Want Massive Growth? Master Storytelling with Andrea Sampson, Entrepreneur and TED Coach (#433)

433 Andrea Sampson
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Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] Andrea Sampson is CEO and founder of Talk Boutique and blends her astute listening skills and insight into human behavior to coach leaders and speakers in crafting impactful stories. With over two decades in marketing and advertising, Andrea's prowess in connecting with audiences has transitioned into her role as a TED trained speaker coach, where she excels in making complex technical subjects relatable and esteemed.

Her work extends to training Singularity University faculty globally and contributing to the TEDx initiative, underlining her commitment to shaping a future marked by kindness, equity, and sustainability. Through regular interviews with visionaries, Andrea fosters a dialogue on creating a better world starting now.

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What I learned goes far beyond any other executive [00:01:00] program or coach I've ever experienced. Or how about Bruce? Bruce says, before Deep Wealth Mastery, the challenge I had with most business programs, coaches, or blogs was that they were one dimensional. Through Deep Wealth Mastery, I'm part of a richer community of other successful business owners.

The idea shared forever changed the trajectory of the business and best of all, the experience was fun. And we'll round things out with Stacey. 

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And you know what, my Deep Wealth Nation, why they're saying this is because Deep Wealth Mastery, it's the only system based on a nine figure deal. That was my deal. And as you know, I said no to a seven figure offer, and I created a system that we now call Deep Wealth Mastery that helped myself and my business partners, welcome from a different buyer, a different offer, a nine figure exit.

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Welcome to another episode of the Deep Wealth Podcast. Well, you've heard me say it before. 80 percent or more of the value of your company. It's not in your financials. It's in your narrative in your story, or you're out there prospecting, you want to land that big whale. Guess what? Sure. You have to have some of the facts behind you, but it's in the narrative and the storytelling that you're doing.

[00:03:00] So rhetorical question to you Deep Wealth Nation, are you happy with your narrative? 

Do you want to do better? 

Do you want to welcome more success? Better yet, create a market disruption. And of course you said yes. So that's what we're all about today. We have a very special guest. 

And I'm curious, Andrea, there's always a story behind the story. What's your story, Andrea? What got you from where you were to where you are today?

Andrea Sampson: Well, thanks so much for having me today, Jeffrey. I'm really, really exciTED to be talking to your guests and talking to you about storytelling, one of my favorite things. So, you know, when I look at my career, I have had an eclectic career. I spent the first 25 years in marketing and advertising. I was a strategist and a planner.

I did. All kinds of work in brand and response orienTED marketing, working with some of the largest agency networks in the world on some of the world's most recognizable brands. And I loved it. You know, I loved it until I didn't. What happened for me as I went into the world of advertising was I had this [00:04:00] Real desire to create impact and change within the world.

And I had come out of prior to being in advertising. I was in the not for profit world. I was a fundraiser and I wanTED to see impact. And so I thought, you know, suddenly I'm in this world of advertising where they have million billion dollar budgets. And certainly. You know, some of that could be put towards making a difference in the world.

And so I was this idealist coming in thinking that I could influence and persuade the work that I was doing in a way that would, you know, maybe make the world is a little bit better. Maybe make it more open to some of the things that, you know, at the time were forefront and to some degree I did.

You know, things like, you know, creating more diversity within advertising, showing women in a different way. Like these were things that yes, I could influence, but 25 years in, you know, I went, look, I think I've gone as far as I can. And I had this epiphany of, you know, I am really an idealist in a capitalist [00:05:00] world.

and for me to actually do the things that I wanTED to do, I knew I had to leave advertising, but I didn't know what I was going to be doing. And, you know, I know that your guests are so many of them are entrepreneurs building and scaling businesses. And it was never something that for me, I looked out into the world and went, Oh, gee, if I could just be an entrepreneur, it really wasn't my thing.

In my mindset, but I went out anyway, I was still working in advertising actually just started doing volunteer work and I volunteered. One of the places that I was very lucky to volunteer at was TEDx Toronto. Now this was in the early, early days of the TEDx movement and. You know, TED had been out forever.

