The Podcast Department

"What is it actually like to work with you?" It's the question we get asked most, and in Episode 10 we finally answer it properly. Anisha and Sunjay take you behind the scenes of The Podcast Department: what happens from the moment you sign up, what we do, what you do, and what the journey looks like from your first strategy call to your first episode going live, and beyond.

• Anisha's journey from pharmacist to podcast strategist

• Sunjay's role: the tech setup plus everything after you hit record

• The 90-minute deep dive strategy call, and why it feels like a (friendly) interrogation

• What success actually looks like: conversions and credibility, not downloads

• Why we're prescriptive about tech, and why Riverside beats Zoom

• Guest dress rehearsals and what can go wrong without one

• Every asset you receive, and why you own all of it

• Our templates library, fortnightly check-ins, and why we cap at five clients

  
  

Who is The Podcast Department for?

Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts building a service-based business who want a podcast that grows their authority and converts listeners into paying clients. You show up and record. We handle everything else.

The Podcast Clinic 🩺

Free live monthly Q&A, answering all your podcast questions. First Tuesday of every month, 7:30–8:30pm (UK).

https://thepodcastdepartment.com/thepodcastclinic

Work with us

1️⃣ Full service — everything handled. From £1,500/month.

2️⃣ Mentoring — expert guidance for those building it themselves. From £500/month.

Email to book a free discovery call: [email protected]

Stay connected

📩 Newsletter: https://thepodcastdepartment.com/

Anisha on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anisha-patel-a95b9562

Sunjay on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sunjayvyas

Sunjay on Instagram: instagram.com/sunj_av

The number one question we get asked about starting a podcast: what tech do I need?

In this episode, Sunjay — videographer, podcast producer, and the technical brain behind The Podcast Department — answers it properly. Starting with the microphone (the only piece of kit that truly matters), through audio, headphones, framing, lighting, and cameras, this is the complete no-nonsense guide to podcast tech — without the unnecessary complexity.

Whether you're starting with a laptop and a pair of phone earphones or thinking about upgrading, this episode tells you exactly what matters, what doesn't, and why you should stop overthinking it and just press record.

What we cover

• Why the microphone is the most important piece of kit — even for video podcasts

• The free Apple EarPod upgrade and the mic proximity rule

• Why AirPods cause audio problems — and when they're fine

• Headphones: when you need them and when you really don't

• Camera framing, lighting, and why your webcam is probably fine

• The honest summary: a laptop and a cheap headset is genuinely enough to start

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly⁠⁠ ⁠newsletter⁠⁠⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin:⁠⁠ ⁠Anisha Patel⁠⁠⁠

Linkedin:⁠⁠ ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠⁠⁠

The Podcast Department⁠⁠ ⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠

🚀 Check out our⁠⁠ ⁠Amazon storefront⁠⁠⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

Tools we use and recommend

🎵  Audiio — 70% off music (affiliate): ⁠audiio.com/partner?oid=1&affid=1974⁠

🎙️  Auphonic — AI audio engineer (affiliate): ⁠auphonic.com/landing?source=AnishaandSunjay⁠

💊  20% off The Naked Pharmacy — code THEASS (affiliate): ⁠thenakedpharmacy.com⁠

You've booked the guest. You've sent the calendar invite. And then they join the recording with a ceiling fan in the background, their laptop mic picking up every echo in the room, and the webcam pointing straight up their nose.

In this episode, we walk through everything that goes into preparing a podcast guest for a virtual recording — from the tech check call the week before, to lighting, audio, framing, and how to brief them on the structure of the episode so the whole thing runs smoothly.

Whether you're an existing podcast host or thinking about starting one, this episode is packed with practical, immediately usable advice.

What we cover

• Lighting, audio and framing — the three things that make or break a guest recording
• The tech check call — why a week before is the right time, not the day of
• Why it's a dress rehearsal: same location, same device, same time of day
• Microphone recommendations — what works, what doesn't, and why AirPods cause problems
• How to brief guests on episode structure so the recording runs smoothly
• Why all of this makes you look like you take your podcast seriously

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly⁠ ⁠newsletter⁠⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin:⁠ ⁠Anisha Patel⁠⁠

Linkedin:⁠ ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠⁠

The Podcast Department⁠ ⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠

🚀 Check out our⁠ ⁠Amazon storefront⁠⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

One of the most common questions we get asked — and one of the most overthought decisions in the whole podcast launch process. What do you call it?

