Episode 95 A Behind-The-Scenes Peek At A Wellness Podcast: Interview with Mariette Snyman

Chris McDonald:  This is Holistic Counseling, the podcast for mental health therapists who want to deepen their knowledge of holistic modalities and build their practice with confidence. I'm your host, Chris McDonald, licensed therapist. I am so glad you're here for the journey.

Welcome to today's episode of the Holistic Counseling Podcast. I'm your host, Chris McDonald. Before we start today, I wanted to say hello to my. Listeners, as a listener, you have access to my free nine part email course, becoming a Holistic Counselor. In this course, you'll explore different holistic strategies, how to develop your skills as a holistic counselor, and how to manifest your holistic practice through journaling.

Go to www.holisticcounselingpodcast.com. Scroll down and enter your name and email address. Have you wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a wellness podcast? Today's guest is here to pull back the curtain and give you the scoop. Marriott Nyman is an award-winning journalist and host of the calm, clear, and helpful podcast show highlighting emotional health, relationship and personal growth content, combining decades of experience in the magazine industry, with her longing to share information on navigating life's challenge.

Mart interviews wellness experts and features their expertise in articles and podcasts on various platforms. A fun fact about her is she loves going barefoot, relishes foot robes, and studied a mind body methodology called foot ology many moons ago. Welcome to the podcast

Mariette Snyman: Mart. Thank you Chris, and thank you so much for having me.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. So what is ology? I have to ask. , do you know ? I didn't know that was a thing.

Mariette Snyman: No, no more. I think because the lady who created that, um, methodology, she passed away long ago. Oh. And they were, they, yeah. It's very sad. And they weren't many practitioners and I didn't really do it. Seriously. You know, it, I, it was just, just, Yeah.

But she taught us to read emotional issues from the feet. Interesting. Yeah, very interesting. Using, uh, the reflexology foot chart and then the chakras and the sacred sacraments, and then also some information from the Cabala. So it was quite interesting. Wow.

Chris McDonald: Very integrate. That's perfect for this podcast too.

So can you share with my listeners a little more about yourself and.

Mariette Snyman: Right. I always say I was born curious Chris, which I think most children are. I was just very fortunate in that my parents thought it was a good thing if the kids were curious, and they also asked us questions. So I think that stuck with me and eventually, after many years doing many other things.

I started working as a part-time journalist when I was 35 years old, and then when I was 40, I got my dream job. At a glossy women's magazine called Rui. Rua. Nice. And my, yeah, my mother Tan is Afrika, and that means Red Roses in English. It was an old magazine. It originated in the second World War, so I think that's why I had a feeling.

You know, bit of a sentimental title. I don't think that would roll today, but, uh, I worked there for, for 20 years and then suddenly it closed down during lockdown. So that is when I came to the work I'm doing at the moment.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. So what inspired you to create a wellness podcast? Cuz there's lots of different areas you can go into.

Mariette Snyman: Yes. Uh, I was very lucky. I worked under two editors at the magazine who gave us sort of, well not completely free reign, of course, but they let the journalists go in the direction group that they were led to go into and. Liked the whole thing of relationships, emotional wellbeing and personal growth. And you know, just basically looking at everything that stands in the way of our happiness and finding answers to that.

And the wonderful thing was, because it was such a, a well regarded magazine here in South Africa, it was. Saying open sesame. If you went to somebody and, and said, I'm from Roy Russa, may I interview you? They would usually say yes. So, you know, I've just, nice. Yeah, I, that was wonderful. The magazine has reopened, uh, under other publishers.

Yeah. Good news. It's been published. It is. Good news. It's been published by other publishers now, and I freelances for them a little now, but, uh, yeah, those were different days. Then the interesting thing was that five years before the magazine closed down, um, I had a strange experience. That was in 2015.

One night I woke up in the middle of the night with a live spider in my hair. Oh, oh. And I have, I have to admit that the spider didn't make it. I'm very sorry about this. I'm not sorry about it. I got such a fright, and then I went back to sleep and I had the strangest dreams with weird symbolism. And I remember there were four birds of praying and they were very powerful, and I had all sorts of strange symbols in that dream.

And the next morning when I woke up, I had this desire to start a digital platform. For, at that stage for young adults. Now I know you work with young adults. Yes. And, and I just envisioned this digital home where they could come to and get information and inspiration on, you know, relationships and their emotional health and that sort of thing.

