301 - State of the Podcast 2026
Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!
Resources from this episode:
Work and Play Episode 281 : Traveling with Kids : 3 Lists and All My Tips
Work and Play Episode 296 : My 12 Week Year Planning Process
Show Notes:
Hello friend and welcome back to Work and Play with Nancy Ray! I’m Nancy, your host, and today we are doing something that I love doing every January, which is the State of the Podcast episode. This is where I get to look back at last year, celebrate some fun moments, and also share what I’m dreaming up for 2026.
For the full episode, hit play above or read through below.
You’re listening to Work and Play with Nancy Ray, episode 301. Much of our daily lives can be divided into two categories; work and play. Simply put, that is where our life and our legacy take place. This is a podcast all about learning to work and play well, which leads to a healthy soul and a fulfilling life. Let’s dive in.
Every January, people set a goal to read through the Bible in a year, but most don’t make it very far. Reading asks you to sit down, carve out quiet time, and stay focused and that can be tough in the middle of real life. That’s why the Dwell Audio Bible app was created.
With Dwell, you don’t have to wait for the perfect quiet moment. You can listen to God’s Word while you drive, while you walk, even while you do chores. Instead of struggling to fit Bible reading into your schedule, Dwell lets scripture come with you and it works. Every year, thousands of people actually finish a Bible in a Year plan because they can listen to Dwell. I’m going to confess, I did not start my Bible in a Year reading plan this year until January 12th, halfway through January. But you know what? Starting late is better than not starting at all, and you could start late too if you haven’t started.
Me and my Bible study ladies are reading through the entire Bible along with Tara Leigh Cobble’s beloved Bible Recap plan. It takes you chronologically through Scripture with short daily reflections that connect the dots, explaining the harder parts and helping you see how every passage points back to God. It’s like being guided through the Bible by a trusted friend. I’ve never done it before, and I’m already learning so much. God is speaking to my heart so tenderly, even as I listen to the book of Job. Job! Crazy. It’s so good. It’s roughly twelve minutes of Scripture and then eight minutes of Tara Leigh’s recap, which offers just such good insight. So I highly recommend that plan if you’re still trying to choose which plan you should do.
So if you’ve struggled to keep your Bible reading resolutions in the past, try listening to it. Head over to dwellbible.com/workandplay and you can get started today. Again, that’s dwellbible.com/workandplay and you’ll get 25% off.
Okay, how are we doing out there? It is the first episode of Work and Play with Nancy Ray in 2026, and I am so excited to be behind the mic again. It feels good. I feel rejuvenated and refreshed, and also it has just been a crazy year for me already.
We have been so sick. I mean, just this upper respiratory thing that was passed all around our family. It turned into pneumonia for my little one-year-old Winnie. Can we just pause and say, how is Winnie one? Oh my goodness. She turned one on Christmas Day. It was so sweet and special and just as chaotic as you might think, but it was really, really precious.
Anyway, it has been a January of sickness, of false starts and rescheduled plans, and now here we are in the middle of this ice storm. How are you hanging in there? How are you doing? Do you have power? I mean, people listen to this podcast from all over, but right in the middle of North Carolina, it was like ice was just dumped all over us. It’s been a crazy time. It’s been crazy. So just checking in on you. How are you doing?
Also, I just have to say, the morning I’m recording this, I just made a very expensive mistake last night and just wanted to share it in light of me just saying, you know what? I am so far from perfect. We all just make expensive mistakes sometimes. It’s just part of being a human. But after all the sickness, I was like, I am going to sanitize my retainer and I boiled it, and it shriveled up to be so tiny. So here’s a tip. If you have a retainer, don’t boil it. I just really wanted to be done with all the germs and I ended up melting my retainer. So I had to go and get fitted for a new retainer. That was not on my list of things to do today.
Alright, I digress. I hope your year is going great and I love showing up in this podcast because I feel like I can just be myself and share how things are going over here and encourage you. Hey, if you have made an expensive mistake recently, it’s all good. We are human. It is part of being a human. So there is grace for you today.
Alright, State of the Podcast. I love this episode. I feel like my true ride or die listeners listen to this one. Like, not everybody does, but the ones that are like, I really want to know what’s going on with the podcast this year. You’re my people. So thank you for listening.
