Happy Half-Birthday BLW Podcast!

Katie Ferraro (0s):

And I feel like we really don't celebrate people/babies turning six months old, but it's so important, right? That's the time when they're about to start solid foods. I myself had my own quarantine baby this year. It happened to be this very podcast at six months old. It's time to celebrate. Hey there I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in baby-led weaning. Here on the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy Podcast, I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, leaving you with the confidence and knowledge. You need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby-led weaning Happy birthday baby podcast.

Katie Ferraro (44s):

Not You guys have been counting, but I have, and this podcast is officially six months old. Now it's not a real birthday. It's a half birthday, but if the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy Podcast, we're an actual baby, guys. It would be time to start solid foods. And so since this podcast is all about celebrating your babies foray into starting solid foods and self-feeding with baby-led weaning safely, I thought it was a great time to have a bonus episode and do a little bit of background about the podcast, how it happens twice a week, some highlights. I don't know that there's really been any low lights. I'm a real positive thinker, but I've loved every minute of it.

Katie Ferraro (1m 24s):

And I want to share some of my favorites from the first six months of the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy Podcast with you guys, the listeners who show up here to actually listen to all of his baby-led weaning content. So with no further ado, here's a little birthday episode for the baby-led weaning podcast. Now a little bit about the background of the podcast. We launched it on May 1st of 2020. That was like two months in to COVID-19 quarantine pandemic. I had been wanting to do a podcast for a long time, but being stuck at my house with my seven kids was like the impetus that I really needed to get it off the ground. But now I actually started planning with the gals on my team towards the end of 2019 for what would always have been a May 1st podcast launch date.

Katie Ferraro (2m 11s):

That's the date we picked and we stuck with it. So we decided to launch on May 1st. And we came out of the gate with 20 episodes. So I know a lot of podcasts when they launched, they'll do four or five episodes, but I've been creating content about baby-led weaning for four years straight on Instagram. So I had an idea of like the first 100 episodes and what I wanted to do, but I really didn't want to just start with four. And I really didn't want to do just one a week. So we decided to launch with 20 episodes and we did that all on May 1st. So I'm going to share with you guys in this episode, some of the most downloaded episodes, the most popular ones, the longest shortest, et cetera, but those first 20 episodes, if you're just starting out with baby-led weaning, I spent a ton of time really nailing down the topics and the titles.

Katie Ferraro (2m 60s):

And it worked because in those first 20 episodes, we actually have some of the most downloaded episodes. So the actual, the most downloaded podcast episode so far in case you guys are curious It was called five things your baby should be able to do before starting baby-led weaning. That is episode number two. So I've just recorded at this time over 70 episodes so far, but number two was the one that everybody likes the most, which makes me happy because it means you're going back to the beginning. And I know a lot of people go back to the beginning and listen all the way through. So at the beginning we did 20 episodes. Now I do not do the podcast by myself. I have a fabulous team.

Katie Ferraro (3m 41s):

I have Lauren on my team who helps me with strategy and tells me when my proposed episode titles are not super strong and would be stronger. She also listens to every single episode before it comes out. I personally cannot stand the sound of my own voice. So I refuse to listen to them. Thank you Lauren, for doing that for us, she wears her fancy podcast editor headphones and gets it all up and going and scheduled. So every podcast episode, if you guys are followers comes out on Monday and on Thursday. So we drop at 2:00 AM Pacific time, Monday and Thursday, two episodes a week. We started with 20 and we're now up to 70. We're planning something big for you guys for 100, but Katelynn on my team also helps as well. She's also a registered dietitian. Some of you may know her as a community manager from some of my programs.

Katie Ferraro (4m 24s):

She's also a freehand illustrator and she does the podcast website, which if you haven't been there, be LW podcast.com. Katelynn makes it all happen. She does all the show notes, links, everything up that we're talking about in the episodes with all the codes and the different recipes, she designs all of the recipe, handouts that you guys love so much. And we've had two different audio editors left her who lives in Albania helped me with the first about 50 episodes. He helps with other stuff on our team. So we switched and we just started working with Emmanuel in South Africa, which has been fabulous to really up the audio quality of the podcast because the podcast has consistently been tops in the apple parenting podcast category since we launched.

