July 23, 2025 • 25 mins
Ever wondered how successful podcasters build thriving communities while staying true to themselves? Dave Bates, an executive coach with 30 years of business experience, pulls back the curtain on what really drives podcast sustainability and growth.
Most creators launch their shows expecting rapid success, only to abandon ship after a handful of episodes when reality doesn't match their expectations. Dave reveals why this happens and offers a refreshing counternarrative: meaningful podcast growth requires clarity of purpose, alignment with core values, and intentional community building. "If it's for everybody, it's probably for nobody," he explains, highlighting how narrowing your focus actually expands your impact.
The conversation explores the power of asking two fundamental questions: "What's it for and who's it for?" These seemingly simple inquiries form the foundation for everything from content creation to audience development. Dave shares how your answers to these questions naturally extend to community building—creating spaces where "people like us do things like this," as marketing guru Seth Godin would say.
We dive deep into why communities matter in today's noisy digital landscape. As Dave points out, when you build a focused community around shared values, you "cut out a lot of that noise and create more connections." These connections foster the "know, like, and trust" factor essential for meaningful engagement. Plus, we explore the parallel need for peer communities that provide support and perspective for podcast creators themselves.
Whether you're just starting your podcasting journey or looking to deepen your connection with existing listeners, this conversation offers practical wisdom on aligning your content with your values and building sustainable communities that amplify your message while providing the support you need to thrive.
Visit paravel.com to connect with Dave and discover more resources for your podcasting journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carl (00:04):
Welcome to Communication Connection Community, the
podcaster's podcast.
This podcast takes a deep diveinto modern day communication
strategies in the podcastingspace.
We chat with interesting peoplewho make the podcasting and
speaking spaces exciting andvibrant.
We also dive into thepodcasting community with news
(00:24):
updates, latest trends andtopics from this ever-evolving
space.
So strap in, it's going to beone amazing ride.
Let's dive into today's episode, and my guest today is Dave
Bates.
He's an executive coach whounderstands the daily struggles,
(00:46):
challenges and the bigopportunities that feel like
they're just a little bit out ofreach.
He's been a solopreneur, COO,CEO and almost everything in
between, too.
He's run the gamut when itcomes to being in business.
Dave's clients experiencerelief from the pressure of
feeling alone at the top oftheir growing business.
(01:06):
We're going to talk about a lotof things today, I'm sure, but
first off, oh, and he's a gueston podcasts and very sought
after, a sought after, rathersought after, Dave, welcome to
the podcast.
Dave (01:20):
Thanks for having me.
I'm glad to be here.
Carl (01:22):
It's great to have you here, my friend.
So podcasting, you have spentsome time as a guest in this
space.
What was it that led you topodcasting?
Dave (01:30):
I think everybody has a dream someday of having a
podcast or being on a podcast.
One of the things that's reallybeen interesting about
podcasting is how it expandsyour reach.
You know everybody says, hey, Icould have more clients or I
could have more whatever, Ifpeople just knew more about me.
That's the awareness problemthat everybody seems to struggle
with.
And I also thought, hey, youknow, I've had a lot of
(01:51):
experience in my life and itwould be great if I could share
some of what I've learned alongthe way.
And what better way to do thatthan to find folks that are
tuning in, trying to learn andeducate themselves and just
share what my experience hasbeen, and maybe it will help.
Carl (02:04):
And you've been at this not at the podcasting game, but
in business for how many years?
Dave (02:09):
About 30, if you don't count any of my entrepreneurial
stuff as a kid.
Carl (02:15):
The lemonade stand and the grass cutting.
Is that the stuff you'retalking about?
Dave (02:19):
I think I started delivering daily bulletins on
the Air Force Base when I wasnine years old, so I'd go to
every door and drop it off, andI think I was telling more of my
kids about this the other day.
I think I was paid maybe apenny.
Carl (02:33):
I love it.
It's like I remember having aflyer route and it wasn't a
penny, but it was, I don't know.
It was like 10 cents per dropand you delivered the flyers
either once a week or twice amonth, I don't even remember,
but I remember being the kidgetting the check because it
came by paper, right or youmight have even come with your
flyers, right?
I don't even remember.
And you get oh my goodness, Imade $17, right?
(02:56):
Just remember being so excitedabout it, and I didn't know that
that would lead to running apodcasting agency.
But I guess maybe I wasentrepreneurial too, way back
then.
Dave (03:05):
I think a lot of people are entrepreneurial and then
over time they consume anarrative that suggests that
they should go the safe route,and I have to tell people all
the time that there's a myth ofcorporate safety right.
Carl (03:18):
But that's a topic for another time.
Yeah, another discussion,another podcast or some type of
a webinar series or somethinglike that that you and I can run
.
Let's take this off mic andcover that another time.
But definitely I agree thatthere's that trap.
The way my dad always put itwas and he married young.
He married my mother, who wasgoing into her second marriage,
so my dad was marrying into afamily.
(03:40):
Basically already he said I'mfollowing the path to cash, the
path to money, because I need tomake money.
That's what I need to do.
So he's been in that mindset ofmoney where if you're an
entrepreneur and if you'rethinking you're going to make
money, you will eventually.
It's not going to be within ashort period of time.
There's a journey, there'sexperience, there's a grind, all
(04:00):
of those things that you needto go through before you get to
that elusive success, status orwhatever you want to call it.
Dave (04:09):
Yeah, you got to build right, you got to build, you got
to create, and then you got tobuild, and then you got to grow,
and then maybe, if you want toscale, you can do that.
Carl (04:16):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
So executive coaching, what ledyou to being an executive coach
?
Dave (04:20):
Yeah, I was trained as a coach a long time ago, probably
25 years ago.
At the end of the startup thatI was working in, when we were
shutting the lights off, thelady who trained me as a coach
said, hey, god put you on theplanet to be a coach.
And I said, thank you very much.
I'm going to go off and do someoperational roles and do that
(04:40):
kind of thing.
