Episode #043 How to Become a Midlife YouTube Sensation with Guest Teresa Aker

Are you sick of feeling invisible? Of not feeling heard? Have you got a message to spread, but worry that no one will be interested? Fearing no one will listen?

If this resonates and you are yearning to find your voice but just need that push to take the next step, join your host Kate The Midlife Metamorphosis Coach® and her guest Teresa Aker host of The Success Diaries with Teresa Aker for Episode 043 as they talk about How to Become a Midlife YouTube Sensation.

Teresa shares with Kate how her uplifting talk show that celebrates the human spirit’s capacity to overcome even the most daunting challenges was born from her own personal tragedy. 

Like Kate, Teresa is a huge fan of the power of the word “yet” and in this episode Teresa explains how this drove her determination to overcome potential obstacles and not just launch her channel – but make her podcast the best it could be for her viewers

And Teresa reveals her top insights and tips for turning our dreams of launching our own YouTube podcast channel into reality – all while keeping true to ourselves and at the same time motivating and inspiring others. 

Connect with Teresa

https://youtube.com/@akerforyou?si=8nZ1lC8v5Bt61HQ9 

https://www.facebook.com/teresa.aker1

Or email akerforyouward3@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:01

Welcome to Midlife Unlimited, the podcast for women who want more. I'm your host, Kate Porter, the midlife metamorphosis coach, and I know what it's like to feel stuck navigating the midlife maze. I've looked in the mirror and thought, who is that woman? So Midlife Unlimited is here to let you know you are not alone. You don't have to put a brave face on and put up with it. You don't have to play it safe. Midlife Unlimited is all about ripping off that mask and telling midlife how it really is. Nothing is off limits because together there's no limit to what we can achieve. So, welcome to today's episode. Now, are you sick of feeling invisible? Of not feeling heard? Have you got a message to spread but worry that no one will be interested, no one will listen? Well, if you're yearning to find your voice but just need that push to take the next step, then this episode is just for you. Because I'm delighted to be joined by my guest today, Teresa Aker, host of Success Diaries with Teresa Aker, to talk about how to become a midlife YouTube sensation. So welcome, Teresa. It's fantastic to have you here.

SPEAKER_00: 1:30

Kate, I am thrilled to be here. You are terrific. I just love your show. And we had a great collaboration when we first met. I just think I think of you as one of my dear friends. And I feel like I've known you for 100 years.

SPEAKER_02: 1:43

Oh, it's wonderful. Now, I thoroughly enjoy coming on your show. So it's high time that you join me here. Now, Midlife Unlimited has got a YouTube channel. But at the moment of recording our episode, I am celebrating 34 lovely subscribers. congratulations and 33 video podcasts but i would like to extend huge congratulations to you because success diaries you've got 2.81 thousand subscribers haven't you and 222 videos now i've been doing a bit of research because when it comes to youtube it's like with any podcast video well point out yours is a video podcast um yes a thousand subscribers on youtube is better than 91.1 percent of all youtube channels so flip that around Having 1,000 subscribers puts you in the top 9%. So you're even better than that, including my 34. All subscribers, hugely welcome to mine. So I'm going to be probing you later on, asking if you could share your lessons learned and any top tips for me and all the other fabulous midlife women listening who fancy venturing into... YouTube, getting their face out there, getting their voice out there, because we want to be heard, don't we? But first, I've done enough talking. How did it come about? Was it like, I just fancy doing this? Was it a Does it come naturally? Do you

