Celebrating 200 Episodes!

Catherine Erdly: I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but welcome to episode number 200 of the Resilient Retail Game Plan. 

Hi, I’m your host, Catherine Erdly. I’m also the founder of the Resilient Retail Club, which is my membership group and mastermind for product businesses. 

This is unbelievable to me that the podcast that I started nearly four years ago in 2020 has just hit its 200th episode, and I wanted to do something a little bit different today.

So I’m actually swapping places with my guests and I’m going to be interviewed for today’s episode. I’m joined by Sarah Scott, who is my podcast manager. She is the person who takes care of the podcast, makes sure that it goes from the recording that I do into emails and social media posts and so much more.

She’s absolutely fabulous addition to the team. And I can’t wait to dive in to all of the questions about where the podcasts come from and where we’re going next.

Welcome to the Resilient Retail Game Plan, a podcast for anyone wanting to start, grow or scale a profitable creative product business with me, Catherine Erdly. The Resilient Retail Game Plan is a podcast dedicated to one thing, breaking down the concepts and tools that I’ve gathered from 20 years in the retail industry and showing you how you can use them in your business. 

This is the real nuts and bolts of running a successful product business, broken down in an easy, accessible way. This is not a podcast about learning how to make your business look good. It’s the tools and techniques that will make you and your business feel good.

Confidently plan, launch and manage your products and feel in control of your sales numbers and cashflow to help you build a resilient retail business.

Sarah Scott: hi everyone. And I am so glad to be here. And so Catherine, let’s just kick this off episode 200 and I know, oh my God, like in a world where podcasts go into podfade at episode 10, 200 is an incredible thought that you have done this every week for 200 weeks, like Yes. process that a little bit.

And it’s so much work. It’s not like this is an easy task and consistency is one of the biggest success factors, right. To having a podcast.

With all the different content strategies available for your business, why do a podcast?

Sarah Scott: So one of the first things I’m curious about though, is then why start a podcast for your business of all of the content strategies that are out there?

Why did you go this route?

Catherine Erdly: Yeah. It’s funny thinking back on it now cause it’s also nearly four years. So it’s not, it doesn’t quite line up because I think I, for a very short period of time I did every other week, maybe in the first year or so. So it’s close to it being four years now, but it’s not quite exactly.

So four years, 200 episodes. So I started it in 2020. So it was during the pandemic. Maybe that had something to do with that. We’re in lockdown.

Sarah Scott: Who else did we talk to?

Catherine Erdly: It just seemed more achievable at that point. And I think the biggest thing for me and probably one of the reasons I’ve kept going with it is because it was really clear to me that the people that I wanted to speak to, the people who were e-commerce brands or independent retailers, they really were consuming content via audio. 

So they were listening to podcasts on their dog walk, or they were listening while they pack their orders. And that’s a really big theme, people are using their hands to make or to pack, or they were on the shop floor most of the day, but maybe they, on their walk home, for example, they might listen to the podcast.

So I knew that in terms of long form content, the ability to go in depth, then I knew that it would work well from what I understood from talking to people and understanding how they were consuming and learning about the business side of running a product business. It seemed like podcasts were a really good medium for that.

So I think maybe also partly it was like, Everyone was doing it, or lots of people I knew were doing it, who knows, or a few people had said to me, oh you should do a podcast, and I, the more I thought about it, I was like, yeah, do you know what, I think I should do a podcast. And yeah, let’s do it. And here we are, four years later. 

Sarah Scott: And you kept going and probably the rest of them stopped. 

What format did the podcast start in and how has that evolved over time?

Sarah Scott: So I’m interest too like, how did it evolve, like, how did you start? So I know now you’re doing a blend of interviews and solo episodes and we go back and forth, but is that where it started?

Catherine Erdly: No, I, the first 26 episodes were solo. It was very much, that was my original, I had a few things that I knew I wanted to do. I really love podcasts myself, but whenever I load up an episode and my husband just sent me an episode of a podcast that he thought looked really interesting, and it does, and I will listen to it eventually, but it’s nearly two hours long, and I’m just like, oh, I’m Is that, is that a podcast or is that, that’s an audio book.

Yeah, exactly.

