089: [Coaching] Building a Community from Your Podcast with Debbie Gonzales

“My dream is bigger than my fear.”

Have you ever felt like that?

My guest today, Debbie Gonzales, heard that from a guest she interviewed on her brand new podcast and she said it’s what pushed her forward to launch.

In this on-air coaching call, Debbie asks me questions about launching her podcast, including:

• Creating a community of listeners
• The magic number for a Facebook group
• Tips for working with a podcast editor/team
• Imposter syndrome
• How I felt when I published my first episode
• Promotion strategy when launching
• And more

If you are thinking of or in the midst of launching a podcast, you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode as well as episode 87 on Launching a Podcast: What’s Important and What’s Not.

About My Guest: Debbie Gonzales is a career educator, curriculum consultant, former school administrator and adjunct professor, and once served as a SCBWI RA for the Austin Chapter. Deb currently devotes her time to writing middle grade novels, crafting teacher guides for new releases and hosting The Debcast, a podcast celebrating the tenacity of the female athlete and authors who have written about them. She's the author of the forthcoming non-fiction picture book Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records (Charlesbridge, 2019). Deb earned her MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and gain more visibility to achieve their goals. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power: on stages, in businesses, on boards, in the media, in politics, and in our communities. Check out our coaching programs and workshops at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/89

Go to www.debbiegonzales.com and/or www.guidesbydeb.com to keep up with Deb and her many projects.

Listen to Debbie’s new podcast “The Deb Cast: Books, Buzz, and Girls with Guts”.

Join the free Speaking Your Brand community at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/join/ or text the word SPEAKING to 444-999.

Sign up for a Strategy Session at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/strategy.

Ready to create your signature talk and framework? Email me at carol@speakingyourbrand.com or click here to schedule a call.

Say hi to me on Instagram and Twitter: @CarolMorganCox.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts and leave a review!

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 85: Pivoting Your Business Model by Asking ‘What Do You Really Want’ with Katie Krimitsos
• Episode 86: [Coaching] How to Generate Leads From Your Podcast with Stacey Ogden
• Episode 87: Launching a Podcast: What’s Important and What’s Not

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable