It's Never About the Finish Line: It’s About Who You Become Along the Way

It’s Never About the Finish Line: It’s About Who You Become Along the Way

In this final episode of Brand Building: Living the Whole Picture, Jama closes the chapter she began exactly one year ago — on her 47th birthday.

What started as a hopeful project to grow her business became something entirely different: a year-long journey of identity, honesty, and transformation. Instead of gaining clarity about her business, she gained clarity about herself. Instead of growing an audience, she grew a new kind of strength. And instead of finding answers, she found peace in not knowing them.

In this raw, unedited, voice-memo–style episode, Jama shares the truth she discovered:
You don’t podcast, run, or stay consistent to reach a finish line.
You do it to become someone you recognize — someone you trust.

This episode is a birthday letter to the woman she was at 47… and the woman she’s becoming at 48.

If you’ve ever closed a chapter without knowing what the next one will be, or if you’ve ever felt yourself changing faster than your life can keep up with, this episode will meet you exactly where you are.

In this episode, Jama reflects on:
• Why consistency doesn’t always equal growth
• Letting go of the identity she built inside her business
• The surprising simplicity of podcasting once she began
• The strength she discovered just by showing up
• Choosing peace and space over performance and output
• Permission to not know what comes next

This isn’t a goodbye. It’s a letting go.
A finish line that was never the point.
A moment to honor who she became along the way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Not every chapter is meant to transform your business, some transform you.
• You are allowed to walk away from the identity you built when it no longer fits.
• Consistency doesn’t always lead to growth; sometimes it leads to clarity.
• You don’t need to know what’s next to be on the right path.
• The finish line is never the point. Who you become is.

https://www.jamapantel.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Final Episode And Reflection
• 0:43 A Letter To Forty-Seven
• 2:07 Letting Go Of Old Identities
• 3:10 Choosing Honesty And Space
• 4:24 Gratitude And Human Themes
• 6:00 Permission To Pause And Evolve

Transcript

Jama Pantel: 0:00

Hey y'all, it is Jama, your podcast bestie, coming at you one final time for the very last episode of this podcast. And it feels only fitting that I'm releasing it the day before my 48th birthday because I started this entire podcast journey on my 47th birthday with so much optimism. I thought this podcast would change something in my business or me. I thought consistency would open doors, and I thought showing up every week would create momentum and clarity. But here's the honest truth. Nothing really changed in my business, but everything did change in me, and that's the part I wasn't expecting. So I'm gonna do this final episode kind of as a letter to me. A letter to the woman I was or thought I was, and the woman I'm becoming or kind of becoming because nothing's certain. And if you're here listening, this is really for me, but I do think that you can probably get something out of this as well. So dear forty-seven year old me, you were so young and so optimistic. You truly believed this podcast would be the thing that shifted everything in your business. You believed consistency would unlock growth and you believed discipline would build traction. You believed doing more would finally make everything click. You thought if you showed up every week, no matter what, something on the outside would change. But it didn't. Your numbers didn't change, not in your business, and not in the ways you expected. And oh how disappointed that made you at times. But here's what you didn't know then. You weren't building a podcast. You were doing the work on yourself. So standing here now, one day before my forty eighth birthday, everything feels different this year. I'm a whole different person. After being stuck for years, maybe even decades, you finally started moving again. Not because of strategy, but because you started letting go of the identities you built to survive. You let go of the version of yourself that was always on, always performing, always creating, always pushing. The version who believed her value was measured in output, and that consistency automatically meant growth. You believed that for a long time, but showing up every week taught you something else. You can be consistent in something that no longer aligns, and the bravest thing you can do is stop doing it. Letting go of comfort is terrifying, trust me I know, especially when that comfort was your identity. But nothing new can find you if you're clinging to what's familiar and old. So you had to learn strength. Not the strength that comes from hustling every week, even though you did. It's the strength that comes from honesty. You showed up even when you didn't want to, even when your body was changing, and boy has it changed, even when you didn't recognize yourself physically or emotionally, because that's been your year. Running taught you that no matter what, you show up anyways. But unlike running, this podcast didn't ground you, it didn't give you any clarity, it didn't give you the rush of knowing exactly who you are. Instead, it pulled back the curtain on how deeply you've changed, and how much you need space now, and how much you crave peace. How much you need room to figure out who you're becoming without narrating every part of the process. Podcasting didn't give you answers. It gave you permission to let go of the questions. What you learned the most and what really surprised you was how simple podcasting actually is. You made it such a big deal in your head for so many years and you wanted to start this a long time ago. But you didn't. And once you finally did, you realized, like everything else, we make things that scare us more complicated than they need to be. And this podcast was not complicated. It's been very simple and easy to produce. You did this for a year, you stayed committed, you followed through, even when it didn't give you what you expected, even when it didn't feel grounding, even when it didn't work. And that showed you something. You're strong enough to finish things and wise enough to walk away when you're no longer meant to continue, even if you get a little nudge from your people on the outside, and that's growth and maturity, maybe. I can't say I'm mature, but that's self-trust. And that's what you're taking into year 48 with you. So to everyone who has listened this year, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I thought this podcast was for women, but the truth is plenty of you guys showed up too for me. People from all walks of life tuned in, people that I've known since the day I was born, to people that I've only met recently, and people that are really, really important to me have tuned in and showed up for me in ways I never thought possible. And maybe that's because what I talk about isn't based on gender, but humanity. Change is human, uncertainty is human, becoming yourself again, or for the first time ever, is all part of being human. What I hope you walk away with is this you are allowed to not know what's next, you are allowed to pause, you are allowed to release versions of yourself that no longer fit, and you are allowed to choose peace, even if it means walking away from something that you spent eight years over a decade building from the ground up. So here I am, one day before 48, closing a chapter I once hoped would change my business, only to realize it changed me. I don't know what's coming next, I don't know who I'm becoming, and I don't need to know any of that right now. This year didn't give me any clarity, but it did give me peace and space. And in this moment, that feels like the greatest gift I could ask for. Thank you for walking this birthday to birthday year with me, thank you for listening, thank you for witnessing this version of me and all the changes throughout the year, and thank you for giving me the courage to let the old woman I was go. And I'll see you when I see you, and until then, again, I'm choosing peace, and I hope that you do too. It's never been about the finish line, it's about who you become along the way, and this is the finish line, y'all. Thank you again.