PP 286: Nuclear Storytelling with Bill Nowicki

“Go ahead and start! Don’t wait, don’t analyze, don’t spend too much time. Just do it.” -Bill Nowicki

Bill grew up in a large family and had to figure out many of the nuances of life on his own. He joined the Navy, and was in the nuclear program where extended submarine journeys taught him the art of storytelling.

Listen to hear how Bill’s journey progressed into him becoming a podcaster and entrepreneur. Kim and Bill also talked about submarine stories, the value of a locally focused podcast, and the extroverted introvert qualities they share.

 

Highlights:

00:57 The Disconnect Between What Had to be Known and What to Know
06:26 When Something You Love Gets Taken Away
12:21 We Are Dependent on Each Other
17:28 Time Alone 
21:20 The Transformative Nature of Stories
27:42 Marietta Stories
36:14 Making Time for Self-Care
41:10 Show the Real You 
44:34 Go Ahead and Start!

 

@thekimsutton and @wnowickiz1 talk about submarine stories, the value of a locally focused podcast, and the extroverted introvert qualities they share. Listen at: https://www.thekimsutton.com/pp286 #positiveproductivity #podcast #stories #relationships #connections #self-care Click To Tweet

Connect with Bill

As a guy with a technical engineering background, Bill knows how to make even subjects that seem boring and technical come alive through stories. In his life, he found that his experiences — living on submarines, raising two boys and listening to others tell their stories — have enriched him.  Now, Bill has also discovered the great stories of the many residents and businesses in Marietta. Bill gets excited seeing someone share something they love, and that’s why he loves working with videos.

Inspirational Quotes:

03:47 “Until I was put in that position, I never really knew what I was capable of doing.” -Bill Nowicki 

04:43 “Being able to tell stories was one of those things that connects you to humanity.”-Bill Nowicki 

12:39 “You have to be able to deal with every person on some level because you’re dependent on everybody too.” -Bill Nowicki

30:21 “There’s a disconnect between someone’s online presence and the way they are.” -Bill Nowicki 

37:13 “You’re listening for the listener, not for you.” -Bill Nowicki

38:32 “Put out content, not just for the sake of putting out content, but make sure that it’s good content.” -Kim Sutton 

41:16 “Don’t be afraid of sharing who you are because you will not believe how much more of a connection you can get with people around you just by being more transparent, more authentic about the true you.” -Kim Sutton

41:51 “At the end, you want them to be reminded of why they’re going through all the efforts they’re going through and dealing with all the stuff they deal with. But you want to reinforce that it’s all for a reason. And that depends on you as the interviewer.”  -Bill Nowicki

 44:56 “Go ahead and start! Don’t wait, don’t analyze, don’t spend too much time. Just do it.” -Bill Nowicki

Episode Transcription

Kim Sutton: Welcome back to another episode of Positive Productivity. This is your host, Kim Sutton, and I’m so happy that you’re here to join us today. I’m also thrilled to introduce our guest, Bill Nowicki. Bill is a storyteller from the Nowicki Media and an engineer, and you are still an engineer in the nuclear industry.

Bill Nowicki: I am.

Kim Sutton: But you were called to pursue your true purpose, which is telling other people’s stories. Can you share more about what that journey looks like for you, and how you realize that that was your purpose?

Bill Nowicki: Yeah. Well, I guess I’ll start from the beginning. I grew up in a big family, but when my parents got to me, there was a disconnect between what had to be known and what I didn’t know. So for instance, when I went to school, I didn’t know what my last name was. And I guess somebody told somebody else to inform me of my full name, but at home, I never had to worry about it. But anyway, so I kind of grew up in an environment that I really didn’t have, here’s what you got to do next. And there wasn’t a bunch of information that I could use. Just day in, day out, I had to figure out the rules as I went along, which was actually pretty positive. I didn’t know any difference, of course. So when I got to high school and people said: “What are you going to do after high school?” I really didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know the next step. I started scooping ice cream at the Friendly’s in Massachusetts, an ice cream store. And about a year after that, I gave up that promising career to join the Navy. And at that point, I found out that I had enough aptitude to get in the nuclear program. So I started studying that and working hard for the first time in my life, really, with a goal to become a nuclear operator.

