Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm your host, Sheila Slick,
and today I have a very special guest, Donna
Cundey. Donna is a global radio host, best -selling
author, and podcast profit strategist who has
produced more than 15 ,000 podcast episodes and
built two internet radio stations. Now, before
stepping behind the microphone, Donna spent 20
years as a military musician, an experience that
shaped her belief that every voice carries a
rhythm. a message, and a purpose. She is also
the creator of the podcast Profit System and
Business Podcasting Made Easy, and she leads
the Podcast Profit Lab, a practical learning
community where podcasters turn their message
into a business with real systems, real support,
and real results. Donna's newest collaborative
book, Your Message is the Business, amplifies
the voices of creators who are ready to use their
expertise with purpose. Welcome to the show,
Donna. Wow, I am so excited to be here. Who was
that person you just introduced? I want to meet
them. Well, I know firsthand Donna is... amazing.
And I learned that she has a military background.
And so I want to hear all about that and the
pivotal moment that led you from military musician
to the profit lab that you do today. Yeah, thank
you, Sheila. It was quite an interesting journey.
I did. I spent 20 years as a performing musician
in the military, which also meant that I guarded
a lot of things. because you can't always play
music. But what I learned as a musician is how
to communicate with people that I couldn't actually
see. Or if I could see them, we weren't having
a direct conversation with words, right? So how
do you communicate with somebody that either
you don't see or you can't have that conversation
with? And that's what I learned to do with music
and then began to translate it into podcasting.
Because it's very similar. The performance behind
the microphone is very similar to sitting in
a military performing organization. I retired
in 2011. I hadn't known it at the time, but I
was bit by a tick about 14 years earlier. I had
been getting sick. I didn't know what it was.
I ended up, it might sound dramatic, but I ended
up sitting on the couch waiting to die. Everything
hurt. I didn't know what to do. And it was during
that time that I had come across personal development
because I thought, oh, here's something I can
do while I'm just sitting here. And there was
a quote in one of the courses that I was taking.
was from James Allen that said, men are anxious
to improve their circumstances. They're unwilling
to improve themselves. They therefore remain
bound. And that's what I was finding with myself
is that until I decided to try something different,
I was going to be stuck in my old habits of not
being able to communicate very well, not being
able to talk, not being able to walk, not being
able to sit, stand, all of the things. And so
that was the first turning point for me was this
step into personal growth. When the world shut
down, I had decided to do something different.
I decided to, with a business partner, start
in the first internet radio station. And I knew
that there was a lot of coaches and consultants
that had nothing to do because of COVID. And
so that's when I reached out and said, hey, do
you want to do a radio show? And a lot of them
were like, oh, I'm not sure. But when I talked
them into coming, I realized that they had questions
like, how do I put together a radio show? How
do I talk behind the microphone? How do I do
all these things? And that was tapping into my
military experience. That's where all the podcast
episodes came from that I was doing. We had 1
.45 hosts doing four shows each a week. That
was just great learning experience for all of
us, really. And so then you decided to create
the community? Yeah, there's always been a question
of how do I? So once I decided to take the microphone
as my next stage of life, right, I go from performing
music to now performing behind a microphone for
podcasting and radio. once I decided to do that
and bring others along with me, it was always
answering their questions. So I invite them to
do a radio show. They said, well, how do I do
a radio show? I said, I don't know how you do
a radio show. Let me figure it out because I
know how to do programming from music. So we
take the entertainment from the music realm and
translate that into the podcasting space. And
we come up with this formula of you have an hour
to do a show. I have to run some commercials.
You give me four 13 -minute episodes that each
talk about a topic. And we're going to do that
for 13 weeks because we're business owners. So
we think in business quarters, a business quarter
is 13 weeks. And then I did the math one day
and I said, oh, four times 13, that's 52 episodes.
We have a year's worth of content. And they're
like, well, how do I market that? And I said,
well, I don't know how you market that. Let me
figure that out. I ended up just figuring things
out. I started to notice the patterns that were
coming up because when you get so many episodes
in front of you, for me, it allowed me to see
patterns. And I started seeing these patterns
that said, oh, we're building a business and
this is predictable. And no matter what you're
doing behind a podcast, you're an expert. And
because you're starting out as an expert, we
can take that and we can turn it into a system,
the podcast profit system. How do you take your
expertise and be able to create different offers
from that different revenue streams? That's where
it went to. And it just one thing led to the
next thing led to the next thing I mapped out.
