Journey to There · 2023-03-08 · 5 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
11 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Tracy DeForge uses her podcast's eighth anniversary as an inflection point to examine why the show went dormant and what prompted its revival. She frames this return not as a reboot - which would imply starting over - but as a renaissance, a deliberate revival marked by deeper self-awareness and intentional choices. The episode weaves together personal geography (moves from South Florida to Taos, Tucson, and now Mexico) with professional priorities, candidly exploring how work addiction and business growth became default settings that sometimes overshadowed personal wellbeing and relationships. DeForge draws lessons from her golden doodle Finn about daily joy, adventure, and simplicity, and explicitly rejects the pressure-driven metrics that define podcast success in favor of creative freedom and authentic connection. She invites listeners to shape the show's future through voice messages and contact forms, positioning Journey to There as a space for "raw, unfiltered, and real" conversations. For B2B operators, this episode models vulnerability as a business asset and demonstrates how reframing setbacks as redirects rather than failures can unlock renewal.
Life circumstances including the pandemic, multiple geographic relocations from Florida to New Mexico to Arizona to Mexico, and personal disappointments led her to focus heavily on her production company instead, resulting in an eight-year gap in episodes.
A reboot starts something over from scratch, while a renaissance is a revival or renewed interest in something existing; DeForge chose the latter framing because she's returning with renewed understanding, not starting fresh.
Always be up for an adventure, every day brings a new chance to experience joy, and if you live for naps and snacks, everything else will take care of itself.
She's giving herself grace and permission to be creative without setting specific goals on episode count or release schedule, rejecting the pressure-driven metrics she knows firsthand are required to build successful podcasts.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
This is almost entirely personal autobiography and emotional processing with essentially zero actionable or novel insight for B2B operators. The closest thing to a business takeaway is a vague reference to business growth, immediately dropped.
if you live for naps and snacks, the rest of everything else will take care of itself
building successful businesses has never been my challenge. Building a successful personal life, on the other hand, is my never-ending life lesson
The reboot-vs-renaissance framing offers a mildly interesting entry point but is immediately abandoned for generic self-help narration. The sign-off quote is self-described as original but is entirely conventional.
is this new iteration of the Journey to the Air podcast a reboot or a renaissance?
The life we create is based on the choices we make. Let's make choices that bring us love, light and joy
This is a solo host monologue with no guests at all. The host mentions owning a podcast production company but the episode itself demonstrates no practitioner expertise whatsoever.
I own a damn full-service production company. How could I let this happen?
I'm not setting any specific goals on how many episodes there will be and when they will be released
Virtually no concrete data, named companies, metrics, or evidence of any kind. The sole quasi-metric ('three times growth') is completely undefined in scope, timeframe, or measurement unit.
My solve, of course, was to bury myself neck deep and produce your podcast, which resulted in three times growth. Yay.
We left house and made a pit stop in Tucson, Arizona for a year
This is an uninterrupted solo monologue relaunch episode; there is no interviewing, no questions, no follow-up, and no pushback. The brief dialogue snippet at the open appears to be a pre-recorded testimonial clip, not a real exchange.
You know what? I think you're right. I think it's a gift and they come in funny looking packages sometimes.
I want us to connect hang out learn from each other
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Happy 8th Podversary to Journey to There! Life is a journey full of twists and turns, and this podcast is no exception. New adventures, new lessons, and even some life lessons from Finn! Catch up with Journey to There podcast host, Traci DeForge as she reflects on her journey through life's highs and lows and shares her musings on love, light, and joy Before I officially titled this episode I asked myself… is this new iteration of the J2T podcast a reboot or a renaissance? I felt like it was the latter but honestly, I had to look up the definition to be certain! Ren·ais·sance /ˈrenəˌsäns/ a revival of or renewed interest in something. noun: renaissance; plural noun: renaissances Alas, it is a true renaissance! Today is the 8th Podversary of Journey to There and with any anniversary comes reflection. Some of which are bittersweet. Why did I let some much time lapse? What if I had kept it moving forward? Is it worth bringing it back? I need to reign in the negative self-talk that’s ramping up fast because I want to indulge in some good ole fashion flogging with thoughts like, “I own a damn full service production company.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Maybe you just need to move forward starting today and see where your journey takes you. You know what? I think you're right. I think it's a gift and they come in funny looking packages sometimes.