Sarah Scott: a movie. 

a movie. That’s 

Catherine Erdly: So I really liked the idea of it being short and quite a few people have said to me, Oh, it’s just the perfect length. It’s 20, 20 minutes, 25 minutes, half an hour. And I walk, you know, do the school run and on my way back, I listen and it all just fits. Or I’m driving over to my suppliers and it just fits or that kind of thing.

Or I’m walking to the post office and it just fits into the day. I knew I wanted it to be pretty short and it’s really kept to that length. I think most of my episodes, some are even shorter, you know, sometimes I do those kind of quick tips, but I, it started off really as a way of sharing kind of my thoughts and information about profit margins.

One of the first episodes was. Actually, the most downloaded episode, I believe is called something like profitable product margins. And and so it started off with the first 26 episodes. So six months. And funnily enough, I’m not really sure whether that was just because I wanted it to be very much like a factual kind of educational podcast or what was a way of sharing knowledge and information.

Or if it was just simpler than trying to figure out having guests on. I don’t really remember but I know That even now, the solo episodes, when we look at the stats, like often it is the solo episodes, people like. I think people still enjoy the kind of information or like way to take in information over audio as opposed to reading or watching.

Sarah Scott: Yeah, I think so. And I’ve always said to with, interviews are great when you can have that extra voice in. And I think some of yours are really nice because you don’t just bring in experts, other experts in, various fields. I know you’ve brought in folks that are, video experts or social media experts, but you’ve also brought in store owners that tell their stories about how their shops have come about and evolved.

And I think that stuff can be very inspiring too. I mean, I know I love listening to business owners and to hear, okay, this is where I started and this is where I am now. And, there’s always some lessons to take away from that as Business owners. So I’m sure shop owners feel exactly the same.

And I think it was one of your recent episodes too, that we were working on where it was the episode that just came out the week before we recorded this. So it would have been three weeks, it should go then when this airs, where you were talking about how with cashflow, how so many retailers almost feel like they are siloed in a sense of they don’t know how anybody else does it.

Catherine Erdly: Yes. Yeah.

Sarah Scott: I think by bringing on other people, it’s a way for you to show this is how other people are doing it so that way it gives that blend of both factual and hey, you’re not alone.

Catherine Erdly: Yes, definitely. And I think that’s really the key to, to, to so much of this. And I think also that’s what’s nice about the podcast is so often when I have an episode where people really, People quite often will reach out and say they’ve listened to the episode. So I can tell sometimes when an episode’s resonated because I’ll be talking to clients or to club members or to people on social media, and they’ll say, Oh this week’s episode.

And it really, that was great. It really struck a chord or I really resonated with it. And it’s often because it’s things that people just don’t talk about, or there isn’t that much information out there about and I think that is really important and that’s one of the other things I wanted to do with the podcast was just if you can make one person realize that they’re not the only people person going through this, then I think that’s really great.

Really great connection to make for sure.

The benefits of having a podcast has had on the business

Sarah Scott: And I think this is a really good segue to, for the next question I had, which is how has the podcast actually impacted your business? So just for folks who, if you’re new or happen to show up, I know in the intro, you usually say this too, but you have a membership business and a mastermind, and I know some other services that you’re looking to launch.

So how has the podcast supported that for you?

Catherine Erdly: I think it’s been a huge trust builder. I think is probably the biggest. One of the biggest things and with the membership, which we, so we don’t have, say, a call before people join the membership, people would generally join after a talk or an offer to my email list or something like that. But I usually message people when they join and we have a little back and forth and quite often people will mention that they’ve listened to the podcast.

And then with my mastermind, which is a higher level program, then we do have a call beforehand to make sure it’s the right fit for people. And the podcast does often come up in that people will often say, Oh, I’ve listened to it. And that’s something that I noticed. I wouldn’t say I noticed right away, because I think it takes time, but I’d say probably from about a year into the podcast, I really did notice that people would bring it up when we were talking or when I met people, sometimes even when I met people at events or markets or things like that, people would say, Oh yeah, I’ve listened to your podcast.

And I think it just helps. The fact I have shown up every week for four years, it does. It’s so long, it shows you’re not going to be someone who disappears the next day. And I think people really, it grows familiarity. I think what’s such a privilege about podcasting is you do get to speak directly into people’s ears.

And somebody said, probably when I was doing my research before I started, I remember reading that, People often feel like a podcast, it feels like a phone call with a friend, or it’s like being on the phone with somebody because they are speaking in your ear in a way that you don’t normally do. Even when you’re on social media, people are watching you often with the sound off, but with a podcast, like they are, they’re hearing your voice.