And that same week I happened to come an online business course. Uh, it's Marie Foley. B School, I dunno if you're familiar with Marie.

Chris McDonald: I haven't heard of that.

Mariette Snyman: No. Yeah, she's, she's, uh, um, an American and I have a lot of respect for her. So being in South Africa, you know, the exchange rate isn't always the best.

So I looked at the course and I thought, I can't really afford it, but it just, it just wouldn't go away. So what I did is that I went into my savings, I paid for this course, and I started it, um, I think it was the next week or the week after, and I spent months. This course helps you craft your concept for an online business.

Uh, amongst other things, and this is what I did, I spent months with going through the questions and the, the projects and so on. That one had to complete and then it was done, and here I was with a concept all dressed up in nowhere to go because I needed sponsors. And for some reason I just never got around to finding people to sponsor this project, and it petered out.

And I was very disappointed and I was very angry with myself, you know, for, for being so weak in air coms. And then a very wise friend to me, uh, wi uh, for Wise, Phil said to me, you know, maybe it's not meant to happen now and maybe it's not meant to happen. So I accepted that and I went on with my usual work.

And then in 2019, Roy Reza started a, a podcast platform called r r Radio, and that was a first in our magazine, stable. So we had to make it up as we went along. But it was great fun. It was a, a huge learning curve. I'm not one who's very fond of, of tech, so I had to learn a lot of things. Yes. Mm-hmm. . But that was so wonderful because just about a year later, the magazine closed down and that was completely unexpectedly in Covid.

And the strangest thing, once again, uh, about two months before the magazine closed down, I, we have a, a pool in our backyard and I fished a piece of plant material from the pool, and it was, it looked exactly like a Diaz antlers miniature ant. Oh, and that reminded me of a fairy tale I'd written some years before, which is all about the princess that escapes from the castle where she escaped, sort of locked up and she, she and her horse just.

Go away and they have all sorts of adventures. And at one stage she meets a dear with these huge antlers and then she lands in a position where she can go neither forward nor backward. Um, and that's all I want to say about the story at the moment. The story is under about on my website, and when I saw this piece of plant material, I had an uncanny feeling that I was going to land in such a.

You know, sometimes you have these premonitions. Oh, for sure. Yeah. And then two months later, we were on a Zoom call, um, actually the first Zoom call I'd ever been on because we didn't do that sort of thing until Covid, and we thought we were going to plan the next issue of the magazine, and lo and behold, we were told it was closing down

Oh. Oh, no. So now I, fortunately, I don't feel any pain about it anymore, but you can imagine. Oh, that it was very, yeah, a bit disappointing. But they're always gifts, not so. And, uh, my children, I have three, I have two grown up children and a son-in-law. And they immediately said to me, since I had loved the podcast, they were going to help me launch a podcast series.

And my son-in-law offered to both me a website. Lovely. Mm-hmm. . Yes. And then I ca I went back to Marie Folio's course and redid the course and developed my concept. That's a very long story, but that is how, it's this whole that is how the whole platform came about.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. What a journey. I'm sorry, I'm stuck on the spider part.

just, I don't like spiders.

Mariette Snyman: But you, you know that spiders are connected with webs. Yes. So, I thought that was a powerful piece of symbolism.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. That's so interesting. Then you had the dream too, and it's almost like, uh, I don't know, the universe was trying to tell you something there and, and then it's like you had that thought.

It's like you're very sensitive to things and can really pick up a lot. Well,

Mariette Snyman: it's, it's wonderful talking to you because having think, listened to quite a few of your podcasts, I know that you are open to this sort of thing. You know some people Yes, might, might think, Hmm, I wonder what she's smoking .

Chris McDonald: Oh no.

Yes. We're very accepting here and listeners are too. So it's, it's, if you say something like that, we're like, what? Tell us more. we wanna hear. Yes. Very, very excited about holistic things and. Oh, that's great. And I love your podcast too cuz it's, it's so many different kinds of topics that you cover and so many that cross over into the holistic realm too, which I was very excited about.

Mariette Snyman: Yes. I used to write quite a lot about, um, mind body therapies, for instance, at the magazine. Oh, okay. Yeah, so that is something I learned a lot about, and maybe I should just tell the listeners that on my, on my website, which includes all my podcasts and some articles, I have four sections. The one is intimacy, the one is parenting.

