Master the Primal Art of Business Storytelling
The Business of Story Podcast With Park Howell
Transform Your Business Through Proven Narrative Mastery
Every marketing director, business owner, and sales professional understands that the right story can transform how customers respond to their message.
What matters most is mastering the vital storytelling structures that have driven human engagement for millennia, especially when your business success depends on authentic connection with your audience.
But here’s the frustrating reality most professionals face: conventional brand storytelling advice offers generic tips and surface-level techniques instead of the primal storytelling principles that actually create lasting impact.
This happens because most business storytelling approaches focus on modern tactics without understanding the sacred narrative structures that have influenced human behavior for thousands of years.
That’s exactly where The Business of Story podcast transforms your approach to business communication.
Through Park Howell’s proprietary guidance, you gain access to primal storytelling amplified with cutting-edge technology, enabling you to excel through the stories you tell while accelerating your Return on Intelligence through remarkable storytelling mastery.
Your Guide to Storytelling Excellence
Park Howell brings over two decades of proven expertise in marketing storytelling, combining primal narrative wisdom with modern precision.
As the creator of the revolutionary Story Cycle System™, which has grown brands by 600 percent, propogator of the ABT (And, But, Therefore) narrative framework, and co-creator of the StoryCycle Genie™, Park has pioneered “Vibe Branding”.
Vibe Branding combines emotional intelligence with artificial intelligence, guided by proven storytelling structures, to accelerate ROI: Your Return on Intelligence.
His sacred mission: help you excel through the stories you tell, delivering measurable results through systematic application of primal storytelling principles.
Latest Episodes: Primal Storytelling in Action
Recent Releases:
- 10 Essential Story Elements of Vibe Branding That Make Your Brand Narrative Enthralling
- The Five Essential Elements (the H.E.A.R.T.) of the Perfect Pitch With Ben Wiener
- How to Unlock Brand Alignment to Accelerate Your Business Growth With Brandon Coleman Jr.
- How to Tell Your Startup Lifecycle Story to Sell Investors & Customers on Your Brand With Gregory Shepard
- How to Effectively Position Your B2B Brand With April Dunford
Each episode delivers actionable insights you can implement immediately, combining proven primal storytelling frameworks with contemporary business applications for remarkable results.
Begin Your Storytelling Mastery Journey
Subscribe now and join thousands of professionals who’ve transformed their business communication through primal storytelling principles amplified with today’s technology. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.
Exclusive Subscriber Benefits:
- Access to primal storytelling resource library
- StoryCycle Genie™ early access updates
- Monthly storytelling mastery workshops focused on Return on Intelligence
- Direct connection with the storytelling excellence community
Or subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts.
Subscribe to Top-Rated Storytelling Podcast and Make Your Brand Story Stand Out
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Why Your Corporate Brand Videos Fail (And How to Fix Them)
The Goldmine of Stories Hiding in Your Business (And How to Find Them Before Your Competitors Do)
You want to create video content that genuinely connects with your audience and builds authentic relationships that drive real business results.
But you’re frustrated because despite spending thousands on professional video production, your content gets scrolled past faster than yesterday’s news, leaving you wondering if video marketing actually works at all.
Now you can discover the timeless brand storytelling secrets that transform forgettable corporate videos into magnetic content that moves hearts, changes minds, and drives measurable business impact through proven narrative frameworks that put your audience at the center of every story.
Meet Nick Francis: Adventure-Driven Global Storyteller
Nick’s the founder and CEO of Casual Films, officially the UK’s number one brand video production company, and author of The New Fire: Harness the Power of Video for Your Business.
But get this: he started wanting to be a war photographer, ended up as a BBC News producer, then drove 9,000 miles from London to Mongolia in a vintage Mini Cooper just for the adventure.
Now he’s running a global operation across nine cities, creating nearly 1,000 brand videos a year for heavyweights like Adobe, Amazon, HSBC, and P&G. His new book? “The New Fire: Harness the Power of Video for Your Business.”
