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I spent most of my corporate career working in the area of market research. In short, I talk to consumers for a living and then turn their stories into narratives my clients can use for better decision making. When I think about it, Robert Kerbeck did something with the same intentions, but went about it in a completely different manner—and I was delighted to uncork his story.
Meet Robert Kerbeck:
Robert Kerbeck is the founder of the Malibu Writers Circle and a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. His essays and short stories have been featured in numerous magazines and literary journals, including Narratively, Los Angeles Magazine, and Shondaland. One of his stories was adapted into the award-winning film, Reconnected, which has appeared at film festivals worldwide. A lifetime member of The Actors Studio, Robert has worked extensively in theater, film, and television, appearing in lead roles in major shows and earning several awards. He joined me on Uncorking a Story to talk about his career and memoir RU$E: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street, which provides a look into his career as a secret corporate spy.
Key Topics:
Buy Ruse:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3eQUTCD
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9780593545829
Connect with Robert:
Website: https://www.robertkerbeck.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertkerbeck/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertkerbeck/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008371966485
Connect with Mike:
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get yours.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
As writers, we are eager for feedback and validation that something we’ve birthed has value and waiting for it, to paraphrase the late Tom Petty, is sometimes the hardest part. Today’s guest, Ali Michael, Ph.D. echoed that in something she said during our conversation, but make no mistake, this really isn’t a conversation about the writing process. It’s a conversation about her path to working towards racial equity through her writing. I really enjoyed this conversation and learned so much from Ali, and I hope you do too.
Meet Ali Michael, Ph.D.:
Ali Michael works with schools and organizations across the country to help make research on race, Whiteness, and education more accessible and relevant to educators. She is the author of Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education, which won the 2017 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award. She recently joined me on Uncorking a Story to talk about her latest book, Our Problem, Our Path: Collective Antiracism for White People, which she co authored with Elenora Bartoli.
Key Topics:
“I guess, because right now I'm just sitting around waiting for people to read what I wrote and I'm not writing anything right now, so I feel very adrift. I'm just sitting around waiting to hear the response. I don't feel like a writer right now, I just feel like I'm just in this writer's purgatory waiting for feedback.” — Ali Michael, Ph.D.
Buy: Our Problem, Our Path
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xJ2Obk
Bookshop.org:https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781071851326
Corwin.com: https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/our-problem-our-path/book278155
Connect with Ali
Website: https://www.alimichael.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ali.michael.3726
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alimichaelphd/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alimichaelphd?lang=en
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
I remember being a kid never rushing away after big holiday dinners as I enjoyed listening to the adults tell stories. My twin brother was always bored by such things, but I loved hearing the stories of my grandmother coming to America from Italy and what it was like not being able to speak the language. She told me how the Italians would mime out the things they needed at the grocery store and my favorite story was how she once saw someone clucking like a chicken in an attempt to locate eggs. Why take this walk down memory lane? Well, my guest today, Ellen Nichols, shared a memory of how, as a little girl, she used to sneak downstairs after her bedtime and hide behind the couch listening to her grandparents tell stories. She was captivated by these tales of old, and that is really where her story as an author began; as a little girl hiding behind a sofa.
Meet Ellen Nichols:
Ellen grew up in the American Deep South, but with a spirit of adventure, she went up to Toronto, Canada, for graduate school, and stayed fifty years. She has been writing for a living for years, but always for someone else. Her grant proposals, direct-marketing letters, and especially her thank-you letters are legendary and her persuasive writing skills raised millions of dollars. Those Canadians loved her tales about her Southern life so much, she decided to write them down and they became her memoir, Remember Whose Little Girl You Are, which she joined me on Uncorking a Story to Discuss.
Key Topics:
I wanted people to know that not everybody who was white and living in the Deep South in the 40s, and 50s, and 60s, were all racist. Some of us were quite liberal and I wanted people to know that because I don't think history made a big deal about that. And that was one of the reasons I wanted to publish it.” — Ellen Nichols.
