Storytelling journey connecting people to those who share their lived experiences in order to learn

"One of the best pieces I can give a new podcaster is to place your energy on the story you are going to tell with each episode."

More details on Listen Notes.

Today J.D. Murgolo, the creator of What's Your Story? shares his story of Society & Culture podcast.

► Tell us about you and your podcast

I am first and foremost a husband and father of two kids currently age 3 and 1. I am the founder of the mental health ecosystem, Fragile Moments, which seeks to create the tools and community for the mind that advances the conversation toward one of healing. I am also the charismatic host of several mental health podcasts including "What's Your Story?" and I enjoy telling stories along with helping to educate and advocate for greater mental health awareness.

► Why & how did you start this podcast? 

I work 1:1 with clients each day regarding their overall health. What I began to realize was that we are all connected through these lived experiences, the shared fragile moments. Not only are we connected by them, but we can build and heal our lives from these connections. That is the premise behind "What's Your Story?"

► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

Having the time to put the proper amount of respect each story deserves can be tricky. As a full-time stay-at-home dad, I have to balance my responsibilities and my passion to constantly put a story out there for the world to hear. I release an episode every week and it takes me about two full hours to put each one together along with the marketing materials. Currently I don't make any money off of this show so I keep my expenses to a minimum and choose to focus solely on the content.

► What do you gain from podcasting?        

I got into podcasting because I wanted to make a difference in the world of mental health. I've always been fascinated by the stories told on podcasts and how they have shaped my thinking on various topics, and I wanted to be a part of that.

► How does your podcasting process look like? 

I keep my process simple so as not to create too much extra work. Each interview is recorded on Riverside which is where I will do a rough edit of the conversation. I then add in extras such as music and intros using Garageband before running it through a cleanup using Auphonic.

► How do you market your show?

Currently my marketing is all on me which means I have to be purposeful with each piece of promotion that goes out there for each story. I've chosen to put my show out there on only a few social media channels (Instagram, Threads, Twitter and LinkedIn) with each post fitting the platform it's being posted on. My podcast is hosted on Substack and I chose that because it comes with an email list along with it so as long as I'm paying attention to growing my email list, that's a group of listeners getting a new episode directly fed to their inbox.

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

One of the best pieces I can give a new podcaster is to place your energy on the story you are going to tell with each episode. All the fancy microphones, shiny software and any other equipment you need doesn't matter if you have no real passion behind each and every second of an episode you're putting out there for people to hear.

► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?

To find out more about the show and the storytelling project that goes along with it you can head to