Finally! Practical tips and candid conversations for dementia caregivers.
"First, find your niche. What do you want to be known for?"
Today Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster, the creators of The Caregiver's Journey share their story of health podcast.
► Tell us about you and your podcast
We are Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster, co-founders of The Caregiver's Journey. We bring complementary backgrounds and over 35 years of friendship to our work. Sue has navigated multiple family caregiving roles for her grandmother with Alzheimer’s, her father with Frontotemporal dementia with aphasia, and her husband with Alzheimer’s over four decades while building a successful career in software sales and marketing. She's a bestselling author on caregiving topics, and an International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach (ACC). Nancy recently retired as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Operations for Verint, a billion-dollar software company where she led global strategies. She was the caregiver for her husband with Frontotemporal dementia, her father-in-law with Alzheimer’s, and her father with Parkinson's. Nancy is a Certified Caregiving Consultant (CCC).
The Caregiver's Journey podcast provides practical tips and candid conversations specifically for dementia family caregivers. We tackle common, day-to-day caregiving challenges head-on, sharing specific, actionable advice based on our real-life experiences. Each episode is approximately 25 minutes. Unlike many resources that remain high-level or academic, we get into the nitty-gritty details caregivers actually need, for example: how to handle difficult behaviors, communication techniques that work, and strategies for self-care. Our approach focuses on helping caregivers navigate their unique journeys with more confidence, patience, and peace of mind.
Our listeners are family caregivers supporting loved ones with dementia at various stages. They're often first-timers with no training or background, struggling with day-to-day challenges and frequently balancing work alongside caregiving duties. Many feel isolated, overwhelmed, and don't know where to turn for practical help.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
We chose podcasting because it's an accessible medium busy caregivers can engage with while performing other tasks—during commutes, while preparing meals, or during brief respite moments. The audio format allows us to convey empathy and understanding through our voices while we complement each episode with a written blog so listeners don’t need to take notes. We both consume podcasts regularly and recognize their power to deliver focused, valuable information in an engaging format.
Our motivation stemmed from our own difficult early caregiving experiences. We often say our early journeys were brutal! We didn't know what we didn't know and struggled to find practical answers to everyday challenges. Most resources we found were too high-level or clinical to help. We created the podcast we wished had existed when we began our caregiving journeys—one that offers specific, detailed guidance delivered through relatable stories and real-life examples. We wanted caregivers to know they're not alone and to help them learn faster and more easily than we did.
We launched The Caregiver's Journey podcast in August, 2024.
From conceptualization to release, it took us approximately three months to develop our content strategy, record our initial episodes, and establish our production workflow. We were determined to create a high-quality resource from day one, so we invested this time upfront to ensure we could deliver consistent value to our listeners.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
We release new episodes every other Tuesday, maintaining a consistent schedule our listeners can count on. Each episode takes approximately 10 hours to produce from start to finish, including topic research, preparation, recording, editing, and publishing. We're committed to quality and ensuring each episode provides actionable value for caregivers.
The podcast represents our commitment to improving the lives of dementia caregivers globally. Sue balanced her caregiving expertise with her professional career for decades and has developed systems for managing multiple priorities effectively. Nancy recently retired from her executive role at Verint, allowing her to dedicate more time to this mission. We prioritize this work because we've experienced firsthand how critical accessible, practical information is for caregivers, and we're passionate about making a difference in this space.
We initially self-funded The Caregiver's Journey, investing our own resources to build this platform. Our monthly expenses include hosting, editing, production assistance, and marketing costs, which total approximately $5000 per month. Recently, we've achieved nonprofit 501(c)(3) status, which has opened up new funding opportunities. We've also joined Players Philanthropy Fund Inc. (PPF), a fiscal sponsorship, which provides support accepting tax-deductible donations, applying for grants, and back-office functions to sustain and grow our mission.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
As a nonprofit, we're currently focusing on maximizing our impact through our podcast, resources (such as blogs and guides) created from our episodes and awareness, so people around the world can find us, rather than monetization. Our nonprofit status allows us to accept donations and apply for grants, which will be an important part of our sustainability model moving forward.
