Business of Story

Dr. George Basile, Biophysicist and Professor in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, describes how you can use the fundamental organizational force of brand storytelling to reframe social challenges like climate change as strategic business opportunities.   Become a Master Storyteller Join Park Howell in Phoenix, Arizona on June 6 for a Storytelling Masterclass to kick off an 8-week Deliberate Practice Program. Learn more and reserve your seat today at https://businessofstory.com/phoenix-masterclass/

  As our attention spans grow shorter, most of us look for new ways to absorb stories. But it's challenging to make your story stand out amongst all the noise and distraction. On this week's show, welcome to the world of the virtually immersive novel where tech and the printed work take you on a Sci-Fi adventure. The creator, L.S. Larson, president of Axon, formerly Taser International, shares his inspiration for creating the future of storytelling and how your brand can immerse your audience in your stories, too. “What exists today is just not enough.” —L. S. Larson L.S. believes that writing out of passion creates authenticity in promoting your brand story. After becoming a father of three daughters, L.S. set out to write a sci-fi series that would not only be fun but also show his girls that they can be great inventors and make a massive impact. Marrying technology and art, the Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology (IGIST) Experience app immerses the reader and transports you to the IGIST Universe. The innovative app combines the essential elements of an e-reader with gamification you might find in Fortnite or your favorite filter on TikTok. But the real power of the experience stems from the compelling story that is elegantly enhanced by all the capabilities of your smartphone.  So, is it a book? A game? An augmented reality app? Turns out its a little bit of everything.  His immersive novel enhances the story with photorealistic illustrations and animations that pop up throughout the text. As readers progress through the story, they earn badges and coins which they can then use to purchase character portraits and stickers, as well as character cards. In this week's show, learn about the world's first immersive novel and how you can use these storytelling techniques for your brand. “No matter what problems we face and idea can prevail.” —L.S. Larson Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

You hold the power to create the life you want. But the world has become so chaotic and so full of noise it's difficult to distinguish your own authentic story from the story the world is telling you. Therefore, it is important to pause and take a journey back to awaken the aliveness that is sleeping within you through the power of a purpose-driven brand story. Eighteen years ago, Chad Gabriel started out as a webmaster for Tuthill and eventually moved up the leadership ladder to his current role as Sherpa of Purpose — an ambassador of the company’s mission to wake the world. He is also the host and narrator of a documentary series, "The Search for Aliveness" where he features incredible, real-life stories from different people from all over the world, talking about their distinct views on what makes them feel alive. On this week's show, Chad will share his team’s insights learned from creating a documentary series on aliveness and how we can wake up to our world and the life we truly were meant to live. As Tuthill says, "Aliveness is an energy, a belief and a way of life that brings passion to everything we do. It exists in everyone, everywhere. As children, we imagined we could do or be anything, but as we grow and learn many of us are conditioned to believe that the aspirations we had are impossible, dimming our spark and losing the chance to live the life we were born to live." Chad will inspire you to look within yourself and silence the negative stories you used to believe in. Through this, you can reveal your true purpose and use it to direct yourself along the path where you can start living the life you want to live. “The fruits are in the roots.” —Chad Gabriel By discovering your purpose, you can invigorate stories of passion and aliveness in your brand and translate that passion into the work that you do, to the people you work with and into the products and services that you offer. Listen to this week’s episode to start waking the world with your purpose, with your aliveness, and with your authentic brand story. “People can create the lives they want to live through awareness and choice.” —Chad Gabriel Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

  All businesses have stories. It doesn’t matter if you own a small-scale business, a medium enterprise, or a large corporation – they all come together with a common denominator: a brand story worth telling. So how do you know when it’s time to evolve your business and your brand story? With every company’s evolution and growth, the brand story needs to evolve because you want your people to take part in that evolution. But what comes first the business or brand story evolution?  My guest this week, John Oeschle, is the president and CEO at CRM and marketing automation software provider, Swiftpage. You may remember John from an earlier Business of Story episode when he was on the journey of building a thriving brand culture through storytelling. John explores the importance of evolving your brand story to transform your business, but that starts with getting your employees to buy into the new narrative. He believes courage, passion and tenacity play vital roles in the success of your business. Does your brand have what it takes to evolve and thrive in a crowded, changing market? "I want you to do something that scares you. It scares you, then you break through the fear, and you accomplish it. And then you can tell your story." —John Oeschle Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