But here’s what shaped everything: Nick lost his father at 10 years old.
His dad was the BBC producer who bought the rights to broadcast the Apollo moon landings worldwide. That early lesson about life’s fragility drives Nick’s “you’ve got one shot, so take it” philosophy.
The Robert Capa Principle That Changes Everything
Nick’s hero was WWII photojournalist Robert Capa, who said: “If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”
This principle transforms how Casual Films approaches every project.
Instead of showing up with just cameras and scripts, they dig deeper. That’s how they discovered a 90-year-old Hilton concierge celebrating his 50th anniversary with the company, a story that emerged only because someone took time to really listen.
“Every business sits on a goldmine of stories,” Nick told me. “You just have to get close enough to find them.”
Three Game-Changing Video Insights
How EI + AI = ROI, Your Return on Intelligence With Dr. Robin Hills
The New ROI Formula That’s Transforming Leadership Storytelling
Forget everything you thought you knew about ROI. In today’s AI-driven business landscape, Return on Intelligence isn’t just about financial metrics, it’s about combining Emotional Intelligence + Artificial Intelligence to create unprecedented competitive advantage.
As business leaders worldwide race to implement AI solutions, you understand that technology alone won’t build the authentic relationships that drive sustainable success.
What matters most is developing the emotional intelligence that separates exceptional leaders from those who simply manage automated processes.
But here’s the frustrating reality: most executives struggle to harness both AI’s efficiency AND emotional intelligence’s power because they view them as competing forces rather than complementary capabilities.
That’s exactly where Dr. Robin Hills transforms your leadership approach, revealing how emotional intelligence becomes your secret weapon in the AI age.
Dr. Hills is the author of the new book The Authority Guide to Emotional Resilience in Business: Strategies to Manage Stress and Weather Storms in the Workplace.
Why Park’s “AI Doesn’t Bleed” Insight Changes Everything
In our latest Business of Story episode, Park crystallized the fundamental difference between artificial and human intelligence with one powerful phrase: “AI doesn’t bleed.”
Robin, recently awarded “International Impact Company of the Year” by Dotcom Magazine, immediately recognized the profound truth in Park’s observation. “Exactly,” Robin responded. “Look to where you bleed, where your passion and curiosity lie. Bots don’t bleed, but humans do.”
That bleeding, your passion, creativity, and emotional connection, represents the irreplaceable value you bring to an AI-enhanced workplace.
The Story Strategy That Has Grown Brands by 600 Percent
Hey story lovers!
I’m thrilled to share this episode with you because it represents something pretty incredible—the power of human emotional intelligence collaborating with artificial intelligence to create compelling content that actually works.
Here’s what’s fascinating: This entire 35-minute episode script would’ve taken me around 20 hours to write the old-fashioned way. Working with our StoryCycle Genie™? Two hours. I revised about 10% of what the Genie created.
You must understand the magic to cast the spell, right?
What You’ll Discover in This Episode
After two decades helping brands grow by up to 600% with our Story Cycle System™, I’ve identified 10 essential elements that every legendary brand story shares. Think of this as your brand narrative strategy guide, built on your market knowledge, customer insights, instincts, and intuition.
Most brands do it backwards, spending tens of thousands on bloated processes that ignore what they already know.
Sound familiar?
Let’s flip that script.
The 10 Essential Story Elements
- Brand Assessment – Know your starting point (like building our dream home on solid foundation)
- Name Your Audience – Identify your heroes and their emotional triggers
- ABT Foundation – Place customers at the center using the And-But-Therefore structure
- Brand Position Statement – Claim your unique territory in the marketplace
- Unique Value Proposition – Your knockout punch that creates instant curiosity
- OOOh Exercise – Define your brand’s personality through Organization, Offering, Outcomes
- Brand Promise & Gift – Your North Star emotional promise and measurable outcome
- Brand Archetypes – Express your consistent personality (Magician, Creator, Rebel)
- Brand Purpose – Your why beyond money that elevates everyone you touch
- Overarching Brand Narrative – Weave everything into one compelling story
DOWNLOAD THE PDF: 10 Essential Story Elements.
