The Business of Story helps sales and marketing leaders excel through the stories they tell. Hosted by Park Howell, known as The World's Most Industrious Storyteller, this popular weekly show is ranked among the top 10% of downloaded podcasts internationally and is the #1 Business Storytelling Podcast according to Feedspot. #StoryOn!
Your brand is being described right now on platforms you don't control — and AI is assembling those fragments into a story you'd never tell about yourself. Matt Beezley, Senior Strategist at Red Fan Communications and creator of the Brand Authority Index, calls it narrative entropy. And in this episode of the Business of Story, he explains exactly why it's the defining brand challenge of the AI search era. Matt has spent more than a decade helping B2B companies across fintech, insurtech, sustainable technology, education, and supply chain find the story that holds through IPOs, acquisitions, and high-stakes go-to-market moments. He built Red Fan's brand positioning methodology from scratch — and then built the Brand Authority Index, a diagnostic tool that quantifies the signals large language models actually use to evaluate, cite, and recommend brands to potential buyers. What those signals reveal should concern every brand marketer: over 80% of AI citations come from earned media, not your website. Query-based rankings barely correlate with what AI actually says about you. And if your brand is described differently on your website, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and Google Knowledge Base, AI will either ignore you entirely or invent a Frankenstein version of your brand and serve it to buyers at the exact moment they're making a decision. In this conversation, Park Howell and Matt unpack the concept of entity coherence — messaging consistency across every platform where your brand exists — and why it's the single highest-leverage fix available to brand communicators right now. They explore why gated content is killing your AI citation rate, how the prism model helps one core story speak to 25 different B2B buying stakeholders without fragmenting, and why the brands winning in generative engine optimization are doing the same things great marketers have always done — just doing them with discipline and consistency. You will learn why AI detects and discounts AI-generated content, how a three-question monthly sales feedback loop starts closing the narrative entropy gap immediately, and why training AI on your own proprietary data produces results that are, in Matt's words, "light years better" than anything pumped out from a generic prompt. If your brand is invisible in AI search — or worse, misrepresented — this episode is your diagnostic and your roadmap. Connect with Matt Beezley and Red Fan Communications at redfancommunications.com and explore their Brand Authority Index diagnostic. Find Park Howell and the StoryCycle Genie™ at businessofstory.com, and subscribe to Park's Brand StoryOps™ for Agencies newsletter on LinkedIn.
9/7/26 • 47:10
What separates the brands that dominate their category from those that disappear into digital noise? Two things: a ruthlessly focused niche and a brand story governed with such precision that your ideal client finds no other logical answer. Lindsey Busfield, co-founder of Optimize My Firm, built the nation's most recognized SEO agency for personal injury attorneys by doing exactly that — going so narrow, so deep, and so disciplined in her StoryOps™ that competitors simply can't follow. In this episode of the Business of Story, host Park Howell and Lindsey unpack why niching down is the most powerful brand strategy available to any business, how governing your story with clarity, consistency, and coherence makes you the category king or queen of your market, and why AI-driven search now rewards exactly this kind of high-fidelity storytelling. You'll discover: Why casting a wide net produces shallow results — and how radical niche focus turns your brand into the signal, not the noise How personal injury lawyers use story to win cases — and what every business can steal from that approach to govern their brand narrative How to build your digital footprint across SEO, AEO, and GEO so that Google, Perplexity, and every AI search engine serves you up as the definitive answer in your market Lindsey is also host of the Personal Injury Marketing Minute podcast and author of How Personal Injury Lawyers Get Leads: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why — available now on Amazon. Connect with Lindsey Busfield: Website: optimizemyfirm.com Email: lindsey@optimizemyfirm.com LinkedIn: Lindsey Busfield Learn more about the Business of Story and StoryOps™: storycyclegenie.ai
8/31/26 • 44:43
Gavin McMahon: The Arrow of Coherence That Unifies Your Brand Storytelling Business of Story Podcast | Host: Park Howell Most brand stories fragment the moment they leave the marketing department. Gavin McMahon has a name for what stops that — and it may be the most important concept in business storytelling you haven't heard yet. Gavin McMahon is a recovering mechanical engineer, founder of a 25-year leadership and storytelling consultancy, and author of Story Business: Why Stories Rule the World and How They Can Reinvent Your Business. He joins Park Howell on the Business of Story podcast to introduce the Arrow of Coherence — the cause-and-effect narrative logic that connects every layer of an organization, from the C-suite to the front line, into a single governing story world. The problem Gavin diagnoses is one every business leader will recognize: the synonymous mess. Most companies tangle purpose, vision, mission, and strategy into one undifferentiated blob of corporate language. The result? Thousands of employees making daily decisions — small and large, value-creating and value-destroying — without a coherent narrative to guide them. In a pre-AI world, that fragmentation was a slow burn. Today, ungoverned AI scales that fragmented story at machine speed. The Arrow of Coherence is Gavin's answer. Borrowed conceptually from Nassim Nicholas Taleb's idea of an arrow of relationship, Gavin defines the Arrow of Coherence as the cause-and-effect logic that must shine through a brand — the same governing logic that makes the world of IKEA, Apple, or Patagonia feel coherent whether you encounter it in product design, customer service, or a thirty-year-old marketing campaign. When that arrow is present, every decision in the organization points the same direction. When it's absent, you have drift. In this conversation, Park Howell and Gavin McMahon explore why brand storytelling is not a marketing function but an act of world building — and why the best brands govern their stories through something closer to a show Bible than a brand guideline. They discuss why the CEO is the most underutilized storyteller in any company, how to build a coalition of the willing to embed story culturally rather than hierarchically, and why AI will amplify your narrative entropy unless a governing Brand Brain is installed first. Gavin also shares the two things he wishes he had known in the 1990s when he was leading digital transformation at Gartner — lessons about human decision-making, the stories people tell themselves, and why the truth is never driven by facts alone. What you will learn in this episode: What the Arrow of Coherence is and how to apply it to unify your brand story across every department and channel. Why most organizations suffer from a synonymous mess of purpose, vision, mission, and strategy — and the single narrative move that untangles it. How show Bibles differ from brand guidelines and why that distinction determines whether your story survives scale. Why your CEO is your most underutilized brand storyteller. How to use AI as a collaborator without surrendering your story to it. The three practical steps you can take today to start building your own Arrow of Coherence. Gavin McMahon is the author of Story Business: Why Stories Rule the World and How They Can Reinvent Your Business. Learn more at storybusiness.com. Park Howell is founder of The Business of Story, creator of the Story Cycle System™, and author of Brand Bewitchery and The Narrative Gym. Full episode show notes, transcript, and resources at businessofstory.com.