In this episode, we break down the three main approaches to naming a podcast, why starting with your audience is almost always the right move, and when a personal brand name actually makes sense. Real examples throughout — including the sleep consultant, Amy Porterfield's rebrand, and a client whose show kept getting buried by another podcast with the same name.

What we cover

• The three naming frameworks: niche/problem-led, personal brand, and business/concept name
• Why audience-first naming is almost always the right starting point
• When personal brand names work — and how to future-proof them
• The visual test: what your name looks like as podcast artwork on a mobile phone
• Checking handles, domains, and existing shows before you commit
• Should you have your face on your podcast artwork?

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly⁠ ⁠newsletter⁠⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin:⁠ ⁠Anisha Patel⁠⁠

Linkedin:⁠ ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠⁠

The Podcast Department⁠ ⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠

🚀 Check out our⁠ ⁠Amazon storefront⁠⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

We've been home from Kenya for a few weeks. And if I'm honest — I'm still not sure I've fully come back.

In this episode, Sunjay and I sat down to talk properly about what five weeks in Africa actually looked like from the inside. Not the highlights reel. The real stuff — what it felt like to work for ourselves for the first time on a trip, why Kenya felt so different to Thailand, what the dream looks like if we're going to make it real, and how we're building a business that fits around our life rather than the other way around.

We also talk about the tech backpack situation (Sunjay has feelings), the moment he realised that working for yourself abroad is a completely different emotional experience to working for someone else, and why Kenya keeps pulling at us in a way that's hard to ignore.

This is a life update. A behind-the-scenes. A conversation between two people figuring it out in real time — and wanting you to be part of it.

And yes — this is our first video episode. It wasn't the plan. Sunjay set up our home studio and made it happen. Very on brand.

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly⁠ ⁠newsletter⁠⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin:⁠ ⁠Anisha Patel⁠⁠

Linkedin:⁠ ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠⁠

The Podcast Department⁠ ⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠

🚀 Check out our⁠ ⁠Amazon storefront⁠⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

This week I'm settling a debate I hear constantly from healthcare professionals planning their podcast — should you do solo episodes or guest interviews? I recorded 200 interview-only episodes of Pharmacist Diaries before I figured out the answer, and it's not as simple as picking one. In my experience working with healthcare professionals who are building businesses, the format that grows your audience and the format that grows your business are not always the same thing. In this episode I make the honest case for both, share what I learned from building Pharmacist Diaries on guest interviews, and give you a clear, practical recommendation for how to structure your own show.

Key takeaways:

• The real strengths of guest episodes — and why most people overestimate them
• Why solo episodes convert better than almost any other format
• The sequence and ratio that works for healthcare business podcasts
• What a guest series on entrepreneurship taught me about what my audience actually needed

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly ⁠newsletter⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin: ⁠Anisha Patel⁠

Linkedin: ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠

The Podcast Department ⁠YouTube Channel⁠

🚀 Check out our ⁠Amazon storefront⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

This one's a personal episode. I share the biggest mistake I made building the Pharmacist Diaries Podcast — growing an audience of thousands of engaged listeners across social media and podcast apps, with zero way to reach any of them directly, because I never built an email list. I walk through what that actually cost me, why "borrowed" audiences on social media and streaming platforms are more fragile than they feel, and the four simple steps I'd tell any new podcaster to follow from episode one.

Key takeaways:

• Why I believe growing followers and downloads without an email list is building on rented land
• Why I think an email list is the only part of your audience you actually own
• The difference I've found between an audience you can see and an audience you've actually earned
• The four steps I'd use to start building an email list from day one — platform, lead magnet, call to action, consistency
• Why I believe a short, personal weekly email outperforms a polished monthly newsletter
• Why I think every episode needs a newsletter call to action, said without apology, every single time

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly ⁠newsletter⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin: ⁠Anisha Patel⁠

Linkedin: ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠

The Podcast Department ⁠YouTube Channel⁠

🚀 Check out our ⁠Amazon storefront⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

This week I audited a podcast belonging to a really well-known healthcare professional — brilliant content, consistent episodes, an audience who clearly loves her — and it still wasn't growing her business. So I break down exactly what I found in that audit, why downloads, followers, and viral moments are the wrong things to chase, and the five simple fixes I believe make the biggest difference to turning listeners into actual clients.