Katie Ferraro (5m 8s):

So you can choose what categories you opt into when you're setting up your whole podcast. We chose a few of them, but knowing that parenting was really where we wanted to kind of double down our efforts. That's where most of our audience is. So on the day of our launch, the week of our launch, we were at number two in apple parenting podcast behind Dr. Laura. I love Dr. Laura, I'm happy being number two to Dr. Laura And we've gotten bounced up and down in the charts in parenting, but we've always stayed in the top 50. And we're generally in the top 20 for all parenting podcasts, which is due solely to you guys downloading and listening to the podcast. And I appreciate your feedback. I get all of my best episode ideas from reviews, which are so important for keeping the podcast relevant.

Katie Ferraro (5m 50s):

So I'm a little bit about the background of the podcast though. I wanted to do a podcast for a while because I listen to podcasts. So like, know how it goes in social media, in the world. There's like a million platforms and you can't be on all of them. And I don't think you should be not good for your mental health, but there's no way to do everyone really well. So I kind of decided coming out of the gate when I shifted my entire nutrition business as a dietitian to doing baby-led weaning back in 2016, that I wanted to be on the platforms where I personally felt comfortable. Like I don't like Facebook. I think it's a mean nasty place. And I have private Facebook group associated with my programs and that's it. I don't love Facebook. So I don't do a lot of stuff there. I love Instagram. I think Instagram is a great medium for sharing content visual for sharing stories, for connecting with people short and sweet, which is how you guys like a lot of the baby-led weaning content that I'm putting out.

Katie Ferraro (6m 41s):

So Instagram's always worked really well for me, but I also listen to podcasts when I was pregnant with the quadruplets. I was not on bed rest, but I put myself on like self-imposed bedrest. And literally from like, I think I was 18 weeks. I didn't really move off the couch. Like my daughter, Molly ate Mac and cheese. She was 18 months at that time, probably two to three times a day, cause I couldn't cook. I couldn't do do anything, but I listened to podcasts all the time. And I got obsessed with a few online marketing podcasts and business podcasts. And I'd always taught nutrition and I'd always run a private practice, but I knew with the quadruplets, it was going to be such a high risk pregnancy. There's a 50% chance of major handicap that I kind of prepared myself. My husband and I both did to switch our businesses and be able to stay home 100% full-time in the event that we had two or more severely handicapped children.

Katie Ferraro (7m 27s):

So fast forward, I was grateful that my, I went 34 weeks with my quadruplet pregnancy, the quads we're in the NICU for just about a month. They all came home though. And I definitely couldn't run around doing my nutrition consulting business, driving up to 60 hours a week on the road with five kids at home. So that's when I kind of got the idea to start doing an online business. And then when we started doing baby-led weaning, I'd always taught nutrition and I always taught and online model. I'd teach at seven different colleges and universities in California, but I'd want to share something kind of more relevant to the non-academic world. And that's when baby-led weaning kind of was catching on for me and doing social media. So I started doing all of this baby-led weaning content for you guys on Instagram and still to this day, love Instagram with the podcast and my Facebook groups.

Katie Ferraro (8m 13s):

Plus the Instagram, I do run the largest digital community dedicated to baby-led weaning, and I've met so many amazing, wonderful people as a result of that. I used to do a Facebook live show. So like back in the day when live streaming was like brand new, I would interview guest experts. And it was just a hassle like the video and having to put makeup on and wear clothes that wear my pajamas and I didn't consume content like that. So it always felt a little bit unnatural. So I kind of stopped that after a couple of years and always had it in the back of my head that I wanted to do podcasts because podcasts were where I learned how to run an online business podcasts are what I enjoy listening to when I'm doing endless hours of laundry. After my kids go to bed, a lot of you guys are doing the same thing.

