Connecting Through Podcasts: Noemi Beres’ Journey in Digital Storytelling | Noemi Beres

Noemi: Especially those people that share their stories, their troubles, and they show their vulnerability during an interview, that's the best. And they are the most popular guests ever. Because they don't just talk about their success, but they talk about their failures, and they talk about anything that happened, even in their personal life.

And the more you share, you, the better you resonate with the audience, and that's pretty powerful. Because it's just a human connection with people. You know, resonate with you. They align with your message. Yeah.

Matt: Welcome to Push To Be More with me, your host, Matt Edmundson. Now, this is a show that talks about the stuff that makes life work. And to help us do just that, I'm talking with Noemi Beres from Podcast Connections about where she has had to push through, what she does to recharge her batteries.

As well as what more looks like, well, [00:01:00] the show notes and transcript from our conversation will be available on our website pushtobemore. com And whilst you're there, if you haven't done so already, sign up to the newsletter. And each week we'll email you the show notes and links straight to your inbox. Oh yes, now this episode is brought to you by aurion Media, which helps entrepreneurs and business leaders set up and run their own successful podcast.

Why would you want to host your own podcast, because simply it's one of the best marketing tools out there. Oh yes. I have found running my own podcast to be really rewarding. It opens doors to amazing people like nothing else I've seen. I've built networks, made friends and had a platform to champion my customers, my team and my suppliers.

And I think just about every entrepreneurial business leader should have. A podcast simply because it's had such a huge impact on my own businesses and of course that sounds wonderful in [00:02:00] theory but there's a whole reality now to think about isn't there, like setup, distribution, tech, production, the list goes on and that's where aurion Media comes in to help.

You see, I love talking to people, but not all of that other stuff. So, aurion Media simply takes it off my plate. I get to do what I'm good at and they brilliantly take care of the rest. So, if you're wondering if podcasting is a good marketing strategy for your business, and I. Think it probably is. Do connect with them at aurionmedia.com.

That's A U R I O N media.com. We will of course, link to them on the website as well, but do check them out now. Speaking of podcasts, let's meet. Noemi, who co owns Podcast Connections and is a superstar connector in the podcast universe. Oh, yes, this savvy business matchmaker links entrepreneurs with top notch podcast shows, amplifying their voices and boosting their businesses.[00:03:00]

A digital marketing veteran since 2007, Noemi is linguist, content guru and master organiser. With a fantastic twist, a degree in Danish literature, no doubt, uh, plus she's an artist weaving stories on canvas with her own, with her own hand, sewn collages made from vintage photographs and vibrant textiles.

This list just keeps growing, Noemi. Uh, so let's step into the wonderful world of Noemie were. Podcasts meet artistry. Oh yes, great to have you on the show finally. How are we doing?

Noemi: very well. Thank you, Matt. And what an intro. Thank you so much. I'm just blushing.

Matt: It's all Sadaf. She, she just loves rewriting people's intros. Uh, and so this is all Sadaf and I really like it. It's great fun. Um, yeah, it's fair to say right off the bat that we actually know each other. We've worked together. We have used your services to get me on [00:04:00] podcasts in the early days when no one knew my name, a bit like the Cheers theme.

Uh, and you got me onto a whole bunch of shows. And so. Uh, it's quite fascinating that the tables are turned, that you are in fact yourself on my podcast. So, we've, I think we've come full circle now. How, how is business? Is it going well?

Noemi: It's going well. Thank you. Absolutely. Yeah. Unfortunately, I don't really work any. UK clients right now, but, uh, mostly Americans. But, uh, yeah, I love, love it and it's, it's great and I love connecting with people and connecting people to each other. So it, it's, it's a great time for in my life.

Matt: yeah, well, absolutely. You see, my whole strategy in business when it comes to podcasting is I host the podcast. I go and I find really interesting people to talk to. Specifically, People who could have a big impact on my business, right? And I go and invite them on the show. It starts a meaningful conversation.

Um, and it's a great way to grow networks. Like I [00:05:00] said in the intro, I love it as a, as a marketing tool. It's great. The way you approach podcasting is from the other side, right? You're like. Well, yeah, yeah, fine, you go host a show, Matt, but I'm going to go get you on a thousand other podcasts, um, and get your message out that way, which is, is just a legitimate marketing strategy, isn't it?

So I'm, I'm kind of curious, how did you, how did you stumble into this field?

Noemi: Yeah, it was an accidentally . I, I stumbled. I stumbled and accidentally, uh, as you mentioned, I was in the online marketing field since 2007. We had an online travel related business. That we started back in Ireland and, um, yeah, it was, it was a great time because we were doing content creation, blog writing, uh, social media marketing, you name it.

So I wore a lot of hats during that time. And it was an exciting time to, to work in the online marketing world. It wasn't like this, it's changed a lot since then, but then fast forward, [00:06:00] uh, 2020 and COVID hit everyone and the travel industry collapsed and like our business did the same. So it was, we had a couple of days to figure out what to do with our life and with our business.

