Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
"A LOT with Audra" is the podcast for women juggling big dreams and full lives. Each episode, host, Audra Dinell, Midwestern wife, mom and neurodivergent multi-six figure entrepreneur encourages women to embrace their many roles holistically by living a values-based life with confidence and joy. Through candid discussions, practical strategies and inspiring stories, this podcast is your guide to designing and achieving success without losing yourself in the process.
Ep62
===
Meet Bryan Steele
---
[00:00:00]
Audra Dinell: [00:01:00] Hey, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited for our guest today because he's someone that you may not know. You know. He is the producer of this podcast. Bryan Steele. He founded Forge Podcast Company many years ago and is here on the podcast telling his story about how it became his full-time gig.
He's talking about his second act and sharing behind the scenes real life things about what it takes to follow breadcrumbs and turn it into your daily life. If you are a person whose identity might feel like it's shifting or dreams for what their life could look like, maybe changing. This podcast is gonna be one you are gonna wanna hear.
Thanks for tuning in.
Okay.
Engineering Success Path
---
Audra Dinell: Take us back 10 to 15 years. What did success look like to you back then?
Bryan Steele: [00:02:00] So 10, 15 years ago so I was an aerospace engineer and to me that was going to be like a successful corporate America engineering leader. Like that was gonna be leading teams completing projects. And those sorts of things.
So, you know, growing up I was really good at math, I was good at science. I had really high scores on like spatial reasonings, like all this stuff. It's like, well, what are you gonna do? Like all those career assessments were like, you would be a great engineer. And that, which is a true statement, like I, I did very well as an engineer.
And so to me, like it was like, Hey, you're gonna have this career, be a leader, have influence in these companies on these engineering projects. And then. That's gonna provide, you know, a stable, you know, family life and you're gonna get to retire comfortably. All these, it was very, it felt very standard.
Like, it felt like, almost like, kind [00:03:00] of like the white picket fence. Like this is what your future looks like. At the end of the day. So that, that's kind of to me, like at that point in time, about 15 years ago, that's, that's what I was looking at. That's, that's what life looked like for me and what success looked like.
Audra Dinell: It feels very mapped out.
Bryan Steele: Yeah, it was very obvious and when you, lots of times when you get into a job, it's like, this is the progression. It's not, you know, even, even in other industries, like if you're a doctor, like you start in re, you know, you go to med school, then you do resident, like there's a, there's a progression and there's a path that you're going to follow.
So, you know, a lot of that stuff had been pretty well worn. And so it was like, yeah, I guess I just like, it wasn't. It wasn't difficult to follow. It was very, very clear in that way what, what that sort of thing looked like for me.
Big Company Machine
---
Audra Dinell: But a system decides the path and your next step.
Bryan Steele: Yeah. , I mean, in engineering you can kind of take two roads can be like, I'm gonna be just the technical expert. I'm gonna learn all these skills and [00:04:00] I'm gonna have my head down and, and do analysis and do work all the time. And then there's the other side, which is, no, I, I'm, I'm gonna lead a team.
I'm, I'm, we're gonna be responsible for these projects. I still am technically skilled, but I'm gonna be a leader of people that are executing. Those, those tasks. And so those are the two different ways that I, I think about the system as far as what it is you go do. And, and in large part, like there's, it's just this giant machine.
It's, it's tons of people. And in aviation that a hundred percent makes sense. It is incredibly expensive to design and build airplanes and there's lots of industries like that. So they just become behemoth. By necessity.
Audra Dinell: Yeah, it makes sense.
Bryan Steele: Mm-hmm.
Audra Dinell: And it works. Absolutely.
Bryan Steele: Yeah.
Redefining Success
---
Audra Dinell: So what does success look like to you now?
Bryan Steele: Well, I always wanted to provide for my family. Like, I think that there's you, you grow up and [00:05:00] you, you desire this life. You, you, you're, you're picturing what you want your life to look like. And so you say, Hey, I want to give my. Family opportunities. I remember my wife was, was a veterinary technician and success was like, Hey, I can, we don't, we don't need your job.
