Still Becoming: Women Unmuted Stories of Women Reclaiming their Voice

From Quiet Introvert To Unfiltered Advocate Still Becoming Women Unmuted Episode 1

• Julie Marty-Pearson • Episode 1

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We introduce Still Becoming Women Unmuted with a candid look at Julie's why, how podcasting became her advocacy tool, and what stories she plana to amplify. From higher ed to pet rescue to empowering women and non-binary creators, the path from quiet to unfiltered podcaster for host, Dr. Julie Marty-Pearson.

Key Points in this episode:
• moving from academia into podcasting as a purpose-led pivot
• why podcasts help women build authority without permission
• plans for interviews, panels and live community events
• centering on women’s mental and physical health and rights
• speaking up during uncertain, noisy times
• choosing minimal edits to model imperfect, honest voice
• invitations to pitch topics and join our communities

Please hit follow or subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and reach out at Julie@podcastyourstorynow.com if you want to be a guest, panelist or suggest a topic.

Connect with your host, Dr. Julie Marty-Pearson and learn more about podcasting, launching, guesting, storytelling, and community building.



SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the first official episode of Still Becoming Women Unmuted. I am your host, Dr. Julie Marty Pearson, and I am here to share with you a little bit of who I am and why I decided to start this podcast. I am a 48-year-old woman living in Bakersville, California. I was born and raised here. Third generation born and raised on my mom's side of the family. I am a married woman, a wife of 20 plus years. I am a fur mom to three cats, two tortoises, and a menagerie of other animals that come and go in our life and in our yard. I am someone who came into podcasting almost five years ago. As COVID lockdown was leaving, I started my own business, a coaching business focused on career coaching for women. Before COVID, I had a 20-plus current year career in higher education. I was staff and administrator at various colleges and universities throughout California, focused on institutional assessment, research, and accreditation. I have a doctorate in organizational psychology, and I also taught as adjunct in areas of psychology, statistics, and organizational leadership. I say all that to say that when I started in podcasting, I knew nothing about podcasting. I did not know anything about audio, audio editing, any of the things I now do every day as a part of my job as a podcaster and as a coach who helps women start their own podcasts and become amazing podcast guests. I currently have two podcasts, and I've been playing with the idea of many others. As any podcaster will tell you, once you have one, the ideas continue to come. Today is actually the day I was supposed to be in Orlando, Florida at Podfest 2026, speaking on stage as a speaker in the Pecha Kucha Talk session. I was very excited to do that. I submitted my slides, I had my speech ready, but due to forces beyond my control from the ever-rising cost of travel, the time commitment of a full day of travel there and back, the limits on my business because of that, as well as the rising sense of insecurity in our nation, I had to cancel that trip. And I am not there sharing the stage with many other amazing speakers. I was looking very much forward to meeting in person, to hanging out with, and to sharing the stage with. So instead, I'm here in my home office, sharing the mic with just me, myself, and I to say what this podcast is, why I created it, and what you can't expect. The term women unmuted is something I've been playing with for a while. I am someone who has always been known as an introvert, the quiet one, the thinker, whatever words you want to use. And I'm sure there are many people I grew up with that would be shocked if they found out I had a podcast, let alone starting my third. But I think that in a lot of ways, podcasting has allowed me to come into my own, own my voice, share my voice, share my story, help others share their stories, and become much more comfortable using a mic and standing up for what I believe in. I am an introvert, which means I gather my energy alone or one-on-one with people, but I don't have a problem speaking. It was literally a part of my job and continues to be. I used to stand in front of rooms full of college students and talk about things, teach things, discuss important topics, as well as I used to have to speak at large conferences in the academic world from sharing topics, data, research, whatever it may be. That part of it isn't as scary as sharing more of myself personally. That has been the road, the journey, the process of becoming for me within podcasting, within the world of being an entrepreneur, having an online business, being a coach, being a mentor, and being an advocate. I think that podcasting is such a great tool for advocacy, and that is what I do. I have two podcasts, as I've mentioned, the first of which is the story of my pet. That is where I started in podcasting. Never went anywhere, started a podcast about career coaching because I wasn't passionate about it. I didn't love it. And so I started one for fun about pets because I could talk about animals any day of the week without any preparation. They are a huge part of my life, always have been. And the story of my pet, True Tales of Animal Rescue, Fostering, and Adoption, has become a platform where I help to share the stories, the information, and the knowledge needed for people to realize the importance of animal rescue, of fostering, of volunteering and adopting due to the current overpopulation crisis in our country that is only being made worse by the current political madness and lack of funding