Growth in podcasting has exploded over the past few years. According to Edison Research, 51% of Americans over age 12 have listened to a podcast. While those numbers continue to climb worldwide, only about 22 percent of podcasts are hosted by women– a number strikingly similar to what we find with c-suite-level jobs, corporate boards, and elected office holders. 

This week’s guest is focused on helping women podcasters get the support and potentially funding needed to build thriving podcast businesses, and to secure a larger stake in this new medium. Marla Isackson is the Founder and CEO of OSSA, a podcast collective that matches women-hosted podcasts with advertisers to help monetize the content, and create a more sustained presence.  

Marla is a corporate marketing executive turned serial entrepreneur who actually stumbled into her love of podcasting. Her show “Mind of a Mentor” offers a deep dive into the career journeys of women (including myself) in her community. Like so many of us, Marla fell in love with the ability to connect her community through conversation about ideas via podcasting. Ultimately she shifted the focus of her business to focus exclusively on women podcasters. If you’ve ever considered starting a podcast, you won’t want to miss this! 

Even if you are not itching to get behind a mic and start your own podcast, there is so much great insight and perspective in this episode. Marla and I also talk about navigating career pivots, dealing with fear, building your network, building your brand, building a community, and much more! 

Last month, I joined Marla on her podcast Mind of a Mentor. You can find that conversation here: https://youtu.be/SHb0XJvWXY8

Be sure to check out OSSA Collective! And let me know what you think of this week’s episode and what resonated most with you. Until next week, take care, but please be sure to send me some feedback and follow me on Instagram @lauraCoxKaplan . xo