Two Clients in 10 Days: What This Coach Learned About Starting a Podcast the Right Way
Ten days after his first podcast episode went live, Dave Rodriguez had two potential clients reach out asking for coaching.
Not from months of consistent posting. Not from years of building an audience. Ten days.
But the journey to get there required a critical decision that every coach considering podcasting must face: Will you do this well, or will you not do it at all?
For Dave, founder of Destiny Works, the answer came down to radical self-awareness. He knew himself well enough to recognize that if he chose the DIY route, his podcast would never launch. It would remain a beautiful idea gathering dust while he continued to struggle with how to grow his coaching business.
This is the conversation most coaches need to have before they spend a single dollar on equipment or waste a single hour researching “how to start a podcast.”
The DIY Trap Most Coaches Fall Into
When Dave first considered podcasting, he heard the same advice many coaches hear: “Just open your phone and start talking. You don’t need fancy equipment. Keep it simple.”
It’s well-meaning advice. And for some people, it’s exactly right.
For Dave, it would have been a disaster.
“After you and I met, I realized, okay, maybe I should set up my camera and go for it,” Dave recalls. “And then I realized, I won’t. I just won’t.”
This level of self-awareness saved him from the trap that kills most coaching podcasts before they launch: choosing a production approach based on what sounds good in theory rather than what you’ll actually maintain.
Dave’s daughter runs a successful podcast shot at her desk with virtual guests. It’s a more DIY approach, and it works beautifully for her. But Dave knew that wasn’t him.
“I wanted something that was produced and looked good and felt good,” he explains. “Both approaches are great. They’re both effective. But I had to decide for me, what is it?”
The question isn’t whether DIY or professional production is “better.” The question is which approach aligns with your personality, your insecurities, and your willingness to show up consistently.
Why Self-Awareness Matters More Than Equipment
Most coaches approach the DIY versus professional production question from the wrong angle. They focus on budget, or what they think they “should” be able to do, or what they see other successful podcasters doing.
Dave approached it differently. He got honest about two things:
His Insecurities About Social Media
Dave freely admits that his “relationship with social media is fraught.” Without support, the pressure of managing both content creation and distribution would have played directly into his insecurities about how to show up online.
Many coaches share this struggle but won’t admit it. They try to power through, telling themselves they just need to be more disciplined or more consistent. Meanwhile, the podcast never launches because the mental burden is too heavy.
What He Would Actually Maintain
Dave knew that without partners to handle production, his podcast would remain an idea. Not because he’s lazy or uncommitted, but because he knows himself.
“I wouldn’t have done it because I wouldn’t know where to start,” he explains. “It would have just stayed an idea.”
This is the critical insight: A perfect DIY podcast that never launches is worthless. An imperfect professional podcast that goes live creates value.
The Podcast as Business Asset, Not Marketing Tactic
Once Dave’s podcast launched, he discovered something crucial: It became “a massive new tool in our arsenal.”
Not a nice-to-have. Not supplemental marketing content. A business asset.
The podcast now serves two strategic functions:
Introducing New People to His Framework
Dave uses the podcast to teach the Vitality Journey framework to people who have never heard of him. They discover the six health factors, understand his approach, and decide if they want to work with him.
Resourcing Existing Clients
When Dave speaks to groups, he pitches the podcast as an ongoing resource. “Everything I just talked about in the last two hours, you can get in bits and pieces going forward,” he tells workshop attendees.
This transforms the podcast from a marketing channel into a coaching delivery system. As Dave puts it: “It’s another dimension of our coaching. It would be coaching at a distance.”
This mindset shift matters because it reframes why you’re podcasting. You’re not creating content to go viral or chase algorithms. You’re building an asset that coaches people 24/7 while you sleep.
The Results: Two Clients in 10 Days (and Something More Valuable)
The measurable wins came fast. Two potential clients reached out within 10 days of the first episode going live. Dave presented to 45 people in a workshop, and many are now tuning into the podcast for continued learning.