Buy: Remember Whose Little Girl You Are
Amazon:https://amzn.to/3qnnT79
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781646635146
Connect with Ellen
Website: https://ellennichols.com
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
I love connecting with fellow marketers. I love it even more when those fellow marketers are also fellow podcasters! I’m not ashamed to admit it, when today’s guest, Sarah Panus, started talking about upper funnel content strategies and how data is one of the three pillars of a brand storytelling framework, my heart started to race a bit more! If you are seeking a successful career in marketing, and don’t smell what Sarah is cooking, you need to listen to this episode!
Meet Sarah Panus:
Sarah has over 20 years’ experience helping billion-dollar brands attract upper-funnel leads that drive lower-funnel results through storytelling. Sarah is a content strategist, podcast host of Marketing With Empathy®, and owner of Kindred Speak®. She’s on a mission to humanize brands, help content marketers reduce overwhelm/confusion, and raise money to fund child trafficking rescue missions.
Listeners to Uncorking a Story can enjoy a freebie from Sarah: 3 Ways to Improve Your Content Strategy This Year https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6161f93cc71e8685f183c63e
Key Topics:
Connect with Sarah
Website: https://www.kindredspeak.com/
Marketing with Empathy Podcast: https://marketingpodcasts.net/show/marketing-with-empathy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamsarahpanus/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahpanus/
Sked.Link: https://sked.link/iamsarahpanus
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Way back in 1985, my sister Mia took my twin brother Jimmy and me to see Back to the Future. Shortly after leaving the theater, her car ran out of gas and my brother started balling his eyes out as he thought we’d be left for dead on the side of the road. Fortunately, we were only in Darien, Connecticut and a block away from a gas station so disaster was averted. I bring this up for two reasons; 1. Today’s guest, Kelley Holland, had a similar experience while driving to her first job and 2. I simply can’t resist taking a jab at my brother.
Meet Kelley Holland:
Kelley is the founder and CEO of Own Your Destiny, which provides financial coaching and empowerment programs to help women gain the confidence and knowledge they need to achieve well-being and live life on their terms. She blends her knowledge of finance with communications expertise developed over two decades as an award-winning business and personal finance journalist with The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and CNBC. She recently joined me on Uncorking a Story to discuss her book, You Are Worthy: Change Your Money Mindset, Build Your Wealth, and Fund Your Future.
Key Topics:
“You can do this. You know more than you think you do. You deserve this, and it’s within your reach. Trust yourself, take your time, and you can get to a better place.” — Kelley Holland
Buy You are Worthy
Amazon:https://amzn.to/3Mn4qhj
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781647422394
Connect with Kelley
Website: https://ownyourdestinycoaching.com/
Instagram:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OYDFinanceCoach
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OYDFinanceCoach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/own-your-destiny/
Learn more about CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education:
https://camfed.org/us/
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
I remember the days before our triplets could read and I’d spend at least an hour between the three of them reading stories every night. By the time I got to my son, who always wanted to be last so he could get “more daddy time,” my eyes would be so heavy that I’d fall asleep with a book over my nose (usually it was Harold and the Purple Crayon). Today’s guest, Maya Smart, reminded me of the importance of reading to your kids when they are young (maybe it’s my fault that I have three avid readers!).
Meet Maya Smart:
Maya is a writer, parent educator, and literacy advocate who has served on the boards of numerous library and literacy organizations. She joined me on Uncorking a Story to talk about her book, Reading for Our Lives: A Literacy Action Plan from Birth to Six, in which she provides a clear, step-by-step guide to helping your child thrive as a reader and a learner.
Key Topics:
Buy Reading for Our Lives
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cfWgK7
Bookshop.org:https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9780593332177
Connect with Maya
Website: https://mayasmart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayasmarty/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayasmart
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MayaSmart
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
One thing stayed with me after my conversation with Joy Jordan Lake. She opened up to me about how a fear of failure as a writer prevented her from fully embracing it as a career. Don’t get me wrong, most authors have a challenging time making ends meet solely by their writing, but there’s a difference between having a day job and treating writing as a hobby vs. treating writing as a passion. It’s only after we really treat it as a passion that we have the possibility of finding any success as writers.
