The podcast that almost didn't exist...

My new podcast - The Bold Brave Woman Project - launched last night. But this podcast almost didn't exist, and here's why...

It’s so easy to give up. To listen to the voice in your head that begs you to stop. To tell yourself no one wants what you have to give. And to click away and do something else.

But there’s something incredible that lies on the other side of deciding not to give up. Something on the other side of bravery:

You.

Last night, I launched The Bold Brave Woman Project.

Yes! The Bold Brave Woman Project is finally live on all podcast platforms, with the trailer and first episode ready to listen to now!

But… it almost didn’t happen.

It almost became just another idea, buried deep in my journal.

Here’s why:

Tune into The Bold Brave Woman Project.
The trailer and the very first episode are available now on all podcast platforms.

THE FIRST PROJECT: BODY DIARIES

Two years ago, I released Body Diaries - my first foray into podcasting (I’d released a live-stream vodcast Life In Contradiction about a year earlier, but Body Diaries was my first major podcast release).

Body Diaries is an interview-based podcast that shares the real, raw, and brave body stories from women all over the world. I’d had a difficult relationship with my own body - from overcoming eating disorders to healing from sexual abuse and shame - and I knew I wasn’t alone.

So I created a space for women to share and heal through their stories.

Being in a body is one of the first things that we learn. We learn how it moves, how it feels, and how to disconnect from it when it feels unsafe. But there is a way home. Welcome to Body Diaries.

Within a few weeks, I had a long list of women ready to share. And after six months of recording (and many fears, learnings and healing along the way), it made its proud debut in November 2023.

It was such an exciting moment.

If you want to tune into Body Diaries, you can here. Season Two is coming soon!

I finally had something real and healing out in the world. Something that mattered.

But…

Amidst the beautiful feedback, a deeper pattern began to reveal itself: for many women, sharing their voice was simply impossible.

Fear, shame, and stigma kept them silent. And this felt heavy.

I quickly realised: Body Diaries, as powerful as it was, wasn’t going to be enough on its own.

And in the same moment, the BOLD with Andi Matthies podcast came into focus.

THE SECOND PROJECT: BOLD

BOLD felt like a divine calling. The reason I was here.

Bold with Andi Matthies shatters the conventional rules of what it means to be bold, and takes you on a journey from self-doubt to unstoppable self-expression, your way, where everything is possible.

It was going to be my first solo podcast, and I poured hours, days and months into it.

Even though I didn’t have a clear vision of what it would be, I dove into recording episode after episode on the floor of my walk-in wardrobe. I channelled on everything from how to tap into your voice to how to access your bravery (being a clairvoyant medium, channelling is my love language and my service), and started setting up its new branding and presence.

But very subtly, then suddenly, things started to drift.

As I started to get the episodes ready to launch, fear started to creep in. My bravery wobbled (despite leading conversations about bravery), and I was overcome with doubt: Is this something someone would even want to listen to? Who am I to try to lead this?

Within a matter of days, I talked myself into such a self-doubting state that I shelved the whole idea.

All of that work, all of those episodes - they became another project buried deep within the recesses of my laptop.

Months passed. Life crawled on. And the doubt about who I was and what I was here for grew.

By the end of 2024, I was contemplating giving up my whole entrepreneurial and coaching life to go back into the corporate world. Over and over, I questioned: How could I lead conversations about bravery if that was the very thing I was lacking?

Fast forward to April (2025), and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival was about to kick off. The city was buzzing, and being an improv comedian myself, this was all my friends and I were talking about.

Perusing the program, I was struck by how many incredible women comedians there were performing. And then it hit me:

What if I launched a brand new YouTube Channel that highlighted the bravery of these comedians? What if showcasing the real stories of the women behind the comedy helped other women find their bravery?

And suddenly, I had purpose again.

THE THIRD PROJECT: YOUTUBE

Drawing on all of the themes that I had tried to bring to life in BOLD, this project reignited my lust for creating again.

