The Storytellers Network

In this episode, we hear from: a comedy writer, social media powerhouse (100k on Instagram, 1Million on Twitter, nearly 300k on Facebook), podcaster, author, webcomic creator, amateur father of four daughters all under 10 years old… so you KNOW he’s a storyteller. James Breakwell is the man behind “Exploding Unicorn.”

He’s also writer of two books, Only Dead on the Inside: A Parent’s Guide for Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse and the upcoming (November 2018 release) Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child.

Since becoming internet famous, James has been profiled by USA Today, US Weekly, The Daily Mail, Metro, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Better Homes and Gardens, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Upworthy, The Chive, Bored Panda, 9gag, College Humor, various ABC and Fox TV news affiliates, and countless other TV, radio, and internet outlets. Pictures of his smiling girls have been displayed in newspapers as far away as India. His articles have appeared in Reader’s Digest, The Federalist, and AskMen. He writes a bi-monthly newspaper column for the IndyStar and has been a guest multiple times on HLN’s The Daily Share.

Social media is the platform James has used to build an audience for his writing. His insight is inspirational.

“I’m really lucky that my hobby and my passion actually help people. I’m not necessarily a good person, it just happens that my hobby does help people. It’s just a fortunate side effect. I’m lucky the side effect isn’t smog or pollution.” - James Breakwell

As we explore storytelling in social media, we get to hear from the founder of Social Media Examiner, author of the books Launch and Writing White Papers, and the man behind Social Media Marketing World–the industry’s largest conference. He’s also host of the Social Media Marketing podcast, founder of the Social Media Marketing Society, and the central character in The Journey, an episodic documentary.

Michael Stelzner lives and breathes storytelling and social media. While we explore his story, we dig some interesting nuggets about social media and how it affects storytellers today.

“If you think about this industry of social media and how young it is, it’s just 10 years old… so what you have is a lot of people who, around 2008 when it really started blowing up, were out of work. They started realizing they could make a career out of interacting with people on the internet. That was shocking to them!” - Michael Stelzner on the career jumpstarts in social media

In this episode, we hear from the CMO of BirdEye, former marketing genius at HubSpot and cigar & scotch aficionado… this guy has quite a story. Lucky for me, I’ve been a part of his story for about 7 years now. Today, Sam Mallikarjunan shares with The Storytellers Network his storytelling craft, his passion for story and more… in other words, HIS story.

Sam’s story include world travel as a professional speaker, traveling the United States in a van with his bride, and experimental marketing at sales giant HubSpot. The power of Sam’s story is the impact of the stories he’s had the privilege of hearing. Sometimes the pwoer of story is all in the perspective.

“I was in Pakistan at a conference, talking to an entrepreneur. He told me ‘I used to leave the house everyday not knowing if I would make it home to my wife. I think I can handle the stress of pitching to investors.’ That’s a short story… but wow.” - Sam Mallikarjunan on the power of perspective

Geraldine DeRuiter, acclaimed author, world-renowned public speaker, and the voice behind the award-winning Everywhereist blog, joins The Storytellers Network to launch Season 4, Social Media Storytellers.

Besides travel, Geraldine also writes about dessert, feminism, and Jeff Goldblum’s entire filmography. TIME Magazine described her work as “consistently clever” and The New York Times said her writing was “dark and hilarious”. Her blog has received accolades from The Independent, Forbes Magazine, and The Huffington Post, because as she says, sometimes features editors get drunk.

When not on the road with her long-suffering and infinitely patient husband, Rand Fishkin (my guest from season 3), Geraldine can be found in Seattle, usually fighting with people on the internet.

Besides her blog, Geraldine uses social media for some amazing storytelling. I love her passion on anything from equal rights to food replacement soylent… which we talk about in our conversation. For Gerladine, social media has proven to be a great, diverse story platform to expand our knowledge and networks.

“When my knee-jerk reaction is ‘I don’t want to read that,’ [Rand] tells me I need to evaluate why. Once that wall comes down, it becomes very, very easy.” - Geraldine DeRuiter on the power of contrarian stories/perspectives

He tells the stories of some of the country’s greatest college athletes. But it’s so much more than scores and stats. The stories behind these athletes can inspire and change lives. We’re diving into the life and craft of a storyteller for the University of Michigan, who made the jump from TV news in Kalamazoo.

Ed Kengerski was the Sports Director at WWMT, a CBS affiliate, where I got to know him as a guy who was passionate about telling great sports stories. Now Ed has taken his talents to the national stage in Ann Arbor. The best part of his storytelling career, according to Ed, has been telling the stories that affect a community.

