The Hard Truth: When It’s Time to Pivot Your Podcast or Business
Have you ever felt like something in your business or podcast just isn’t working anymore? Maybe you’ve lost excitement, your audience isn’t engaging like they used to, or the numbers just aren’t adding up. The big question is: Do you push through or pivot?
Pivoting doesn’t mean failure—it means growth, alignment, and making strategic decisions that serve you and your audience better. But how do you know when it’s time to make a change?
In this post, I’m sharing three key signs that might be telling you it’s time to shift direction in your podcast or business. Plus, I’ll take you behind the scenes of a recent pivot in my own business.
Sign #1: You Feel Resistance Every Time You Work on It
We all have tough days, but if you feel a deep sense of dread or frustration every time you sit down to record your podcast or work on your business, that’s a red flag.
Ask yourself:
🔹 Do I still feel connected to my mission?
🔹 Am I forcing something that no longer feels aligned?
🔹 Is this just a rough patch, or has this feeling lasted for months?
💡 What to do next: Identify what feels heavy. Is it the format of your podcast? The way you’re monetizing? The topics you’re covering? Sometimes, small shifts—like changing your content strategy—can reignite your excitement.
Sign #2: The Numbers Are Telling You a Story
We all want to believe we “just need more time” to see results, but sometimes, the data is telling you it’s time for a shift. If your podcast downloads have plateaued, email signups have slowed, or your offers aren’t converting, it’s worth investigating.
Look at:
📊 Your download trends—Are certain topics performing better than others?
📊 Your engagement—Are people responding to your CTAs, leaving reviews, or sharing your content?
📊 Your sales or conversions—If you’re monetizing, is your podcast helping move the needle?
💡 What to do next: Don’t be afraid to pivot based on what’s working. Lean into the topics, formats, or offers that resonate most with your audience.
Sign #3: Your Audience Isn’t Engaging Like They Used To
If your once-loyal listeners aren’t responding, sharing, or engaging like they used to, something’s off.
🔹 Your audience may have evolved—Have their needs changed?
🔹 Your messaging may need a refresh—Does your content still speak to their biggest struggles?
🔹 Your format might need a shake-up—Would a new structure or guest format help re-engage them?
💡 What to do next: Ask your audience directly! Run a poll, send a survey, or invite feedback through your email list or Instagram stories. You might be surprised at what they’re craving.
Behind the Scenes: My Own Business Pivot
Recently, I had to take my own advice. I realized that while my membership was full of incredible resources, I needed to make a shift to better serve my audience in a more impactful way.
So, I restructured my offers, fine-tuned my messaging, and leaned into the strategies that were working. And guess what? The energy came back, and so did the engagement!
Sometimes, pivoting isn’t about starting over—it’s about refining what already exists so it works better for you and your audience.
How to Make a Pivot (Without Overhauling Everything)
If you’re nodding along to these signs, here’s what to do next:
✅ Do a self-audit—Where are you feeling resistance? What’s not working? What still excites you?
✅ Look at your data—What’s performing well? What’s losing traction?
✅ Talk to your audience—Ask them what they need most right now.
✅ Make small shifts first—Not every pivot has to be massive. Sometimes, tweaking your content strategy or messaging is enough.
Final Thoughts: Your Next Move
If something in your business or podcast feels off, trust yourself enough to explore what needs to change. Pivoting doesn’t mean you’ve failed—it means you’re growing, evolving, and aligning with what truly works for you and your audience.
Need support navigating your next move? Join my Strategize & Shine Podcast Academy, where I help podcasters and business owners refine their strategies, find alignment, and create content that truly connects.
👉 Join now at wildhomepodcasting.com/academy
Your next best step starts now. 🚀
The Transcript for Share, Strategize, & Shine:
211: The Hard Truth: When It’s Time to Pivot Your Podcast or Business
[00:00:00] Have you ever had that nagging feeling that something in your business just isn't working anymore? Maybe your podcast downloads are stalling, your engagement has dipped, or a product that once sold effortlessly now feels like a struggle. The question is, how do you know if it's a rough patch or if it's a sign of something that needs to change?