Of course, we were all familiar with TED talks, and I used to love to watch them online. But I got this great opportunity to work on the TEDx brand. It was brand new. It was the 2nd year, I think, or 3rd year that it was being offered anywhere. And certainly Toronto was one of the first to have a license.

And so I was [00:06:00] vullaint hired as a speakers coach. I had never heard of a speakers coach. Didn't even know what it was. But I figured look at the time. I was a senior vice president of strategy for a very large agency and I figured, you know what, give me a little bit of training on this TED thing. I'm sure I can figure it out.

Well. It was a life changer and, you know, it took me five years to step away from my paycheck and become an entrepreneur, although that's not fully true because I had been a consultant for many times, but I never considered myself an entrepreneur stepping into and building and creating my company talk boutique was really the first time that for me as a professional that I considered myself an entrepreneur and.

That was a big game changer, because what I did was I saw myself differently. I wasn't a consultant selling my hours back to the, you know, the marketing and advertising world. Now I was [00:07:00] creating something that had value, that creaTED value for others, but had value in and of itself, and that was huge for me.

And that story Of being, an idealist in a capitalist world was really the impetus for it because I didn't just want to build something for the sake of making money. I went back to those early roots in not for profit and went, you know, what I really want to do is I want to make a difference in the world.

And so, you know, yes. We all want to make money. And of course, that was a part of it. But it wasn't the reason why I started the business. It was to create impact and storytelling is a way for us to use who we are, what we do and what we offer to the world and provide our value in such a way that others will change.

And because of that, We start to create a different future.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow, Andrea, there is so much there to unpack and from the world of big corporate, these big logos, these big brands, and [00:08:00] now you do a one 80 and you're out there helping smaller businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals. Let me ask you this though, before we start diving into what you're doing, it's fascinating and offline.

You and I were talking about how storytelling, the power of the narrative is a big part of what we do in Deep Wealth Mastery to really move the dial. In getting results, what would some of the larger corporations and entities out there? What did they have going for them when it comes to storytelling that as an entrepreneur or smaller business, I simply don't have right now, but I could have

Andrea Sampson: Great question. You know, I think one of the things that I see and, start off by saying even large organizations don't have this figured out, but the ones that are really successful do and what it is is that they have. A vision or an idea of who they are that they have creaTED alignment within their organization on.

And what I mean by that is, so if we think of these visions, and we all have visions for our companies, visions and missions, we know [00:09:00] we need these things. They allow us to see the future state of where we want to be. That's what a vision is. Who is it? And what is it you're creating for the world? And therefore you know, how do you show up every day a little closer to that vision?

Well, When you're a large organization, that's a difficult question, because now, you know, organizations are, and if we think of it, you know, they are a legal entity, ultimately is a story that we have legally said lives, right? when we file our articles of incorporation and say, this is what we stand for, you know, the law says that is a legal entity and that legal entity has a story.

And that's the story that we are all believing about that organization. And if you are a good leader, and I always like to say leaders are professional communicators, that is your job as a leader. And so if you are a good leader, what you've done is you've done a really good job of communicating that vision in such a way that every person within that organization has in [00:10:00] some way aligned with that vision and is in lockstep with you in achieving that.

And so as entrepreneurships, this is one of our biggest challenges, because as entrepreneurs, often we are changing our vision. have ideas that come along. Shiny object syndrome happens to all of us. And so learning how to resist the shiny objects syndrome and really focused on a vision. But then most importantly is.

Being able to communicate that vision to the people who work with and for us that is so essential and that is your story that is the story of who you are why you do what you do and the thing that makes you unique as a person and as a business that no one else does better than you. And we all have that, even those, you know, many of us have some imposter syndrome to go, well, other people do it.