8/24/26 • 55:23
Rain Bennett — award-winning documentary filmmaker and author of The Chief Storytelling Officer — joins Park Howell on the Business of Story to make the case that your brand story doesn't belong to marketing. It belongs to your entire organization. And if no one is governing it, AI is fragmenting it faster than you can fix it. In this episode, Rain introduces his Narrative Operating System (NOS) — a living, governing architecture that threads a single coherent brand story through every department, every touchpoint, and every AI tool you deploy. He explains why the Chief Storytelling Officer is not a communications role but an engagement role, and why the brands winning today built their story alongside their product — never after it. You'll discover: — Why marketing, sales, and HR are telling three different brand stories right now — and what to do about it — How Rain's Narrative Operating System governs story across Vision, Mission, Brand, Product, Marketing, Sales, and Feedback Loops — Why the Chief Storytelling Officer is the most important role most companies haven't created yet — How to extract the story your organization is already living before you try to tell the story you want to tell — Why AI has turned narrative drift from a slow burn into an exponential emergency Rain Bennett is the founder of Elamir, a documentary filmmaking studio producing human stories for the tech industry. His new book, The Chief Storytelling Officer, is available now at rainbennett.com/businessofstory — where listeners can also get a signed copy for $10. Park Howell is the world's leading brand storytelling advisor. For 40 years he has helped organizations grow by up to 600% using his Story Cycle System™. He is the host of the Business of Story — one of the world's top-ranked business storytelling podcasts — and co-creator of StoryCycle Genie®, the AI-powered brand narrative platform. Before you govern your story, know where it stands. Get your free Brand Story Grade — an A+ to F assessment across 14 narrative dimensions — in minutes at storycyclegenie.ai/brand-story-grader. Story on.
8/17/26 • 55:52
Sharon Toerek: Don't Sell What You Do. Profit from How You Think — Libsyn Description Most marketing agencies are unknowingly giving away their most valuable asset — and AI has quietly turned that mistake into a legal emergency. IP attorney Sharon Toerek, founder of Legal+Creative and host of The Innovative Agency podcast, joins Park Howell to reveal the intellectual property and AI legal risks every agency principal needs to understand right now. Sharon is the agency industry's most trusted legal strategist on IP protection, trademark, copyright, and AI governance — and she's seen firsthand how fast agencies are falling behind. In this episode you'll discover: • Why generic AI-generated content may legally belong to no one — not your agency, not your client, not anyone — and what that means for every deliverable you produce • How feeding client data into generic AI tools is a hidden data privacy violation waiting to happen, and why most agencies don't realize they're doing it • The five moves every agency must make now — from internal AI policies to errors and omissions insurance — to protect their IP, govern their AI use, and build an agency worth far more when it's time to sell Sharon also makes the case for the most important strategic shift in the agency business model: stop competing on execution and start commanding premium fees for your thinking and strategy. Because what goes on between your ears is your most valuable and protectable asset. Connect with Sharon Toerek: • legalandcreative.com • The Innovative Agency Podcast • LinkedIn: Sharon Toerek Craft your vibrant brand story with the StoryCycle Genie®: storycyclegenie.ai
8/10/26 • 53:07
What separates elite performers from everyone else isn't skill, strategy, or preparation. It's psychology. Collin Henderson knows this firsthand. A former Division I wide receiver at Washington State University, seven-time author, and host of the Master Your Mindset podcast, Collin has spent his career cracking the code on peak performance — training number one NBA draft picks, Heisman football finalists, and top sales teams at Nike, Amazon, Salesforce, and Alaska Airlines. His new book, The Oz Method: Psychological Secrets of Influence for Sales, Leadership, and Life (IdeaPress, 2026), delivers a parable-driven framework inspired by L. Frank Baum's classic — and it just might change the way you sell, lead, and communicate forever. In this episode of the Business of Story, Collin reveals why sales psychology beats sales strategy every time. We unpack his five-part story framework — Set the Scene, Establish the Challenge, The Growth Journey, Face Your Fear, Resolution — and explore why the brain is hardwired to respond to problems before solutions. Collin also shares why your identity is the hidden ceiling on your performance, how "trauma, drama, daddy and mama" shapes the way high achievers either freeze or fly under pressure, and why boring will put you out of business faster than any competitor. This is a masterclass in the psychology of influence, the neuroscience of storytelling, and the courage it takes to communicate when the moment gets biggest. What you'll discover in this episode: The five-part story framework every seller, leader, and communicator needs to master. Why psychological readiness trumps preparation in high-stakes moments. How to close the gap between what your team can do and what they actually deliver Connect with Collin Henderson at thecolinhenderson.com and on LinkedIn and Instagram @ColinHendersonCoach. Find The Oz Method wherever books are sold. Learn more about the Business of Story at businessofstory.com.
