Jocelyn Brady

#344: How to Tap Into the Innate Power of Your Brain Stories

#344: How to Tap Into the Innate Power of Your Brain Stories

The stories we tell each other and ourselves influence everything. Whether it’s presenting to your customer on how your business will help them, pitching your startup to a potential investor or being able to inspire your team to make big changes.

But it’s the personal narratives you are telling yourself, the stories your brain comes up with that are holding you back from creating the reality you want.

My guest today will teach you how to flip the script in your BS (brain stories) and tap into the full potential of that brain magic. Jocelyn Brady is a writer, edutainer and professional brain jostler who thrives at the intersection of comedy, storytelling and unraveling the mysteries of the human brain. When she’s not being the Bill Nye of the brain (as the creator and host of Tiny Tips for Your Brain on YouTube), Jocelyn applies her certified Brain Coaching chops to help creative visionaries tap their brains’ greatest potential.

In her past life as an award-winning copywriter, Creative Director and agency CEO-Jocelyn led narrative strategy and international storytelling training for some of the world’s biggest brands. She also produced and co-hosted Party Time, a standup comedy and storytelling show featuring talent who went on to write or perform for Conan, Colbert and Comedy Central. All while managing to keep her two cats and houseplants alive.

Jocelyn’s first book, tentatively titled Your Brain is a Magical Asshat, is slated for publication next year.

Tune in to learn how you can turn your brain stories into gold using Jocelyn’s 5 part S-T-O-R-Y framework using the acronym of STORY as your guide. We’ll also explore the importance of play in your work and storytelling and why she considers the brain that magical asshat and how you can put that asshat to work for you. 

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Michele Rosenthal

#343: 9 Steps to Rewiring a More Potent Story

#343: 9 Steps to Rewiring a More Potent Story

Overcoming trauma can be immensely dark. It can suck the life out of you and keep you stuck in a negative place of hate, unworthiness and self-destructiveness.

But how do you use your trauma to heal and take back control of your life? What would you do if the rug was completely pulled out from underneath you and the once great world you were living in completely fell apart? Would you choose to turn towards the light or remain stuck in fear?

Trauma survivor Michele Rosenthal suffered a horrific ordeal at just the age of thirteen which was supposed to be a routine antibiotic to treat a routine infection but her world soon turned into chaos when she experienced an undiscovered allergy to the medication leaving her as a full-body burn victim. She had a near-death experience that rocked her to the core.

Having struggled with PTSD for almost thirty years, she affectionately calls her recovery process a “healing rampage.” It worked. Michele achieved 100% recovery. Almost fifteen years later she remains symptom-free and dedicates her career to creating customized concierge trauma recovery programs for mid-life professionals who want to end habits of fear, grief, guilt, shame, loss, sadness, anger, sleep disturbance, stress, or identity loss – and instead experience emotional control, confidence, and calm.

Michelle is also an award-nominated author, poet, and former playwright, who started a blog about her recovery from a major trauma she experienced in her youth. She is a Board Certified Hypnotist, Certified Professional Coach and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She has an award-winning educational PTSD website that continues to tell the story (and offered space for other survivors to tell theirs) and went on to write an award-nominated memoir that tells my entire survivor (and recovery) story from beginning to end. (more…)

Robert Tighe

#342: Is Your Origin Story Working for You?

#342: Is Your Origin Story Working for You?

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” Steve Jobs.

As business leaders, we constantly have our blinders focused on tomorrow.

But if you can take time out and reflect on your past experiences, you will find the scenes that shape your authentic origin story that inform your future. 

So what is your backstory? How do you use it to grab the attention of your audience and build that trust and likeability for your brand?

Meet the origin story guy, Robert Tighe, CEO and founder of, well, Origin Stories. Robert has been working with words for 20 years, initially as an award-winning journalist and more recently as a copywriter, storytelling consultant and number-one bestselling ghostwriter. 

Previously he was the New Zealand Country Editor for The Red Bulletin, an adventure lifestyle magazine published by Red Bull, before he started his own company to help businesses tell better stories. He works with founders, owners, entrepreneurs, business leaders and consultants to find and tell their Origin Stories and share them with the world. Telling better stories enables leaders to clarify their purpose so they can communicate with confidence, connect with stakeholders and lead with purpose. (more…)

Doug Passon

#341: How to Persuade a Judge and Jury Using the ABT

#341: How to Persuade a Judge and Jury Using the ABT

Whether you’re a lawyer or not, you need to be a persuasive advocate for what you’re selling.