SPEAKER_00: 3:33

enjoy it? Thank you, Kate. Yeah. So I actually, I have a background in actually in motivational speaking and sales and I've helped with, I worked with a cosmetic company where I was a sales rep, but I also did when we had presidential dinners and things like that, I did motivational speaking with them and spoke there about my journey and how people could get going. And I really had a lot of years of experience in, in motivating people and motivating myself. So a lot of people work nine to five, as I did in my life. I wanted to have businesses on the side so I could do my own thing. I really liked, it's interesting, Kate, I never was a nine to five, but not because I didn't want to do the nine to five. I actually was always wanting to do more and work more. And so when I started these businesses, you have to be quite self-motivated. Now, long story even longer, there was a point through COVID that I had lost my husband and it was devastating, absolutely devastating to me. And he was my best plus one. That was just a time that was just... unbelievably hard for me. So I reached out to a wonderful lady named Heather Stang, who did courses on grieving and actually wrote some books on grief. And a couple of years later, after that, I lost my daughter, my oldest daughter. I, again, just hit a wall of sadness and grief and so forth. So I reached out to Heather again, and we talked quite a bit about her book and what i realized was there had to be something i could turn this around with because the sadness was so bad that i needed something to work on to kind of help me through it even though you can get counseling i highly recommend a project so i had been thinking about doing a youtube channel mostly about motivational speaking and heather and i were talking and i thought She was so good to me and she was so professional and knew what she was doing. I thought, I wonder if we could bring her on as a guest and see what the audience thought. I was just really feeling it out. And she was thrilled to do it. She said, of course I'll do it. I said, I don't know how this is going to work, Heather, but however it turns out, we're going to do it. Yeah, absolutely. So she came on and the audience just loved her. She did a great job. I was learning as I went. She was very patient with me. And I had a few other guests that I was very blessed to have that I knew and I wanted to bring on. And from there, it took off. Kate, what I found was the project allowed me to bring other people's stories forward so that while I was healing, I could see that other people had been through it. adversities and changes in life and as you are doing midlife crisis a lot of us are in our 50s and 60s wondering what to do now we're empty nesters perhaps we don't have husbands or wives anymore so we're trying to think how do I go to the next chapter so What I did was I took all of that and decided that this is the direction I wanted to go. And I reached out to a number of people and some people reached out to me. And this is where I have arrived, Kate. So that's how it all started.

SPEAKER_02: 7:03

I

SPEAKER_00: 7:04

love that.

SPEAKER_02: 7:05

I love that. And the word success, it's a very powerful word, world, world, put my teeth in, word. But also it's a very personal word. because it does mean different things to different people, doesn't it? And I think a lot of the time we can get so wrapped up in success, meaning making big bucks, being in charge of big companies. But I'm sure in the 200 odd conversations you've had, you must have had some beautiful insights into how overcoming, as you say, adversity, life's challenges, the general rubbish that life can throw at us, how people interpret success in very different ways.

SPEAKER_00: 7:50

They do. So some people find success, of course, in families. They find success in health, and that matters. They find success monetarily. When I was talking to you, Kate, we had a great episode, and I was very pleased to do that. You're a wonderful speaker yourself. And one of the things you said to me was, this is what the lesson that I remember we were talking about is, you haven't achieved it yet. Never give up. Never stop and say, oh my gosh, I can't do this. Just keep going until you get there. The stories that I see with everyone is that there is a common thread, whether it be health, financing, Whatever the case, the common thread is don't give up. Don't put all those excuses or weights or thoughts of other people or doubts creep in and then you can't go any further. Because midlife, as we know, that's an emotionally charged time. Now we're finding ourselves. We may not be raising children anymore. We may not be with our spouses. We may be on our own. Or we are with spouses and we're contributing in a different way now. So never let those doubts and fears creep in and stop you. I always say, look at the pros, look at the cons and really weigh it out. Think about what you're going to do next. And if you're looking at like a YouTube channel, think about what it is you can contribute because believe me, every person over 50, and I'm just saying 50, has a lot to contribute to life and to others.

SPEAKER_02: 9:28

Yeah, I think that's definitely something that obviously the women that I work with, it's that realisation that we do have things that are worth saying. And we're so used to putting ourselves on the back burner, to playing it small, to taking that back seat, especially if we've been a mum, to perhaps putting the spotlight on our children or on our partner, you know, singing their praises. But we're not used to singing our own. We're not used to saying, I'm actually rather fabulous. I have got this to offer. And I'm all about realising that, I mean, I was 56 last month. I'm not about to sit quietly in the corner. I'm just getting started. And I'm all for us standing up and saying, yeah, let's actually be proud of what we've got to offer. And as you said, keep pushing ourselves, jumping out of that comfort zone. And I'd be interested to know, obviously, when you started, were you giving or making excuses? What kind of excuses could you hear that you were making to yourself that obviously you've overcome to get where you are?