8/3/26 • 54:39
What does it take to stop competing on price and start commanding attention? One word. Your core belief. In this episode of the Business of Story, host Park Howell sits down with Brian Burkhart, founder of Square Planet and one of America's top communication strategists, to reveal why most businesses become invisible commodities — and exactly what to do about it. Brian has spent decades helping Fortune 500 leaders, CEDx speakers, and senior executives find the single galvanizing word that transforms how teams align, how audiences feel, and how brands compete. His insight is simple and powerful: if you can't name what you stand for, you won't stand out. In this episode you'll discover: How to distill your core belief into one powerful word that galvanizes your entire organization Brian's 10-step ancient Stoic framework that works for any presentation, pitch, or keynote How to reverse-engineer your core beliefs directly from your daily actions Why your audience decides with feelings first — and how to make art that activates them The Mad Men "It's Toasted" moment that proves one idea beats every feature list Brian Burkhart defines art as "the unnecessary done on purpose to make someone feel." Sprinkles on cupcakes. Colorful hospital walls. Hotel turndown service. None of it is necessary. All of it creates enthrallment. And enthrallment is exactly what separates unforgettable brands from forgotten commodities. Whether you're preparing a Monday morning presentation, a keynote, or a company-wide initiative, this episode gives you the tools to find your North Star — and make it impossible to ignore. Guest: Brian Burkhart, Founder of Square Planet Contact: info@squareplanet.com Free 45-minute consultation: mention the Business of Story Host: Park Howell, Founder of the Business of Story and creator of the StoryCycle System™ Learn more: businessofstory.com
7/27/26 • 53:02
What makes a brand story powerful enough to move millions of people on the world's most complex issue? Not more data. Not louder messaging. Not a bigger ask. The answer, according to serial entrepreneur Ryan Kohn, is radical simplicity — and a single theme that makes your audience feel the truth of your idea before they ever think about it. Ryan Kohn is the founder of Point One, a global business initiative that asks companies to commit just 0.1% of their revenue to accelerate the clean energy transition. That is one dollar for every thousand in revenue. A rounding error for most businesses. But pooled together, it is enough to fully fund clean energy access for the entire world within 15 years. In this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell sits down with Ryan to unpack how he turned one of the most fatigued conversations in modern business — climate change — into one of the most compelling brand stories in the world. And what every brand builder can steal from it. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE How to find the single brand theme that compresses your biggest idea into your most powerful message. Ryan and his team distilled an impossibly complex global challenge into four words — almost nothing changes everything — and built an entire movement around it. Why leading with your cause is killing your message. Ryan explains why Point One never leads with sustainability, climate, or clean energy — and why that counterintuitive decision is the reason the brand resonates where others have failed. How to meet your audience inside the cultural moments they already love. Point One builds brand awareness through sport, music, art, and film rather than issue-led campaigns, reducing friction and expanding reach without alienating anyone. Why simplicity is not a shortcut in brand storytelling — it is the destination. Ryan's rule is simple: if it is not simple, it does not land. This episode shows you exactly how to apply that principle to your own brand story. How a 0.1% corporate commitment could change everything. Park runs Point One through the StoryCycle Genie live on air, surfacing the brand's core positioning statement and unique value proposition — and revealing just how precisely Ryan's team has already nailed their story. ABOUT RYAN KOHN Ryan Kohn is the co-founder of PROPER Snacks, the UK's leading premium snack brand and one of the first B Corps in the sector. From a kitchen-table idea to a global company selling over eight million snacks a month, he scaled PROPER into a household name and led its 85-person team before exiting to private equity in 2021. Alongside building PROPER, Ryan launched ventures spanning carbon-neutral property development and the UK's largest student events business, earning recognition as EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Beyond business, Ryan has long championed impact initiatives — from co-founding campaigns alongside Riz Ahmed and HRH Prince William to serving as a board member of environmental charity Hubbub. He has co-authored a B Corp guide to achieving net zero, and has mentored the next generation of entrepreneurs through programmes including Virgin Start-Up and Tesco Back It. Most recently Ryan founded Point One, a global initiative making it radically easy for businesses to support the clean energy transition. Point One asks companies to contribute just 0.1% of their revenue into a shared fund that helps unlock and accelerate clean energy projects, particularly in developing markets. By pooling these small fractions across everyday economic activity, Point One aims to create a new funding engine for global cooling and help fully fund the clean energy transition within 15 years. WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS FOR BRAND BUILDERS This is not an episode about climate change. It is an episode about what happens when a brand story is so clear, so simple, and so true that it makes even the hardest yes feel like the easiest decision your audience has ever made. Ryan Kohn just happens to prove that principle in the most difficult storytelling arena in modern business. If you have ever struggled to simplify a complex message, lost an audience to jargon, or wondered why your brand is not moving people the way you know it should — this conversation is for you. CONNECT WITH RYAN KOHN AND POINT ONE Website: pointone.world ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF STORY The Business of Story is the top-ranked podcast for brand storytelling strategy, hosted by Park Howell — founder of the Story Cycle System and one of the world's leading brand narrative strategists. Each week Park interviews the world's brightest brand builders, marketers, and communicators to reveal how purposeful storytelling drives growth, loyalty, and lasting impact. Subscribe, leave a review, and visit BusinessOfStory.com to access tools, training, and resources that will make you a more powerful brand storyteller.