We don't need your income. Like if you are not happy where you're at right now and you would rather spend more time with the kids. 'cause when, when they were little we're just getting help from family members. Mm-hmm. Right. Watching the kids when she was at work. So we were blessed because both of our parents are in town here.
And so, you know, if she had to work, somebody watched the kids and at some point it was a, a conversation. It was like, well, what, what do you want? And, and you know, she just wasn't satisfied by working all the time. It's like, well then don't, you know, we were in a position where it's like, if she went, if we got childcare, there's no benefit to that.
Right? You'd be spending all your money on [00:06:00] childcare. So it was, it was like, well, let's. We can, we can live without that extra bit of income. So let you know more joy comes from you being able to stay home. Let's, let's pursue that. And so I think that that changed over time. And I, I think, you know, I, I really was grateful for the job that I had.
I love the people I worked with.
Values Misalignment
---
Bryan Steele: It was an incredible team, but at some point, just the size of the industry, just. It became overwhelming. You felt so small and you felt like you had so little agency and things that were happening and decisions that were made. And, and in some cases they needed to be made, but it just felt like you had had much less influence than you wanted.
I think what I envisioned. When I was in that career, was like, Hey, I'm gonna move into leadership and I'm gonna be able to set direction and I'm gonna set vision and we're gonna [00:07:00] pursue really amazing things. And the higher I climbed, the more I realized everyone was hand handicapped, right? Everyone was handcuffed.
To some degree that there were limitations 'cause of it being such a big company. It's, it's very much, it's like trying to turn a giant ship. It's gonna little, little tiny rudder and it takes an eternity to make significant change. And so I think that it was like, oh man, like I'm looking at vice presidents and people who have their own lines of, you know, budget responsibilities.
They're still struggling with, like, how much direction do they get to provide, how much control do they have, even over their own internal budgets. And it's a struggle. And not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but I'm like, oh, you don't have as much autonomy or agency in those situations as, as you would like to have.
I don't know if that necessarily would've [00:08:00] changed at some point, but I was just, those were things I was noticing. I was just noticing these little. Disconnects that felt not aligned with just kind of my values. And so I'm, I'm just kinda watching these things kind of unfold. Yeah. I don't know if I answered your question very well.
Audra Dinell: So how did you get from that noticing of, okay, this vision that I've had, I'm on the path, things are going well, my wife's now at home. I'm the sole income earner. I'm grateful for this job. Now I'm noticing that it may not look exactly like the vision I had, and am I okay with that? No, that's rubbing against my values.
How did you decide what to do about that? Because there's many paths you could have taken.
Bryan Steele: Yeah, yeah. I mean, you could just go get another job. You could go get a change in education and do something completely different.
Audra Dinell: You could deal with it. Yeah, you could do a lot of different things.
Bryan Steele: I think. I did, I did notice.
Creative Roots Return
---
Bryan Steele: So when I was in college, I was a [00:09:00] musician. Right. So I have a, a creative background and I think
Audra Dinell: I didn't know that.
Bryan Steele: You didn't know that? No. Oh man. I was in a band and we'd play bar gigs in college towns in Kansas and Oklahoma. It was an, it was an incredible experience.
Audra Dinell: So cool.
Bryan Steele: And I loved that. And we, we did that pretty much all the way through college.
And so I have this creative side of me and. I knew just as an engineer there, there's some things that are a, a bit creative, but by and large it's very analytical. There's not as much opportunity for creativity. And so I was like, what, what can I do to express that creativity?
Basement Studio Side Hustle
---
Bryan Steele: And so I, I had done some recording and I said, well, let me, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take some money that I'm making from this job and we're gonna build a little recording studio in my basement.
And so I did that, and so now here's this place where I can be creative. And I'm like, well, [00:10:00] maybe I'll record some other people. So I'm just in inviting that in and I'm seeing opportunities. It's like, oh, I get to be really technically minded because you're dealing with.
Technical equipment, microphones, processors, working on the computer. But you're also being creative.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: You're being both analytical and creative at the same time, which I, I enjoyed and I'm like, well, I can make a little money doing some recording for people. And so it was something on the side that I was doing.