SPEAKER_00: 10:40

Oh, number one, Kate, that's an easy one for me to answer for you. I had a bit of imposter syndrome. I thought, oh, I'm going to do what makes me think other people are going to want to hear it. me talk, or what makes me think that other people would want to talk about their stories to me. So you do kind of go through that. And I'm sure that holds a lot of people back from doing it. The other thing is, perhaps we are a bit more critical of ourselves, we think, do I speak properly? Am I the person they the public wants to see or hear? So we do go through that, I think is, and that's normal. That's just normal, self self-doubt uh you know we we tend to criticize ourselves a little more than we should now let's say it's your best friend and they say we're they're going to start a podcast or they're going to do something like this guess what we're right in there right behind them oh yeah i think that's a great idea so we should be treating ourselves the same way

SPEAKER_02: 11:38

no absolutely and we're so

SPEAKER_00: 11:39

we're

SPEAKER_02: 11:40

quick to judge ourselves. I mean, you mentioned best friends then, but so often our blinking inner critic, I mean, I call mine Deirdre because it's so important to give her a name because she's not us. The things that she will say to us the you're not good enough the who on earth would want to listen to your podcast who who'd want to tune into your youtube program we wouldn't as you said we wouldn't say it to anyone else so why oh why oh why are we bearing any credence or giving any energy to this voice in our head i suppose in theory what she's trying to do is protect us she's trying to protect us from making a fool of ourselves from putting ourselves out there for doing something something we can't do but again i'm bringing right back yet now i know when i started the podcast which is eight months ago now nine coming up to nine months ago one of the main hurdles that and it was a very big hurdle because i knew my why i knew why i wanted to do it i knew that there were women out there who wouldn't necessarily because of me but who wanted to share their stories It was the technical side of it that was scaring me. And I was very lucky I found my good friend Donna Eade who helped me with all the tech side of it. So I'd be interested to know the tech side. Were you techie? Did you reach out? Because it's asking for the help, isn't it? It's knowing when you need help and then finding people to ask.

SPEAKER_00: 13:11

I blindly went through it. I watched a couple of YouTube channels. I had gone on an episode, Jenny Ballinger graciously offered. This was prior to me starting my own. She invited me to be on her podcast and I went on there. Her format's quite like yours, just audio. I went on hers and I had a great time with her. She was wonderful at her channel. And I thought, I could do this. But the difference was she was not doing it as a video. So yes, I had to realize that if I did it as a video, then I would have to do a lot of editing and a lot of that work that was involved with that. Kate, I wanted to do it. Video wise because I wanted to see people with their stories be able to see who they were talking to because some of the stories were quite emotional so I wanted to be able to bring that and I had been emotional as well and I knew the stories were in depth and deep so I wanted to show that. Conversely, as I went in there, there was people who were comedians, things like that. So I've not really actually had a niche, although it started that way. I did not have a niche. So if you were a comedian and you had a story of how you got there, things like that, the adversity story was the story. So that was more important to me. So the videos, as I did them, I had to learn how to edit, use programs that could do that. So there are a lot of tools and I'm always happy to help people. I will say to you, I had other podcasters My goodness, Jeff, I think Jeff comes to mind. He is with JK Rewatchable Hour. He helped me a lot. I had some other YouTubers help me. I tell you, they were absolutely wonderful. So if you have to reach out to people, there are people that will help you.

SPEAKER_02: 15:02

Definitely. I say I'm going to be reaching out more and more to you because although I say we've got Midlife Unlimited, the main episode is a weekly audio episode. I will be dragging you on as well. I am now doing the Live for Five video, which is what's on the YouTube channel, which is like a short taster podcast of what we talk about in the main episode. But no, I totally agree with you. There is something wonderfully powerful about having a video conversation to watch, isn't it? But also I do get amazing feedback from listeners who do like the idea of plug in me and my guest in their ears when they're out walking or when they're, you know, it is two very different fields, isn't it? Definitely. I

SPEAKER_00: 15:49

can assure you that you are right. People, so they gravitate to what they want to do. So my demographic shows, mostly people on television watch my show and you're right. The audio side is definitely, it's not on mine, but other people who do audio, there's probably the equally the same, percentage. So I do watch for that. And yes, 87% listen or watch me on television, not on headphones.