7/20/26 • 50:38
What if your best customers are already sold — before you ever say a word? That's the promise of the PULL framework, and in this episode, startup advisor and author Rob Snyder breaks down exactly why smart, well-resourced founders keep pushing brilliant products onto people who aren't ready to buy — and what to do instead. If you've run the demos, done the research, and still watched prospects disappear, this episode is your wake-up call. You'll discover: Why doing everything "right" can still leave you in the pain cave The four-part PULL framework (Project, Unavoidable, List of options, Limitations) that predicts who will buy before you even pitch How to describe your product in the fewest possible words — and why less is always more Why your sales call should be a "see if they try to buy" call, not a convince-them-to-buy call How a repeatable customer success story does more selling than any pitch deck ever will Rob Snyder is a Harvard MBA, former McKinsey consultant, startup founder, and author of The Power of Pull. He has advised hundreds of startups on how to find product-market fit faster by stopping the push and building for pull. Connect with Rob: Website: robsnyder.org LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robsnyder Get the book: The Power of Pull — available on Amazon Learn more about the Story Cycle System™: businessofstory.com #576: The Power of Pull: Find Customers Who Are Already Sold, With Rob Snyder
7/13/26 • 57:52
Only 19% of employees can consistently tell their company's story. That means 81% of your brand touchpoints are leaking narrative — and costing you customers. Elliott Rayner's groundbreaking research explains why, and what to do about it. Elliott Rayner — fractional Head of Storytelling and author of The State of Storytelling 2026 — analyzed 25 emerging Chief Storytelling Officer job descriptions from the world's most sophisticated companies to uncover a seismic shift: the best organizations are no longer treating brand narrative as a creative function. They're operationalizing it. In this episode, Elliott and host Park Howell reveal: Why Narrative Entropy is the silent killer of brand growth — and the single metric that exposes it instantly What a Chief Storytelling Officer actually does (hint: it's far less about creating stories and far more about creating alignment) The 3-question survey you can run inside your company this week to make the business case for StoryOps™ Why "execution has become cheap but meaning has not" — and what that means for your competitive strategy in the AI age How to get your head of sales, legal, product, and finance all telling the same story without a fight Whether you're a CMO, a founder, a product marketer, or someone quietly operating as your organization's unofficial head of storytelling — this episode is your mandate and your blueprint. Resources mentioned: Download Elliott's free report: The State of Storytelling 2026 — find it on his LinkedIn profile Elliott's Maven storytelling cohort: productnarratives.com Park Howell's StoryOps™ platform: storycycle.ai
7/6/26 • 50:53
Most agency founders built their business to buy back their time — then woke up to find the business owns them instead. Jason Swenk built and sold a seven-figure agency that served AT&T, Hitachi, and LegalZoom. Today he advises 7- and 8-figure agency owners through Agency Mastery, hosts the Smart Agency Masterclass podcast, and just released his book Operator to Owner. He's seen this trap from every angle. In this episode, Jason shares the 5-Stage Founder Evolution framework that changes everything: Operator → Manager → Architect → CEO → Owner. These aren't revenue milestones. They're deliberate identity shifts that progressively remove the founder from daily operations — until the business can run without them. What you'll learn in this episode: The 5 founder identity stages every agency owner must move through to achieve true business freedom Why chasing revenue without evolving your identity keeps you trapped — even at $10M How to build a business that runs without you so you can own it instead of being owned by it Key quote: "You could be a $10 million agency and be completely miserable and unprofitable and working all the time. I'd rather be a million dollar agency working 20 hours a week that I really enjoy life." — Jason Swenk If your agency story feels fragmented — across your website, pitches, and team — visit storycyclegenie.ai for a free Brand Story Grade and find out what it's costing you. Connect with Jason Swenk: Agency Mastery: agencymastery.com Smart Agency Masterclass Podcast: jasonswenk.com Book: Operator to Owner Subscribe to Business of Story for weekly conversations that help leaders, entrepreneurs, and communicators use the science of story to win more business and live more meaningful lives.
6/29/26 • 45:57
Brett Hurt got the Lamborghini. He got the exits, the valuations, everything a tech titan is supposed to want. And then he felt nothing. That emptiness became the most important moment of his career — and the catalyst for his new book, Love Conquers Fear: Humanity, AI, and the Age of Abundance for All. Brett is the co-founder of data.world (acquired by ServiceNow), Bazaarvoice (unicorn IPO), and Coremetrics (acquired by IBM). He has invested in 151 startups, backed 52 VC funds including SpaceX, and was named Austin's Best CEO. In this conversation with host Park Howell, Brett makes the case that the most urgent upgrade of the AI age is not technological — it's personal. We explore why love, not fear, is the only leadership strategy built for what's coming, why nuclear weapons are a greater existential threat than artificial intelligence, and how psychedelic therapy and Vedantic philosophy transformed the way Brett thinks about building companies, raising consciousness, and saving humanity from itself. If you've ever wondered what you're actually building your work for, this episode is your answer. Find Brett at loveconquersfear.org and on the Love Conquers Fear podcast, published every Tuesday.
6/22/26 • 55:17
What if your deepest expertise is the very thing making you harder to understand? British music producer turned strategic story producer Rob D. Willis joins Park Howell on the Business of Story to explain why complexity kills communication — and how story structure gives your audience exactly the right combination of connections to get you, what you're about, and what you're asking them to do. Rob has spent years helping tech founders, corporate leaders, and change-makers in Berlin and beyond simplify their most complex ideas into stories that move people to act. In this episode, he brings the frameworks, the neuroscience, and the real-world case studies to prove it. What you'll discover: Why the curse of expertise turns your knowledge into noise — and how story is the antidote The four audience types (friendly, adversarial, apathetic, uneducated) that should reshape every high-stakes conversation How the Downing Street communication grid turns your story into a replicable action plan The three types of complexity — intrinsic, extraneous, and germane — and which one you actually control Why your brain runs on narrative, not logic (and what dopamine, cortisol, and oxytocin have to do with it) How a bank board member's "sand vs. stones" story changed the way Rob thinks about strategic communication About Rob D. Willis: Rob D. Willis is a British music producer turned strategic story producer based in Berlin. He helps leaders and organizations cut through complexity by applying the structure of story to high-stakes communication. Find him on Instagram and LinkedIn at @robdwillis. Resources mentioned in this episode: Connor Neal's four audience types framework The Downing Street communication grid (Alastair Campbell / Tony Blair) Paul Zak's research on narrative neuroscience StoryCycle Genie® at businessofstory.com Want to master the story of your business? Discover the Business of Story tools, courses, and the StoryCycle Genie® at businessofstory.com. Subscribe to the Business of Story wherever you get your podcasts — and leave a review if this episode helped you turn your expertise into clarity.