Funny looking packages. This is Journey to There. And here we are. Here we are and she's done an amazing job.
Where your host, Tracy DeForge, explores the messy, joyful, and often complicated intersection between personal and business growth. I have total goosebumps still. Keep it up. Whatever you're doing, don't change.
Just keep it up. Hey, you. Before I officially titled this episode, I asked myself, is this new iteration of the Journey to the Air podcast a reboot or a renaissance? I felt like it was the latter, but honestly, I had to look up the definition just to be certain.
So here it is. Renaissance, a revival of or renewed interest in something. Alas, it is a true renaissance. Today is the eighth podversary of Journey to There.
And with any anniversary comes reflection, some of which are bittersweet. Why did I let so much time lapse between recordings? What if I had kept the podcast moving forward Is it even worth bringing it back I actually need to rein in the negative self that ramping up fast because I want to indulge in some good old flogging with thoughts like, I own a damn full-service production company. How could I let this happen?
And the answer is, I didn't let anything happen. Life happened. So let's catch up. The pandemic impacted everyone individually and collectively.
I'm still sorting through the whirlwind effect it had on our lives, including the fact that I still don't have my full ensemble of taste buds back yet, but I digress. My husband and I left the South Florida seaside life for the mountains of Taos, New Mexico in 2020. This literal journey came with high expectations and ended with some bottomed out emotional disappointments. My solve, of course, was to bury myself neck deep and produce your podcast, which resulted in three times growth.
Yay. But if you've listened to any previous episodes of this podcast, then you know, building successful businesses has never been my challenge. Building a successful personal life, on the other hand, is my never-ending life lesson. Times have not changed that much.
We left house and made a pit stop in Tucson, Arizona for a year. I was so checked out of my life that I literally justified the decision to live in a town that held no interest for me whatsoever and wasn remotely close to any of my friends and family My brain told me none of that mattered because my focus needed to be on growing the business and that was all I was planning on doing anyway Never underestimate the power of a work addicted brain. And now a new adventure has begun with an international move to Mexico.
I'm reconnected to my seaside life, which I affectionately refer to as my sea soul life. Although I'm not remotely geographically close to friends and family, they are a lot more likely to visit me here. We also added a new addition to the family. His name is Finn, and he is a 100-pound golden doodle who everyone should take their life lessons from.
One, always be up for an adventure. Two, every day brings a new chance to experience joy. and three, if you live for naps and snacks, the rest of everything else will take care of itself. It's fair to say I'm still on my journey to there, thus the renaissance of the podcast.
I've learned a few new lessons along the way and come through the other side of some stuff and ready to share my musings with you. I'm looking forward to this next chapter of the pod. I want us to connect hang out learn from each other I rebooting without any pressure on myself I not setting any specific goals on how many episodes there will be and when they will be released I giving myself grace. I'm giving myself permission to be creative in the medium I love the most without getting all caught up in what I know firsthand it takes to build a successful podcast.
But really, isn't the definition of success relative. I look forward to reuniting with some old friends from the podcast audience. And I am beyond giddy with anticipation of meeting the new friends I'll make along the way. So I'll sign off with one of my fave quotes that is actually one of my own.
The life we create is based on the choices we make. Let's make choices that bring us love, light and joy. And if we don't, let's ask for the courage to embrace the detours. Cheers to what's possible.
Thank you for listening to the Journey to There podcast. Visit our website at journeytothere.com. Leave a voice message or fill out the contact form.
Tell us what raw, unfiltered, and real guest or topic you'd like to hear next. Till next time, cheers to what's possible.
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