[00:00:18] And that's exactly what we're going to dive into today. I'm going to walk you through some key signs that something in your business or podcast is no longer serving you and what to do about it. I'm going to share a real life example from my own business, how I recently realized my membership needed a shift, what led to that decision and what's changing if you've been feeling stuck or unsure about your next move.
[00:00:38] This episode is for you. Let's get into it.
[00:00:40] [00:01:00]
[00:01:21] Hello, everyone. Welcome back to share, strategize and shine. I have been on a bit of a break. I, um, I had a medical emergency that I was not expecting, and it forced me to take some time off. And I talk about this a lot with my clients, but like, once you take a break from your podcast, it can be so hard to come back, because, you know, it, it takes a lot of time in your schedules and I've been taking a lot of care of me.
[00:01:48] So I'll share a little bit about what happened because I think it's important to raise awareness about these kinds of things. But I, started having these episodes when I was in college where my heart would beat so fast and [00:02:00] eventually it would stop. It would only last a little bit. And I started seeing, I asked doctors about it.
[00:02:06] I've gone, I went to a doctor, when I was in college, I went to a doctor later in life, I went to another doctor later in life. Like, I've gone to doctors multiple times and mentioned it. And every time I mentioned it, they would tell me that it was, Panic attacks. So, I have spent my whole adult life thinking that I am having panic attacks, which has created a very interesting relationship to my anxiety, which is a whole other episode.
[00:02:29] We won't get into that today. So, a couple weeks ago, one of those episodes started and it wouldn't stop. This was like in the middle of the night. It was like 1am, 2. 30. My husband had to take me to the emergency room. When we got there, my heart rate was at 180, 190. They had to stop my heart seven times to get it to settle down, and the lowest it would go was 150.
[00:02:51] So, I was sent to the ICU, and later that day I had a heart ablation. , turns out I had what's called SVT, [00:03:00] and, I'm all fixed now. I'm all better, which is amazing. And they did every test under the sun. Sun. They took pictures of my heart. I look really healthy. I'm fantastic. I just had a little electrical problem, as we're saying.
[00:03:14] But I just wanna thank everybody. I posted the story on Instagram and I know a lot of you came and checked on me and, you know. Asked how I was doing and just extended your oh my gosh, that must have been so scary. Yes. It was it was terrifying and I really appreciate it. I'm excited to be recording episodes again but if you notice me losing my breath throughout the episode that is because one of the Symptoms that I have been experiencing post procedure is this shortness of breath issue It's definitely getting better, but it is tough and I'm not gonna kill myself trying to edit out My deep breaths.
[00:03:47] So I just wanted to share that with you. I'm so excited to get, I'm so excited to be back and I'm so excited to share this episode with you because it is super meaningful to me. I think that we need to [00:04:00] be really transparent in business and this is exactly what I'm going to do in this episode.
[00:04:05] We all go through seasons of in business where things that once felt.
[00:04:10] Really easy, suddenly feel off, and it's normal. Business is an evolving process. But the tricky part is figuring out like, is this just a rough patch? Is it a deeper issue? Do I need a small tweak? Or is it time for a bigger pivot? And what I've learned both in my business and from working with entrepreneurs is that the sooner you recognize the signs, the easier it is to make adjustments before things start feeling overwhelming.
[00:04:36] So today I'm breaking this down into three key signs that something in your business or a podcast isn't working and how to take action before burnout or frustration take over. So sign number one, you feel resistance every time you work on it. Have you noticed that certain tasks drain your energy more than they used to?
[00:04:56] Maybe recording your podcast feels like a chore or promoting [00:05:00] your offer feels really forced. Next, this was a big realization for me with my membership. I love helping people. I love helping women share their voice on their podcasts, but I was starting to feel a lot of resistance every time I had to show up for certain aspects of my membership.
[00:05:16] And at first I ignored it, thinking it was just a phase, but when that feeling stuck around for weeks and then kept going on for months, I knew that something deeper was going on. So, what do you do when this happens? Pay attention to where your energy goes. If something that once felt exciting now feels heavy, like, it's a sign to re evaluate.