6/15/26 • 44:35
What if the secret to staying irreplaceable in the age of AI isn't working harder — it's getting more creative? That's the central argument of SuperCreativity: Augmenting Human Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, the new book by global keynote speaker James Taylor. In this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell sits down with James to explore how the world's top communicators are using AI not to replace their stories — but to tell them with far greater precision, resonance, and impact. From managing Rolling Stones members at the Royal Albert Hall to speaking for Apple, Cisco, L'Oreal, and PwC across 25+ countries, James brings a rare combination of creative instinct and strategic intelligence to the AI conversation. In this episode you'll discover: • Why AI is fueling a New Roaring Twenties — and what that means for entrepreneurs and business leaders • How James uses psychometric AI analysis to profile audiences before he ever steps on a call or stage • The 250-story story bank system that powers his hyper-personalized keynotes • Why your emotional promise matters even to the most analytical, data-driven audiences • What a live StoryCycle Genie® brand analysis revealed about James's Visionary Magician archetype and emotional promise of "possibility" • The standing ovation story from a billionaires' bank in the UAE that proves emotional storytelling transcends every culture and industry • How to build a speaker brand with the same discipline James learned managing rock stars About James Taylor James Taylor M.B.A., F.R.S.A. is an internationally recognized keynote speaker on creativity, innovation, and AI. He has spoken for Fortune Global 500 companies including Apple, Cisco, Deloitte, Accenture, L'Oreal, EY, Visa, and Dell, and was recently the subject of a 30-minute BBC documentary. He has personally interviewed over 750 of the world's leading creative minds and reached hundreds of thousands of people in 120+ countries. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts — alongside Benjamin Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Nelson Mandela. His new book is SuperCreativity: Augmenting Human Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Connect with James Taylor: 🌐 JamesTaylor.me 💼 James Taylor on LinkedIn 📸 James on Instagram 🎙️ SuperCreativity Podcast Get your copy of SuperCreativity: 📚 Available in hardcover, paperback, and audiobook on Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Books Learn more about the Business of Story and the StoryCycle Genie®: 🌐 BusinessOfStory.com
6/8/26 • 46:35
Dr. Laura Sicola reveals why expertise alone won't get you heard — and the 3 Cs that turn knowledge into leadership influence. You've mastered your subject. You know your material cold. So why does the room glaze over when the stakes are highest? Cognitive linguist, executive coach, and author Dr. Laura Sicola says the gap isn't your expertise — it's the three inches between your brain and your mouth. In this episode of the Business of Story, she shares the framework that's helped Fortune 500 executives at Amazon and Kaiser Permanente stop sounding like spreadsheets and start commanding every room they walk into. Her TEDx Talk, "Want to Sound Like a Leader? Start by Saying Your Name Right," has nearly 7 million views — because the problem is universal and the fix is counterintuitive. WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER IN THIS EPISODE The 3 Cs of Executive Presence: Command the Room, Connect with Your Audience, and Close the Deal — and why each requires a completely different skill Why the movie playing in your head is never the movie your audience is watching — and how to close that gap before it costs you the deal The neuroscience of humor: why a well-placed laugh creates dopamine, builds trust, and makes you more persuasive without sacrificing credibility How to use Chris Voss's "labeling" technique to stay curious when conversations get triggered and defensive The one counterintuitive move that makes you sound smarter, more likable, and more relatable — all at the same time ABOUT DR. LAURA SICOLA Dr. Laura Sicola is a cognitive linguist, former professor, and executive coach who helps leaders bridge the gap between their expertise and their influence. She is the author of Speaking to Influence: Mastering Your Leadership Voice and the founder of Vocal Impact Productions. Website: laurasicola.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laurasicola Book: Speaking to Influence — available on Amazon in paperback ($12.95), Kindle ($9.95), and Audible (narrated by the author) FREE GIFT FROM DR. LAURA SICOLA Download two free chapters of Speaking to Influence here: [INSERT FREEBIE LINK] ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF STORY The Business of Story is the top-ranked podcast for leaders who use storytelling to grow their influence, their teams, and their organizations. Host Park Howell — known as the World's Most Industrious Storyteller — brings you the strategies, frameworks, and real-world lessons that turn communicators into leaders. Want to build a brand story that actually lands? Visit StoryCycleGenie.com to discover how the StoryCycle Genie® uses your brand's unique story to create marketing that moves people. SUBSCRIBE & LEAVE A REVIEW If this episode gave you one idea you can use today, please subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. It takes 60 seconds and helps other leaders find the show.
6/1/26 • 53:54
Mark Roberge scaled HubSpot from $0 to $100M in revenue as its Chief Revenue Officer — and now teaches founders and operators at Harvard Business School why most growth strategies fail. The answer isn't effort. It's sequence. In this episode, Mark shares his Science of Scaling framework: the four-stage methodology that sequences product-market fit, repeatable sales motion, customer success, and revenue scaling in the right order. He introduces the PMF Threshold — the leading indicator that tells you whether you've actually earned the right to scale — and explains why half of the founders he works with are scaling too early, the other half too late, and almost none know which half they're in. You'll also hear why the best salespeople talk less than 50% of the time, how to build a sales hiring profile from your best customers' patterns instead of resume credentials, and why scaling your sales team before customer success is working destroys retention every time. Mark is the author of The Sales Acceleration Formula and The Science of Scaling, and managing director of Stage 2 Capital. This conversation is essential listening for founders, agency principals, and revenue leaders navigating growth decisions without a clear diagnostic framework. Hosted by Park Howell, creator of the Story Cycle System™ and co-creator of the StoryCycle Genie®.
5/25/26 • 54:21
How to Find Your Million Dollar Story, With Elizabeth Brett What if your most powerful business story is the one you've been most afraid to tell? In this episode, Park Howell sits down with Elizabeth Brett — former NBC reporter, creator of Story Alchemy™, and host of the Sacred & Sovereign podcast — to explore the difference between performing your story and actually living it. Elizabeth spent nearly a decade in broadcast journalism, learning to distill complex stories into 60-second narratives under deadline pressure. But it wasn't until a near-death experience in the ocean with her daughter that she discovered what authentic storytelling really means — and built a framework to help founders, creatives, and thought leaders find their own. You'll discover: • The story roadmap framework that lets you tell any story in 30 seconds or 30 minutes • Why the performance trap is killing your connection with your audience — and how to escape it • The sovereignty filter: three questions to ask before sharing any personal story in business • What a million dollar story really is — and how to find yours at the identity level • How the StoryCycle Genie® revealed Elizabeth's brand archetype as the Alchemist — and surfaced a UVP she'd never put together before Whether you're a speaker, entrepreneur, or thought leader, this episode will change how you think about the stories you tell — and the ones you've been holding back. Find Elizabeth at elizabethbrett.com and on Instagram @ElizabethSBrett.
