Ep 115: The Power of a Story

You ever wonder what success actually means? How do you get it? And how do you keep it?

We all want it yet sometimes it feels only some of us get to have it.

Hi, Theresa and Blair here we are to badass entrepreneurs, best selling authors, coaches and business mentors who have had success, built success, questioned our own success and reclaimed it. Let's be real for a hot minute. 2020 has been a roller coaster ride, and many of us a start to wonder if the loser things that made them successful. So we got curious, Ron real about what success is truly about?

Can you put it in a box?

How can you get it?

Can people take it away? Or are you the one with the power?

Does it mean the same to all of us? Or are we the ones that create it?

From PGA golf pros to doctors, CEOs, entrepreneurs and spiritual mentors, we get together to meet with successful people from around the globe to dissect success for vibrant conversations and interviews. Make sure you click the subscribe button on the app store because each week we will drop a new episode to bust through the myths around success and dissect its true meaning.

Welcome back to another episode of dissecting success. It's me Blair Kaplan Venables, and I'm coming in to this episode live and hot and alone. That's right, this is a solo episode. And you know, right now recording this, I'm sitting in a hotel room, preparing for a trip to Nashville. I'm in Vancouver and in preparing for a trip to Nashville, where I'm going to be filming a segment for a new TV show that's going to be airing on Amazon Prime. And then from Nashville, we'll be flying back to Canada to Winnipeg. And I have two speaking engagements there. One, I'm going to be speaking at a Jewish learning weekend called Lee mood. And my sister and I are going to be recording a podcast episode for our other podcast radical resilience in front of an audience and this is going to be a first. And if it works out, we're going to keep on doing that. And I'm also going to be speaking at a youth summit in front of 1500 youth teens. And I'm going to be talking about resilience. And in preparation for recording this episode, I was starting to just think about my journey and that it all comes down to public relations PR. And this is something that's really important and that every business owner should have a strategy for public relations is the planned effort to influence public opinion through responsible action. Publicity is when you're mentioned in the media, and I talk a lot about publicity. And that just should be part of your strategy. It's a slice of the public relations puzzle. And obviously, with my background in social media marketing, you know, I marry everything together. So when it comes down to it, it's all about storytelling. And, you know, I'm going to be sharing my story of resilience and the global Resilience Project, which is my philanthropic work on Amazon Prime. And I'm going to be sharing that story also, on two different stages in Winnipeg. And those opportunities are going to land me in the media. And I think when you look at this from the outside, you think wow, like, wow, like, I want that. That's really cool. And how do I start? How do I do this? How do I start? And the most important thing is to know your story. Know your story, what is your story? Why are you doing what you're doing? How did you get to where you are today? Every single moment in your life has led to this very moment. You know, you have your overall story. And then you have little moments in time, experiences, great things that have happened, hard things that have happened, lessons learned the hard way, everything has led to this moment. So what is your why? What is your story? You know, Teresa was here she would say Blair, you always say tell don't sell and that is exactly it. And that's what you want to do on social media. That's what you want to do in the media, in the marketing wherever you are. You want to be telling stories. Social media has essentially become indispensable. You need to have social media, in my opinion, and telling your story there on social media is so important. And I want to talk a little bit more about that. So storytelling is a human ability. It's been going back obviously 1000s and hundreds of 1000s decades and eons. I mean, if you are of a religious belief, it goes back to Adam and Eve Right, if you go, you know, if you believe in science, like, we know the stories of what happened with evolution, stories are important because they paint a picture, okay? It's a way of passing down wisdom through generations and connecting people around the world. And so in modern times that connection translates to relatability. And it's a cornerstone in most influential brands, companies, global leaders and influencers. People do business with people they like they know, and they trust. And what better way to build that than by telling stories by making yourself relatable, right? You want to build an authentic connection? So how do you do this? Well, I think step one is know your story. Why are you doing what you're doing? Did you do this to solve a problem? Are you doing this because you're running away? Or running to something? You know, did your path wind up here? Are you doing this? Because someone told you to do this? You know, what, what lessons did you learn along the way? That's number one. Number two is learning the art of storytelling, okay? through the lens of storytelling, your audience will relate to you on a whole new level stories essentially open up a direct line of conscious communication with those impacted by the words inspiration and information that you are sharing. Okay, so getting your story right, is simply about sharing your truth. No one knows your truth better than you if you know your story. If you have been present in your life, there's no wrong way to share your story. And you know, it's okay to talk about the hurdles, and be vulnerable, because that creates that relatability and rapport. And so, I published in June, the global Resilience Project, book number one. And it's interesting because I realized, oh, I have no idea how to write a book when I started the project four years ago. And so I took a book writing workshop, and Theresa and I are both number one best selling authors. So you know, it's interesting, because we kind of did this parallel. But I took a book writing workshop, and I wrote a practice book. And this was the goal of it was to learn how to self publish a book, like the whole process from start to finish idea, writing it editing, design, publishing, and marketing a book. And so I wrote pulsing through my veins were on real stories from an entrepreneur. And as I started that journey, I had a lot of terrible stuff happen in my life. I lost my grandfather, I learned my father was going to die. My husband almost died, he had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery, you know, and then I had a miscarriage and I lost my father in law. And then my mother suddenly passed. And like, actually, I believe that I published the book came out while my mom was still alive. But it was the pandemic, right. And so that added a whole new challenge to what I was trying to do. And while doing this writing a book publishing a book, I was building and growing the global Resilience Project. And, you know, I think it's really interesting, because in my darkest times, while I was burying my mom, I still wanted to show up. And while writing the first book, and like building the global Resilience Project, I was showing up and sharing what was going on in my business, what was going on in my personal life, you know, the challenges I was overcoming the the, the wins, the big wins, the small wins. And what was happening was that my community was growing, people were invested, I have support from strangers from friends, people who've known me for, like, decades, you know, reached out to me. And what was really neat was, I was doing it as an outlet. I was telling stories as an outlet for me to help me process and to help me heal. And that's how I always have been, I've always loved writing and sharing stories, and whether it was like preschool assignments, or standing up in front of the school and reading a poem or writing in my journal, you know, just privately. And what I realized was that social media is like this visual journal. And I'm letting people in and what was happening is that I was building connection, when I shared about my miscarriage. You know, I had a lot of people reach out messaging me saying that I put into words how they were feeling. And so to me, that's a gift. That's a gift. And so I don't look at telling stories in long form, like, this is not the Chronicles of Narnia. I mean, maybe at the end of my life, it will be, but little stories, like maybe it's about an experience I had today at like, the coffee shop, and an epiphany I had or maybe it's, you know, something triggers a memory of something that happened when I was a kid, but there are various methodologies and how to tell stories. I'll let you do some research. You can google how to tell a story. There's a lot of different, you know, structures. I don't teach that I literally just tell a story. And just remember, every story has a beginning, middle and end and people want Feel like you're talking to them. So how would you tell your story? How would you tell a story to me, if we were sitting, having a coffee, show up on social media and tell your story that way, you can do video reels stories, through writing, you get to choose social media is a creative space. Okay. And then I think also, what's really important is that knowing that your story becomes your legacy, right? So your story becomes your legacy, every little story you tell, could potentially change the course of someone else's life. I just had a friend stay with me this weekend, and we go back like 15 or so years, and he, I had work to do so he was in my living room, and he read pulsing through my veins were on real stories from entrepreneur cover to cover, he read it in an hour, it's a very short book. And, you know, he said to me, Blair, like this was so inspiring, like, like shit, or get off the pot. That's like one of my whole chapters, he's like, this is just basically what I needed to hear. And he was referencing a specific story in my book. That moment in time of me going through that experience, and then me writing out those words, and then my friend coming over this weekend to visit me, and him reading that it changed the course of his life. That's a legacy piece,