And I think it does give this level of not just trust, but also I think it’s really been helpful in terms of. people understanding where I come from, what point, what points I’m making, some of the key themes that I talk about, what my experience is, like all of those things. If someone’s listened to a certain number of the podcasts, they get a sense of you.

And and so that is hugely supportive. It’s also been supportive. I was trying to be quite strategic with the podcast. So for example, in 2023, when I launched my book, Tame Your Tiger, I had various different podcast episodes around that. And this even in February when we had Retail ROAR the online summit, then we have podcast episodes talking about, how to make the most out of the summit.

So it’s a really great accompaniment, if you will. That’s the right word to the, to what I’m doing in the rest of the business. And the nice thing is because you do have a bit of time, it’s not like on Instagram where, it’s a six second reel to catch somebody’s attention. You’ve got 20 minutes, even 15 minutes to really explain or give context or more insight into what you’re doing and why.

And I think that’s really beneficial as business owners. We don’t often get that opportunity.

Sarah Scott: Yeah, no, that’s, and I think that’s really interesting too, especially for someone who runs memberships or high level masterminds, it really gives that trust factor in advance, right? So one of the hardest things with those higher ticket type, especially coaching programs, I think is the factor of, is this going to work for me?

And while the podcast isn’t necessarily going to answer the, will it work for me? It will tell me whether or not I like you.

Catherine Erdly: Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Scott: It will tell me whether or not your thoughts and philosophies line up with my thoughts and philosophies that I want to learn more from you. I want to have that one on one, right?

So it gives that space in a way that I don’t think anything else really can.

Catherine Erdly: No, and I think it also showcases a little bit of your style. So one of the things that I always say about my business is that I very much the no fluff Type approach and I think the podcast is like that, you know when I interview people We don’t spend 20 minutes scene setting, and usually I will, we will talk a bit about their background, if it’s relevant, if it’s somebody’s business story, we’ll delve into that.

If it’s somebody who’s an expert on email marketing, no offense to them, but we’re probably going to get straight into the email marketing tips, right? We’re not going to explore too much about their journey as an email marketer. Because I think for me, it’s about. I love this phrase information for action.

And I believe that whether you’re looking at the numbers in your business or whether you’re listening to a podcast, but it’s it’s great to get information, but it’s always what’s the takeaway? And I think that in a way, the podcast is like that. And one of the, one of the compliments that really stuck with me from the membership was, I remember we did a whole big piece last year for three years of the membership just turned four this year.

We did a whole big piece of research, customer research. We asked people all about what they liked about the membership, what results they had. It was so overwhelmingly positive. It was great. And I, but I remember somebody said to me, I don’t watch a 20 minute video to get five minutes of useful information. I watch a five minute video with five minutes of useful information. And I’m always like, yeah, that’s it. That’s my style. I’m not going to wax lyrical for hours and hours. And the kind of the podcast is similar to that. It’s, I mean, I feel like this episode’s maybe a bit of an exception, but um, but normally it’s like we, we dive right in, 

Sarah Scott: yes. Oh, we don’t have some great lessons learned here, but we’re just telling your story today. But I would agree. I think all of, a lot of the episodes, at least since I’ve been on board with you two, it have been very to the point. They have very, I’ve always said that with, Looking at your numbers and looking to see how your audience responds to your content.

And I think that is really it, those things that are very honed in. And I think the other part of it that I’ve really enjoyed working with you and your podcast has been the fact that it is very strategic. In a lot of ways, We do look at and say, okay, I know you’re going to be launching, like you said, the summit.

And so we’ve got a whole bunch of stuff and everything we do and everything I pull from the podcast to use, like all of that very much rotates around your business. And from my experience, that’s somewhat unique. A lot of podcasts will just. It’s on its own trajectory away from the business, the person that’s running it, which is really odd to me instead of being complimentary or like you said, almost like an accessory on your business that allows you to compliment those things that you are doing inside of it.

And I think I’ve seen some good results too. When we use like comment strategies and things like that, and you can see how people respond to all of those things, which I just think is so much fun. Now, one of the things too, is then how do you enjoy like. When it comes to doing all of the work for the podcast, how do you enjoy doing the interviews?