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The Five Revolutionary Principles of Vibe Branding With Sean Schroeder & Park Howell
How AI Transforms Intuitive Brand Development in Minutes, Not Months
Entrepreneurs and business leaders know that authentic branding drives sustainable growth.
But most struggle with the overwhelming complexity and time investment that traditional branding requires. What if you could develop a comprehensive brand strategy in hours instead of months?
In this groundbreaking conversation, StoryCycle Genie™ co-creators Sean Schroeder and Park Howell explore the revolutionary concept of vibe branding.
Vibe Branding is combines human intuition with AI-powered cognitive amplification to transform how brands discover and articulate their authentic stories.
The Five Principles of Vibe Branding
Principle #1: Developed Intuition Over Discovery Sessions
Move beyond exhausting interrogation sessions to intuition-driven brand excavation. The StoryCycle Genie™ analyzes your existing content – websites, marketing materials, presentations – to reveal how you’re already showing up in the world.
Principle #2: Systematic Amplification Over Creative Translation
Replace disconnected exercises with systematic frameworks that tap into your developed business instincts, creating a coherent map of how you solve problems and deliver value.
Principle #3: Market Experience Over Theoretical Frameworks
Shift from abstract positioning exercises to absolute resonance with your authentic brand truth, eliminating the need to misappropriate someone else’s brand identity.
Principle #4: Integrated Execution Over Strategy Implementation Gaps
Destroy the “three-headed brand monster” of separate strategy, rollout, and content phases. Build one unified brand brain that generates everything from foundational narrative to campaign-ready content.
Principle #5: Intuition-Guided Systems Over Manual Creative Development
Systemize your intuition to access 50,000 stored patterns in seconds, enabling lightning-fast pattern recognition that keeps you in cognitive flow.
The Generosity-Driven Storytelling Strategy for Small Business Growth With John Whitt
Strategic Chess Meets Heart-Centered Leadership: Why Small Business Owners Are Hitting Growth Ceilings (And How to Break Through)
You’ve built a successful small business. You’re doing everything right. And you know there’s so much more potential waiting to be unleashed.
But you’re hitting that familiar ceiling between $500K and $5M.
More effort isn’t translating to proportional growth, because you’re trapped managing everything instead of leading strategically.
Imagine accelerating your growth by learning how chess-inspired strategy, combined with generosity-driven leadership, creates the systematic breakthrough that transforms overwhelmed business owners into confident, scalable leaders.
John Whitt, Founder & President of BusinessWhitt and author of Checkmate: Winning Tactics for Translating Ideas into Money, is not your typical business coach.
He’s a “heart-centered tactician” who combines 30 years of corporate experience managing billion-dollar construction projects with chess strategy principles and a generosity-first leadership philosophy.
From managing 1,500 Bank of America projects worth $500 million to helping small business owners break through growth constraints, John’s proven that strategic thinking plus authentic values creates an unstoppable competitive advantage.
From Newsroom to Boardroom: AI in Storytelling With Pete Pachal
How AI Is Transforming Media: Essential Insights for Content Creators
Discover how AI is revolutionizing journalism and content creation with Pete Pachal, founder of Media Copilot and veteran journalist with 25+ years covering technology.
Pete has consulted on AI strategies for The Washington Post and BBC, appeared on CNN and Fox Business, and teaches AI implementation to media professionals worldwide.
Key Takeaways for Content Creators:
AI Implementation Without Losing Authenticity:
Learn Pete’s “Level 1-2” approach to AI collaboration—using tools like Claude Opus for research and brainstorming while maintaining your unique voice and editorial integrity.
The Future of Content Consumption:
Understand how AI is enabling hyper-personalized content delivery through podcasts, video summaries, and custom formats that deepen audience engagement.
Practical AI Strategies You Can Use Today:
Pete shares three actionable steps: build a custom AI assistant, use AI collaboratively (not as a vending machine), and leverage voice interaction for turning thoughts into insights.