Key takeaways:

• Why I think downloads, follower counts, and viral episodes are the wrong metrics for a service-based business
• The three metrics I believe actually matter — email sign-ups, warm leads, and clients who mention the podcast
• Why I think every episode needs one clear call to action, and why healthcare professionals in particular tend to avoid this
• Why I believe show notes should work like a sales page, not an afterthought
• Why I think your podcast needs to live on your website homepage, not just on podcast apps
• How I turn one recording into a content ecosystem — blog posts, newsletters, and social content from a single transcript
• Why I believe team or colleague interviews build trust faster than almost any other content

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly ⁠newsletter⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin: ⁠Anisha Patel⁠

Linkedin: ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠

The Podcast Department ⁠YouTube Channel⁠

🚀 Check out our ⁠Amazon storefront⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

In this episode I get into something a little more uncomfortable than episode one. I've been watching healthcare professionals sit on their podcast idea for months, sometimes years, and I've come to realise it's never really about the tech, the time, or even fear — not on the surface, anyway. I break down the three real blockers I see over and over again in my conversations with clinicians building a business, including a story about my very first client and the six years she sat on her podcast idea before we started working together.

Key takeaways:

• Why I believe the overwhelm around starting a podcast isn't really about the tools — it's about facing too many decisions alone

• Why I think time was never really the constraint for me, and why production, not time, is usually the real problem

• How I built a workflow where recording is the only time commitment, and why that changes everything for busy healthcare professionals

• Why I believe perfectionism and imposter syndrome are the quietest and most powerful blockers, and how I worked through my own

• Why I don't think your podcast needs to be perfect to start, and how I think about progress over perfection

• Why I believe the colleagues who might judge you for starting a podcast are the ones who matter the least

  
  

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly ⁠newsletter⁠ — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for? Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients. We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else. 

Work with us 

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month. 

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month. 

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin: ⁠Anisha Patel⁠

Linkedin: ⁠Sunjay Vyas⁠

The Podcast Department ⁠YouTube Channel⁠

🚀 Check out our ⁠Amazon storefront⁠ dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

I recorded this episode because it's the conversation I have on repeat with pharmacists, GPs, nurses, physios, and wellness experts building a business. In this episode, I break down four communication skills I believe clinicians already use every single day that translate directly into great podcasting, why I think your clinical background is actually a competitive advantage in content creation, and why consistency — not talent, tech, or time — is the thing that separates podcasts that grow a business from podcasts that fizzle out.

Key takeaways:

• How I simplify complex information for my audience the same way I used to simplify it for patients
• Why I believe healthcare professionals build listener trust faster than almost any other type of podcast host
• How my own clinical communication skills (verbal, written, educational) already mapped onto podcast content, show notes, and social media before I even started
• Why I think consistency is the single biggest predictor of podcast success for health and wellness experts
• How I overcame my own microphone anxiety using the same mindset I built confidence with under pressure at work
• Why I don't think starting a podcast as a healthcare entrepreneur requires podcasting experience — only the communication skills I already had

Newsletter:

📩 Join our weekly newsletter — podcast strategy for health & wellness experts straight to your inbox every Friday.

Who is The Podcast Department for?Healthcare professionals, clinicians, and health and wellness experts who are building a service-based business — coaching, courses, clinics, bootcamps — and want to use a podcast to grow their authority, build trust with their audience, and convert listeners into paying clients.We help you launch it, grow it, and make it do what it's supposed to do for your business. You show up and record. We handle everything else.

Work with us

1️⃣ Full service — strategy, editing, repurposing, publishing, social content. Everything handled. From £1,500/month.

2️⃣ Mentoring — strategy and guidance for healthcare experts who want to build it themselves with expert support. From £500/month.

We work with a maximum of five clients at a time. If you'd like to explore working together, book a free discovery call by emailing [email protected]

Connect with us:

Linkedin: Anisha Patel

Linkedin: Sunjay Vyas

The Podcast Department YouTube Channel

🚀 Check out our Amazon storefront dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there's a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.