Yes, they may, but no one does it [00:11:00] like you because of your unique background, your unique experiences, your unique culture, whatever it is, that is the sum total of who you are as the entrepreneur, as the Thinker of that vision. You have brought something very unique and aligning everyone in your organization on that unique vision is the key to achieving the success that you want to achieve.

Jeffrey Feldberg: so interesting there. So Andrea, let me ask you this because it doesn't matter if you're a multi billion or a zillion dollar corporation or you're a startup and you're just getting going 0 of business. Strategy, the strategy behind a narrative and the creation of a narrative. Now I know some listeners and people say, well, Jeffrey, if I was a gazillion dollar corporation, I have all kinds of narrative creators.

I'd have someone like Andrea on the team doing all these things and a whole team around me. Okay, sure. Give you that. That said though, to create that narrative, to create that effective strategy surrounding the narrative, and then implementing that in the company, that's accessible to everyone. [00:12:00] So where.

Are we simply as entrepreneurs, founders, business owners, where are we getting it wrong? Is there the good old Pareto's law? Hey, we're making 20 percent of the same mistakes or issues that are creating 80 percent of our heartaches. What's going on there? Are there any patterns that you can share?

Andrea Sampson: Yeah. I mean, look, of course it's going to be different for every person, but if I were to generalize, I would say there's a couple of pieces that I see when I, cause I do work with a lot of leaders, you know, globally and a lot of entrepreneurs. And I think the thing that I see. Number 1 is the vision isn't clear.

And so they've developed a vision that is often more focused on a success measure than an aspirational goal that they're working towards. And there's a difference, right? We can be successful, in the, in the traditional sense of making money and building a business, but maybe not achieving that aspirational goal, something that's bigger than us, something that's purpose driven, something that gives us, you know, back in when I was in the agency days, we used to call this a [00:13:00] beheg was the big hairy goal, and so what is your big hairy goal that you're trying to achieve that is way bigger than just making money in this world because money is a means. 

What's the end? 

What are you doing? So that's number one. And then the second thing along with that, so a not having a clear vision and B. Not having values that are aligned to that vision and, you know, values are one of those things that we all kind of go.

Yeah, yeah, it's all good to have values are important. Well, actually, values are probably one of the most important things that we can have as business owners, because what it does is it gives us a decision making structure. So when we have values as a business, as an entrepreneurship, it allows us to go back and go, does this decision align with the values that I said that I, will adhere to, and does it get me closer to that vision?

And now what you've got is a way to make better decisions. Now, that might sound a little esoteric, but when you put it into practice and you [00:14:00] operationalize it, it becomes a way of doing business. And it's what the big organizations do.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Okay. So I'm hearing you go through that and my wheels are turning. Andrea, my goodness, this could be not just an episode. It can be an entire series. So having the entire team around us, having our values match the vision. So everything is in sync as you're talking about this. Could you share a story with us?

Uh, Perhaps someone who came to you, a company became a client and they were trying to get from here to there. They were missing the mark in. Yeah. Where you came in and I know you're absolutely right. Every company is different. Every situation is different. I give you that something that just gives us a sense of, well, Hey, if this company was doing that and it wasn't happening, then they did this.

It did happen a little bit of inspiration for us. Anything that comes to mind. And

Andrea Sampson: know, it, it's one that I'm working on right now. So we're working on a very large organization out of the us. uh, they Are an electronics association and they are in the process right now of, of [00:15:00] redefining who they are and it's been an interesting process. They're an organization that has for the last.

60 years led a very specific thing within the industry. They've done one thing, and they've done it really, really well. And they're known for it. They are the leader, and it's not just in the U. S. They are a global organization providing their services globally. But that said, what has become clear?

I mean, our world has changed. And if we think of electronics, you know it is what has really driven the growth and the innovation within our world, really, and it has changed. And I think we can all agree that 50 years ago, if you get an organization that's 50 years old, you might need to update a few things.

and so where they are today, they're recognizing that there's an opportunity for them to step into, but they've got a 50 year old organization who are with 50 year old processes that are still working. Everything is working. There's nothing broken and they could continue to do what they're doing.