The. One is emotional health and then the last one is challenging yourself, which is therefore everything that doesn't fall under the other three categories, you know, . Okay. Where I talk to life coaches and and that sort of thing. And talk about life's

Chris McDonald: challenges. Oh, okay. But I like, yeah, the variety that you have too.

And I, I try to do that with this podcast too. Cause they talk about holistic strategies, but then talk about self-care, personal growth also, and also looking at business stuff. So practice building cuz, and I think that's holistic too. We look at different parts of people. , isn't

Mariette Snyman: it? Absolutely. You cover a wide range of topics and I really love the fact that you support therapists and, and other experts who would like to, to work in a, in a broader way.

Yeah. You know, and Yeah, because I think. I think they re, that really is a direction that that many people are moving into at the moment,

Chris McDonald: and it's really growing. I think that there's a lot of people really wanting to go into this field to, mm-hmm. There's some degrees now with holistic therapy, which none of this existed when I went to college.

but I don't know where was that in? When I graduated 1995. But yeah, so that it's really growing and lots more interests and you know, clients are asking for it too. They wanna go to holistic providers, a lot of people. And, and it's just so wonderful to see all the growth and the openness out there. And, and there are open people, I know you mentioned about that some people are judgmental, but there's judgmental people, but there's a lot of people that are, that are very accepting and listen and, and I'm to the point with, you know, people are judgmental, then you're not my.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. And I will find the people that are my tribe. And that's the whole point of this podcast too, is to build that holistic community and

Mariette Snyman: Yes. And you

Chris McDonald: are doing so. Yes, definitely. Well, going back to your podcast, so how did you determine what kind of listeners that you wanted to reach?

Mariette Snyman: I wouldn't have been able to do that if it hadn't been former FOIAs the course I did.

Yeah. Yeah, um, I did a lot of exercises and, and thinking and so on, so it, it took me about nine months to get it all together, and I wouldn't say it's perfect, but I did my best, you know, because you really had to go deep. Uh, she has a viewpoint, which I agree with, and that is that if you, if what you do isn't heart-centered, then you're going to struggle to find the, the stamina to keep it.

Yes, I

Chris McDonald: agree. Totally. Yeah. I have experience with that too, if you don't mind me, Sharon, because, um, I started another podcast, um, nothing left to give, um, in two, in 2020 of all times. Um, but yeah, that, and I, I realized that was for our burned out healthcare providers, which, you know, I love to support, but my heart wasn't totally into it.

Mm-hmm. and I just had this need to like really break out and, and I quit because I. I just am not feeling it and really wanted to jump into more holistic areas and that that's where my, my passion is. Yeah. So

Mariette Snyman: I'm quite covering, actually covering a very wide range with what I do, but there are two primary goals that I have for this podcast and then the articles I, I, right.

When I was a journalist, people would come to me because I was writing about mental health and, and so on. They would come and say, oh, I'm looking for a psychologist or for a life coach, could you refer me to someone? And I realized it's hard to find someone who resonates with you. Yeah. Cause you know, your, your GP may, may refer you, your best friend may tell you she goes to this person, but how do you choose that person?

And I thought, if you hear that person's voice, that's a very powerful way of, Getting a well, not getting a look at them, you know, hearing them and not only the words they, they say, but what matters to them and how they approach things. And you might perhaps discover that they've. Gone through the same challenge that you are facing and to a, to a lesser extent, that's true of articles as well.

And on my platform, on my website, I also write what I call up close and personal articles of some of the experts I interview because, uh, it, you know, if there's time and if they're willing because I feel. A client wants to know who they are approaching and if they, if they can get a sense of that person, they can get comfortable approaching that person.

And then the strange thing is that my, my whole platform came into being during Covid when we started doing a lot of online coaching and.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. You know, which is amazing.

Mariette Snyman: Yeah. When it became commonplace. So I find that that wonderful that you can sit on the African continent and you have, can have a coach or a therapist in North America,

Chris McDonald: for instance.

Yeah. Yeah. It's really connected people more in some ways. Yeah, so,

Mariette Snyman: so that was my, that's my one pri primary goal. The other one is to help the experts get, get their voices and what they do onto a trusted platform. So I'm working hard to have my platform seen as trustworthy, and you must earn trust, as I'm sure you do.