So I went and followed that moretechnical, non-coaching path,
but I always integrated thecoaching lessons that I learned
in that process throughout mycareer and then, probably six
years ago, I kind of got to thepoint where I said, yeah, maybe
I should just go be a coach andI said, okay, jane, I'm going to
(05:01):
do what you told me to do, andin sort of more formalized way,
and that's when I started thecompany that I am currently
running.
It's just me as a solopreneur.
But that's when I went out tobe a coach and I work with
primarily second time founderswho are not sure if they were
lucky or good the first time,and that gives me a lot of
(05:22):
purpose and a lot of enjoymentand fulfillment in helping those
folks be time and that gives mea lot of purpose and a lot of
enjoyment and fulfillment inhelping those folks be
successful.
So that's how I kind of gotinto it.
Carl (05:30):
Wow, phenomenal.
And of course, you wereinstantly successful no
challenges, no struggles,nothing.
Dave (05:36):
Yeah, sure.
No, it's always a challenge,right?
Everybody goes intoentrepreneurship, whether it's
solopreneur or whether it's, youknow, going to do a big old
series A raise.
Everybody thinks it's going togo fast for them, and some
people it does go fast for, andthe majority of the other people
(05:56):
it takes a lot longer and youneed a lot more support in that
process than you think you do.
It just takes longer andsometimes it doesn't work.
But few people are talkingabout that in the world.
You sort of.
We have this cult ofpersonality, this cult of
success, the overnight successthat took 10 years to build, but
nobody talks about all of thethings that were difficult in
that period of time, and so Ithink that that is a thing for a
(06:20):
lot of people.
So it's just a lot of work toget from one place to the other.
Warren, not Warren Buffett,Charlie Munger is famously
quoted as saying you need threethings to be successful.
To be rich Not that I care thatmuch about being rich, but
that's his context was you haveto be incredibly smart, you have
to work incredibly hard and youhave to be incredibly lucky.
(06:41):
And he says that doesn't happento that many people, but we all
think we're really smart, weall think we're really working
hard and we all are confidentwe're going to be really lucky,
and the reality is that that'snot always the case, and so one
of the things that I talk aboutis making sure you've got the
support structures in place andthat you're not trading the
(07:02):
future, trading your now forsome future which is not
guaranteed.
So work hard, be smart andhopefully you'll be luckier or
Providence will smile on you andthings will work out, but
recognize that statistically,there's a lot between here and
there.
Carl (07:20):
And there's many steps to it.
It's not.
You know, you mentioned the10-year overnight success.
Sometimes it's 20.
Sometimes it and success ismeasured in different ways,
right, and I know that's one ofthe things that you help people
with on their journey isdefining what success is.
We're not going to do that divetoday, but certainly the one
thing that I wanted to mentionwhen you were mentioning the
quote there was, I rememberbeing in Toastmasters and I was
(07:42):
teaching loosely teaching peoplehow to be funny.
So some basic humorous thingsyou can do, and it was the rule
of three, the two things, andthe third one is the punchline,
right.
So I gave the analogy of threethings.
Every entrepreneur needspassion, perseverance and a job
because that's really what youneed.
(08:03):
See there, therefore, the comedylessons worked, but but you do.
You really need to be able toknow that.
Hey, when you're stepping intothis arena, it's not that
overnight success.
You might get lucky, but it'sgoing to be a journey and
embrace it.
And I attune it to podcastingbecause there are so many people
that come into the podcastingspace and maybe you've met some
of them along the way that thinkI start a podcast and all of a
(08:25):
sudden, the podcast heavens willopen and I will be the next Joe
Rogan or the next Seth, whoeverit is I'm going to.
I'm going to be extremelysuccessful in this space with 11
billion listeners andeverything will be fine.
And I'll be relaxing on my youknow 144 foot yacht, uh, doing
my podcast episodes from there,right, just like
(08:47):
entrepreneurship, that'stypically not the journey of
most podcasters.
Dave (08:50):
And the stats bear that out right.
I don't know what the averagenumber of podcast episodes are,
but I think it's something inthe low single digits or maybe
high single digits, like eightor ten or twelve podcasts
episodes, and then they're.
It's not working.
Carl (09:07):
I'm not getting there and it's like eating 10 salads and
saying those 10 salads I'meating haven't allowed me to
release, you know, those 25pounds that I really want to let
go of, and then you just quit.
There's a journey, there's aprocess, and part of it, I
believe, in the podcasting spaceanyways, and I want to talk a
(09:27):
little about community a littlelater on.
But part of it is understanding, and this is one of the things
you work on, have worked on alot in your business.
Life is is the core values, andeven a podcast has core values,
but there's a right way to usethem in your company and there's
a right way to use them in apodcast.
Dave (09:49):
That's right?
Yeah, there, definitely is.
I think a lot of it starts in.
Something that you and I weretalking about before is what we
used to call it in Seth Godinterms was is what's it for and
who's it for?
If you don't know what it's for,I don't want to have a podcast.
Because I want to, becauseeverybody has a podcast.
Anybody that's anybody has apodcast, right?
So that's why I should have apodcast.
Might not be the greatestreason to have a podcast.
(10:09):
It's for anybody who wants toknow, okay.
But if it's for everybody, it'sprobably for nobody.
So when you think about yourcore values as a person and then
you say, hey, I care aboutinvesting in other people and
I'm willing to put my time intoother people, okay, well, now
(10:30):
I've had these experiences andI'm willing to invest my time,
what does that look like?
The podcast is a tactic thatfits into a larger strategy.
The strategy is how do I sharewhat I've learned and bring
other people along in theprocess?
So one tactic is to write ablog and one tactic is to have a
podcast, and another is topeople say you don't need one.
(10:52):
I disagree, but those missionand purpose and core values can
(11:14):
be so transformative in helpingus stay the course for the thing
, because we know why we'redoing it.
We know why it's important.
Carl (11:22):
And it needs to align.
