147: "We build trust when we can put a face and a story to an offering." San Diego Military Family Collaborative featuring Jen and Jenny Lynne

Speaker 1 0:00

With us joining us is Jen Ahmose. And genuine Stroop. You may know Jenny Lynn from her work at the Coordinating Council and with Cohen's clinic. But she also does this other hat that she wears. And so they are podcasters for holding down the fort, which is by us that well, it's a podcast as an award winning show that focuses on sustaining and fulfilling and purposeful military and post military life through conversation and community building. They have an awesome collection of podcasts, if you haven't checked them out. They're like anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, max, so please come give them some love. But if you haven't experienced it, they have conversations with special guests and for the military community to share knowledge, resources and relevant stories on how they best hold down the fort, thus the name for themselves and for loved ones. The show's co hosted by Jen and amo Jen is a Gold Star family member, veteran spouse and Community Relations Director at us that wealth and Jenny Lynn, as I mentioned is the Outreach Coordinator for Steven A Cohen, military family clinic at BVSD. And co host on holding down the fort. So now that hopefully I didn't butcher that too much. Ladies, can you please bring us through this wonderful topic? Or say hello to the audience? Sure.

Speaker 2 1:15

Thanks so much for having us today. Happy to be here. And my one of my other roles is Danny put it as co host of holding down the fort. And yes, Danny got all of our information. Right. It was all a mouthful, and well done. Thank you.

Jen Amos 1:27

started. Wow. I mean, summer: 2019

Speaker 2 3:38

Yes, so I was brand new at the Cohen clinic at BVSD. And came across Jen's podcast and my clinic director and I did an interview with Jen. And then I signed up for her newsletter because I really enjoyed being on the show. And I enjoyed listening to other episodes, you know, hearing from people who are in the military community like myself, and I got a newsletter. So to everyone out there who skips all the newsletters read the whole thing. Jen's was looking for a co host. And I emailed back and said, Well, what are you looking for? And she said, you actually I would love someone who filled the active duty military spouse role. And so for the last gosh, I think we're in the middle of recording our fourth season together. You know, it's been really fun to work together and create community via the podcast. And with each other. Like Danny mentioned, we are obviously in the same room. But we're both on the east coast. But we started when I was in San Diego and she was in Virginia Beach and you know, through the media of technology, we were able to co host a show together and bring together people from all across the country which was super fun for us.

Jen Amos 4:47

Yeah, and the crazy thing is that you know when she was based in San Diego and I was here in Virginia Beach, I actually am from San Diego. So after we had lost my dad, our family catapulted from Yokosuka Japan. Naval base to San Diego, California. And so I had lived there for 20 years. And then my husband and I, we moved over to the east coast for business related reasons. And amidst all that, I was starting to kind of relive my experience of a military child of having to move frequently and feeling like I can't make friends if I stay put in one area. And so fortunately, um, kind of by chance, I came across podcasting and realizing how, I wouldn't say, easy, looking back, it wasn't easy, but how easy I thought, I thought how easy it was at the time to get started and ended up being this place of relationship building of socializing. And, you know, just like what Jenny Lynn said, while I was here in Virginia Beach, she was in San Diego, and then her and Matthew happened to have have PCs over here to Virginia Beach. And so we really had no idea that we were ever going to meet in person, and be in this room today. So this is actually, I wouldn't say a miracle, but you know, probably close to it. And it's actually really fun to work with Jenny Lynn because she really covers that active duty spouse life. And I get to speak from that military child perspective, Goldstar family member perspective and also working with veterans and really try to get that full scope of humanizing the military community experience. So yeah, anything else?

Speaker 2 6:14

Yeah, I mean, I think as we look at the topic today, you know, getting our message out there service providers, what Jim and I really do with this podcast is create community, we look at it less as like a sales tool or marketing tool, though, or her company us but well is our main and only sponsor, we obviously talk about the services they provide military community, what we really do is create community because what we found is, and this STFC is a great example of it, there's so many resources out there for the military community, it often is very overwhelming to figure out what you need and where to get that. And so I guess what we really do versus marketing one particular thing, we use it as a way for people that we see in the community doing something to give back to their community to talk about what they bring, either to veterans or military spouses or active duty, and just really kind of amplify what they're already doing, versus selling your product or service. And we continue to I mean, we continue to have people on that we've had on on other seasons to kind of show their progression as a service provider. Like I think about Jen from Pride and grit, like we interviewed her to talk about what it's like to be a season military spouse to you know, she hosted her first season military spouse conference last year, and like kind of the progression of going from, hey, I hadn't worked really in, you know, my husband's whole military career to putting on this whole conference that really was for a very specific part of the military population. You know what I love that our theme at SD MFC this year is bridge to your village. I think when Jenna and I think about who we have on the show, and the conversations we want to have, that's exactly what we're looking to do. We're looking to bridge services to the community that we're both a part of, and that we both represent in different ways. And really try to kind of bring all those, all those together.