I enjoyed and I found some creative fulfillment in it. And I, it was not like, oh, this is a, I can have this as a job. I, and that never really crossed my mind. It was like, Hey, here's a way that we just make a little extra money, we can pay off our house a little earlier. And it's bringing me joy.
It's allowing me to express myself creatively and then.
Falling Into Podcasting
---
Bryan Steele: From there, I fell backwards into podcasting.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: Right. So we are in Wichita. This would've been around 20 13, 20 14, and you might [00:11:00] remember that there was a, a few years there where Wichita State was a pretty hot ticket in college basketball.
Audra Dinell: Yes.
Bryan Steele: And around town it was, I mean, everybody was into it like it was a huge deal. There was a guy who had a podcast thing about Wichita State Basketball, so I'd been doing music, I'd been recording and just having some fun, being creative. And this guy was recording this podcast specifically about Wichita State Basketball.
Shout out Dustin Kuhn. And he was doing it for fun and he had been get getting some traction with it. And then. The guy who recorded it for like moved away.
Audra Dinell: Okay.
Bryan Steele: And he was like, I don't even know what to do. Like, I don't know where to start. And I said, I've got microphones. Like, I'm pretty sure it's people talking.
How hard.
Audra Dinell: So this was 2014?
Bryan Steele: Yeah, like 2014.
Audra Dinell: Okay. Because I'm thinking about when I first started to really get into podcasts as a listener, and that was pretty early on.
Bryan Steele: Oh yeah. So this is, this is the old days. And so I was like, yeah, sure. I've it was, it was fun. I was into college basketball. So it got to [00:12:00] like, I got to learn something new.
I got to use some of my creative skills. I got to pick up some new skills. And back then, like we didn't have Zoom, we didn't have any of these things. Like he had connections with personalities at ESPN and CBS sports because Wichita State had so much attention being in the top 25 undefeated seasons.
They were talking about it, they knew exactly what was going on, and podcasting was so new they were willing to do it. Like you didn't have to be some really established name. And he had been at it long enough that, yeah, I've got these guys' cell phone numbers. We're just calling him from my basement and like piping 'em in so he can hear in headphones.
And it was, I mean, we clued it together. It was duct tape.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: Right. But it was fun. And I was like, man, this is really enjoyable. And I was like, okay. There's maybe something here.
Breadcrumbs To Business
---
Bryan Steele: And so I'm working all at the same time and I'm seeing these disconnects around my own values and I'm doing this other thing and I'm like, could I, should I do something different?
And I just wasn't sure. And so I started just, [00:13:00] I don't even know how it really solidified for me 'cause I was like. I knew that there was an o an opportunity, but I wasn't fully engaged in it yet. Yeah, I was just kind of picking up the pieces, following the breadcrumbs as I went.
But I think the moment where I knew I needed, like it was very much a here's a, a way to make extra income. Here's something we can do that pays off the house, pays off debt. Create some freedom, some financial freedom for us. So I was like, yeah, I'm on board with that. Like it doesn't have to be this huge thing.
It just has to be something I'm enjoying and find value in and fills me up and I get to contribute. And so that's all it was at the time for me.
Audra Dinell: How old were your kids at this point when you had started to get into podcasting? You have two kids?
Bryan Steele: Yep. So, at this point [00:14:00] when I had just started, my son was two or three and my daughter was being born.
Audra Dinell: Okay.
Bryan Steele: So very, very young
Audra Dinell: wife. Went to stay at home pretty quickly after starting to have kids.
Bryan Steele: Yeah. Af after my daughter was born. Pretty shortly after that was when she decided to stay home. So it was just me. I'm the only one bringing in income and I was doing it through a couple things, right? It was, Hey, here's this other thing I can do, doing music, doing some podcasts, you know, and it, and it's great.
It's supplemental.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Daughter's Retirement Question
---
Audra Dinell: So what was a thing that made you turn the dial or click in to say, I actually think I. I wanna leave my corporate job and do this full time.
Bryan Steele: So I would, so this would've been probably three or four years [00:15:00] ago. I had started the, the podcasting business. I had a few clients I was working with.
