Speakeasy Business

Why do we constantly underestimate how long something will take in the short-term? In other words, we tend to over-estimate just how much we can achieve right now. Then, when we think long term, the reverse tends to happen: we actually UNDER-estimate what we're capable of achieving over time. 

Today, we want to know more about the promise of a popular trend, the creative streak, and whether they can help us overcome our constant battle with planning our time and achieving something greater.

This week, Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of the world-wide phenomenon NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month) gives us a peek into the power (and potential pitfalls) of creative writing streaks. Meanwhile, Giorgia Lupi, an information designer and partner at the firm Pentagram, reflects on her famous, collaborative creative streak, Dear Data, with Stefanie Posavec -- a year-long journey of sketching personal data-based postcards, which eventually led to exhibitions, book deals, critical acclaim, and internet fame. 

Can we change our relationships to deadlines? How might we banish our inner editors holding us back during crucial early stages in the creative process? And how might we reconcile both the short-term and long-term work we do? 

Let's go streaking.

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SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER:

💌 Playing Favorites is the newsletter from Jay about resonance, storytelling, differentiation, and getting off the content hamster wheel to make things that matter more (because when your work matters more, you can hustle for attention less).

***

WORK WITH JAY:

✅ If you're an expert/entrepreneur looking to develop and differentiate your personal brand, podcast, speaking, newsletter, or other pillar project, learn more about Jay's coaching.

👋 Or you can book Jay to speak to your organization or event.

📚 You can also explore Jay's books.

***

ABOUT JAY ACUNZO:

Jay Acunzo helps business leaders develop more original premises — the big ideas they become known for publicly. His work focuses on his core belief in prioritizing resonance first, not reach.

After starting his career in media and marketing roles at Google and HubSpot, Jay authored the book about questioning best practices, Break the Wheel, toured as a professional speaker, giving keynote sin 25 states and 3 countries, and cofounded the mastermind for business storytellers, the Creator Kitchen.

As an advisor, he’s worked with more than 200 individuals and teams to help them differentiate through the impact of their ideas, not the volume of their content. Past clients include Salesforce, GoDaddy, Wistia, Drift, and Help Scout, as well as hundreds of individual thought leaders and experts, including the author behind Google’s innovative employee training program and the performance coach who helped Kobe Bryant develop his Black Mamba persona.

Jay is a proud New England resident, a troubled Knicks fan, and an obsessive grilled pizza chef. His grandest aspiration (though he’d say delusion) is to be the Anthony Bourdain of business storytelling.

💛 Keep making what matters!

As Ira Glass said, "Great stories happen to those who can tell them." This idea says everything we need to know to develop stronger stories in our work, so we can stand out easier and resonate deeper.

But we're asking the wrong questions and searching in the wrong places. Let's rethink some things together...

For the full transcript of this episode, read the original article.

***

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER:

💌 Playing Favorites is the newsletter from Jay about resonance, storytelling, differentiation, and getting off the content hamster wheel to make things that matter more (because when your work matters more, you can hustle for attention less).

***

WORK WITH JAY:

✅ If you're an expert/entrepreneur looking to develop and differentiate your personal brand, podcast, speaking, newsletter, or other pillar project, learn more about Jay's coaching.

👋 Or you can book Jay to speak to your organization or event.

📚 You can also explore Jay's books.

***

ABOUT JAY ACUNZO:

Jay consults clients on the importance of resonance in a world obsessed with reach. He’s helped more than 200 individuals and organizations differentiate by getting off the hamster wheel to produce more valuable, more original content. Jay has been called a “creativity savant” by the marketing team at Salesforce and was named one of the 50 most influential B2B marketers in the world by influencer marketing firm TopRank. His podcast Unthinkable has been called a "must-listen" by the editors at LinkedIn.

An early advocate for creativity and quality in content marketing, Jay has held marketing and media roles at Google, HubSpot, a tiny startup, and a seed-stage VC firm, NextView. His work has been cited by thinkers at Harvard Business School and the Washington Post, and his clients range from brands like Drift, Wistia, and GoDaddy to influential voices like the author behind Google’s innovative employee training and the performance coach for Kobe Bryant.

As a storyteller, Jay has written books about questioning best practices, hosted docuseries about values-based business, and given speeches in 25 states and 3 countries. A proud New England resident obsessed with the Knicks and homemade pizza, Jay’s grandest aspiration (though he’d admit delusion) is to be the Anthony Bourdain of business storytelling.

💛 Keep making what matters!

The story of a surprisingly dynamic and captivating idea from a (sometimes) bland and boring space -- and what we can learn about crafting more resonant work.

