Episode 161
The 2024 Show
January 5, 2024 · Mike Murphy
Happy New Year. A walk down memory lane and a sneak peak into 2024.
Episode Summary: A Happy New Year check-in — a walk down memory lane through Mike’s path from a one-man band in Naples, Florida to nearly a decade of content creation, plus a look ahead at 2024 goals.
What You’ll Learn
- Mike’s background: English degree, a law school master’s he’s never used, and a decade of Adobe/creative tech deep-diving
- Why he put his name in the podcast title against conventional advice, and why that still made sense to him
- How Mike Murphy Unplugged led to a full-time job at Simplecast, later acquired by SiriusXM
- The 2024 goals: launching Terrapin Textures digital products, reaching 50,000 YouTube subscribers, and a return trip to the Camino de Santiago
This episode covers: who Mike is and when and why he started his online business and this podcast, what his goals were then versus now, what the future holds for Mike Murphy Unplugged, and what would make 2024 a successful year.
Why His Name Is in the Title
Mike put his name in the podcast title for a reason, despite plenty of advice against it when he first launched: this is his personal show, his audio journal. After publishing over 150 episodes in a row, he put the podcast on the back burner while working a full-time job and shifting focus to YouTube — but he never considered shutting it down. It was always just a matter of time before regular episodes resumed.
Who Is Mike Murphy?
Born in Syracuse, New York, Mike graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in English and holds a law degree from the University of Denver he’s never practiced with. He’s lived in Missoula, Montana; Portland, Oregon; Concord, New Hampshire; Durango, Colorado; and now Naples, Florida, where he moved to help friends from Durango open a fine-art portrait studio. Over nearly 10 years there, he built deep expertise in tech, design, creativity, and the Adobe software he still uses today — learning constantly through podcasts, Lynda.com courses, and YouTube, a habit that hasn’t changed.
In January 2015, Mike launched his own online business to share what he was learning. By August of that year, he launched Mike Murphy Unplugged to document the journey — the tools, resources, and steps toward making a full-time living as a content creator. Publishing episode one remains one of the proudest moments of his life, not because he had a podcast, but because it marked the start of something meaningful: creating the life he wanted on his own terms.
From Podcast to Career
Mike Murphy Unplugged — and teaching others how to podcast — landed him a full-time job at podcast startup Simplecast, later acquired by SiriusXM. It was a great three-plus year run, but the Zoom-and-Slack grind eventually pushed him toward burnout. The cure was a 40-plus day pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago across France and Spain, an experience so worthwhile it was worth losing the job over when he got back a few months later — and he wasn’t sorry about it.
Goals: Then and Now
When Mike started, the goal was simply to make a living learning and teaching creative and technical skills — that North Star hasn’t changed almost nine years later. He’s grown significantly on the creative and technical side, but still works at the business and revenue side of things. For 2024, the focus is on courses, digital products, and narrowing the message of his personal brand.
What’s Next for the Podcast
Mike would like nothing more than to publish regularly and document what he’s doing along the way, but he’s realistic about the commitment a podcast takes. His priority in 2024 is business growth and launching Terrapin Textures, a new digital asset brand he’s excited about.
2024 Goals
- Publish two online courses to grow and generate revenue with Terrapin Textures
- Reach 50,000 subscribers on YouTube (at 31,000 at the time of recording)
- Walk the Camino de Santiago again — Spain or Japan, likely August or September