What creating The MS Show has taken and given

This time last year the U.K. had been in lockdown for around three weeks.

Now, what you need to appreciate is that my life with Multiple Sclerosis has been pretty much life-based at home with a very similar set up to the lockdown set up.

So things weren’t really feeling very different for me.

I’d been on a business mastermind since January 2020 and had been working out some ways I could become a little more visible in the MS community.

The idea of a podcast had been mentioned, but it felt daunting. 

I felt scared. 

But there were clearly some benefits - The benefits of hosting a podcast that I could see were:

• Being able to produce episodes when my health was playing ball - and not worry at the times when it wasn’t playing ball
• Being able to create content that would remain evergreen - so I could point people to an episode from 9 months previous if it would help and support.
• I would be meeting interesting and exciting guests
• I’d have that feeling that I was helping people
• I’d be learning new skills and,
• As an introverted person, I could talk and spread my message on a timeline and in a format that suits me. No hair washing or makeup priming required!

Plus if I got to the end of lockdown, looked back, and hadn’t made something out of something during this time, I’d have felt as though I’d let myself down.

And now, The MS Show podcast is almost 1.

It feels amazing and I almost can’t quite believe it.

There have been challenges for sure...

• Like when our local broadband network encountered difficulties and recording one episode over 3 attempts … and we were without fast broadband for several weeks
• Like when I was mastering my editing skills and I kept the ‘edit out’ sections, and deleted the ‘keep’ content

Like when my MS symptoms have 

• wreaked havoc with my energy levels

Or they’ve 

• wreaked havoc with my cognitive function making it difficult to keep up with a conversation 

Or they’ve 

• wreaked havoc with my speaking ability and I’ve become a slurred-speaking person with MS … it’s really not the best way to sound on a podcast, even if no alcohol has been involved!

What have I learnt since beginning The MS Show podcast journey…

• Doing things on a solo MS basis is rewarding
• Doing things on a solo MS basis is challenging
• Having a team involved makes a heck of a difference
• Following your heart gives feelings of fear, challenge and accomplishment
• Following your head gives feelings of control, purpose and accomplishment
• Producing a weekly podcast takes (sometimes too much!) time and effort
• Producing a weekly podcast exerts pressure
• Producing a weekly podcast provides structure and focused effort
• Producing with regularity helps you meet your audience expectations 

But, do you know what, I’ve done it!

I’ve bloody done it!

Over the past year, I’ve released almost 60 episodes which have been listened to worldwide by thousands of people.

The five-star positive feedback tells me that this is a good thing I’ve done.

So I feel very proud of my little podcast, my little podcast that is, intentionally, completely unaffiliated with any MS charities or MS-related companies.

I’m really proud of the fact that I produce balanced information, covering some topics that might be contentious but are still in line with my values. My value of promoting self-decision and self-choice.

I am going to be introducing some changes and these are going to be happening sometime after the official 1st birthday of The MS Show ... on the 27th of April 2021. But in true MS style, they are taking a lot of thinking about and therefore it’s a rather slow process.

I’ll share some more of the details about our first birthday party and the new things that are coming as we move forward into our second year of the MS show.

But let me tell you, all the comments and 5* reviews show me it is so worth continuing to make more episodes. More episodes to help people with Multiple Sclerosis and their families, friends and Carers.  

It feels a little surreal to have produced something that is out there in the public domain … with little old me, with my Yorkshirean/South of England mixed up British accent. 

As for the 100% of 5* reviews, all I can say is Thankyou Thankyou. 

It’s a really proud moment ?? for me to be able to say The MS Show podcast is turning 1.