What does it look like when an organization, project, or individual’s work resonates so deeply that they have passionate fans and loyal followers who declare them a favorite? This week we start in the sometimes bland, boring space of team training software and follow the story of a surprisingly dynamic, brilliant and captivating idea from 360Learning -- an original series called Onboarding Joei. This short docuseries follows Joei Chan, a new employee, as she navigates her first 3 months on the job. 

The docuseries has become a phenomenon for the brand, earning Joei Chan devout fans and 360Learning followers, viewers, and customers that feel connected to the show and compamy. Highly personal and transparent, the show proves that when a company does something risky, sometimes the reward is more than they’d ever expect. 

The most important theme through it all? The audience consistently reacting with a very emotional, very rare comment: "I feel seen." 

***

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER:

💌 Playing Favorites is the newsletter from Jay about resonance, storytelling, differentiation, and getting off the content hamster wheel to make things that matter more (because when your work matters more, you can hustle for attention less).

***

WORK WITH JAY:

✅ If you're an expert/entrepreneur looking to develop and differentiate your personal brand, podcast, speaking, newsletter, or other pillar project, learn more about Jay's coaching.

👋 Or you can book Jay to speak to your organization or event.

📚 You can also explore Jay's books.

***

ABOUT JAY ACUNZO:

Jay consults clients on the importance of resonance in a world obsessed with reach. He’s helped more than 200 individuals and organizations differentiate by getting off the hamster wheel to produce more valuable, more original content. Jay has been called a “creativity savant” by the marketing team at Salesforce and was named one of the 50 most influential B2B marketers in the world by influencer marketing firm TopRank. His podcast Unthinkable has been called a "must-listen" by the editors at LinkedIn.

An early advocate for creativity and quality in content marketing, Jay has held marketing and media roles at Google, HubSpot, a tiny startup, and a seed-stage VC firm, NextView. His work has been cited by thinkers at Harvard Business School and the Washington Post, and his clients range from brands like Drift, Wistia, and GoDaddy to influential voices like the author behind Google’s innovative employee training and the performance coach for Kobe Bryant.

As a storyteller, Jay has written books about questioning best practices, hosted docuseries about values-based business, and given speeches in 25 states and 3 countries. A proud New England resident obsessed with the Knicks and homemade pizza, Jay’s grandest aspiration (though he’d admit delusion) is to be the Anthony Bourdain of business storytelling.

💛 Keep making what matters!

No matter your craft, when you develop an idea, a project, or a key moment within a piece, the power of what you're sharing tends to start with the same question:

Can you be more honest with yourself?

In this one-shot episode, a dense dose of a single idea that can help us become stronger storytellers and produce higher-impact content, so we can get off the hamster wheel and produce more work that actually works. Plus, the backstory of a high-stakes moment when this question was put to the test.

***

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER:

💌 Playing Favorites is the newsletter from Jay about resonance, storytelling, differentiation, and getting off the content hamster wheel to make things that matter more (because when your work matters more, you can hustle for attention less).

***

WORK WITH JAY:

✅ If you're an expert/entrepreneur looking to develop and differentiate your personal brand, podcast, speaking, newsletter, or other pillar project, learn more about Jay's coaching.

👋 Or you can book Jay to speak to your organization or event.

📚 You can also explore Jay's books.

***

ABOUT JAY ACUNZO:

Jay consults clients on the importance of resonance in a world obsessed with reach. He’s helped more than 200 individuals and organizations differentiate by getting off the hamster wheel to produce more valuable, more original content. Jay has been called a “creativity savant” by the marketing team at Salesforce and was named one of the 50 most influential B2B marketers in the world by influencer marketing firm TopRank. His podcast Unthinkable has been called a "must-listen" by the editors at LinkedIn.

An early advocate for creativity and quality in content marketing, Jay has held marketing and media roles at Google, HubSpot, a tiny startup, and a seed-stage VC firm, NextView. His work has been cited by thinkers at Harvard Business School and the Washington Post, and his clients range from brands like Drift, Wistia, and GoDaddy to influential voices like the author behind Google’s innovative employee training and the performance coach for Kobe Bryant.

As a storyteller, Jay has written books about questioning best practices, hosted docuseries about values-based business, and given speeches in 25 states and 3 countries. A proud New England resident obsessed with the Knicks and homemade pizza, Jay’s grandest aspiration (though he’d admit delusion) is to be the Anthony Bourdain of business storytelling.

💛 Keep making what matters!

We want to make things that matter. To our careers, companies, and communities. 

