How to Turn Your Purpose Into Something Real

By Julie Lokun & Conner Tighe

Do you have an idea that keeps tugging at you?

Maybe it shows up as a quiet thought you cannot shake. Maybe it arrives as a full-body knowing. Maybe it feels less like a business plan and more like a calling.

That is how my journey began — not with a perfect strategy, not with a polished blueprint, and certainly not with every answer figured out. It began with a spark.

Collect Experiences, Not Riches

Since I was a young girl, I have been described as passionate, curious, and wildly open to possibility. I was the kind of person who said yes to new experiences before calculating every possible outcome. I wanted to meet people, learn from them,

stretch myself, and see where the next opportunity might lead.

Along the way, I met mentors, teachers, friends, and fellow dreamers who helped me see beyond my own doubts. Each experience added something to my life. Each person left a mark. And slowly, those moments began to shape the way I understood purpose, courage, and possibility.

I did not always move through life with a perfect plan. In fact, much of my path was built through trial, error, instinct, and faith. Sometimes I soared. Other times, I stumbled hard.

But every setback taught me something valuable.

The lessons I learned through experience became the very lessons I now share with others: your idea does not need to be perfect before you begin. It needs your attention, your belief, and your willingness to keep going.

When Purpose Becomes the Starting Point

My own entrepreneurial story began after I completed my Master’s Certification in Life Coaching. I knew I wanted to do more than practice coaching quietly in the background. I wanted to build something meaningful. I wanted to serve people on a larger scale.

Coaching felt like more than a career choice. It felt like my Ikigai.

Ikigai is a Japanese concept often described as one’s “reason for being.” It is the place where purpose, passion, contribution, and fulfillment meet. For me, coaching was exactly that. It was the work that made me feel most alive.

Once I recognized that, something shifted.

I realized I was not only a coach. I was an entrepreneur in the making.

I had an idea. I had a mission. And now I had to turn that spark into a real, thriving business.

Building While Learning

I did not launch my business with a flawless roadmap. I built it the way many entrepreneurs do: one question, one mistake, one experiment, and one late night at a time.

I studied everything I could find. I researched how to build an online coaching business. I learned how to stand out in a crowded digital space. I listened to podcasts, watched videos, studied websites, tested social media platforms, and paid close attention to what worked — and what did not.

I taught myself skills I never expected to need. Website design. Video editing. Online marketing. Community building. Content creation. Social media strategy.

Some lessons came quickly. Others came through mistakes.

For example, I once dismissed Pinterest as outdated. I assumed it had little value for my business. What I later learned was that Pinterest functions more like a search engine than a traditional social media platform, and when used strategically, it can become a powerful tool for visibility.

That lesson reminded me of something important: entrepreneurs must stay curious. The tools, platforms, and strategies will keep changing, but curiosity keeps you adaptable.

Fan the Flame

Your idea may begin as a small spark, but sparks need oxygen.

They need encouragement. They need action. They need the right people around them.

Surround yourself with people who believe in growth. Learn from those who are a few steps ahead of you. Ask questions. Stay teachable. Be willing to experiment. Most importantly, do not let fear convince you that your idea is too small, too late, or too unrealistic.

If your idea is rooted in service, love, purpose, or transformation, it deserves your attention.

That does not mean you should leap blindly. Passion alone is not a business plan. A meaningful idea still needs structure, strategy, consistency, and smart decisions. But when purpose is the foundation, the work becomes more sustainable.

Purpose Before Profit

In less than a year, my mission-based idea grew into a full-time business. Not because I had everything figured out from day one, but because I was willing to learn, adjust, and keep showing up.

I believed in the work. I believed in the people I was meant to serve. I believed that coaching was not just something I could do — it was something I was called to do.

That belief became fuel.

Money matters in business, of course. A business must be sustainable. But when money is the only motivation, the work can quickly feel empty. When purpose leads, profit becomes part of the structure — not the soul of the mission.

Do You Have a Spark?

So I will ask you again:

Do you have an idea that keeps calling to you?

An idea that could help someone, solve a problem, create beauty, offer guidance, build community, or make life better in some way?

Do not ignore it.

Write it down. Talk about it. Research it. Test it. Build around it. Take the first step, even if it is imperfect.

Your idea does not have to become a business overnight. But it does deserve to be explored with intention.

That small spark may be the beginning of something powerful.

Fan the flame. Build with purpose. And when you are ready, turn that idea into something real.

Anne Gollert Hill on Scientology, Survival, and Finding Her Way Back to Love

By Conner Tighe

How do you begin again after leaving a world that once told you who to be, what to believe, and where your future belonged?

In this episode of Get Obsessed, Julie Lokun and Mika Altidor continue their compelling conversation with Anne Gollert Hill, a writer, survivor, and the creator of My Scientology Story. Anne opens up about her years inside Scientology, including her time in the Sea Org, and offers a rare personal look at what life was like within one of the organization’s most demanding inner circles.

