Mollie McGlockin hosts the Sleep Is A Skill podcast. Sleep Is A Skill is a company that optimizes people’s sleep through a unique blend of technology, accountability, and behavioral change. After having her own experience with insomnia while traveling internationally, Mollie created what she couldn’t find - a place to go to learn the skill set of sleep.
While addressing her own sleep issues, Mollie became fascinated with chronobiology, which is essentially the study of the natural circadian rhythms in the body. On her podcast Mollie focuses on chronobiology’s practical application to sleep and our overall experience of life.
She also runs a weekly Sleep Obsessions newsletter which is packed full of all the latest research and developments in the field, and she’s also now appeared as a guest on more than 140 podcasts to help build her brand and grow her own audience.
Mollie takes the craft of podcasting very seriously. From day one she set a high bar on quality and is continually working to refine and enhance the production processes she’s put in place.
In this interview James Deeney speaks with Mollie about the various investments she’s made and strategies she adopted to produce a podcast that looks and sounds highly professional. They discuss:
- 03:22 - Why podcasters and entrepreneurs should prioritize sleep
- 06:13 - Mollie’s personal experience with insomnia
- 10:01 - The origins of the Sleep Is A Skill Podcast
- 24:50 - Why Mollie hired a dedicated podcast launch coach
- 27:10 - The microphone Mollie uses to minimise ambient background noise
- 29:01 - How to find interns and freelancers to help with production workflows
- 38:44 - How to grow your audience by being a guest on other podcasts
- 43:24 - Main factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the western world
- 48:48 - Social jetlag, what it is and how to avoid it
- 50:30 - Wearable sleep trackers like FitBits and Apple Watches
- 55:33 - Competing scientific theories as to why we dream during sleep
Selected Links From the Episode
Connect with Mollie: Instagram | LinkedIn
Dr Jeffery Durmer on Sleep Is A Skill, US Olympic Sleep Coach
Equipment
Tools & Resources
- Airtable
- Calendly
- FLIK, Platform for finding female interns
- Grain.io, Transcription tool
- Loom, Video messaging
How to Promote Your Podcast as a Guest on Other Shows, MatchMaker.fm
Chilipad, Temperature-Controlled Mattress Cover
Oura Ring, Wearable sleep tracker
BioStrap, Health tracker
Whoop, Wearable fitness tracker
Biohackers Are Wearing Continuous Glucose Monitors, Business Insider
Lief Therapeutics, HRV Tracker