SPEAKER_02: 16:19

That's really interesting. Now, another thing that I love, obviously, you're based in Canada. I am. In terms of guests, you mentioned that it began organically through people that you'd met face to face. But I love the fact now, obviously, we're thousands of miles apart but we found each other and what's the most unusual person or the unusual connection that you forged through your show and because obviously before the wonders of youtube and the internet these connections you just wouldn't have met these people would you

SPEAKER_00: 16:54

Absolutely. I had some wonderful guests. Well, yourself, Kate, you were one of them. Thank you very much. Yes, you're wonderful. I had a great time with you. I feel, as I said earlier, I feel like I've known you for 100 years. I met some people in Iceland, of all places, that honestly, I would never have talked to. At what point in my life would I meet someone in Iceland? I have no idea. But I had a lovely lady on my podcast. And guess what? I had a second person from Iceland. Come on. So it was... How did that come about then? So I... Okay. So one thing you need to know, Kate, I'm a Facebook junkie. So I'm always on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. I do all of that. And so... We connected somewhere on Facebook. That's how we connected. Come to me right now. But we definitely met somewhere there. And I invited her to come on to my show. And she graciously said, sure, I'll come on. I believe I met you on Facebook too. Yeah, yeah. So most of my people are on the social media, whether it be LinkedIn or Facebook. It really varies. But social media for sure. I actually had never met. You mentioned Heather. I never met her in person. It was always online. She absolutely. She did a course online. It was through video, but I feel like I've met her because we've done so many shows together. she was wonderful. I've met some, most of the people that I have on my show are definitely online, but I have met, of course, I'm in person. I met Carla Collins, who's wonderful comedian. She came up to Canada. I saw her show here and she was on my show and I had the pleasure of meeting her. So there, and she's from California. So it just depends, just depends on where they are at.

SPEAKER_02: 18:41

Cause I love that. I love the fact that, you're reaching out to people because that can be a stumbling block. But I know another stumbling block that people mentioned to me because I am quite I am quite visible in my promotion of Midlife Unlimited because the wonderful guests that come on, they're giving me their time. They're giving me their stories. They're sharing. And I think they deserve for me to almost give myself the ick by the amount of publicity and promotion that I do for each episode. Did you find it easy? Is it something that came easy to you? Obviously, as you say, you're a social media junkie, for want of a better word. But the actual, because it is self-promotion to a certain extent, isn't it? And I know it can be like, oh, my goodness, do I put another post out there about my show? Are people, you know, am I pushing people away? Am I over-promoting? There's no such thing as that, is there? There's no such thing as over-promoting.

SPEAKER_00: 19:39

I would say, Kate, no, it's self-marketing. You're absolutely right. There is sort of an idea that some people pull back and they think, oh, what if. So let's break it down for you. Now, this is one thing I did learn many, many years ago. When you're on social media, we tend to think more local. So we think all the people on social media know us because they're in our neighborhoods. We forget that we're talking to people in Iceland, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Africa. These people are India. I have lots of following from India. So watch this. We're all on different timelines, different parts of the globe, different places. reasons they follow you. What happens when you start a podcast or a show like this, you have your own following. As you said, you're building a following. These are people who've subscribed. That's a respectful amount of people that have taken the time, are subscribing to you, Kate, that say, I want to hear from Kate and her guests. So they are on there following you. When you're promoting yourself on the social media platforms, it really is important for you to understand to break away from the local idea. You're all over the place. Some are going to come in, some are going to leave. The ones that leave are not your people, Kate. They don't matter. They're not, not that they don't matter. They're important people, but they're just not your audience. That's okay. They're someone else's audience. The people who are your audience will stay with you. So you can promote, you can market, you can keep going. You're going to bring new people in. It's an ebb and flow, if that makes sense for you, Kate.

SPEAKER_02: 21:27

No, absolutely. I mean, how has it felt seeing the numbers creep up? Does it still give you a buzz? Is it something that you focus on? Do you not think about it that much? How does it feel for you?

