Episode 21: [END OF SEASON 1] When you're trapped inside the lie of either/or

Either/or is a choice for a narrow range of categories, and the rest of life generally fits into the wild, tangly box of both/and.

You can chase your theater dreams AND be a story coach.

You can keep your foot in the corporate world AND build your consulting business.

You can position yourself in marketing AND deliver transformative, life-changing impact.

But I think that maybe the linear promises of frameworks and 7-Figure Clubs have robbed us of the freedom to see the world through the lens of both/and – because, well, if there’s more than one way, then the power of the expert gets smaller and smaller.

And that would suck for the experts.

LINKS & RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE: 

• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIn

We might treat the big moments like signposts, but let’s not be fooled or pretentious. It’s the tiny stories that keep us connected. Join Lindsay Hotmire for this solocast where she defines what a tiny story is and give you two easy ways to start using them in your life, your business, and with your team. 

Links + Resources from this episode

• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIn

If you want to see what relationship-first marketing looks like, spend a few weeks inside Stephen Woessner’s How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline facebook group. It’s free, and he legitimately gives away every ounce of what he’s got. 

He never holds back, and he never stops giving more. 

It’s humbling, really, to watch from the outside. He’s the embodiment of generosity and the living example of what happens when you lead with your values. 

For over 25 years, Stephen Woessner has been in the trenches of agency new business strategy, consulting with hundreds of agencies, business coaches, and consultants — and teaching them how to plant their flag of authority, grow their audience, and fill their sales pipelines with a steady stream of right-fit clients. Stephen founded Predictive ROI in 2009 and remains its CEO and co-owner, working alongside his business partner, Erik Jensen. Stephen hosts the "Onward Nation" and "Sell with Authority" podcasts with listeners in over 140 countries and over 1,000 episodes. His marketing insights have been featured in major media and he’s the bestselling author of five books, including his latest entitled, “Sell With Authority."

Links + Resources from this episode

• Reach Stephen at stephen@predictiveroi.com
• Find Stephen at predictiveroi.com
• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIn

Eric White is the co founder of Ponder, a customer insight studio that delivers insight experiences to help growth stage companies increase win rates and explore new segments. Eric will tell you that one of his biggest beefs with data is that most market research companies just email you reports and give presentations and you're left thinking, "wow, that was really cool and that was really interesting, but what the heck do I do now?"

At Ponder, Eric and his, his teammates produce immersive experiences to help your team immerse into customer needs and allow you to take actual action so that you can achieve your growth objectives. 

What does all that really mean? It means that Eric is an incredible observer. Actually he's a Jedi level listener and I know this because I've seen him at ground level in the work. He asks the types of questions that pull golden insights out of your audiences so that you can grow intelligently and confidently. 

In this episode, you're going to hear us talk about how small business owners can gather data without feeling overloaded on time or money. We dig into things like why is empathy not always a good thing? And we talk about what does it mean for research and insights to truly be actionable. 

Links + Resources from this episode: 

• Connect with Eric on LinkedIn
• Find Eric at ponder
• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIn

In this solocast, Lindsay Hotmire shares why you might still be feeling stuck and frustrated even after investing thousands in business strategy and business coaches -- and she shares why alignment might be the thing you need instead.

Links + Resources from this episode: 

• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIn

It’s funny to sit across the Zoom with a man you’ve known since you were 6 years old.

The last time Alex Yeater and I talked face to face, I was 11 years old. We shared the same elementary school, and Alex has been a part of my story DNA for the majority of my life. Thanks to social media, I’ve watched Alex from afar since the mid 2000s, watching him go from working inside a Verizon store to owning and selling 32 of them.

Today, he’s a franchise owner of Everbowl and partners with Drew Brees (former NFL quarterback who spent 14 years with the New Orleans Saints). Alex is a true entrepreneur – but more than that, he’s a man of conviction, of integrity, and someone who is redefining what it looks like to show up in business.

I recently heard someone say that in the business world, there’s no room for grace.

Well, if you believe that too, then tune in to meet Alex Yeater. He wears the power of grace on his sleeve, and when you stand close enough to him, you catch it.

Links + Resources from this episode: 

• Visit Alex on LinkedIn
• Learn about Everbowl
• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIn

Lisa McLeod is an advisor, consultant, and speaker who works with senior executives and sales teams around the world. She is the author of five bestselling books including Selling with Noble Purpose. She writes for Harvard Business Review and she has inspired millions of learners on LinkedIn Learning with courses on sales, leadership, and purpose at work.

In this episode of Storyhouse, she tackles some of the big myths we share around purpose, finding the "right job," servant leadership, and meaning at work.