And luckily we had a mentor, an Irish guy. who was into podcasting business and podcasting world way before us and way before many people in Europe. And he advised us to start something with podcasting. And he told us, okay, guys, you know, start a podcast agency, you know, because of COVID booming. And anyway, it was booming before too, the whole podcasting world.

So that's why we started podcasting. First of all, you had to pay your bills. So you have to figure out what to do with your business, non existent business. And yeah, that was it. And it was such a sudden decision. My husband, basically, he set up a website during the night. Next day he told me, okay, so we're doing this agency stuff, we have a website.

So we [00:07:00] just need clients and okay, cool. I mean, I didn't, I mean, to be a hundred percent honest with you, Matt, I didn't listen to podcasts before 2020.

Matt: hmm. Mm

Noemi: everything was so new to me when we started it, but I'm a quick learner and I love learning. So, and I needed to learn everything and I'm still learning, um, but yeah, it was an interesting time for sure.

And that's how we ended up in the podcasting world. And now I'm on, you know, podcasting about, about this and this is so, yeah, this is so fun

Matt: Yeah. It's interesting, isn't it? Because I, I, you may not know, dear listener, but I have another podcast called, uh, the e commerce podcast, where we talk about e commerce, get the clues in the title, um, and that's how we met. You started sending people to me and going, Matt, this would be a great person to have on your show.

And, um, after a while I said to Sadaf, I said, all the best guests seem to come from Noemi. Uh, you know, there were different agencies sending us guests and we were like yeah, but the ones that come from Noemi are actually [00:08:00] quite helpful. Some of them weren't helpful guests, you know, but not from you, but from other agencies.

Um, so you seem to have found a knack for finding high quality clients to bring over.

Noemi: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, we started to work solely with female e commerce experts because we thought that their voice needed to be heard more in the e commerce world because it's still very male dominated. And, and right now we only work with female e commerce experts. So we're back to, back to square one with them.

But it's, it's, it's fun. Um, yeah. And we just found these people and they were amazing and we, we were happy and honored to represent them. And that's how we got connected, true, true story. And then we started to work together too, so yeah, we have a history.

Matt: Yeah, we do. We have a story. We have a story. So, Noemi, do you actually have your own podcast?

Noemi: No, I don't, I don't. I'm not planning to have it right now. I'm just too busy with my clients, but [00:09:00] I mean, yeah, it's an interesting concept, but I know it's a lot of work, a lot of energy, uh, you know that yourself. So, but I really enjoy guesting because it's... Yeah, it's fun and I know a lot of hosts and podcasts, so

Matt: yeah, yeah, no, it's fair enough, it's fair enough. But I am curious, if you did own your, or have, or host your own podcast, um, and you could have a guest on your show, from your past or your present, that's had a big influence on your life, um, who would you have and why?

Noemi: it would be Bob Berg . Yeah, that would be a good, great first episode for sure. To start a podcast with Bob Berg. I mean, why Bob Berg? Because he is kind of my idol that I look up to. Um, one, I started doing business in 2007 Death. That was the first business book, the Go-Giver that I read by Bob Berg. And, uh, It made such a big impact on my life and how I approach [00:10:00] business that, yeah, he would be an ideal guest.

And I was really honored to be in a networking group where, actually his networking group, it was like a trial and I actually spoke to him and met him. So it was so cool and, uh, yeah, absolutely that, that would be Bob Berg for sure, a hundred percent.

Matt: So I've not actually read his book, I've just pulled it up here on Google. Uh, on Google, on Amazon, uh, The Go Giver, a little story about a powerful business idea. It's got over 8, 000, um, four or five star reviews. I mean, it's a very well reviewed book, so I'm surprised I've not heard of it. Um, even, he's got a, oh wow, he's got, um, accolades from Seth Godin.

Most people don't have the guts to buy this book, never mind the will to follow through and actually use it, but you do, and I'm certain that you'll be glad you did. Stephen Covey, this terrific book, wonderfully illuminates the principles of contribution, abundance, service and success. I mean he's got some great reviews here.

What was it about the book that you [00:11:00] really enjoyed?

Noemi: Uh, the most important is. It's like, the way you approach business, it's like, you just not, you don't want certainly something get out of it, but you want to give something to people before you get something back. And yeah, and serve your community and serve these people. Before you make money and you start making money and yeah, it's just this whole community that he's building up with this approach is just so fascinating.

And it's not just about, okay, I just want this business and not that very wide approach when it comes to business and just pitch yourself to other people and just, I just want something from them. When you want to give something to them, you want to provide them with, with something help their business, help their life.

And as one of my clients told me that. Um, what I want to do with my business, like enrich people's lives through connections. And I think that's my focus. And that's how I approach [00:12:00] this GoGiver, uh, Style. Yeah.

Matt: No, fair enough, so you ended up in his mastermind group, or his

Noemi: No, I was just like, that was like a trial run, but I'm, I'm actually like planning now to be part of his mentorship group and I would love to do that. Yeah.