But eventually [00:16:00] that company wouldn't cease to exist because we can see it's probably on the other side of the life cycle right they will start to fall down and so they had to make a decision about expanding their services and expanding their offering changing their name and taking a risk and it has been such an interesting process to go through that with them because one of the first things that we had to do was to go.

What's your new story? So first of all, what's the story of who you are today? And what's the new story you want to create? And so we did that. We worked with them. We do a program called story finding where we literally use some of my background in branding. It's not a rebranding. That is not what I do but we find their new story.

And so we use some of those those practices. So some of it was speaking to you know, people outside of the organization, speaking to people inside of the organization, speaking to clients, speaking to people who don't even know about them, but getting a sense of what was happening. And from that, then working with the organization to [00:17:00] then ground what we learned from the external to then find the internal.

And through both of those. Using the lens of story. So using the archetypes of different stories, retell their story. And what was so fascinating as I went through this process, so everyone was in lockstep moving into it. Yes, this is exactly what we want to do. We want to expand.

We want to change. We want to become something new. But then, of course, as you get into the messy middle of doing that and showing them what new could look like, suddenly everybody inside the organization started to scatter a little bit of, wait a minute, wait a minute. Well, we're still this other thing, is what we do. And so we started to hear, and as we started to put pressure on, here's what you're becoming. The, what you're leaving behind started to get really, really difficult. And so, and even with their board of directors, because of course the board of directors comes into this, right?

And the board is like, yes, we want to change, but wait a [00:18:00] minute. What are we leaving behind? And are we leaving something behind? And so it was fascinating as we, as we go through this, what became so important was the definition of who they were becoming with the definition. Of who they were and how these two things came together.

So the vision couldn't let go of who they were and it shouldn't, right? Because that's history. That's important. But it had to leave enough room for who they were becoming and so they're about to actually, I mean, I can't tell you who this is, because they're actually about to launch this, but it was such a fascinating process to go through to see them literally see themselves.

For the first time, truly see themselves, because I think one of the things that we as organizations don't ever get the benefit of is looking in a mirror of how other people see us. And that's what we did with this organization. And that mirror showed them both what they liked and what they didn't like, and it forced us [00:19:00] to go, okay, now, how do we change it?

So we can all in some way align on that. And that's where they are.

Jeffrey Feldberg: you're going through that. It really sounds as though, no surprise here that our mindset is just as important as any execution as any strategy. And I'm wondering, you can share Jeffrey on base, off base. Do you find that most of the time? And again, I know it's a very general question, but generally speaking, most of the time as entrepreneurs, are we like the emperor with no clothes, we're seeing what we want to see, hearing what we want to hear, and just ignoring what's right in front of us to our detriment.

And you're nodding. Yes. If that is, yes. Can you share with the deep up nation? How do we break that cycle, that pattern?

Andrea Sampson: Hey, Jeffrey, couldn't agree with you more. So, yes, I think we're humans. Let's face it. Right. And so it's sometimes hard to see ourselves and it's hard to see, like, especially as entrepreneurs and as leaders, there's a lot of people who have a vesTED interest in telling us what they think we want to hear.

And, and we have to become more [00:20:00] discerning in listening through what's being said and our mindset is such a key to that right because if we're in a mindset of imposter syndrome which so many entrepreneurs often are when somebody validates what we think. We're so incredibly grateful to have that validation, right?

We're like, Oh my God. Thank God. Somebody else thinks like me and what we have to learn to do is to a yes, take the validation because it's important. If you are an imposter syndrome and you got somebody validating something great, but take a step away from that and go. What's the agenda here? Who is that person?

Why are they saying that? And if you are an imposter syndrome, I want you to do some work on getting through that. Because look, getting, overcoming those limiting beliefs is going to be like taking a blindfold off of you and recognizing the value you put out into the world. And there are, I mean, look, we do work on, on overcoming limiting beliefs with many of the leaders that we work with, because it is so pervasive.