Kim Sutton:  Enough aptitude is like an understatement, because it’s the top of the testing scale.

Bill Nowicki: Oh, it’s a little different. The Nuclear Navy really formed you into what they need you to be. So it’s not a lot of it, I won’t say rote memorization, but it’s just really rigorous to learn all these things, and they don’t ask why. I’ll get into how college changed me from there. But yeah, it was difficult though. And the alternative is, if you don’t pass a class in high school or whatever, you retake it. But in this program, if you fail, one of my buddies failed and he was sent to an oiler, which is a big ship that just refills other ships. He was sent to the Mediterranean like three days after he failed, and I don’t want to do so. I just kept on going and did fairly well and passed. But that was the first time where I started to scratch my head, that maybe I can’t do this stuff. Because until I was put in that position, I never really knew what I was capable of doing.

Kim Sutton: Wow. So where did you go from there?

Bill Nowicki: Okay. I went on a submarine. I was on a submarine for four years, new construction, went under a couple runs up in the North Atlantic, was confined with 105 of my buddies for weeks and sometimes months at a time. And again, that was a really transformative experience for me, and that ruts really helped me hone my storytelling skills, because they are skills just like anything else. But of course, we’d have all kinds of funny stories going in the port, and doing things on board, messing with guys and being able to tell those stories was really one of those things that connected you to humanity. Because it’s a tough environment being enclosed in a submarine for weeks and months, and it’s that deprivation. Your brain just tries to find things to do. When I started reading, I never read a book really. So my whole life kind of changed after that.

Kim Sutton: I mean, I get claustrophobic watching The Hunt for Red October, so I can’t imagine spending 15 minutes on a submarine that wasn’t just a tour. I mean, even on tours that I’ve been on, that was like, where’s the exit? Get me off? Did you have to deal at all with that? I know that so like getting off track of where we are going, but–

Bill Nowicki: It’s okay. I would say, to me, it’s very similar to being on an airplane. I mean, you wouldn’t say I gotta get out of the airplane, but it’s just that same feeling where, okay, I’m on this thing, and I just can’t see much. There’s no windows or anything. You basically listen to hear what else is out there. Several times, subs have hit other things underwater, it might be mountains, other subs, ships and things. But if you get used to the environment, I was very adaptive. I learned that as a kid. So if nobody else was freaking out, I didn’t freak out either. This guy got along with everybody. And that was just the environment we’re in.

Kim Sutton: Wow. Are you able to share one funny story that happened?

Bill Nowicki: Oh, yeah. So we were at the sea like, I think three and a half weeks or something. We did maneuvers out in the Atlantic and did different things. So we were coming in, and I’d saved swiss miss instant cocoa. And having those are pretty rare. You might have one case of those for the whole [inaudible] versus a maybe issued non descript hot cocoa, we might have five of those cases. So I kept one because I was going to be on watch in maneuvering, that’s where you operate the nuclear plant for eight hours. So you’re transiting from the where you have to surface into port takes eight hours time. So I made my hot cocoa, I mixed it. So all the lumps ran out of it, and it was looked perfect and I went in to take my watch. I put it behind me because there’s no room. You might expect them to sample the cupholders behind like my left shoulder. So I swung around, put it in there and I told all my buddies, there’s probably six people jammed in this maneuver for this maneuvering. And I was telling my buddies how much better swiss miss instant cocoa is. And they’re like, I should have known because they’re all like, yeah, yep, you’re right. And by the time I turned around to get a swig, it was completely gone. They had handed it around to everybody in maneuvering, and they all took a swig. By the time I turned around, that thing was completely empty and I just lost it. I’m not a very out of control person and I started yelling. They were all laugh and then they were calling people over, hear other people laugh and I was just so upset. It was an overdone pack of Swiss miss cocoa, but that’s the kind of thing that you really look forward to when it was taken away from me.

Kim Sutton: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it’s not like you can just go to the supermarket. I mean, you could be waiting weeks to get back into a port that you could actually get more.

