Business of Story

40 years back, Forever Living was a scrappy startup operating from a garage. Today, it is a multi-billion dollar organization with a presence in 150 plus countries. Their success can be attributed, in no small way to their genius brand story telling prowess. In order to come up a magnetic brand story, you need a FIRM focus on authenticity and selflessness.  In this week’s show, Nick Woodward-Shaw, Vice President of Communications for Forever Living Products, Int’l, shares how you can create emotional experiences that affect lasting change for your customers. And how these special moments can help spark brand stories that spread like wildfire. Nick shares how Rex, the founder discovered the powers of Aloe Vera – which ultimately propelled Forever Living to being the powerhouse that it is today. Nick shares some heartwarming anecdotes that eventually became powerful storytelling experiences – allowing Forever Living to transform into a magnetic brand. How did Nick manage to put up a mesmerizing brand experience on the beaches of Dubai at the famous Burj Al Arab?  And, what was Nick’s methodology for compiling “40 Stories” – a book that capture the essence of Forever Living? “40 stories” details diverse and amazing stories about selflessness and giving. You will learn about the amazing Suzuki San and the tenacious Sunil Gupta. Nick reveals the FIVE elements of storytelling that he focused on while designing this book. Tune in to discover some great nuggets on how to design special moments that succeed in establishing a solid connection even with anonymous people. 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.

Whether you are a multi-billion dollar business or a brave little startup, the struggle to connect with your audience is a difficult and often, unsuccessful one. Presenting your brand story through a narrative lens will help facilitate effective translation, allowing you to reach your target audience. In this week’s show, you will discover how you can you can use your own personal narrative to create a magnetic brand story. Andrew Robinson, creator of the narrative thinking framework is a “Brand Anthropologist” who helps companies know and tell their story. Andrew reveals his powerful philosophy which has allowed him to help businesses across the world make a genuine connection with the audience they want to connect with. Andrew also shares how asking your “Who” can ultimately lead you to your “Why”, “How” and “What”. Real world examples he shares show how personal stories can inspire businesses to create their own authentic brand stories and maintain strong fidelity to it are sure to keep you hooked. What makes businesses like Disney and Starbucks so irresistible to their audiences? You'll learn about their empathy-filled ethos which has resulted in enduring “Brand Resonance” – and allowed these businesses to grow into the multi-billion corporations that they are today. We also discuss Nike and Phil Knight’s captivating memoir, Shoe Dogs. Phil Knight’s inspiring life story shows us that in order to realize our potential to the fullest, we have to deal with the part of us that is holding us back. Tune in now to discover why DRAMA, and not DATA can help you connect with your audiences to build a truly enduring brand. 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.

As I've learned from my associates at Anecdote, character trumps credentials every time when you are trying to connect with people. But when looking for a job or reinventing a career, we often make the mistake of leading with our resumes rather than our personalities. After 15 years as a communications executive with a multi-national mining firm and ready to make a change, Jennifer Russo realized that her powerful resume is just the cost of entry into being considered for the high-level job she was seeking.  If she's going to be successful landing the position that will help define her legacy, she needed to clarify her own brand story. In this week’s show, Jennifer, brand building specialist and former General Manager of Communications and Communities globally for Rio Tinto, reveals how you can define your personal brand story. Growing up in Long Island, Jennifer was influenced by her educator father. She shares how he instilled in her a relentless passion for learning and strong justice, which led her to pursue journalism. While at Rio Tinto, Jennifer got the opportunity to work on complex projects involving a multitude of stakeholders. In 2005, when Rio Tinto was still unknown in the United States, Park helped Jennifer structure Rio Tinto's brand story to showcase their CSR efforts. You'll hear Jennifer dispel the notion that mining companies can do only harm. She will give you a peek into the many opportunities and challenges that come with a MNC-beneficiary relationship. Jennifer's views on diversity and inclusion storytelling reframe the typical approach to human resources in large companies. Diversity is not just cultural, but also that of beliefs. Learn how diversity within an organization can help achieve actionable insights that can help fast-track a company’s growth.  You will also receive some great tips on how to cultivate an abundant mindset for partnering with skeptical and unwilling stakeholders. It's ironic that Jennifer, who was so successful at building up the Rio Tinto brand, was at a loss on how to design her own personal brand story. But Park used the proprietary Story Cycle System™ to capture Jennifer’s strengths, and used Success Stories to effectively convey them. Tune in to discover how you can achieve clarity for building a congruent brand story that effectively showcases your strengths. 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.

