IAM644- Podcast Host Emphasizes on Creating Deeper Connections

Samantha Spittle is the host of the podcast Flushing It Out. Her passion for storytelling and making people laugh, often at her own expense, reinforced the deep need she sees that all people long to connect on a deeper, more authentic, and vulnerable level. We live in a world that is so fast-paced where people are busier than ever yet also lonelier than ever. As the introvert's extrovert, Samantha talks to people, so you don't have to…for now. Her hope is that as people take time to slow down and listen in on conversations, they will not only gain some new insight but be inspired to grab a cup of coffee with people in their own lives and truly connect.

• CEO Hack: Talking to people and seeing them as real people
• CEO Nugget: Just do it, don't let fear stop you
• CEO Defined: Being in control of your own life

Website: http://www.flushingitout.com/

IG: @flushing_it_out
FB: @flushingitout

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast I have a very special guest on the show today Samantha Spittle of samanthaspittle.com. Samantha, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Samantha Spittle 0:39

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Definitely me too. Super excited to have you on and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Samantha so you're gonna hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Samantha is the host of the podcast, flushing it out. Her passion for storytelling and making people laugh, often at her own expense reinforces the deep need, she sees that all people long to connect on a deeper, more authentic, and vulnerable level. We live in a world that is so fast-paced where people are busier than ever yet also lonelier than ever. As the introvert extrovert Samantha talks to people, so you don't have to for now. Her hope is that as people take time to slow down and listen in on conversations, they will not only gain some new insight but be inspired to grab a cup of coffee with people in their own lives and truly, truly connect. Samantha, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Samantha Spittle 1:28

I am. Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 1:30

Awesome. Let's do it. So I wanted to kick everything thing off and hear a little bit more about your CEO story. What lets you get started with the podcast and all the awesome things that are working?

Samantha Spittle 1:38

Well as I was reading that. I was thinking oh my gosh, that whoever wrote that is amazing. And then I remembered I wrote it.

Gresham Harkless 1:44

Pat on the back.

Samantha Spittle 1:44

Oh my gosh, thank you. But it's funny because as I said with my mission, I mean that that was a that was a great that I'm impressed with myself when I write stuff a long time ago and forget it just like oh, I always worry am I going to be able to convey my message. So when I have stuff that I've written, it makes me happy. So along my CEO journey of starting this podcast and kind of this empire, if you will, of flushing it out, it really does go back to that field wanting people to feel connected. And I've always felt like one of my, you know, desires is for people to feel connected because I often with my life moving around. And with different jobs I've had, I've a lot of times worked in sales, marketing, and networking.

And I have the same conversations over and over with people. And they're, you know, people from different backgrounds, different lives and things like that. But there are certain things that are just at the core of every human human condition. And so years ago, I kind of started having some when I actually got pregnant with my daughter, I've always been a storyteller always loved entertaining, you know, friends and things like that with stories. Pregnancy takes it to the next level. I know, you obviously can't relate to that personally. But you know, any women out there or if men have had, you know, a woman in their life who has been pregnant, there's a lot of good stories that you can tell.

And so that kind of got the ball rolling, and I didn't know what to do with it. That was about 9-10 years ago. And that was when blogs were really big. But the thought of just sitting by myself blogging, these stories didn't connect with me. I had a hard time with that. And so that's kind of my public answer. And then my like, private, a little bit more honest answer. And I always joke that podcasts are a place for honesty. My honest answer is that I was also just afraid, you know, afraid of failure or afraid of rejection, and criticism to love putting yourself online and putting yourself out there That was just like I was not ready for that. And so kind of tucked that dream away,

And so over the years, I kind of just kept coming up to this place of and I call it creative energy, I had this creative energy and I just didn't know what to do with it. And so about a year ago, I had had coffee with a friend and she's a successful banker. She's actually been on my podcast a few times. And she's my go-to just person when I need to kind of remind myself that I'm that like, go get them girl that you know, fierce woman see the inside CEO. But when you're a stay-at-home mom, it's you sometimes forget that. So I would have lunch with her periodically. About a year ago, I was talking to her about this creative energy and I didn't know what to do with it. So she suggested I take this fee that's called Be the Change.