Bill Nowicki: Yeah. And that’s actually the limiting thing that  keeps boats from staying out forever. You have enough fuel, you make your own oxygen, you get rid of carbon dioxide, you make water, but you can’t make food so we have to go ahead back in after, I think the max we were out is 74 days. But after a while, you run out of food. Things that you wouldn’t think about is we only had powdered milk, no salads, no fresh, anything is just canned, and it was a tough life. We laugh in a prison, at least get an hour outside to enjoy the sunshine. We didn’t get that.

Kim Sutton: It’s pretty tough. Oh, wow. Yeah, I didn’t really think about that. This is just how my brain works, but I would have been thinking about bagged salads, but I guess you can’t even freeze them if you did have a freezer.

Bill Nowicki: Nobody did. But frozen, you can’t do anything with the milk. You run out, I would say two weeks, and you were completely out of anything fresh.

Kim Sutton: Which leaves a long 60 days left if you’re out there. Oh, my gosh.

Bill Nowicki: We talked about going to a salad bar when we were out. That’s what we talked about coming in. It’s like, man, I can’t wait to get Wendy’s at the time, the best salad bar back in the 80’s. So we said, yeah, I can’t wait to get to Wendy’s. I’m gonna put in tomatoes. I love their tomatoes. We go into all this detail of salads.

Kim Sutton: Oh, my gosh. So you weren’t even talking about their burgers, you’re talking about their salad bar.

Bill Nowicki: Yeah, yeah, you totally miss it.

Kim Sutton: I wouldn’t have expected, I mean, you watch Survivor, the show Survivor and they’re talking about burger, pizza. But I would have never thought about it, I guess they have at least coconuts sometimes.

Bill Nowicki: It’s a totally weird environment. This is something you would never think of, but it makes sense after you hear it. I’m gonna tell your listeners this story real quick. So we’ve underwater for 74 days and the air is recirculated the entire time. Like I said, you put in oxygen, take out carbon dioxide, it’s precipitated to all the fumes that everything gets run through filters. By the time we ventilated, which means you stick a pipe up and take in fresh air, I remember walking around by the crew’s mess and I said, it smells like excrement. I didn’t use that word, but I was like, man, it really smells terrible. And the guy laughed. This is all that’s fresh air. I said what do you mean? He goes, that’s fresh air. He goes, thinking about it. There’s bacteria and everything dying in the ocean, you just get used to it. You don’t realize, and he was right. So two hours later, it didn’t smell bad. But that first hour and a half, it smelled horrible.

Kim Sutton: The fresh air smelled horrible.

Bill Nowicki: For sure it smelled horrible. You think about it, it makes sense, but I had no clue.

Kim Sutton: Bill, I have five kids, and we have a number of animals. So I can’t even imagine being closed up with everything in here, and I don’t care how that is filtered. Oh, my gosh.

Bill Nowicki: The only dust we had was cigarette smoke, cigarette ashes, but they don’t even love cigarette smoke anymore.

Kim Sutton: With the hundred other people, not just, oh, my heavens, no, thank you.

Bill Nowicki: Well, the thing you do learn, and this is something I carry with me all the time as I have a way to connect with everybody I meet. When I hear people say, I don’t want to have to deal with this person. The reality is I learned that doesn’t make sense to me when I hear people say that. You have to be able to deal with every person on some level. So if they’re interested in soccer, talk about soccer because you’re dependent on everybody too. From the cook on down, everybody is dependent. Everybody else is doing their job and doing it right that we could end up at the bottom.

Kim Sutton: Quite literally at the bottom. So what happened next?

Bill Nowicki: Okay. So I got out after six years, I met my wife, got married. I had determined out of one of these trips that I wanted to get my degree. So I went to school, got my electrical engineering degree, and that’s where they teach you all the reasons behind the equations, Maxwell’s equations, and all those really heavy duty things that we didn’t know in the Navy. But we were just given the output, plug these numbers in here, we were actually figured out where all that came from. And it was a fascinating experience for me because I was like the first time in my life that I could understand the real world through mathematics and physics. And the whole thing was just fascinating. To me, it was not easy, but I enjoyed having that opportunity. And then I got my first job in a nuclear plant. I worked there for eight years. Went to another nuclear plant, worked there for 12 years. And then I came to Atlanta, again, I had lots of opportunities over my 25 year career in the nuclear industry. 