Matt: fantastic. Well, I'm going to get the book, uh, I'm going to add it to my little list here, I'm going to go buy now, uh, we'll put it on the Kindle, so I'm, I'm intrigued to read it, uh, and I will let you know how I get on. So, Bob Berg, uh, the

Noemi: Great. Thanks.

Matt: go giver, definitely check out the book, seems to be well reviewed by some people I respect, um, and, uh, obviously you're a big fan, so, how has, um, how has his philosophy or his ideas then, Um, impacted what you guys do at Podcast Connections.

I know you're, you're wanting to set up these, these various different connections. So I'm just kind of, let's drill down into that a little bit if we can.

Noemi: Right. I mean, our focus is to help people to share their knowledge. That's the most important [00:13:00] thing. We got connected with like potential clients and they own, they only wanted to sell their products on different podcasts, but I don't think that's the right approach. I mean, you don't. We don't have to treat a podcast as a adver, like an advertising opportunity because it is not, I mean, the podcast is not for you, for your guest, it's for the audience, and they want to learn something from you.

So you have to bring quality into the show. You have to share knowledge, you have to provide value, and that's the most important thing. So when it comes to find clients and to find idealist, we have to find those people that are really aligned with our message. And they want to share something with the world and teach people.

Matt: That's so powerful. Yeah. And I, I, I'm totally going to echo that. So if you're listening to this show and you've been invited to be a guest on a podcast, or you're thinking about maybe doing it, um, The key to being a great podcast guest is to focus on delivering value. My experience is, Noemie, and [00:14:00] you, you've probably got more experience than me.

I mean, I've recorded hundreds of podcasts now. Um, my experience is that The guests that come on and focus on delivering value tend to get the most business as a result of being on that podcast. Um, more people contact them and connect with them because they got a great lot of value out of what they were saying.

And what they were saying was told in a way which really impacted whoever was listening. Right. Um, and so I get letters, letters, you don't get letters anymore. You get emails, don't you? Uh, text messages, you get these sort of, uh, sort of notes from people saying, oh, I really enjoyed their episode because of X, Y, and Z.

And, um, And it's always on the basis of some kind of value, and I'm like, well just reach out to them and say hello, and they're like, oh do you think they'll want to talk to me, and I'm like, I'm sure they will want to talk to you and help you if they can, um, but it's that focus on value, which I think is so, so [00:15:00] critical and so, so important, um, in being a podcast guest, I mean it's ideal, isn't it, and so I'm assuming, uh, I've done hundreds of podcasts, you've probably been involved in thousands, Have you therefore found the same results as you mentioned, focus on value, the people that deliver the most value get the most out of the shows.

Noemi: Yeah, absolutely, 100%. Especially those people that share their stories, their troubles, and they show their vulnerability during an interview, that's the best. And they are the most popular guests ever. Because they don't just talk about their success, but they talk about their failures, and they talk about anything that happened, even in their personal life.

And the more you share, you, the better you resonate with the audience, and that's pretty powerful. Because it's just a human connection with people. You know, resonate with you. They align with your message. Yeah.

Matt: Yeah, that's very good. Top tips there on how [00:16:00] to be a great podcaster. Well, I actually just had to be a nice person. It's not

Noemi: Yeah, that's true.

Matt: podcast, isn't it? Yeah, it's true in any relationship. Uh, enjoy the conversation, deliver value and be vulnerable. I mean, it's, you okay mic drop moment right there so, let's talk about then you. You were in the travel space in Ireland. You're now in the podcast space in Cyprus, a little bit different from Ireland. The weather's probably slightly better, I would have thought, although I imagine the Guinness is not quite as good. Have you found your own business journey? Has it all been plain sailing, or has it been a bit, um, a bit choppy along the way?

Noemi: I think business journeys are always choppy. I mean, there's not going to be any ceiling ever. Um, I learned a lot from starting my own business, especially in 2007. I was in my late twenties. I didn't know anything [00:17:00] about business. I worked in Ireland in a call center for three years, but I always knew that I don't want to be working in a call center with my master's degree and with my communication skills and my language skills.

So, okay. I, and I, I never wanted to have a boss and I never wanted to have another team meeting. And so, yeah, I made up my mind. Okay, let's do it. Let's start a business. And that's, that's when we started our online travel business and it was going well, but then, uh, how should I put it? We just picked the wrong business partners and it didn't end up well.

And, um, yeah, you have to be really careful. That's a good thing to remember when you run your own business. Always pick your business partners very, very

Matt: hmm. Oh, you're preaching to the choir. Let me tell you, you are preaching to the choir. Yeah, sorry. Carry on.

Noemi: Yeah, that was one of the bumps on the road. And then, um, [00:18:00] uh, obviously when you start a new business, so when you switch a complete new to it, when you switch to a completely new business business model, like from, from an online travel related business to an agency model, it's, it's so different and you have to deal with people directly.

You have a handful of clients, you have to look after them. It's not like when you have an online travel related business, when you just. There's some stuff but that's different. You have to go deeply. You have to know them. You have to get to know them. You have to have a relationship with them. You have to serve them and understand their business perfectly to be able to represent them

Matt: Yeah.