It's a nonprofit out in Fauquier County, Virginia. And it's for women who want to start a business. And even though I had no desire to start a business, she said it might be good for me to be in that environment. And you know, fast forward to being around those women spending time every week. It's like a crash course in starting a business. I started telling some funny stories, I told my signature story, which is where the name flushing it out comes from a laugh from the crowd and I thought, okay, these are people that they're not my friends. They're not my family. They're entertained. So maybe I can actually do this. So kind of getting that support of new people, combined with being in an environment where it really facilitates entrepreneurs and business owners.

It kind of was like, I knew I had to do something. And because podcasts are kind of the thing now I was listening to Conan O'Brien. And he just sits in talks to people. And he talked a lot about how he likes this because it's not just that quick interview Q&A that you have to have a three-minute interview on a television show, they can really break it down. I thought that's what I wanted to do. And so I thought, all right, I don't know what the ultimate vision is. I always joke like, I'm not looking to be the next Joe Rogan. Or Conan even. But, you know, it seemed like the next right step and just doing an AI today talking is such another confirmation that it definitely was the next right step. And to kind of see what else I'll be doing with my journey. It's, you know, only time will tell. But here we are.

Gresham Harkless 5:56

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And I definitely appreciate you for forgiving the public answer in the private answer. Because I think so many times, you know, that private answer is consistent. And so many people, myself included, privately, I'll say that to where, you know, sometimes we're afraid to put things out there. But if we are sometimes the place that we should be, we may not necessarily place ourselves there, but we have people around us that push us to be there.

Samantha Spittle 6:19

Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 6:19

So it's why it's so important to make sure you're aware of the environment you have because it can, you know, take you to determine your altitude, you always say, and it's so great that you know, spoke to that been able to do that and talked about that progression. Because I think so many times people forget the steps that it takes to get to wherever somebody is.

Samantha Spittle 6:37

Yeah, and you brought up a good point too, about, you know, you hear a lot about your, like the five people you hang around. And if I always I kind of when I talk about the Be The Change Foundation, I say, for me personally, I have great friends in my life, I'm so thankful for the life, you know, I've been given and lived. But by being around that environment with the entrepreneurs, and class of women, I was around people who were kind of creative. I mean, I have lots of creative people, but I'm sure you all know what I mean. But just making things happen, and people pushing you to take that next step, because people who love you, people who love you the most want to protect you.

And so of course, like why would you put yourself out there? Why would you do that? And so you know, you when you have those people in your life, and whether they're personal friends, professional friends, but kind of looking at the people you're hanging around, or those people who are doing things, even if you're scared to do it, make sure you have those people in your life, because they're going to be the ones that you've said before, like they're the ones that push you.

So definitely kind of being mindful of who you're around. I think for me, I had a really good support net that had been encouraging me for years, my personal friends, but then adding in that kind of new people. For me, that was like the game changer, I think because it's like, oh, you're not just people who love me that want to support me, you know, I kind of you either have the ones that love you that want to hold you down, like out to keep you safe, or the ones that are pushing you. But then you think well, you're just saying that you're my friend. Yeah, anyway, tangent there, but.

Gresham Harkless 8:02

No, it makes so much sense. It's so funny, you said that because I always say there's like two types of people, there are people that you know, love you and don't want you to fall, they don't want you to skin your knee, they don't want you to do all those things. And there are those that once you see why. And once you see us getting your knee, you have to be able to distinguish between both of those people. But I think as you said, you know, it as we've been talking about your environment is so incredibly, you know, important. So I know, you know, you have an environment of people that you have on the show, could you take us through a little bit more about what you have on your show some of the topics that we can find? And of course, what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Samantha Spittle 8:35

Yeah. So I have been actually so that the idea of niche, okay, that's where if you talk to any marketing person, it always comes down to finding your niche. And I have been struggling with that. Because my niche is that I have no niche. In that. I kind of think I think back to the old school, Oprah days, when she did her talk show not quite 80s I'm not talking about like, 80s I'm talking more 90s Oprah and I don't know if all your listeners will get that reference. But you know, she talked to people she shared life experiences. And so for me, I talked to, as I said, I talked to people and part of my mission is that everyone provides value. And number two, you know, I think that we do live in such a niche down or niche down.

We want to be a fancy niche down world, niche down world where that you know, people are listening, if you are a CEO, you're of course listening to this amazing podcast, that's for CEOs and if you are, you know a fitness person, you're listening to fitness stuff, and I think that's great and it's needed, but I think that you know, people forget that just connecting with people that are different than you that have a different whether it's you know, business life, anything, anyone you meet can provide value. And so part of my niche is that there is no niche and that it's, you know, going back to having coffee with people having to grab a drink with someone who's Now we're doing all this online for a while.

