Tampa resident’s meditation podcast hits 40 million downloads

A Tampa resident’s podcasting network, designed to help women navigate increasingly stressful and unsettled times, hit a milestone just in time for Women’s History Month – 40 million downloads.

In just three and a half years, Katie Krimitsos has grown her idea for a guided meditational podcast into the Women’s Meditation Network, featuring five shows with more on the way. Krimitsos’ network reached 40 million downloads at the end of February and now averages about four million new downloads a month.

Although people have used meditation as a tool for a sound body and mind for thousands of years – according to Psychology Today, some archaeologists date the practice back to 5,000 BCE – Krimitsos said she is grateful the topic of mindfulness was growing in popularity when she began her first podcast in 2018. However, she called the onset of the pandemic in March and April of 2020 the tipping point in terms of her listenership.

“That was a giant turning point because I noticed my numbers skyrocket, and in turn, I started offering a lot more,” said Krimitsos. “I immediately was like, ‘how much more can I do and what other things do people need to hear right now?’”

Krimitsos said she was intentional about the content she created and how much she provided in response to women’s needs during extremely trying times. She hopes to help create calm and ease through a world of anxiety, worry and fear, which she said is needed now more than ever.

Krimitsos called meditation a “beautiful tool” for people to utilize when they feel helpless, overwhelmed, terrified or angry. She said meditation would not completely reverse those feelings, but it allows a moment of pause and readjustment to not react with the same negativity the people encounter daily.

“It allows you to sort of clear space to be able to think about the circumstances and how you choose to consciously show up to life on this particular day, relative to everything else that’s going on in the world,” she said.

Krimitsos has created podcast programming centered on women since 2014. She also ran a successful coaching business helping female business owners grow their companies. After becoming pregnant in 2018, she abruptly decided to take a break from the coaching business and take what she called a “journey of solitude.”

For several months, Krimitsos mulled the idea of a meditation podcast for women. After some discussion with her husband, and self-introspection, she said she realized her vision to make a global impact and found her calling in life.

Krimitsos now provides five free meditation podcasts, available to download from any podcast player. She also noted that she sets a strict work-life schedule with no more than 30 hours a week devoted to podcasting. She said her first priority is being available for her two little girls.

“I do as much as I can to make the biggest impact with that relatively small amount of time,” she said.

The Women’s Meditation Network now averages four million new downloads a month.

Krimitsos relayed a strong personal desire to work with and uplift women throughout her life. As a businessperson, she also realized a large gap in meditation programming geared specifically towards women. Krimitsos said she is continuing to fill that gap and plans on releasing four or five more shows in the next six months.

Krimitsos called the Women’s Meditation Network a family business. Her husband, Chris, established Tampa-based Podfest in 2013 to bring people passionate about telling their stories together. Podfest now holds a Guinness World Record for the largest attendance of a virtual podcasting conference.

“Chris really is a brilliant strategist and marketer, and it just so happens that he happens to be my husband,” said Krimitsos. “If he weren’t my husband, I would pay him a lot of money to help me out on a regular basis.”

Krimitsos called it a blessing to work together and create an impact in a “beautiful and glorious way.”

Krimitsos believes that as more people develop a sense of peace and calm amid chaos – which meditation provides – the better they can interact through kindness. She added that if millions of people begin to react with empathy instead of fear or anger, it could lead to positive changes for the world.

“So, I don’t think it’s a small thing at all,” she said. “I think it starts small, and it has a massive global potential for impact.”

For more information on the Women’s Meditation Network, visit the website here.