Metaphorically, all of our audiences are judges and juries considering the merits of how we see the world and what we’re selling within it with your communications.

But if we confuse them with our communications, we lose them as advocates for our cause. This is especially true in the courtroom. 

I’m excited to announce the third book in our Narrative Gym series co-authored by today’s guest, Scottsdale, AZ, criminal defense attorney Doug Passon. Dr. Randy Olson wrote the first Narrative Gym in the spring of 2020 as an ABT framework guide for the scientific community. Randy and I wrote The Narrative Gym for Business published this past September focused on brand, sales and marketing leaders.

Doug has been using storytelling to great effect in the legal world. His approach to sentencing mitigation videos – short docudramas that reveal the true character of a convict who deserves leniency – was even featured on The Simpsons.  Today we explore how you can use the power of the ABT to tell your story in a simple and analytical way as demonstrated in The Narrative Gym for Law: Introducing the ABT Framework for Persuasive Advocacy.

Doug is also a writer, musician and award-winning documentary filmmaker who combines his passion for filmmaking and storytelling with his practice of law by producing short documentaries for use as mitigation at criminal sentencing and post-conviction proceedings. 

He is an internationally recognized expert in the field of sentencing advocacy and is described by the Wall Street Journal as a pioneer in the emerging field of sentencing mitigation videos. Even Lisa Simpson took note of Doug’s work to get Homer off a grand theft auto charge.  (more…)

Joseph Templin

#340: How to Craft an Epic Personal Story Arc for the New Year

#340: How to Craft an Epic Personal Story Arc for the New Year

We hold the power to write our own stories every single day and it can be one filled with extraordinary moments rich in fulfillment and rewards. But to live your best life you need to make the little choices and changes every day that can alter the curve of your career and life.

Therefore, to help guide you in crafting daily scenes of personal improvement to create an epic story for this upcoming year, we’re kicking off 2022 with Joseph Templin. Joe outlines how you can build better habits and act on them in his new book, Every Day Excellence: A Daily Guide to Growing quickly becoming an Amazon best-seller.

Joe is a reformed physicist, financial planner, startup founder and autodidactic polymath best described as a Swiss Army Knife. He has invested the past two and a half decades in helping others reach their financial potential as a planner, trainer, mentor and creator. He is also the Managing Director of the Unique Minds Consulting Group, LLC, and co-authored Do You Want To Make MDRT, Or Not? with Dr. John Stolk as well as Choices: Creating a Financial Services Career. 

Joe is a Co-Founder and President of The Intro Machine, Inc. an organization dedicated to teaching professionals in a variety of fields how to build an Introduction Based Business. He has spoken all across the US and Canada on ethical business development. In his free time, Joe enjoys running Ragnars (200-ish mile team relay races) ultramarathons and is a champion-level martial artist.  (more…)

JJ Ramberg

#339: The Power of Shared Experiences in Your Storytelling

#339: The Power of Shared Experiences in Your Storytelling

We all have a unique story to tell and you need to communicate it in a way that can connect and convert your prospects to customers. But you’re not sharing the experiences and stories that allow your audience to see the world as they see it, walking in their shoes and inspiring empathy within them.

On this final 2021 edition of the Business of Story, I’m bringing in JJ Ramberg, the co-founder of Goodpods to help us understand how to find your shared experiences that will resonate with your audience. JJ and her brother Ken Ramberg created Goodpods, the new social podcasting app (think Instagram or Twitter for podcasts) where you can follow your friends, influencers and favorite podcasters to see what they’re listening to and discover new shows. They also created a search engine called DogDog that helps feed dogs in need with every search. To date, DogDog has donated more than $7 million! 

JJ was named to Inc. Magazine’s Female Founders 100 and Goodpods was listed as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2021. She was a reporter for four years at CCN covering stories ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the NYSE. She was also the co-host of The Flipside, a talk show focused on the business news of the day.  (more…)

Dean Newlund

#338: How Great Leaders Use Intuition to Tell Their Stories

#338: How Great Leaders Use Intuition to Tell Their Stories

We all experience those gut feelings, that hunch that you should be choosing one direction over another or making a particular decision. And if you can find the courage to follow your intuitive superpower, then you can become a better decision-maker, creatively solve pressing challenges and deepen your connection with others.