Which type of episode do you enjoy more – solo or interview?

Sarah Scott: Do you, is it, I guess, which type do you prefer to do more? Do you prefer the solo episodes or the interviews? 

Catherine Erdly: Oh thats a really interesting question. I actually find, if anything I find the interviews much much easier t han the solo episodes because on a solo episode, there’s a lot of prep that goes on behind the scenes in terms of what’s the theme and then pulling together my points and then running through it. I don’t really script my solo episodes.

It’s usually a question of getting a bullet point outline and then working from that. So when I kind of look on my schedule, there’s two different things. I like to have a mix because I think it’s nice to bring in different voices. I love doing interviews, because I get to ask the questions, right? If someone’s got a great business or a really interesting specialty area, I get to ask the questions that I want to know, which obviously I’m thinking about what does the audience want to know? But sometimes it’s like, what do I want to know from this?

Which do I prefer? It’s hard to say, I’d say probably the interviews, as I said, it’s actually much simpler to create a list of questions and sit down with somebody and talk it through and make it very conversational than it is to sit down and really scope out, okay, this is what I want to say. And then to record it all to camera. 

 But I think it’s nice to have a mix of both. For example, recently did episode about Father’s Day.

So then you’re sharing tips and ideas for Father’s Day and that’s really best In a solo format, I think. I have done it in the past where you bring someone in and you kind of bat ideas back and forth, but sometimes again, it going back to that really distilled information to get the point across then the quickest way to do that is a solo and yeah solos, you can say exactly what you want to say , but interviews, I think it’s nice you got that human element for sure.

Where do guests come from?

Sarah Scott: Yeah, and so when it comes to your interviews, have you always sought out your guests or have people come to you to be a guest? 

Catherine Erdly: I’d say its a mixture. I definitely get pitched all the time. I have a whole folder in my inbox which is just podcast guest requests and some of them are wildly off the mark. You can always tell when it’s like a big PR agency that is sending somebody out to everybody and it’s just no, do you even work with retail businesses?

Do you even get the site? You know,

Sarah Scott: Do you shop?

Catherine Erdly: Yeah So I’d say it’s a mixture sometimes I’ll get a pitch and I’ll think yes, absolutely. I’ve interviewed clients. I’ve interviewed people that are in the membership. I’ve Interviewed people who I just thought oh, I think their story would be great to really delve into So people I know through social media I’d say probably the majority of the time guests are people that I’ve asked to be on the podcast because it’s useful often to think about what do I want to cover, what do I want to talk about, what do I want to delve into and in that case I’ll often think about who’s the best person, who do I know is going to be really great for this.

Sometimes I’ll put out a bit of a feelers to people and say, do you know someone who talks about this topic? And sometimes it’s someone who listens to the podcast. I quite like that when people are listeners and they drop me a note and say, Oh, could I be on your podcast? I’m always like, yes, that’s sounds, you know, often if it’s a good fit, if it’s the right type of business and

Would you like to be a guest … this is how you do it!

Sarah Scott: Listeners, are you listening?

Drop her a note if you want to be interviewed.

Catherine Erdly: Yeah, exactly. If you, especially if there’s an element to it. So I think about somebody like, Rosie from Good Days Jewelry, who was on the podcast, I think it was probably last year at this point, but she had a very specific topic she wanted to talk about, which was all to do with trademarking her name and the issues that she had to go through a name and a rebrand, and also collaborations, which she’s really strong on.

So we had a really clear, it’s a really good pitch when someone says like this is what I’d like to talk about and this is why I think it would be a good fit. So absolutely. I think it’s great to, 

Sarah Scott: Well yeah,

Who’s

goingelp out retailers better than another retailer

Catherine Erdly: Yeah, exactly.

Sarah Scott: It’s

not always necessarily the story about your store, but what have you learned that you go, Oh my God, I wish I would have known this. And I want to make sure that other retailers and other product businesses.

know this, like said, trademark, like how often I wouldn’t think about that, but

Catherine Erdly: Yeah.

Sarah Scott: I’m sure that comes up for a lot of people and I’m thinking like. Experiences, right? If you have a brick and mortar, like how are you creating experiences or, what else do you cash? Like you, you, I know you’re big on the cashflow and the stock plans and things like that, like all of those things.