and so on. If that's a topic you are interested in learning more about, get involved in, or just be inspired by amazing humans that are doing incredible things for animals every day all over the world. Check out the story of my pet. From that podcast, I grew as a podcaster. I have met so many amazing people in the community, in different organizations, at different conferences, in different Zoom rooms through podcasting, that I shifted my entire business two years ago into podcasting. And so my business, podcast your story, is all about supporting women and non-binary people to tap into podcasting in some way. My belief is if you have a business, if you are an entrepreneur, if you have an online service, product, or other type of business, or even brick and mortar small business, you should be tapping into podcasting in one way or another. Whether it be as a marketing tool, by being a guest or a sponsor or affiliate partner to podcasters, by starting your own show to increase your visibility, your authority, and share your expertise, or by doing both. Podcasting is a medium that rightly so is not going anywhere. It continues to grow, as we saw by the recent addition at the Golden Globes of a category for best podcast. Shout out to Amy Polar and Good Hang for winning that. I love that podcast. I love Amy. I actually was grateful I got to hear her speak in a podcast conference a couple of years ago. And no matter where you are, what you do, you don't need a huge production team, agency, celebrity, whatever it is behind you. Anyone can pick up a mic and start a podcast. And if there's something you're passionate about, if there is something your business is great at doing, if you have knowledge to share, if you have a story to share, everybody should be tapping into podcasting. And if you want to learn more about starting a podcast, growing a podcast, or being a great guest, check out my other podcast, Podcast Your Story, which is all about amplifying women's voices in podcasting. Now you might ask, Julie, why in the world did you think it was a good idea to start a third podcast? I don't know that it was a good idea based on my availability of time, mental power, and wanting to do more recording and editing. But I've been playing, as I said, with the idea of women unmuted for a while. And I have started to do this with my other podcasts, but I've decided to kind of separate it. Podcast Your Story will focus mostly on podcasting, how to do it, how to start, how to grow, how to improve, best tips, tricks from myself and others in podcasting, how to be a host, how to be a guest, how to be good at both of those things, etc. And so there will be some stories there, but I've decided to take the bulk of the storytelling and the really sharing of women's stories, our journeys, our important information we should be sharing with each other, the movements we are passionate about, and bring that aspect of my interviews to he to this podcast here, still becoming. So that will be the topic of some of the episodes here. I'll be interviewing people, interviewing experts, hosting panels on topics related to both mental and physical health for women. I think it's very important. I want to share my story so people don't go through what I went through alone and without any understanding or research behind me. But I also think we are at a point where women's rights, women's availability of health care, women's availability to mental health services is becoming less and less. So we need to create community for all of us to support each other, to share what we know so we can all move forward as mentally and physically healthy as possible for our own sanity as well as supporting our families. Beyond that, there are a lot of really big topics I am passionate about as a woman, whether it be access to health care, to reproductive care, to research, to understanding, to support as a woman, as a business owner. I am not a mom. I do not have human kids, but I am a huge advocate for moms. You guys are doing the work every day, day after day, hour after hour. And in the crazy world that we live in now, you are having to grow children despite the noise all around you. And so I want to support women who are moms, who are also like me, who are proud aunties, who are proud mentors, people in the lives of kids, whatever you want to call it. Obviously, there is a lot going around me right now, going on in our country. I live in California. I have not seen as much of it directly where I live, but it exists. I've been told, I have seen video. I unfortunately it will probably get worse if things are not stopped. But I have seen what's going on. People being hurt, kidnapped, taken in Portland, in Minneapolis, in Chicago, in so many places. And I feel every day is inching us closer and closer towards even more uncertainty, even more hate and violence. And it's scary. And I know it's hard to balance all of that and seeing all of that and witnessing it while also living your life and taking care of your family and running a business and making money and paying your bills. It's really hard. And I feel like sometimes we have to turn one off to turn the other on. And I have a very hard time, especially if I go on social media, which I have to limit my time there. But I also have to be there. I have to witness this. I have to ingest it. I have to share it. I am someone that will never stay quiet. I will never mute myself for others to feel less upset. I have no problem with people unfollowing me, unfriending me, whatever you need to do, if that is what you need to do. But I am gonna do what I need to do, which is standing up for people who are being brutalized, victimized, and assaulted by our current government in all shapes and forms. And I very much am aware that there are good and bad on both sides of this topic. And it is no longer about