So that is why I do my best. You know, with everything I do and try to put across what, when I have a podcast guest for instance, the important thing for me is to put across what they have to offer and to, to spread the

Chris McDonald: word about that. So how did you decide on the name of the podcast?

Mariette Snyman: Oh, I had so many names whenever I got in the car and drove, I would think about names.

And then one day this one came up, um, calm, clear, and helpful because unlike you, you have a very specific point that you are developing in your podcast. Very specific, which is excellent. But I didn't find that when I was constructing my concept. So, I came up with calm, clear, and helpful. And my son-in-law who was developing my website, I said to him, this is my working title.

And he said, but he liked it. there he, and I must admit that calm is the one thing I would love

Chris McDonald: to be , but I think about the results of what you want, right, that people are looking for is that calm and something like a clear, to me, clear means like clear message and. Helpful information. I don't know if that's what you were trying to Yes, that's exactly it.

Oh, okay. Good. You've, you've got that right? Yeah. Okay. But yeah, I could see how people could really be like, oh yeah, that's what I want. . Yeah. And people could really wanna jump in and what's this all about and learn more about it, right? Yeah. So how do you find your guests and decide what kind of topics you.

Mariette Snyman: Now that was quite a challenge, uh, ever since I started working at the magazine. I remember right at the beginning they asked me to do apart from articles, some snippet pages every month. You know, uh, there was one on parenting and one on emotional health. I don't quite remember. And the same wise friend who once said to me, maybe your platform isn't meant to be or to be.

Now, I say to her, where on earth am I going to get? Information for these pages. And she said to me, well just be open and let the information come to you. Mm-hmm. . And that agreed. That was such good advice and that's what I've been trying to do ever since. So when I started my podcasts, I first relied on the network of experts I built.

During my time at the magazine and they were wonderful. They were so willing to, to take part, and then eventually I realized that. One thing leads to another. So I have to be on Facebook and LinkedIn quite a lot, and then Instagram now and then, and I find that, that there are wonderful experts there if one just keeps one's eyes open.

And then I also, uh, freelance for some magazines, some local magazines. And when I page through through them, I also get ideas for topics and guests. So it's, it's a question. Of having your focus, of having the right focus and always being on the lookout for someone. And, uh, the further I go, the more the more guests come my way, which I'm very grateful for.

Chris McDonald: No, I appreciate your process cuz that was similar road that I took too, is who do I know? When I started and who can I reach out to? And one thing that I found helpful is to ask them, do you know anybody who might be interested in being a guest? ?

Mariette Snyman: Yes. Yes. Referrals are

Chris McDonald: wonderful. Yeah, that's a big one too.

If anybody here that's listening and wants to do a podcast, that's one way to start too, is to really, you know, ask people and, and you do gotta ask, cuz I've only had probably two people I've ever said, Nope, I'm not doing an interview. But most people are like, okay, we'll give it a try and. And I think, like you said, just going on social media, I read a lot.

I connect with people on social media. I'm always have my eyes and ears open. Like you said, that word open. And if I hear even a friend talking about a topic, be like, huh, I wonder if that would be something good for the podcast. Mm-hmm. . Right.

Mariette Snyman: And it's so exciting. That is, it is, isn't it? Maybe this will work.

Let's Google this person and then you, you'll find someone and it's really exciting.

Chris McDonald: I'm glad you mentioned LinkedIn cause I haven't really gone on there. But that's a good idea too, to look for people on there too with different areas and things you hadn't thought of other way. Um, so how does your podcast serve its listeners?

Mariette Snyman: I would like to think that in the first place it would make them feel not so alone when they come to one platform and find that that the thing that has been bugging them, you know, actually has got a name and they are experts who can help one cope with that. That is what I really hope. And then on the other hand, I also speak to peop apart from wellness experts.

I speak to people who have overcome. Obstacles often with the help of the, uh, therapy or coaching or that sort of thing. And they are also very inspirational. I'm one for, for new information. I love new information, so I really hope that the, the people who visit my website and listen to my podcasts will be introduced to.

Groundbreaking new therapies or tools, uh, which, which, which will help them, uh, in ways that, that has that, uh, one never could have done before. You know, for instance, there's a, a new psychotherapy, which is, it'll started in about 2014, called Brain Working Recursive Therapy. I dunno if you've heard about it.