But when I came to Atlanta, I got hired to kind of help the rest of the industry with a specific skill I had developed for the plan I was working on. And what I found when I came down here was they wanted me to be an evaluator and fit into that mold. And evaluator, you go out and you spend two weeks going through all the engineering aspects of a nuclear plant and look for gaps, and their behaviors, and different things, and then you read a report, and then they give them a score at the end of it. So they’re rated one through five. Five, they’re basically shut down. One is the best. It’s considered excellence and blah, blah, blah. But I was more of a facilitative leader that helped teams execute projects, and that’s what I tried to bring to the Institute. So there was a disconnect between the two weeks slamming around and telling him what’s right, what excellence looks like versus being a facilitative leader and helping the people in the team do their best, and putting the best team together, all those types of things I learned. So I really was struggling. 

I hired a coach, and his name’s Gary O’Malley. He was transferred to another transformative part of my life because he asked me about myself, and I can tell from the first day that he was the real deal. So he asked me the question, what kind of person are you? I’m an extrovert, I really like people and blah, blah, blah. And then he said: “Well, tell me about your perfect day.” And I said, “oh, well, that’s easy. I’m on a sailboat, I can feel the wind. I have attacked going across a long strip of water, and I can feel the sun. It’s beautiful, blah, blah, blah. And this will give me another example, as well cooking on the grill, and I could smell the aromatic fish that I have in a banana leaf. I get all these details. And he said: “I thought you were an extrovert.” I said: “I am.” And he said: “Well, you’re perfect [inaudible], you’re by yourself.”

Kim Sutton: I’ve been thinking the same thing.

Bill Nowicki: I did put two together, so maybe I should have you as a coach to Kim. But anyway, so we spent, I don’t know, six, nine months. Because at this point, I’m totally bought in. It’s like, I don’t know, I guess I don’t know about myself. And he basically explained to me, because I can’t make you a better evaluator. What I can do is tell you the way you’re wired, and then help you start that journey. And that’s where he had identified media, like video, podcasting, storytelling. And I said: “Well, what do I do now?” And he said: “Well, start finding other people, do similar things.” And that’s exactly–

Kim Sutton: Oh, wow. Well, I will not deny that I’m an introvert. However, I love getting on to the podcast and talking to people like you. But I also love being able to, at the end of the episode, say goodbye and know that, yes, I would love to meet you someday in person. But I love my silence. So at the end, well, I do have to ask, do you still consider yourself an extrovert? Or do you think you are an introvert now?

Bill Nowicki: I don’t know. That’s a good question. Because I do. I do. When I do a podcasting episode, I am totally energized at the end, but there’s a part of me that needs to also just spend time alone. Like my brother, when I was growing up in that big family, my brother and I used to just go on these adventures and we’d like to build a raft, whatever. But we didn’t hardly talked. We just started working on a raft and put it together. I liked being around him, but it wasn’t like we were checking with one another, having long conversations, we had these common goals. I don’t know what you’d call that. Maybe I am more of an introvert than an extrovert.

Kim Sutton: Let me try that again, an extroverted introvert.

Bill Nowicki: There you go.

Kim Sutton: We like our little times that we can get out there and get energized, but then we also take great comfort in knowing that we have that time alone. I was really surprised to hear that Marie Forleo, are you familiar with her?

Bill Nowicki: Yeah.

Kim Sutton: She’s actually an introvert. So her closest friends, I hope I’m referring to the right person, but I’m pretty sure it was Marie, her closest friends know that if she’s at a party, there may come a point that she just needs to escape for a little bit and just wind down. I’m the same way. I will enjoy an event and meeting a lot of new people, but it takes so much energy out of me to be surrounded and talking to people all day. Even when my kids are home, oh, my goodness, I think that’s why I love monday so much. Because all of a sudden after two full days of crazy, like in my face with my children, I get space and I have quiet again, at least for six hours.