These are powerful early indicators that the podcast is working as a business asset.
But Dave discovered something more valuable than client acquisition.
“It’s actually made me more passionate about the things I’m passionate about,” he shares. “It’s raised my level of engagement even with my own material.”
This wasn’t on the marketing materials. This wasn’t a promised benefit. But it’s become one of the most significant wins.
Why? Because when you pay attention to your message in a new context—thinking about how to deliver it through a podcast—you engage with your own work differently. You see connections you missed. You articulate ideas with fresh clarity. You remember why you started coaching in the first place.
The podcast doesn’t just market your business. It reignites your passion for the work.
The One Piece of Advice Every Coach Needs to Hear
When asked what he would tell other coaches considering podcasting, Dave’s response was immediate and unequivocal:
“If you’re going to do it, do it well. Because if you don’t do it well, and if you don’t have a level of commitment to having a good product, you’ll stop. You won’t do it.”
This isn’t about perfectionism. It’s about integration.
“It’s got to be a part of the business strategy,” Dave emphasizes. “This is part of our strategy going forward. And if it’s not part of that, if it’s some sort of side project, you won’t keep doing it. It’s too costly time-wise.”
The coaches who succeed with podcasting are the ones who make a binary decision: Do it well as a core business asset, or don’t do it at all.
There’s no middle ground. The middle ground is where podcasts go to die—launched with enthusiasm, abandoned within months, leaving behind a trail of inconsistent episodes that damage credibility rather than build it.
How to Apply This to Your Podcasting Decision
Step 1: Get Radically Honest About Your Capacity
Ask yourself: If I choose the DIY route, will I actually launch? Or will this remain an idea I research endlessly but never execute?
There’s no shame in needing support. In fact, recognizing this need is a sign of self-awareness, not weakness.
Step 2: Define “Doing It Well” for Your Context
For Dave, “doing it well” meant professional production, a studio setup, and partners handling distribution. For you, it might mean something different.
But whatever it means, it requires:
- Clear integration into your business strategy
- Commitment to consistency
- Willingness to invest time or money (usually both)
- A plan for how it drives business results
Step 3: Make the Binary Decision
You have two valid options:
Option A: Commit fully. Treat it as a business asset. Integrate it into your strategy. Do it well.
Option B: Don’t do it. Focus your energy on other channels where you can show up consistently.
The invalid option: Start half-heartedly, post inconsistently, abandon after a few months, and wonder why it didn’t work.
Step 4: Measure Business Impact, Not Vanity Metrics
Dave didn’t celebrate his download numbers or subscriber count. He celebrated two potential clients in 10 days and a renewed passion for his work.
That’s what matters. Does your podcast drive business results? Does it help you serve your clients? Does it reignite your love for your work?
If yes, it’s working. If no, either fix it or shut it down.
The Truth About Coaching Through Content
Dave’s experience validates something essential about content creation for coaches: Your podcast isn’t about you. It’s about serving your audience at scale.
“Even if someone doesn’t become a client,” Dave notes, “their life will be better because they came in contact with the content.”
This is coaching at a distance. This is impact that happens while you sleep. This is your message reaching people who need it, whether or not they ever book a discovery call.
But this only works if you actually launch. If you show up consistently. If you do it well enough that people want to keep listening.
Dave’s daughter’s DIY approach works for her because she shows up consistently with that format. Dave’s more produced approach works for him because he has the support to maintain it. Neither is better. Both work because they align with the person creating them.
The coaches who fail aren’t the ones who choose the wrong production style. They’re the ones who choose a production style they can’t maintain, or who treat podcasting as a hobby rather than a business asset.
As Dave puts it simply: “It has to drive business results in some way, shape, or form. Or it’s just a hobby.”
Your decision is simple: Do you want a business asset or a hobby?
If you want a business asset, do it well. If you can’t commit to doing it well, don’t do it at all.
There’s no third option that works.