I have not heard of. You have not heard about it? No. It's very, it's very interesting. It was developed by, um, a British man called Terence Watts, who has been in the world of ed therapy since 1989. He did many other interesting things before that, but he found a way for a therapist to operate in the cognitive gap between the brain's first responder circuit.

And the amygdala. So it changes the signal that the amygdala receives. And, uh, I think it's revolutionary. So I've got quite a few podcasts and, uh, an article or two about it on my website, but that excites me, you know, the ability to have something new and to, to help introduce it to the world. So the girl, that's one of the things that, that really floats.

Chris McDonald: Yeah, that's really exciting too, to be on the edge cuz you, I'm, I'm a therapist and I haven't heard of it, so you . So it's awesome that you are out there just promoting some of these new modalities and

Mariette Snyman: well, it has to come to you before you can promote it. So once again, that's, you know, that's the

Chris McDonald: exciting part.

That's definitely something I gotta, uh, listen to on your podcast. So how do you manage all of it with all the moving parts of a podcast, ? You laugh what with grace? With grace and smile on your face.

Mariette Snyman: Yeah, you know, it's now, now with I ask for Grace , , you know, um, when you renew entrepreneur, you have to do everything yourself in, in the beginning, which on one hand is wonderful because I do miss working as part of a team.

We had a wonderful team at the magazine, but there you tend. To do one or two or three things, and now I suddenly have to do the, the social media myself and I have to do all the admin and, and that sort of thing. But that's a way to grow it. It offers new avenues for expression. For instance, when I, I have to look for stock picks that I use on my website, and I enjoy that.

I've never done that before. That's, Yeah, so, so I find, you know, even editing the podcast, which can be such a, I dunno

Chris McDonald: how you do that. . ,

Mariette Snyman: oh, well, Lord, I, I really hope to get someone to help at some stage, but, you know, uh, I do find that, uh, there's a rhythm to the different types of tasks that one does when you have a podcast and you have to do it all your own.

Uh, for instance, researching new guests and researching modalities and that sort of thing, and then designing the framework. Because I like to send my guests frameworks with their questions before we do the interview. They can stick to it or we, sometimes we don't stick to it, but just to make me feel pre prepared and to help them prepare if they, if they wish to.

So that sort of thing really takes a lot of, um, brain energy. But then editing a podcast doesn't and looking for a stock. Doesn't, but, and social media doesn't necessarily take a lot of brain power, so I find that there's quite an, a nice rhythm to doing all these things. And some things I do when I'm feeling fresh and some things I do when I'm, I, I don't have that much energy left.

Chris McDonald: I haven't thought of it that way. The things that are, I guess, I hate to say mindless, but are, yeah. Take less energy to really look at those. Yeah. Cuz some things I do find energy wise is like looking for picture. That's fun. That, that gives me a little energy, little boost or, you know, I do a lot of social media and to me that's fun.

I like engaging with people. I like, you know, seeing what people are posting, what kind of new reels are out there and, and I'm on TikTok now. So I'm Oh, wonderful. It's fun Now. I have fun. You inspire me. I have a lot of fun with these videos. You know, I never thought I was, I never liked videos, but then once I discovered reels in TikTok, I was like, this is kind of cool.

So I just, I kind of copy some people , but they do, um, just give inspiration from others, and then I just kind of make it my own. And it's a, to me it's like a creative process. It is.

Mariette Snyman: It's very creative. So I'm going to look at what you're doing on TikTok and maybe you'll, oh no. Get me onto the platform at some

Chris McDonald: stage,

Oh, you have to let me know what you think. I will. Yeah. So, but I think that, that, well cuz TikTok is the number one, um, social media right now out there, that more and more people are, it's not just young teenagers anymore. It's, it's all different ages and, and there's more and more therapists on there. So that's what I thought it would be a good platform for me too, to, to get on there.

And, and I've already connected with a lot of people on there that are interested in holistic stuff, so

Mariette Snyman: I didn't know that. So yeah. Good. So I'm discovering something

Chris McDonald: to. Open it up. And I know we started to chat before, um, we hit record too, that, you know, I just don't wanna do editing. I have no interest. I tried it and I get too stressed out and I'm like, uh, so yeah.