In especially the entrepreneurial world you [00:21:00] know, you kind of, I find that when I work with entrepreneurs, they are either showing up with a lot of bravado or showing up with a lot of humility, but regardless of which way they're coming through, there's often imposter syndrome somewhere lurking in there.

And look, I am no stranger to that. I have had to go through my own process of coming through my own imposter syndrome. So listen through what's being told to you. Number one, don't react in the moment. I think that's the thing that I've had to learn right away is listen when somebody is validating what you're saying and giving you what you think you need in that moment.

Take it in. Be grateful for that. But take a beat. Step away. I'll get back to you tomorrow on that. I'm not going to make that decision. Thank you for that input. You know, one of the things I like to do and, you know, Jeffrey, you and I talked about at the beginning, I have my little my AI transcript tool and I, and we do so much of our work these days online.

It's one of the things that I have [00:22:00] found to be incredibly beneficial is to record my conversations largely for me. But it's helpful for me to go back and read some of the things that I've, re listened to conversations to hear what in the moment I didn't hear. And it's really powerful.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely. Hear what in the moment I didn't hear. And Andrea, not to put you under the microscope, whether it's you, whether it's a client, what are we typically missing that is looking back so obvious, so important, but at the time it just, as the saying goes, went in one ear out the other. 

Andrea Sampson: it's what I would call the red flags or just the flags. They don't even have to be red. You know, often what will happen in the moment, somebody will be saying something to us that is really, you know, like I said, flattering or, or validating or in some way giving us what we need, what we're not hearing in that.

Is the underneath of it like so often we'll get that flattery or that validation and with it will be something [00:23:00] that maybe we didn't want to hear. Maybe it's what we expecTED to hear. we still hear it in the moment, but we hear it with much less severity or gravity. Oh, yeah, they said that thing.

But, you know, look, they really get what we do. They really understand us. They're going to, they're going to take care of us. you know, they have our best interest at heart. But when you go back and relisten to or read through the transcript, you're like, but wait a minute. They said that thing.

They did that thing, you know, and so, you know, So in with in, you know, when we get out of the heat of the moment, suddenly those flags become a little more clear. And then sometimes you'll even, you know, look through an entire conversation and you realize it wasn't just said once, it was said a bunch of times.

Now that's a flag, but you missed it because it was always shrouded often in things that were there. Okay. Giving you what you needed as a business owner, as a human, as, an entrepreneur that maybe is trying to forge a new path. as humans, we do this, we look [00:24:00] for that validation, we hear the positive and we ignore the negative.

Now on the back end. You know, from news, we remember the negative. We ignore the positive. But when it's with us, when it's for me, it's the opposite. And it's such an interesting psychological mindset thing.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And not that it's the focus of our time together today, Andrea, it's interesting though, as you're talking about that, we can take that and put that back out there. Don't we all love to feel both valued and heard? Are we doing that with our team? Are we doing that with our clients? Are we doing that with prospective clients?

In fact, are we really doing that with all of our stakeholders? And I suspect the answer is probably not, but we should be. And so, Andrea, if I take a step back, we've been talking about mindset. We've been talking about culture. Yes, strategy and execution is certainly a part of it. We are on what I love to call here at Deep Wealth, the art side of not just business, But also of life and when we combine [00:25:00] both the art and the science that's where the magic begins to happen Now, speaking of magic happening, I know you're really doing some incredible things out there.

Whether it's for me as an entrepreneur, as an individual, you can do some communications coaching with me. Or as a company, you have different, I love it, the storytelling, the story finding, the story building. You've broken all that out to help me go in there. I want to tackle what I think is a myth, and you can say Jeffrey on base or off base, because I know there's some people in the deep off nation that are saying, Jeffrey, yeah, I hear you.

And Andrea, yeah, I hear you as well. I just was not born a storyteller. That just wasn't me. In fact, I'm not really even in sales because I'm not a sales person. It's not what I do. I'm not a storyteller. What would you say to that kind of dialogue?

