How She Turned a Scattered Podcast Into One With Real Purpose—Kim Patton | Ep 121

What happens when your podcast starts without direction… and then finds a powerful purpose?In this episode, Kim Patton shares her journey from creating a general book podcast to building Book Therapy—a show designed to encourage foster and adoptive families through carefully curated insights from books.We talk about the reality of starting messy, why most creators struggle with clarity, and how understanding your audience changes everything. Kim also opens up about storytelling, writing with intention, and how reading became her personal form of therapy.If you’ve ever felt scattered in your content or unsure who you’re creating for, this episode will give you a new way to think about your podcast.What You’ll LearnWhy most podcasts fail to connect (and how to fix it)The power of choosing a clear audience over a broad ideaHow Kim turned her love for books into a niche podcastWhy your first episodes are supposed to feel like “first drafts”The difference between creating for yourself vs serving listenersHow to use storytelling intentionally in podcasting and writingWhy clarity makes content creation easier (not harder)Connect with Kim PattonWebsite: https://kimpatton.com/Podcast: Book TherapyIf My Podcast Story speaks to you, consider subscribing so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, leaving a review helps more people discover the stories shared here. Your support truly means a lot.There’s more to every story than what you hear on the episode. Join the My Podcast Story newsletter to receive thoughtful takeaways, episode extras, and personal notes that don’t make it into the show. It’s a quiet way to stay inspired between listens.Sign up here: https://mypodcaststory.com/join00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Kim Patton01:00 Embracing being bad at the start03:00 Podcasting versus practicing privately06:00 Gaining clarity before launching08:00 How Book Therapy began12:00 Reading as therapy and problem-solving17:00 Building meaningful connections through podcasting20:00 Why “Lean In” didn’t work as a podcast name24:00 Managing listener expectations28:00 Writing for your audience versus writing for yourself33:00 How audience feedback shapes content38:00 Turning daily habits into podcast ideas44:00 Kim’s vision for the future of Book Therapy