It's Never About the Finish Line: It’s About Who You Become Along the Way

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It’s Never About the Finish Line: It’s About Who You Become Along the Way

In this final episode of Brand Building: Living the Whole Picture, Jama closes the chapter she began exactly one year ago — on her 47th birthday.

What started as a hopeful project to grow her business became something entirely different: a year-long journey of identity, honesty, and transformation. Instead of gaining clarity about her business, she gained clarity about herself. Instead of growing an audience, she grew a new kind of strength. And instead of finding answers, she found peace in not knowing them.

In this raw, unedited, voice-memo–style episode, Jama shares the truth she discovered:
You don’t podcast, run, or stay consistent to reach a finish line.
You do it to become someone you recognize — someone you trust.

This episode is a birthday letter to the woman she was at 47… and the woman she’s becoming at 48.

If you’ve ever closed a chapter without knowing what the next one will be, or if you’ve ever felt yourself changing faster than your life can keep up with, this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

In this episode, Jama reflects on:
• Why consistency doesn’t always equal growth
• Letting go of the identity she built inside her business
• The surprising simplicity of podcasting once she began
• The strength she discovered just by showing up
• Choosing peace and space over performance and output
• Permission to not know what comes next

This isn’t a goodbye. It’s a letting go.
A finish line that was never the point.
A moment to honor who she became along the way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Not every chapter is meant to transform your business, some transform you.
• You are allowed to walk away from the identity you built when it no longer fits.
• Consistency doesn’t always lead to growth; sometimes it leads to clarity.
• You don’t need to know what’s next to be on the right path.
• The finish line is never the point. Who you become is.

https://www.jamapantel.com

Episode Transcript

Jama Pantel (00:00):
Hey y'all, it is Jama, your podcast bestie,
coming at you one final time forthe very last episode of this
podcast.
And it feels only fitting thatI'm releasing it the day before
my 48th birthday because Istarted this entire podcast
journey on my 47th birthday withso much optimism.

(00:20):
I thought this podcast wouldchange something in my business
or me.
I thought consistency wouldopen doors, and I thought
showing up every week wouldcreate momentum and clarity.
But here's the honest truth.
Nothing really changed in mybusiness, but everything did
change in me, and that's thepart I wasn't expecting.

(00:43):
So I'm gonna do this finalepisode kind of as a letter to
me.
A letter to the woman I was orthought I was, and the woman I'm
becoming or kind of becomingbecause nothing's certain.
And if you're here listening,this is really for me, but I do
think that you can probably getsomething out of this as well.

(01:03):
So dear forty-seven year oldme, you were so young and so
optimistic.
You truly believed this podcastwould be the thing that shifted
everything in your business.
You believed consistency wouldunlock growth and you believed
discipline would build traction.
You believed doing more wouldfinally make everything click.
You thought if you showed upevery week, no matter what,

(01:26):
something on the outside wouldchange.
But it didn't.
Your numbers didn't change, notin your business, and not in
the ways you expected.
And oh how disappointed thatmade you at times.
But here's what you didn't knowthen.
You weren't building a podcast.
You were doing the work onyourself.
So standing here now, one daybefore my forty eighth birthday,

(01:50):
everything feels different thisyear.
I'm a whole different person.
After being stuck for years,maybe even decades, you finally
started moving again.
Not because of strategy, butbecause you started letting go
of the identities you built tosurvive.
You let go of the version ofyourself that was always on,

(02:11):
always performing, alwayscreating, always pushing.
The version who believed hervalue was measured in output,
and that consistencyautomatically meant growth.
You believed that for a longtime, but showing up every week
taught you something else.
You can be consistent insomething that no longer aligns,

(02:31):
and the bravest thing you cando is stop doing it.
Letting go of comfort isterrifying, trust me I know,
especially when that comfort wasyour identity.
But nothing new can find you ifyou're clinging to what's
familiar and old.
So you had to learn strength.
Not the strength that comesfrom hustling every week, even

(02:53):
though you did.
It's the strength that comesfrom honesty.
You showed up even when youdidn't want to, even when your
body was changing, and boy hasit changed, even when you didn't
recognize yourself physicallyor emotionally, because that's
been your year.
Running taught you that nomatter what, you show up
anyways.
But unlike running, thispodcast didn't ground you, it

(03:16):
didn't give you any clarity, itdidn't give you the rush of
knowing exactly who you are.
Instead, it pulled back thecurtain on how deeply you've
changed, and how much you needspace now, and how much you
crave peace.
How much you need room tofigure out who you're becoming
without narrating every part ofthe process.

(03:37):
Podcasting didn't give youanswers.
It gave you permission to letgo of the questions.
What you learned the most andwhat really surprised you was
how simple podcasting actuallyis.
You made it such a big deal inyour head for so many years and
you wanted to start this a longtime ago.
But you didn't.
And once you finally did, yourealized, like everything else,

(04:01):
we make things that scare usmore complicated than they need
to be.
And this podcast was notcomplicated.
It's been very simple and easyto produce.
You did this for a year, youstayed committed, you followed
through, even when it didn'tgive you what you expected, even
when it didn't feel grounding,even when it didn't work.
And that showed you something.

(04:22):
You're strong enough to finishthings and wise enough to walk
away when you're no longer meantto continue, even if you get a
little nudge from your people onthe outside, and that's growth
and maturity, maybe.
I can't say I'm mature, butthat's self-trust.
And that's what you're takinginto year 48 with you.

(04:42):
So to everyone who has listenedthis year, thank you.
From the bottom of my heart,thank you.
I thought this podcast was forwomen, but the truth is plenty
of you guys showed up too forme.
People from all walks of lifetuned in, people that I've known
since the day I was born, topeople that I've only met
recently, and people that arereally, really important to me

(05:04):
have tuned in and showed up forme in ways I never thought
possible.
And maybe that's because what Italk about isn't based on
gender, but humanity.
Change is human, uncertainty ishuman, becoming yourself again,
or for the first time ever, isall part of being human.
What I hope you walk away withis this you are allowed to not

(05:29):
know what's next, you areallowed to pause, you are
allowed to release versions ofyourself that no longer fit, and
you are allowed to choosepeace, even if it means walking
away from something that youspent eight years over a decade
building from the ground up.
So here I am, one day before48, closing a chapter I once

(05:51):
hoped would change my business,only to realize it changed me.
I don't know what's comingnext, I don't know who I'm
becoming, and I don't need toknow any of that right now.
This year didn't give me anyclarity, but it did give me
peace and space.
And in this moment, that feelslike the greatest gift I could
ask for.

(06:12):
Thank you for walking thisbirthday to birthday year with
me, thank you for listening,thank you for witnessing this
version of me and all thechanges throughout the year, and
thank you for giving me thecourage to let the old woman I
was go.
And I'll see you when I seeyou, and until then, again, I'm
choosing peace, and I hope thatyou do too.

(06:33):
It's never been about thefinish line, it's about who you
become along the way, and thisis the finish line, y'all.
Thank you again.