SPEAKER_00: 21:42

Listen, Kate, I can remember when I first started, I had 17 people watch my show. They weren't even subscribers. They were just viewers. I was so excited. that's where I am now I'm like

SPEAKER_02: 21:53

one of my episodes the other day had 180 yeah one of my episodes the other day it was Louise's episode it's had 187 views the others are averaging are averaging about 30 I can't figure out why her I mean it was a brilliant episode obviously but it's like what is it about that one that's attracted 187 views as opposed it's but you you can go you can go down the little rabbit hole of the and they're not vanity matrix because i think they are useful to understand what has really resonated with listeners and viewers and what they'd like more of them

SPEAKER_00: 22:29

there is a there is i guess a general idea that if you have a niche you're going to find your audience they're going to stay with you kate I'm not the person to ask that because I don't have a niche. You do. I do not. So I bring on guests that want to talk about their story, their journey, their adversity, how they overcame it. And that helps the audience that are looking for the answers to what they're looking for. For you, you have a niche. You're talking about midlife, growth, midlife. People who are going through it, that's your niche. So you're going to draw those people in. So when I say that, each person has their own way of doing their shows. Some do one show a week. Kate, I do three to five a week. It really depends on what you want to do. I will tell you this. It's your show. If someone's starting a show, it's their show. Do what you want to do, what makes you feel good. When I get one view and one like or one subscriber, I am thrilled. In answer to your question, absolutely. Every time somebody watches my show, comments on it, gives me feedback, I ask for feedback. I love that. I don't care if it's one viewer or if it's a thousand views. I don't care. As long as someone is, I'm thrilled.

SPEAKER_02: 23:56

No, I'm absolutely with you on that. And I've actually got, I must get you in the Facebook group for Midlife Unlimited. But then in there, I do, because on Buzzsprout, you get the download tracking for the audio episodes. And I'm like, woo, three more to the next landmark. But it is, I always say to them, it's not me doing it in a big headed way. It really is all about, I see Midlife Unlimited as my little acorn. And it's about nurturing that and reaching out because the content we're putting out there is bloody brilliant. And it's knowing that we're, in my case, women, but some men as well, are finding that comment because the conversations that are being had are conversations that they then say, I needed to hear that. That has really helped me or that conversation. I thought I was alone and I've now realised that. that I'm not but I didn't want to I didn't think anyone was going to be interested and that just gets me that really does when you hear people say things like that.

SPEAKER_00: 25:03

Kate you have a wonderful show you have great guests I've certainly listened to your show and I've heard your guests and and it's wonderful stay the course and do not worry about those views because you know the other thing too is it is summertime here in Canada and North America I know that you're not in Yes. So we do have different seasons too. So don't forget that in the global world, some of your audience in other countries is having a vacation time right now. They may not be watching it. It's nothing to do with you, nothing to do with the show. As you know, television shows have hiatus. So you're going to have times when it's not going to draw the views. And then other times, oh my God, I'll tell you what, podcasting exploded during COVID. That's when it exploded. Before that, people could be on for years and hardly had any views. COVID made everyone stationary and all of a sudden the YouTube channels and the social media went crazy. That's why they had so many views. Now you got to remember, we're going back to normal life again and people are going back to their usual way. So these podcasts, although valuable, people have lives and they're going to do their thing during the seasons.

SPEAKER_02: 26:17

No, absolutely. And I think, and I know you are well, I'm hugely respectful of the fact that people are using their precious time to listen and watch what we're talking about, what we're saying. So we're going to move, I think now, into your top tips and lessons learned. But I think the first one that I'd pop in there and see if you agree is knowing our why. And letting that drive us. The reason why we're doing that. I mean, would you say that underpins everything you do? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 26:54

100%, Kate. So yes, the why. But honestly, you asked me earlier, I absolutely love doing this. So you have to really love it because there is a lot of work involved. There is a lot of... It's a huge amount of work, isn't

SPEAKER_02: 27:09

it? I mean, I knew it was going to be, but you could make it a full-time job almost. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 27:15

