Hey everybody. Welcome back to the 100th episode of The Testing Psychologist podcast. I can’t believe we got here. My gosh. I’ve been thinking a little bit about, well, not a little bit, I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do for this 100th episode. I’ve thought about trying to pull together some star-studded celebrity cast of guests or something really special like that. But ultimately I just decided to have this be a short and sweet episode of gratitude, more than anything else.
So if you’re looking for one of those action-packed, skill-driven advice businessy podcasts, this is not going to be it. What I would like to do is spend just a little bit of time saying thanks and reflecting on the last few years as The Testing Psychologist podcast.
I had no idea when I started that I would get to 100 episodes. I know that there are tons of podcasts out there now that are way beyond 100 episodes, and this may not be a huge deal. And at the same, when I started out, I had no idea if anybody even cared about this topic. It turns out that people do care. I’m constantly amazed at that from week to week when I see the downloads and hear about the discussion of the episodes and so forth.
I want to start and just reflect a little bit on the numbers. As a testing [00:02:00] person, numbers make a lot of sense to me and hold a lot of meaning to me. So, here are just a few numbers to consider that I’ve been considering anyway as things have developed with the podcast over the years.
I started out and released it to no one, basically. I’m just laughing because I think back to, I think it was maybe a month after I launched the podcast and I reached out to two different sponsors. I’m not going to name them now, but I thought for some reason that I could get a podcast sponsorship after only having a podcast for about a month.
When they asked for my download numbers, I naively thought that I was doing okay and actually had enough downloads to warrant some kind of sponsorship. The number of downloads I had that first month, I think was somewhere around 50. Doing some quick math, that was about 10 to 12 downloads per episode. Just in case you’re thinking about starting a podcast and pursuing sponsorship, that’s not enough to get sponsored, just FYI.
I think back to those first few episodes, and I was so excited just to see that 10 or 15 people were downloading these episodes. Now we’ve gotten to the point where, it’s still as I say, not Joe Rogan by any means, but within this little niche of testing and assessment, we tend to get, I say we, myself and my assistant, the podcast tends to get at least 2000 downloads and sometimes up to 3000 per episode, which is awesome. I’ll take it.
We have listeners all over the world. I think it’s over 20 countries at this [00:04:00] point. All kinds of languages spoken, which amazes me that folks are listening to a podcast about psychological specialty in a different language, but it’s happening. That’s pretty awesome.
Let’s see. Total downloads, we are well past 100,000. That seems like a significant number. Again, I know some podcasts get that number or way more on a single episode, but gosh, to have worked on this for so many years and have it crest 100,000 is pretty special. So over 100,000 total downloads.
The Facebook group, The Testing Psychologist Community is now about to hit 4,500 members. It’s a thriving community. There’s a ton of great discussion. And again, very similar process with the podcast. Looking back when I remember crafting that Facebook message to invite my 20 to 30 psychologist friends to join this group that I had started, and now it’s grown many times that.
I just like to reflect back on those things: countless consulting or coaching clients and mastermind group members, it’s really been just an incredible journey. It’s been very special.
I think that flows really nicely into some grattitude. I tried to make a list of all the folks that helped me to get here. I’m just going to give some shoutouts really quickly and spotlight a few of the folks who’ve helped me along the way.
My wife and family, of course, were here huge. They continue to be huge in this process. I think of my poor wife, when I started the podcast, this was several years ago, and the preparation was many months. And for a long stretch, I was [00:06:00] working 50+ hours in my practice and then coming in at least a full day on the weekends to do the podcast and she made it happen. She was supportive the whole way. She continues to be supportive. She’s my biggest fan. Thank you, Carrie, for that. She’s amazing. She’s about to launch her own podcast called The Art of Groups that I’m helping with, which is awesome to see that come full circle.
My kids really didn’t know what was going on, but they have been there with me and missed me at times when I was in the office. They’ve enjoyed talking into the microphone a few times though, too. So they got a little something out of it.
My business coach and now good friend, Joe Sanok. I did coaching with him way back in the beginning. He was the one that first came up with a podcast idea, which makes sense. He has the most popular mental health podcast Practice of the Practice. He sent me this direction. I had no idea what it would look like, but he really put me through the ins and outs and gave me the structure to get everything going. I can’t thank him enough. It’s pretty incredible. I owe a lot to him.