Meet Joy Jordan Lake:
Joy’s varied professional experience has included working as a college professor, author, journalist, waitress, director of a program for homeless families, university chaplain, horseback riding instructor, freelance photographer, and the job title that remains her personal favorite--head sailing instructor. She recently joined me on Uncorking a Story to talk about her latest novel, A Bend of Light.
Key Topics:
“I would tell myself to not build so many safety nets under myself. I had an embarrassing list of long jobs…part of that was because I was scared to fail as a writer. I wish I’d taken writing more seriously earlier.” — Joy Jordan Lake
Buy A Bend of Light
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AFU33P
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781542037907
Connect with Joy
Website: https://www.joyjordanlake.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joyjordanlake_books/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyjordanlakeauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joyjordanlake
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get yours.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Prior to meeting Nobel Prize winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah a few weeks ago, the only thing I knew about his home country of Zanzibar was that Freddie Mercury was born there and Billy Joel wrote a song by that name, though I’m pretty sure it was about a nightclub in New York City. I was unaware of the Zanzibar Revolution and the dangerous living conditions that caused Abdulrazak to flee his home country and seek asylum in the UK.
Meet Abdulrazak Gurnah:
Abdulrazak Gurnah is the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his many novels are Paradise, By the Sea, and Desertion. Born and raised in Zanzibar, he is Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent. He recently joined me on Uncorking a Story me today to talk about his new novel, Afterlives.
Key Topics:
“What I write about is what I see. And if what I see is unjust, then I will write about it.” — Abdulrazak Gurnah.
Buy After Lives
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KjQRy6
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9780593541883
Connect with Abdulrazak
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/44089.Abdulrazak_Gurnah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/addulrazak_gurnah/
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get yours.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Do you wonder why bad things always seem to happen to good people? Do you want to know how to overcome adversity and become successful despite terrible odds? Would you like to know what a parkway on Long Island has to do with two evil dictators? Well, today’s Guest, Steve Borys, has been struggling with these questions all his life and graciously let me uncork his story.
Meet Steve Borys:
Steve Grew up in Sayville, NY on the east end of Long Island. He Attended Fordham University, where he earned a BA in History and an MAT in Social Studies. At Fordham, Steve played football and was a team captain, 2 time all patriot league and an honorable mention All American. After college, Steve has been teaching and coaching for the last 25 years and just wrote his first book called, ‘How to beat Stalin, Hitler, and the Southern State Parkway’.
Key Topics:
Buy How to Beat Stalin, Hilter and the Southern State Parkway
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Ql2C9s
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781662445316
Connect with Steve
e-mail: mailto:[email protected]
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steveborys/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.borys
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCERbpmmk0_4qPTbZ3YT3mhA
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Many years ago I was taking guitar lessons with a great teacher named Ken Volpe, or Master Ken as I liked to call him. When shooting the breeze over a song one day, I said to him, “I don’t like the solo. I would do something differently.” He said, “Oh really. Well, put those minor pentatonic scales to use and come up with something different.” I simply couldn’t do it.
Why am I sharing this embarrassing story? Well, my guest today, Rhys Bowen, tells a similar tale, but with a more favorable outcome. While working in Drama for the BBC, she decided that she didn’t like the ending to a play they were running so decided to write her own. With the confidence that only a twenty-two year old amateur playwright could have, she walked down the hall and put it on the head of Drama’s desk. A week later she got the call that the BBC was going to do it. Rhys has been a working writer ever since. She recently joined me on Uncorking a Story to discuss her career and latest novel, Where the Sky Begins.
Meet Rhys Bowen
Rhys is the New York Times bestselling author of two historical mystery series as well as the #1Kindle bestseller In Farleigh Field and the international bestseller The Tuscan Child.
Key Topics
Buy Where the Sky Begins
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zlnSF3
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9781542028868
Connect with Rhys
Website: https://rhysbowen.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorrhysbowen/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RhysBowenAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhysbowen
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/
If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
From the publisher's feed