How Meghan Markle has built a successful podcast after winning the prestigious Gracie Award

Meghan Markle certainly has cause for celebration after her Archetypes podcast wins the prestigious Gracie Award. The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) recognises outstanding programming and individual achievement by women in all facets of media, news and entertainment. The Duchess of Sussex won the Best Podcast Award for her series. 

After winning the award Meghan thanked the AWMF for the honour and explained that the success is down to her, her team (most of whom are women) and the inspiring guests that feature every week. 

It’s quite the turn around for the podcast as when it was originally launched in August 2022 it was slammed for “pushing its own agenda” and “playing into the drama” according to an expert for the Evening Standard. 

Meghan should be celebrating after all the backlash it received in the beginning Archetypes has proved to be successful with an average of 10 million listeners. But it’s success is not just because of the high-profile guests that feature each week such as Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Jameela Jamil and Mindy Kaling. But because of issues that are discussed with these guests shine a light on the problems women face everyday. 

The podcast episode titled ‘The Misconception of Ambition with Serena Williams’ looks at the double standard women face when it comes to being ambitious and the ‘ripple’ effect it has on other aspects of your life. 

In another episode titled ‘Breaking down ‘The Bimbo’ with Paris Hilton and comedian Iliza Shlesinger’ the three women explore why brains and beauty in a woman have been historically pitted against each other.

Speaking to Mellody Hobson and Victoria Jackson, Meghan also looks into the origins of words like the ‘B word’ and ‘difficult’ to see why these words are used for strong minded women especially in business. And discusses the complexities of the word ‘Diva’ with Mariah Carey. 

These are just a few examples of the types of conversations and issues raised in the episodes that are thought provoking and empowering for both women and men. Meghan promised that Archetypes would be a “Archetypes, a refreshing and dynamic new podcast where The Duchess of Sussex dives into the labels that try to hold women back” and she is delivering on all accounts. 

Listen to all episodes of Archetypes on Spotify