Podcasts are powerful in our digital world. According to studies, 57 million Americans now tune in each month to a podcast…that’s up 23 percent from last year. It’s a way to share your valuable patient journey and personal experience with the masses, simply with the click of a button. As someone who’s battled Crohn’s disease for more than 12 years, it’s empowering to be able to share my story not only through the written word…but also verbally. Podcasts literally give people like us a voice and a platform to share our impactful stories. It’s one thing to read someone else’s words… it’s another to hear them relive their diagnosis and talk about their battles.

One podcast in particular has been catching my eye. This summer, Bill Coon launched the “People You Should Know” podcast. As a two-time heart transplant and kidney recipient, Bill wanted to create a place for people to share their unique stories with the masses, raise awareness and do it all in an upbeat, fun and informative way. I was just featured on his podcast last week. Click here to check out the interview.

“If the person is interesting or has a great amount of knowledge on a topic that I think listeners will find to be interesting, I am open to exploring their story. To put the wide range of guests into perspective, the show has already featured advocates of three different illnesses, a lovely woman who moved to Sri Lanka to use her veterinarian skills to help the stray dog population and an individual who left his life behind to travel the globe on a bike. Future guests of the podcast will include a finance expert, a well-known sports reporter and a handful of people who are running interesting nonprofits,” said Bill.

Between social media, blogs and podcasts there are so many avenues and ways for those in the chronic illness community to connect and help one another. This past week I had the opportunity to video chat over Facebook with a young woman while she was in the hospital battling Crohn’s disease in Spain. I was able to start talking with a mom in Michigan who’s four-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s.

As the network grows, we get stronger from one another. While chronic illness can be incredibly isolating, it’s also liberating to be able to find this invaluable network of people who feel what you feel and who understand your current reality. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed. Just because what we’re battling is invisible, doesn’t mean we need to be invisible to one another.

Podcast spots for Season 1 of “People You Should Know” are almost filled, but Season 2 is in the works. Reach out to Bill here if you believe you or someone you know is someone he should know.