I’m going to do a recap of 2025 and talk about some wins and just the fun, crazy year that it was. Then I’m going to look ahead to 2026. Alright, so let’s start with last year. 2025. What a great year! What a crazy year. Looking back, I can’t believe that I had a baby at the end of 2024. So the first three months of 2025 for me were just getting my footing as a mom of five. I took a break in January and February from the pod after I had my fifth baby, and that was just right and good. I always take a break from the podcast after I have a baby and it is great. Then we came back in the spring, and from then on, I counted and I think I published 38 episodes throughout the year.
Of course, May is for Mamas was in there. It’s like my favorite thing I come back to. Sometimes I dream about starting a podcast just for moms, but then I’m kind of like, well, that’s kind of what I do anyway. I mean, it’s not just for moms. I have plenty of people who listen that aren’t moms, but it just naturally flows out of my life because that is my life right now. But if you’re new here, May is for Mamas is the month of May and I devote every episode specifically to content about motherhood. I have really great guests on. We dive into several different topics. Sometimes, like this last year, I did not have many guests because Winnie was my boss and I just had to feed her on demand all the time. I just didn’t want to be having to do an interview if she needed me to feed her. It was just easier for me.
So I’m getting ahead of myself. This upcoming year, I’m hoping to have more guests. Last year, it was some guests, but it was more just motherhood content from me.Either way, May is for Mamas is so much fun for me. I love it. There’s something so life-giving about having that focused month, and it’s so fun.
But moving on, here’s one of my most unexpected and delightful highlights of the year. The Work and Play podcast was featured as a flavor of ice cream at our favorite local ice cream shop, Two Roosters. You probably saw that, but for the whole month of July, Jared, who owns it, he and I came up with this flavor together that is a combination of my favorite flavors of ice cream and work and play and it was so delicious. We went way too many times that month. That’s not even possible. I told the kids, I was like, unlimited ice cream this month. When do we get an ice cream flavor that we get to create? It was so fun. But it was vanilla ice cream and chunks of cookie dough, and inside of the cookie dough, instead of having chocolate chips, it was filled with mini peanut butter M&Ms. I wish I could go back and have a big bowl of it right now. It’s so good. Actually, I could because I bought a massive, massive amount and I still have it in my freezer, but it’s dwindling.
So anyway, if you missed that whole moment, it was so fun and so surreal and just like such a fun bucket list item that I didn’t even know was on my bucket list, that I could be an ice cream flavor. So they featured local podcasters that whole month, and I was one of the ones they chose. I feel so honored.
Okay, another highlight from last year. 300 episodes! Guys, at the very end of the year, which felt very special, I hit my 300th episode the day before my birthday. I still can’t believe I’ve made 300 of these. When I started this podcast, I had no clue how long I’d be doing it, what it would become. Reaching that milestone just felt special, right at the end of the year, right before my birthday. Not just because of the number, but because of what it represents, like years and years of me showing up. I wish you could see… I wish you could see all the ways I’ve showed up to record these episodes. I have showed up sweaty, like right after a workout. I have showed up on no sleep. I have showed up literally nursing a baby while I’m doing a podcast episode. That’s happened a few times, or I’ve done half of one. I’ve hit pause. I had to go feed the baby, then come back.
Sometimes I show up super polished and I can knock out like four episodes in a day and I change outfits and I do the whole thing. Sometimes I just hit record and I hope whatever comes out is good because I’m way behind schedule. It just, it depends, you know? Doing this as a mom of five is a wild ride. It’s so fun. But I feel like hitting that 300th episode was like, I have been doing this for how many years now? Six years, seven years. I should know that, but 300 episodes in, that’s a lot. That’s a lot of years and you listening to it and being part of this community makes me so grateful.
So to celebrate that and because it was time, I launched a brand new website and new podcast art at the end of the year. That just felt like the perfect way to close out 2025 and step into this next season with a fresh look that feels like it reflects who I am now, where I am, and where the podcast is headed.
So before I look ahead to 2026, I just want to take a minute and highlight a couple of my favorite episodes from last year. Cause honestly, I know that you probably can’t listen to every single episode. You may have missed a few or a lot, and that’s totally fine. That’s how I listen to my podcasts. But these are just my favorites, and I feel like it’s fun to highlight them for you.
Okay, let’s start with episode 271, Winnie’s birth story. Sharing that, of course, is a highlight. It’s so special and the response from you was just so sweet. You guys were just so shocked. I mean, I did not tell anyone I was pregnant until I had her. So shocked, so excited, so celebratory. There’s something about birth stories that just connects us in this really tender way. So that was a really fun, sweet episode.