Her story is not told from a distance. It comes from lived experience.

Anne speaks about power, loyalty, celebrity influence, fear, family, and the long process of learning how to trust herself again. What unfolds is a story about control, yes — but also about love, courage, and the difficult work of reclaiming a life.

Behind the Image Scientology Shows the World

Scientology has often been associated with fame, influence, and celebrity culture. In the episode, Anne reflects on why the organization has historically placed such value on celebrity members and public visibility. She also shares memories of interviewing John Travolta, giving listeners a glimpse of how celebrity status can shape an organization’s image.

Julie, Mika, and Anne also discuss Tom Cruise’s relationship with Scientology leader David Miscavige and the unique position Cruise has held within the organization.

But Anne’s reflections move beyond celebrity headlines. Her story points to a deeper reality: the contrast between the polished public image of Scientology and the personal cost experienced by those inside it.

Behind the glamour and visibility, Anne describes a culture where authority, status, and obedience carried enormous weight.

Life Inside the Sea Org

Anne’s time in the Sea Org placed her inside a world built around intense commitment. The Sea Org is often described as Scientology’s most devoted religious order, and Anne’s account shows how that devotion could shape nearly every part of daily life.

There was little room for personal freedom. Individual needs were often pushed aside in favor of duty, loyalty, and the organization's expectations.

For Anne, life inside the Sea Org was not simply about work. It was about identity. It was about belonging. It was about being part of a system that made leaving feel unthinkable.

That is part of what makes her story so powerful. Anne helps listeners understand that walking away from a high-control environment is rarely a simple choice. When a system has shaped your relationships, beliefs, purpose, and future, leaving means questioning everything.

When Spiritual Freedom Comes With a Cost

One of the most emotional parts of the conversation centers on Anne’s reflection that love was largely absent from her experience inside Scientology.

She discusses the Bridge to Spiritual Freedom, the structured path members follow as they advance within the organization, and the financial burden connected to that progress. But the cost Anne describes is not only financial. It is emotional and deeply personal.

The episode asks listeners to sit with a painful contradiction: what happens when a system promises spiritual advancement but leaves people feeling disconnected from compassion, tenderness, and unconditional love?

For Anne, that absence mattered. It became part of the quiet realization that something was wrong.

The Doubts That Changed Everything

Anne did not leave Scientology in one sudden moment of clarity. Her awakening happened slowly.

Over time, she began noticing warning signs. Certain experiences, contradictions, and questions became harder to ignore. The certainty she had once been taught to hold began to crack.

That gradual process is one of the most important parts of her story. Many people imagine leaving a controlling system as a dramatic escape, but Anne’s experience shows something more complicated. Doubt often begins quietly. It can start as discomfort, intuition, or the feeling that the life you are living no longer matches the truth inside you.

Eventually, those doubts became impossible for Anne to silence.

The Love That Became a Lifeline

One of the most moving themes in Anne’s story is the role her family played in helping her leave.

While Scientology had shaped so much of her life, her family remained a source of steady love. They did not give up on her. They did not stop reaching for her. Their consistent presence gave her something she had been missing: a sense of safety that was not tied to performance, obedience, or status.

That love became a lifeline.

Anne’s story reminds us that support does not always have to be loud to be powerful. Sometimes love works quietly. It waits. It remains. It gives someone enough hope to believe there may still be a life waiting for them on the other side.

Rebuilding After Scientology

Leaving was not the end of Anne’s journey. In many ways, it was the beginning of something new.

After leaving Scientology and the Sea Org, Anne had to rebuild her life from the ground up. She had to learn how to make decisions again, process what had happened, and rediscover who she was outside the organization.

That kind of healing is not instant. It can involve grief, confusion, anger, relief, and the slow return of self-trust.

Through My Scientology Story, Anne has transformed her experience into a platform for honesty and connection. By sharing what happened to her, she helps others feel seen. She also helps listeners better understand the emotional complexity of leaving a high-control group.

Why Anne’s Story Matters

In the episode, Anne, Julie, and Mika also discuss public figures such as Leah Remini and Mike Rinder, who have helped bring attention to stories from former Scientology members.

These conversations matter because silence often protects systems of control. Storytelling interrupts that silence.

Anne’s story is important not because it is easy to hear, but because it is honest. It shows the fear involved in leaving. It shows the emotional weight of starting over. It shows the power of family, truth, and resilience.

Most of all, it reminds listeners that freedom is not always a single moment. Sometimes freedom is a series of brave choices made one day at a time.

Anne Gollert Hill’s conversation on Get Obsessed is a moving reminder that healing is possible, even after years of control. Her journey speaks to anyone who has ever had to reclaim their voice, rebuild their life, or choose love after fear.