When THAT is our aim and THAT is our driving belief, and yet our work comes out feeling like THIS? The way it is right now? Oof, that can cause all kinds of existential crises or at least panic-induced researching and debating and analyzing and asking.

It's time to get to the next rep. It's time to cross the gap.

***

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER:

💌 Playing Favorites is the newsletter from Jay about resonance, storytelling, differentiation, and getting off the content hamster wheel to make things that matter more (because when your work matters more, you can hustle for attention less).

***

WORK WITH JAY:

✅ If you're an expert/entrepreneur looking to develop and differentiate your personal brand, podcast, speaking, newsletter, or other pillar project, learn more about Jay's coaching.

👋 Or you can book Jay to speak to your organization or event.

Jay has helped over 200

***

SPECIAL THANKS TO THOSE HEARD IN THIS EPISODE:

Jeremy Enns, Jeanne Ivy, Molly Donovan, Tallie Gabriel, Telyse Adams, and Michael Ashford.

"The Gap" quote is from Ira Glass and can be heard here.

***

ABOUT JAY ACUNZO:

Jay consults clients on the importance of resonance in a world obsessed with reach. He’s helped more than 200 individuals and organizations differentiate by getting off the hamster wheel to produce more valuable, more original content. Jay has been called a “creativity savant” by the marketing team at Salesforce and was named one of the 50 most influential B2B marketers in the world by influencer marketing firm TopRank. His podcast Unthinkable has been called a "must-listen" by the editors at LinkedIn.

An early advocate for creativity and quality in content marketing, Jay has held marketing and media roles at Google, HubSpot, a tiny startup, and a seed-stage VC firm, NextView. His work has been cited by thinkers at Harvard Business School and the Washington Post, and his clients range from brands like Drift, Wistia, and GoDaddy to influential voices like the author behind Google’s innovative employee training and the performance coach for Kobe Bryant.

As a storyteller, Jay has written books about questioning best practices, hosted docuseries about values-based business, and given speeches in 25 states and 3 countries. A proud New England resident obsessed with the Knicks and homemade pizza, Jay’s grandest aspiration (though he’d admit delusion) is to be the Anthony Bourdain of business storytelling.

💛 Keep making what matters!

Have a wonderful holiday season and a beautiful start to your 2024! Back in the new year with more...

UNTHINKABLE IS TAKING A BREAK -- BUT DON'T UNSUBSCRIBE

We're back with more soon. In the meantime...

BECOME A STRONGER STORYTELLER:

1. Subscribe to Jay Acunzo's free newsletter, Playing Favorites, and learn what it takes to stand out easier and resonate deeper by communicating with greater power, everywhere you show up. Join free at  jayacunzo.com.
2. Join the Creator Kitchen, a mastermind of smart experts learning to become more influential voices -- NOT by relying on any cheap tricks, but by mastering their craft and creating higher-impact content. Community, masterclasses, 1:1 and 1:few coaching from Jay Acunzo, and more. Learn about membership and see what's inside the Kitchen at creatorkitchen.com.

Keep making what matters!

Signature Stories is a miniseries where world-class business storytellers take us inside one important story and dissect it with us. It's like Song Exploder meets storytelling for our work! In our sixth and final episode of the series, bestselling author and Hall of Fame keynote speaker Jay Baer brings one of his oldest, most proven stories to the show -- and we learn the two habits most driving effective storytellers like Jay. And also Jay. Both Jays. (There are two Jays on this episode, is what I'm saying...)

1. Collecting stories regularly, in the seemingly mundane moments of life
2. Designing stories so they arrive at an insight

Jay Baer is the author of the book The Time To Win and six other business books. He's a globally touring keynote speaker, brand advisor, and marketing and customer experience thought leader. Jay is among the more process-driven storytellers in the world, and he takes us inside that approach in this episode in a refreshingly transparent way.

UNTHINKABLE IS TAKING A BREAK -- BUT DON'T UNSUBSCRIBE

We're back with more soon. In the meantime...

BECOME A STRONGER STORYTELLER:

1. Subscribe to Jay Acunzo's free newsletter, Playing Favorites, and learn what it takes to stand out easier and resonate deeper by communicating with greater power, everywhere you show up. Join free at  jayacunzo.com.
2. Join the Creator Kitchen, a mastermind of smart experts learning to become more influential voices -- NOT by relying on any cheap tricks, but by mastering their craft and creating higher-impact content. Community, masterclasses, 1:1 and 1:few coaching from Jay Acunzo, and more. Learn about membership and see what's inside the Kitchen at creatorkitchen.com.