So, whatever your messaging isin your business and it doesn't
matter what level of businessyou're at If you've been very
successful in business, you're ahigh level CEO and you're
rocking it out every single year, great.
Your messaging for your podcaststill needs to reflect your
vision, mission, values, goalsof your business.
Otherwise, can you imagineMcDonald's having a podcast?
(11:45):
As an example, mcdonald'shaving a podcast that talks
about we're going to be theleaders in you know, Kansas City
steaks Not exactly what they'reknown for.
You know what I mean.
Dave (11:57):
Yeah, well, that's being and that's complicated because
there's being on brand right andthen the long arc of who you
are and what you're here to do.
You have to be aligned andthat's the big mistake that I
see a lot of people making withtheir core values is they have
the core values and they putthem over here and they have
very little influence on theday-to-day decisions that the
(12:20):
owner, the founder, the CEO,managing director, whatever that
those people are making.
They don't inform the choicesthat they make on a day-to-day
basis.
And those choices that theymake on a day-to-day basis and
those choices that you make on aday-to-day basis, those are the
walking out of the core values.
If you're not making thosedecisions, they probably aren't
core values, and we need to goback and ask ourselves the
(12:42):
question whether those corevalues are actually what drive
us.
Carl (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
And the reason why we'retalking about this too, is when
we talk about what a podcast cando for a business, a brand, an
individual's credibility or abusiness's credibility, there's
an extension piece.
I'm in a small pool, I say 10years ago because the podcasting
(13:07):
pool was still very small then.
I'm in a small pool of peoplewho have shows probably less
than 500,000 shows back then.
Now it's into the millions, butI'm in this pool of people that
have a show, listen to my show,and that's what people did.
People listen to shows.
But there's an extension ofthat and that's the community
building piece.
Now that can also go back towhat are your core values as to
(13:32):
why do you want this community?
What is the?
Dave (13:43):
community going to be for and how is it going to be
impactful?
Not just to you you're theperson building the community
but to purpose, and that purposeis driving you to have a
podcast.
And that podcast is alignedwith the purpose not just
driving you to it, but it'saligned with the purpose.
Let's say it's sharing theexperiences that you've had, and
the reason that you're sharingthose experiences is so that
(14:06):
somebody else can get a leg up.
They can go faster or furtherbecause of something that maybe
they could learn from you.
Then it's a natural extensionto build a community of people
who want those same things.
It's what Seth Godin callspeople like us doing things like
this.
I'm kind of a Seth fanboy, Iguess you could say.
Carl (14:27):
I know right, it's three.
I think it's two for sure.
Dave (14:29):
To be fair, I did some work in the Akimbo workshop
communities and they were.
Those were pretty powerfulexperiences in community and it
influences a lot of what I do.
But I also believe that Sethhas a different way of seeing
the modern marketing approachand I think it's worthwhile for
everybody to consider whetherit's a podcast or whether
(14:51):
building a tech solution.
It doesn't really matterbecause we have to tell the
right stories to the rightpeople.
But the point that I was makingthere was that if you're trying
to transfer what you know or tooffer different ways of seeing
things, it's a naturallyfollowing activity to build a
community of people who careabout that, Because now you can
(15:13):
amplify that, the effectivenessof the thing.
I don't care about beingefficient.
I care about being effective,and if I can be efficient along
the way, that's great.
But I'm more willing to look atthings that are going to help
me be more effective, and so ifa community is going to help me
be more effective ataccomplishing the purpose for
which I am doing any of thesethings, then building a
(15:35):
community is great and it alsohas the benefit to me of
creating support for me and mything that I'm doing.
Entrepreneurship can be a verylonely thing.
A podcast can be a prettylonely thing because it's not
interacting with a bunch ofpeople, it's one-on-one.
Or if it's a solo podcast, it'sjust you talking to a camera
and a mic and you don't know ifanybody's getting any value out
(15:55):
of it or not.
But with a community you startto begin to see the effect of
that and with more people inthat community it can begin to
amplify and all kinds of greatthings can come out of it that
you didn't even expect.
Carl (16:08):
I think it's developing too, when you position it the
right way, that know, like andtrust factor here and where we
are right now is there's so muchof a push towards the know,
like and trust factor and thenumber of touch points that are
needed before somebody actuallymakes a purchase into your
(16:31):
products or services, whateverthey are, Probably because it's
such a cluttered, loud, bright,blinding landscape of messaging.
Dave (16:41):
Yeah, there are so many people I call it shouting.
Linkedin is an example anexample to a lesser degree from
a professional standpoint.
We're talking about B2B or B2Csales kind of stuff.
There's so much shouting that'shappening.
Here's the way to do it, here'sthe way to do it, here's I've
found the way to do it.
And you find these people andyou can literally take one
(17:01):
recommendation and the otherrecommendation and they say the
opposite things and it's reallyreally hard for people to
process all of that and come outwith what should I do?
But when you're in a communitythat's focused on doing things a
particular way, you cut out alot of that noise and then you
create more conversations, thatconnection.
(17:23):
The community is all aboutconnection and the connection to
your point, about know, likeand trust.
That's how things get done.
We have to communicate well.
We can't communicate well ifthere's a whole lot of noise.
When we get rid of the noise,we're communicating, we're
connecting, we're finding outwhat people really need and then
we can be generous with ouroffer, which is hey, I think
(17:46):
this might work for you becauseI now have a better
understanding of what it is thatyou're trying to accomplish and
there's alignment between thisthing.
What would it look like if wedid this together?
And it's a whole differentworld.
And it only happens because youcut out all the noise by
putting a little community ringaround it, of people like us
that do things like this and weknow, like and trust each other
(18:06):
100%.
Carl (18:07):
And there's a reason why the you know very well and high
flute, you know thought leadershave built communities over the
years.
You know the Seth Godin's, theJohn Assaraf's, the Tony Robbins
is because they recognize thepower.
