Lessons I've Learned from 100K Downloads

December 15, 2021 Veronica Morozova

We made it! Vestpod surpassed 100,000 downloads of The Wallet podcast. We don’t often celebrate our milestones, but we thought we could really use some positivity to close off 2021.

In this very special episode, I’ll tell you more about what’s behind the scenes at The Wallet, what has worked and what hasn’t, and what we have lined up for next year. You’ll also hear our favourite quotes from our top 12 most downloaded episodes.

💥Today on The Wallet:

1️⃣ I’ll tell you more about what’s behind the scenes at The Wallet and how we got started.

2️⃣ The challenges I faced on the journey of launching The Wallet, what worked and what hasn’t, as well as our plans for 2022, and

3️⃣ Our favourite quotes from the amazing guests we’ve had on The Wallet, all from our top 12 most downloaded episodes.

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You can listen (22 min) and subscribe here:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Acast

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how it all began

The Wallet has been featured in the Financial Times, Forbes and Stylist Magazine, so you would think that it was an immediate success. But let’s pause for a second and zoom back to the beginning of how it all started.

I started thinking about launching a podcast in January 2020. I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter and I thought, why not? It felt like the right time. I headed over to Youtube, which proved to be really useful in helping me learn about the equipment I needed. I went ahead and bought the things I needed to get started, and looked for an editor who could help me put together a short intro with background music. I also asked my freelance designer to design a cover for the podcast.

Then, I sat down and compiled a ‘dream guest list’, which featured 10 amazing women (you will hear some of them today). Most of them were existing Vestpod followers and ambassadors, so I was thrilled when they accepted my invitation. I booked a small meeting room at The Wing (a private club for women for those of you who remember!) and started recording the interviews. I missed the last 2 recordings because I gave birth two weeks early!

Swiftly after, the world went into lockdown. I had all three kids at home, and life was centred around home-schooling and tending to a newborn. I kept the podcast recordings in a box and started looking for a podcast editor. This is when I found the brilliant Emily -- it’s her last episode today as she’s found a full-time job. She’ll be dearly missed by our team!

We released the first episode on 26 Jun 2020, which was an introductory welcome to The Wallet. Since then, we’ve been publishing a podcast on a weekly basis (except for August and the Christmas holidays). In total, we’ve released 61 episodes -- which amounts to about 50 hours of The Wallet, or more than 2 full days.

Creating a podcast might sound easy, but it’s actually a lot of work. You have to spend time researching and finding your guests, prepare the interview questions, record the podcast, edit, cut, compile the show notes and write up key takeaways which are featured in our weekly 11am Thursday newsletter. The show is always posted at 1am on Thursday - even when I ask Emily for last minute edits at 9pm on a Wednesday night!

I use a podcast platform called Acast, and once the podcast is published it is then distributed to Apple Podcasts, Spotify as well as other platforms you may be using. The following day, we share the podcast across our social media channels and email our brilliant guests illustrations and links for them to share to their communities.

You might be wondering how we monetise the podcast. At first, we didn’t -- in fact, it initially was an extra cost for Vestpod. However, as we racked up the downloads, I asked PensionBee if they’d like to be our sponsors, and they said yes!

How do I find my guests? I usually approach people that I already know (if even a little). This could be someone I met at an event or previously worked with. All the women I interview have something interesting to share, and my goal is to ask them money-related questions while making them feel at ease. In recent months, most of our conversations have been recorded remotely with Zencastr: it’s different, but it works well. It adds a human touch to the whole process, we have our videos on, just like a Zoom call -- I sometimes get to see their kids or their pets! I also know that as a guest, interviewing remotely can be less stressful than sitting there face to face in front of a mic with a headset in a studio.

Since launching the podcast, we covered a number of topics, including money mindsets, cryptocurrencies, sustainability, pensions, investing and more! Our guests have presented an incredible diversity of viewpoints, which opened my eyes to the fact that we are all so different, and that money really is so personal. Talking to these remarkable women has helped me learn so much about myself, and has challenged my own established opinions and habits. Challenging our perspectives is integral to growth, and I hope you also learnt something new from each episode!

A few months ago, we launched The Wallet’s ‘sister’ podcast called the Hotline. The idea here was that we answer your most pressing questions directly, sometimes I do this on my own, and sometimes I invite a knowledgeable guest to help out. Thank you so much to those who have submitted a question to date - I know it’s not easy, but we love answering them.

our plans for the future

My goal for next year is to address the structural issues women face. I want to think about financial structures and how we can build a financial ecosystem for women that actually works. I’ll be telling you more about my plans for building up Vestpod and how we stay true to our values. We’ll be thinking more about money and sustainability, how to change our money mindsets, make extra money through realistic side hustles and passive income streams, and alternative asset classes like crypto. I’d also love for you to be more directly involved and to give you a platform to talk about your challenges and successes. Experts are great and certainly have their value and their place, but I am also a big believer in peer-to-peer learning.

And finally, in January we’ll spend more time talking about investing for the long term - our primary focus for 2022!

It’s clear that the future is bright for women and money, but we need to do more work to readjust, recalibrate, and build new models instead of simply tweaking the status quo and making it more ‘pink’.

I’d like to take you back to the beginning of The Wallet! We’ve spent some time listening back to the top 12 downloaded episodes, and dug out our favourite quotes. These are words that we truly cherish and love to listen to over and over again!

I would like to thank all my guests - you are all so inspiring and doing amazing work! I’d also like to thank Emily and Veronica and all of you, dear listeners, for tuning in every week and embarking on a journey with Vestpod!

Next year, we’ve got some great things planned for Vestpod, all centred around educating and building up the community, so stay tuned!

The wallet’s top 12 episodes:

Below are our top 12 most downloaded episodes. There’s something in there for everyone — we’re so thankful to have had the opportunity to interview these awesome women. Enjoy!

*** Our podcast partners PensionBee are also offering you a £25 pension contribution (£20, plus £5 in tax relief) when you sign up. To claim the offer, follow this link: https://www.pensionbee.com/vestpod. Capital at risk. ***