Noemi: on the podcast.

So yeah, it was a learning curve because I didn't do this before. So I had to learn a lot. to learn how to communicate with podcast hosts and how to learn with different, uh, how to communicate with different nationalities like Americans, because they do business in different way than we do in Europe or in the UK.

Um, they are more open. I love working with them to be honest, because I mean, I prefer Americans to Europeans and it's [00:19:00] like shame on me, but, but, uh,

Matt: Don't tell anybody. You'll be fine. Yeah.

Noemi: And, uh, yeah, so it, it, it, it, it involved a lot of learning and, uh, and then obviously Covid, uh, didn't help anyone in their business life, although I can thank Covid to, to start this business.

I mean, to start the agency because we never started this, we always, we, we were always playing with the thought to start another business.

Matt: Yeah.

Noemi: But we never did it. And then it pushed us out of our comfort zone. So that's how we started the agency model. And yeah,

Matt: So do you find the podcasting business is, I mean, you've obviously not gone back to the travel agency. Business. And I'm assuming that's for a reason. I'm assuming you're enjoying the, the podcasting business more than you did the travel business.

Noemi: yeah, we still have it, though. We still have it, though. But I'll let my husband look after that part. And I, I don't really have anything [00:20:00] to do with it anymore because I have so much to do in the, running the agency that, yeah, I just don't have time for that. I'm, and honestly, as I said, I prefer the podcasting world.

Matt: So the, um, what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to, I mean, I get how you ended up in podcasting, um, from the travel because of the advice of a mentor. There's not a straightforward path, is there? But you're just remind me your master's is in Danish literature.

Noemi: Danish linguistic literature, history, yeah, and I speak Danish and Swedish, yeah. It's like, by trade, I'm a linguist, like a Danish linguist

Matt: Right. So is that the link then to travel is just your love of languages. You thought, well, I just like languages. I like talking to different people in different languages. I'll, I'll, I'll just start a travel business. Was that as deep as it got?

Noemi: Um, it's funny because when I, I was like five, six years old, I always played [00:21:00] travel agency at home and my, you know, my parents were laughing at me. It's like, she will definitely have something to do with travel when she grows up and yeah. I, I, you know, I was an exchange student in Denmark for a year when I was 16, so that's how the Danish and Swedish came into my life.

But obviously travel and the travel industry played always an important part in my life. My dad was in the travel industry for a while when I was a kid, so I saw what's going on behind the scenes, like as a kid as well. So maybe that's why it affected me in a way, and that's why I've chosen this, this path.

But. Yeah.

Matt: fair enough. So, I mean, without divulging details which can't be divulged, um, what went wrong with the business partners? Why, why did you mention that that was really important for you and it didn't quite go as well as you'd expected it to?

Noemi: Well, I don't really want to go into very specific details about them, but let's put it that way [00:22:00] that when someone, they don't put the same energy into the business as you and they want more money than you, that, that, that cause a problem between the partners. So yeah, that was the problem.

Matt: yeah, no, it's fair enough, it's fair enough. I've had two, um, business partners in my life. And, um, one of them was great, wonderful for about 10, 12 years, something like that, but towards the end it started to go... Very wrong, very quickly, uh, and, um, a lot of the, a lot of the reasons for the failure, in my opinion, were because we didn't put enough safeguards in at the beginning, uh, because we were friends.

Uh, and friend, you just kind of, you don't think about it, you're just like, oh, let's just do this and see what happens. And then it's not until something's ending that you kind of think, oh, maybe we should have thought that through a little bit more. Um, and then I had a, uh, a long standing partnership with, uh, a friend on, uh, a beauty company.

It was a [00:23:00] client and a client became a friend actually. Um, and I learned my lessons there. And so that partnership, uh, we sold the business that ended well. Still good friends. I'm going to hopefully see him in a few weeks when I go over to Jersey. Um, but it's really interesting how your business partner can make all the difference, you know, and when it's good, it's good, but when it's bad, oh my goodness, it, it sucks the life out of you disproportionately, I think, um, because you're so worried and focused on it, aren't you?

And, and, uh, and trying to deal with that. So yeah, I, I get what you're saying about business partnerships, uh, to go into them wisely.

Noemi: exactly. And sometimes when your life just happens and When you have problems in your personal life, life, you know, like trauma happens and grief happens. And it's like, I lost my one of a couple of good friends and I lost my dad to cancer. I lost my grandma to an accident. So when all this personal trouble happens, that will affect [00:24:00] your business because if your personal life is not in order, that will have an effect on your business.

And that happened too. So that happened between exactly the same time, but just before COVID. Uh, started, it's like I lost like half of my family and that was always, uh, like a horrible part to, okay, you just, you have to work and you have to continue with life and continue with business while you struggle with your personal life and personal problems.

Matt: Yeah, that must be hard if you, if you lose quite a bit of you. Are you, were you close to your family?