So, but to think about, you know, hiring out for some things when you can, we can afford to. And cuz it's, it's a lot. When I first took, I took a training for podcasting before I went into it. Cause I really wanted to educate myself and I did what you did. It took me a long time. I took probably like eight months just to really research and learn and study and figure out what kind of audience do I want, how do I wanna do this?

And I took my time and I think, I think it's wise to do that. I mean, you can just jump in, but for me, I just wanted to get the background and sort out what, what is all, all that's involved. It's not for, if you have no time at all, it's really gonna be hard to get it started. You really do gotta make time.

Like I told you that I have one day a week, that's my podcasting day, so I don't see clients. I focus mostly on that and figure out my systems and processes for. Getting it all done and, and once the wheelhouse is, is really integrated and works together, then, then it works well. But of course when something breaks down mm-hmm.

when something's not working, you know, then we gotta backtrack. But, but once you can get things in order, I think, and get it rolling, you know, it can work pretty well. Yes. And

Mariette Snyman: there's always someone to ask.

Chris McDonald: That's true too.

Mariette Snyman: I got, uh, some Ude Udemy courses on podcasts as gifts from my children. Oh, that's good.

And talked a lot. Yeah. And then there's always someone to ask. So, so I'm a great one for, for reaching out and asking, even though I may be shy at times, but, you know, sometimes if you just ask one person, one question, you're not going to, to drain them too much.

Chris McDonald: Right. Yeah. And there's, and there's some good, uh, Facebook groups too for podcasters that you can ask questions and just, you know, cuz and just knowing that a lot of your questions are probably a lot of other people have the same questions,

Exactly. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And I think it's hard if, you know, this isn't just your primary job in life is podcasting. If you have another full-time job, of course it makes it more challeng. .

Mariette Snyman: Yeah. I take my hat off to anyone who does that.

Chris McDonald: Yeah, for sure. Hmm. So I guess speaking of challenges, so what is challenging for you as you keep up with your podcast?

I think

Mariette Snyman: what you just mentioned is, is time. Having enough time? And I've tried various things and what I've found is that, Well, I'm sure you are often talking about gratitude, but focusing on, on what energizes me and when I get really tired, making a, a gratitude list. And then self-care is the other thing.

Oh, yeah. Uh, which, which you also stress quite a lot. And that, that keeps one at it. That is the one challenge I think the deadlines is, is quite difficult. But then, uh, for me, Another one was developing an entrepreneurial mindset, and I'm still learning. I still have so much to learn. Of course, you know, coming from, from a place where you receive a, a salary E every month and you're part of a team to a place where you have to do it all yourself, that is quite daunting.

But on the other hand, it's invigorating because you can decide what you want to do. Isn't that.

Chris McDonald: That is great. I know. To me, that's the freedom. That's why I love private practice and being my own boss.

Mariette Snyman: Yeah. And then sometimes you have practical challenges. Like in South Africa we have load shedding. I don't know if you even know what is that.

That, that means that there are times when you don't have electricity. So there, there's a Oh, okay. Yeah. There are phases, there are eight phases. When it's in phase one or two, it's okay. You know, you maybe lose two and a half hours a day when you don't have electricity, but sometimes it, it goes to, to other phases and, uh, yeah, that's a long story.

I won't go into that. That's okay. I'll

Chris McDonald: just , I'll just say we take that for granted in. Yeah,

Mariette Snyman: exactly. So, so if you don't, we are very lucky In our home we have an inverter. So I, I, I can carry on and with my work, but if I have to interview someone who doesn't, then I have to wait for a time that they don't have load shedding.

And sometimes the phases are changed, not even overnight, but within an hour you just get a notification that we are now going from phase two to phase three. So yeah, that sort of, Practical.

Chris McDonald: That sounds really aggravating. , if you're trying to do a podcast too. Uh, well,

Mariette Snyman: so far, so far so, so good. So, um, yeah, I'm just saying that, that there are challenges that one doesn't pursue and think take, of course, I think you must have a go-to person for tick.

Chris McDonald: Because you said it's been difficult for you. Well, it's

Mariette Snyman: just because I don't trust myself around it. But I, I've found , I did find that as, as the more I work with it, the more I, I learn. Yeah. You know, one day I, I asked my son a question and he's very gentle. He said, mom, you know, I'm also just coming to Google that

Chris McDonald: No, that's funny.

