Episode 25Jan 7, 2026· 6:41

What Started as a Digital Diary Became a Movement | More Movement Please 2026 Plans

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About this episode

Ashley Grant records a New Year 2026 check-in episode for More Movement Please, a fitness podcast she started unintentionally in 2025 as a personal digital diary of her fitness journey. She shares her word of the year (movement), her ongoing personal philosophy of treating life as an experiment to overcome fear, and her plans to grow the podcast through more guest interviews — including a person in their 70s who…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You've been wanting to get more serious about fitness but feel like you've missed some window or don't know where to start, and you're looking for someone who's figuring it out in real time rather than someone who already has all the answers.

You're scared to start something — a project, a habit, a creative thing — because you're afraid of failing or looking foolish, and the idea of reframing it as 'just an experiment' feels like it might actually help.

You're someone who has let a passion project stall because it felt unsustainable, and you're wrestling with whether wanting to monetize it means you're selling out or just being realistic.

You haven't felt genuinely excited about your life or your work in a long time, and hearing someone else describe that feeling coming back — unexpectedly — hits somewhere personal.

You're drawn to fitness stories from people who are older and still moving — especially if you're wondering what's possible for your own body as you age.

What makes this episode interesting

how did More Movement Please podcast start?

answered

Ashley describes it as 'kind of a fluke' — she didn't set out to make a fitness podcast, but as she got serious about fitness in 2025, it just made sense to start keeping a digital diary of what she was going through.

"of a fluke. I didn't intend on starting a fitness podcast. That wasn't what I, you know, went into things in 2025 with. But I don't know, just as I was beginning getting serious about fitness, it just made sense for me to start keeping a kind of like a digital diary of what I've been going through. And I don't know if it's going"

what does it actually take to run a small podcast?

answered

Ashley lays out the real work behind each episode: recording in her car, processing the audio, enhancing the speech, writing show notes and descriptions, and promoting on social media — all of which takes time and energy even for a passion project.

"I am recording these episodes in my car, it does take some time to, you know, do the processing of this audio to put it through the program that I use to enhance the speech, to go through the process of creating the show notes, creating the descriptions, promoting it on social media."

solo podcasters figuring out monetization

answered

Ashley is openly working through monetization in real time, framing it not as selling out but as a necessity — 'even passion projects have to be monetized in order for them to be sustainable.'

"know, as content creators, we do spend a lot of time and energy and even passion projects have to be monetized in order for them to be sustainable. So if you know anybody that would"

what does it mean to treat life as an experiment?

answered

For Ashley, calling things an experiment is how she gets less scared to try them — if everything is a possibility rather than a high-stakes commitment, 'it's not so scary to do all the things that we want to do.'

"is an experiment. It's a series of experiments. And if we treat it as such, then it's not so scary to do all the things that we want to do because everything's a possibility. Everything,"

Setting expectations: This episode is not a structured fitness plan, a roundup of movement science, or a motivational speech about new year goals. It's a short, casual check-in from Ashley — still recovering from being sick — about how her podcast accidentally started as a personal digital diary and what she's loosely hoping to do with it in 2026.

Tone & style

Ashley had no intention of starting a fitness podcast, but getting serious about fitness in 2025 made her want to document the experience. That accidental diary is now something she wants to grow intentionally — more guests, more episodes, monetization — and she heads into 2026 saying she hasn't been this excited about life in a really long time.

Personal reflection and lived experience. Ashley explicitly says she doesn't know if the podcast will help people — nothing here is presented as advice or instruction.

toneWarm & personally excited

focusAshley catches up on how the podcast accidentally started as a digital diary of getting serious about fitness, and what she hopes to do with it in 2026.

stylesolo_monologue

energymedium

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Texturegenuine enthusiasm, slightly vulnerable, conversational

Notable quotes

"I was starting to get so scared of every single thing that I wanted to do that I decided, you know what, from now on, I'm just going to start saying that things are an experiment so that I wouldn't be so scared to do everything. So"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"of a fluke. I didn't intend on starting a fitness podcast. That wasn't what I, you know, went into things in 2025 with. But I don't know, just as I was beginning getting serious about fitness, it just made sense for me to start keeping a kind of like a digital diary of what I've been going through. And I don't know if it's going"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"going through. And I don't know if it's going to help people, but my hope is that it will."

— Famous Ashley Grant

"been this excited about life in a really long time. And I haven't been this excited about creating content in a really long time. So thanks again"

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 3 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:071. Happy New Year and Word of the Year: MovementAshley welcomes listeners to 2026, mentions recovering from illness, and explains her word of the year is 'movement' — rooted in her ongoing philosophy of treating life as an experiment.2:062. 2026 Plans: Guests, Growth, and MonetizationAshley outlines her goals for the year: interviewing more people about their fitness journeys (including someone in their 70s), increasing episode output, and pursuing sponsorships and affiliate partnerships to make the podcast sustainable.4:413. How the Podcast Started as a Digital DiaryAshley reflects that the podcast was unplanned — it grew out of her getting serious about fitness in 2025 and wanting to keep a digital diary of the experience, with the hope it might inspire others to move.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personRhonda

Ashley's fitness instructor at the Y — mentioned as the very first guest on the podcast.

placethe Y

The gym or YMCA where Ashley works out and where Rhonda is her instructor.

websiteFamousAshleyGrant.com

Ashley's personal website where listeners and potential sponsors can reach her.

Key themes

Word of the year: movement

Ashley chose 'movement' as her word for 2026, framing it as both the literal goal of the podcast and the organizing idea for her year.

Treating life as an experiment

Ashley describes adopting 'experiment' as her word of the decade to get past fear of trying things, and says she still applies that mindset going into 2026.

Podcast started as an unplanned digital diary

Ashley says she never intended to start a fitness podcast — it grew out of getting serious about fitness in 2025 and wanting to keep a digital diary of what she was going through.

Monetizing a passion project to keep it going

Ashley explains she needs to pursue sponsorships and affiliate partnerships not to 'sell out' but because the time and energy the podcast takes means it has to be financially sustainable.

Interviewing people further along in their fitness journey

Ashley wants to bring on guests — specifically mentioning someone in their 70s who is stronger than her — because she finds it fascinating and aspirational.

Batch recording as a buffer against life getting in the way

Ashley mentions she batch records episodes in advance, which saved her when she got sick over the new year and couldn't record.

Renewed excitement about creating content

Ashley says she hasn't been this excited about life or content creation in a long time, framing 2026 as a personal turning point.

Hope that sharing her journey helps others move

Ashley is uncertain whether the podcast will actually help people but says her hope is that it will, and at minimum that it inspires movement.

Connected episodes

Shared experience

Podcast as bigger than personal journey

#71Why Doing Your Fitness Publicly Might Be the Only Thing That Actually Keeps You Going

Contrast

Podcast as diary vs. broader movement