Listen to the Full Episode

Listen to this episode of Get Obsessed with Julie Lokun and Mika Altidor to hear Anne Gollert Hill share her firsthand experience inside Scientology, her time in the Sea Org, and the powerful journey that led her toward freedom, healing, and truth.

From Page to Podcast: How Authors Can Turn Their Message Into a Media Brand

By Conner Tighe

What if the people who loved your book could hear your voice every single week?

That question sits at the heart of Julie Lokun’s Women in Publishing workshop, From Page to Podcast, a 90-minute interactive session designed for authors, writers, and publishing professionals who are ready to think beyond the page.

A book is powerful. It captures your ideas, your story, your expertise, and your point of view. But a book also has a natural endpoint. A reader finishes the final chapter, closes the cover, and may not hear from you again unless there is a clear next step.

A podcast changes that.

Podcasting gives authors something books alone cannot always provide: an ongoing relationship. It allows readers to hear your voice, experience your personality, understand your thinking in real time, and become part of a larger community around your message.

As Julie puts it, “Your podcast is not a hobby. It is a legacy.”

Why Podcasting Matters for Authors Right Now

The publishing world is crowded. Millions of new titles enter the marketplace each year across traditional and self-publishing channels. Many books struggle to reach a wide audience, not because the ideas are weak, but because attention is fragmented and discoverability is difficult.

Podcasting offers a different kind of opportunity.

A book gives readers the idea once. A podcast lets them return to that idea again and again through weekly conversations, stories, interviews, frameworks, and calls to action. It transforms a one-time reader into an ongoing listener. And over time, that listener can become something even more valuable: an active fan.

That is the reader-to-listener bridge Julie teaches authors to build.

The question is not, “Should I abandon the book?” Absolutely not. The question is, “Where does the book relationship end, and where can a deeper relationship begin?”

For authors, a podcast can become the living extension of the book. It can expand the message, answer the questions readers still have, introduce new voices, and create a rhythm of trust that a single publication date cannot sustain on its own.

Authors Already Have a Podcasting Advantage

One of the biggest misconceptions about podcasting is that authors have to start from scratch.

Julie challenges that idea directly.

Authors, writers, and publishing professionals already have many of the assets new podcasters spend months trying to build. They have credibility. They have stories. They have ideas. They have a relationship with readers. They may also have articles, manuscripts, book chapters, talks, newsletters, interviews, literary contacts, and professional networks that can be repurposed into podcast content.

That is the publishing advantage.

Writers understand structure. They know how to create emotional stakes. They know how to shape a beginning, middle, and end. They understand pacing, voice, tension, and audience psychology. These are not small advantages. They are the DNA of a strong podcast.

A podcast does not ask an author to become someone new. It asks them to bring their existing voice into a compound format.

Every chapter can become a conversation. Every reader question can become an episode. Every theme in a book can become a series. Every interview can become a relationship-building tool. Every episode can become digital real estate for the author’s brand.

The Power of a Clear Podcast Niche

Of course, having a message is not enough. The message needs to be clear.

Julie’s workshop guides participants through a niche clarity framework built around three questions:

What could you talk about every week without running out of energy?

Where do readers, clients, peers, or the publishing world already trust your voice?

What urgent question does your audience keep asking?

The sweet spot lives at the intersection of passion, expertise, and demand.

This is where authors can move from a vague podcast idea to a specific show promise. A strong podcast promise makes it immediately clear who the show is for, what problem it solves, and why the host is the right guide.

For example, a debut author might create a show about the real road to publication. A literary agent might host a podcast about querying, pitching, and book deals. An indie author might build a show around a self-publishing strategy. A genre writer might create deep-dive conversations for a loyal reader community.

The goal is not to copy what everyone else is doing. The goal is to create a show that could only come from your experience, your audience, and your voice.

A useful test is simple: would your ideal listener subscribe based on your one-sentence show promise alone?

If the answer is no, the idea may need to become clearer, narrower, or more useful.

Don’t Launch With Just One Episode

Once the niche is clear, Julie recommends another practical strategy: never launch with only one episode.

Her three-episode minimum rule gives new listeners enough depth to understand the host, trust the promise, and keep listening.

Episode one should introduce the origin story. Why does this show exist? Who is the host? Who is it for? What can listeners expect?

Episode two should offer a quick win. This might be a practical framework, a useful lesson, or a standalone episode that proves the show delivers immediate value.

Episode three should include a guest, case study, or form of social proof. This helps establish credibility and can expand reach on launch day.

Together, these first three episodes create a bingeable entry point. When someone discovers the show, they do not just sample one idea and leave. They can immediately move deeper into the world of the podcast.

For authors, this is especially important. A strong launch sequence can connect the podcast back to the book, the author’s story, the reader’s needs, and the next step in the relationship.