Mariette Snyman: So from being on. I, I've now, when I've got a question, I first Google and when I can't, then

I

Chris McDonald: ask somebody else, , you don't know, ask Google . Google knows, right? . Yeah. That, well, that's it, isn't it? It's just, I think it's having that patience to learn and that openness and, yeah. Because I know, I'm like my dad.

I know my . He's so frustrated and learning technology sometimes and, but yeah, when you're not used to it, it can be intimidating. What do

Mariette Snyman: you find in a, in your podcast, the, the biggest challenge?

Chris McDonald: I think sometimes, uh, finding some guests, cuz usually I've, I've fortunately have been very lucky and a lot of guests that I can get on the podcast, but I had a dry spell that happened this summer that was really bad.

I almost had to like, oh my God, I gotta do all solo episodes . Cause I, I couldn't get any guests and I was down to like, down to the wire. I was like, what is going on? So, you know what I did? I went on my, uh, Facebook group. I have a Facebook group for the podcast and I was like, help . I need guests. So then, yeah, I book.

Right. I mean, my gosh, I had people reach out and so again, it's asking for help, isn't it? That was, that's a wonderful idea. Oh, I was very stressed out. Because I was going outta the country for two weeks and I didn't have enough. I wanted to, you know, just get everything taken care of. And, but yeah, these people helped me out.

I had therapists aren't wonderful people, and I had many, many people all through book, through October. This was in July, and I was just like, whew. Thank God. Hmm. So yeah, sometimes getting the right guests and cuz some, I do have people that reach out to be on a podcast, but if they're not appropriate, I'm gonna tell them.

I'm like, eh, no, I don't think that's appropriate for the show. And um, but sometimes, like I said, systems that break down or something's not working with my tech or, you know, um, I have Zencaster, which is where you can record podcasts for those that are interested in podcasting. That's just something you can look into, but sometimes it doesn't work.

So, yeah, sometimes Zoom doesn't work. Sometimes I've had problems disconnecting or who knows. But yeah, just you gotta manage that and know what to do. And to me, that's stressful. Yes.

Mariette Snyman: I, I agree. To me, that's the most stressful thing. Yeah. Not the questions I'm gonna ask, but whether all the tech will run.

Well, because I don't want to waste their time,

Chris McDonald: you know? Yeah, yeah. But yeah, and the questions too. I, I take time to do some research and Yes. Learn the guest and figure out the best questions. And, but when I first started, I was just like a wreck. , like first started, cuz I was like, I've never done this before.

I was like, overdid over-planned. And it's like, you don't have to. And I, I've learned over the years just to relax into it. I'll, you know, plan a little bit, but then just allow some of it to happen and organically some of the questions will

Mariette Snyman: come. Yes. And that really comes through on on your podcast, you know.

Oh, good. Glad. I was thinking mostly all that Yoga .

Chris McDonald: It is. I did some this morning. Yes, every day yoga and meditation, actually I'm doing, I don't know if you've heard of brain spotting. Um,

Mariette Snyman: I have. I've actually, I had some therapy when, when the magazine closed down, I went to someone who did brain spotting and yes, it's

Chris McDonald: all over the world.

Very impressed with that. So I do some self brain spotting. I've been doing that with a brain, brain spotting bilateral music you can listen to on, um, Spotify or YouTube. And, uh, it's really healing. It's just. Oh, love it so much, but it's just so effective and, and helpful, and it can be good a part of your self-care too.

Mariette Snyman: My goodness. And you have to be trained to do self brain spotting.

Chris McDonald: Um, a little bit, but it's, anybody can do it really. It's just, you know, with brain spotting, it's all about your eye position and it's connecting to whether some trauma or other issues you're going to, and the brain, and that's a simplified version.

But, but yeah, it's just finding with, uh, if you're doing self spotty, finding what's called the resource spot. So noticing a place in your body, you feel calm, and then connecting with that, and then finding an eye position that correlates with. And sometimes it's just what we call gay spotting. Just allowing your eyes to fall where they wanna fall.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Do I feel more calm looking to the left or the right and it's just kind of looking around your room and just seeing where your eyes wanna go, but don't overthink it. I have a lot of overthinkers Hmm. As clients don't overthink. So it's just trusting. Right. Your eyes, just, your brain wants to heal.