Yeah, okay, they've been at itso long that they don't need to
do much to get people to come toan event.
(18:27):
But it wasn't an easy.
It was probably a slog in thebeginning for all of them.
If you look at the history ofthem, it wasn't something that
they were just born into.
They had to work at it and nowthey're reaping the rewards
because they built it andthey've created that value based
on what's important to them, tothe core.
Dave (18:45):
Yeah, there's no question that it takes a lot of effort, a
lot of intentional effort, andthere are mistakes to make along
the way and some of those folksthat you mentioned, they may
have had a little bit of a legup, you know.
They may have been in the rightplace at the right time where
they you know they had an exitor they were in a position where
they didn't have to worry asmuch about income right now from
(19:08):
a podcast or from a communityor from a sale of a course or
something like that.
They had the ability to build anetwork over time.
For the rest of us, I thinkit's a very clear picture of
what we're trying, the changewe're trying to bring into the
world, the change we're tryingto bring into the world, and how
(19:29):
do we create a smaller set ofpeople that want the same things
, that we can then move forwardtogether and solve that problem
for them, and that just.
There's just no question thatthat takes time, yeah.
Carl (19:39):
And time, energy, a team when you're ready as you're
expanding.
If you're a solopreneur, okay,it might take some time to get
there, but definitely it doestake time and enjoy the journey
when you're doing that, becausethe last thing you want to do is
not enjoy the journey, be burntout and be the CEO that's
struggling to perform becauseyou've just put so many things
(20:03):
on a plate that is unachievableto digest.
Dave (20:06):
Yeah, there's a lot of.
I've been recently getting intolooking into some of the brain
science and I'm going to be AndyHuberman and those guys, but
you know, just been really,really interested in the
connection that you mentioned.
You know, enjoy it while it'sin the journey, but you know,
what happens is a lot of timeswe get into this threat matrix
(20:28):
in our brain and we start to getinto the fight or flight and
most people don't realize this.
But there's something thatprecedes fight or flight,
there's something that kicks offthe adrenal cycle as you go
into sort of the brainstem,which is this isn't working, I
start to panic and I don't havea whole lot more time.
(20:50):
I'm looking at my runway andnow we start doing all kinds of
other not helpful things, and soit can be a real challenge to
enjoy that process as you goalong.
And so I think there's anotherelement of community, which is
where the people you're serving,but there's also the community
of the people who are doingthings like you are doing, and
(21:11):
that's a different kind ofcommunity 100%.
Carl (21:15):
I'm very blessed to be a member of the Canadian
Association of ProfessionalSpeakers, similar to the NSA,
which is basically a community.
It's a community ofprofessionals.
You need that support, though,even if for no other reason just
to have checkpoints every nowand again to be reminded that
you're doing okay, you're on ajourney, it's all good.
(21:37):
Failing forward is okay.
All of those things that ifyou're not in that community and
this is above and beyond yourtypical coffee clutch networking
type this is a higher level, ora level of people who you would
consider to be your peers, whoare there to support you, and
that's where community is alsoextremely important.
Dave (21:56):
Yeah, I agree with that.
That's the support, and it'snot just about telling you.
You know the aphorisms ofyou're good enough, smart enough
and doggone it, I like you.
Carl (22:07):
But it's I remember that, I remember that.
Just to say, I remember thatStuart Smalley right.
Dave (22:11):
I don't remember it.
I just know that it was a thinga few minutes ago in my life.
But it's also that ability tosupport and share and you know,
here's some things that I foundit might work for you.
It might not work for you.
(22:31):
What are you doing?
There's so many differentelements of support that you can
leverage that will help you asyou are on that journey, to
enjoy the journey and not getinto so much of a panic so that
when you're building in yourother community, your externally
facing community that it can,you can show up with generosity,
with empathy, with new ideas upin what we call the cortex of
your brain, where your higherthinking is.
(22:52):
If you think about that as abalance, almost like a barbell,
you don't want one to get tooheavy or too light.
You want to try to keep them ingeneral and balanced.
And the only way you know thatis based on when you stop and
you have your one-on-one withyourself and you ask how am I
feeling about this?
Or you ask somebody near you,like your spouse or your kids,
(23:15):
like, how do you think work'sgoing for me?
And they're like oh man, youare stressed out of your gourd.
Okay, I probably am out ofbalance.
So how do I get it back intobalance, and borrowing input
from other people can be really,really valuable.
Carl (23:29):
Huge value.
Also, of huge value has beenthis conversation today, Dave.
Oh my goodness, we couldprobably just keep going.
Dave (23:36):
We could but I won't.
Carl (23:39):
Just so we can allow the listeners to digest and absorb
some of what you've shared.
You have some great resourcesfor people to pass along to, to
help them on their journey.
Dave (23:50):
Yeah, I think it's good to just pay attention to this
question, like who is it for andwhat's it for?
And if you think about thosetwo things and then you start
wrapping them, as you said, inthe core values, that's going to
go such a long way to helpingyou come up with the right
strategy and the right tacticsfor moving forward on the goals
(24:11):
that you are set out to do yourpodcast for in the first place.
And if you don't have them,well, now's a great time as any
to stop and think about whatthose look like and what changes
would happen.
And, as a result of doing that,how much more effective could
you be if you stopped andallowed those things to
integrate?
Carl (24:30):
Paravelcom is where you can find out a heck of a lot
more information about Dave andthe folks that he serves, and if
this has been of any value toyou, I'm assuming it has it's
been of great value to me,that's for sure.
Definitely check him out.
All of this information is inthe show notes.
To me, that's for sure.
Definitely check him out.
All of this information is inthe show notes.
Dave Bates wow, what an amazingconversation.
Thank you so much for being myguest today.
Dave (24:50):
And I'm super stoked that we had the opportunity to talk
about this.
Carl (24:59):
And thank you for joining us today.
Special thanks to our producerand production lead, Dom Carillo
, our music guru, Nathan Simon,and the person who works the
arms all of our arms, actuallymy trusty assistant, Stephanie
Gafoor.