Noemi: Yeah, absolutely. I'm an only child, so I, I was kind of my dad's, you know,

Matt: Yeah. Apple of his eye. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dad's girl. Yeah, no, no, I totally appreciate that. But, um, so how did you, if, if I, if you don't mind me asking, how, how did you deal with business and grief? What was some of the ways that you kind of walk through that? Because I think grief is one of those things that will hit every business person at some point in their life.

I mean, you know, you're just playing the laws, aren't you? The [00:25:00] laws of statistics. Um, but it's, it's, I think most of us don't think about it until it happens. Um, and I'm, I'm kind of curious if you could go back and give yourself a little bit of advice, knowing what you know now, before, um, you started to lose quite a few of your family members, what would you have told yourself?

Noemi: Obviously you have to, you can't prepare yourself that, that someone dies. And because of with my dad, he had cancer. It was like a long process. It was, it went on for like years. So it affected my life for a longer period. It wasn't a sudden death. So I, I'm, you know, I always do podcast guesting on grief and how to cope with grief because art.

Like being an artist helped me to cope with grief. So if you can, um, to help your mind heal and just help you to relax, just to do something as music or art, that will definitely help you. Even if you're an entrepreneur and if you know, just doodle, if you just do coloring or anything, but that will help you to cope with [00:26:00] stress.

And if it's not grief, but if, if just stress or anything that happens in life, like hardships, uh, it will definitely help you. Um, but you can prepare yourself and I just, I just worked more and sometimes you just want to, you don't want to focus on your grief, but obviously you have to deal with it. You can't sweep everything under the carpet because it, you know, it won't serve you on a longer term.

You have to deal with this trauma and. My escape was art, and making art, making collages, and I love music, and I have drums and stuff, so that's what I do. Yeah, drum, I'm not like drum drums, but I have frame drum and tongue drum, and I have a handpan, so yeah. And so these things, artistic vibes and creativity, help me to cope with the grief and...

Yeah. And my motto in life is just keep going, whatever happens. And that's what I did. You know, I had my son, my [00:27:00] family. I knew I have to focus on, um, focus on them as well. And, but it's really hard to find your purpose after you lose so many important people in your life. So you have to find your purpose again.

And, and that's not an easy job to do.

Matt: Yeah. No, that's fair enough. How long did it, I mean, how long do you, do you think it took you to sort of rediscover your purpose from, from your, from your family? Uh, especially your dad passing?

Noemi: a couple of years, I'm, I'm still dealing with it. But it's just getting better and better, but it's not a done and dusted job yet. I mean, I'm still working on it,

Matt: yeah. No, fair enough. Fair enough. Um, so how do you. How do you then, I mean, you, you, you're running the business, you've obviously dealt with a, quite a significant loss in your family, you had to reinvent your business, thanks to COVID, um, and you, you moved from [00:28:00] Ireland to Cyprus, uh, in the middle of all of that, is that right?

Noemi: Yeah, that was, yeah, that was back like 12 years ago. So that

Matt: Oh, okay. So you were running a business in Ireland from Cyprus,

Noemi: uh, the, the business that was in Ireland that was like mainly focused on Hungarian clients because I was born and raised in Hungary, originally I'm from Hungary. So that was. Didn't really connect to Cyprus, it didn't really connect to anywhere. So, you know, you can run these online businesses from anywhere.

Um, as you know, too, uh, we just moved and we just changed country basically, and that was a huge. Like transformation in our lives as well because it's a completely different culture, climate. Uh, everything is so different and yeah, it was hard. It was hard to, to start a new life here because everything was just so behind compared to Ireland.

And yeah, so I, I, yeah, I questioned myself a couple of times, like. Was this the right decision? I mean, there are no like cinemas here. There are no gigs. You can't go to [00:29:00] Dublin and watch a gig, you know. I was young back then. It's like, okay, I'm not that old. But yeah, I mean, like moving here was like moving back a couple of years in time.

But now, I mean, thanks to COVID again, everything sped up in Cyprus too. So we're becoming a more multicultural, more modern like society and country. We're still a bit behind, but, um, but, but it's okay. Um, it's still, it's an enjoyable and nice place to live. So,

Matt: I can imagine the weather is going to be astounding, probably too hot in the summer and I imagine the food is beautiful. So, uh, you know, swings and roundabouts, right? It's, it's, it's good on one hand, it's maybe not as good on the other. So what else do you do? I mean, you, you're in this beautiful country, uh, you're not going to gigs, um, but you know, you get to walk on the beach.

What else do you do to fill your tank then? Because you've obviously, you've, you've got your art. Um, and your [00:30:00] drums, uh, and, and by the way, I have a drum kit behind me, uh,

Noemi: yeah. I can see that. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Like

Matt: got, I, I would love to say, knowing me, that it's my drum kit, but it really isn't. It belongs to my son. Uh, there was nowhere else in the house for it to go other than in my little shed down at the bottom of the garden.

Um, so yeah, I mean, you've got your drums, you've got your art, what, what else do you do to sort of recharge your batteries?