More than just another comedy interview show, we explore themes of boldness, breaking stereotypes, and living authentically. Our conversations aim to inspire audience members to pursue their own dreams, uncovering insights that traditional interviews miss. Welcome to the Bold Brave Women YouTube Channel.

Very quickly, interest among the comedians blew up, and again, I had a long list of women ready to share their story.

After sourcing equipment from a friend in the production world, I started interviewing comedians from all over the world - capturing everything from stories and comedy sets, to candid backstage moments in green rooms and their campervans (their on-the-road accommodation).

It was exhilarating. But also, sadly, where the story ends.

Due to a whole bunch of technical issues, corrupt footage and user error, the majority of my recordings ended up being unusable. And it was heartbreaking.

As the festival was nearing its end, I was faced with an ultimatum: Do I push through, or concede that this isn’t the right timing for this project and walk away?

Ultimately, the answer was obvious.

With the little time and energy I had left, I knew I wouldn’t be able to be in the highest service for the comedians I was interviewing (they too were exhausted and running out of energy bandwidth). So I made the heartbreaking decision to shut the whole thing down.

And it broke my heart.

Listen to the full story in the first episode of The Bold Brave Woman Project here.

All of that work, all of that time, ended as a corrupted mess on my hard drive.

I felt like a complete failure. Especially after shelving BOLD out of fear months earlier.

This new project was meant to be my thing. How I contributed value to the world.

Then it hit me: this journey wasn’t about the YouTube Channel. Or delivering the perfect value.

This journey was about me. About finding ways to harness the courage to dream, try, fail, heal, then dream again, and keep going, over again.

I had become the Bold Brave Woman. I had become my own Project.

This was the magic that was on the other side of not giving up - me. The next version of who I was becoming.

And in the same moment, The Bold Brave Woman Project (podcast) was born.

THE FOURTH PROJECT: THE BOLD BRAVE WOMAN PODCAST

Rather than chasing the creation of something outside of me - elevating others’ stories (Body Diaries and the YouTube channel) or just teaching bravery (the vibe of BOLD) - it was time to share a real-time unfolding of what it looks like to walk with bravery. What it looks like to dream, try, fail, fall, heal, question, navigate, reconnect and step forward, even when you don’t know where you're going or who you’re meant to be.

Tune into The Bold Brave Woman Project now.
The trailer and very first episode are now available on all podcast platforms.

Within days, I had recorded my first episode (which features this origin story - tune into it here), recreated the podcast branding and made a deep commitment to myself to share my truth - my story, my channellings and the wisdom held within - as it unfolded.

I started capturing real-time moments with the goal of starting to normalise the process of becoming, including what it looks like to be brave enough to embrace challenging emotions, navigate the in-between, and question your identity.

I let go of needing to share perfect stories or star-studded conversations. And instead let myself just be a woman who is brave enough to choose herself over and over again.

Even when I hit submit last night, and The Bold Brave Woman Project popped up on my Apple Podcasts app for the very first time, I still felt that hit of doubt: What if no one listens? What if it’s all for nothing?

But this is why this podcast exists - a reminder of how amazing we are, and what we are really capable of, despite our fear.

Even if I create and release 200 episodes of this podcast and no one listens, I would have still been brave enough to capture, craft, love and release 200 episodes. Including releasing some of the BOLD episodes I was originally too afraid to share.

My biggest learning in all of this is that the triumphs, the false starts, and the messy in between are all important parts of the journey.

And this is just the beginning.

If you’ve been looking for a podcast that explores the real journey of bravery - from raw moments of failure to facing the unknown and stepping forward anyway - this podcast is for you.

I can’t wait to see where this takes us.

Love, always.

Andrea xo

___

The Bold Brave Woman Project is now available on all podcast platforms.

Listen to the trailer and the very first episode here.

If you want to connect on the latest news, or send me a message, you can here:
Threads: @andi.matthies
IG: @andi.matthies

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