I was lucky enough to get to spend time with Joe and his wife two weeks ago. Like I said, they’re now really good friends of ours. It’s been a cool process to move from that relationship as coach to a friend and just get to know him in that way. They’re both incredible people.
Let’s see. Who’s next? Kat Weber, my amazing assistant and podcast editor. She answers all the emails that come to The Testing Psychologist. She edits the podcast. She does a great job. Again, just one more person I couldn’t do this without.
Let me see. John Clarke and Kelly Higdon. You’ve heard them on the podcast. They’ve been guests and they are again, just dear friends who started out as colleagues but quickly recognized that friendship was a much better relationship to pursue. I’ve talked to them so many times over the past few years, and continue to. They both are very successful in what they do. I encourage you to check them both out. They have provided so much support and advice as I’ve gone through this process.
Gosh, my guests. I have to thank the guests. Goodness. They are too many of them to name. Y’all have heard them. There are a ton of amazing people who’ve been on this podcast and given their time and energy to do so.
In the Facebook group, I have to thank my co-moderators. Many of you may not know this, but the Facebook group was really started as an extension of the podcast, which is an extension of my coaching and consulting business. And so, the Facebook group plays a huge role in all of this. I really see it working in tandem to the podcast as another place that folks can get support, get resources, and continue to learn about testing.
The women who help me moderate that group are just doing a phenomenal job and have helped keep me sane as the group has just grown and grown. Laura Sanders, Toni Hickman, and Claudia Rutherford are just nailing it. Thank you all.
Gosh, who else? Of course, all of my coaching clients who’ve put their trust in me to help them build their practices and worked with me. I think I’ve formed so many cool relationships over the years with y’all. I know there are a lot of you out there. It’s just is so cool to see your practices grow and get the messages and hear how you’re doing and how successful you are. I just wanted to say thanks for letting me do that.
And of course, lastly, all of the listeners, all of you out there who don’t fall into one of these camps already. Thanks. Y’all are what makes this go. All of you who’ve spread the word, who’ve been so supportive, who’ve subscribed, who’ve given ratings. All of that is so helpful in this whole process. I really appreciate it. I hope that you’ll continue to do so. Continue to share the podcast, turn people onto it and just help spread the word about testing.
Those are just a few shoutouts and thank you’s to people who’ve really helped. There are many others, but those are the big ones. And like I said, I just can’t say thank you enough. It’s been a heck of a ride. It’s going to keep going though. Looking forward, I’m going to continue to try to bring in quality guests. I am honestly amazed at how many guests are out there in the testing world.
When I first started, when I had my first client in therapy, I was like, what in the world could we talk about for a whole hour, back in grad school. I don’t know if any of y’all felt that, but I certainly had that thought. And when I started the podcast, I was like, how many people would actually come on and talk about testing. How many experts and how many dimensions to testing are there that I could fill more than 20 podcasts?
Well, there are a ton. I have a guest list a mile long. I am constantly reaching out and scheduling interviews and trying to talk with folks who are experts in different areas of assessment. And if you have anyone who you would like to see on the show, I would love to hear about that. Shoot me a [00:12:00] message at jeremy@thetestingpsychologist.com and make an introduction, hook me up with a mentor, hook me up with someone you know, a colleague if you think that they could bring value to the podcast. I’m always looking for quality guests. So I’ll keep doing that.
We’ve done a lot of guest interviews, I think over the last few months, especially. I just personally would like to return to a little more of a balance with the business side of things as well. So look for more of those in the coming months and let me know on that front what other topics on the business side you would like to hear as well.
And then finally, before I let y’all go, I just want to put out, as always, a call for any feedback. I’ve gotten some really constructive, helpful feedback about podcast content. I’ve gotten some, honestly unhelpful feedback about podcast content. So if you think you could offer some constructive, helpful feedback, I would love to hear it. I really mean that. Shoot me a message again, jeremy@thetestingpsychologist.com, and let me know what you’d like to hear different on the podcast or tweaks, or changes. I’m always open to doing things a little differently. The main thing is that I want to keep bringing you quality testing-related content and help you grow in your testing practices.
One last time, I’ll keep this short and sweet. Thank you you all for 100 episodes of complete awesomeness in the testing world. I will look forward to many more. I hope that y’all will stick around as well.
All right. Take care. Talk to you next time.