What Happens When You Find Your People.

You Set the Tone

Throughout the first day of EPC3, people kept coming up to me and talking about the energy.

The vibe.

How welcoming and connected everything felt.

One person described it as a family reunion where everyone actually gets along. Others compared it to conferences they had attended before and told me this experience felt warmer, more personal, and more alive.

Earlier that day, one of our presenters,Jessica Schillerhad led a workshop about energy and frequency. She talked about how the energy we bring into our work affects everything we create.

The next morning, I called back to her message while addressing the community.

I told everyone that they were creating the energy they kept talking about.

Every time someone introduced themselves to a stranger, shared something honestly, encouraged another person, or allowed themselves to be fully present, they added something to the room.

We had created the conditions for connection. Then the community took over.

One person’s openness affected another person, which affected someone else. Before long, the feeling had spread throughout the entire room.

That experience helped me understand something important about leadership.

You set the tone.

You create the conditions.

The community turns that tone into culture.

A leader can open the door, communicate what matters, and model the kind of experience they hope to create. The people who walk through that door bring it to life.

Whether you’re leading a conference, a business, a podcast, or a community, your energy gives people information. It tells them what’s welcome, what’s valued, and how safe it feels to participate.

So, what tone are you setting for the people who enter your world?

Read more about how EPC3 changed my understanding of leadership and community.

Community Needs Both

There was an incredible amount of knowledge shared throughout EPC3.

Our speakers and workshop leaders brought ideas, strategies, experience, and wisdom that challenged people to think differently about their podcasts, content, businesses, and themselves.

People filled notebooks. They asked questions. They walked away from sessions with new ideas and practical steps they could use.

Some of the most meaningful moments happened in completely different parts of the conference.

They happened over meals.

In hallways.

During breaks.

At the bar.

At the parties.

They happened in conversations that started casually and became something much deeper.

Those moments reminded me that a strong community needs both learning and connection.

People need places where they can grow together, and they need places where they can simply be together.

Education creates growth.

Connection creates belonging.

When those two experiences come together, people leave with more than information. They leave with relationships, confidence, encouragement, and the feeling that they have people who understand what they’re going through.

That matters tremendously for podcasters and creators. So much of our work happens alone. We sit behind microphones, cameras, and computer screens trying to make decisions, solve problems, and keep moving forward.

Information can help us make better decisions. Belonging reminds us that we don’t have to figure everything out by ourselves.

That’s where empowerment starts to become real.

As you think about the community surrounding your podcast, business, or creative work, consider the experiences you’re creating for people.

Where can they learn together? Where can they connect with one another? And where can they feel that they’re part of something?

Read more about why learning and connection are both essential to a strong community.

I Stopped Filtering Myself

Something happened to me at Empowered Podcasting 3 that I didn’t fully expect.

I felt free.

I trusted the ideas that came to me when I stepped onstage. I stopped rehearsing every sentence in my head and worrying about whether I would say the “right” thing.

I also allowed myself to be playful.

During one workshop, everyone was quietly working on an exercise. The room could have used some music, but we weren’t prepared to play any.

I joked that I could beatbox.

Simona Costantiniencouraged me from the stage, soI picked up the microphone and did it for about 45 seconds.

It was ridiculous. It was fun. And it was completely me!

I used to beatbox as a kid, especially at summer camp and in social situations. A week before EPC3, I had spontaneously done it again at Camp Footprint. That experience helped me reconnect with a playful part of myself that I had filtered out for a long time.

Those 45 seconds came to represent something much bigger about the weekend.

The more fully I showed up, the more connected I felt to everyone around me. My openness seemed to invite other people to become more open too.

That led me to a thought I haven’t stopped carrying:

All of us being who we are helps all of us be who we are.

Finding your people creates a kind of permission. You feel safe enough to let more of yourself come through, and your willingness to be seen gives others permission to do the same.

That may be one of the greatest gifts a community can give us. It gives us a place to belong, while helping us remember who we are.

Read my full reflection on community, authenticity, and what EPC3 helped me discover about myself.

🎉 Find Your People at EPC4

Everything I’ve shared in this newsletter grew out of what happened when podcasters and creators gathered in-person at the Empowered Podcasting Conference.

We learned together. We laughed together.

We shared ideas, stories, challenges, meals, celebrations, and moments that none of us could have planned.

Most importantly, people found people who understood them.

Empowered Podcasting Conference 4 is our next opportunity (for now) to create that experience together.

EPC4 will bring podcasters and creators together to learn, connect, grow, and build relationships that can continue long after the event ends.

If you’ve been looking for fresh ideas, meaningful conversations, renewed creative energy, or a community that understands the work you’re doing, I’d love to have you join us.

Tickets are currently available for$197, the lowest price we’ll offer.

Get Your EPC4 Ticket for $197

Come learn with us, connect with us, and experience what can happen when you find your people.

All my best,

👋Marc Ronick

This content was composed with assistance fromManus.im.

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