Katie Ferraro (8m 55s):

So it was funny. I met with some marketing consultants and they're like, your audience is not, they're not listening to podcasts. You need to be on Tik TOK. You need to be on Pinterest. And I am not on TikTok and I am not on Pinterest because I don't consume content on Tik TOK or Pinterest. We have a small Pinterest presence to share recipes, but for the most part, I think it's always good in business to do what you feel comfortable doing in life. I like Instagram. I like podcasts. And so I was so grateful when Lauren and Katelynn were able to help me get this podcast off the ground on May 1st. So as I mentioned, we do two podcasts episodes a week. And at the beginning we were kind of like all over the board about what they were going to be like, what model should it be? Should each episode be the same? And I remember my family said, you're going to have a podcast. Wait a minute. Is it just going to be you talking like, I'm a doctor.

Katie Ferraro (9m 38s):

I was like, no other people are going to talk, but I didn't know what the format would look like. So after we launched the first 20 is when I kind of fell into the groove of doing a Monday episode, which is a mini training about baby-led weaning and then a Thursday episode, which is a guest expert interview. So that's been the cadence that seems to really work. The Monday episodes are a little bit shorter, short and sweet. I do all the allergenic foods for you guys. I did oatmeal. I did greens. I did pumpkin like how you safely can feed your baby, the food side of stuff. And then I share a lot of recipes through the show notes, which a lot of you guys go to the show notes page and then download the recipes. So I think that model is working well, Thursdays though, I've been interviewing guests experts.

Katie Ferraro (10m 18s):

And that has been for me, probably the most fun part of the podcast, especially doing this entirely from home with my seven kids, which I record like in the middle of the night or during nap time or bits and pieces. And you hear them sometimes because they don't always leave when they're supposed to, but being able to connect with other adults with other feeding experts. I mean, we have had such cool guests on I'm like would feel like I'd be doing a disservice if I didn't go through all of them. But the first guest I had on was Dr. Ron Sunog, he's a friend and colleague of mine. He's a pediatrician. He specializes in food allergies and we did our first bonus episode. So at first I thought like the interview episodes would be bonus episodes. And I was like, whoa, that's way too much work to try to do two episodes.

Katie Ferraro (10m 59s):

Plus a bonus episode every week. That's just three episodes. Why don't you just make the second episode, the interview? So we ended up doing that. He was the first guest on, we were talking about, is it safe to do allergenic foods during COVID it's still a super high downloaded episode. Dr. Sunog has been on a number of times since then. The only other repeat guest I've had on is my friend and colleague Dawn Winkleman, Ms. Don SLP. She's come on a number of times now we co-teach a program together called the 100 First Foods field guide, which I know a lot of you guys recently joined, but the most downloaded interview episode is an episode with Dawn. It's called six reasons to skip the sippy cup. I think that's been really mind blowing for people that you can go directly from bottle or breast to open cup, and you should be skipping the sippy cup.

Katie Ferraro (11m 44s):

She goes through all the developmental and speech reasons why you want to do that. I chime in with some nutrition stuff. That's a really, really cool episode. So I've, I've had two guests on a number of times Don and Dr. Tsunami, but I have had guests on, I mean, we had IBCLCs on talking about breastfeeding. A mom came on to talk about postpartum depression. Perissa we've had one of the most fun bonus episodes was a father's day episode, where he had a bunch of dads call in all over the world who were doing baby-led weaning and talking about their experience, which was cool. Cause I know most of the time it's the moms doing all of the work and you guys don't get enough credit, but there are dads out there doing baby-led weaning, and it was super fun to celebrate them as well.

Katie Ferraro (12m 26s):

We have had other parents on talking about doing a dairy ladder. I know Meg Mason, the mom came on and shared a bunch of great recipes with us. I've had authors on, we've talked about, spicing up your food and healthy baby food in Nigeria. I mean the list goes on and on. So the interview episodes have been so much fun and we've been really working on having a greater diversity as far as the types of guests who come on, their backgrounds, the areas that they work on, the types of cultural foods that we're featuring. And I know that a lot of you guys have really noticed that. And I appreciate it when you leave a review and say that you appreciate again, the diversity and the different types of content that we're trying to bring rather than just like what you shouldn't feed your baby. Cause part of why I got into baby-led weaning and to become an educator in this space was to really share the positive side of all the foods that babies can eat.