Bill Nowicki: I agree. I need that too. When I was managing large groups of people at the nuclear plant, I recognized that when I got into that mode, I had to be quiet and sip on myself, people would come up to you. Okay, Bill, and I’d have to put on a brave face because I was amazed to help people look at you because they think the bad going, and they might lose their jobs, and all this other stuff. I was like, no, I’m just trying to think of things or decompress a little. And it looks like I’m stressed out.

Kim Sutton: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I’ve had those times where I’ve met events and I’m just sitting there, taking everybody in. And it’s not that I’m trying to be in social, unsocial? I’m making up words here.

Bill Nowicki: Anti-social.

Kim Sutton: Yeah, thank you, anti-social, but I’m really not. I get so much enjoyment out of people watching and just, I am not trying to live vicariously through them, but I just get so much joy out of watching everybody else’s energy sometimes. Go dance to a thriller. I’m gonna have a blast watching you, but that doesn’t mean I’m getting on stage to join you. I’d love it if you would share about your podcast.

Bill Nowicki: Okay. Well, in 2014, I started seven marine sea stories. Again, not having a clue. But I thought, oh, here are some ways to reconnect because I did love those stories and my friends I made on the sub. So I thought I could re introduce them to the world through getting them on the podcast. I was surprised to realize people, other people are interested in that also. I currently have 137,000 downloads, and I was up there on iTunes charts back when it first launched. And part of that was interesting. Interesting part was not just we catching up with in with my friends and meet new people, it was that transformative nature of being on a submarine. So most of the stories go something like this. I was a clueless person that worked at a Friendly’s ice cream. And then all of a sudden, I’m on a sub, and I have to now perform these duties that I never even envisioned I could do. And I did it. I was surrounded by a bunch of people that [inaudible] and we became a team. And then that part of their lives kind of carried forward, and it applies to many different attributes. Very many different places in your life as you start your career outside the military. That’s kind of the basic story. 

I enjoyed doing that because there were a lot of guys like, I had one guy, I’ll never forget this. I saw him active on Facebook so I reached out to him, I would love to have you on the podcast. And he was all excited. I got him on Skype and I was ready to go. I said: “Well, how are you doing?” And he goes: “Well, I didn’t sleep last night.” He didn’t sleep last night. I said: “Are you nervous?” Yes. No, not really, because I just don’t have anything to say. And it kind of really hit me that my job here is to show him he does have a story. And it was a great interview. He talked a lot and told some funny stories and really cool things about his career. And at the end, he said: “I guess I am more interesting by thought.” So to be able to give that gift to him was something that I didn’t realize I had. But it goes back to that Gary O’Malley guy that told me, this is a way you’re wired. Something’s going to happen, just keep doing it. And he was right. So I did. I did that weekly for probably a year or so. Then I was like, well, I haven’t done anything. My video business, I don’t know where to start, but I do know how to interview people so why don’t I start a local podcast. 

So I started Marietta stories in 2016. I do a similar format where I interview people in town, historians, and business owners, government people, superintendent of schools, find out what their stories are and put it up weekly. And it’s been, again, I thought it would be a great way to meet business owners, but it’s more about building relationships. And after that 30, 45 minute interview, I feel like I know the person I interviewed which makes my whole life better. So when I go into town, when I see somebody, I know what to say. Just how’s your wife doing? How’s your job? Hey, this one guy interviewed from Puerto Rico and his mom worked in a factory. She was making $3.50 an hour, and she wanted to help her out. So at 12 years old, he picked the mangoes from his backyard and brought them to the highway there and started selling them. And ever since then, he’s been hustling to try to find new ways to help people out. And now, he owns a successful concrete company in Marietta. I love bringing people stories out like that because it’s all like, you probably find in your interviews, it’s all kind of connected, there’s a thread of something there.