What is, what’s that lesson you have learned that you think other people need to hear,

and that is such a compelling story for you to share. So yeah, if you’re looking for podcasts, guesting opportunities. Send out a note with what you’ve learned and want to share.

Catherine Erdly: I think a podcast is probably a little bit like a cake, you’ve need different ingredients, you need different things. Somebody once said, you know, you think of your social media like a magazine, you’re going to have the features section and the lifestyle.

And I think it’s the same with the podcast. I think in the ideal world, it’s a mix between the solo episodes, between. Experts between people, maybe talking maybe a bit more broadly about industry trends, people who are on their growth journey, people who have grown enormously, people who probably very much reflect the typical listener and maybe have got some specific challenges they want to talk through.

I think it’s good to have a bit of all of those things, because I think it’s great to have the really big. aspirational brands talking to them, but I think it’s almost like you, you don’t want to have, you want to be able to see the path between where you are as a listener and where that person is, and I, so I think it’s good to have a mix for sure.

Sarah Scott: And with 200 episodes in your library, we certainly can piece that path together for anybody. 

What is your favorite things about being a podcast host?

Sarah Scott: So one of the next things I was curious about, and like I said, I have a podcast that interviews podcast hosts, and I cannot believe I’ve never asked this question yet, is what is your favorite thing about being a podcast host?

Catherine Erdly: I think the, I think my favorite thing is probably when I get to ask the questions of the people that I want to ask the questions to, when you have that feeling like, Oh, that person be great. And then I’m going to ask them these things because I want to know the answer as well. Like That’s a really big part of it.

I think that’s a, that’s one of my favorite. I think the connection it gives me with people is another, I honestly really don’t take it for granted that people choose to tune in and listen. And I love that. To see it. One of my favorite parts is when people share on social media and they say, oh, I’m out on a dog walk and I’m listening to the podcast.

And I absolutely love to see that. And I all, I quite often say that at the end of the episode it’s come over to Instagram, tell me what you thought of the episode, share where you were listening. And I always think, I hope people realize it’s not just like a rote thing I say. It’s like I really do genuinely love it.

And I also really love it. Although sometimes I find it a little alarming when I meet people and they say, I know you always say on that episode, you said, blah, blah, blah. And I’m always thinking to myself, what did I say? 

Sarah Scott: Wait, I say that?

Catherine Erdly: Did I say that? Although you always say this and I’m like, do I? And it’s really funny, but it’s, I love it because I, again, it’s like that feeling people, Have almost feel like a personal connection because they resonated with the message.

I think it’s so rewarding. And I sit in this office, which I often think this office is really tiny and it has a very nice, have my very carefully chosen plant background. So you can’t necessarily tell how small it is, but it is almost to the point where I could, if I reached my arms out, touch either wall.

And so you sit in the, in this room Pretty much all the podcasts are recorded here and you sit here and you record them and they go out there into the world and of course you can see the stats and we check and see how many people have downloaded and great to see how that’s gone up over the years and amazing to hit milestones like over 100, 000 downloads and things like that.

But at the end of the day, you sort of putting something out there into the ether. So when you meet people who say, Oh, I listened to that podcast about getting ready for Christmas. Somebody said to me, I’m so glad I listened to one of your Christmas podcasts.

And and you talked about how you weren’t sure about how it’s going to go. And it could be a bit of a bumpy Christmas for retailers. And she said, I was cautious with my purchasing for Christmas and I’m so glad I was. Cause it was bumpy. And, I think that’s like a real like, for me, that’s like a kind of a pinch me moment, you know, like you put something out like that and you genuinely made a difference to people and I think for me, that’s probably the best thing about being a podcast host.

Sarah Scott: Oh, I love that because so many people to think that sometimes being a podcast host is like talking to a wall, right? Like we don’t always, it’s not social media, right? So it’s, there’s not always an instant connection. Like people aren’t. Liking or, commenting on every single podcast. So there’s times where you probably go stretches and you don’t hear anything about any episode or

Catherine Erdly: for sure.

Sarah Scott: And that becomes difficult. So I imagine it, like I will, when I launch mine, I’ll let you know. But I imagine that’s one of those things but then that’s what happens, right? It’s a long game. It can take a little while for it to catch on. But when it does. That’s when you start to hear from people to say, Oh, I was so glad I listened to this.

And you’re like,

Catherine Erdly: Yeah.

