There’s a number in podcasting that almost nobody reaches, and most people don’t even know it exists.
It isn’t downloads. It isn’t a chart position.
It’s simply this: Did you keep going?
Today, I released the 500th episode of my podcast. And, I’m so proud of myself.
Of the millions of podcasts that have ever launched, only about 10–11% are still actively releasing episodes.
The rest have quietly disappeared in what the industry calls “podfade.”
It happens to roughly 75% of all podcasts, usually within the first dozen episodes. Most shows stall out around episodes 7, 11, or 23 and never come back.
Five hundred wasn’t on my radar when I started.
I didn’t have a strategy for longevity. I had something simpler and, it turns out, much rarer: a commitment to show up week after week and produce one episode. Then do it again.
That’s the whole secret. There was no shortcut.
There was just the next one, and the next one, for years. Even when my brain tried to convince me I was out of ideas, or that it wasn’t good enough. I still showed up.
And somewhere along the way, this thing I committed to quietly changed my life. And, as I’ve come to learn, a lot of yours, too.
We’ve crossed well over 10 million downloads. But it’s not the number that undoes me. It’s the women who write to me and say their lives have shifted through the podcast alone.
Women who never bought a thing, never joined anything – who simply listened, week after week, the same way I showed up week after week. We were doing it together the whole time.
I didn’t know any of this was coming when I hit record on episode one. You rarely do. You just commit, and you let the commitment do its slow, compounding work.
So this is a thank you. To everyone who has ever pressed play, shared an episode, sent a message, or let my voice keep you company on a drive, a walk, a hard day.
Five hundred episodes exist because you kept listening as faithfully as I kept recording.
Now, I have something to share with you about what comes next. But I’m not putting it in an email. It belongs in your ears.
Go listen to episode 500. I’ll meet you there.
With so much love & gratitude,
I don’t have to feel ready to begin.
Many of the things I’m most proud of started before I felt qualified, prepared, or certain. The feeling of readiness is a lie I tell myself to stay comfortable.
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These Spiritual Gangster top and pants have been on heavy rotation lately. The off-the-shoulder Asha Top has that effortless quality I love – the kind of top that looks intentional without any effort at all. And the wide-leg Journey Pants are exactly what they sound like: fluid and packable enough to throw in a suitcase without a second thought.
Plus, the Zen Rib fabric is genuinely soft in a way that makes you want to stay in it all day. (Spoiler alert: I have!)
Purchase the Top / Purchase the Pants
What 500 Episodes Taught Me (and What’s Next)
Episode 500 exists because of one decision made over and over again: show up, record, release. Then do it again next week.
Was every episode brilliant? No. Did I always feel ready? No. But I was committed to the next one, and the next one, until 500 episodes existed.
In this episode, I’m sharing what I learned along the way – and giving you the scoop about what’s coming next.
// TheEDIT
A weekly digital magazine by the School of Self-Image