As I get ready to relaunch my podcast, I am looking back at how I could’ve done things better. As with everything, we grow from practice and I definitely grew from that experience.

Over ten episodes in, I felt the need to stop and reflect because things were not going as smoothly as I thought they would. I am a firm-believer in self-accountability and staying humble no matter what.

So, it was time for me to be honest with myself.

Here are 3 Things I wish I had known before starting a podcast:

1. Don’t let people project their issues onto you.

I had been wanting to start a podcast for a few years and when I finally decided to do it, it didn’t feel right. I was met with people in the wellness industry who were overly concerned about how they appeared so much that I felt like I was changing my vision to appease them.

My first interview was someone who I had taken spin class from before. After I saw a post of hers on Instagram expressing her disappointment with a particular company, I wanted to provide her and others a platform to be transparent about their experience.

Her words about the company were not positive so when she expressed her unhappiness with the title after it had published and claimed it was sensational, I was very disappointed. I am not one to hold onto materials or push an agenda so when she said that I had, I was very upset.

I defended myself, the name and the reason why I decided to call it ‘The Surviving Series’. It had nothing to do with pop culture but actually an extension of my name which means survivor. I had planned on using that title for years.

But, after she said that, I started to take on her story and blame myself even though that wasn’t my intention. I snapped out of it and promised to not let someone’s opinion of me and my work overshadow my true intention.

2. Detach yourself from who you interview.

The second guest that I had on was a BIKRAM yoga teacher who was introduced to me through a former friend. Yes, we stopped being friends after things went South with this guest.

Before the interview, I had been transparent about the intention of the episode. To focus on surviving teaching after so many years. While we were recording, I noticed that he was advertising his yoga studio and was taking it into a different direction. I started to become tired keeping up with him and his facade that he was putting on for the camera.

Even though it wasn’t how I wanted it to turn out, I decided to keep it. During the editing( which took about a week), I noticed that he was releasing footage that he had secretly recorded while we were interviewing. I was beyond stunned.

It never dawned on me that people do things like that and when I started to do research on him and his studio, there were several misconduct allegations and claims of inappropriate behavior against him. I was appalled and disgusted in what I read about him.

I contemplated never interviewing anyone again but then I decided to separate myself from people’s stories and intentions. I can only set clear boundaries and affirm them when it is time to do so.

3. Have clear boundaries.

As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I could’ve set better boundaries in general when dealing with those that I interviewed. A part of me was afraid to do so in case they declined the interview once I had.

I now know that I would rather not have a guest on my podcast if they are going to be disrespectful to me or my work- whether they decide to continue with it or not.

Dealing with disrespectful people is no longer a part of my life, professional or personal and I am allowed to make that clear on all sides.