that's a legacy piece. You know, storytelling, I would say is kind of like a healing tool. And and, you know, even good stories, like they're part of your process, healing and growth, I believe, go hand in hand. And it's my mission to be here on this earth to help empower others to heal and to share their stories and listen to other people's stories. That's why I do the global Resilience Project. That's why I created this social media empowerment pillars for thought leadership, which is my seven, you know, shot seven pillar system, for what should be in your social strategy. If you want to be seen as a thought leader, it all comes back to storytelling. So if you were talking to the younger version of you, or if you were a mentor to someone who is coming up a similar path, you're still story can help shape them, your story of you now kind of helped shape you in, you know, the younger version of you. So just remember that your story becomes your legacy, every moment in time makes a difference. And so I think also, you know, people say to me, Blair, like I don't want to share this much stuff on social media, and like, you know what, that is completely, okay. Because social media essentially is, you know, a space where you get to control and choose what you do, what you say, when you say it, how you say it, I don't know, there's all these rules about algorithms, and when to post and what to post and whatnot, but you actually are in control. And when you show up authentically, and you show up with purpose, and passion, or at least created, you know, creatively, like you take a cool photo, and you post it or whatnot. That's what starts to tell your story. It shows how you see the world. It shows how you show up. Sometimes storytelling is about what you say, and what you do and what you don't say and what you don't do. And you know, this episode is short and sweet, just like me. But I want, I want you to feel empowered, I want you to feel empowered to tell your story. And if you're thinking what, what is my story, I want you to think back to when you were a child. What did you want to be when you grew up? What did you want to be? So I found some diary entries, and I kept writing about how I wanted to write and publish a book of poems. I forgot about all of that. Then in my like, later years, I believe in my like, teens, I decided I wanted to be a psychologist. And I work towards that. And then in university after my first year, I realized, Oh, I'm a little too fucked up. I need one, I should not become one. And then I went into public relations. But it's interesting, because as a little kid, I wanted to publish books. And I forgot about that. I forgot about that. I remember writing poetry. And I remember like, listening to Enya and lighting candles, I'm shaking my lights and writing moody poetry because I was a depressed, you know, child of divorce. And so, but I forgot about all of that. I forgot about those dreams. And fast forward. I've now published two books and self. Sorry, co authored three books, and I have a couple more books coming down the pipeline. So like, that is a story right there. So I invite you if you're like, I don't know what stories to tell or how to tell my story. Start with thinking about when you were younger, what did you want to be? Or what didn't you want to be? And what is the path you took to getting where you are today? You know, and where you are today, doesn't mean you're gonna be here in 10 years or might be but start with talking about your journey, started talking about what you want it to be why you want it to be that way. What you know what? left turns and right turns you tuck? And then think about what is that legacy you want to leave? You know, in 50 years from now, 100 years from now, what do you want your lineage to talk about? You? What do you want them to say about you? What is the legacy you're going to leave? So I can't wait to see all your stories. If you are listening to this, and you want to share it on social media, share your story and you feel inspired. Tag me I'm at Blair from Blair land on Instagram, Blair Kaplan, Venables on Facebook and LinkedIn. But just remember, you know, there's no wrong way to show up and tell your story. You know, at best, you are in control. And I think telling your story and showing up is a big part of the success journey. And I look forward to learning more about you. And I look forward to you. Following my journey Theresa's journey, our journey of this podcast, and just know that your story is still being written. Thanks for tuning in to another episode, my premiere my first solo episode of dissecting success. Until next time, friends. Peace.

That's a wrap for another episode of dissecting success. enjoyed this episode. Make sure to subscribe to Blair Kaplan, Venables and Theresa Lambert's podcast dissecting success on the App Store.