If you like what you heardtoday, leave us a comment and a
review and be sure to share itwith your friends.
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enemies.
Oh, and if you have asuggestion of someone who you
think would make an amazingguest on the show, let us know
(25:21):
about it.
Drop show let us know about it.
Drop us an email askcarl@carlspeaks.
ca.
Don't forget to follow us onLinkedIn and Twitter as well.
You'll find all those links inthe show notes.
And if you're ready to take theplunge and join the over 3
million people who have said yesto podcasting, let's have a
conversation.
We'll show you the simplest wayto get into the podcasting
space, because, after all, we'repodcast.
(25:43):
Solutions made simple.
We'll catch you next time.
Welcome to Communication Connection Community, the
podcaster's podcast.
This podcast takes a deep diveinto modern day communication
strategies in the podcastingspace.
We chat with interesting peoplewho make the podcasting and
speaking spaces exciting andvibrant.
We also dive into thepodcasting community with news
(00:24):
updates, latest trends andtopics from this ever-evolving
space.
So strap in, it's going to beone amazing ride.
Let's dive into today's episode, and my guest today is Dave
Bates.
He's an executive coach whounderstands the daily struggles,
(00:46):
challenges and the bigopportunities that feel like
they're just a little bit out ofreach.
He's been a solopreneur, COO,CEO and almost everything in
between, too.
He's run the gamut when itcomes to being in business.
Dave's clients experiencerelief from the pressure of
feeling alone at the top oftheir growing business.
(01:06):
We're going to talk about a lotof things today, I'm sure, but
first off, oh, and he's a gueston podcasts and very sought
after, a sought after, rathersought after, Dave, welcome to
the podcast.
Dave (01:20):
Thanks for having me.
I'm glad to be here.
Carl (01:22):
It's great to have you here, my friend.
So podcasting, you have spentsome time as a guest in this
space.
What was it that led you topodcasting?
Dave (01:30):
I think everybody has a dream someday of having a
podcast or being on a podcast.
One of the things that's reallybeen interesting about
podcasting is how it expandsyour reach.
You know everybody says, hey, Icould have more clients or I
could have more whatever, Ifpeople just knew more about me.
That's the awareness problemthat everybody seems to struggle
with.
And I also thought, hey, youknow, I've had a lot of
(01:51):
experience in my life and itwould be great if I could share
some of what I've learned alongthe way.
And what better way to do thatthan to find folks that are
tuning in, trying to learn andeducate themselves and just
share what my experience hasbeen, and maybe it will help.
Carl (02:04):
And you've been at this not at the podcasting game, but
in business for how many years?
Dave (02:09):
About 30, if you don't count any of my entrepreneurial
stuff as a kid.
Carl (02:15):
The lemonade stand and the grass cutting.
Is that the stuff you'retalking about?
Dave (02:19):
I think I started delivering daily bulletins on
the Air Force Base when I wasnine years old, so I'd go to
every door and drop it off, andI think I was telling more of my
kids about this the other day.
I think I was paid maybe apenny.
Carl (02:33):
I love it.
It's like I remember having aflyer route and it wasn't a
penny, but it was, I don't know.
It was like 10 cents per dropand you delivered the flyers
either once a week or twice amonth, I don't even remember,
but I remember being the kidgetting the check because it
came by paper, right or youmight have even come with your
flyers, right?
I don't even remember.
And you get oh my goodness, Imade $17, right?
(02:56):
Just remember being so excitedabout it, and I didn't know that
that would lead to running apodcasting agency.
But I guess maybe I wasentrepreneurial too, way back
then.
Dave (03:05):
I think a lot of people are entrepreneurial and then
over time they consume anarrative that suggests that
they should go the safe route,and I have to tell people all
the time that there's a myth ofcorporate safety right.
Carl (03:18):
But that's a topic for another time.
Yeah, another discussion,another podcast or some type of
a webinar series or somethinglike that that you and I can run
.
Let's take this off mic andcover that another time.
But definitely I agree thatthere's that trap.
The way my dad always put itwas and he married young.
He married my mother, who wasgoing into her second marriage,
so my dad was marrying into afamily.
(03:40):
Basically already he said I'mfollowing the path to cash, the
path to money, because I need tomake money.
That's what I need to do.
So he's been in that mindset ofmoney where if you're an
entrepreneur and if you'rethinking you're going to make
money, you will eventually.
It's not going to be within ashort period of time.
There's a journey, there'sexperience, there's a grind, all
(04:00):
of those things that you needto go through before you get to
that elusive success, status orwhatever you want to call it.
Dave (04:09):
Yeah, you got to build right, you got to build, you got
to create, and then you got tobuild, and then you got to grow,
and then maybe, if you want toscale, you can do that.
Carl (04:16):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
So executive coaching, what ledyou to being an executive coach
?
Dave (04:20):
Yeah, I was trained as a coach a long time ago, probably
25 years ago.
At the end of the startup thatI was working in, when we were
shutting the lights off, thelady who trained me as a coach
said, hey, god put you on theplanet to be a coach.
And I said, thank you very much.
I'm going to go off and do someoperational roles and do that
(04:40):
kind of thing.
So I went and followed that moretechnical, non-coaching path,
but I always integrated thecoaching lessons that I learned
in that process throughout mycareer and then, probably six
years ago, I kind of got to thepoint where I said, yeah, maybe
I should just go be a coach andI said, okay, jane, I'm going to
(05:01):
do what you told me to do, andin sort of more formalized way,
and that's when I started thecompany that I am currently
running.
It's just me as a solopreneur.
But that's when I went out tobe a coach and I work with
primarily second time founderswho are not sure if they were
lucky or good the first time,and that gives me a lot of
(05:22):
purpose and a lot of enjoymentand fulfillment in helping those
folks be time and that gives mea lot of purpose and a lot of
enjoyment and fulfillment inhelping those folks be
successful.