And I remember, dinner very clearly. We were having dinner. My daughter, she was probably seven years old at the time, may, maybe even a bit younger, maybe like five. And she said to me, just like out of the blue, she goes, daddy, when can you retire? And I kinda laughed.
Because I thought, oh yeah, that, that's cute.
You know, kids, kids are like that. It's like, I'm, I'm trying to understand the world. Like, when do you get to stop working?
And I said, oh, honey, like, you know, not for a long time. Like, I'm gonna be old.
When I retire,
Audra Dinell: you're like, you think I'm old now, but I'm actually young. When I'm really old.
Bryan Steele: When I'm really old. That's, that's when I'm gonna retire. And, and I, I stopped myself then and I said, I said, why do you ask? And she said, because I want to spend more time with you. And I said, okay. What I've, [00:16:00] what I'm doing is not gonna work. Long term, if my daughter is asking for more, more time with me I, something has to change and something has to be different because she's asking for that now and she, which means it's not there at the level she wants it.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Bryan Steele: And so if all of the things I'm doing are to create financial. Security or freedom or comfort are sacrificing that, then something has to be different.
And that's when I knew, I was like, okay, I don't know how or when exactly, and it may take time, but I'm like, some, I'm gonna do something different. And so that's when it, that's really when it solidified. That's when I knew. 'Cause that just cut me Right, right. To pieces. Right there. And so I knew that we had to change direction.
Audra Dinell: Mm. I love that story and feel like it's so relatable and kids [00:17:00] are just such a mirror.
Bryan Steele: Mm-hmm.
Audra Dinell: For us and the way we're living our lives and the stories we tell ourselves, if we like our brave enough to mm-hmm. Look into that mirror.
Bryan Steele: Yeah.
Audra Dinell: Not brush it off.
Bryan Steele: Yeah.
Audra Dinell: Good for you for looking in.
Bryan Steele: It was, it was not easy.
But, but I think, yeah, that's what I, I think the, the real key was that I asked the extra question. I didn't just stop at the, oh, not for a long time, like brush it off, but just, and not even, it wasn't even a big, like, introspection moment for me. It was like just being willing to ask a deeper question for her.
Mm-hmm. Like, what's her motivation for asking that question? Because then that's gonna reveal something that I need to change about our circumstances.
Audra Dinell: Yeah, and you didn't even know that yet. I think you were just trying to go deeper with her and see where that came from and then it [00:18:00] revealed,
Bryan Steele: yeah.
Audra Dinell: That so, okay.
Building Time Boundaries
---
Audra Dinell: How much were you, what did your life look like from when she was zero to five? Like were you nine to five at corporate and then working on the weekends or evenings? Like what did paint that picture?
Bryan Steele: So I was really intentional early on with the side businesses. Like I, I communicated with Abby. I said, okay, how, how do we make this work and make sure that.
I am still present with our family. So one, one aspect was pretty much every morning from five to 7:00 AM I was up and that's when I was working by myself in the studio. And then if I had a project. The, you know, there was like two nights a week where I'd be in working after the kids went to bed, but other nights I would be completely available for Abby, not for my wife.
And then there were other times, you know, like if somebody had a recording project, those would maybe happen on the weekends where I'd be doing the interaction with my clients and working directly with them. [00:19:00] One-on-one. So it was really a, a communication thing that we tried to be really intentional with because I'm coaching my daughter's soccer team.
I'm coaching my son's basketball team or assistant coaching it, and it's like I want to be present for those things and available. That has actually been maybe one of the best joys. I know, like some parents, the kids are like, please stop coaching me. Yeah. Like, please don't anymore. Yeah. I want to be taught by somebody else.
But pretty much all the way through, you know, my son was like, yeah, I want you to coach and my daughter. Still is same way still coaching her at soccer. And so Spike not having ever actually really played soccer.
Audra Dinell: We won't, we won't say that. Yeah.
Bryan Steele: But those are things that were important to me. So like, how do we fit all this together?