5/18/26 • 61:08
The TRUTH Brand Storytelling Framework for Hiring, With Bryan Adams How do you build an employer brand that attracts the right candidates and repels the wrong ones? Bryan Adams — CEO of HappyDance, founder of Ph.Creative, and employer brand strategist behind iconic campaigns for Nike and Apple — says the answer is simpler and harder than most organizations expect: tell the truth. In this episode of the Business of Story, host Park Howell sits down with Bryan to unpack the TRUTH Framework — a five-step storytelling structure that goes beyond AND, BUT, THEREFORE to help organizations find and tell the honest story that makes top talent choose them. You'll discover: • Why the truth your audience most needs to hear is more powerful than the truth you're most comfortable telling • How being "nice" is destroying your culture — and why radical candor is the kinder choice • What Bryan learned building employer brands for Nike, Apple, and VF Corporation — and how those lessons apply to organizations of every size • How HappyDance uses AI-powered conversational navigation to turn career sites into candidate experiences — achieving 12% conversion rates against a 3–5% industry standard • Why the StoryCycle Genie® assessment of HappyDance left Bryan saying the results were "spooky accurate" • How to pre-order Bryan's new book, Sell the Truth, at happydance.love/sell-the-truth Bryan Adams is the co-author of Give & Get Employer Branding and the upcoming Sell the Truth. His TEDx talk, Culture Eats Competition for Breakfast, has surpassed 1.4 million views. Connect with Bryan: Website: happydance.love Book pre-order: happydance.love/sell-the-truth LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bryanadams Subscribe to the Business of Story podcast for weekly episodes on the art and science of strategic business storytelling.
5/11/26 • 53:33
What if your best ideas aren't something you have to grind for — but something you can learn to receive? In this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell sits down with Sara Connell — 5x bestselling author, founder of Thought Leader Academy, and author of the upcoming book The Download — to explore the neuroscience and quantum physics behind creative downloads and how to access them on demand. Sara introduces the Gamma Walk, a simple daily practice for inducing the brain's channeling state — the gamma wave state associated with flow, breakthrough insight, and original thinking. She explains the SWOO framework (Science Meets Woo), the role of the reticular activating system in filtering for creative breakthroughs, and why an MIT brain scan study should make every thought leader rethink how they use AI. You'll discover: The brain state that unlocks original genius — and how to get there without meditating for 15 hours a day Why AI slop is a beta-state problem — and what to do instead How one Gamma Walk led to a miracle that changed Sara's family forever The coincidence journal and the Download app: two tools for capturing ideas before they vanish Why protecting your human creative capacity is the most urgent professional skill of the AI age Sara has been featured on Oprah, The New York Times, Good Morning America, TODAY, Forbes, and Entrepreneur. The Download releases October 6, 2025 and is available for pre-order now. Learn more at saraconnell.com and find the free Download app on Sara's Substack: "The Download with Sara Connell."
5/4/26 • 54:15
Is your ad agency truly indispensable — or is it one AI update away from irrelevance? Marcus Sheridan — bestselling author of They Ask, You Answer and Endless Customers, and founder of AI Trust Signals — joins Park Howell on the Business of Story to deliver a message most agency principals aren't ready to hear: the three services that built most agencies are already disappearing, and the threat isn't coming from your competitors. It's coming from your own resistance to change. In this conversation, Marcus and Park dig into why identity fluidity is the agency survival superpower of the AI era, how vibe coding is already replacing $15,000–$30,000 projects overnight, why 75–80% of SEO traffic is vanishing to AI-generated summaries, and what it actually means to build an agentic-ready web presence for your clients. Plus — Park shares how he used the StoryCycle Genie to produce a complete brand assessment and thought leadership article for Marcus in under three hours. Marcus's response? "It would be a crime not to use AI." If you want to know how to make your agency indispensable in the age of AI, this episode is your roadmap. 🎧 Listen now and discover why proactivity is the key — and reactionary is the problem. Learn more about Marcus: marcusheridan.com aitrustsignals.com priceguide.ai Endless Customers (2025): marcusheridan.com/endless-customers Known and Trusted Newsletter: marcusheridan.com/newsletter
4/27/26 • 50:02
How are you augmenting your intelligence — artificially or artfully? And which approach is actually sustaining your brand? Bruno Sarda, EY Americas Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader, Top 10 Global Sustainability Influencer, and host of the Sustainability Matters podcast, joins Park Howell on the Business of Story to explore the intersection of AI, storytelling, and ESG strategy. Bruno has spent 25+ years helping organizations turn sustainability from a compliance checkbox into a culture-defining competitive advantage. In this conversation, he reveals why the current wave of deregulation is actually strengthening the business case for sustainability — and how AI is simultaneously the greatest superpower and the most significant threat facing ESG leaders today. You'll discover: • Why deregulation is shifting sustainability from compliance to culture • How to use AI as a force multiplier — without losing your brand's authentic voice • The real environmental cost of AI and what responsible adoption looks like • Why employee engagement is the most underrated sustainability metric • How to become the Chief Translation Officer your organization needs We all have magic now. The question is whether you know how to cast the spell. Hosted by Park Howell | businessofstory.com
4/20/26 • 52:37
Why the Last Couch You'll Ever Buy Is the Most Radical Business Idea in America, with Shawn David Nelson What does it take to build a brand designed to last forever — in an industry built on replacement cycles? Shawn David Nelson started Lovesac at 18 with a hand-sewn bean bag made from his parents' chopped-up camping mattresses. He paid $25 to register the company. Today, Lovesac (NASDAQ: LOVE) operates 300+ showrooms, employs 2,000 people, and is one of the fastest-growing furniture brands in America — anchored by a product philosophy so counterintuitive it sounds almost reckless. They want you to buy their couch once. And keep it for the rest of your life. In this episode, Shawn shares the full arc: winning $1 million on Richard Branson's Fox reality show The Rebel Billionaire in 2004, surviving Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years later, and 10x-ing the company by purging 90% of their SKUs to focus on one brilliant product — the Sactionals modular sectional sofa system. He unpacks the demonstration marketing strategy that turned a showroom into a live brand story experience, the forever philosophy that redefines what sustainability really means, and the Shawnisms from his new book Let Me Save You 25 Years that distill 25 years of hard-won entrepreneurial wisdom. Park also runs Lovesac through the StoryCycle Genie brand analysis — and the results land remarkably close to Lovesac's own mission carved on the wall at headquarters: "We will inspire humankind to buy better stuff." What You'll Discover: • Why demonstration marketing drives 90% of Lovesac's business — and how it converts a showroom into a live brand story • How the forever philosophy turns sustainability from a marketing claim into an engineering commitment • The Shawnism that saved Lovesac from bankruptcy: "You can quit or you can keep going" • Why Lovesac is onshoring manufacturing to the U.S. — and why robots in America will be cheaper than Vietnam • How brand storytelling is 50% of building a remarkable product company — and why Shawn admits it's actually closer to 90% Find Shawn at Lovesac.com and on all social platforms @ShawnOfLovesac. His book and podcast Let Me Save You 25 Years are available wherever you get your books and podcasts. Subscribe to the Business of Story wherever you get your podcasts.
