The Ryan Leak Podcast - We're Back

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

The Ryan Leak Podcast is back! After taking a hiatus, I’m bringing this show back with a fresh perspective, a simpler format, and one goal: to give you something practical, inspiring, and thought-provoking in every episode. No fluff. No wasted time. Just one idea—one nugget—to help you be more intentional, courageous, and hopeful about your life, work, and relationships.In this first episode back, I share the real reason I hit pause, what I learned from stepping away, and why now is the perfect time to return.

Welcome to the Ryan Leak podcast, the podcast formerly known as followership with Ryan Leak. Now, it has been over 18 months since we have recorded an episode, and I am very excited to say these words. We are back. Now, before I can tell you exactly what you can expect in the future from the Ryan Leak podcast, allow me to tell you, the story of how we got where we are right now. So during COVID, like a lot of other people, I found myself in an unfamiliar territory of absolute boredom and decided to start a podcast. I don't know if you know this, but in the year 2020, over 900,000 people decided to start a podcast. I didn't just think, oh, let me start one podcast. I had the grand idea to say, you know what,

Let's start two. The first one was called Lifecast with Ryan Leak, where I got to talk about all things life. Now, the second one was called followership with Ryan League, where I explore the other side of leadership, the art of following. Now, here's the funny thing about followership. Number one, most people don't even know how to say it.

In fact, our guest would get on episodes and say, Ryan, I'm just so honored to be here on followship. I'm like, no, it's called followship. followership. It is a little bit difficult to say, so that's not bad on them. But nevertheless, people couldn't wrap their mind fully around it. They kept steering towards leadership conversations. And it was a good idea. And we had some grand conversations. But essentially, the feedback that we've gotten from our listeners is that people would hear me speak at their job, at an event, at their church, wherever. And then they'd

would come to this podcast to hear more of what they heard on the stage. And they simply weren't getting what they came for. So that was something we definitely took note of. Secondly, I hit a wall about 18 months ago. I was doing too much. I had a little bit of a health scare. I was overweight by about 35 pounds. And I was just running and gunning and had so many things going on in my life that I had to make a decision to cut something. And as much as I love podcasts and believe they can add value to people's lives, I believe when it comes to priorities, you do need to know what comes first, but you also need to know what comes last.

And inevitably, I had to come to the realization that two podcasts definitely were actually a distraction for me. It was actually taking me away from my actual business, which is writing books, and speaking around the world. also was taking away from my family. And so for 18 months, I put a pause on recording my own podcast. I also put a pause on going on other people's podcasts. I think over the last 18 months, I maybe was on one or two podcasts that were really connected to events I was already speaking at, but I had to create some margin in my schedule to get a healthier rhythm. And so here we are,

18 months later, I am 35 pounds lighter, and I have a much healthier rhythm, a rhythm where I actually feel like I'm in a really good place to be able to record a new podcast that we're just calling the Ryan Leak podcast. And this time, it feels like it fits into my life rather than competing with it. And I have found a format that I believe is going to serve you extremely well. And I believe that this format aligns with my ability to show up and deliver on a consistent basis. So, yes, we're back. And I believe it's going to be better than ever. So here's what you can expect from this season of the Ryan League podcast, simplicity. Each episode is going to be short and sweet. Probably less than 10 minutes. I'm here to give you a thought.

A nugget. What I've learned over the last couple of years is the impact that anybody can have on somebody's life in 60 seconds on social media in one real. You can share one thought that can absolutely change somebody's life. I want to double click on some of the nuggets, some of the thoughts that I've had on social media and record some longer episodes for you right here. They're longer than social media, but they're shorter than most podcasts. So I'm here to focus on one nugget. One idea that will encourage you, one idea that will inspire you, something to make you think, something to help you live with a little bit more intentionality, perhaps it'll be a thought that can give you some bravery to take that next step.

Perhaps it's an episode that can give you some hope to keep going. Or the faith to believe that tomorrow can be better than today. Now, for those of you who've been on this podcast journey with me before, number one, thank you for your patience. You stuck around, and I appreciate you more than you know. Secondly, for those of you who are brand new to the podcast, hey, I'm glad you're here. My hope is that this space becomes a place where we can grow together.

So, buckle up because we're just getting started. Let's grow. Let's be intentional. and let's look for ways to add value to the world around us. Thanks for listening, and I can't wait for the next episode where we're going to dive into something that I think is going to have a significant impact on how you approach 20, 25.