Katie Ferraro (13m 14s):

I know, you know, that baby-led weaning can be an incredibly judgmental movement. And my goal is to not only be normalizing baby's ability to self feed, but to be really celebrating the positive side of that and focusing on all of the foods that your baby can eat, instead of saying you shouldn't do pouches and you shouldn't spoon feed, there are ways to incorporate purees, which we've done in episodes, which honor the self feeding principles of baby-led weaning. And so it has been an absolute pleasure of bringing you guys all of this content over the past six months. So the podcast has been incredibly global experience as well. We have listeners from all over the world, the United States and Canada being the primary place where listeners come from, but Australia, UK for Germany, Ireland, the Philippines, Denmark, bane, we had Latifa join us from Nigeria, which was super cool.

Katie Ferraro (14m 2s):

Oh, we look at the stats every week and it's, we have listeners in Albania for a while. We thought that was just left or who was editing the podcast. But then we heard from some Albania moms that were doing baby-led weaning. So it's been a really cool way to share this content. I think with parents around the world, now I get a lot of requests from episodes, which I love because after like thinking of 70 different things to talk about from baby-led weaning, I love when you guys have ideas and the most requested episode idea that I just recorded is about traveling and eating on the go with baby-led weaning, which I think is so interesting. Cause I think parents have a lot of anxiety. Like you get comfortable doing your thing at home with your baby. And then it's like, oh my gosh, I have to leave the house. So I just recorded that episode for you guys.

Katie Ferraro (14m 43s):

The best place to leave episode ideas is in a written review. I read every single review, like reviews are really hard to come by. I don't pay for reviews or I beg for them though. I know you guys have heard that if you do enjoy the podcast, leaving a written review on apple podcast is like the single best thing that you can do. Someone just left a review that I want to share with you because it has become my all time favorite review. The title is game-changer and said, I work outside of the home. My work weeks range from 50 to 70 hours per week. Needless to say, I constantly feel guilty about the amount of time I spend focused away from my baby. I knew purees were not working for my baby girl, but I did not have the time to sit down and read a book to research baby-led weaning.

Katie Ferraro (15m 24s):

This podcast completely changed the game for me. I can listen to it on my way to and from work, which has been a blessing. My baby's doing great with baby-led weaning. She's never been happier. Thank you. Thank you for this podcast. I am incredibly grateful. I don't know who left that review, but I just want to tell you, I am so incredibly grateful for your review. And so happy to hear that this is a medium and this is a platform that's working for some of you guys, as far as learning about how to give your babies a safe start to solid food. So when I was planning the baby podcast birthday party, which was just planning this episode and everybody knows a birthday present for a baby is really just a present for the parents for keeping the baby alive.

Katie Ferraro (16m 4s):

I was like, what do I want for the podcast birthday? I would love to have your review, your written review on apple podcast. It's the most important thing for helping the podcast to be found and stay relevant. If you're liking the content, here's all you gotta do. I'm giving away a pair of apple AirPods pro to one randomly selected winner who leaves a written review from the time of this podcast release. In seven days later, all you have to do to enter is leave a written review. If you're enjoying it, five stars are always appreciated, but be honest, I get a lot of constructive feedback out of the reviews. I mean be nice, but you know, be honest and in the review, like podcast reviews are weird in apple cause you can make up your own username, but if you could just make your username the same name as your Instagram handle, I'll find you on Instagram and DM you.

Katie Ferraro (16m 51s):

If you win one lucky winner will win a pair of AirPods pro. So you can listen to the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy Podcast in the comfort of your own new AirPods pro. So hit me up with your review. Thank you again for listening. This has been so much fun doing the podcast. Then I continue doing two episodes a week going to keep checking those reviews for all of your great episode ideas. The written reviews are where people leave the ideas. It's where I read them and get them and turn them into episodes, which I am so grateful that you guys are finding helpful. And thank you for listening. Bye now.