Full Transcript
Darren: Let’s talk a little bit about, you know, there’s a road that you could have gone down. You could have gone the DIY route with this. You know, we could add a few conversations. You could have said, this is really good information. I got all that I need now. I’m going to go start a podcast and do it on my own. Many people do that. You chose a path of partnering with us, allowing us to help kind of bring that foundation for you to do the production, to do the delivery, to do the content repurposing. All of that. So I guess why did you choose that?
Dave: Yeah, that’s a great question. First of all, I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have launched, I wouldn’t have done the DIY route.
Darren: It would just stayed an idea?
Dave: I’m sorry? It would have just stayed an idea? Yeah, and I wouldn’t, there’s two things. I wouldn’t have done it because I wouldn’t know where to start. And it would just taken, yeah, it would have played into my insecurities about how we show up in the social media world.
The second, the second thing, and this is, I know I’m curious what you think about this. My daughter has a podcast and it is a shot at their desk at home. It’s just, it’s all virtual and it’s, I would say it’s more DIY. It’s more typical. What I had heard before I talked with you, that what people want is just open up your phone and talk into your phone and you don’t need to be fancy. But, and I realized that’s great. I hope it works for my daughter. I think it’s a good, and she’s got a really cool podcast, but that’s not me. And I wanted something honestly that was produced and looked good and felt good to fit, not that the other is, I mean, they look great.
Darren: You’re not dogging that.
Dave: No, I’m not. Yeah. That’s just not what I, what I felt I wanted was something that looked more of what you’ve helped created our podcast. Both of them are great. They’re both great forms.
Darren: For sure.
Dave: One feels very relaxed. The other feel, and honestly what we do is a little more produced. I like that.
Darren: And that speaks to that not only are there, there are many ways, because we have clients that do the digital version as well at the desk and kind of in, and you can still make that look very, very good. But you’re saying in my personality and the things that I wanted to see a little bit more of a studio set, a little bit more something like this that kind of feels different than that set. And again, not right or wrong.
Dave: No, there’s no right or wrong. And they both can be very effective as we know.
Darren: For sure.
Dave: And I watch podcasts that are both kinds and I find them engaging. But I had to decide for me, what is it? Because yeah, after you and I met, I realized, okay, maybe I should set up my camera and go for it. And then I realized, I won’t. I just won’t for the reasons I said. I need help.
Darren: Yeah. Well, and that’s a good place to be because it sounds like you just said, look, this is what I would enjoy and what I would want to see me create. And then I don’t know how to do that, so let’s find the partners that can allow us to do that.
Dave: Yeah, and then we’re off to the races. And so. And that’s exactly what happened.
Darren: Yeah, that’s cool. So now that you’ve created content, we’ve created this podcast, how has it, you mentioned it a little bit earlier, but I want to take this angle again. How has it changed the way you view your message, the way you view your coaching, the way that you view what you do?
Dave: Great question. And I’ll have to think about the, has it changed our message? The message is the same, I’m realizing that I’m, what I realize is that the message that we’re, the podcast now will be an additional tool. It’ll do two things. It will introduce people to the idea, for example, of the vitality journey. So we’ll draw people in, but we’ll also resource people who have been our clients and are interested in further exploring the vitality journey. So it becomes, I mean, this is too light saying it too lightly. It’s just a massive new tool in our arsenal. This is what it is. It’s what we can pull out.
I even said this to the group I was speaking to yesterday. I said, by the way, it’s been good to be with you, but we have resources for you. If you’re interested in vitality journey, if you tune into our podcast, everything I just talked about in the last two hours, you can get in bits and pieces going forward.
Darren: That’s so good. And I love the fact that you not only remembered, but also did pitch that to the people that you’re standing in front of, right? If your coaching business, your consulting business allows you to be in front of multiple people, you say, this is a tool, something that I’ve created to help you in this journey to go deeper, to have your own. And that’s so good because I think sometimes people often forget that that’s the purpose of this whole thing, right? It’s not just to find new people, it will, but ultimately it’s to help those that have come in contact with you and someone. And even if someone doesn’t even consider being a client.