Andrea Sampson: So, and I hear this all the time. Look, we work with a lot of individuals who come from very complex industries, you know, scientists, academics, technologists even artists and what we find, of course, when we're in these complex places, storytelling, it's been trained out of you like there is no place for [00:26:00] stories and science, you know we hear these things all the time.

I'm not a storyteller. I don't know how to do that. it's not who I am. And here's the thing. We have been telling stories as humans since we've been living in caves. In fact, the very first language was story of, the art on cave walls. Those are stories that we told to other tribes as we nomadically moved around.

There's good hunting here. There's no hunting here. You know, you know, someone died here. we told these stories to each other. Why? Because it's the way in which. We as humans communicate, our language is based on story, everything we do. Is based on story. We just don't think of it that way. So we are all natural storytellers, but that doesn't mean we're all good storytellers.

That's a different thing. And storytelling, good storytelling can be learned. There's so many frameworks out there. And, you know, I always say, use a framework. framework, but if you're going to use a [00:27:00] framework, use one that's simple and easy, you know, and there's everything from, the hero's journey, which I would not say is simple and easy.

It's a 16 point framework, which tells a great story, but if you and I are going to have quick conversation, that's not the one I'm going to use for me. I use one called the story spine, which is a really simple one. Modified it a little bit for my own purposes. But what I love about it is that it's five steps to telling a story.

It's really easy. and what I've done with it is I've recognized it as business storytellers. We don't just tell stories. We tell stories that hold. Ideas I talk a lot about this. Stories are carriers for ideas because when we take our idea inserTED inside of a story, what we've done is 2 things.

1, we've contextualized that idea in such a way that people understand it. And 2 people retell our story. And guess what happens when they retell our story? Our idea goes along with it. That is the basis of TED talks. So, The story spine, like I said, and I'll just [00:28:00] quickly go through the 5 elements just so people have them is really easy.

The environment. Where's that story taking place? It's your sense of place. And you hear you want specificity. It's not A tree. It's an oak. Tell us a little bit here. We're playing with some brain science. What we want to do is engage the brain. We're giving the brain a way to connect with that story, and we want to activate the sensory courtesies within the brain.

So tell me what it smelled like. Tell me what it looked like. Tell me what you're hearing, you know. I'm in the woods and I can smell pine in the air. The sky is blue and the birds are chirping all around me. It's a cold day in January and there is snow all around me. And you're there with me, right? You can hear it.

You can smell the pine. You can feel the cold air. I might even add in, you know, it's one of those days that's so cold and crisp that the hair inside your nose freezes. Right? So we give people something that they just really, really can feel. [00:29:00] Secondly, who are the characters? So we start with the environment, then the characters.

Who's in the story? Characters have names, they have short backstories. One sentence, we just need to know a little bit about them. Third, what's the issue, the conflict, or the opportunity? What's the reason you're telling the story? This is where most people make the mistake, is that they jump into this place.

They don't tell you the, you know, the environment and the characters. They jump into, the other day this thing happened to me. Avoid that seduction. Start off, build people into it, then come to the thing that happened to you the other day. Fourth. Is what every good storyteller and this is what gets missed when people don't tell good stories is they tell you about the thing that happened the other day and then they end there.

Well, the 4th thing is what we call the raising of the stakes or the tension point of the story. It's the end then moment the other day. This thing happened to me, but then this other thing make it bigger. Give me attention point. Now that's 4 elements at that 4th element when you've got Your listener at a point of tension when they're [00:30:00] leaning forward, sitting on the edge of their seat, this is your opportunity to insert your idea.

What is it you want me to know? Why are you telling me this story? it's not about the story. It's what is your idea that you are now using that story to align with. You would insert it right there. And then the fifth element. Is the outcome. Okay, so I inserTED in between the tension point and the outcome an idea if you are a business storyteller, you are using that story to convey an idea.