Links + Resources from this episode: 

• Visit Lisa McLeod's website
• Harvard Business Review article: How to be a purpose-driven leader without burning out 
• Read Lisa's book, Selling with Noble Purpose
• Read Lisa's book, Leading with Noble Purpose
• Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn
• Connect with Storyhouse Fifteen
• Find Lindsay on LinkedIN

Bridget Hilton and Joe Huff are obsessed with experiences. Determined to unlock the secrets of their remarkable power to transform lives, they have spent years interviewing social science experts, conducting the largest study on experiences ever done, and turning themselves into experiential guinea pigs. Together they have trained to be samurai, danced with the northern lights, tracked silverback gorillas in a hail storm, stood face-to-face with a hungry lion on safari, visited 50+ countries and all 50 states, absorbed life lessons from Maasai Mara tribesmen, sped across a glacier on a dogsled, built schools for kids in need, lived with monks, helped give over 50,000 people hearing, swum with sharks, and explored the experiential riches life has to offer.

Today, they are also the co-founders of LSTN,  the world's first inspirational electronics company. After seeing a viral video of someone hearing her own voice for the first time, co-founders Bridget Hilton and Joe Huff decided to focus their efforts on creating change through the power of sound & music, and make this incredible moment a reality for others around the globe.

Since 2012, LSTN has traveled to help more than 50,000 people receive hearing aids through the proceeds from their headphones, earbuds and speakers with non-profit partner, Starkey Hearing Foundation. Access to hearing has improved the lives of these individuals, their families and communities and has since created a positive ripple effect with millions of people around the world.

CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS EPISODE: 

• Why we need to be constantly reminded to invest in experiences, and what’s at stake if we don’t
• How to live an experientially rich life after you've already lived A LOT of life
• How to understand and define our IDEAL SELF
• How to tune out what doesn't matter and tune in to what does
• The Mori Memento Chart and its simple power to help you create a more meaningful life 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• https://www.experientialbillionaire.com/
• https://bridgethilton.com/
• https://joehuff.com/
• https://lstnsound.com/

Kevyn Rustici works as a Strategic Human Capital and Business Consultant, where he helps organizations align their “people strategy” with their business strategy to achieve the business's desired outcomes. He loves helping organizations to better understand how their people directly impact the bottom line to help increase their return on people investment. By leveraging data, science, and communication, Kevyn helps to arm leadership teams and HR with the insights they need to make more informed decisions to improve performance and profits within their unique culture.

IN THIS EPISODE: 

• How Kevyn led himself through his own pivot towards more meaningful work
• Why using a personal and professional scorecard helps us self-evaluate and hold ourselves accountable for course correction and self-improvement
• How to define success for yourself (even when that definition takes you outside of societal norms)
• What you need to do first before pursuing work-life balance
• How to be vulnerable, and why accountability matters for activating growth
• The importance of living for oneself, rather than the opinions or validations of others
• Recruitment challenges post-pandemic, and why starting with a clear intention is a game changer
• Why leaders need to prioritize internal communication as much as they do customer feedback, and how to build trust with your workforce
• Moving away from traditional hierarchical structures and job titles towards skills-based roles
• The three pieces of feedback your employees need to hear from you as a leader
• How to balance the burden of expectation with your roles and responsibility as a leader
• The move towards positive storytelling

CONNECT WITH KEVYN: 

Linkedin@hrevolution

• How Ben went from being a shy and bullied child to a successful marketing firm owner and podcaster
• How he overcomes his struggles with small talk and finds a way to reveal his true self
• Why it’s important to give permission to people to share their own stories (and how to not project your own stories on to others)
• Spinning too many plates, impressing others, burnout and confusion
• The mirror rest as a wake-up call to take action
• How to move forward imperfectly and learn from your mistakes
• Why Ben’s hard story has played such a large role in his obsession with connection
• The pay-off of prioritizing passion projects over ROI-driven strategies
• Why Ben prioritizes self-education and mentorship over expensive courses, and how he is is open to challenging his worldview
• Why traditional mentorship roles may not be the only way to learn from others
• Why authenticity doesn’t mean perfection or goodness, and how to use misalignment as a catalyst for growth

CONNECT WITH BEN: 

• About Ben + Press Appearances: https://realbusinessconnections.com
• Business Connections Podcast: https://realbusinessconnections.com/ 
• Email: ben@balbertmarketing.com
• Free Consultation/ Meet and Greet: https://calendly.com/balbertmarketing/zoom30 

SOCIAL LINKS: 

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balbertmarketing/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realbusinessconnections     
• https://www.facebook.com/balbertmarketing 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realbenalbert/ 
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCatiqMEYvn1CO_isUcb6pAQ/videos 
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-business-connections-network/id1537115928 
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6GIUXbsHXx0OSgPFED1sg8?si=5294f3445d964e25