So it's chaotic. It was really very busy. But, that's kind of how we created some intention around, it's like just communicating the schedule and where are the spaces I can find gaps where. I either would've [00:20:00] slept extra or I would've been Netflix and chill, you know? Yep. Other things, it's like those are the moments I need to capture.
I'm not trying to capture the moments where you know, my. Normally with my kids, that's not the moment I'm wanting to work on my business. Yes, it's, it's these other places, because I think if we actually all sat and looked at like our screen time usage or how much we're on, you know, Disney plus, we'd start finding some opportunities to work on, on some big projects that we're passionate about.
Outsourcing And Support
---
Audra Dinell: What. Did you have to, what did you have to outsource during that time, if anything? So Abby's home and she's the primary parent, is what I'm hearing. Mm-hmm. You're still showing up in a way that it feels good to your family. You are putting in your corporate hours, you are having solid boundaries around how much your side hustle at that time is gonna take up.
Outsourcing Home Tasks
---
Audra Dinell: Did you outsource anything else, like logistically Did you outsource like lawn care or anything that you typically would've handled? In your [00:21:00] home life, administrative life?
Bryan Steele: not directly. I think there were maybe situations where we went and hired people to do things, projects. It's like, I'm not, I'm not gonna do auto care.
Like I'm not gonna change my oil. Right. Like there's just things as like, like can change oil. Yeah. I could do, I, if I really wanted to, I could, but I'm like. That's just way more time and effort for me compared to just let's just pay somebody to do that. Yeah. Ironically, lawn care I delegated to my son.
Yeah. I mean, I'm outsourcing it to him, but that was out of necessity from tearing my ACEC l that's a whole other adventure. 'cause I pro I might have actually. Left to, to run my business full-time, being an entrepreneur full-time earlier, had I not had that physical setback.
Audra Dinell: Okay. So walk us through that part then the accelerated.
What was the timeline from when your five year old-ish daughter said, I want more time with you, and you deciding. I'm gonna pursue this full [00:22:00] time. What was that timeline? What was the conversation like with you and Abby? What steps did you take?
Bryan Steele: Well, I didn't quit my job the next day.
Audra Dinell: I was gonna say, and healthcare's gotta be in there somewhere with the torn ACEC L
Bryan Steele: Oh yeah.
Debt Free Milestones
---
Bryan Steele: And and I, what we said is, we looked at said, okay, if this is going to be a business, because I think. Pretty clearly early on, it's like podcasting is the opportunity. There's not really anybody else pursuing that. Like you said, it was early stages of, of the podcast world. It was still emerging and growing and, and more and more people jumping in.
So there was more opportunity there I felt like. And so that was very clear that this was the business that I could build. But getting to that point, I think took some steps. It's like, well, what would be comfortable for us? What would be comfortable for. My wife for me to feel like we gave ourselves the best shot.
I think at some point it was like, if I didn't try to do it, then I would've been like, had those regrets at the [00:23:00] end of my life. It's like, this is something I need to try, but how do I give myself the best opportunity where I'm not applying a lot of extra stress? Yep.
When
Bryan Steele: we do that, so one milestone was for us was to be debt free.
Right. So we just knew eliminating debt was gonna be step one. We were gonna own our house. And, and so tho that was a, that was a big thing. Every, every extra dollar went towards that mortgage payment to just. Pay that off as quickly as possible. Which, and I know there's, everybody talks about like, oh, there's, you know, more efficient ways to use this money, you know, that you're throwing at your house when you've already got a low interest rate.
But I'll say, I think it depends on the person because
Audra Dinell: I agree
Bryan Steele: when you, psychologically
Audra Dinell: I agree,
Bryan Steele: have those things hanging over your head. You just know that's not my house yet.
Audra Dinell: I agree.
Bryan Steele: And so just, I still remember, like when we went to the bank together, Abby and I to sign all the paperwork, make the final payments, it's like we're done.
Yeah. It's ours.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: I think that that's a moment that I'll always remember.
Audra Dinell: [00:24:00] Mm.
Bryan Steele: And so, so that was one milestone was being debt free.
Building a Safety Net
---
Bryan Steele: A second milestone was knowing, one of the, the things I see people do when they start a business is they take on every potential opportunity. Even if it's not a good one, because they're desperate to pay their bills.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: And so they take on bad deals or bad
Audra Dinell: exchanges even.