4/13/26 • 47:35
BGBrand Genius Genie™ Sent on 3/26/2026, 3:09:10 PM On it — working through Steps 6, 9, and 10 now. Let me start with the Libsyn description. Step 6: Libsyn Episode Description What if the story your business is telling the world is completely out of sync with the story your numbers are telling you? Nick Jain, co-founder of Eagle Rock CFO, has spent his career helping $5–$50M businesses close that gap. A Harvard MBA who graduated top of his class, with degrees in math and physics, Nick has turned around and scaled three companies up to $100M in revenue — across trucking, software, and eCommerce. Now he delivers Fortune 500-level financial intelligence to growth-stage businesses through an AI-native hybrid model that costs roughly 5% of a traditional fractional CFO. In this episode, Park and Nick explore why most entrepreneurs are flying blind on their own financials — and what to do about it. You'll discover: Why cash flow and profit are not the same thing — and why confusing them can sink a healthy business Which metrics matter at $2M that will actively mislead you at $10M A simple CFO decision framework for evaluating new hires, major purchases, and debt How AI is democratizing financial intelligence for businesses that couldn't afford it before The UVP Nick coined live on air: "Machines handle your data. Experts handle your future." Get Nick's free 30-minute cash flow diagnostic (for businesses $5M+) and try Eagle Rock CFO's free AI dashboard at EagleRockCFO.com. The Business of Story is hosted by Park Howell, creator of the Story Cycle System™ and the ABT narrative framework. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
4/6/26 • 36:37
What if the skill that made us human is the same one that will keep us relevant in the age of AI? Joe Lazauskas — CMO of Pepper, co-founder of Contently, and author of Super Skill: Why Storytelling Is the Superpower of the AI Age — spent five years inside AI companies researching exactly that question. His answer: storytelling isn't just surviving the AI revolution. It's the one skill the machines can't replicate. In this conversation with host Park Howell, Joe reveals why AI slop is flooding the web and driving up the value of authentic human voices, the four story elements — relatability, ease, novelty, and tension — that make any audience stop and listen, and how to use AI as a creative amplifier without ever letting it replace your voice. You'll also hear the science behind the vulnerability loop, why Kurt Vonnegut's rejected thesis turned out to be right all along, and how the Neanderthals — despite having bigger brains — lost to homo sapiens because they had no Wi-Fi. Joe also shares a special 20% discount offer exclusively for Business of Story listeners — including a signed copy of Super Skill, access to his Storytelling in the AI Age course, live office hours, and yes, dope socks. Guest: Joe Lazauskas | CMO, Pepper | Author, Super Skill Subscribe: storytellingedge.substack.com Connect: Joe Lazauskas on LinkedIn Podcast: The Art of the Zag with Shane Snow Test your brand story free: businessofstory.com
3/30/26 • 64:26
Don't Ever Waste a Heartbeat: How Open Heart Surgery Unlocked Rachel McCord's True Purpose What happens when the woman producing 19 shows, running a Hollywood media network, and appearing on national television is quietly fighting to stay alive? That's the story Rachel McCord tells in this raw, remarkable episode of the Business of Story. Meet Rachel McCord Rachel McCord is the founder of The McCord List, a Hollywood media network that produces McCordless Today — a daily talk show airing on network television and streaming on Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, and Amazon. She's the author of You Can't Heal Your Life, But I Know a Guy, and the co-founder of Viral Brand, a creator marketing company that has launched campaigns for some of the biggest films and TV shows in the world. But before any of that, Rachel was a girl who moved 33 times before she was 16, grew up in multiple trailer parks in Georgia, and began working 13-hour days at a pizzeria at age 13 — not because she had to, but because she was battling depression and didn't want to go home. What You'll Discover in This Episode The hidden cost of success nobody talks about. Rachel was running the education for the world's largest fashion trade show, building a seven-figure media network, and appearing on national television — while simultaneously fighting PTSD, suppressed childhood memories, suicidal depression, and a heart condition that was quietly marching her toward heart failure. How EMDR therapy unlocked a missing chapter of her life. A chance encounter with a therapist led Rachel to a session that recovered years of suppressed childhood memories in a single afternoon — memories she had blocked as a protective response to severe early trauma. The Jerusalem moment that changed everything. Two months before her EMDR breakthrough, Rachel stood in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and begged God to heal her broken heart — not knowing how much healing was still ahead. Open heart surgery at 32 — and the peace that surprised everyone. When Rachel was diagnosed with severe mitral valve prolapse and told she needed open heart surgery (a procedure one in five patients don't survive), she discovered something unexpected: she was ready. The two weeks before surgery became the catalyst for her book. The three-part framework from her book. Get real and honest about your life. Starve fear, feed faith. Do what you're here for. Rachel breaks down each principle and why self-help alone — no matter how many books you read — can't do what faith can. The StoryCycle Genie brand assessment. Park ran Rachel's brand through the StoryCycle Genie before the episode. Rachel shares what it validated, what gaps it revealed, and why she immediately started planning how to use it for her own show hosts. Resources Mentioned Rachel McCord: themccordlist.com Viral Brand social media analysis (free for listeners): themccordlist.com You Can't Heal Your Life, But I Know a Guy by Rachel McCord Free StoryCycle Genie brand assessment: storycyclegenie.ai EMDR therapy information: emdria.org Subscribe to the Business of Story Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and all major platforms. Join 5,000+ subscribers at businessofstory.com/newsletter.