Sarah Scott: thank you. Like, This feels so good. And I can imagine too. So you not only have the podcast, but you also have a book, but before the book was the podcast also a way of giving people that place to find you.

Catherine Erdly: Yeah, absolutely.

Sarah Scott: Thats not social all the time, 

Catherine Erdly: yeah, absolutely. And also, especially those first episodes, because I guess the very first episodes I did were like this is my kind of philosophy of business, if that’s quite the right way of putting it, or my kind of beliefs in how you make money in a product business and how you make more money and how you actually pay yourself and how you keep your stock under control and how you sleep at night and all those kind of things.

So that was the kind of the start of it. And I do think that again is something that over time that I found that then when I do talk to people when I’m working with a client, I’m not if they’ve listened to the podcast, and there are people out there who will be like, I listened to the podcast every single week, which is also another pinch me moment.

Amazing to know that I’m in people’s weekly rotation is really amazing. And Yeah, totally. Absolutely. And I’m totally genuine when I say that I definitely don’t take it for granted four years in. And I think that for me, when you talk to a client or a prospective client or a club member, and they’re like, Oh, yeah, I heard your podcast about profit margins.

Okay, I think I really need to look into them. I think it’s a way of Making sure that we’re speaking the same language or they get why this stuff’s important. They get what they need to look at. And so therefore the work that we’re doing together, whatever that is, whether that’s me doing a free talk or me working with them in the club, or whether that’s them joining my mastermind, like they’re at a certain base level of understanding because they’ve listened to the podcasts or the interviews and they get the things that I talk about and the themes and I think that does make a difference.

What inspires ideas for new episodes?

Sarah Scott: So I have two more questions. First is, after 200 episodes, and I don’t know why we didn’t think of this question earlier, 200 episodes, where do you come up with content? And have you found yourself repeating yourself?

Catherine Erdly: I think every so often there is a certain element because there is the seasonality. Yeah, where you, there is, there’s always going to be episodes about Christmas because it’s important to remind people every year that you have to get ready for Christmas. Yeah. There’s usually an episode around the end of the year about trends for the following year, which usually some of my favorites put together.

I write a Forbes article on retail trends each year. And so in December, I spend time pulling that together and researching. Then after spending usually quite a lot of time pulling that together. It’s nice to then do a podcast to share what I’ve done. So there, there are definitely cyclical elements to it.

So there will be oh, I realized I didn’t really do a Mother’s Day and a Valentine’s this year, but usually I do something around those. And so yeah, to a certain extent, there are going to be things that are, if they’re not direct repeats, then they will maybe something we touched on, especially after four years.

And because sometimes you need to talk about it every year.

Getting ready for the year ahead. How’d you plan your sales, creating sales strategy. There are definitely going to be things that are themes that come up. So stock management, but actually when I did this, I did a recent series on stock management for podcasts and I realized I hadn’t really talked about it that much for quite a long time before that, like another, like 18 months to two years.

So I feel like by that point, if it’s two years old, since I last talked about something, I think

Sarah Scott: As we grow, as we learn, as the world changes, everything changes. So while you may be talking about stock management and stock plans, you may have learned some fabulous new trick that you just hadn’t thought about before. And yes, while the topic I’m sure stays the same, I’m sure the way you approach it has changed over time, as well.

Catherine Erdly: Definitely. And I have different insights into it. And I’ve worked with different clients. And that’s just the thing about retail is that it’s both cyclical, but also ever changing. And that’s what I love about the industry. And that’s why I’ve been in this industry for 24 years is that it’s no two days are the same.

So even when you’re talking about things that talk about Mother’s Day one year, Mother’s Day different year is going to be different, there’s going to be different trends, right? Yeah. Yeah. There’s going to be different macroeconomic factors. So I think that partly what I do is I’m looking at the kind of the big themes.

Have I covered those recently, but then also, who would be good fit for interviews? What kind of things do I want to talk about? What time of year is it? So it’s usually. It isn’t too hard to come up with ideas. I don’t think I’ve really ever been stumped. And there’s always just so many fascinating people.

Probably, it’s been a while since we’ve talked to an actual retail business. And I’d love to, to, there’s always, love to do that. There’s always, there’s, you know, a million interesting people doing interesting things. And, if I ever get stuck, I could always rifle through my folder in my email.

