I never imagined I’d be sitting in a freezing-cold doctor’s office with those awful fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, being diagnosed with thyroid cancer two days after returning from my honeymoon.

I’ll never forget the moment my world came to a screeching halt when my doctor said, “The biggest risk of this surgery is that you could permanently lose your voice.”

And I never expected to be so terrified of losing my voice — especially as someone who had been told since I was nine years old that “my mouth got me into trouble” and who believed that no one really cared what I had to say. But that defining moment became the catalyst for the work I do today.

For me, podcasting isn’t just about building an audience, growing your authority, or adding a new income stream to your business. It’s a way to challenge yourself every day not to take your voice for granted — and to use it to create powerful, meaningful change in the world.

It’s easy to think no one is listening or that what you have to say doesn’t matter. But if you keep believing that, the people who need your message the most will never have the chance to hear it. Your voice has the power to inspire, connect, and change lives — and someone out there is waiting right now to hear it from you.