Jen Amos 8:18

I think the way to sum up why our show works and why it's an award winning show is kind of that saying that is told in sales, which goes facts tell, but stories sell. And just like what we're all talking about here, that constant firehose of information that our families experienced quite often or especially toward the end of transition, there's no way to attach to all that information at once. And so if we can put a face to the service offering, and a story, you know, why this person decided to get involved with this nonprofit or offer this service, then it makes you feel like, you know, I can trust them and want to better connect with them. And part of you know, building that bridge is through storytelling is through connection, and really humanizing, why you're offering what you're offering to begin with. So our show is very, I wouldn't say that we're we winging it all the time. But we're very candid. We're very, like, you know, we're very open, we also actively get individual mental health services. So that's partly why like, you know, you may be looking at me and thinking like, oh, my gosh, she's a gold star daughter, how is she so uppity? And how does she have all this energy? And it's like, Well, it's because of therapy is because of counseling. And I highly, highly encourage it, especially if, if you have kids, you know, set that example for your kids because, unfortunately, my dad didn't seek out those services while he was in active duty. And it literally cost his life and, and so anyway, I didn't mean to get into that kind of topic. But the point what I'm trying to say is that we're very human here because we know the stoicism around the military community and you know, kind of having that stiff upper lip or acting like everything's okay. Because hey, it's a volunteer service. You signed up for this, therefore, you put up with all of the things that come with it. Um, however that does misses the emotional ride of this military life. And so our show is all about humanizing that experience through storytelling, and bringing on people who, you know, don't just have something to offer, but they come on with the desire to connect with us. And this is just like what Jenny Lynn said, this is partly why we bring on past guests to just, you know, continue to track their journey and see how they're doing, and how they're continuing to give back to the community. And so so that's pretty much it. I want to wrap up with kind of talking more about how we maintain the show, unless unless our time is up, you just let me know down you let us know daddy, for dental we have about

: 10:32

like a five minute window right now. So if you have last tips, tricks, insights, and audience members, if you have questions that you'd like to direct to them, right now,

Jen Amos: 10:42

the last thing I want to just wrap up with is, you know, the last point we had there is like how do we maintain the show, and we maintain the show the way that the military maintains a show, you pivot. And you evolve and be okay with it. Jenny Lynn and I have constant discussions on the direction of the show. She's our official idea fairy, and she helps me be accountable to to show up for the show. And to constantly evolve it. Like when we first started, I had this general like, oh, let's just, you know, let's just feature anyone in the military and six seasons later, because of the feedback because of kind of where our passion lies individually. And what happens to come together, we've been able to narrow it down to focus on career military families specifically. And so it's really just allowing yourself, you have to kind of allow yourself to evolve with the show and allow the show to evolve with you, if that makes sense. So that's the last thing, I'll share Jaylen,

: 11:30

I think on that maintenance piece. It's also like knowing where your strengths are. To be clear, I am the show or upper and good idea theory of the show, I come with good ideas and guest to have and I show up here to talk. Jen handles literally everything else. All of it, though, as we continue in partnership. And in seasons, it's snowing those things like I happen to have, you know, a very strong network of still active duty families. And so as we've continued this relationship, it's starting to split up, like what are we going to, I'm never going to be good at editing. And that is just not where my strengths lie. I'm good at coming up with ideas. I'm good at getting people on the show, I'm good at showing up. And I think you know, this is something you're looking at as an avenue or venue for whatever it is you want to bring to the you know, collective table, know where your strengths are like, it's okay to hire out for the setback. We have a great editor you, Dennis, you all the time. And it's knowing those, like if you really enjoy talking to people then hire out the rest. And we're in a podcast studio because Jen rented office. But I've also done this for my home office, at my desk like, you know, it's a very adaptable medium and just play to your strengths. If this is something you're looking to take out into the world.

Jen Amos: 12:47

Yeah. And we'll leave it at that. I mean, it actually found it easier to record virtually than in person, which because we've always done it. But anyway, yeah, that's pretty much our presentation. Thank you so much for having us. And we're open any questions? If there's time for it?

