How Women Founders Can Monetize a Podcast and Newsletter | Real Founder Stories With Nina Badzin
Dear FoundHer...Real Founder Stories for Women Small Business Owners
Lindsay Pinchuk
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most real founder stories are not tidy highlight reels. They unfold in real time, with experiments, pivots, and steady progress. In this episode, Nina Badzin shares one of those real founder stories, tracing her path from writing advice columns to building Dear Nina into a podcast and newsletter that operate as the business itself.
If you are growing an audience and wondering how women founders can monetize their creative outlets like podcasts, blogs, social media platforms and more, this conversation is for you. Nina breaks down how sponsorships support her podcast, how paid subscribers support her newsletter, and why she wishes she had started monetizing sooner. She talks candidly about learning to edit her own show, building revenue streams gradually, and treating content as a long term asset that compounds over time.
This is also one of those real founder stories that highlights the power of online community building. Nina explains how joining the Dear FoundHer Forum led to peer support for entrepreneurs that she could not get from friends alone. From partnership marketing opportunities like podcast swaps to brainstorming bigger strategy decisions, the right room changed her trajectory.
You will also hear practical event marketing ideas, including how she launched her first live event, secured sponsors for giveaway bags, and is planning future cities with intention. Along the way, she shares lessons about starting before you feel ready, embracing partnership marketing, and building systems that support sustainable growth.
This episode gives you real founder stories that show how entrepreneurs build their audience, try out new ways to make money, and get help from other female entrepreneurs.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Introducing Dear FoundHer From the Forum and Nina Badzin
01:17 Turning Friendship Advice Into a Sustainable Business
07:55 Starting a Podcast During COVID
10:15 How Dear Nina Makes Money Through Sponsorships and Subscriptions
13:58 Why Substack Works for Newsletter Growth and Discovery
20:53 Why Community Matters More Than Friends in Business
23:55 Real Business Results From the Dear FoundHer Forum
27:11 Three Practical Lessons for New Business Owners
Connect with Nina Badzin:
Tune in to Nina’s Podcast: Dear Nina Conversations About Friendship
Connect with Lindsay:
Subscribe to The FoundHer Files
Follow Dear FoundHer on Instagram
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Deer Found Her from the forum where we're shining a spotlight on the women building incredible |
| 0:07.5 | businesses inside the Deer Found Her forum community because every woman business owner deserves the chance to tell her story to share the lessons, the pivots, and the wins that come from building something of her own. |
| 0:20.7 | These are the stories from our community. real women, real businesses, real inspiration. |
| 0:26.5 | I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, and I am excited to introduce you to the founders who remind us all what's possible when women come together. |
| 0:35.2 | Welcome back to another episode of Dear Founder from the Forum. I'm so excited about |
| 0:40.0 | today's guest, Nina Badsen, who is the founder of Dear Nina Conversations about Friendship. |
| 0:46.7 | Nina has taken a topic that is so near and dear and important to her and has made a business out of it. And I am so excited to dive in |
| 0:56.8 | and to share her story with you. So Nina, welcome. Thank you for having me. I'm really honored to be |
| 1:02.0 | part of this roster of fabulous guests you've had on, Dear Founder. Well, thank you and thank you for |
| 1:07.2 | taking the time. So I would love for you to start us off by telling everyone |
| 1:12.2 | what Dear Nina is and then we'll get into all of the good stuff. Great. So Dear Nina, |
| 1:19.7 | Conversations about Friendship is a podcast. It also has a newsletter component that goes along with |
| 1:25.5 | it on Substack at Deer nina.substack.com. |
| 1:29.2 | And those are connected, although some people just come for the newsletter and some people |
| 1:33.2 | just come for the podcast. There is similar content in both places. But on the newsletter is where |
| 1:40.0 | people come to read the anonymous questions. People write to me. That's why it's called |
| 1:44.9 | Dear Nina. It's funny when you say a name long enough and it has no meaning, like, |
| 1:49.3 | Dear Nina, Dear Nina, what is that? It is, it comes from letters. And I've been answering letters like |
| 1:54.7 | that long before I had the podcast. And we'll get into how that came to be. But that is the |
| 2:00.8 | business. It is the podcast. The podcast does |
| 2:03.1 | not support the business. The podcast is the business, actually. So it's different than a lot of your |
| 2:08.4 | guests. So how did you start this? How did you get into this? I mean, you said you've been |
... |
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