I had a totally different episode ready to go this week. Recorded, edited, scheduled, the whole thing. Then Jimothy happened, and I scrapped it all to talk about a raccoon instead.
If you have been anywhere near TikTok or Instagram this week, you already know who Jimothy is. He is a small, deformed raccoon out of Seattle with a rare spinal defect that has taken over every For You page on the internet, mine included. I could not stop thinking about him, and somewhere between watching his videos on repeat, I realized this little guy is a walking case study in exactly what it takes to build a podcast audience. So I packed up my gear, parked at my parents’ lake spot, and recorded this episode straight from my car.
Lesson One: It Is Supposed to Feel Weird at First
When you start something new, whether that is a podcast or navigating the world with half a spine, it is going to feel strange. You are not going to know exactly what you are doing yet, and that is normal. Nobody comes out of the womb a polished podcaster, and nobody comes out of the womb a perfect raccoon either. The discomfort of being new at something is part of the human experience, not a sign that you picked the wrong thing to do. Push through the weird phase. It does not last forever.
Lesson Two: People Will Double-Take, and Some Will Judge You
Think back to the first time you saw a Jimothy video. You probably paused and thought, “Wait, what is that?” People are going to have that exact reaction to you when you start something new, whether it is a podcast, a business, or a career change. And some of them will follow that double-take with judgment. Who does she think she is? Who does he think he is? Let them think it. That reaction says everything about their own hesitation to try something new and nothing about your ability to do it.
Judgment Is a Byproduct of Bravery
The people questioning your choices are not the ones putting themselves out there. You are the one taking the bet on yourself. That alone puts you ahead of the conversation.
Lesson Three: Your Audience Is Watching Long Before They Engage
Jimothy has actually been around for a year and a half. Veterinarians and wildlife experts place his birth around spring of 2025, but he only went viral this week. For over a year, people were quietly filming him and his mom without saying much about it publicly. Then the right videos hit the right feeds, and suddenly everyone knows who he is.
Podcast growth works the same way. If you are not starting with a built-in audience, your circle is going to be small and quiet at first. People will listen without commenting. They will follow without sharing. That silence is not rejection, it is the setup for the moment when the right person shares your show with the right room, and things start to move. Do not measure your progress by download numbers in week one. Measure it by whether you are still showing up when it matters.
Sit With the Silence
I did not know Jimothy existed a year ago. Now I know everything about him because enough quiet watchers finally started talking. Trust that your early audience is doing the same thing, even when it feels like nobody is out there.
Lesson Four: You Can Become Iconic Just for Being You
Here is the lesson I love most. Jimothy is not famous because he is a perfect, textbook raccoon. He is famous because he is uniquely himself, stubby tail, circular spine, and all. The internet did not fall for a polished version of a raccoon. It fell for the real one.
Your audience is going to fall for you the same way. You are the only person alive with your exact perspective, your exact experiences, and your exact way of telling a story. That is not a limitation, it is your entire advantage. Think about Punch, the baby monkey everyone rallied around because he was the lovable underdog, or Jenna Marbles, who built an entire career and a devoted following by showing up every week and being unmistakably herself, sometimes messily so. Being authentically you is not a soft strategy. It is the strategy.
Take the Bet on Yourself
This was not the episode I planned to release this week, but it is the one I needed to make. If even one of these lessons helps you push past the weird part, ignore the judgment, sit through the silence, or lean harder into being yourself, then scrapping my original plan was worth it.
If you are ready to get your own podcast off the ground, I would love to help. You can join the waitlist for my Bet On Yourself podcast coaching program, or work with me directly through Abbey Graves Productions.
Leave a Reply