[00:05:36] Ask yourself, is there a way to restructure this so it feels lighter? Do I need to delegate, simplify, or remove it entirely? For my membership, I realized that I needed to shift the format and delivery style to align with where I actually felt energized. And I'm going to share more on that in a bit. The second sign is that the numbers are telling you a story.[00:06:00]
[00:06:00] And you're probably ignoring it. Data doesn't lie. But we often avoid looking at it when we feel attached to something, or sometimes we don't want to look at the data because we know we're not going to like what we see, right? Maybe your podcast downloads are plateauing, your engagement is dropping, or a product isn't selling like it used to.
[00:06:20] For me, I noticed my membership retention rates weren't as strong as they used to be. Instead of getting curious, I brushed it off at first, convincing myself it was just a random dip. But once I really looked at the numbers, it was clear. My audience needed something different from me. So, what can you do?
[00:06:39] Instead of fearing the numbers, use them as a guide. I want you to ask yourself, what's the data actually showing me? Is there a pattern or trend I've been ignoring? How can I adjust based on this feedback? For my membership, I realized that my audience was craving deeper, more focused content rather than broad, general topics.[00:07:00]
[00:07:00] That led to a big shift in how I am structuring things moving forward. The third sign, your audience or customers aren't engaging like they used to. Ugh, this one. If you've been pouring your heart into something but the response isn't what it used to be, This is a sign to check in. Now, I want to, like, say, first of all, like, there's a lot of stuff going on in our world right now.
[00:07:22] It's very noisy. And a lot of people are tuning out. Which makes a lot of sense. And so, sometimes I like to keep that in mind when I'm thinking about, like, if I see a dip in downloads or engagement, like, there's other stuff going on and people may not be where I'm trying to engage right now because they don't want to be there.
[00:07:41] But, if this is like a consistent problem, okay, let's think about it. Maybe your podcast used to get tons of listener messages, but now, crickets. Maybe your offer once sold effortlessly, and now you're working twice as hard for half the results. This really happened with my membership. I started noticing fewer [00:08:00] questions, less excitement in the community, and a drop in overall engagement.
[00:08:04] And not because the content wasn't valuable, but because their needs had changed. So, what to do? Instead of assuming people just aren't interested, which honestly is very much where my brain wants to go, we're going to dig a little bit deeper on this. We want to ask ourselves, has my audience evolved? And am I evolving with them?
[00:08:26] And then think about what kind of feedback am I getting or not getting? And how could I open up a conversation with my community to understand their needs? For my membership, this meant having real conversations with members, sending surveys, really poring over those surveys, asking some follow up questions, and ultimately reshaping the way I deliver content.
[00:08:50] So, now that we've gone through those three steps, I want to share a behind the scenes look at how I applied this in my own business. Again, I think that [00:09:00] transparency in business is so, so important and I don't think it's something we see enough of in the online business world and I really want to do that for you today.
[00:09:08] I want you to be able to. Come and look behind the scenes. And after this episode, if you want to ask me any questions, like, I'm an open book. Message me on Instagram. I'd love to chat. So, when I launched my membership, it was really built around this idea that I wanted to create a community of podcasters who were focusing on podcasting differently than what I had seen in the market, like in the industry.
[00:09:35] And for a while it was really thriving, like I felt like I was building a pretty strong community. But there were a couple things that started happening. One was my energy really was shifting. I have a 13 year old daughter who is turning 14 next week. And we are having conversations about college.
[00:09:54] She's actually starting college classes next semester. We're talking about other things. [00:10:00] All of my kids are very busy in their activities, and I'm finding myself feeling very pulled to be with them more. Which means that, and I enjoy it. I enjoy being with them. I enjoy what, you know, homeschooling and all those things.
[00:10:16] Which means that then the stuff with my business starts to feel like it's pulling me away from my kids. That was one thing that I really noticed. So, whenever a event would come up for the, the membership, it was like, not pulling teeth to get me there, but just this feeling of, ugh, I've got to go do this, you know?
[00:10:37] Instead of, oh, I get to do this, right? Like, that's the difference in energy that I was really feeling. The numbers were also telling me something. So, my membership, I would say, I have at a low ticket. I'm gonna say it's low ticket. And, the platform that I was paying for, the membership, [00:11:00] I was bringing in was barely covering the platform I was paying for.