Our podcast currently averages more than 12,000 downloads per month with over 13,000 subscribers across all platforms and continues to grow steadily. Rather than actively pursuing sponsors, we're focusing on building strategic partnerships with organizations that share our mission of supporting dementia caregivers. Our approach is to create relationships that provide mutual value and, most importantly, benefit our listeners with additional resources and support.
The podcast serves as the foundation of our broader mission to empower dementia caregivers worldwide. Beyond metrics, the most rewarding aspect is the feedback from listeners who tell us we've made a difference in their caregiving journey. We regularly receive messages from caregivers saying our practical advice helped them overcome specific challenges or that simply knowing they're not alone has given them strength. This human impact drives us and confirms we're fulfilling our purpose. Additionally, the podcast has opened doors to speaking engagements, partnerships with healthcare organizations, as well as other organizations focused on making life better for those living with dementia and their caregivers.
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► How does your podcasting process look like?
We use professional recording equipment including Shure microphones, Yamaha mixers, and the Riverside.fm recording studio. When it comes to guests, we first develop a concept for an episode, then discuss if either or both of us have the necessary expertise to handle it independently, or is the best choice to bring in a subject matter expert to ensure comprehensive coverage. Our interviews leverage the expertise of our guests to deliver the most impactful information and resources for our audiences. To find guests, we draw on our extensive networks in the caregiving and healthcare communities, actively seeking diverse perspectives including medical professionals and caregiving experts.
Our preparation process begins with identifying topics that address common caregiver pain points. We draw heavily from our own experiences and the questions we receive from listeners. For each episode we prepare for several hours together to create the outline we will use. We like to review the outline for a day or two and then invest another couple of hours dry running through the episode and adjusting the outline to ensure we are succinctly providing practical, actionable advice in our target episode length of 25 minutes. We always focus on making the content specific, practical, detailed, and immediately applicable to caregivers' daily challenges, while maintaining a conversational flow.
All of our episodes are recorded via Riverside.fm, which allows us to connect with experts worldwide while maintaining high audio and video quality. When possible, we also invite experts to join us face to face and record on Riverside together.
► How do you market your show?
We've found that the personal recommendation from one caregiver to another is particularly powerful in our niche.
We find that promoting a new episode on the leading podcast platforms, combined with social media, has been our most effective marketing strategy. Two platforms, Facebook and Instagram are where many family caregivers seek community and support. We also promote our website through Google search. We partner with caregiving organizations and healthcare providers who recommend our podcast to their clients and patients. Finally, we build awareness through contributing to articles about dementia or caregiving covered by the media and by being a guest on other podcasts where we believe our target audience may be listening.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
First, find your niche. What do you want to be known for? Podcasting is a crowded market so consistency matters. Our listeners value our reliable biweekly schedule, our expected format of practical tips and our goal of 25 minutes. Second, authenticity resonates deeply; sharing our own struggles and mistakes has created stronger connections with our audience than if we'd positioned ourselves as flawless experts. Finally, the community that forms around a podcast can become one of its most valuable aspects—listen to your audience and evolve with their needs.
We used a podcast consulting service at the beginning to audit our first few episodes and adjusted based on their recommendations. We used Fast Forward Productions; of course there are others. We then used them again 6 months in to help us create our plan to raise our game. Their expertise has been incredibly valuable throughout our journey, especially since we began far from being podcast experts.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Everything about The Caregiver's Journey can be found on our website: https://thecaregiversjourney.com/podcast/
Below are additional links (also accessible through our website):
Donate: https://give.cornerstone.cc/thecaregiversjourney
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecaregiversjourney/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCaregiversJourneys/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suearmstrongryan/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancytreaster/
You can subscribe to our podcast on all major platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube to name a few. We also welcome donations through our website to support our nonprofit mission of empowering dementia caregivers worldwide.
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