parties, it is about good versus evil. It is about having empathy for other people, no matter what. And so we will tackle some of those topics here on this podcast. And I also, one of the things I'm gonna do here is I'm not gonna highly edit. I'm someone that could listen and pick apart everything I say and take out the blobs and the and the sections where I have to stop and think what I'm gonna say next. But I think that this podcast really is gonna be me, unfiltered, raw as is. No filter, no makeup on this video. I don't think I'm gonna do much editing to this other than maybe slapping some music on it or an intro or an outro or who knows. I'm taking it as I go. Now, maybe that's not always the best strategy for podcasting, and I do my own workshops and programs for people who are launching, who are launching podcasts directly related to their business. And I will tell you how to do all of that. And you can go to my other podcast for more info on that. But this one really is about showing up, it's about sharing your voice, sharing your story, sharing the stories of others who can't speak, speak for those who can't, and really just advocate for what you believe in. And that is what we were gonna do here on Still Becoming Women Unmuted because our voices, our stories are our legacy. And we have to record it, we have to put it out there, we have to share it, and it's important for us all to do that. I am someone who probably has many stories I never thought I would ever share with another person, let alone publicly on a podcast that anyone could ever share from you know my stories as a kid being bullied because of how tall I was and how curly my hair was. Um, I am 5'11 and I have been since I was 12 years old, and I own it and love it, and I'm very grateful for the body I was given. And I do not feel bad to those boys who bullied me because they probably never grew after 12, and they're probably still little enough. I could pick them up and put them in my pocket. And the fact that they called me Bigfoot and Giraffe Legs and Sequoia and Julia the Jolly Green Giant for the one day I wore green to school and never did again. I now know that those boys were pointing at me and calling me names because of their own insecurities. And we still see it today, ladies, all around us, whether you're a woman, non-binary male, you see men picking fights, yelling, slurring words at women online, in person, on podcasts, because of their own insecurities. And a tiny little part of me feels bad for them, feels sad for them. But the one thing I will never do is allow them to tell me how to feel about myself. This is a space for you to share your truth, to own your voice and share your story, and advocate along with me for those we need to advocate for, for ourselves, for others, for everyone around the world. I'm a proud wife, fur mom, auntie, daughter, sister, friend, a coach, a mentor, an advocate. And I invite anyone out there listening to this. If you have something you want to share here on the podcast, if you have a topic you want to see covered here on the podcast, if you have something you want to learn more about, learn how to be a better advocate with respect to anything you feel would be good to be covered here, please reach out to me at Julie at podcastyourstorynow.com to share that with me. This podcast, as I've said, um, will be a little different than my other ones. I'm not gonna highly edit. This is really raw, and just as it comes out, I will be doing some interviews recorded, potentially editing a little bit. I will also be doing live episodes. I'm playing with live stream here from Riverside. I will also likely be doing some panels and picking a topic that's important to all of you and having a panel of people come on to discuss it. I'll also be sharing other things from my own communities. I have a community called the Women's Podcaster Party networking community. It is free for anyone of any gender to join and come and participate in monthly networking events. We also have monthly events with speakers, sharing info and tips on areas of podcasting. I will likely share some of that here. Invite some of those speakers to come and share their story here as well. And I also have a membership community where I support people who are podcast hosts, guests, or want to be one or both of those. So if you want to learn more about that, it is a low-cost membership that I offer various events from workshops and coaching to live pitchfests where you can practice your pitch as a guest and a host, and just all sorts of ways that I can support you and others in podcasting. And that is the podcast your story community membership. But this space really, I of course will mention my business and things I do just like I have, but this space is really about the story, it is about women's voices heard, less likely to be heard, women's stories, women's. Storytelling, women advocating, women unmuted, raw, real. And I think our world needs this now more than ever. So I'm very grateful for you to be here, to have listened to this first episode. To please hit follow or subscribe wherever you are listening, whether it be in a podcast app or on my YouTube channel. Subscribe, follow, and share. Share with anyone who you think will benefit from this podcast, who may be a good fit to come on this podcast as a guest, as a panelist, as an advocate. Please reach out. I cannot wait to hear from you, and I cannot wait to be back here in this space to share more of my own story and share the stories of all the amazing women and non-binary people I have met through podcasting all around the world. I am just grateful that I have finally hit record and hit publish so I can share these thoughts with you. And I will be back soon. Much love to you, wherever you may be.

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Julie Marty-Pearson

Host