You're literally creating a metaphor with that idea with that story. But if you're not telling it for an idea, then it would be the 5 elements. The environment, the characters, the issue, conflict or opportunity, the raising of the stakes and then the outcome.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And as you're going through the Deep Bulb Nation, I don't want you to get lost saying, hey, that's way too complicaTED, because Andrea, you said something that really stood out for me. We are by design. We are born as storytellers. It doesn't guarantee though, it doesn't mean that we are [00:31:00] great storytellers.

And like anything in life, there's a huge difference between good to great, hence the book with that title that came out a while back with that as well. And so I love what you're doing with your story spine strategy. And DeepAuthNation, we're paying attention to that because here is, it's not just a formula, it's a best practice.

It's survived. Decades and time and I'm gonna say centuries because we've been doing this. In fact, whether you follow the Bible or you don't follow the Bible No one can disagree with the fact that the Bible is the most popular book in the world. What's the subtitle of the Bible? The greatest story ever told.

That says it all right there. And Andrea, to your point, we are storytellers. We love stories. In fact, people of the nation, I bet if you heard the first few notes of a song, even from when you were a teenager, which was for all of us just a few years away, right? But you hear a song that's from decades back.

I bet you remember the name of that song and the words of that song and you can hum along why. [00:32:00] It's a story versus you went to a presentation and there's a boring presenter who's drooling along with these facts and these numbers and these stats in one year out the other. You're not remembering any of it.

So Andrea, love what you're saying. Yes, we're storytellers, but no guarantee. We're great storytellers. So if I came to you and said, okay, Andrea, I want to be a great storyteller. I want my team to be great storytellers. Can you take us behind the curtain? What's some of that magic sauce that you have of what are you doing?

How long does it take? What am I going to be expecTED to be going through some of the results that I would be looking forward to? What does that look like with some of your systems?

Andrea Sampson: You know, storytelling is one of those things that it is absolutely learnable and it is down to the individual. However, because it's like being an athlete, like, look, can we all ride a bike? Sure. Can we ride in the tour de France? Probably not. You know, what's the difference? It's. Practice and repetition, right?

Sure. There's natural skill. And, you know, if we look at [00:33:00] some of those, bikers on the, in the tour de France, they've got some physical attributes that maybe some of us don't have. And, but in reality, so much of it is just reps. You got to do it. You got to do the work. And so it's storytelling is the same.

You got to do the work. So, you know, our systems that we run, like, we work on individual coaching. We have a program called the thought leader Academy, which is a group coaching program. We work with corporations. We run cohort based programs, which are typically anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks in duration. But the key to all of them isn't so much the program itself, but it's the person who is working on it and whether they are open to being a storyteller and doing the work.

We have so many different frameworks. And in fact, we give out the frameworks and I'm happy to offer that to your audience. We have something called the storytelling toolkit, which gives the story spine. It also has an idea framework and it has what we call a talk canvas, which puts it all together.

And using those choosing to use them, [00:34:00] because that's the piece you can become a storyteller in a week if you do the work, that's the key, but do it again and again and again. Don't just do it in, you know, like in your presentation. Oh, I'm going to try it out. I'm going to open my presentation with a story first time.

You do it. It's going to be uncomfortable. It's probably not going to be very good. And it's probably going to feel really, really awkward for you, but you did it, then you got to do it again. And then you got to do it again and practice that story. The more you say it out loud, the less awkward it becomes.

The words flow. Suddenly you start to see the connections yourself with your work, with what you're doing. So tell the story at a cocktail party, tell it to your family, bore everyone to death until you've got it down. Because it's not about them, in that case, it's about you. But then it is about your audience, right?

Your stories are for your audience, because they're the way in which your audience can access your knowledge and information. And if you are just droning on and on, you know, I [00:35:00] was at event a week ago with a presenter who gave that, typical presentation slide by slide. To be honest, I tuned out halfway through.