Bill Nowicki: I am blown away because I did not realize this. I didn’t realize the background of Marietta stories. I had seen your bio, and I knew I wanted to do it, but I didn’t realize what the podcast was truly about until just now. And the reason I’m blown away is because I went out with my family this past weekend and I was thinking about how we live in a relatively quiet, well, I live outside of Dayton, Ohio. And compared to other places that I’ve lived, I’ve lived in Chicago, and I’ve lived outside of New York City, it’s very small. And a lot of people know a lot of people just because, like first degree of separation or secondary degree of separation. But there are so many awesome people in the Miami Valley, which is what the area is called, that I will probably never cross paths with. Well, I’m gonna say it again. But the reason why I’m blown away is because as I was driving, I was thinking that would make a really great podcast, I was thinking about the People of Walmart, that series, I was thinking about the people from Miami Valley getting them on. You may have just given me a further nudge, not that I need another podcast right now, I have enough going on, but I’m going to have to give more thought to it because I would love that. Just knowing more about the people of the five counties around me and being able to even connect them to each other, it just would provide so much opportunity, growth and camaraderie.

Bill Nowicki: Absolutely. I’m convinced that everyone, like Marietta 60, something thousand people, every city that size and bigger will have it’s local podcast. And it only makes sense. My cost is way lower than the Marietta daily journal, and a radio station, and TV, and all that other stuff. I can do in-depth interviews with anybody. I just showed up, and I have all my stuff’s portable. I’m convinced that if your listeners don’t know where to start, that’s a great place to start because I show up with a mic. It’s amazing what people tell you when you have a mic in your hand, and I can ask questions that I wouldn’t do. If I didn’t have the mic and get to a level of depth with that, I wouldn’t do it because it would be somewhat creepy to do if you just met somebody. But if you have a mic and you have media behind what you’re doing, it’s very easy to do. And it’s also easy to get sponsors. People always talk about trying to get sponsors. Well, it’s easy. People reached out to me and said, Bill, I’d love to sponsor your show, my real estate agent, blah, blah, blah, and I will cover all my costs through it. I don’t charge for the episodes, and people are reaching out to me left and right to be on the show. And it’s a really easy way to get credibility. And like I said, if you’re not doing one for the Miami Valley, somebody’s probably gonna start here soon.

Kim Sutton: Oh, I know. I was thinking about that. After I said it, I was like, maybe I need to do it a little bit faster. I have to share that. Another reason I was thinking about it was because there’s a restaurant right here in my town, that was the last restaurant in a family chain of restaurants and it closed just a couple weeks ago. I was thinking about that. I think that was another reason why I was thinking about this very much. How you’re just talking about sponsors is that this would give an opportunity. Yes, a paid opportunity. But for businesses in the area to promote themselves and to get people into their establishment. And there are so many people listening to podcasts right now. Bill, I don’t know whether to thank you or curse you for getting it. Probably pushed a lot faster than I was intending to go on this, but I really think it needs to be done.

Bill Nowicki: Yeah. And I’ll tell you a quick story. What I see now a lot is there’s a disconnect between someone’s online presence and the way they are. I met this guy named Anthony Bammer, he’s a physical therapist, but he also has a side hustle called Synovia Wellness. And I interviewed the guy on a Saturday, he reached out to me. I said: “Sure, I’ll interview.” So I show up on a Saturday and this guy, he’s the nicest guy. He’s young, but he serves people with arthritis, diabetes, any kind whether they’re overweight, bariatric patients, and he’s serving that community. And they love him. I mean, I got to talk to him after some of the folks in his class after they worked out, and they all loved him. They have an app where they keep themselves accountable throughout the week when they’re not in class, and that he’s changing lives. And if you read any of his online stuff, it just really doesn’t align too well with that. I’m like, I want to help these guy, do some funny videos with them and they’re going to pay me weekly, or whatever, versus a normal contract. But I want to really help these guys because I know what they’re doing, one, it’s important and it’s needed. And two, I want folks to know outside of Marietta that there’s some great people here. You could just pass them on the street, like you were saying, you’d never know it. And I hate to have their stories not being told.