You can. So you do have a commitment, but you have to really love this. And a lot of people get into it and they have to find their own way of doing it to make it happy for them. I'm always, when people ask me or if, and I've asked help from other people too, it really depends on your audience and your growth. Never compare yourself to someone else, Kate, the worst anyone could do. And I will say this for your audience and you have a wonderful audience. and my audience. When they're following you, as we said before, that is precious. And you want to give them the best content you can give them. Give them your best. When they hear Kate's voice, they're hearing Kate's best. When you bring on guests, you're bringing on guests that are wonderful and they get to listen to and it's terrific. That's what they want. Don't compare yourself to someone else in any field. No one should ever do that because they will find you. You will find your world. It will all come together. And yes, you have to have a why. I want to make sure I circle back to that. You have to have a why because there will be moments of where you're feeling like, oh, another show. There are moments, no matter how much you like it, you're going to have tiring times because it is so much work. So that why does kick in. I have pictures on the wall of things, reasons why I'm doing this. A large part of it is my family. I love to spend time with them. And so this allows me the time with them. But it also allows me to to my audience, guests that can help them. So inside of me, it's the reason why. I will add also, you need an end goal. There needs to be a reason down the road to keep going. So why am I doing this? Because I don't have a is beautiful and I love being with them, but I am an empty nester. So I don't have anyone living with me. My husband is gone. It is just me for the rest of my life, Kate. If the good Lord wills, I will be sitting in this chair for the rest of my life. That's what I will be doing. That's my why. And that's my end goal.

SPEAKER_02: 29:27

Yeah. I love the fact that you've, found something that you're so passionate about. And one thing as well that is blatantly obvious with you and that I try to, and I think I do follow this, is to be ourselves, to not try and be anyone else. Because I've mentioned this before, but I will say it again. When I knew I was going to launch Midlife Unlimited, until that point, not really listen to podcasts and i actually said to myself i'm not going to start doing it now because i didn't i wasn't trying to be divina i wasn't trying to be postcards from midlife i didn't want anyone to think i was trying to be something other than just me and that's why i i couldn't find any intro music that felt right so i thought well i won't have any then Because rather than using something that just didn't feel right for the show or to me, I just thought, no, I'll do it my way. Why not? That's me. That's the kind of person I am. And I get the feeling that you're very much like that as well. You're not a wannabe. You're you.

SPEAKER_00: 30:44

Kate, you're talking, you see my background? That's my picture. That's my, I think of this as my husband who passed away, his wonderful spirit and my daughter. I have that picture there because it's in my home. Pardon me? Are they chaffinch? They're birds. Yes, they're the cardinals. Okay. And I think of them as my spirit, my, you know, my family sort of watching over me. I am so authentic. I haven't even changed my background. I do not have an opening song. I do not have any kind of intro. I don't have any kind of hype whatsoever when you're on my show as you know kate it is a hundred percent conversation just you and me talking about authentic real life real stories real comments real ideas to talk to the viewers the wonderful audience that wants to listen in and give them content that is real I know there's celebrities out there that are doing things. I commend them. They've done well in life, but I can't relate to them. I can relate to my neighbors, to my other countries, to I think of all of the world. The people I've met all over the globe that I've had on my show are exactly the same. The thread with all of them is they're real people going through or have gone through adversity, hardship, Everyone has a story and I want to be able to tell it for them. The celebrities are not real to me. This is real,

SPEAKER_02: 32:19

if that makes sense. I think that's a beautiful second tip from you then, that the content that resonates and keeping it real, knowing what your listeners want and what they'll value.

SPEAKER_00: 32:32

And they're going to tell you. They're going to tell you in the comments. They're going to ask you. They're going to say, I love that show. I want to hear more of this. Reach out to them. Talk to them. Make sure you do that because when you do, it resonates back. Actually, Kate, you do because you've been on. I know you've been on my comment list. You jump in and out. You do. I know that. It's important for you also as a podcaster to integrate with other podcasters to help them along because we're all in this community together again do not compare yourself just learn from them and it's going to take you really far and you're doing great already so understand that but that's how I see it