We all tell ourselves stories. We all have collective, imagined realities. But these stories are critical because they can either make or break you. Therefore, it's also important to take a step back, re-evaluate, and re-write these internal stories to make sure they're in line with our personal and professional goals and our subconscious mind isn't tearing them down. “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” —Hamlet I have never quoted Shakespeare in any of the past Business of Story episodes, but that line seems appropriate for this episode. This week's guest is an editor of sorts who helps people re-write their internal narratives to achieve external success. And he does it in a truly original and fascinating way.  Jason Linett is a speaker, author, and award-winning hypnotist who helps leaders build million dollar brands through crafting and living into new stories. And he performs these reframings through hypnosis.  His new book, Work Smart Business: Lessons Learned from Hypnotizing 250,000 People and Building a Million-Dollar Brand, is filled with examples of how this strategy has worked for many successful business owners. Jason will teach you how to re-write your internal narratives through hypnosis. He'll show you how to craft a new story by allowing yourself to "dehypnotize" the personal blocks you have built around yourself, hindering your business' or professional growth from success. "My work is focused on what’s great about you, how do we harness that, how do we put that to use?" —Jason Linett Jason will convince you to rid yourself of the self-imposed excuses that lie dangerously in all of our “becauses” and shift towards “this is why”. He will help you get back to your true self, celebrate your relationships and discover your own magical moment. Tune in to step forward into a whole new story of building business success. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

How “woo woo” does it sound if I tell you we are all made of stardust? I guess it depends on the messenger. If you hear it from someone who has a doctorate in astrophysics and has mastered the study of the entire solar system, it might sound like a natural science phenomenon. The real question is: how do you make people actually care about the amazing findings science brings us? How do you create context for complex subjects that captivates our divided, hurried attention? The answer is revealed in this week’s Business of Story by our guest, Dr. Ghina Halabi, Ph.D. She is a Space Scientist at Cambridge University, founder of shespeakscience.com and the first Ph.D. Astrophysicist to graduate from the American University in Lebanon. She shares her story as a young woman fighting to create opportunity in a sea of people trying to find their place under the sun. Learn why we shouldn't be afraid of challenges and how a mere curiosity can lead to the discovery of who you are designed to become. "This is how I’ve lived my life so far. Enjoying a challenge, overcoming it and moving on to the next thing." —Dr. Ghina Halabi Dr. Halabi will speak on her perspective about how we are all products of stardust, and that celestial bodies have their own life cycles and stories, just as humans do. Her discovery of the golden thread that connects everything together will be the greatest tool you can share on your own journey to help you overcome your “story phobia”. "Story is the heart of Science." —Dr. Ghina Halabi Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

Two weeks ago, I bought a pair of black wingtip shoes from the Johnston and Murphy store at Scottsdale Fashion Square. I noticed a pair of blue dress shoes that I had bought in Chicago six months earlier were marked down by $40. I mentioned this in passing to the cashier. When she rang up my new pair, she knocked $40 off of them. I wasn't looking for a deal. But she was empowered to give me one. That was the best $40 Johnston and Murphy could've spent on advertising in that moment. Because I am now telling you, and they have a loyal customer in me. We've heard customer loyalty discussed often, but it's not one associated with many modern-day brands. Therefore, on this week's show we're breaking down what customer loyalty really means and how you can build it with your brand story. Our guide is an expert at exploring the power of a shared brand narrative in building customer loyalty. Barry Kirk is the vice president of strategy at Maritz Loyalty, a consultancy that uses behavioral and decisions sciences to build customer loyalty for their clients. Barry uses a multi-loyalty framework to create ritual use of your offering by your customers. And he's sharing that with us, so you can use it too. Barry will explore where values and loyalty go hand-in -hand and differentiates loyalty marketing from the 80's versus today. Here's a hint: people don’t choose based on the brand, but on the brand that provides the most compelling story. Give employees the opportunity to be human with their customers. After all, it’s not all about having the best product, but on having the most compelling experience. —Barry Kirk Find out how you can turn your customers’ loyalty from transactional to relational, and from passive to active.  We're also getting a bit tropical in this episode. Barry will lead you inside the cobwebs of a fixture in American history and culture, a tiki bar, to share how it may be the ultimate expression of storytelling in business. So grab your mai tai and tune in. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