Bryan Steele: Yeah, yeah. Just it's not in alignment with them or what they want to build, but they say yes because it helps them pay the bills. And so even if it's like red flags or flying left and right, and so I said, okay, well, we want to make sure that at least initially.
We don't need this to work right out the gate paying all of our bills. So we set up a specific nest egg to be able to say all of our basic bills could be paid for two years. It was probably overkill. That's probably my own insecurities coming out. Like, is this really gonna work? Can I be successful?
Because I didn't go to business school, I [00:25:00] studied engineering. Yeah. Like who, there was so much imposter syndrome going on.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Bryan Steele: Like who am I to start this? And, and so that for me was really what I struggle with. So I said, well, at least that way I can say I gave it a shot for two years. So when I fall flat on my face.
It's gonna be okay. And I can say, well, I, I tried. But so, so that was kind of the milestones that we set.
Torn ACL Setback
---
Bryan Steele: And it was funny because right about the time where we're hitting that second milestone is when I tore my ACEC L
Audra Dinell: Wow.
Bryan Steele: And I was like, ah, great.
Audra Dinell: Huh. So what did that look like?
Bryan Steele: So I was just playing with my son in the yard, kicking a soccer ball around, and I just stepped wrong on it.
And. And it would pop. Oh. And then I was like, oh no. And I, we didn't know for like a couple months
Audra Dinell: Oh, wow.
Bryan Steele: That it was torn. Because we tried, they're like, oh, you know, they do all the checks and it's like, I don't think it's torn. And so [00:26:00] we were trying physical therapy and like there were like, if I got onto my knees, ever excruciating pain.
So doing physical therapy, it's not getting better. So they're like, well, let's get the MR mri. It's like, oh, it's torn. Oh, so, and it's funny because, you know, I listen to, you know, obviously I'm recording your podcast all the time, so I'm listening to all the guests ahead of time. You're
Audra Dinell: also just a fan.
You're a fan.
Bryan Steele: I am a fan. But Gina's episode, she's talking about going to the Winter Olympics and, and I tore my ACEC l and I had surgery in July and I could not put weight on my. Leg for six weeks, right? Because I also tore my meniscus. So it all has to heal, and I'm sitting on the couch and the summer Olympics are on.
Audra Dinell: If that's not meant to be.
Bryan Steele: I'm just like, and you're sitting there and you're walking. It's like, here's so-and-so track athlete. And she tore her ACEC l three weeks ago, and she's competing in the Olympics. Oh my, my gosh. What's your excuse? Wow.
Audra Dinell: Wow.
Bryan Steele: So I'm just like, I'm just trying to recover [00:27:00] and, and mental and physically get back.
And so obviously a bunch of money goes to pay for that surgery and all of those things, and, and you're just spending all this time doing physical therapy. So I couldn't work. As much on my business, I wasn't thinking about that as much.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: Until after kind of the recovery. And then I was okay. As we got past that, I was like, alright, now, now we're ready to make, make that jump.
Audra Dinell: Okay.
From Studio to Full Time
---
Audra Dinell: So you started, you built your studio in, let's say 2015 ish.
Bryan Steele: I actually built the studio in like 2012.
Audra Dinell: 2012. Mm-hmm. When did you start making money? From your business?
Bryan Steele: I would say 2017.
Audra Dinell: 2017. Okay. Uhhuh, so you just had a fun studio for five years, for your creative projects, for friends. 2017, you actually turned it into a business.
What year was it that you had that conversation with your daughter?
Bryan Steele: That would've been, it was. It was after COVID.
Audra Dinell: Okay. So 2021,
Bryan Steele: probably 2021.
Audra Dinell: Okay. So that's four years later,
Bryan Steele: Uhhuh.
Audra Dinell: And then when did you make the leap into full-time entrepreneurship?
Bryan Steele: Last June. June of 2025.
Audra Dinell: [00:28:00] Okay, so that is an eight year timeline from not even just dabbling in it.