Episode 281 was all about tips for traveling with kids. It’s funny. I looked at Will and was like, I don’t want to travel a lot the first year of Winnie’s life. Can I just tell you, that baby has been to seven different states. We traveled more last year than really most years. I don’t know what happened, but I clearly had a change of heart. I mean, it was hard, but I have some of the sweetest memories from last year. You know, it didn’t help that Milly turned 10, Will turned 40. We had trips for all those things. It was great. But I digress. Back to episode 281. I have just learned a lot about traveling with kids. I hope that it’s a practical, helpful episode for you. If you missed it, you can go back and listen to it. But yeah, it’s just real life advice I’ve learned over the years of traveling with our crew.
Episode 292 was another personal favorite. Might be my favorite one of the whole year because I interviewed my husband Will. It’s not often he’s on the podcast so that conversation just felt really fun. That was one where we had put all the kids to bed and we snuck over to where I record my podcasts, and it was like 11:00 PM. I think we started recording at 10:30 PM because that’s the only time we could do it. But if you haven’t listened to that one yet, go back, check it out. It was really fun. He was like, Nancy, I’m not holding back. I was like, boo, you do you. That’s fine. You say what you want to say. So it was a tribute to him on his 40th birthday. He shared like 40 pieces of advice. It was really good.
Episode 293 was about the seven weekend rhythms we live by. This one resonated with so many of you. Had lots of questions, lots of people reaching out saying they wanted to try some of it. I think it’s because weekends can feel chaotic or wasted if we don’t have intentionality. We have honed in our practice of Sabbath and our weekends so well that we just love it. Like, we are obsessed with our weekends. That episode was all about the rhythms that we have created around that to make it work.
Episode 296, this was steal my annual planning process. If you are a planner girl like I am, love to get a good plan, love paper calendars and schedules and systems and all of that, I just love this episode. So this one dropped at the end of the year and it’s not too late for you to listen to it and still plan your year with it. It’s all about how I approach planning for my year ahead. To be honest, I’m still working through it. I’m still working through that very plan because I wasn’t done planning by the time sickness hit our house and here I am. Here I sit. So that episode might be what you need if you want some help strategizing or planning for your year. A little hint is that I really look at it like in quarters. So like twelve weeks at a time. I just get really focused, and I love that approach.
Okay, those were some of my favorite episodes. I’m going to link all of these in the show notes if you want to go back and listen, but feel free to just scroll through the podcast and listen to some of the episodes from last year if you need to catch up. It was a really, really fun, good year with the Work and Play podcast.
Okay, another highlight of the year. Not one of my favorite episodes, but a highlight from the podcast was that I created a SpeakPipe account. That sounds weird. You’re probably like, what is that? Well, it’s a way for you to leave me an audio message. I don’t know if you use audio messages as much as I do in my text messages. I feel like I live by a good audio message. It’s a way for you to just do that and let me know some feedback about the podcast and I get them and I listen to everyone, and it’s so fun. So you can go to speakpipe.com/workandplay and you can do it today, and you can just let me know anything that you want to share with me. It’s so fun. I got so many messages from you last year. It really influenced a lot of my podcast decisions. It was great.
There’s something about hearing your actual voice, your tone, your heart behind what you’re saying. It just hits different than an email. It made me realize how much I love you and including you in this podcast and speaking to you. I can see the number of downloads that I have on my podcast every week. It’s not the same as hearing your voice. So that was truly one of the biggest highlights of the year. So thank you. If you sent me a message, thank you. If you did not send me a message, thank you for being here. I’m just so grateful. It wouldn’t be what it is. This podcast wouldn’t be going still if it weren’t for you. So I’m really grateful.
Okay, time to shift gears and talk about 2026. What am I dreaming up for this year? What’s cooking? What could it look like? What am I thinking? Also, I’m just here to say, I want to hear from you on what you would like for me to talk about on the podcast this year. So let’s jump in.
First, I’m thinking about bringing back the Nancy Ray Book Club. Not that it was ever gone or discontinued, but bringing it back more in the podcast sense. So previously I would do the Nancy Ray Book Club and every month, I would talk about one of the books I was reading. It helped me stay with this deadline of reading and really process some of the things that I was reading and share some really good books with you and I just kind of got away from that. I still have nancyray.com/bookclub and you can see the list of books that I’m hoping to read for the year.