SPEAKER_02: 33:23

no thank I really appreciate you saying that but no I'm very much like that I mean I've anyone that knows me knows that cheerleading is one of my favorite things and I don't mean the pom-poms necessarily although I don't don't mind a pom-pom but I think when you start something like a podcast, it could be like, oh, I'm not going to listen to so-and-so's podcast because I don't want them to get more listeners than me. And I don't want to do that. No, you can't be doing that. As you say beautifully, we're all in this together. Like with anything we do, there's room for us all. And hopefully we all keep going with the same energy and enthusiasm that Some will fall by the wayside, not literally, but they'll just think it's not for them. But it's all about giving it a go. If you don't try, you don't know, do you? And it's not going to be for everyone. It is a lot of work. I will say that. I thought it was going to be, but it might be. I'm sure I make work for myself as well. My son goes, really, mum? I'm like, well, yes, when I started the live videos to go with it. But It was one of my wonderful guests, Amanda Fitzgerald, suggested it when we did her episode. And I was like, oh, I like that. Midlife Unlimited, Life of Five. Yeah, a little five minute taster. But since, because people are enjoying it so much, although I still call it Life of Five, the one I did this morning was nearer 20 minutes because it's a lovely video conversation. It's just, but I think being consistently persistent is something that I will say you are the queen of.

SPEAKER_00: 35:02

Oh, thank you. I, I thank you, Kate. I appreciate that. I think the most important, I had a, I had a show and I just thinking back, a wonderful guy on there. And he said to me, the, my computer was about to, die because I hadn't charged it. And I said, I have to stop this. I just have to plug it in. And I came back and I said, oh, I'm so sorry about that. And he was so wonderful. He said to me, you know what he said? His name was Schroeder. He's a wonderful guy. He said, stay authentic, Teresa. Don't worry about all that stuff. It's authentic. And I learned, I listened to him. I thought he's right. So what? We're going to have mess ups. We're going to have trip ups. We're going to have things happen. Keep rolling. Don't try to be something you're not. That's the key to, that's what I'm finding. I'll tell you what, Kate, there's been, there was a lot to do with AI. So there was a lot coming in. I thought, Oh, I got to learn AI. I remember that now. Oh my gosh, maybe I should have an avatar. Maybe I should be doing this. it's on YouTube. And then I thought. am I doing? I'm talking to real people. I don't care about the thumbnails. You have your thumbnail. You have all of that stuff. Go not you personally, but the people who are. They can have their thumbnails. They can do all of that stuff. You know what? That isn't me. That's not me. I am not inauthentic. I want you to see the real me. I want you to see my guests that are real people. And you know what? That works for me. I am not changing off that. This isn't about me having, you know, an avatar or something else. It's not about that. It's about the guests that I bring on and the content and the real live knowledge that they're bringing. These are everyday people. I will not sell out into the AI world. It's not going to happen on my show.

SPEAKER_02: 36:55

No, I love that. That's a wonderful way to wrap up talking about your show and your zone of genius because you just used one of my... Favourite, unfavourite words, if that's a thing. You use the word should. And I think that is, I hate shoulds. Because shoulds are someone else's voice in our heads. Get them out. Get them out. And the fact you said no, I'm not going to bow down to the shoulds of I should be doing this, I should be doing that. No, I think my main takeaway from, and I was so looking forward to this chat with you, my main takeaway is do it our way.

SPEAKER_00: 37:32

That's right. And be true. I agree with you, Kate. If you don't do it your way down the road, you're going to not be able to continue because you know it's not you. It's not authentic. Keep doing what you're doing, Kate. You're doing a fabulous job. I've always enjoyed our time together and I listen to your show. You have an amazing way about you and your audience and the guests that you have. Amazing. Keep going and you're a huge success. You can

SPEAKER_02: 38:04

come on

SPEAKER_00: 38:04

again. I like it. 100%. 100%.

SPEAKER_02: 38:09

Well, but before I let... let you go and we'll put out your contact details as well because obviously people will be wanting they might want to come on your show as well um but all your contact details are going to be in the show notes for this episode and you have your or you will have your guest profile on the midlife unlimited podcast website but before we we let people know how they can get in touch with you and where well obviously they know the name of your show they know it's on youtube i have my usual three questions that i ask each of my fabulous as female guests. And I'm not going to let you escape these. So the first question, what is your midlife anthem? The song or piece of music that when you hear it, you think today is going to be a good day. I

SPEAKER_00: 38:58

love the song. This girl is on fire. And when you ask me that, I don't know how many times I've run that with my picture on Facebook. And if I'm driving in the car, I'll listen to that. I love that song. It just revs me up and it makes me feel like, yeah, I'm good. I got this.