“You start off in a career in broadcasting thinking that you’re going to be doing the big, big stuff. When you start working, you start realizing everybody has a story. When you’re working at a local TV station, doing a story on something or somebody local, now you’re actually touching someone’s life.“ - Ed Kengerski on telling the impactful stories

Mike Compton, co-founder of the video production company Three Chairs Productions, tells stories professionally and personally. His journey starts in the Mitten State.

Before co-founding Three Chairs Productions with his partner George, Mike was a communications/media production graduate from Michigan State University – a fellow Michigander! As a senior at MSU Mike was able to get his first producing experience with Red Bull Energy Drink, producing their “Lawn Shorts” student film festival. He produced the festival and along with 5 other students, winning the chance to produce a film within the festival. For Mike, that was “all she wrote.” He knew what his calling was.

Mike left his Michigan home base in 2001 to start a multimedia career in Tampa, Florida. Now he and George help Tampa-based businesses, marketing agencies and others, transform their business communications through creative video storytelling.

Storytelling with Video/Film Creator Luke Rafferty

Visual Storyteller and Branded-Content Documentarian Luke Rafferty loves to tell a story. On his website, Luke Rafferty says “If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine the impact of a short film. Your organization has a story to tell. Through stunning visuals coupled with emotional narratives, we can spark a fire in the hearts of many. Together, let's tell those stories.” Sounds inspiring – and like he’s a partner in helping clients tell their stories. We talk about that, what it took to work with Make a Wish AND JetBLue – even as a small, one-person video company (there’s hope for all of us in that story) – and more.

To Luke, great stories often come from amazing experiences. Sometimes, you need to get out, see the world and experience life to its fullest.

“I was 18 at the time. The first thing that struck me was the gratitude and the love of the people. They were generous. We gave them solar panels. There was a lot of selflessness and a lot of giving... It wasn’t until the flight home that I lost it. I remember going to the bathroom on the plane and crying.” - Luke Rafferty on the power of an experience

Dominick Domasky is driven to inspire and motivate people and fellow authors through his books, motivational speaking and publishing. He’s the human behind Motivation Champs, and encourages others by sharing his life experiences. His motto: Let no failure define you. And I’m here to tell you – he does not disappoint. By the end of our conversation I was inspired – and I hope you are, too.

Whether Dominick is speaking from the stage, in a video or in his Facebook group, Dominick loves to tell stories.

"I remember watching Stand By Me as a kid. That movie spoke to me so much. I remember in college that I wrote some things and they would have red marks all over them. But the teacher would say, 'He has red marks, but he something to say.' I started to write down goals, which became sentences which became my first book." - Dominick Domasky on his storytelling journey

Meet Sarah Hill, founder of StoryUp. StoryUp is a tribe of storytellers, psychologists, developers, filmmakers, audio engineers and technologists.

They began in 2015, trying to find a solution for terminally-ill WWII Veterans who were not able to physically travel to see their memorials in Washington, DC. These men and women could not physically go on what’s called an Honor Flight. So, Sarah and the team started Honor Everywhere. These veterans experience an immersive event where they get to “go” to the WWII memorial in DC. It’s incredible.

Now StoryUp’s virtual reality experiences reach much further… which you’ll hear about during our conversation. Sarah believes that storytellers - even when they don't carry the official title - have power.

"A lot of people who are CEOs of their own company are storytellers... although they might not realize it or hold that title. To me, all founders and CEOs of companies are the Chief Storyteller. You're not just selling you product. You're selling your story." -Sarah Hill on storytelling in business

From the slums of Port au Prince Haiti with special forces raiding a sex trafficking ring and freeing young girls to the Virgin Galactic Space Port in Mojave with Sir Richard Branson, 5-Time Emmy Award Winning Director/Producer, Nick Nanton, has become known for telling stories that connect.

Storyteller Nick Nanton's award winning short films include Jacob's Turn, Esperanza, Mi Casa Hogar, and Visioneer. Nanton is a 13-time Telly Award winner and has co-authored several best-selling books. He is the founder and CEO of The Dicks and Nanton Celebrity Branding Agency.

This storyteller uses video to tell amazing stories and make a difference in the world.

You brand is just your story. Branding is storytelling. Your story is the one thing other people can't copy. Your job as a person or a brand is to tell your story in a unique way that aligns... to help your prospect in the world. - Nick Nanton on branding