Growth Without Burnout

Consistency is one of the biggest challenges in podcasting. Many people launch with excitement, publish a few episodes, and then disappear when the weekly scramble becomes too much.

Julie’s solution is the batch-and-bank method.

Instead of treating podcasting as a last-minute weekly task, she encourages authors to record in focused bursts. One protected recording day per month can create four episodes. Staying two to four episodes ahead gives the host breathing room during book tours, deadlines, conferences, illness, travel, or busy seasons.

This approach is especially natural for publishing professionals. Writers already understand deadlines. They know how to outline. They know how to organize ideas into chapters, sections, and arcs.

A podcast can be planned the same way.

Julie also encourages seasonal thinking. Eight to twelve episodes can function like chapters in a larger story. This makes the show feel cohesive, bingeable, and strategically connected.

The result is a podcast that does not drain the author’s energy. It supports the larger brand without becoming another source of creative burnout.

One Episode Can Become Five Pieces of Content

Podcasting is not just about the episode itself. It is about the ecosystem around the episode.

Julie’s 1-to-5 repurposing system shows how one recording can become multiple touchpoints across platforms.

A single episode can become a blog post or newsletter. It can become a short-form video. It can become quote graphics for LinkedIn or Instagram. It can become a searchable transcript archive on a website. It can also link back to book chapters, resources, lead magnets, or purchase pages.

This is where podcasting becomes especially powerful for authors.

Instead of constantly creating brand-new content from scratch, authors can build a system where every episode multiplies. The podcast fuels the newsletter. The newsletter drives readers back to the book. The book points readers toward the podcast. The podcast invites listeners into a community, offer, event, or next step.

The content starts working together.

That is the difference between having a podcast and building a media brand.

Conversion Is the Magic

One of Julie’s strongest messages is that podcasting should not be treated as a passive visibility tool.

The goal is not simply more followers. The goal is a relationship.

A reader may finish a book and disappear. A listener can be invited into an owned relationship every week.

That relationship might be an email list, a newsletter, a private community, a live workshop, a coaching application, a book club, a resource hub, or a speaking inquiry.

The key is to give each episode one clear call to action.

Not five. Not a scattered list of links. One next step.

After each episode, what do you want the listener to do? Subscribe? Download a resource? Join the newsletter? Apply for coaching? Buy the book? Attend an event? Join the community?

When authors answer that question intentionally, podcasting becomes more than content. It becomes a conversion engine.

Podcasting as a Revenue Vertical

Julie also challenges another common myth: that podcasters need massive download numbers before they can make money.

They do not.

They need the right listeners, a precise promise, and a smart offer stack.

For authors and publishing professionals, revenue can come through several doors. A podcast can drive book sales, workbook sales, mini-courses, templates, audio bonuses, resource libraries, sponsorships, coaching, consulting, memberships, communities, speaking engagements, workshops, retreats, conferences, and media opportunities.

The point is not to build every revenue stream at once. The point is to choose the first realistic revenue door.

What could the first ten episodes naturally lead listeners toward?

For one author, the answer may be book sales. For another, it may be a paid workshop. For another, it may be a consulting offer, a membership community, or a sponsorship partnership.

Podcast money is strategic, not accidental. It comes from designing the show with intention from the beginning.

The First 30 Days

Julie closes the workshop with a practical 30-day action plan.

In week one, define and design the show. Complete the niche exercise. Name the podcast. Write the tagline. Clarify the listener's promise.

In week two, record and refine. Record the first three episodes. Set up the hosting platform. Invite early guests.

In week three, build the launch team. Identify reviewers and sharers. Brief partners and communities. Prepare launch-day posts.

In week four, monetize and launch. Choose the first revenue path. Add a clear call to action. Publish, measure, and adjust in flight.

This plan turns podcasting from a vague dream into a concrete next step.

Your Voice Is the Business Asset

At its core, From Page to Podcast is not just a workshop about microphones, RSS feeds, or launch checklists.

It is about ownership.

Authors already know how to shape ideas. They already know how to serve an audience. They already know how to create meaning through words.

Podcasting gives those words a voice.

It gives readers a reason to stay connected after the final page. It gives authors a way to build trust over time. It turns expertise into a content ecosystem, a community pathway, and a revenue vertical.

Most importantly, it reminds writers that their message need not be limited to a single format.

A book can introduce the idea.

A podcast can keep it alive.

And for authors ready to amplify their voices, deepen their relationships with audiences, and build a lasting brand, the microphone may be the next chapter.

Source note for publication: This article was adapted from Julie Lokun’s “From Page to Podcast” workshop for authors, writers, and publishers. The presentation references publishing and podcasting data from sources including Berrett-Koehler, Steve Laube Agency, Jane Friedman/BookScan context, Edison Research, Podnews, Listen Notes, The Podcast Host/Podcast Index, Veritonic, and SiriusXM Media.