Meet Jenilee Samuel

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenilee Samuel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jenilee, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?

I have had a few nay-sayers, which doesn’t sound like much to overcome, but they were very up close and personal voices in my life with a lot of influence. Because of their roles in my life, I didn’t want to tune them out, so I developed a process that works for me as a faith-person. Because I believe that what I’m doing isn’t just a good idea, but is part of the calling of God on my life, I involve him in my decision making. And when these two particular voices of criticism would come after my business and podcast, i didn’t want to harden my heart toward them, so I would say “thank you for your feedback, I’m going to pray about it.” And I did.

I would lay a “fleece” (a reference to the story of Gideon in the Bible) where I basically said, “God, if I need to heed what they’re saying, and you’re bringing instruction THROUGH them, then I need you to do XYZ as a sign that I need to listen. But, if I need to stay the course, then I need you to cause ABC to happen instead.

And I made sure ABC was unlikely to happen so that I would KNOW it was God’s guidance.

Sure enough, every single time that I laid a fleece of sorts before the Lord, he confirmed to me that I needed to stay the course. So then, the issue became one of communicating my position and stance so that person understood.

With both of them, after prayer and seeing the Lord’s guidance to stay the course, I went back to them and said, “I want you to know I will never tune out your voice entirely, but in this area, I went and prayed about what you had said, and here is how the Lord responded. It is completely clear to me that I need to continue in what I’m doing, and I would appreciate if you can respect that, and come along side it in support. My priority ultimately is to obey the Lord first. Thank you for understanding.”

They didn’t act understanding or supportive at first, but eventually they adapted as I held my ground and continued to confidently keep doing what i feel is my purpose.

At the bottom of it, I wanted to maintain a soft heart toward them, but once I saw the need for a boundary, I had the confidence to communicate and HOLD my boundary, and they eventually relented in their criticism. One of those people isn’t in my life anymore, but at our last interaction, she asked about my business and how it was doing and showed kindness and support. I was thankful we ended that on a good note. 😉

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I never thought that my love for amplifying people’s voices would turn into a type of digital mid-wifery. 🤩 Helping people find their voice, and turn it into a successful podcast literally feels like I’m helping people give birth to their dreams. There’s always a moment in the creation process with my students where I get overwhelmed with emotion as I see their vision come to life and realize they now will have a space for their voice. It’s such a privilege!

What do I do you’re asking? I run a coaching business as a podcast coach, where I help people who want to start a podcast, avoid the confusion, tech overwhelm and wasted money of figuring it out on their own. There are SO MANY questions, different opinions, tools to consider, and it becomes quickly overwhelming. Heck it took me three years and lots of frustrated tears to learn all the things to get my show off the ground. That’s crazy! Now it is (almost) a top .5% globally ranked show and listened to in 107 countries!

If there had been a coach in 2017 I could have learned from, I would have loved to. It would have saved me so much time, tears and money. So, I decided to be the solution to the problem I had.

THE WAY I GOT STARTED
At one point I had half a dozen people waiting on me to help them with their shows, so I decided to start a group mastermind and help them all at once. I broke it down into one-step-at-a-time weekly calls and they had their show up in ten weeks.

After they finished, they were so excited and didn’t want to stop coaching with me, and asked (begged!) me to create some kind of graduate program where they could continue learning as they grew their shows.

So, that’s how Imagine Media Podcast Network was born, and my students (or existing podcasters) can join for monthly group coaching, and benefit from the tools I find and share with them, collaborate with each other and encourage their fellow podcasters. It’s a wonderful group.

After three rounds of my group Mastermind, I decided to turn those videos into a digital course for people who want to just do it on their own, and for those who want more custom care, I work with them to get their show up in two days.

This had become such a rewarding way to come alongside people who have a vision, have a message, have a story, and just want to share it with the world!

If a reader is interested in a free checklist I created that will give them a thorough overview (like a roadmap) on how to start, grow and monetize a podcast, they can go to javawithjenpodcast.com . This will bring them into my email community which is important for free trainings I do in the future!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

For sure RESILIENCE is essential.
You will want to quit. It may be your own business and you can work when you want to, but what no one tells you, is all entrepreneurs, especially new ones, have months where they’re not making money, or not making en0ugh. And it’s frustrating!! In fact, if you don’t want to quit at least a few times in the process of growing your business or podcast, you’re not really all-in. But in those moments, you just need to step away, go do something refreshing, maybe take a nap, and remind yourself WHY you’re doing this. You don’t REALLY want to quit, you just want to see some wins. And that’s normal. And you will… if you don’t quit. this is called: Resilience.

KNOW YOUR WHY
Tagging on the last one, if you don’t have a big vision of how your dream HELPS mankind somehow, a vision that is unrelenting and makes you want to cry to be able to do it, then you don’t really know WHY you’re in it. Making money isn’t enough motivation because in the months that you aren’t making money… your motivation is suddenly gone. Have a bigger vision that drives you through the lean days and the abundant days.

PULL GOD INTO YOUR PROCESS
Have people pray for you and your success! Even if you’re not a faith person, ask some of the faith people you know to pray for your business. Eventually you may become a faith person as you see Him move on your behalf. Ask God for directions to help you in your business. He wants you to succeed more than you do! (So long as your mission is a good one and not corrupt or just greedy). I am VERY aware that so many of the most helpful connections and opportunities that have come my way have NOT been because of my hustle. They were doors that opened to me that I wasn’t even looking for, but I was praying for without realizing it. Connections that have come my way have come through divine involvement… people I would not have met of my own efforts. Any success I have has been directly connected to God’s grace and involvement in my business. This IS THE SECRET SAUCE not many people will tell you, or may not even realize.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

YES! I LOVE collaborating with other business people, coaches and leaders where I can serve their people in a way they can’t, and vice versa.

I have found myself coaching about podcasting, in author groups, entrepreneur groups, and the like. If you have a community of people who might want to start a podcast, and I’d love to serve your people! I often do a simple free training that’s relevant to your group, and enjoy answering questions around having a podcast.

If you’d like to connect, just email me at: [email protected]

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.javawithjenpodcast.com
• Instagram: @javawithjen
• Facebook: @javawithjenpodcast
• Youtube: @javawithjen
• Other: Free 7-Step Checklist for starting, growing and monetizing a podcast: subscribepage.io/StartYourPodcastChecklist

Image Credits

All images are my own.