I'm big into road mapping. I mapped out business
podcasting made easy, which is how to take an
idea. as a thought leader and create a radio
show or a podcast that becomes your signature
season that you can use for all these other things.
And then once you have your signature season,
well, how do you market that? How do you monetize
that? How do you use that? What I found, Sheila,
that was very interesting is that your podcast
can be the very next lead magnet for your business.
Like 2019, everybody was downloading. e -books
or white papers or whatever. Just give me your
name and email address and you can have free
access to my download. In this day and age, I
say your podcast functions in the same way, but
they're hearing your voice. And there's something
so magical about being able to hear someone's
voice. It's a different level of connection.
It's like giving a keynote speech all around
the world 24 hours a day, as long as somebody
is just pushing a button. Right. So you're you're
multiplying your results around the world. So
that's how the podcast profit system started
was answering the questions. And it's a book.
So that was your first book, correct? The Influencers
Formula was the first book. Yeah, I had partnered
with Ben Joya, who was a book coach, and we did
a radio show. about gathering the thoughts and
the lessons that I had learned with my podcasters.
And he did the same thing with his authors. And
then we noticed that our roadmaps were almost
identical, which really lended itself to a system
that can be book or podcast, that can be, and
it's really just about influence. It's about
this idea, because I think a lot of podcasters,
when they get behind the microphone, they think,
oh, I'm brand new. I don't know what I'm doing.
And that's where the industry capitalizes when
they say, well, you have to just get a lot of
downloads and then you can monetize. And they
take this idea that I don't know what I'm talking
about, so I'm going to capitalize on what the
podcaster might be feeling as a new person. And
I say. Forget that. You're not getting behind
the microphone because you don't know anything.
You're getting behind the microphone because
you have experience. That experience has been
hard earned and you can monetize that from your
very first podcast. You don't need a lot of downloads.
So if someone wants to start podcasting. Well,
we're almost in 2026, so if they want to start
podcasting today or get prepared to start podcasting
next year, what would be that one key lesson
that you could pass on so that they take action
today? That's a really great question. I like
to simplify things, and I say that you don't
need expensive equipment. You don't need as much.
time as you think you need to capture your stories.
Once your stories are captured, all the things
you can do with them, turn them into a book,
right? How quickly did we come up with our book?
Because we had captured the thoughts. It's a
lot easier than you think to sit behind a microphone
and do a podcast. The industry wants you to think
it's a lot harder because they want to sell you
something. But you have expertise. Just say yes
and get started. I like that. Just say yes. Yeah,
like Nike, just do it. And with that, let's move
on to your latest book. Can you tell us about
that journey and what's inside, which I'm very
proud of because I'm one of the co -collaborators.
I'm in one of the chapters. Thank you. Your message
is the business is the title of the book. It's
just a testament to what James and I teach. James
is the other coach. He was one of the. He was
one of the people that I reached out to for the
first radio station. James, you want to do a
radio show? And he's like, I don't know how to
do a radio show. I was like, don't worry, we
got you. And he got started, got hooked on it,
and has been doing six -figure years from his
podcast. But to answer your question with this,
when we have our podcasts, they are a goldmine
to leverage and repurpose. You've already done
the hard work. Right. And so when you said you
want to do a book and I said, heck, yeah, I didn't
know what it was going to look like. I didn't
know what it was going to be. I knew that there
was going to be some foundations in there about
the podcast profit system. I knew that they had
a book coming. I knew that I wanted to include
my clients because they've been doing the work
and I've been talking to them about having a
book. And I knew that they had messaging that
would fit in here, but I didn't know how the
book was going to. come together the way that
it did. I don't think we ever know how it's going
to come together until we do it. Emerson, I love
Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I'm paraphrasing, but
he basically says, do the thing, and then you
get the energy to do the thing, right? So if
you're thinking about a podcast, you're thinking
about a book, you have to take the first step.
Like Dr. Martin Luther King says, you take the
step. without seeing the staircase because the
next step appears and then the next step appears
and the next step appears. And so I didn't know
how it was going to come together until I started
doing it. And it's in that process of doing that
we get to put it all together. And I think it
is pretty neat. It's subtitled How Everyday Creators
Build Influence, Impact, and Income Through Podcasting.
And it includes Pod2Pook AI because we say that's
the 80 % advantage to capturing your thoughts
in audio. is your 80 % done with your book? So
why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't that be the first
thing that you use to monetize? And it talks
about storytelling and it talks about marketing
and gamma, even intellectual property. Like what
do you do with your intellectual property? We
have a resident attorney and they're Wayne Carroll.
who talks about trademarking and protecting your
property. So it was really neat to see how it
all came together. I was just looking at the
original and, you know, there was like 12 chapters
in the original. There's 20 in the afterwards.
