Often we get asked, “why did you start a podcast?”
Simple answer: We started our podcast because we wanted to share our story to relate to other women in a similar situation as we are currently and have been through in the past.
Complex answer: Whitney and I both had a calling to share our stories in a different way than only social media. After listening to many podcasts (see some of my favorites below), we realized there was a space for female farmers to share and connect with others by using a podcast. We are two busy mothers who do not have time for adding anything extra into our schedule. However, we both found ourselves listening to a podcast while we did laundry, cleaned the toilets, ran parts to the field, etc. Podcasting seemed like the perfect way to reach other busy women who needed a little self care time – and they could listen while they took care of others in their lives. Starting the podcast was literally as simple as Whitney asking, me replying and an invisible handshake later – the Midwest Farm Wives Podcast was born.
Excited, nervous, intimidated… all the feels before our first episode. I remember standing in my kitchen, drinking a beer, listening to it back, before it dropped to the public. Wow. We had done exactly what we had set out to do. The sound quality was less than pleasing, but we had done it – we had recorded our first podcast.
Little did we know, the best part was yet to come. Our first episode, where we spoke to each other for the first time, just minutes before hitting record, shows how inexperienced we were with being “podcasters.” Please, if you choose to listen to our podcast, listen to the first episode because the information is important BUT if you listen to episode one you have to listen to episode two and so on – the improvement is impressive.
Our ninth episode will launch tomorrow. Say what?! Time goes by so fast. Our podcast has touched thousands of lives with our first nine episodes, how many more will we touch in the next nine? 14,000 listens later (which is insane) we have no where to go but up. Whitney and I actively brainstorm every single day to bring you new, inspiring, real content for our Instagram pages, websites and the podcast. We are very simple people that lead very complex lives, so identifying parts of our lives that we think our followers would find relative to them is challenging.
I am forever grateful that I took a chance, that Whitney took a chance, and started the podcast. Midwest Farm Wives is so much more than a podcast. I have gained true, caring friendships, collaborated with other amazing podcasters/influencers in the industry, and found a way to creatively tell others how stinking awesome farming is.
If your not a part of the #farmwivesclub yet, please reach out, follow us on social media and interact. I promise, we aren’t the mean girls. You can sit with us.
Some of my favorite podcasts:
Moving On Podcast – Jay & Jess Norman
Shark Farmer Podcast – Rob & Emily Sharkey
What the Farm Podcast – Lesley Kelly & Rob Sharkey (found on Farm & Rural Ag Network)
Ag News Daily – Mike Pearson & Delaney Howell
The Rural Woman Podcast – Katelyn Duban
Crime Junkie – Brittany Flowers (not at all ag related but these crime podcasts are addicting!)
Do you have a favorite podcast? Drop me some Ag and non-ag related recommendations below (maybe ones that doesn’t only talk about row crops or tractor mechanics).