***

IN THIS EPISODE:

Jay Baer: speaker site - book site - LinkedIn - Instagram

***

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

• Creator, host, writer, editor: Jay Acunzo
• Producer and researcher: Ilana Nevins

Signature Stories is a miniseries where world-class business storytellers take us inside one important story and dissect it with us. It's like Song Exploder meets storytelling for our work! In our fifth episode of the series, a globetrotting, bestselling, keynote-giving, smart-opinion-having, big-idea-distributing author takes us inside what was ultimately a tiny moment in his life that sparked all that "big" stuff.  

Simone Stolzoff is the author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work. He's written for the Atlantic and Wired, worked as a design lead for the innovation firm IDEO, and even got his creative start in school delivering spoken word poetry from the stage.

Together, we dissect a signature story that's become "mythology" to him from his own life, and we talk about what makes it work -- and why he approaches it with such restraint. Then, we learn why and how effective storytellers imbue stories with meaning to ensure they matter to others.

BECOME A STRONGER STORYTELLER:

1. Subscribe to Jay's free newsletter, Playing Favorites, and learn what it takes to stand out easier and resonate deeper by communicating with greater power, everywhere you show up. Join free at  jayacunzo.com.
2. Join the Creator Kitchen, a mastermind of smart experts learning to become more influential voices -- NOT by relying on any cheap tricks, but by mastering their craft and creating higher-impact content. Community, masterclasses, 1:1 and 1:few coaching from Jay, and more. Learn about membership and see what's inside the Kitchen at creatorkitchen.com.

***

IN THIS EPISODE:

Simone Stolzoff: website and books - LinkedIn - Twitter - Threads - Instagram

***

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

• Creator, host, writer, editor: Jay Acunzo
• Producer and researcher: Ilana Nevins

We interrupt the current series to bring you this message.

Find and share this rant in essay form.

Subscribe to Jay's free newsletter to become a stronger storyteller. (Sent every other Friday, these essays help you get off the content hamster wheel, escape social feeds, and get the perspective and frameworks you need to write and speak with greater impact, everywhere you show up).

Recommended resources to help you do the work AI can't:

• The Idea Impact Matrix: how to craft more valuable, original work
• How to create original work consistently (a visualization of Jay's process)
• The paradox of storytelling (how to ensure your work resonates emotionally with others)
• From telling stories to BEING storytellers (the first episode of our Signature Stories series)
• How to differentiate your ideas (the XY Premise Pitch)
• Super-Stories (how to shape the same story to teach anything and everything you need to say)

JOIN THE CREATOR KITCHEN -- A MASTERMIND OF BUSINESS STORYTELLERS:

Where smart experts become influential voices. Join fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and creators learning to craft more valuable, more original content, with a community of creative, kind humans, daily access to the Kitchen’s founders, masterclasses and elite guest interviews, group calls and 1:1 support, and shared focus sprints fitting busy schedules.

Learn more about membership at creatorkitchen.com

In this episode, we're joined by Amanda Natividad, the VP of marketing at SparkToro, who shares a story about the time she met her marketing hero: her now-boss, Rand Fishkin. Amanda is a former tech journalist and also a former test kitchen cook for the LA Times. She writes the newsletter The Menu which includes marketing advice and delicious recipes (for actual food, not marketing). And she takes us inside three different drafts for potential intros of this signature story, where we learn about the paradox in our storytelling: to connect deeper externally, we need to go deeper internally.

But does our work and culture encourage that? Amanda and Jay wrestle with that.

Throughout this series, we'll learn from how inspiring creators and experts craft their most valuable, most original stories that build connection and resonate deeply. We're putting on display the hidden details, tiny choices, and emotional moments, as we seek to go beyond telling stories to instead BECOME storytellers.

BECOME A STRONGER STORYTELLER:

Subscribe to Jay's free newsletter or work with Jay to consult your team or coach you personally: jayacunzo.com

Hire Jay to develop a differentiated podcast.

JOIN THE CREATOR KITCHEN MASTERMIND:

Where smart experts become influential voices. Join fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and creators learning to craft more valuable, more original content, with a community of creative, kind humans, daily access to the Kitchen’s founders, masterclasses and elite guest interviews, group calls and 1:1 support, and shared focus sprints fitting busy schedules.

Learn more about membership at creatorkitchen.com

***

IN THIS EPISODE:

Amanda Natividad, VP marketing at SparkToro and writer of The Menu newsletter. Find her on LinkedIn.

***

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

• Creator, host, writer, editor: Jay Acunzo
• Producer and researcher: Ilana Nevins