Right? Right. That's 2012. Started. Having fun with it. Mm-hmm. What I love about this is you're an engineer, you're analytical. We don't vibe on that level, but no hearing that you're creative. That makes so much sense. I love that you just started following, you had this pathway, this analytical path laid out before you, you had to do no thinking on what were the next steps of the path.
It was, I've made this decision and now I just maybe pick which way I wanna go.
Bryan Steele: Yeah.
Audra Dinell: But you introduce play and creativity into your life, and you just let that go where it will. And speaking of Gina's podcast, the planning that we talked about versus just like the following the next step, I think it's so fascinating that you just follow the next step and then 13 years after taking that first step, or even talking with Josh Luton.
Many [00:29:00] years after taking that, that first little listening mm-hmm. Of like, I'm gonna go upstairs and, and write. You went full time into your business.
Bryan Steele: Yeah.
Audra Dinell: I love that. And I love that. It's just not clean. It start, you know, it, it, there wasn't a formed path.
Bryan Steele: It was messy.
Following Breadcrumbs
---
Bryan Steele: Well, podcasting didn't exist when I was in college.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: Like, it was not there. At all until the I iPod showed up. It didn't, there was not a, like there was, and so you're just watching these things. I think so much of what we see in the world, it's like AI wasn't a thing. Yeah. Five years ago.
Audra Dinell: Mm-hmm.
Bryan Steele: And now it's dictating so much of our work lives, our personal lives, like it's just ever present in everything.
And so I just, I find that fascinating. Like, you know, you're, like you say just the next right thing, like there's the next breadcrumb, there's the next opportunity. I could not have predicted this path for myself. Like it was not something that, and when you're doing those middle school high school [00:30:00] evaluations for your career, like you could do one of these couple things like, Nope, that was not on the list and.
I think so many people are afraid of, of being willing to explore those extra things. I think lots of us have those other things we'd love to try, but we feel a little bit like, no, I've gotta keep, keep doing what I thought I was supposed to do when I was seven.
Audra Dinell: Well, it almost feels like a distraction.
The play, the breadcrumbs. They almost feel like, especially for a person with a DHD, I feel like I'm hypersensitive too. Am I being distracted? You know, because I know I can easily get distracted. Mm. So I think sometimes just that wonder and that awe and those like tugging feel like a distraction if they're not connected to a goal or efficiency in some way.
Ideas in Amber Method
---
Bryan Steele: There's a friend of mine Adam Pounds. Yeah. And he talks about putting them in amber, right? So he always, all those ideas, right? You get all [00:31:00] these ideas and so. He, you know, he's trying to push him out and they just keep coming back. Like, I think that's very common. Like you just can't push that idea away completely.
And so he says, I'll indulge myself. Like I'll take an hour or three hours and I'll just flesh it out. I'll open a note, I'll open an AI and just come up with these ideas and vibe, code, or whatever it is he's doing.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: And then he says, okay, I've indulged it. I'm putting it in amber, like in Jurassic Park, the mosquito.
I'm just gonna freeze it. I see. I'm gonna encapsulate it, Uhhuh and just set it aside. I have not. And, and I get, I, I do something similar. If I get an idea in the middle of the night, like I just have to write it down. I gotta get it out of my brain so it doesn't consume me anymore. Yep. And it can be there.
And then if it's like, no, okay, that really was a great idea. I do need to invest more time. I can then give it the appropriate priority. But you just say, Hey, I'm just gonna let it be its own thing and just know that it's, it's [00:32:00] preserved.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: It's fully captured.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: The idea is well thought out enough to where I can let it go and let it be that preserved thing that I could come back to later.
Audra Dinell: Mm. I love that.
Bryan Steele: I know, right? I
Audra Dinell: love that too. I love that visual of the mosquito of the in amber. Ugh.
Launching Side Hustle Dad
---
Audra Dinell: Okay, so you made the leap. You're doing it
Bryan Steele: Uhhuh.
Audra Dinell: What's next?
Bryan Steele: I mean, obviously I'm gonna keep doing it, but one of the things that through this process I've been like, I think other dads want the same thing. I think there's lots of opportunities. If people had the courage to pursue them. So it's been in my eye, my mind for a long time, and so I'm rolling it out now, which is.