That makes a lot of. Yeah, but I have a episode on that and I can't remember the number, but yeah, I have, um, I'll, I'll go look. Yeah, a authenticity and self spotting with, uh, Cynthia Schwartzberg. So, yeah, she's, she was my teacher. She's amazing and mm-hmm. , that's a great episode to, to get some more information on that too.

Uh, which is again, another, Self-care, but Oh yeah. I think there's challenges, like you said too with time. Just sometimes it's like when things come up that I have to manage and figure out and, but I think I've done pretty well with that to get the systems in place. Yes. I

Mariette Snyman: think one should just know, go into it knowing that there will be challenges.

Chris McDonald: That's true too. And what are the benefits for you?

Mariette Snyman: For me, oh, I get to discover things and to connect with people. I think that basically sums it up. Yeah. Mm-hmm. . and there's such a lot of freedom really in being able to, like you now mentioned, the brain spotting. Now I'm curious about, especially about the self brain spotting.

And as you say, you know, the eyes know where they want to go for the, for the, for the brain. Yes. To relax. So now that interests me, and now I can go and find somebody who is an expert on that and talk to them about that. And. And I can learn, and then I can share it with, with the listeners who are interested in, and it helps them too.

Absolutely. To me, it's, it's a wonderful win-win situation that it also helps the person who's the expert who's talking about it, because maybe they will get some clients. .

Chris McDonald: Yeah, true. Yeah. Big connection with that. And, but I think you're right. That's, I've learned so much through my guests and, and isn't it amazing all the people I can connect to all over the world?

Yes. People I would never run into a normal life. That's what I think is amazing.

Mariette Snyman: Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, I was sitting before we started thinking that I'm talking to you right across the Atlantic Ocean. I know , you know that it, it's mind

Chris McDonald: bogg. It is for sure. And, and speaking of which, when we have a podcast, we can see where people are listening around the world and I'm like, how did somebody in like Dubai listen to my podcast

It's just like mind blowing. Yes,

Mariette Snyman: yes. Call over. I, I actually have a map and I, I go and put stickers on the device.

Chris McDonald: Do you really? That's a good idea.

Mariette Snyman: Yes. Yes. Because you must celebrate. And I do tend to forget to do that. And, and that, that's a celebration.

Chris McDonald: It is. It really is. It's just phenomenal to know the reach that you can have with this

Mariette Snyman: and the kind people who actually listen, you know?

Yes.

Chris McDonald: Thank you to everybody around the world who listens. Yes, for sure. Sure. So what would you say it would be the first steps for someone who might be listening, who might wanna start a podcast?

Mariette Snyman: I think, uh, to define the topic. Or the, the angle. And I would say it's, it's something you must have some knowledge of and something that really interests you.

And as I said, it must be, it must be driven from the heart. So, um, I think it should be defined very carefully and maybe you can get someone, you can do a course to help you define. Your area or a coach maybe, because I think it's difficult to just do it off the top of your head. Right. But I, I suppose, I suppose it depends on, on what your aim is.

But if, if your aim is to turn the world into a better place, I think it's worthwhile taking some time to, uh, refine your.

Chris McDonald: Absolutely. So what's the best way for listeners to find you and learn more about

Mariette Snyman: you? They can come to my website, which is, uh, Marie Hit's Naman. It's my name, co. South Africa. Uh, they can get me on Facebook, Marie Hitman, journalist.

And then I love being on LinkedIn, which is just my name, Marie's Naman. And on Instagram, Marie Dots Naman 70.

Chris McDonald: I'll put all those in the show notes as well. But I wanna thank you so much for coming on the podcast mart. This was a lot

Mariette Snyman: of fun. Thank you, Chris, and thanks for having me. And it was so nice talking to a filler podcast.

Yes, this was great. And I must say, I'm looking forward to having you on my show, and then we are going to talk about what is a holistic counseling

Chris McDonald: practice. Yes, I'm looking so I'm excited too. And to my listeners, I wanna thank you for tuning in today and your support means so much so. But please, uh, continue to support the podcast and share this episode today with a colleague on your social media.

This is Chris McDonald's, sending each one of you much light. Till next time, take care. If you're loving the show, will you rate, review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform? This can help us to reach more holistic therapists and bring even more impactful guests to the show. And once again, thanks for being a show supporter.