Inspirational Woman: Anna Parker-Naples | Leading Podcast Expert

Anna Parker-Naples is a multi-award-winning British entrepreneur, business coach and host of Entrepreneurs Get Visible podcast (reaching no.3 in the iTunes charts, outranking Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield and Gary Vaynerchuk).

She lives in Bedfordshire, UK, with her husband, three children, her dog Oscar…the family cat, and two hamsters. Anna was told in 2010 that she may never walk again due to a complication in pregnancy. Through NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and mindset work, she transformed her physical health, fully recovered and embraced a journey of adventure and discovery to become the successful performer she had always dreamed she would become.

After landing herself on the red carpets in Hollywood as a celebrated Voice Actor, Anna changed focus, and now uses her skills and experience to help other entrepreneurs and creatives have the courage and strategy to become the go-to expert in their field. She has spoked on the same platforms as celebrities such as Will Young & Ruby Wax and won an international award for her work to inspire others alongside Rio Ferdinand and singing sensation Adele. She has been featured in Metro, Psychologies, BBC Radio, iNews, Health & Wellness and Thrive Global.

Anna regularly gives keynote speeches about visibility, imposter syndrome and podcasting for authority.

Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role

With over 15 years experience, I am now one of the UK’s leading podcast launch experts, a number 1 International Podcast Host, award-winning entrepreneur and Founder of The Podcast Agency… I’m a British Podcast Award judge, PodFest speaker and top 1% podcaster.

I am passionate about helping others amplify their message – and bring their podcast to their people. I am on a mission to help remove the barriers many people (especially women) place in front of themselves when it comes to entering the ‘unknown’ audio space, I’m keen to help others see how they CAN tap into this fastest growing marketing medium, especially on the back of poll results from my community highlighting that 39% of female entrepreneurs particularly fear the tech and 42% are struck by visibility fears.

Did you ever sit down and plan your career?

I have experienced many personal challenges including; being bullied in my teens and suffering imposter syndrome, this led to me having a real fear of being visible and decided it was best to not pursue my dream career of being an actress, I kept my face away from the cameras and bright lights and instead used my voice to pave out a successful career becoming an award-winning voice actor.

However, in my thirties, during my third pregnancy, I became wheelchair bound with server Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD), I was unable to travel to do recordings and wasn’t able to do the work I loved. However, I decided to use this time to learn everything about the world of audio and become an audio expert – I even built a recording studio at home, so I could work from home and I went on to become an award-winning voice actress and audio producer working with brands such as; Coca Cola, CBeebies, FC Barcelona, CITV, Aardman Animation, Virgin and BBC. 

This led to me learning more and more about audio power and eventually become a podcast host and now, one of the UK’s leading podcast experts and the Founder of The Podcast Agency www.thepodcastagency.com

Have you faced any challenges along the way?

As mentioned in my answer above, I have experienced many personal challenges including; being bullied in my teens, suffering imposter syndrome and becoming wheelchair bound with server Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD), during my third pregnancy. I’ve also had challenges professionally too… I don’t mind sharing that I tried and failed with my first podcast launch, but luckily it didn’t put me off. I evaluated and went on to create something totally different with Entrepreneurs Get Visible, which is listened to in 106 countries and has ranked in the top 1% of podcasts globally for the past year and now I love letting others in on the secrets.

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

Probably being a finalist for 7 audio awards in Hollywood, and realising that there was far more I wanted to achieve. I love that I know use more audio expertise to now help leading coaches and entrepreneurs share impactful, life-changing messages.

You’ve recently launched a new podcast ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’ – can you tell us more about this and how it came about?

This podcast was created as part of my mission to further reduce the gap between the professional audio world and the business world, ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’ brings in my prestigious industry experience and blends it with my real life experience of entrepreneurship having created a multi 6 figure business from scratch over the last 3 years, and provides other business owners with advice on how to use the audio world to build authority.

Audio is a very different world, but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard, or inaccessible – I want to open doors so more people can share their messages globally through the power of a podcast. A medium that is fast becoming the best way to educate, inspire and connect with listeners globally as they go about their daily lives… and the best part is, with a few piece of good equipment it can be done from the comfort of your own home!

Do you have any advice for any budding female entrepreneurs?

Tap into the power of audio! There is no doubt that the podcast industry is booming with over 2.5million podcasts now live. We have seen that there is a real increasing thirst for audio content, as the audiobook and podcast industry continues to surge and soar in popularity.  I want to help remove any barriers many women place in front of themselves when it comes to entering the ‘unknown’ audio space. Having personal seen the power audio can bring, I have been able to create a multi 6 figure business from scratch over the last few years, and I’m passionate about helping others and share my advice on how to use the audio world to build authority and have more impact, influence and income!

If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Equality, what would it be?

Audio and podcasting continues to be a male dominated field, with 2020 stats showing that only 21% of podcasts are hosted by women – I want this statistic to change, so that more women can have a voice, authority, impact and influence.  

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self what would it be?

Whatever you can dream, go for it. There is nothing stopping you except your belief in yourself.

What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?

Alongside my audio work, I’m a huge history geek! I’m launching another podcast about Women in WW2, as I set about the research for my first novel.

For more information please visit www.thepodcastagency.com or listen to ‘Podcasting for Entrepreneurs’ – www.annapn.co/pfe