So that's how I kind of gotinto it.
Carl (05:30):
Wow, phenomenal.
And of course, you wereinstantly successful no
challenges, no struggles,nothing.
Dave (05:36):
Yeah, sure.
No, it's always a challenge,right?
Everybody goes intoentrepreneurship, whether it's
solopreneur or whether it's, youknow, going to do a big old
series A raise.
Everybody thinks it's going togo fast for them, and some
people it does go fast for, andthe majority of the other people
(05:56):
it takes a lot longer and youneed a lot more support in that
process than you think you do.
It just takes longer andsometimes it doesn't work.
But few people are talkingabout that in the world.
You sort of.
We have this cult ofpersonality, this cult of
success, the overnight successthat took 10 years to build, but
nobody talks about all of thethings that were difficult in
that period of time, and so Ithink that that is a thing for a
(06:20):
lot of people.
So it's just a lot of work toget from one place to the other.
Warren, not Warren Buffett,Charlie Munger is famously
quoted as saying you need threethings to be successful.
To be rich Not that I care thatmuch about being rich, but
that's his context was you haveto be incredibly smart, you have
to work incredibly hard and youhave to be incredibly lucky.
(06:41):
And he says that doesn't happento that many people, but we all
think we're really smart, weall think we're really working
hard and we all are confidentwe're going to be really lucky,
and the reality is that that'snot always the case, and so one
of the things that I talk aboutis making sure you've got the
support structures in place andthat you're not trading the
(07:02):
future, trading your now forsome future which is not
guaranteed.
So work hard, be smart andhopefully you'll be luckier or
Providence will smile on you andthings will work out, but
recognize that statistically,there's a lot between here and
there.
Carl (07:20):
And there's many steps to it.
It's not.
You know, you mentioned the10-year overnight success.
Sometimes it's 20.
Sometimes it and success ismeasured in different ways,
right, and I know that's one ofthe things that you help people
with on their journey isdefining what success is.
We're not going to do that divetoday, but certainly the one
thing that I wanted to mentionwhen you were mentioning the
quote there was, I rememberbeing in Toastmasters and I was
(07:42):
teaching loosely teaching peoplehow to be funny.
So some basic humorous thingsyou can do, and it was the rule
of three, the two things, andthe third one is the punchline,
right.
So I gave the analogy of threethings.
Every entrepreneur needspassion, perseverance and a job
because that's really what youneed.
(08:03):
See there, therefore, the comedylessons worked, but but you do.
You really need to be able toknow that.
Hey, when you're stepping intothis arena, it's not that
overnight success.
You might get lucky, but it'sgoing to be a journey and
embrace it.
And I attune it to podcastingbecause there are so many people
that come into the podcastingspace and maybe you've met some
of them along the way that thinkI start a podcast and all of a
(08:25):
sudden, the podcast heavens willopen and I will be the next Joe
Rogan or the next Seth, whoeverit is I'm going to.
I'm going to be extremelysuccessful in this space with 11
billion listeners andeverything will be fine.
And I'll be relaxing on my youknow 144 foot yacht, uh, doing
my podcast episodes from there,right, just like
(08:47):
entrepreneurship, that'stypically not the journey of
most podcasters.
Dave (08:50):
And the stats bear that out right.
I don't know what the averagenumber of podcast episodes are,
but I think it's something inthe low single digits or maybe
high single digits, like eightor ten or twelve podcasts
episodes, and then they're.
It's not working.
Carl (09:07):
I'm not getting there and it's like eating 10 salads and
saying those 10 salads I'meating haven't allowed me to
release, you know, those 25pounds that I really want to let
go of, and then you just quit.
There's a journey, there's aprocess, and part of it, I
believe, in the podcasting spaceanyways, and I want to talk a
(09:27):
little about community a littlelater on.
But part of it is understanding, and this is one of the things
you work on, have worked on alot in your business.
Life is is the core values, andeven a podcast has core values,
but there's a right way to usethem in your company and there's
a right way to use them in apodcast.
Dave (09:49):
That's right?
Yeah, there, definitely is.
I think a lot of it starts in.
Something that you and I weretalking about before is what we
used to call it in Seth Godinterms was is what's it for and
who's it for?
If you don't know what it's for,I don't want to have a podcast.
Because I want to, becauseeverybody has a podcast.
Anybody that's anybody has apodcast, right?
So that's why I should have apodcast.
Might not be the greatestreason to have a podcast.
(10:09):
It's for anybody who wants toknow, okay.
But if it's for everybody, it'sprobably for nobody.
So when you think about yourcore values as a person and then
you say, hey, I care aboutinvesting in other people and
I'm willing to put my time intoother people, okay, well, now
(10:30):
I've had these experiences andI'm willing to invest my time,
what does that look like?
The podcast is a tactic thatfits into a larger strategy.
The strategy is how do I sharewhat I've learned and bring
other people along in theprocess?
So one tactic is to write ablog and one tactic is to have a
podcast, and another is topeople say you don't need one.
(10:52):
I disagree, but those missionand purpose and core values can
(11:14):
be so transformative in helpingus stay the course for the thing
, because we know why we'redoing it.
We know why it's important.
Carl (11:22):
And it needs to align.
So, whatever your messaging isin your business and it doesn't
matter what level of businessyou're at If you've been very
successful in business, you're ahigh level CEO and you're
rocking it out every single year, great.
Your messaging for your podcaststill needs to reflect your
vision, mission, values, goalsof your business.
Otherwise, can you imagineMcDonald's having a podcast?
(11:45):
As an example, mcdonald'shaving a podcast that talks
about we're going to be theleaders in you know, Kansas City
steaks Not exactly what they'reknown for.
You know what I mean.
Dave (11:57):
Yeah, well, that's being and that's complicated because
there's being on brand right andthen the long arc of who you
are and what you're here to do.