Terrifying and exciting, but I'm like, let's go, let's make this happen. But it is the Side Hustle Dad podcast. I didn't, I mean, I know I've done podcasting for so long and, and people are like, why don't you make a podcast about podcasting? Like, that is just too [00:33:00] inception for me. I don't want to be the dream in the dream, like, and I just was not as excited about it.
And what the journey I've been on has taught me is, is not so much like the business I created. It's. What we're capable of if we're willing to follow side quests. Yeah, right. It very much was a side quest for me. And then it became the thing and it became the opportunity. And so I embrace it because I'm like, this is gonna, you know, my intention is for this to gimme the flexibility, the freedom with my family, the freedom of my time.
And so the Side-Hustle dad is launching and, and I am really fired up about just helping other dads think through, okay, what is that? Side business for me. What is that Breadcrumb? What is that? As you're always saying, the next right thing
That I can go do so that they can create that flexibility and freedom in their own lives.
So, you know, it doesn't have to be, oh, I. Start a new career out of this. It doesn't have to be that. It could be that you pay [00:34:00] off your house and the burden of not having that hanging over your head anymore is gone.
Audra Dinell: Yeah,
Bryan Steele: right. It can be paying for your kids' college education. It could be so many different things, and so that's what I want to help other dads with.
Audra Dinell: Oh, I'm so excited.
Why It’s for Dads
---
Audra Dinell: Tell me specifically why dad should listen. Like my podcast is largely for a female audience, right? We're talking about female experience. What, what's the lens for yours? Why is it the side hustle dad? Or is it going to be applicable to any parent?
Bryan Steele: I think I focus on the dads just because I feel like they're not spoken to enough in the space.
I, I've seen other side hustle podcasts for moms. Yeah. Like stay at home moms and things like that. Oh, they can create their Etsy business. And I'm like, but, but the dads, if they want something different, if they're not being fulfilled at their job, if they're not capturing enough of their life to where it feels like they're going through the motions.
Yeah. And I feel like that's a lived experience for me more. There's probably moms who [00:35:00] will love some of the content.
Audra Dinell: Yeah.
Bryan Steele: But I just think through my analytical lens and, and my lived experience, I think it's just the dad's podcast. And I'm even envisioning in my mind other dads that I know are going through that right now.
I'm like, I am making it for them. Yeah. And, and that's what I'm excited about.
Mindset Strategy Tactics
---
Bryan Steele: So we're gonna be talking about mindset shifts. We're gonna be talking about strategy, how you approach things, how you bring your. Your significant other along with you in that process? Me talking about tactics, like just little things that are important, like having a separate bank account, right.
Like understanding that and, and talking about that so that we, we take the little steps we need to, to, to make it work.
Audra Dinell: Mm. I'm so excited. It's been a long time coming.
Bryan Steele: Yeah, it has been a long time coming.
Audra Dinell: Okay.
Where to Listen and Wrap Up
---
Audra Dinell: Well, where can guests find you? Is that the best?
Bryan Steele: Yeah, I, I, on any podcast app, we will put it in the show notes.
I will put it in the show notes. The Side Hustle dad, and you can search it on [00:36:00] all the platforms will be in all the places. and in many ways it's a case study for myself, it's like, can you start from scratch? No existing brand, no existing audience. What can you build? And so it's gonna be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.
So look for that on your podcast players.
Audra Dinell: All right, you heard it here first. Thank you for sharing your story and all the ins and outs and the logistics, and I know it's gonna be encouraging to someone who is on that edge and thinking about something like this for themselves. We're talking about the second act in this mm-hmm.
Season, as you obviously know, being my producer, but I just think that this is a second act that a lot of people really long for and they don't know exactly. What steps to take. So I'm really excited for your podcast.
Bryan Steele: Thank you.
Audra Dinell: Yeah, thanks for being here.
Bryan Steele: Absolutely. I had to be here.
Audra Dinell: I mean, literally, literally.
Also, thanks for being behind the mic.
[00:37:00]