In 2005, Clinica Adelante was an organization struggling to stay afloat. Today, they are a 500 employee-strong community health center serving more than 75,000 patients every year. What makes this transformation even more amazing is that they have achieved this without losing sight of their noble philosophy of providing affordable healthcare for all. In this week's show, the incredible Avein Saaty-Tafoya, CEO of Adelante Sustainable Healthcare in Phoenix, Arizona, describes how crafting the not-for-profit’s brand story helped the community health center achieve 300% growth in just five years, and where they are today as a national leader delivering sustainable healthcare. This inspiring episode starts off with Avein sharing her story. She got her first lessons in entrepreneurship at the tender age of 4 while working at her Iranian father's jewelry store. But Avein's strong passion for eliminating health disparity can be attributed to her Middle Eastern origins. Fostering strong community ties is an integral part of Middle Eastern society, and this community-driven mindset motivated Avein to get her medical degree. Avein provides some great insights about the American medical system, including how socio-economic societal differences between the Middle East and the United States spill over to each region's medical systems. Avein's struggle to keep Adelante afloat in the organization's initial years are sure to inspire you. You'll learn about the various challenges (internal and external) that Avein managed to overcome with bold decision making and through skillful negotiations. In 2009, Adelante launched their new brand story. Since then, they've grown from 65 employees to 500+. Patients have increased from 14,000 to 75,000. And, Adelante's revenue has gone from $13 million in 2006 to more than $41 million in 2016. Tune in now to discover how you can manage a business effectively without losing your humanity, and how you can use that humanity to establish an authentic brand story. 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.

Word of mouth marketing is incredibly effective – if done the right way. A talk trigger or story starter is a tool that can be used by businesses to carve a distinct brand identity via powerful word of mouth marketing. Creative and purposeful implementation of talk triggers is necessary to garner customer traction and propel your business forward. In this week's show, you will learn how to do just that. Jay Baer, Maestro of Word of Mouth Marketing and Daniel Lemin, a leader in reputation management, join forces to discuss their latest book Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers with Word of Mouth. What does Cheesecake Factory have in common with a tire dealer in Sacramento? Or, for that matter, a New Jersey dentist with Mailchimp? Jay and Daniel talk about these businesses which have been astute enough to develop an intimate understanding of their customer expectations. This has allowed them to figure out remarkable yet relevant talk triggers - which have translated into brand differentiation and solid business growth. Because businesses sometimes have a poor understanding of customer expectations, they often end up using wrong talk triggers. Or, maybe triggers that get commoditized quickly. How can a business avoid making this blunder? The absence of a proper framework has been a big deterrent so far. But not anymore. Jay and Daniel discuss the “456" framework and “The Triangle of Awesomeness” – simple but highly effective tools for understanding the customer mindset and coming up with a unique talk trigger for your brand. Tune in now to discover how you can have the unique advantage of your customers marketing your business for you. 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.