3/23/26 • 54:24
Your audience doesn't understand your message first—they feel it. In today's noisy world, tone is the hidden ingredient that makes your brand story resonate, build trust, and spark a real connection. On this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell welcomes Charly Tate, founder and Chief Kindling Officer at Kindling Works and host of the Tater Thoughts podcast. With over a decade in communications, storytelling, and marketing—and a background in music—Charly helps founders and business owners find clarity in chaos and connection through intentional, heartfelt storytelling. Listen in to discover: Why tone is the first thing your audience notices—even before your message How to uncover and express your authentic brand voice The biggest mistakes brands make with tone—and how to fix them for lasting impact Charly shares her journey from rebuilding after real estate to launching her consultancy, the lessons she learned from Queen, and actionable steps you can take to audit your own brand's tone. Ready to move from background noise to a story your audience can't forget? Tune in now and start making your brand truly resonate. Learn more about Charly at kindlingworks.com.
3/16/26 • 58:31
Unlocking predictable growth starts with one thing: message market match. In this episode, Park Howell welcomes Charles Gaudet—CEO of Predictable Profits, creator of The Predictable Profits Operating System™, and "The CEO Whisperer" (Yahoo Finance)—to reveal why so many founders get stuck working harder for less. You'll learn how to escape the founder's trap by aligning your brand story with the real needs of your market. Charles shares how to identify your true super consumer (and why most ICPs miss the mark), the data-driven secrets to effortless lead generation, and the frameworks that have helped his clients generate over $100 million in revenue. If you want to make marketing easier, scale beyond yourself, and build a business that thrives without your constant hustle, this episode is for you. Listen now and unlock your message market match.
3/9/26 • 58:01
Discover how to make your message truly heard with Dan Manning, former fighter pilot, speechwriter, and military diplomat turned professional storyteller. In this episode, Dan reveals his simple, repeatable "Before, Change, After, Meaning" framework that helps founders and executives communicate ideas that move people to action. Learn why understanding your audience's pain is the secret to engagement, how scenes—not just stories—create connection, and what military storytelling can teach you about clarity and impact. Dan's clients have raised millions in investment, sold millions in products, and landed dream jobs at Fortune 10 companies—all by using stories that stick. If you want actionable steps to clarify your message, inspire your audience, and drive real results, this episode is for you. Tune in to hear practical frameworks, high-stakes lessons, and storytelling secrets that will transform the way you communicate and lead.
3/2/26 • 50:01
Unlocking Post-Click Success: How to Convert Clicks into Customers with Shamir Duverseau Are you pouring budget into digital ads, getting plenty of clicks—but not enough conversions? You're not alone. Most marketers focus on getting the click, but the real opportunity comes after. In this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell sits down with Shamir Duverseau—founder of Smart Panda Labs and former marketing leader at Disney, Marriott, Southwest Airlines, and NBC Universal—to reveal why the post-click experience is the most overlooked (and profitable) part of your marketing funnel. Shamir shares his journey from running campaigns for iconic brands to building a framework that helps businesses turn website visitors into loyal customers. You'll learn: The psychology behind why prospects vanish after the click How to align marketing, IT, and product teams for seamless digital journeys Simple tweaks that can dramatically increase your conversions Proven strategies for building trust and removing friction on your site How to use research and feedback to continually improve your results Whether you're a startup founder or an enterprise marketer, you'll discover actionable steps to transform your website into a conversion engine and get more from the traffic you already have.
2/23/26 • 59:03
Finding the Right Story for Your Audience with Lee Schneider Are you telling your story in a way that truly connects with your best customers? Most businesses try to be everything to everyone, but the real magic happens when you focus on the 20% of your audience that delivers 80% of your results. In this episode of the Business of Story, host Park Howell welcomes Lee Schneider—founder of Red Cup Agency, award-winning podcast producer, USC professor, and veteran storyteller whose credits include Good Morning America, Dateline NBC, and documentaries for the History Channel, Court TV, and more. What you'll learn: How to identify and tell the right story for your specific audience The three essential stories every business needs to win trust and drive action Practical ways to test and refine your narrative for real-world impact Whether you're a startup founder, entrepreneur, or creative professional, you'll discover actionable storytelling techniques to help you stand out, build credibility, and grow your business. About Lee Schneider: Lee draws on decades of experience in media-making, screenwriting, and education to help leaders transform complex concepts into projects that get funded. He's also the creator of the Storyline Sessions masterclass and a leading voice in podcast production. Related Episodes: The Writer's Journey with Christopher Vogler How to Build a Story Library for Your Brand Making Your Customer the Hero Connect with Lee: Get Lee's free storytelling starter kit at redcupagency.com/storybusiness
2/16/26 • 61:10