It becomes a living thing once you say yes to
it, once you start going. So anybody that's listening,
if you're thinking about a podcast, you're thinking
about a book, just do it. Just say yes, and then
it will reveal itself. And then that feeling
when the book arrived. Yes. Oh, my gosh. I was
smelling it. Oh, the pages. There's something
magical about holding it in your hands and touching
the pages and just seeing the words in here.
This is my second book, and I didn't think I
was going to be so emotional to it. But they
say when you have an idea, you give birth to
an idea. And it is. It's a big piece that we
all created together. And it is beautiful. So
that 80 % that she mentioned, part two book takes
the audio and in about two and a half to three
hours turns it into a manuscript. But a manuscript
is a Word document, a living document, like Donna
would say, that then needs to get made your own.
And so in your case, you even spread out the
chapters differently. The publisher. He did such
a spectacular job with the formatting that it's
absolutely stunning and beautiful. And all of
this is part of what makes the book the book.
And then you also have to create the artwork
for the cover. And I think one of the things
I'm really excited about is when you collaborate
with a group of people, now you have a lot of
different voices and a lot of different people
receiving that book. wanting to share it with
others. And so that collaboration is magical.
And I'm really looking forward to presenting
this book to anyone that will be attending PodFest.
We will be in one of the booths, and this event
will be held in Orlando in mid -January. And
it's a place where podcasters go to grow and
learn as well as authors. So if you are an aspiring
podcaster or an aspiring author or simply looking
on how to turn your podcast into a book or your
book into a podcast, I'd say this is the great
place to go. I totally agree with you. Anybody
that's listening to this podcast right now to
realize that you're already an expert. All that
the podcast and the book is doing is capturing
your expertise in a way to be able to share it
with other people, right? We know this, but it
can be so overwhelming to start a podcast or
write a book. And what I love about what you
and I do is we take all of the hard work out
of it and just let you shine as an expert. So
when you say yes to yourself, when you say yes
to your expertise, you can say yes to your podcast
and yes to your book. We put this book out, a
very good, very quality book in, what, two, three
weeks because of your platform. And your discipline,
my dear. Let's not forget that military musician.
I've done hackathons and I know me and I am an
action taker and I can take you from idea to
launch in a weekend. I've helped people form
their businesses. in a single day. But when I
meet someone that I think not only did that,
but even impresses me on what it means to take
action. And I think the most impressive part
was that Donna was able to mobilize, organize
a big group of people. So kudos to you. I cannot
underestimate nor undervalue your part in that
because you really left me in awe. Aw, thank
you. So can you tell anyone that wants to join
the community and tell us a little bit about
what they can expect when they join, where they
can find you? Thank you. So we are at the Podcast
Profit System. It's podcastprofitsystem .com.
Podcastprofitsystem .com, perfect place to go.
It explains what we have there. There's the lab.
The lab is a community for all podcasters to
join, whether you have an existing podcast or
an idea for a podcast. This is your home, your
first place to come. From there, if you want
coaching support, additional support from myself
and James, you can choose the creator track,
which will create your first 13 -week, 52 episodes
of your season. Your very first podcast will
take you through the methodology for that. That's
the creation track. Or you can opt into the monetization
track if you have an existing podcast. And through
mastermind and coaching, we'll... We'll get specific
into your ideas on your first step beyond just
the podcast on how you want to monetize that.
The lab is free until December 31st, so act fast.
After December 31st, there will be a monthly
fee. to stay in the membership group, but the
feedback we're getting, we have over 70 people
in there right now, and the feedback we're getting
from podcasters is really incredible. So I know
that we're on the right track to serve more people.
I will go ahead and leave the URL. in the comments.
And I also invite you to purchase Your Message
is the Business. We have it at the introductory
price right now. I think it's under $6, which
I think is a great deal for the value that you'll
receive when you buy the book. So I'll make sure
to leave that so that through the end of the
year, you too can perhaps gift yourself the book
or give it to someone that perhaps needs just
that tiny little push. 100%. So thank you very
much, Donna, for joining me today. Yeah, thank
you for having me, Sheila. It's always great
to talk about podcasting and books and all the
exciting ways that we can make a bigger impact
together. And thank you all for tuning in to
another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. Until next time.