  Everything starts and ends with listening. Ultimately, it’s more about listening than storytelling. If you or your brand are telling a compelling story but no one is listening, then what is the point? How many times have you gone into a meeting to present something that you are passionate about only to find that very few people are engaged and listening? It happens way more than we want to admit that we are those disengaged listeners.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget to just sit back and listen to the people around us. When you aren’t fully engaged and listening in a conversation, it is easy for the conversation to become hollow and meaningless. It’s time we surrender our agendas in order to truly be present in the moment and listen.  Murray Nossel is a guru when it comes to listening. He is the co-founder of Narativ and the author of Powered by Storytelling: Excavate, Craft, and Present Stories to Transform Business Communication. If you’re struggling to get your audience to listen then you’re in luck because he will show you how to gain your audience’s full attention and how you too can be a better story listener to expand your influence as a leader.  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 does a customer experience your brand? Do they leave an interaction feeling enlightened and empowered? Or do they leave feeling disconnected and disenfranchised? Understanding consumers' personas and journeys is critical because at the end of the day, brands need to truly connect. Because if you don't, you're likely losing customers and employees for life. Any business with customers needs to focus on the journey experience and work to constantly improve it. But customer-centricity needs to be built into the culture of the organization from the start. If you're not always considering your customers' next step in the sales process (even after they've purchased) and retaining them, then you need a champion for your customer experiences. Your business leaders and employees should be asking, "How do I make sure that everything we do incorporates the customer and their thinking?" And, don't think that the customer journey ends after a purchase. A customer journey map analyzes all the interactions the customer has with a brand, including emotions, feelings and perceptions throughout every step of the sales process and beyond. Ultimately, you should connect your brand story to your customers' stories to elevate, empower, and enlighten them, and hopefully retain them for life. Designing customer journeys demonstrates that your business understands what your stakeholders are all about. Annette Franz is the queen of customer journey mapping. She is the CEO of CX Journey Inc, a boutique customer experience consulting firm. And on this week's episode, she will help you frame and design your experiences to provide better journeys for your customers and employees. 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.

Nowadays, businesses are starting to realize how truly vital it is to have a purpose-driven brand. That's because when your brand has a true purpose behind it, your potential for success increases dramatically. Co-founder of China Mist Tea, John Martinson, saw that success firsthand in his very own business. He saw an inconsistency in the market and took advantage of it. Now, fast forward 36 years and China Mist can be found in just about any place that you can dine in. John has since developed a strong passion for sustainability and finding ways to incorporate it into every aspect of life. In light of his passion for sustainability, he and his son, Neo, are in the midst of a 6,000 mile road trip to spread the message of sustainability. On today’s episode of Business of Story, John shares with us how he built his company from the ground up and made it into the purpose-driven, sustainable brand that it is today. 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.

Have you ever overheard a conversation between two teen girls gushing over the latest and greatest Kylie Jenner Lip Kit and you think to yourself “Wow, those girls are not even speaking my language.” But maybe those girls simply aren’t your ideal customer. It’s not that you’re disconnected from them, it’s that you don’t know their lingo. To know someone’s lingo is to know their values and emotional triggers. And when it comes to your customers, if you’re not speaking their secret lingo, then you’re probably leaving sales, margins and loyalty out to dry.  Not only is Jeffrey Shaw the king of lingo, but he is also the author of LINGO: Discover Your Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible. He has truly has mastered the art of identifying and understanding the lingo of your ideal customer. And on today’s podcast, he shares how to get into the head and heart of your audience by understanding how they tell themselves their stories. And the hope is that, at the end of it, you too will be the king (or queen) of lingo. 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.

There is a raw energy in narrative and evolved leaders use story to empower people a catapult them to action. But we often look just upon the surface of a tale or anecdote without appreciate the story elements, like protons, electrons and neutrons, that power it. Until today's show. Our guest is Paul Skah,  who specializes in the "why" behind what really makes business storytelling work, and the actions you can encourage your audience to take through story marketing.  He knows how to engage the psychology of decision-making that nudges us to choose washing powder "A" over washing powder "B". This knowledge helps companies sell more, or sell the same products at higher price points. His expertise even ventures into the unknown world of AI and how that will impact our storytelling in the future, which he shares with us on this episode. Listen now to hear Paul's fascinating, scientific approach to brand and business storytelling, and some of the ideal elements formulated in "Goldilocks" conditions to help you craft and share stories that have real power to shape your universe (and your customers' purchase decisions). 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. Plus, he shares three tests that ensure you have a good story. If you want to learn more from Paul, he's also the author of three best-selling books (as in "Marketing Book of the Year" best-selling) and a public speaker sharing his story wisdom all over the world. Three chapters of his upcoming book, Narratology, are available for free on his website.