But you need to start trusting your gut and be bold enough to act on it! Trust that it is always here to serve you.

Relying solely on your internal compass can be risky business so I’m bringing in Dean Newlund, the founder and CEO of Mission Facilitators International, a boutique training and development firm based out of Phoenix, Arizona whose sole purpose is to help organizations become more connected to their purpose and their people. 

With over two decades of observing, learning from, and guiding a diverse set of medium to large companies in over 19 countries including China, the UK, South America, the Middle East, India, Eastern Europe and Indonesia, Dean has always been fascinated by the positive effect purpose-driven leadership and human transformation has had on employee engagement, business results, and sustainable value for customers and communities. He has helped teams behave with the discipline found in successful companies and helps companies act with the supportive culture found in effective teams.  (more…)

with Sean Entin

#337: How to Turn Turmoil Into Triumph With Your Story

#337: How to Turn Turmoil Into Triumph With Your Story

We all walk a fine line between order and chaos. That’s life. We build success through our education and mastery of a subject, but we also have to keep one foot in chaos because that is where change occurs both positive and negative.

So how would you react if you were at the top of your game and then out of nowhere, at a young age, you were fallen by a stroke?

The order of your world plunged into chaos. What if you were told you’d never walk or talk again? What if the story everyone was telling you was that command over your life was essentially over?

Rewiring the Mind in Virtual Reality from Parker Howell on Vimeo.

That’s what happened to Sean Entin. He was a successful entrepreneur in Southern California financing sustainable residential housing following the global recession in 2008. He also was one of the first business managers to represent Mixed Martial Arts stars like Dan Henderson as the fledgling MMA industry grew.

Sean combined his love for business and MMA to help Navy Seals transition into a more normal life in the states. Suddenly in November of 2011, at 39 years old, it all came crashing down. Sean, during a training session, was caught in a chokehold that severed his carotid artery. This led to a stroke.

He was induced into a coma for 10 days and survived several surgeries. The story doctors told Sean is that he would never speak, walk or live a normal independent life again. 

But Sean wanted to live into a more powerful story, turning his adversity into triumph. It has been 10 years since he had his stroke and he not only regained his independence during his recovery process but is also a Survivor Coach, podcast host and founder of StrokeHacker.com, a community that helps stroke survivors recover from their brain injuries and regain their independence. (more…)

Sheevaun Thatcher

#336: Make No Mistake, You’re in Sales

#336: Make No Mistake, You’re in Sales

We are all in sales whether we like it or not. And if you can provide your salespeople with everything they need to better engage and convert potential buyers, then you’ll see more deals closed and revenue soaring for your business.

But your reps don’t have the right resources, materials and tools they need to be able to boost conversions and work more leads through your buyer’s journey. 

Today’s guest will show you how. Sheevaun Thatcher is a leading force in sales enablement with a remarkable track record of building teams and programs and delivering revenue outcomes. She even had one training video viewed over one million times in just four days!

Sheevaun is the President of Global Digital Learning and Enablement at RingCentral leading a team that trains between five and six thousand colleagues annually on Support Sales, Customer Success and Support, Channel and Partner Engagement, global corporate-wide Onboarding, Innovation Training, Product Marketing, Curriculum Design, Digital E-Learning and Video Production.   (more…)

Steven Benson

#335: What Sales Stories to Tell During These Turbulent Times

#335: What Sales Stories to Tell During These Turbulent Times

The global pandemic and current economic crises have forced times to get tighter and the way we run our businesses even tighter. And if you can approach the new challenges COVID has presented with business resilience then you can survive and thrive during these disruptive times.

But to better adapt to the world we’re now living in, you need to shift your focus from temporary fixes to a fresh approach to your sales strategy. You need to have a strong ROI story to drive sales and get your revenue back through the roof.

Here to help you tell the right stories during these turbulent times and social unrest is the CEO and founder of Badger Maps, the number one App in the App Store for outside and field salespeople, Steven Benson. Steve received his MBA from Stanford, joining Google where he became Google Enterprise’s Top Sales Executive globally in 2009.

He founded Badger Maps in 2012, designed for outside and field salespeople to upgrade existing CRMs with mapping, routing, and scheduling. Steve is also launching a new sales training platform on Badger Maps that in full disclosure will be featuring my ABTs of Selling™ short online course.  (more…)