say no because of fear. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm going to do it. I had just gotten back from the draft. No, I had started and I just gotten back from the draft and I was on like, a call with like, some of the smartest, like, scientists that I have ever encountered. And I was in my element.

00:18:19
And it felt so good. It felt so good because they were asking me questions about communications and experts and, and on how to tell their story. And it was everything that my podcast, your Next Stop, and what I had built had basically paved the path for me to be able to walk into this role and say, I know what I'm doing because of my experience. It's not the schooling that I got, it's not the intelligence that maybe I would have had out of a book. It is from knowing how to tell a story and connect with people on a level that is different than a lot of people do.

00:18:57
And I am fucking proud of it. I am so proud of myself. And it felt so good. And I remember my kids, Montgomery in particular, saying to me, mom, it's been really cool to watch what has happened with your career the last number of years. I'm really proud of you in so many words.

00:19:14
That's what he said. That's what I heard. Because he's like, you were. You know, you're at the draft, you go to the super bowl, you interview people on the red carpet, and now you're the chief communications officer for a biotech company. And you had started your own company, you started your own podcast, and you did that all knowing that you might not know everything, but you're gonna figure it out because you're curious and you want to make a difference in the world and you want to help people.

00:19:39
And I was like, I literally bawled. I think I went to my. The bathroom and I cried so hard. I was like, oh, my God. That, like, is everything to have that acknowledgment from your kid to see that you can do it.

00:19:52
And I remember when he was looking at colleges and he was like, I don't know. After he injured himself again, you can go to war blindness and hear his story. But he fractured both sides of his pelvis. Didn't think he was going to be able to play soccer in college because it was during recruiting time. And I said to him, if I can be the chief communications officer for a biotech company, and I wasn't allowed to take chemistry because I was a dumb girl.

00:20:12
You can do anything. And that's what I say to my kids and say to everyone, anyone that I talk to, that you can do anything if you believe in yourself and you take the leap and you stay curious. And I believe that wholeheartedly. And that's what your next stop gave me. That's what my business gave me.

00:20:31
And I am forever grateful for it. And I am in love with what I created. But this last year, it hasn't felt as good. I don't have the time to keep getting the gas on. I get hit up all the time, and I just.

00:20:46
It's just not. It's not fitting in anymore. And it's soul searching. It was like when I stopped playing sports in college, and I remember being so sad, but knowing it was right because I was. I started doing well in school because I started learning how I learned.

00:21:01
And I was like, I'm going to dive into this now. And I did. And I want you. If you're listening to this and something doesn't feel right, but you're scared to make a switch, make a switch, because that is what is important. And I Have so many people that will say to me, like, you've done so much.

00:21:18
Like, and someone might say, oh, you really have done so much. And it seems like every five years you might change. It is one of those things that I think it's so important for you to be able to do that in your life. If something you hit a ceiling, you look for that next thing. But you don't just give up right away.

00:21:34
When I started my podcast in two, 2019, the thing I said to myself was, I will give myself a year. I will not let myself stop. I will give myself a year and then I will reevaluate. And that's what I've done every year. I've reevaluated.

00:21:49
And every year it's been like, nope, it's still, it's still working. It still fits, it still feels good. It still feels like I'm giving value to people that are listening. And this past year, it's been pulling at straws. And so.

00:22:02
And then I had a death in the family and I wasn't able to go to the super bowl. Like literally three days, two days before I had to say, I can't because it was my, my godfather, my uncle, and I knew that I needed. I not even knew I wanted to be home with them. He asked me to do a reading at the church and that felt right and what I was supposed to do. So I led and believe that, like, I wasn't meant to be at the super bowl on the red carpet this year.

00:22:32
And that went down a. A lot of thinking for me. And I was like, you know what? This is a sign for me to say goodbye to your next stop. Because it has been tough the last six months, seven months, fitting it in, and I never want that to happen.

00:22:51
And so I want to leave on a high note. I want to say thank you to everyone that has been with me through this journey. With your next stop and YNS Live, I want to thank you for tuning in, sending me people listening. If you're been a podcast guest, thank you. If you've sent me a podcast guest, thank you.

00:23:11
I'm still doing podcasting, so I'm still going on other people's shows. I am still doing word blindness and I have some fun stuff happening with the company at FET Tech that I'm creating that I will still get the good feels that I've always gotten from your next stop and interviewing people. It is my favorite thing to do. It is what I am amazingly good at. And I will say that I'm going to toot my own horn.

00:23:35
I am good at it and I will continue doing it. It's just going to be in a different genre but for the company. And I'm excited to share with you when that is, when the time is right. But you can still catch word blindness dyslexia exposed. You don't have to be dyslexic to listen to that.

00:23:53
And if you haven't gone through all the episodes of your next stop, maybe it is a time to do that. But again, I just want to thank you everyone that has tuned in and has sent me mess giving me the love and just say thank you and we will see you soon. And don't forget I say this every single time. Don't forget to like rate, review and share. And what I always say is stories connect us.

00:24:20
So share this because you don't know who needs to hear it. Thank you.