Running a successful podcast is quite the task in itself, but what happens when you pair it with chronic illness, fluctuating energy levels, and times when you feel like your body is fighting against you? Emily Davies sat down to talk to the minds behind 3Spoonies, a Nottinghamshire-based podcast hosted by Karen Duncan, Claire Napper, and Jo O’Neil, about everything from balancing their work and home lives to how we can make entrepreneurship more inclusive.
For readers who haven’t discovered 3Spoonies yet, how would you describe what the podcast is really about?
Claire: I think when we started it, it was really a struggle to balance life and business due to various conditions, and we wanted something to give back a bit and show people that they are not on their own and that loads of people are suffering with the same things.
Karen: There are already numerous specific podcasts for individual conditions, but none overlap with business and life.
Jo: These things don’t exist in side aisles, and we are collecting conditions between us!
What originally brought the three of you together, and when did the idea of turning your shared experiences into a podcast click?
Jo: We were networking in a couple of different groups and started talking. We worked together on Zoom and talked about doing a podcast as we bantered a lot. We didn’t have a subject, though!
Karen: If we hadn’t started, we’d still be humming and har-ing. We’ve all done talks at various networking meetings, and it was just joining it up – as we have three different perspectives, but the crossover means we work quite well together.
Claire: We also found we’re good at seeing when one of us is having a bad day – we can tell one of us to go and rest.
You describe yourselves as “entrepreneurs navigating life and business with not enough spoons.” In what ways do you feel the spoon theory metaphor still resonates with you, and in what ways does it fall short?
Karen: I explain the spoon theory differently, so it makes more sense to me. What if someone is in a cafe, has a load of teaspoons, and says that is the energy they have today? Maybe two teaspoons to have a shower or two to go out of the house. It's very true in the sense that when I have a nap, I won’t get more spoons back, but I won't feel as bad as I did. For some days, I feel different. For example, making a cup of tea could use twice as much energy as the day before, as I'm running on fumes.
Jo: And some days there are no spoons! It's the fluctuation that's the difficult bit. I can plan to have a certain amount of energy, but when that drops off, it's hard.
Your episodes balance honesty, humour, and practical advice. How do you decide where to draw the line between being vulnerable and oversharing publicly?
Claire: We always wanted to be open and real with what we've experienced. When talking about medical stuff or things with Personal Independence Payment – we’re clear it's just our experiences. We always want to be as honest as we can be.
Karen: We also want it to be useful for real people. We could go into more detail, but we want it to be helpful to someone in a similar case. We try to bear in mind who is listening. What's the difference between useful info and oversharing?
It was really a struggle to balance life and business due to various conditions, and we wanted something to give back a bit and show people that they are not on their own
You speak a lot about ‘knowing your limits’ in business. How has your understanding of your own limits changed over time?
Claire: I know, for me, I'd say yes to everything at once at one stage. I'd get a lot of last minute requests, and I'd go out of my way to get them done at my own expense. Now I'm doing what I want to do, and that's it.
Jo: It's the first year I've turned down work or given stuff back when I'm really ill. At the time, I felt really guilty and hated it, but now I see it's okay.
Karen: All of our limits have changed. Sometimes you don't notice if it's a gradual thing. It's easy to say, ‘I'm just about doing alright at doing this’. If you look at how long things take and how long they should take, you need to know why things are taking longer.
How do you handle flare-ups or bad health days when you’re in the middle of a product launch, client project, or recording session?
Claire: I know in recording sessions, if we wake up having a bad day and have no guest, we will reschedule. If we have a guest, we power through.
Jo: We record so far in advance so we can reschedule and move things around. We shut down over winter as we experience flare-ups.
Karen: I have deadlines before the deadlines to give myself a bit of a buffer zone, just in case. I put lots of things in place to make things better in whatever way I can.
What did winning awards mean for you personally, especially given the battles you’re fighting behind the scenes?
Claire: For me, it didn't feel real. To me, we’re just three friends doing a podcast because we’re passionate and want to share our experiences. It's nice to hear feedback from people who don't know us – it makes us realise how important it is on a bigger scale.
What’s the dream: a bigger platform, live events, workshops, a community space… or simply continuing to create something sustainable on your terms?
Jo: The goal behind it all would be to keep it sustainable. We want to increase our reach to get to the useful people. I wouldn’t be against streaming or live events.
Karen: There are definite guests we want back, or perhaps Spooniefest!
If each of you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice about illness, business, or self-worth, what would it be?
Claire: Basically, not to feel so bad about yourself. It's okay to go through struggles. Be kind to yourself and ignore family who put you down.
Jo: In a similar vein – it's not your fault, find ways around it, there's always hope.
Karen: Don't stress out as much about things nobody cares about. There are lots of things I was trying to keep up with that I'm not sure other people even noticed. It's easy to stress about these things, and it makes you ill.
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