Noemi: I exercise and I discovered that I really have to practice self care, otherwise it will affect. My life, my business, my mental and physical health. So I try to exercise as much as I can and I do it every morning and then meditate. I swim. We have a pool. The sea is there too. So I walk a lot. It's a nice environment where we live.

So you can, you can actually walk around here. And, um, yeah, that's, I try to try to stay fit. And I also read a lot, listening to audio books. I'm kind of a bookworm since I was born, [00:31:00] not I was born, but since I, since I could read. And yeah, I love like learning new things and doing courses and different stuff.

So, yeah, I'm always interested in something. I, I'm never bored. Uh, yeah, I wish sometimes I could be a bit more bored than I am right now.

Matt: My wife says to me that, um, you see her personality is a little, you're reminding me a little bit of her because her personality is she wants to do everything. So she, um, at the moment she's learning to speak Arabic. Um, she wants to have, uh, drum lessons again. She used to play the drums when she was a kid.

Uh, she wants to do the garden. She wants to do this. I mean, there's a big long list of all the things my wife wants to do. And sometimes she kind of goes, I don't know what to do next. I don't know what to do next. Um, but then she kind of feels like she never actually gets really good at one particular thing because there's so much, you know, that she actually wants to do.

Um. Which I find quite fascinating, you know, she's this, [00:32:00] it's like a kid in a sweet shop, you know, or the candy store trying to figure out, it's like, this is so much what's going on. Do you struggle with that?

Noemi: Um, I don't know. And I'm not really, I mean, like art is my main, main, like, I wouldn't say hobby because I can have, you know, a couple of exhibitions, like group exhibitions. I

Matt: Oh well.

Noemi: in Italy and in Cyprus and Hungary. So that was my main focus. So that was, I, I'm, I'm trying to be good at it. The rest of the stuff, like the drumming, I'm like your wife.

It's like, yes, I bought this drum, this frame drum, like a couple of months ago. My husband asked me, do you really want the big one? It's like the most expensive one. Yeah. Because that has the most beautiful sound. And like, I can only touch the drum during like week, during weekend for like 20 minutes.

Because I don't have more time to do that. And obviously I'm not professional. But I'm, I have a plan now because I'm, I'm organizing. I'm in my head, I'm organizing a drumming circle locally, [00:33:00] and I had a couple of like connections from the U. S. like drumming circle experts and from Cyprus too, so I'm on the path to organizing my drumming circle, even though I'm not a drummer.

Matt: That's fantastic. You should put that on Instagram live so I can watch it knowing me. But yeah, I'd be kind of curious to see how that works. So what's the next five years look like for you? You know, what does growth look like? You're doing all of these things, um, your business is taking off, you know, it's growing, it's developing, um, you're doing your painting, you're starting to learn the drums.

Um, what, what, what's the next five years look like? What does growth look like for you?

Noemi: Yeah, that's a good question. Um, me and the plans. Uh, yeah, I mean, definitely would like to improve more the quality that we write to our clients. We still, we still like a boutique agency and I don't want to work with hundreds of people. Like my [00:34:00] goal is to work with people I like to work with. And right now I'm at the stage that I really like these people that around me.

And I am happy to wake up every morning because I know that. Okay, this is going to be a great day because I can help these people and they will help me and, you know, it's mutual. And, uh, one of my, one of my friends told me the other day that like, if you can sit down with them, you know, have a meal together and like a nice meal, a lovely meal together.

So those are your ideal clients. If you don't want to sit down with them at the same table, they won't do that. So, but I'm lucky now because I have those people. So I would like to have these people around me in the next five years for sure. And I would like to serve them with more, probably more services and co collaborate with other people and other companies so we can provide them with, with more stuff like, for example, content repurposing, or even if they want to start a podcast, we can help with them because we have a partner who helps with like setting up a podcast.

So kind of collaboration with other [00:35:00] people. And network with them and try to do something together with them. Yeah, yeah, I would focus on these and we will focus on these in the next five years, I guess.

Matt: right. So to see where the podcast business takes you and, uh, it'll be interesting cause you're going into Bob Berg's group, aren't you, and what comes out of that as well, so it'll be interesting to see what comes out of that. Right, let's do this, let's do... The question box, dun dun, I need some music, I must get some music sorted out for this .

Noemi: I can drum, Matt, I can drum.

Matt: haha, haha, haha. I do have, cos I have the Rode Procaster sound desk in front of me, And there are certain sounds on here that I suppose I could use, but I don't think, I could use this one, uh, but I, I don't think that quite works, I need to, I need to get something that's a bit more, Um, I don't know, a bit more [00:36:00] dun dun, uh, anyway, let's um, let's flick through these questions.

You're going to tell me when to stop, when I stop, that's the question we're going to ask.

Noemi: Oh my gosh, stop.

Matt: Okay.

Okay, so, why is that, oh, okay, there we go, here's the question, are you ready?

Noemi: No, but anyway, go ahead.

Matt: this is the bit everyone gets nervous about.