You have to be aligned andthat's the big mistake that I
see a lot of people making withtheir core values is they have
the core values and they putthem over here and they have
very little influence on theday-to-day decisions that the
(12:20):
owner, the founder, the CEO,managing director, whatever that
those people are making.
They don't inform the choicesthat they make on a day-to-day
basis.
And those choices that theymake on a day-to-day basis and
those choices that you make on aday-to-day basis, those are the
walking out of the core values.
If you're not making thosedecisions, they probably aren't
core values, and we need to goback and ask ourselves the
(12:42):
question whether those corevalues are actually what drive
us.
Carl (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
And the reason why we'retalking about this too, is when
we talk about what a podcast cando for a business, a brand, an
individual's credibility or abusiness's credibility, there's
an extension piece.
I'm in a small pool, I say 10years ago because the podcasting
(13:07):
pool was still very small then.
I'm in a small pool of peoplewho have shows probably less
than 500,000 shows back then.
Now it's into the millions, butI'm in this pool of people that
have a show, listen to my show,and that's what people did.
People listen to shows.
But there's an extension ofthat and that's the community
building piece.
Now that can also go back towhat are your core values as to
(13:32):
why do you want this community?
What is the?
Dave (13:43):
community going to be for and how is it going to be
impactful?
Not just to you you're theperson building the community
but to purpose, and that purposeis driving you to have a
podcast.
And that podcast is alignedwith the purpose not just
driving you to it, but it'saligned with the purpose.
Let's say it's sharing theexperiences that you've had, and
the reason that you're sharingthose experiences is so that
(14:06):
somebody else can get a leg up.
They can go faster or furtherbecause of something that maybe
they could learn from you.
Then it's a natural extensionto build a community of people
who want those same things.
It's what Seth Godin callspeople like us doing things like
this.
I'm kind of a Seth fanboy, Iguess you could say.
Carl (14:27):
I know right, it's three.
I think it's two for sure.
Dave (14:29):
To be fair, I did some work in the Akimbo workshop
communities and they were.
Those were pretty powerfulexperiences in community and it
influences a lot of what I do.
But I also believe that Sethhas a different way of seeing
the modern marketing approachand I think it's worthwhile for
everybody to consider whetherit's a podcast or whether
(14:51):
building a tech solution.
It doesn't really matterbecause we have to tell the
right stories to the rightpeople.
But the point that I was makingthere was that if you're trying
to transfer what you know or tooffer different ways of seeing
things, it's a naturallyfollowing activity to build a
community of people who careabout that, Because now you can
(15:13):
amplify that, the effectivenessof the thing.
I don't care about beingefficient.
I care about being effective,and if I can be efficient along
the way, that's great.
But I'm more willing to look atthings that are going to help
me be more effective, and so ifa community is going to help me
be more effective ataccomplishing the purpose for
which I am doing any of thesethings, then building a
(15:35):
community is great and it alsohas the benefit to me of
creating support for me and mything that I'm doing.
Entrepreneurship can be a verylonely thing.
A podcast can be a prettylonely thing because it's not
interacting with a bunch ofpeople, it's one-on-one.
Or if it's a solo podcast, it'sjust you talking to a camera
and a mic and you don't know ifanybody's getting any value out
(15:55):
of it or not.
But with a community you startto begin to see the effect of
that and with more people inthat community it can begin to
amplify and all kinds of greatthings can come out of it that
you didn't even expect.
Carl (16:08):
I think it's developing too, when you position it the
right way, that know, like andtrust factor here and where we
are right now is there's so muchof a push towards the know,
like and trust factor and thenumber of touch points that are
needed before somebody actuallymakes a purchase into your
(16:31):
products or services, whateverthey are, Probably because it's
such a cluttered, loud, bright,blinding landscape of messaging.
Dave (16:41):
Yeah, there are so many people I call it shouting.
Linkedin is an example anexample to a lesser degree from
a professional standpoint.
We're talking about B2B or B2Csales kind of stuff.
There's so much shouting that'shappening.
Here's the way to do it, here'sthe way to do it, here's I've
found the way to do it.
And you find these people andyou can literally take one
(17:01):
recommendation and the otherrecommendation and they say the
opposite things and it's reallyreally hard for people to
process all of that and come outwith what should I do?
But when you're in a communitythat's focused on doing things a
particular way, you cut out alot of that noise and then you
create more conversations, thatconnection.
(17:23):
The community is all aboutconnection and the connection to
your point, about know, likeand trust.
That's how things get done.
We have to communicate well.
We can't communicate well ifthere's a whole lot of noise.
When we get rid of the noise,we're communicating, we're
connecting, we're finding outwhat people really need and then
we can be generous with ouroffer, which is hey, I think
(17:46):
this might work for you becauseI now have a better
understanding of what it is thatyou're trying to accomplish and
there's alignment between thisthing.
What would it look like if wedid this together?
And it's a whole differentworld.
And it only happens because youcut out all the noise by
putting a little community ringaround it, of people like us
that do things like this and weknow, like and trust each other
(18:06):
100%.
Carl (18:07):
And there's a reason why the you know very well and high
flute, you know thought leadershave built communities over the
years.
You know the Seth Godin's, theJohn Assaraf's, the Tony Robbins
is because they recognize thepower.
Yeah, okay, they've been at itso long that they don't need to
do much to get people to come toan event.
(18:27):
But it wasn't an easy.
It was probably a slog in thebeginning for all of them.
If you look at the history ofthem, it wasn't something that
they were just born into.
They had to work at it and nowthey're reaping the rewards
because they built it andthey've created that value based
on what's important to them, tothe core.
Dave (18:45):
Yeah, there's no question that it takes a lot of effort, a
lot of intentional effort, andthere are mistakes to make along
the way and some of those folksthat you mentioned, they may
have had a little bit of a legup, you know.
They may have been in the rightplace at the right time where
they you know they had an exitor they were in a position where
they didn't have to worry asmuch about income right now from
(19:08):
a podcast or from a communityor from a sale of a course or
something like that.
They had the ability to build anetwork over time.