Kim Sutton: Absolutely. My husband works in an e-cigarette shop. He’s a full time manager there. I was even thinking about the story of one of the owners of this shop. I mean, he used to be, I don’t know if he was in the military. But before he retired, he was at the airport in the tower, whatever they call it, air traffic controller, brainfart. It happens on Positive Productivity. But that’s such an interesting transition. There’s so many stories behind all local business owners just like you, just like me, how did we get here, and it’s getting out there and sharing those stories, which you are so right. I mean, you go to the website for this vape shop, and you don’t know a thing about those stories, but you hear about them. And then you just want to go in and meet the person and support their cause.

Bill Nowicki: I interviewed a guy that has handmade leather shop Go Forth Goods, and I got his story. I didn’t know this, but he’s dyslexic. He barely made it through high school, started doing design work and started a company at age 21. Then a strap broke on his leather bag and he started thinking, I can do better than this. And he started making his own. He didn’t know anything about leather, or how to work it, or anything. Figured it out, and then he worked in from his garage. And now, he’s got a brick and mortar place in Marietta. But what I love about that story is that it’s great. And other people can start businesses the same way where, like for me, I just had the equipment, don’t have an office, but I’m not leveraging having to get customers in one day. I can grow it however it’s gonna grow and then make adjustments as it goes. And there’s a lot more democracy, and there’s a lot more creativity involved in business development than there’s ever been. Especially for someone like me, I don’t have a business degree.

Kim Sutton: We have the business degree of school of hard knocks and life experiences. Yeah, I actually started my first business after buying a magazine for my former mother in law. I was gonna give it to her for Christmas and I started peeking through the pages and saw this scrapbooking tool that I was fascinated in. I wasn’t interested in scrapbooking, I had to throw this out there. I just wanted this die cutting tool. If your listeners aren’t familiar with what a die cutting tool is, in this case, it’s just a handheld tool that would cut sheets of paper. I was just blown away. I don’t know why, but I bought one. I felt the need to justify spending $70 so I thought I would just start making die cuts and selling them on eBay, and it quickly took off. And the business went for about five years. I made all the possible mistakes that you could possibly make an e-commerce business, and I mean, all of them. And when the doors shut, I was making 25 cents a day. But so much and podcasting was around, then I don’t know. But maybe if I could go back and do anything different, maybe a podcast would have been helpful in helping that business thrive. But again, that was 2010. So while podcasts were around, they definitely weren’t around like they are now and getting all the exposure that we’re seeing. I mean, Facebook was barely off the ground in 2010 for the general public as we know it today. But, Bill, how do you balance it all? You have your job, and then you do your podcast. How do you make sure that you’re taking time for self care and the important other things in your life?

Bill Nowicki: Well, that’s a great question because I don’t think we talked enough about it. I take Saturday mornings, I typically would go on a bike ride. And like I was telling you earlier as a kid, my brother and I used to just take off on our bikes and do whatever. To me, I go on a trail solely so I can listen to a podcast or audible book. I’m amazed at how many ideas that come up with just being out and doing that. It’s not like it’s wasted time and if I feel like, especially podcasting, as you know, sometimes, you get ahead on episodes. And sometimes, you get a little behind, but it’s nice. Right now, I’m like four weeks ahead so I don’t have to, if I don’t feel like doing a podcast interview, I can just let it go for a while. So I always try to gauge myself because as you know, you’re listening for the listener, it’s not for you. So I want to make sure when I’m telling somebody’s story that really hasn’t been told. So I want to take the time and effort to do it right and do the best I can, given all the other constraints. I’m always looking for, if I feel like, hey, I want to do some more episodes. I really loved it. I’ll just do two or three in a week, and get four or five weeks ahead. And I’ve been doing my own editing recently. And to me, it’s almost like knitting where I can, it’s not a big deal for me to do. I kind of enjoy it. So I find ways to kind of work on the things I need to get done and do it in a way where I don’t get frustrated. Because to me, you know what it’s like when you’re on a podcast, people know what kind of person you are. It’s hard when you talk about the kinds of things we talked about, that people really get to know you pretty well. I don’t want to be upset and agitated on the podcast, because I think that’s the way I am. So I like to make sure I’m taking time for myself, checking in with myself.