But yeah, I’m thinking about bringing that back to the pod in a more structured sense and inviting you to actually read some things with me, if you’d like to. I’d love feedback on that and I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you miss it, if you don’t miss it, or if you are curious about the books I’m reading, you let me know.
I’m also dreaming up a list of guests that I would love to talk to this year and my focus is going to be quality over quantity. I don’t want to just have guests on every other week. First of all, I just personally can’t sustain that because of my schedule and my kiddos and homeschool. But I would love to have a very intentional, handpicked guest like once a month. Like I said, I’m dreaming up an amazing list. I’d love to hear if there’s anyone in particular you’d like for me to talk to. Then I would love to beef that up for May is for Mamas and have some amazing moms on the pod this year. Yeah, I’m excited about that. I’ve missed having people on this podcast. I kind of took a little bit of a break from it this year. I think I had maybe three guests in 2025. So I’m looking forward to that for 2026.
One thing I do know, talking about SpeakPipe and hearing from you guys, episode 300 was so fun because it was all of you basically interviewing me. So if you missed that episode, go back and listen to it because many of you listeners were on the episode with your voices from SpeakPipe. Then I shaped the whole episode around that. It was super fun. But I’m thinking of adding a part to my podcast episodes, or maybe even just every other one, where I can take a question or some feedback on SpeakPipe and take your audio clip and put it in the episode and answer it as part of the show every time. I think it would be fun to end an episode with real questions, real conversations from you. So if you like that idea or if you have something you’d like to ask or share, head over to speakpipe.com/workandplay. I would really love to hear from you.
As far as the schedule goes and the layout of the year, here’s what I’m thinking. I obviously took a break in January, which is, you know, this is my kickoff after the end of this month. It’s been nice to have a little bit of a slow start. I clearly needed it with the sickness in our family. But I think the next big thing that I’ll look forward to is just having a few guests on. Then May is for Mamas in May. Then I’m going to take a little break in the summer. I don’t know if I’m going to go to two episodes a month. I don’t know if I’m going to take off one whole month in the summer, sometime in June or July. But I have just really learned that taking intentional breaks from this podcast helps me show up so much better and so much more intentionally when I’m here. So I’m building that into my schedule from the beginning of this year. It helps me so much.
I’m also toying with the idea of some super short episodes. Like short, short. Like three to five minutes. Maybe fun, encouraging, conversational little moments that feel less like a podcast script and more like, “Hey, I just wanted to tell you this thing that I learned,” or “Here’s what God’s sharing with me this week. I wanted to share it with you,” or “Here’s this cool thing.” I don’t know. Anything. This featured product, or a lesson, or a book I’m reading that wasn’t on my list, or something. I don’t know. It sounds fun. So we’ll see. Would love your input on that too.
Okay, bottom line is that’s kind of what I’m thinking for the year. Break in January. May is for Mamas. Break in the summer. Maybe some sort of theme or fun thing in the fall I haven’t decided on. More guests. More great content and that’s it. Nothing super sparkly or new, but hopefully just keep turning out content that blesses you every single week.
But here’s the thing. I would love to know from you if you have any fun ideas. If there’s anything that I said today that you’re like, yes, do that. Or, I really want you to have this author or definitely do those short episodes, or that sounds really fun. I would love to hear from you. What kind of episodes resonate with you? What topics do you want me to talk about? What would make this podcast even more helpful or encouraging or life-giving for you?
You can always leave me a message at speakpipe.com/workandplay. You can send me a DM on Instagram. You can email me, nancy@nancyray.com. You can even go to nancyray.com/survey, which is my podcast survey. I keep a running tab on a lot of responses there. That’s a little bit more of a deep dive.
No matter how you contact me, I just want to say thanks. I really do want to say thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being part of this community. Here’s to 2026 and whatever this year holds. I’m so grateful for you.
Thanks for listening to episode 301 of Work and Play with Nancy Ray. Everything I’ve mentioned today can be found in the show notes at nancyray.com/podcast/301 and you can find me at nancyray.com or follow me at @nancyray on Instagram almost daily.
I’m going to close with a quote from Tony Robbins who said,
“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right.”
Thanks for listening, and I’ll catch you next time.