SPEAKER_02: 39:16

A bit of a leasher. You can't beat it. No, that is a good one. And I keep saying I'm going to do it and I will. I will be doing this before the year is out, before we reach our first anniversary. I'm going to put together a playlist, a Midlife Unlimited playlist, because obviously each of my guests has been asked and I've had very few duplicates, which is quite interesting. So I think it's going to be quite a big playlist. But the next question, I think I might do a little motivational book of these because there have been some belters. What is your midlife mantra, the phrase that you use to motivate yourself, really the phrase that you go to? Never

SPEAKER_00: 39:57

quit.

SPEAKER_02: 40:00

Yeah,

SPEAKER_00: 40:01

that's it. Just never quit.

SPEAKER_02: 40:04

I like that. I like that. You know, what's what's the worst that can happen? As you say, it's just a matter of keeping on keeping on, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00: 40:14

It is. It is. And I'm never going to quit. I'm going to keep going. Like I said, I'll be in this chair, Kate, the last day. My last chapter, they'll be turning out the lights going. There she is.

SPEAKER_02: 40:26

Well, we'll be tuning in to each other. We might even get to meet one day. That would be rather fabulous. You're often you're not my guest that day, right? I'll just keep talking. Don't worry. I can talk for England and Canada, but we're OK. That's the best, Kate. That was the best. So my final question before we share your contact details, and I look forward to this because this is going to be a very good read. What is going to be the title of your autobiography? That's probably the

SPEAKER_00: 40:55

easiest one. I did it my way. I did it my way. That would be the way. That would be what I would have on my autobiography.

SPEAKER_02: 41:05

And that perfectly sums up our episode, doesn't it? Because I think you've given some brilliant advice. You really have. And I think there are going to be so many people listening that it'd be like, I'm going to give it a go now. Because as you say, what is the worst that could happen? Keeping it real, not keeping it real. That's the worst that could happen. Pretending to be something you're not because... It's tiring. It's tiring putting on a... And we've come this far. Midlife is all about ripping off the mask. I say that all the time, but it is about realising we don't have to conform. We don't have to pretend to be something we're not. This is our time to be us. And what better way than to have our own show and do it?

SPEAKER_00: 41:46

And isn't midlife all about that? It is our way now. We don't have to answer to anyone anymore. We're doing our own thing. And wow, look at what we're doing. And at ages that years ago, they would have just stopped and retired. And now we just keep going, Kate. And I love that. Oh,

SPEAKER_02: 42:04

here's to it. Here's to it. Right. The lovely listeners. that have been tuning in today and want to get in touch with you to find out more to find out obviously your details will be in the show notes for our episode which will be available or is available wherever you listen to your podcast and on the website but if you could just talk us through is there a website they can visit what what's the best way to connect with you

SPEAKER_00: 42:28

The best way is probably on Facebook at Success Diaries with Teresa Aker. I do have a website that's also Success Diaries with Teresa Aker, but I'm always on social media and that's probably the best place. Go over to my YouTube channel, also Success Diaries with Teresa Aker. Take a look there. It's A-K-E-R. Unfortunately, on all of the wording, it comes up A-K-E-R-A-C-E-R-E, like the acre. So it is A-K-E-R, just so people note what also corrects to that uh it does it's just the way it is right but yeah they can reach out anytime and i want to say before we go kate uh you're always such a wonderful lady i'm very grateful that you brought me on the show you're very good at what you do and i'm very grateful to have been here today oh thank you oh i'm

SPEAKER_02: 43:19

feeling all Goose bumpy now. Well, listeners, I would love your feedback on today's episode because I'm sure you've been inspired. And I want to know if you're going to be launching your podcast and your YouTube channels as well. So it'd be fabulous if you could leave a review and you can email or text me via the link in the show notes too. And come and join the Midlife Unlimited podcast Facebook group, the links in the show notes, where you'll find the website linked to with details of my exclusive Midlife Metamorph and I've got something rather special coming up for all you empty nesters that we were talking about earlier so thank you so much for joining me today Teresa it's been an absolute joy I was so looking forward to recording this episode and thank you for listening I look forward to you tuning in next week because don't forget Midlife Unlimited has a new episode every Thursday available wherever you listen to your podcasts so here's to being fabulous and flourishing together and to living midlife Thanks Emma so much. Take care.