[00:11:05] And this is something really important. I want you all to hear, because I think it's very easy for us to go, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this and never stop and analyze the profitability. And as much as I love the platform that my membership is on, they were not using. All of the features, which really brings me into the second thing is that my audience's engagement had changed and I actually had a whole conversation with somebody about this about how people were not necessarily joining memberships for community anymore.
[00:11:38] I mean, I think we can have a lot of arguments about memberships and where they're headed and what people like about them and all those things, but I really noticed that there was a shift in my membership. And I really resisted these changes at first because, honestly, it felt really scary. I feel like I put a lot of time and energy into building what I had built and the [00:12:00] idea that It wasn't working.
[00:12:02] It wasn't profitable. It was like, oh man, I'm gonna have to redo this. And that, that did not feel good. But once I stepped and looked back at the full picture, it was really clear to me that the membership needed a refresh. So let me share with you what's changing. I'm so excited. So one of the things that I didn't love about Mighty Networks is it did not allow for any kind of sending people on a path or , them being able to find exactly what they need in an easier way, if that makes sense.
[00:12:33] And so one of the things that I have come to love is Notion. And I am actually a member of a really great membership for AI, which is run by my friend Hattie. I will link it in the show notes because it's amazing. And her platform is actually on Notion. And I was kind of fascinated by the fact that it was on Notion.
[00:12:56] The reason why I liked it so much is because I could create pages for certain [00:13:00] things. So one of the coolest things I think about the new membership platform is when you come into it, you can take a quiz, figure out which path you're on, click on that path, and it'll give you exactly what you need for your podcast at this moment in your podcast journey.
[00:13:16] It's, it's so great. I love it so much. The other thing is, instead of like it being so live event focused, it's gonna be more content focused with some live events to support it. And then I have also moved the community to Slack, because that wasn't the thing that people were using the most. So I feel like having a Slack channel where people can come, where I will check in occasionally, is gonna be perfect for what we need.
[00:13:44] The reason why this all feels so much more aligned and so exciting is because I, like, one of my overarching goals for all of my clients is to make podcasts, podcasting simpler and easier and have it feel really good. And I feel [00:14:00] like this is going to do that. I think that even at times I was overwhelmed by trying to find things in Mighty Networks.
[00:14:07] So I'm really excited about having this new home for everything. And yeah. And having this new place. I've also changed the pricing structure. So instead of it being monthly, it's going to be quarterly or yearly. And the reason why I did this is because I want people to commit to the transformation that they can get in the academy.
[00:14:27] Because literally there is so much in there, it's insane. But also, this is going to help me with profitability and income planning and things like that. And, and that's okay to plan things in your business. So that all of these things are aligned, literally having a conversation with a client today about this.
[00:14:47] As we're planning her podcast content, we're working on her offers and making sure that this is aligned with her schedule, that it's all aligned with her income goals. It all has to work together. [00:15:00] And so the biggest lesson that I learned in all of this is that when something feels off, don't ignore it, lean into it, get curious, and don't be afraid to pivot.
[00:15:09] So if this episode resonated with you in any way, shape, or form, here's what I want you to do next. Do a business check in. Like, ask yourself, where am I feeling resistance? What's my data showing? How is my audience responding? And then get feedback. If you're unsure about making a change, ask your audience directly.
[00:15:27] Do a poll, a survey, or just start conversations. Like, their feedback is invaluable. And don't be afraid to pivot. Like, small tweaks can make a huge difference. And if a bigger shift is needed, trust that making a change sooner will save you a lot of frustration down the road. And at the end of the day, like, you get to build your business and your programs and your offers in a way that feels right for you.
[00:15:53] And as long as you're serving your people and serving yourself, it really doesn't matter what platform it's on. [00:16:00] So if you're curious about the new direction of my membership, which is now going to be called the Strategize and Shine Podcast Academy, or if you're feeling stuck in your own business, I would love to chat more.
[00:16:10] You can join the Academy. Just head to wildhomepodcasting. com slash Academy. Or if you want to chat about what is the best solution for you and where you are in your podcast journey, you can also book a free call and I will have that link in the show notes. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today.
[00:16:29] If you love this episode, let me know, take a screenshot, share it on Instagram, tag me at wild home podcasting. I'd love to hear your thoughts until next time. Keep creating, keep evolving, and remember your podcast and your business is meant to grow with you. Have a great day.