Sarah Scott: And the truth is you really do as a whole if you look at your businesses, your business ecosystem as a whole, like your summit, which by the way, is probably why you did not do mother’s day and

Catherine Erdly: Yes, that’s probably why, yeah. You’re

Sarah Scott: look at the amazing people you brought into

Catherine Erdly: Yeah, that was incredible. Yeah.

Sarah Scott: so many I’m not a retailer, but I was looking at the bios and at the. Pieces that these individuals have accomplished. And that was really amazing and impressive talks that you had going on in there. So while again, not necessarily directly into the podcast, but like you have this whole host of a world of people that you’re pulling together for different things.

Whats next for the podcast?

Sarah Scott: And. Who knows who you’ll bring in for the next episode. Which brings us to my last and final question, four years, 200 episodes. Is there going to be another four years, another 200 episodes? What’s next?

Catherine Erdly: Absolutely. I don’t, I can’t really imagine not having the podcast now. I think I would really miss it if I didn’t do it. And I think that it is just such a, such an enjoyable thing to do. I really enjoy recording and talking to people and coming up with the ideas.

And reaching out and having those conversations and I really enjoy hearing how people have found it. And so I absolutely, I think what’s next is it’s going to be Christmas talk coming soon. Hate to break it to everybody, but we got to get, we got to get talking about Christmas. So that’s definitely going to come around and I’m going to have to practice slightly differently this year Talking a little bit more about the strategic side and then having a guest that would fit with that theme at the following Week, so have a series of almost like back and forth Between solo episodes and guest episodes.

And then I think it is interesting, with the retail ROAR summit, then the people, the speakers for the summit, they were definitely highly on that aspirational list. So we had several people who’ve been on the top fastest growing UK companies list. to be amazing people who’d grown multi million pound businesses in under three years.

So we were really talking to that kind of like people at the super fast growth. And I think it’d be nice to sprinkle that into the podcast as well. I don’t think that, as I said, I necessarily want that to be the only kind of guest. I really like the mix that we have. So I think just keep looking for those interesting perspectives, interesting stories.

And keep, you can keep going. Like you say, like themes, social media, you could talk about social media probably every month and have a different angle you

Sarah Scott: about it almost every day and have a change coming on the board.

Catherine Erdly: probably tons, probably not done a Pinterest podcast in a long time or explored LinkedIn or TikTok.

Who knows? There’s these, it’s almost endless. So absolutely. I totally see it. Keep going. And as long as,

Sarah Scott: Facebook lives to like, how do you do Facebook lives? There’s so many ways that retailers can sell these days that it’s just incredible.

Catherine Erdly: Yeah, live selling. It’s funny. Yeah. Live selling. I feel like I was talking about that two or three years ago and I feel like it was maybe a little bit too early for some people, but it just keeps growing. And yeah, there’s just so many different things that you can explore that absolutely.

As long as people keep enjoying it and shooting in, then I’ll keep going.

Sarah Scott: I love it. Catherine, congratulations on 200 episodes. It is such a milestone and I, and just on the other side of that milestone, not just the 200, but you’re also at 125, 000 downloads, give or take. amazingly massive. It is a huge accomplishment, a huge achievement for so many people.

Most people have never made it this far in the podcast. And I will say even some of the big guys just don’t make it like, yes, they’re still producing episodes, but if you look for some of these guys, they’re pulling up archived episodes and you have yet to start pulling up archive episodes. You’re still creating.

Fresh, brand new content for your people. So congratulations.

Catherine Erdly: Thank you.

Sarah Scott: and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Catherine Erdly: Thank you so much.

 Thank you so much to every single one of you who has listened to the podcast today and at any point in the last four years, you’ve been a huge part of getting the podcast to 200 episodes, and I am so incredibly grateful.

It wouldn’t be a podcast episode without asking you to rate and review the podcast in Apple Podcasts. Podcasts, or you can rate it inside the Spotify app as well. So if you thought about doing that and you never have, now’s your chance. It’s 200 episodes in. You have got a whole backlog, back catalogue of episodes if you want to listen to before you want to leave the rating, but we would absolutely love it.

It makes such a massive difference. The more people that follow, subscribe to the podcast, the more people hear about it and the same with the rating and reviewing. So it makes a massive difference. If you’ve ever enjoyed any of the episodes, then it would mean the world to me if you would do that.

So thank you so much and see you next week.