Avoiding AI Pitfalls in Professional Content:
Discover how to navigate AI hallucinations, maintain fact-checking standards, and use AI to enhance rather than replace original research and reporting.
The Evolution from Aggregation to Originality:
Learn why AI is forcing content creators back to authentic, original work—and how this shift benefits both creators and audiences seeking trustworthy information. (more…)
How AI is a Storytelling Collaborator, not a Competitor, with Hamlet Azarian
Is AI your adversary or your ally?
Are you feeling burned out from all the AI talk? I get it.
But dismissing AI today is like complaining about cars in the horse-and-buggy era. “Giddy-up, Trigger.”
That’s why I brought Hamlet Azarian onto The Business of Story. He’s not just talking about AI, he’s helping companies harness it to grow smarter and faster.
Hamlet is the founder of Azarian Growth Agency, based in Los Angeles, and a pioneer in using agentic AI to streamline everything from lead generation to creative production.
He reveals how agentic AI is revolutionizing marketing, sales, and operations, not by replacing humans, but by enhancing their creativity and decision-making.
With over $269 million in startup funding raised under his guidance, Hamlet shares how to use AI as your strategic sidekick—from content creation to go-to-market execution.
You’ll learn how agentic AI helps startups and scaling companies identify go-to-market opportunities, craft customer journeys, and even evaluate sales calls—all without losing the human touch. Hamlet explains how these tools aren’t meant to replace your team but to free them up for more creative, strategic work.
We also dive into the brand storytelling side of things.
Growing Revenue and Retention for Your SaaS Brand with Dan Balcauski
The Value Created in Your Product or Service Pricing Starts With Your Story
You want your pricing to communicate the true value of what you offer and fuel the growth of your business.
If you can find the right story to communicate your subjective price, then your customers will gladly pay for the outcomes you objectively deliver.
But it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and even a little paralyzed because pricing feels like a black box—confusing metrics, vague value, and no clear process to guide you.
That’s why today’s episode is such a game-changer.
Dan Balcauski, Founder of and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, a consultancy that helps high-volume B2B SaaS companies define pricing and packaging strategies that drive growth.
He shares how pricing is not just a number—it’s your brand narrative in action. So if you want to price with purpose and confidence, this one’s for you.
The Five Essential Elements (the H.E.A.R.T.) of the Perfect Pitch With Ben Wiener
How to Pitch Like Your Life Depends on It
Want to create a winning startup pitch that actually lands funding?
In this episode of the Business of Story, storytelling strategist Park Howell interviews Ben Wiener, managing partner at Jumpspeed Ventures and author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Fever Pitch, a business thriller that brings pitch storytelling to life.
Ben is a venture capitalist, founder, and startup mentor who developed the H.E.A.R.T. Pitch Framework to help entrepreneurs tell stories that inspire action. Learn how to combine emotional resonance, narrative structure, and investor psychology into a simple five-part formula for communicating big ideas.
Whether you’re raising capital, launching a product, or convincing stakeholders, this episode will show you how to structure your pitch like a compelling story and radically improve your odds of success.
Your Story is Your Strategy with Renee Frojo
How to Put Your Story in Service to Your Business
You are dedicated to building your brand and know how important brand storytelling is to generate the personal, professional and revenue growth you desire.
But you feel like marketing your business has become a grind.
Like the joy that once fueled your entrepreneurial journey has vanished behind funnels, frameworks, and fatigue?
Renee Frojo, former journalist turned brand storytelling coach, helps service-based entrepreneurs like you rediscover your purpose and passion by using your most underutilized asset: your personal story.
Renee’s mantra is simple but powerful: your story is your strategy. She shares how to turn real-life moments, your doubts, your wins, even your buyer’s remorse, into brand-building gold that creates emotional resonance and trust with your audience.
Whether you’re a coach, consultant, or creative entrepreneur, this episode will help you simplify your content strategy, strengthen your message, and fall back in love with your brand.
