Last month Sam Forsberg reviewed the book Crucial Conversations for the3rdi.co.uk. When I met with Sam she was passionate about the website she runs with three others. I took a look and was hugely impressed and am delighted to be able to share this site with you.

In just under 1 year of being live, and with no real marketing to speak of, there have been over 17,500 downloads from the ActionPodcast website.

So what is Action Podcast?

Action podcast is operated by four experienced life coaches turned podcasters who all know from personal experience that change can be scary. The podcasts and blogs posted by the team aim to help people to discover what is and isn’t working in their life. Podcasts cover topics from negotiating the recession, to changing careers, successful goal setting, coping with redundancy and dealing with the end of a relationship.

Meet the Team

Sam Forsberg
“Having lived in Australia, England, Austria and now Scotland, worked with integrity and love through the end of my marriage, walked away from a successful IT career and chronic illness, before embracing life coaching as a way of life rather than just ‘my next job’ I’ve packed a lot of change into a fairly intense period of time! The more I work through my own changes, the more I become aware of just how much change everyone else is also going through and how differently we all handle it! This influences my coaching to a great degree and I work with my clients in a way that honours what they believe in, what is important to them and how they see the world. Qualified since 2006, I live what I love, love what I do and learn continuously throughout it all!”

Paul G. Bailey
Originally from Bristol in the South West of England, moving to London in 1997. Paul began coaching in October 2004 after training with the The Coaching Academy. He is also a Small Business Mentor. Paul has worked for a number of Blue Chip companies (BT, Vodafone, Reuters) and has been the head of project management for a financial extranet company. Also as a Business Improvement Consultant he was responsible for bringing departments together and designing for them their best working practices, processes, procedures, documentation as well as providing them with training.
“I truly feel passionate about, helping people grow and achieve their best.”

Gina Baksa
Gina’s professional background encompasses more than 20 years as an editorial journalist, working with international publishing groups and media giants such as News International, Time Warner, IPC Media, Northcliffe and Trinity Mirror. Her passion for journalism is complemented by her interest in human potential and consciousness, and she has studied with many world-renowned leaders in these fields. Her desire for self-enquiry and passion for human development led her to take diplomas in both corporate and personal coaching with The Coaching Academy, the largest coaching training company in Europe. As a result, Gina has worked in transition coaching with corporate and private clients from many industries and myriad personal backgrounds in both Europe and the US.

Chris Janzen
Chris is a leading motivating coach. First on the athletic fields, where he studied world-class athletes and modeled their thinking to help propel him to championships in over five different sports, including three times a Canadian national champion and a World Number 1 ranking as an amateur. He recently went from not being able to run for more than 20 consecutive minutes due to knee pain to completing two marathons that same year, plus competing in a Ironman 70.3 triathlon the following year. Regardless of age, health, finances, current situation, personal history or future ambition, Chris knows with absolute certainty that everyone can achieve a level of success and fulfillment much greater than they have right now, and that everyone can live the life they want on their terms. Trained by the UK’s largest coaching school, The Coaching Academy, and by Anthony Robbins Companies, a recognised authority on leadership and peak performance, Chris brings a multi-faceted approach to coaching clients on their path to their extraordinary life.

What is a podcast?
According to Center for Journalism and Communication Research at the University of Texas at Austin, a podcast is a digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; programme-driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer software. In laymans terms a podcast is an audio file accessible via a website. It is a bit like an audiobook that you can download a chapter at a time.

The theme of the actionpodcast podcast and blogs is action and transformation. There are over 50 podcasts available on the website, with the most recent of those on the iTunes store and some additional blog posts too. The most popular, according to Sam, are

* How to calm a racing mind http://www.actionpodcast.com/2008/11/calm-a-racing-mind-49/
* Clearing Clutter http://www.actionpodcast.com/2008/11/clearing-the-clutter-78/
* Rewrite Your Story http://www.actionpodcast.com/2009/01/are-you-stuck-in-your-stories-490/

Sam says, “One of the most important factors in AP’s success has been that we all have such fun with it – that it is a real joy to be a part of.”

“Plans for 2010 are to focus on engaging with our listeners more actively – really encouraging interaction with them about the topics we’ve recorded, as well as topics they’d like to hear covered.”

There is no such thing as “a quick fix” when it comes to life transformation but a fantastic site like this allows you to take small steps as you can listen to the topics that are important to the stage of life you find yourself in. It is definately worth a listen!