How I Work just ticked over two million downloads. This is what I have learnt.

In July of 2017, I went away with a few close friends for a chilly Winter weekend in Kyneton. We rented a rustic Airbnb and over lunch on the Saturday, I told my friends that I wanted to start a podcast. I didn't really have a vision for said podcast, nor did I have a plan, but I liked the idea of hosting one.

And then, I did absolutely nothing about it.

But in 2018, I had the perfect opportunity to stop doing nothing, and actually launch a podcast. I was due to attend TED2018 (i.e. the “real” TED) in Vancouver in April. And despite the fact I knew none of the 2000 delegates, I thought I could schmooze my way around (albeit in the socially awkward manner I tend to function in at conferences) to find some awesome guests. And somehow, I did. And to this day, I have no idea why those people, such as Adam Grant, Amanda Palmer, Matt Mullenweg, and Tim Kendall said yes.

Last week, How I Work ticked over what feels like a big milestone*: two million downloads. Holy sh*t.

*And another milestone - I've just launched a new website thanks to the creative folk at Start Digital. Check it out and let me know what you think!

While the whole podcast project has been a massive learning curve in the most brilliant and humbling way, 2021 has been extra steep. Thanks to the wonderful companies that have sponsored How I Work, it's given me a budget to bring on board a proper production team in the form of two amazing women: Kellie Riordan (ex-head of podcasts at the ABC - no big deal, right?) and Jenna Koda (who spent years producing the top-ranking podcast in all of Australia - ABC's Conversations).

Working with these two women has taught me many things. But for brevity, here are three.

You don't grow through compliments

Imagine this: you're listening back to your own voice on a recording (which is torturous enough) AND you have someone else listening too who happens to be really, really smart and is critiquing your performance every few minutes. That's what I get to do with Kellie every two weeks. Apparently, this is normal in the world of radio and professional podcasts and it's called an "on-air check". So yes, it's awkward, but my goodness it's also incredibly enlightening. I have so many annoying quirks and habits as an interviewer and Kellie picks up on them all - and teaches me how to improve. I feel like I've become an infinitely better host and interviewer since working with Kellie (I have no idea whether this is obvious to regular listeners but it's very obvious to me).

Making time to give feedback makes things better

Feedback takes time to give. And sometimes, it can be easier to just get on with things and not make the time. And perhaps this point is intuitive to you, but it wasn't to me until I brought on producers. It's weird bringing on people to help with stuff that you have become so accustomed to doing yourself. Jenna is my "episode producer", which means she researches my guests and writes me a brief as to what I could ask and how to best structure the interview. This used to take me hours per guest and it's been a joy to work with someone as talented and experienced as Jenna. But what I've appreciated most about her is how hungry she is for feedback - which makes me really motivated to take the time to give it. I now try to set aside time after every interview to provide feedback to Jenna on how it went and what we can do better for next time. And the end result? Even better interview briefs - which ultimately lead to a better show for listeners.

Invest money in learning instead of profits

How I Work has grown to the point where income from sponsors delivers a decent full-time salary - which could go straight into Inventium's profits. But when I thought about what I wanted 2021 to be for How I Work, I knew I was hungry to learn more and make an even better product. So I made what was actually a very easy decision to feed all podcast profits into hiring a production team. It feels like I'm investing in a Masters in Podcasting as well as outsourcing a bunch of things that are far better done by other people.

Finally, I thought I'd finish this post with some of my favourite interviews that I've done in the last few months.

Adam Grant - take 2. I recently had Organisational Psychologist and best-selling author Adam Grant back on the show. I loved hearing why I need to schedule a life check-up twice a year, along with some really practical and counter-intuitive tips on how to get better at remote collaboration. Oh - and he also taught me a magic trick.

Naomi Bagdonas. Naomi teaches Stanford Business School students how to be funny. And she also wrote one of the best books I've read in the last year: Humor, Seriously. It was such a treat chatting to Naomi about how to bring more humour and levity into business.

Rahul Vohra. If you have heard me speak about email, you will know how much I love my email client, Superhuman. It's hands down my favourite piece of software. So I had high expectations coming into my chat with Rahul, who is the Founder and CEO of Superhuman. Rahul obsesses over productivity - and not just for himself, but also for his team. I learnt so much in this chat, including why I need to stop using my mouse so much.

If you're already a How I Work listener and you're enjoying what I've been making, can I ask two favours?

1. I'd love it if you can let other people know about it. It's the main way the podcast has grown - and thank you if you have already been spreading the word. You're awesome and I love you.
2. If you're not one of the 400+ people who have left a review for How I Work in Apple Podcasts, perhaps today is the day you will! Leaving a star rating or writing a comment is one of the ways that podcasts are found by others - I'd be so incredibly appreciative if you want to take 10 seconds out of your day to leave a review.

Thanks for listening!