Dave: Where I hope and our desire is that each podcast is beneficial to anyone who watches it. So it truly is another, I would even say it’s another dimension of our coaching. It would be coaching at a distance for people who, so that’s the way I see it.
Darren: Dave, I don’t know if you realize that we named the podcast Coaching With Content because of that reality right there. You know, is because we strongly believe in that reality that you can coach when you’re sleeping at night. When somebody’s driving down the road, listening to your voice, getting the help that they need, changing their life, you’re at home sleeping, you know? And I love the fact that you even pointed out, coaches, you get into the business because you want to help people, right? And so what you even said is like, yeah, even if they don’t become a client, which we hope they do, but if they don’t, their life will be a better because they came in contact with the content that you create.
Dave: Just yesterday when I had two potential new clients come as a result of this, this we’re just starting. Okay. So I’m going to call that because that’s our prime focus. I’m going to call that a win. I would say on a more emotive side of things, it’s a win because it’s allowed. How do I say this? It’s actually made me more passionate about the things I’m passionate about. It’s raised my level of engagement even with my own material. And I’m not sure I could explain that except that I’m paying more attention to it and thinking about delivering it in another context. And so I’m actually more excited about what we do than I was before the podcast.
Darren: Dave, that’s very much a secondary, you know, that’s not the first thing that would be on the marketing material, if you will, right? But that is a secondary underlining thing that I didn’t even see as something that was potential. Basically you’re saying, man, I’m now more passionate, more engaged, more alive, more aware of what it is that I’m teaching than I ever have before because I decided to sit down and start a podcast that becomes the engine to all the things that I do.
Dave: Yeah, absolutely. And I’ve just got started. So I’m, I will see that will probably grow.
Darren: Yeah. That’s a really good point that I, man, I never, never even thought of that. So that’s really good. And then you said a couple of new potential clients, right? You haven’t said you haven’t inked the deal by any means, but you’re what episode at the time of this recording episode one is released with a segment that we have.
Dave: Yeah. 10 days since we hit the world and you had somebody go, I need that. I had two clients in 10 days.
Darren: Those are powerful wins out there may seem not seem like much to me. That’s pretty cool.
Dave: Yeah. Yeah. I mean somebody raising their hand saying that’s interesting to me enough to engage. And now, now you have that ability to open the conversation with them. That’s really beautiful.
Darren: So a couple of clients engaging and then seeing your content in new and fresh ways that kind of lit you up again. That’s really, really cool. That’s really cool. Last question here. Any other thoughts, any other thing as far as your experience with starting a podcast, you’re new to the journey, something that you might share with everybody that would be helpful to them if they’re out there going, should I do this? Should I not?
Dave: If you’re going to do it, do it well. Because if you don’t do it well, and if you don’t have a level of commitment to having a, I think a good product, you’ll stop. You won’t do it. And it’s got to be a part of the business strategy. This is part of our strategy going forward. And if it’s not part of that, if it’s some sort of, you won’t keep doing it. It’s too costly time-wise, so it needs to be part of the strategy.
Darren: Yeah, it has to drive business results in some way, shape, or form, or it’s just a hobby.
Dave: Exactly. It’s just a hobby. You gotta make it something.
Darren: So that’s beautiful. Well, Dave, talk about, you know, pitch Destiny Works to us. Like, where can we find you guys? Where can we get more information? Tell us all that fun stuff.
Dave: Yeah, the easiest thing is to go to the website, which is destiny-works.com. Destiny dash is a dash between destiny and works. And there you’ll see that, you know, if anyone’s interested in the personal coaching we offer, some of it’s on the vocational purpose side and the others on the vitality journey side. We also do workshops for both. Yeah. All information is there.
Darren: And yeah, if you’re out there, you’re just trying to put that life together. You’re wrestling with the idea of it going, man, I’m created for more than what I feel like I’m doing, head on over to destiny-works.com and just start the journey.