Bucket List #2: I don't know what to talk about on my podcast. So I made a system.

Starting the podcast was the easy part.

Deciding what to actually talk about — episode after episode, week after week — that's where I've been quietly struggling.

I launched Fight Club 4 Women and recorded Episode 1 and it felt good. It felt right. It was my story and I knew it by heart and I didn't have to think too hard about whether it was the right thing to say because it was the only thing to say.

And then I sat down to plan Episode 2 and stared at a blank page for a long time.

I had ideas. Too many ideas. A list that kept getting longer the more I thought about it. Relationship dynamics. Career reinvention. Faith. Money. Sisterhood. Burnout. Boundaries. The stuff nobody says out loud. All of it felt important. None of it felt clear.

And I realized — this is actually the hardest part of building a podcast that lasts. Not the recording. Not the editing. Not the equipment or the platform or the launch. It's the ongoing question of what to say and whether it's the right thing and whether anyone actually needs to hear it from you specifically.

So I built myself a system. And I want to share it — not because I've figured it all out, but because I'm in it right now and this is what's helping.

The first question is: Does this come from somewhere real?

Not real as in dramatic or painful — real as in genuine. Is this something I've actually thought about, lived through, or am currently wrestling with? Or is it a topic that sounds like what I'm supposed to cover because of the kind of podcast I said I was making?

There's a difference. And I can feel the difference when I start talking. Topics that come from somewhere real have a pull to them. They want to be said. Topics I'm doing out of obligation feel like work before I've even started.

The second question is: can I talk about this without telling someone else's story?

This one is important, and I think about it more than I let on. Some of the most honest conversations happen in the middle of other people's lives — in relationships, in friendships, in situations that involve people who didn't sign up to be characters in my podcast. There are things I could say that would land hard and resonate deeply and also cross a line I'm not willing to cross.

So I ask myself: Is this mine to tell? Can I get to the truth of it without putting someone else on display without their knowing? If yes — record it. If no — find the angle that makes it mine without making it theirs.

The third question is: would I want to listen to this?

Not would my audience want to listen. Would I. Because if I'm bored by the pitch in my own head, I'm going to be bored recording it. And bored hosts make for unbearable listening.

If I'd lean in — if I'd want to hear this conversation — that's the one.

When I still can't decide after those three questions, I do one thing.

I pick the topic that feels slightly uncomfortable to commit to.

Not terrifying. Not the thing that keeps me up at night in a bad way. Just the one that makes me a little nervous to say out loud. The one where I think — someone might push back on this. Someone might have a different opinion. Someone might feel something when they hear it.

That discomfort is usually a signal that there's something real underneath the topic. That it matters enough to create friction. And friction — the kind that comes from saying something true rather than something safe — is what makes a podcast worth coming back to.

I don't have twelve episodes planned. I don't have a content calendar with topics mapped out through the summer. I have the next episode — just one — and a system for finding the one after that when the time comes.

And honestly? That feels like enough.

Because the podcast is going to tell me what it wants to be. The audience is going to tell me what they need. I just have to stay honest, stay close to the things that feel real, and keep asking myself the right questions before I hit record.

That's the whole system. It's not complicated. It just requires more honesty than most people want to bring to the planning process.

If you're starting a podcast and you're stuck on what to talk about — try these three questions. Not to find the perfect topic. Just to find the next one.

That's enough to start.

XOXO, Meaghan, Strategic Style Co.