: 13:01

Yeah, we'll see if any of our guests are gonna leave any questions in the chat. But I have a question for you both, at least start? I think it kind of comes around that that topic in general about starting. So some groups may not be started. But was there a moment in time where you felt like you did something to really jumpstart an audience or you started seeing some more kind of movement in terms of numbers of folks kind of chiming in? And? And was that attributed to anything you did? Or is it just a consistency? Or was it a steady drip or?

Jen Amos: 13:33

Right? No, I think for me, like I knew early on that if I wanted to show to get traction, I couldn't do it alone. I knew that very early on, like being involved in the podcasting space and having attended podcast conferences. I see people try to DIY this, and it's a huge labor of love. So just know that even though genuine gives me all the credit, which I absolutely appreciate. This wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for our show sponsor us, but Well, ie my husband helping us fund this show. And you know, and also like our editor and you know, our virtual assistant, and even my team like to help have come up with the idea to begin with. So it takes a village, you know, to make this work. And then I knew in regards to growing the listenership, I knew that I wanted to invite people, I wanted to invite influencers of the community to share their story, because they would in turn, share that episode with their network. And so that's how we were naturally able to grow exponentially. So if anyone is looking for advice on how to grow your show, initially, I recommend being an interview based podcast show because that's how you build networking and relationship building and spreading the word out there very quickly, as opposed to just doing it on your own and trying to run a show and just share your own story. Although you have a great story, everyone has a great story. It's more beautiful when you get to intertwine it with other people like the fact that Jenny Lynn and I should have never met, like even literally in person, but because we had the shared goal of you know, advocating for the military community and amplifying their stories. We're a Well to intertwine our stories now, and you know, just do our part and and have the chemistry we have today to be able to to do the show together.

: 15:07

All right? Well, I think those are words of wisdom. I'm gonna leave one last question on the table, because our audience hasn't got the caffeine in the system yet. They'll get there, though, team, let's ask the questions in the next segments. But question I'm going to have leaving your segment today is knowing that you podcast and this is going to kind of fold into our next topic, you know, like, how is it that you integrate your podcast into other platforms? So social media platforms? You mentioned newsletters already? But how was it that you continue to kind of spread? Or was that strategic? What were your thoughts on that?

Jen Amos: 15:41

Yes, yes, I'm happy to answer this question on behalf of Jennylyn, our official show or upper and use your stuff to, for it to just

: 15:47

give me I am happy to reshare once it is on social media, I am happy.

Jen Amos: 15:52

Yes. So you know, if you're gonna do a podcast show, again, I can't stress enough how much it is a labor of love. And you have to be realistic with your, you know, your bandwidth. And so for me, extremely important to me to focus on a mailing list. Because, you know, even though I have a team to help me push out content, social media is constantly evolving, the algorithms are constantly changing. And it's getting more and more polarizing on social media. I hate to say that, you know, out loud and having run a social media agency myself before working that us but well, I could just see like how much it had evolved quickly throughout the years. But anyway, what I'm trying to say because obviously, we're also on social media, I, you know, it's kind of one of those love hate relationship things, at least for me, is, you know, the mailing list is something where you know, everyone has an email, everyone has an email. And if people value community building and staying in touch with you, then the newsletter is the way to go. Because what happens is like, so we push out the newsletter via social media. And we also pin it at the top of each social media platform, so that when people visit our platforms, even if we're not posting, they could at least see that as the most updated, you know, post and they can, you know, click in, and even though they're not subscribed, they can see the newsletter that we're sharing. So if anyone's looking for a tip, MailChimp is a great free mailing list to get started on because it's also social media friendly. That's what I use for all of my shows. And yeah, so it's an even though we're on social media, I do make sure to direct people to say, Hey, if you want to stay in touch with us, yes, we're on social media. But please, please, please, you know, sign up to our newsletter, because that's the only way you'll get our attention. Like if you leave us a DM on Instagram, I'm sorry, I'm a millennial, but I'm still not gonna respond to it. Because I'm not on there anymore. I've taken a mental health break from social media for so many reasons. I eat pandemic. And you know, now I'm just focused more on like real, deeper relationships. And so I have personally found that through building our newsletter, yeah.

: 17:41

All right. Got a few nuggets in there. So thank you once again, holding down the fort podcast is now in the chat box. So please check them out. And thank you for the time