For the rest of us, I thinkit's a very clear picture of
what we're trying, the changewe're trying to bring into the
world, the change we're tryingto bring into the world, and how
(19:29):
do we create a smaller set ofpeople that want the same things
, that we can then move forwardtogether and solve that problem
for them, and that just.
There's just no question thatthat takes time, yeah.
Carl (19:39):
And time, energy, a team when you're ready as you're
expanding.
If you're a solopreneur, okay,it might take some time to get
there, but definitely it doestake time and enjoy the journey
when you're doing that, becausethe last thing you want to do is
not enjoy the journey, be burntout and be the CEO that's
struggling to perform becauseyou've just put so many things
(20:03):
on a plate that is unachievableto digest.
Dave (20:06):
Yeah, there's a lot of.
I've been recently getting intolooking into some of the brain
science and I'm going to be AndyHuberman and those guys, but
you know, just been really,really interested in the
connection that you mentioned.
You know, enjoy it while it'sin the journey, but you know,
what happens is a lot of timeswe get into this threat matrix
(20:28):
in our brain and we start to getinto the fight or flight and
most people don't realize this.
But there's something thatprecedes fight or flight,
there's something that kicks offthe adrenal cycle as you go
into sort of the brainstem,which is this isn't working, I
start to panic and I don't havea whole lot more time.
(20:50):
I'm looking at my runway andnow we start doing all kinds of
other not helpful things, and soit can be a real challenge to
enjoy that process as you goalong.
And so I think there's anotherelement of community, which is
where the people you're serving,but there's also the community
of the people who are doingthings like you are doing, and
(21:11):
that's a different kind ofcommunity 100%.
Carl (21:15):
I'm very blessed to be a member of the Canadian
Association of ProfessionalSpeakers, similar to the NSA,
which is basically a community.
It's a community ofprofessionals.
You need that support, though,even if for no other reason just
to have checkpoints every nowand again to be reminded that
you're doing okay, you're on ajourney, it's all good.
(21:37):
Failing forward is okay.
All of those things that ifyou're not in that community and
this is above and beyond yourtypical coffee clutch networking
type this is a higher level, ora level of people who you would
consider to be your peers, whoare there to support you, and
that's where community is alsoextremely important.
Dave (21:56):
Yeah, I agree with that.
That's the support, and it'snot just about telling you.
You know the aphorisms ofyou're good enough, smart enough
and doggone it, I like you.
Carl (22:07):
But it's I remember that, I remember that.
Just to say, I remember thatStuart Smalley right.
Dave (22:11):
I don't remember it.
I just know that it was a thinga few minutes ago in my life.
But it's also that ability tosupport and share and you know,
here's some things that I foundit might work for you.
It might not work for you.
(22:31):
What are you doing?
There's so many differentelements of support that you can
leverage that will help you asyou are on that journey, to
enjoy the journey and not getinto so much of a panic so that
when you're building in yourother community, your externally
facing community that it can,you can show up with generosity,
with empathy, with new ideas upin what we call the cortex of
your brain, where your higherthinking is.
(22:52):
If you think about that as abalance, almost like a barbell,
you don't want one to get tooheavy or too light.
You want to try to keep them ingeneral and balanced.
And the only way you know thatis based on when you stop and
you have your one-on-one withyourself and you ask how am I
feeling about this?
Or you ask somebody near you,like your spouse or your kids,
(23:15):
like, how do you think work'sgoing for me?
And they're like oh man, youare stressed out of your gourd.
Okay, I probably am out ofbalance.
So how do I get it back intobalance, and borrowing input
from other people can be really,really valuable.
Carl (23:29):
Huge value.
Also, of huge value has beenthis conversation today, Dave.
Oh my goodness, we couldprobably just keep going.
Dave (23:36):
We could but I won't.
Carl (23:39):
Just so we can allow the listeners to digest and absorb
some of what you've shared.
You have some great resourcesfor people to pass along to, to
help them on their journey.
Dave (23:50):
Yeah, I think it's good to just pay attention to this
question, like who is it for andwhat's it for?
And if you think about thosetwo things and then you start
wrapping them, as you said, inthe core values, that's going to
go such a long way to helpingyou come up with the right
strategy and the right tacticsfor moving forward on the goals
(24:11):
that you are set out to do yourpodcast for in the first place.
And if you don't have them,well, now's a great time as any
to stop and think about whatthose look like and what changes
would happen.
And, as a result of doing that,how much more effective could
you be if you stopped andallowed those things to
integrate?
Carl (24:30):
Paravelcom is where you can find out a heck of a lot
more information about Dave andthe folks that he serves, and if
this has been of any value toyou, I'm assuming it has it's
been of great value to me,that's for sure.
Definitely check him out.
All of this information is inthe show notes.
To me, that's for sure.
Definitely check him out.
All of this information is inthe show notes.
Dave Bates wow, what an amazingconversation.
Thank you so much for being myguest today.
Dave (24:50):
And I'm super stoked that we had the opportunity to talk
about this.
Carl (24:59):
And thank you for joining us today.
Special thanks to our producerand production lead, Dom Carillo
, our music guru, Nathan Simon,and the person who works the
arms all of our arms, actuallymy trusty assistant, Stephanie
Gafoor.
If you like what you heardtoday, leave us a comment and a
review and be sure to share itwith your friends.
If you don't like what youheard, please share it with your
enemies.
Oh, and if you have asuggestion of someone who you
think would make an amazingguest on the show, let us know
(25:21):
about it.
Drop show let us know about it.
Drop us an email askcarl@carlspeaks.
ca.
Don't forget to follow us onLinkedIn and Twitter as well.
You'll find all those links inthe show notes.
And if you're ready to take theplunge and join the over 3
million people who have said yesto podcasting, let's have a
conversation.
We'll show you the simplest wayto get into the podcasting
space, because, after all, we'repodcast.
(25:43):
Solutions made simple.
We'll catch you next time.
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Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com