The medium you choose determines the kind of message you will share to connect with your audience. And most of us use our analytical left brain approach to understand what drives our customers. But this only covers the behavioral side, and isn't encompassing the full picture of what customers want and need. Therefore, in this week's episode, discover a revolutionary way of understanding audiences and how to effectively communicate through Algorithm and Anecdotes. The answer will come straight from someone who has been using algorithm and codes since he was 13 – Pete Sena. Pete is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Digital Surgeons, a design company that helps its partners design forward-thinking brands, business models and experiences. They design brand experiences for notable companies including Lego, The US Open, and Sabra. Pete believes that creativity and curiosity have the power to not only change people personally and professionally, but that it can also change the planet.  "What better way to tell a story of who you are than how you express yourself, how you dress, how you show yourself to the world?" — Pete Sena What message is your medium sending, and are you using it effectively? Learn how Digital Surgeons' brand storytelling process leads with empathy to strengthen and enhance customer experiences and opportunities. They've mastered the art and power of using technology for storytelling.  "I could shake my reality and others’ reality by writing codes in the computer." —Pete Sena He takes us on a journey of how they did all of this with one of my favorite brands, Camelbak, the hearty hydration company that seems nearly ubiquitous with hiking and the great outdoors. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

The way we typically consume stories is how they are told — starting from the beginning to the finale. But it's important to realize that not all stories are linear. Therefore, on this week's show, we're exploring a non-linear approach to telling stories using a variety of media channels to scale the same story. But the concern is if we tell the same story from a non-linear approach framed with different perspectives and media, will it be as effective? We'll get the answer straight from the man who pioneered transmedia storytelling, otherwise known as "Cine Experiences", Zeke Zelker. Zeke Zelker is an award-winning filmmaker who produced the first transmedia project, Pandemic, at the Sundance Film Festival. His current project, Billboard, goes beyond any movie experience as it is aired in a multitude of ways via different platforms. “Learn how to succeed by learning as you go.” —Zeke Zelker Billboard is first featured in social media, then segues to live events and eventually evolves into a web series. Finally, it turns into a feature film, then a game, while different brands get to ride along the myriad events and utilize these platforms to showcase their own brand stories. In this week’s episode, Zeke will share how his childhood experiences growing up in an amusement park shaped his unique perspective for transmedia storytelling. Through this approach, you can also co-create and tell a story creatively that’s completely different from how other brands are doing it. “Take your ego out and listen to your audience. Test things, break things, make things.” —Zeke Zelker As he relives the three major lessons he learned growing up in a Pennsylvania amusement park, Zeke shares his four phases of creation, which you can use as a guide to create your own brand stories through transmedia storytelling. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

One of the most contentious issues among our political leaders is climate change, and the Green New Deal is furthering the conversation and the divide. But many leaders of purpose-driven brands are finding new ways to frame sustainability as a tremendous business opportunity. So how do you use your brand storytelling to open minds, especially when attempting to bring polarized worlds together?   Bruno Sarda, Head of Sustainability at NRG, the country’s leading integrated power company with a goal of creating a sustainable energy future, shares how he uses storytelling to open the hearts and minds of customers, legislators and students. He is also a professor for the Executive Masters of Sustainability Leadership at Arizona State University.   Bruno will share the nuances of storytelling to help you find common ground with a contentious audience. It starts by minimizing negative impact and maximizing the positive through the stories you tell. Bruno will challenge your comfort zones and encourage you to look at sustainability in a whole new way. As he says, “Sustainability is not about doing without, but doing differently.”   Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.