Kim Sutton: Absolutely. And not putting out content just for the sake of putting out content, but actually making sure that it’s good content. I often wind that. I often have the issue where I can’t think of content for my solo episodes, which is all my episodes. And last night, I actually had this situation where I was trying to get to sleep, but I kept on having solo content episodes ideas just flooded my brain. I was like, do I get out of bed and write these down? Or do I pray that they’ll still be here in the morning. One disappeared last night. But this morning, I was able to batch record about five, I think five solo episodes. So now, that puts me back up to where I can be too, but I’m not gonna record solo episodes just with nonsense.

Bill Nowicki: Yeah, that’s great. And I don’t think we realize this, but like for me, I was always in a box. I was what most people are with commas in school, than military, than school, than work. I’m a dad, I’m a husband, all these other roles so I have to act a certain way. I wasn’t used to having this much freedom. I remember telling a guy that was helping me before I launched my podcast, I said: “I don’t know how I feel comfortable publishing.” And he’s like, why not? So what if nobody listens? He said: “Then nobody’s gonna hear.” And I said: “A bunch of people listen, and they start attacking me on social media. Put a bunch of people on the list, and then you’re having an impact. So give yourself a break, just do it and see what happens.” And it was such good advice. But that’s not the way you’re taught. You’re taught to think a certain way when it comes to putting yourself out there.

Kim Sutton: Oh, yeah. I can’t imagine being able to go back 30 something years and tell my parents, I was gonna put out a podcast and talk about my imperfections and my lack of cooking skills. They would have been like, no, even you really don’t need to share that. Nobody needs to know that you can burn mac and cheese out of a box. But by putting it out there, I have a sick kid at home today and he just said, yes, when I said burned mac and cheese box, he agreed. I mean, it’s all part of the experience. Positive Productivity does not mean perfection. I just want to encourage listeners, don’t be afraid of sharing who you really are because you will not believe how much more of a connection you can get with people around you just by being more transparent, more authentic about the true you.

Bill Nowicki: I second that. Whenever I do a podcast interview with someone, every so often, there’s a magical moment that occurs. I’d like to think it’s because I create that environment through my questioning just being open minded and wanting to really know them. But to me, at the end, you want them to be reminded of why they’re going through all the efforts they’re going through and dealing with all the stuff they deal with. But you want to reinforce that it’s all for a reason. And to me, it depends on you as the interviewer and it’s so much fun.

Kim Sutton: Oh, I agree too. I started the podcast just hoping to help one person. And when I received that first thank you, I was blown away. I got tears in my eyes, and the same thing happened with each consecutive. I’m not a million person mission. Would I love to help a million people? Yeah. But right now, I’m just looking for that next person.

Bill Nowicki: Cool.

Kim Sutton: What is your mission?

Bill Nowicki: My mission is to bring, I think, everyone has a story and their story needs to get out.

Kim Sutton: I love that. Because everybody really does. I had to be quiet there because I was gonna say, yeah, but then I realized that’s not really listening. But yeah, so often, we just try to fill the void with more words, and we’re not really listening. I love that. Thank you so much, Bill. This has been an absolute pleasure. Where can listeners find you online and connect with you?

Bill Nowicki: Well, go to my website. nowickimedia.com, or mariettastories.com to see what that’s all about. Or you can email me bill@mariettastories.com. I’d love to help folks, especially want to start a local podcast and have some questions. I can tell you what kind of gear to use, how to start, and I just predict it’s so easy to get it once it gets rolling, that everybody’s going to have them and don’t wait. If you have any inkling, especially if you have a business, I mean, it’s a great way to get to know people in town. And then when they’re ready to buy from you, they’ll do it because they already know you.

Kim Sutton: Absolutely. Listeners, Bill’s links will be in the show notes which you can find through thekimsutton.com/pp286. Bill, thank you so much again. Do you have a last piece of parting advice or a golden nugget that you can share with listeners?

Bill Nowicki: Yeah, this goes back to what I’ve learned in podcasting, it’s better to start then analyze. And I had to learn that lesson. It was hard to start, but go ahead and start, and then you can always adjust it. Especially if you want to start a podcast, a local podcast, go ahead and start, and then ask for feedback and then adjust that. Don’t wait, don’t analyze, don’t spend too much time. Just do it.