But for me, because my job was networking, my childhood with moving around so much, I moved around a lot, I had the opportunity to meet people, very different. But I always, like I said, I've in the beginning, you know, like, as I said earlier, so I was thinking, you can connect, you can find a way to connect with anyone. And so my goal is that people will listen in, and they will get tips. And so I do have explanations, you know, from each, we have different business owners that specialize with like, cleaning, we have fitness clutter, and I'm sorry, like organizing and clutter in productivity.

I could pull up my episodes, but I didn't write those down. But at the same time, though, someone who you might not think you'd get anything from, you can walk away with some nuggets. And so yes, everyone's time is valuable. But also just sitting down for a cup of coffee. I've had a lot of my listeners say that, you know, when they're getting ready in the morning, that's when they pop it on, or when they're driving, you know, into work, because it's something that, you know, you can take notes if you want if you get some great tidbits, but it's just easing, you know, was it eavesdropping on a conversation.

Gresham Harkless 11:07

I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a co heck. So that could be like an app or book or habit that you have. But what do you feel makes you more effective and efficient?

Samantha Spittle 11:18

CEO hack. I don't want to sound repetitive. But the thought that came to me was talking to people and seeing your heroes, I don't know if Heroes is the right word, but seeing them as real people.

Gresham Harkless 11:33

I love that hack. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice or something you might tell yourself if you have to do a time machine.

Samantha Spittle 11:43

I mean, to steal Nikes just do it. I mean, it's not new, I know that that's not something that is not said. But that fear is something that drives us that can stop all of us. And for me, a game changer was reading Brene Brown's book about vulnerability. And she kind of just helped make sense of everything that I feel like I was trying to say to people, and she talked about how to only listen to people who are in the ring. Because when you're in the ring, you're going to hear all that negativity from outside. And reading that is kind of what helped me flip the switch and actually do the dang thing. Which is, you know, for me the podcast, putting myself out there because I was so afraid of, you know, the negativity, the criticism, and then also just screwing up I don't want to ever say anything that's, you know, I don't know, hurtful or whatnot.

Gresham Harkless 12:33

Now, I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is a definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on this show. So Samantha, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Samantha Spittle 12:43

Being a CEO means being in control of your own life.

Gresham Harkless 12:51

I definitely appreciate that definition in that perspective, and I appreciate your time, even more, what I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get a hold of you. Subscribe to the podcast and hear about all the awesome things that are working.

Samantha Spittle 13:06

Well, thank you so much, Gresh. I really appreciate you having me on your show. And just as I said, I love connecting with people and sharing those connections with others. The reason my tagline is She talks to people, so you don't have to for now is because my goal is that I really want people to find those connections when they're listening to, our podcast episodes, I want them to find those nuggets of wisdom and tips and whatnot, but then also to be inspired to talk to people in their life, you know, not just meet with their business goal people or then just their family, I see so many people that and not necessarily entrepreneurs, but so many people that just are in the rat race and go, go go and so my hope is that, especially now that you know, our world right now, at least for a while is going to be forced to slow down.

This isn't a time when we have to completely disconnect from people. It's a way that we have opportunities to connect in new ways. And so have those phone calls with people you know, ask them their questions, reach out to other entrepreneurs reach out to other CEOs, and ask them to share their journey with you, you know, not just the public journey, but the private journey. That would be my hope, what people could get. And if you want to get in touch with me go to smanthaspittle.com there are all my episodes on there as well as links to my guests so you can kind of go through and if any episodes speak to you, you can listen in and then of course if you're interested in being a guest you can fill out a potential guest form and we can see if we are a good fit to flesh it out together.

Gresham Harkless 14:36

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well thank you so much again, Samantha you're absolutely right. Like things happen in life and things happen in the world sometimes just to remind us that you know to take that break and recharge or you know, look at something else but sometimes you know, I always say everything doesn't happen to you happens for you. And if we have that perspective and that mindset then we definitely see the opportunity and some of the things that are happening so we will also have the links and information And then your show in the show notes as well so that people can click through and hear all the awesome episodes and content you're putting out. So truly appreciate you and I hope you have a phenomenal.

Outro 15:09

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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