Noemi: Yeah, I mean, it's like sweaty hands.

Matt: it's really funny. Um, everyone's the same way. You're not in the, you're not in the, uh, sort of a solo boat here, Noemi. And I'm just dragging it out just because I can. Um, that's what, that's the kind of music I should get is that tense, you know, music that you, that sort of, you know, that builds up.

So where does your model of a normal home life come from? That's a really great question.

Noemi: Wow, I love that. Where did normal home life come from? Um, [00:37:00] definitely from my parents because they, they were amazing. I had a great life when I was growing up. You know, I, I was growing up in a small town in, in Hungary and okay, it was like a kind of a narrow minded community, but I

Matt: communities are, to be fair, Noemi, most communities are.

Noemi: it. But I love the place. It was fresh air, fresh fruits and veggies. We home grow everything. And, and I was the only child. I could do what I wanted. I love reading. I love playing in the garden. So that model, I mean, definitely come from my, my parents and my parents support. They were awesome. And I think that you can, that these are the things that you can bring from home when you have like an ideal life at home and in a small place and fresher and a secure environment for your child

Matt: yeah, yeah. And have you, have you tried to create that same environment then for your own family?

Noemi: [00:38:00] Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I tried or I didn't try. Uh, that's why we moved from Ireland to, to Cyprus because then I knew I, I, We wanted a, like a kid, um, a child, uh, obviously Ireland wasn't the best and safest place. That was my opinion, you know, there are many people raising kids there, but, um, like when it comes to weather, when it comes to fresh fruits, when it comes to fresh vegetables and in the crime rate and everything, it was a much better place to, to raise a child.

So basically that was one of our intentions. That's why we moved to Cyprus. From Ireland, because I didn't want to stay there and raise a kid and waiting for the rain to stop and go outside for 10 minutes and the rain came back. So I just wanted to do something that, you know, he can play in the beach and can be in the sand and, you know, it's a beautiful country, so.

Matt: So do you ever find yourself, um, parenting and saying something or doing something and you get that sort of that weird flashback to when you [00:39:00] were a kid and you can hear either your mum or your dad doing that exact thing to you?

Noemi: yeah, 100%. Yeah, like my mom used to do it with me. And I, you know, when my son can be anxious and he's like me, I mean, he looks like his dad, but he's really like me, like from inside. And I know when I, how, how can calm him when he's nervous and when he has. It's issues at school or with friends and, because that's how my mom did it with me.

And I mean, she was a kindergarten teacher for 40 years. And so, so I learned a lot from her and she's my, kind of my rock in life. And she helped me a lot about parenting, about dealing with kids and I'm trying my best. I'm not as good as her and I don't have that much patience as. She did, but I'm trying.

Matt: Yeah, yeah, no, it's fascinating, isn't it? It's fascinating because if I was to answer that question myself, what, uh, where does your model of normal home life come from? [00:40:00] If I think about the different things that influenced me, so my parents divorced when I was about nine, I think nine or 10 years old, somewhere around there.

Um, and I don't really remember what family life was like before they divorced, if that makes sense. So I'd never had that model of a happy married couple. Now I have to say my mum, who I lived with, and my dad, who we'd see a couple of times a week. Both wonderful people. My mum is an absolute legend. Um, I mean, an absolute legend.

Love the bones of her. And she was so sacrificing, uh, as a mum when I was growing up. And the stuff that she gave up and did for us was, it's just legendary. She's, she's a legend. Mum, you're a legend if you're watching, which you probably are. Cause you know, um, what was interesting was, um, When I came to university, I met some people who were happily married, you know, they were families happily married.

I met them in the church and I hung out with them intentionally [00:41:00] because I'd not seen what a happy family looked like. And I went to live with, um, A couple called Nick and Jen, um, because I wanted to see, I wanted to live in their house to see what it was actually like. Um, because you can read everything you can read in a, in a textbook, can't you?

But it's not really that helpful. So I went to live with them for a little while and I would hang out around with Nick and Jen and a couple called Dave and Julie and Simon and Patty and loads of other people as much as I possibly could. And um, And so that was when I saw for the first time I think, um, what from the inside a happy marriage is, is like.

And so here I am, I've been married 25 years, right, and I have a great marriage. My wife is, uh, she's a, she's a legend as well. My mum's a legend, my wife's a legend. And it's interesting, isn't it, because people ask you about, about that, and how you've done well, and you kind of think, well, I can't, I can't [00:42:00] tell you, like, chapter and verse, what I learned from Dave and Julie and Nick and Jen, I just can't, because we never sat down and they said, right, Matt, this is A, B and C, it was just hanging out with them, you know, it's just that, just doing life together that I think made a massive difference, and so, I think when you grow up, it's that doing life, and I wonder, actually, Um, for me, I don't know for you knowing me, but for me, I wonder how much TV had an influence on me.

You know, you had TV shows like the Cosby's, um, and all these kind of different shows on TV and, and they were portraying something that I wasn't necessarily living. Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm, I don't know. I'm not a psychologist. I'm sure somebody somewhere, uh, some psychologist would have a field day with me in my life.

