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The Situation

When Catherine Crestani joined Megan Dougherty on the Business Podcast Spotlight, she had already created something special with Willow Healing Matters. What started as a personal project to connect and share wisdom had grown into a steady stream of powerful interviews, collaborations, and community. Now, with the podcast becoming more central to her work as a leadership coach and intuitive healer, Catherine was thinking about improving her audio quality and exploring sponsorships, while staying true to the organic, heart-led spirit of the show.

About Catherine Crestani

Catherine Crestani is a leadership coach and intuitive healer who works with people who are ready to speak up and step into their power in life, business, and health. She’s the host of Willow Healing Matters, a podcast where she has real, grounded conversations about healing, spirituality, and finding your own path. Whether she’s coaching, writing, or speaking, Catherine’s all about helping people tune into their own wisdom and live with more intention.

What’s Happened So Far

Catherine has built something really meaningful with Willow Healing Matters. What started as a personal way to connect with others and share alternative healing stories has grown into a consistent, well-loved show that’s deeply aligned with her values and the work she does as a leadership coach.

In the beginning, Catherine didn’t overthink it. She grabbed a mic, started talking to interesting people, and let it evolve naturally. Over time, she found that the podcast wasn’t just helping her speak up and be seen, it was also creating unexpected opportunities: collaborations, referrals, new ideas for her writing, and real connections with listeners and guests.

She’s never been focused on metrics or downloads, but the ripple effects in her business have been clear. The show helps her build community, deepen her network, and share her voice and values with the people who need to hear them.

Now, with guest bookings coming in steadily and the show releasing twice a week, Catherine’s thinking about the next phase: improving her audio quality, streamlining the process, and maybe even exploring sponsorship. The big question is how to grow the show professionally without losing the organic, intuitive style that makes it so special.

Which leads to smaller, more practical questions:

What tools can make the audio and editing easier?

Is it time to invest in better gear?

How do you explore sponsorship in a way that still feels aligned?

And what does success look like, when the show is already doing so much?

The New Plan

As you’ll have heard in the conversation, Catherine isn’t looking to overhaul everything – her podcast is working really well as it is. But with sponsorship opportunities starting to appear and a strong guest pipeline already in place, there’s room to refine a few key areas without losing the heart of the show.

The focus now is on upgrading her recording setup to improve audio quality across the board. That likely means switching to a dual-ended recording platform like Riverside or Squadcast, and investing a bit of time in learning a basic editing tool like Audacity so she can balance guest and host audio more effectively.

We also talked about starting small with monetization – specifically affiliate partnerships with brands or creators she already loves and trusts. This gives her a way to explore sponsorship in a low-pressure, totally values-aligned way while gathering the kind of data that will help with more formal partnerships later on.

No huge rebrand. No pressure to chase numbers. Just a few smart tweaks that will support the podcast’s growth, make the process a little smoother, and open up new possibilities, while keeping the intuitive, collaborative spirit of Willow Healing Matters intact.

How to Use This Strategy

If you want to take a relationship-building approach with your podcast, here are a few good questions to start with:

• Who are the kinds of people I want stronger relationships with – potential clients, collaborators, referral partners?

• What kind of space can I create on my show that makes them feel seen, heard, and genuinely appreciated?

• Am I doing enough with those connections after the episode goes live?

Start by making a list of people you’d love to talk to, not because they’ll buy something right away, but because a relationship with them would be meaningful for your business long-term. Then think about how you can highlight them in the episode – ask about their work, their goals, and share their message widely.

After the episode, keep the conversation going. That might mean introducing them to someone in your network, sharing a resource, or following up when a collaboration idea hits you later. This isn’t about fast funnels, it’s about real trust, built through conversation.

And if you’re not sure how to start? Pick someone you admire, hit record, and just see where the conversation takes you. That’s how Catherine started – and it worked.

If you’re looking for a partner to help you figure out and deploy a strategy that will work for your business, we can help! Book a call, and let’s talk!

How to Track Success

For a relationship-building podcast like Willow Healing Matters, here’s what you’ll want to keep an eye on:

1. How many meaningful connections come out of your interviews – this could be collaborations, referrals, or follow-up conversations that lead to something.
2. How often guests or listeners introduce you to someone else because of the show.
3. Any client or project opportunities that come from people who first connected with you through the podcast.
4. If you decide to experiment with affiliate links or sponsorship, track clicks and conversions from your show mentions – this will give you a baseline for future deals.
5. And if you’re curious, sure, keep an eye on downloads. But for this kind of podcast, the quality of your connections will matter more than the size of your audience.

Connect with Catherine

Catherine is exploring new recording tools, brushing up on editing basics, and taking her first steps into the world of sponsorship. She’ll be back on the Spotlight soon to share how it’s going and what she’s learned along the way. In the meantime, check out the Willow Healing Matters podcast on Substack or connect with Catherine through her work at Willow Healing.

You can also follow her journey on Instagram and subscribe to the podcast for fresh episodes full of wisdom, healing, and real conversations.