In this episode of Not Your Story, Rory sits down with Khaled Elsebai, the media strategist behind some of the biggest business podcasts in the world, to unpack what actually makes a show grow. Khaled Elsebai has spent 20+ years in media, from college radio and SiriusXM to building podcast infrastructure at Gallery Media Group (under Gary Vee’s VaynerMedia umbrella) before later helping scale HubSpot Media, where he led production on flagship shows like My First Million, Marketing Against the Grain, and The Hustle Daily.

Kal takes us through a masterclass in audience growth, podcast strategy, monetization, YouTube packaging, and why most creators are thinking about content completely backwards.

If you're building a podcast, newsletter, media brand, or trying to turn content into a business, this episode is packed with practical frameworks you can apply immediately.

Learn how programmatic advertising has evolved beyond clicks and impressions. Drako's co-founder breaks down real time bidding, geo-targeting, AI-powered audience scoring, and why measuring incremental lift, not vanity metrics, is the key to maximizing your ad budget across every digital channel.

In this episode, Kyle Puls shares his journey from the military to working offshore, the realities of life on oil rigs, and what led him to Aquila Engineering. We break down why they decided to start a podcast and what it means for the future of offshore oil & gas technology.

Subscribe to I Speak Subsea -  ⁨@ISpeakSubsea⁩ 

Produced by Midnight Marketing - https://midnightmarketing.com/podcasts/

Armand left his dream oilfield job to build ComboCurve after realizing oil & gas was making multi billion-dollar decisions with broken workflows. In this episode, we break down his early fundraising days in Houston, launching during negative oil prices, closing 50 clients in six months, and how relentless passion, speed, and true customer obsession fueled ComboCurve's rise.

When Anthony Smith joined The Diary Of A CEO, the show had 300,000 subscribers. Today, it’s pushing 15 million.

In this episode of Not Your Story, Anthony shares how cinematic, narrative-driven trailers helped redefine how podcasts are promoted - after Steven Bartlett challenged him to bring something new to the industry.

In this episode I will walk you through 7 storytelling frameworks you can use to tell great f****** stories for you and your brand.

In this episode of Not Your Story, Rory sits down with Jacob, a producer who’s launched 1,000+ podcast episodes, to break podcasting down step by step, from recording on an iPhone to running a full multi-camera studio. Jacob pulls back the curtain on what he’s learned over 5 years building shows at Digital Wildcatters, launching Energy 101, and producing content for the Collide community.

Chuck Yates once helped manage an $8 billion energy fund and was worth around $150 million at the peak of his private-equity career during the Shale revolution.

Then in April 2020, he got fired. Instead of disappearing, Chuck rebuilt. He leaned into storytelling, started a podcast, joined Digital Wildcatters, and recently helped launch Collide. In this episode, Chuck breaks down the rise, the crash, getting fired in 2020, the personal losses that shaped him, and how storytelling and community became the foundation of his reinvention. This is how Chuck Yates rebuilt his life and career from the ground up.

In 2019, Collin McLelland walked away from a stable oilfield career to chase an idea that didn’t exist yet. What began as a podcast to meet people in Houston became Digital Wildcatters, a storytelling-driven media company and community that has redefined how the energy industry shares ideas, builds culture, and attracts the next generation. That same “Evolve or Die” mindset led to Collide, an AI-powered enterprise platform helping energy operators unlock the power of their data.In this episode, we talk about Collin’s journey from the rig floor to building a media empire, the origins of Evolve or Die, the creation of Collide, why curiosity drives innovation, and what it really takes to build hard companies inside the energy industry.

In this episode, Massiel Diez breaks down why she quit her 13-year career at SLB, what finally pushed her to make the jump, and what it really feels like to start over after climbing the corporate ladder.

She opens up about the moment she knew it was time to leave, the fear and freedom that followed, and why the ticket to get off the wrong train only gets more expensive the longer you wait. If you’ve ever felt stuck on the wrong path or wondered if it’s too late to start over, this episode is for you.

Connect with Massiel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/massiel-diez-b0942a60/

Connect with Rory - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-nolan-a89a1ab5/

Produced by Midnight Marketing - https://midnightmarketing.com/podcasts/