But, um, it's just a fascinating question, isn't it? Where does the model come from, uh, of what normal family life looks like? And so, um. It's great that you had, you had that with your parents and it's great you're doing that with your, with your son as well because that then perpetuates, doesn't it, it feeds the, it feeds the cycle.[00:43:00]

Did you ever do that thing where your mum and dad said to you something or did something to you and you said, I'm never going to do that to my kids when I'm older. Did you ever have that reaction to anything that they did and then find yourself doing that exact same thing? Or is that just me?

Noemi: No, I think, I think I had that. I can't really remember. Uh, but, um, you know, they always trusted me with everything. You know, I was 16 when I went to Denmark and you are a teenager and most of the parents, they were even in our community. People told them, it's like, how can you do that to your daughter

Matt: Yeah.

Noemi: Like, because you're, you're letting them out in the wild world and you know, she can, anything can happen to her, but nothing happened to me, obviously, because I'm still alive and I'm fine. But for example, they never really,

Matt: Nothing bad happens in Denmark.

Noemi: wow, it was quite a storm going on there when I was there in 96, 97. So like, you know, I mean, if you wanted to get in trouble, you could get in trouble. But when you were raised like that and your, [00:44:00] the people trusted you, like my parents trusted me, they knew that I'm going to behave and I'm going to do well and, uh, yeah.

And because they taught me that way and I learned from them, but for example, I got my ear, I got my nose pierced in Denmark and I just, you know, and when I did it, I told them, it's like, I did it. It's like, okay, you know, it's your decision. So, I mean, so they were really cool parents compared to, they were, they were parents in the late nineties and. They always supported me with everything, with all my crazy styles and everything, so that's what I want to implement in my kid's life, in my son's life, because it's just so important to build that trust and it's really important to trust your child with everything they do, and they trust in you, and they trust you with their secrets and all these little insecurities, so that's what I learned from them. Yeah, but they weren't like that. I mean, they were really cool parents, I guess. I mean, they were, yeah, [00:45:00] I was, I was always loved them and they, you know, they had a marriage for like 40 something years,

Matt: oh well.

Noemi: died. So yeah, it

Matt: a good innings, as we like to say in England, a good innings. Well done. Oh, well done, Mum and Dad. Noemi, listen, uh, great conversation. Uh, I've got lots of questions about podcasting, but... Maybe that's for another episode. Um, but if people want to reach out to you, if they want to find out more about what you do, um, connect with you, maybe talk to you about podcasting or even about grief or whatever, what's the best way to do that?

Noemi: please check out my website, which is podcastconnections. co, not com, but co. And you can always find me on LinkedIn. I'm always there. It's If you type my name in, Noemi Beres, you can get in touch with me and, you know, we can chat about art, we can chat about podcast guesting, so I'm open to that.

Matt: Fantastic. Fantastic. And do connect with Noemi on, uh, On LinkedIn because you are perhaps with the exception of maybe Chloe Thomas One of the most prolific users of in [00:46:00] of LinkedIn. You're always commented on everything. So Do do connect with Noemi on LinkedIn now We will of course link to your information, Noemi's information in the show notes, which you can get along for Free with the transcript at pushtobemore.

com. Uh, Noemi, thanks for coming on the show. I've loved this. It's, it's been a long time coming and it's great to finally make it happen. So, uh, and thank you for all your help in getting me on all those podcasts. It was awesome. And, um, I wish you every blessing and happiness for the future in Cyprus, but, um, it's been an absolute joy.

Thanks for coming on the show.

Noemi: Thank you so much for having me, Matt, it was a pleasure and an honor and, you know, we always love working with you. Hopefully we can continue it in the future too.

Matt: No doubt, no doubt. It was, it's a funny thing is all the shows that you listened to before have been with me on the, as a guest or your guests on our show, but this one you're on. Uh, which is just wonderful. So thank you. Uh, it's been great. And of course, a big [00:47:00] shout out to today's show sponsor, Speaking of Podcasts, Uh, aurion Media.

If you're wondering if podcasting is a good marketing strategy for your business, do connect with them at aurionmedia. com. media.com. That's A U R I O N media.com. And be sure to follow, push to Be more wherever you get your podcasts from because we have got yet more great conversations lined up. And I don't want you to miss any of them.

And in case no one has told you yet today, let me be the first. You are awesome. Yes, you are. Created. Awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear. Na uh, Noemi has to bear it. I have to bear it. You've got to bear it as well. Now, Push To Be More is produced by aurion Media. You can find our entire archive of episodes on your favorite podcast app.

The team that makes this show possible is the incredible Sadaf Beynon, Estella Robin, and Tanya Hutsuliak. Our theme music was written by Josh Edmundson, and as I mentioned, if you would like to read the transcript or show notes, head to the website pushtobemore. [00:48:00] com. So that's it from me. That's it from Noemi.

Thank you so much for joining us. Have a fantastic week wherever you are in the world. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.