I couldn't even listen. course, as a speaker's coach, I get access to very high quality speakers. And we do this, right? we never do that kind of presentation. And I forgot how incredibly boring it is. So, you know, don't be that person. Be the person who brings us in with a story, and if I don't remember anything else, I will remember that story, and I'll likely remember your name because you told me that.

And so, if I get nothing more as an audience member than who you are and an interesting story, the likelihood is I'll probably follow up with you in some way, go, Hey, I want to hear a little bit more. That was really interesting. Tell me more. And that's what you want, right? So, do the practice. Do the work.

Take the risk. Say it out loud and the more you say it out loud, the better it's going to get. And you're going to find more stories,

Jeffrey Feldberg: So interesting as you're talking about that, I'm just reflecting and people nation, all of us, fortunately, [00:36:00] most of us can walk. And when you first began, when you were a toddler, did it come naturally? Not really. You're stumbling around, you're falling, you're getting up, falling down, getting back up again.

And it's the same thing with storytelling and Andrea, what's so interesting as I look at presentations that I've given, and now I'm fortunate like yourself to. The in circles where very elevaTED people, very successful people. I can tell the difference of a polished narrative versus one that isn't. And if I had to make a decision as a buyer, as an investor, as something else in between, it doesn't really matter.

A company could be a better company. But they don't have a great narrative as a similar company, which has a great narrative. Maybe not as good as the other one. I'm probably going to go with the better narrative is, hey, don't shoot the messenger. These aren't the rules. It's just human nature is what we're all about.

And you're right. We tend to remember what stands out for us, what had us laugh or cry or is memorable or really enjoying a story. And Andrea offline, you and I were comparing notes of how [00:37:00] both of our programs. Get into the science of the narrative and what's amazing and effective storyteller, not any storyteller, but an effective storyteller.

The science shows that the listener who's just sitting there, they're not doing anything. The areas of the brain that are lighting up in the person who's sharing that narrative when it's a good storyteller, those same areas of the brain light up in the listener. So what does that tell you? We are synced in ways we're just beginning to understand.

So it's amazing. And Andrea, my takeaway is. Practice makes perfect. Keep on practicing and take your craft to a whole other level. So Andrea, let me ask you this. I know there are so many questions I didn't have a chance to ask. Is there one question I didn't ask or is there a message that you'd like to get out there or even a topic that we haven't yet covered that you'd like to put out there before we go into wrap up mode?

Andrea Sampson: When I think about the messaging that That we put out into the world, and I think this is probably the thing like we've talked all around it, but I actually want to bring it out, [00:38:00] which is, you know, you as an entrepreneur, as the visionary of your company, you get to choose.

The narrative you're putting into the world. That's your choice. You are not at the effect of the world. You are actually in control of that. There's not a lot in our world that we're in control of, but that's one of the things you are. And so as as a business leader, and I said it before, your job is to be a professional communicator.

And the way that you get there is through storytelling, because when you tell your business as a story, people remember it. They remember why you do what you do. They remember how you do it. And so. Mm hmm. If you don't have a story for your business, I encourage you to take some time, you know, use whatever tool works for you, write that story and know it, be able to tell it, you know, I end up being on a lot of podcasts and it's one of my favorite things to do because, you know, What I love about being on podcast and this is one of the things I would encourage the listeners on as well [00:39:00] is that when you are with somebody who doesn't know you or your business all that well, maybe they've read some things, maybe they've had a conversation with you in advance, but in reality, we're sort of meeting in this place of not really knowing each other and that person will ask you questions that no one else has ever asked you.

And in doing that, you will tell your story in a way you've never told it before. And by doing that, you start to hear yourself saying things that are messages that you actually want to get out into the world. So tell your story as often as you can, write it down, figure out what that story is, and then.

Find places where people will ask you questions you never been asked. So if you have the opportunity, say yes to podcasts. If you have the opportunity, get on stages. If you have the opportunity, get in front of new audiences and tell your story and let people ask you [00:40:00] questions. And here what comes out because it might surprise you.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So interesting because it's out there but I'll put it back in here you know two things as you're talking about that it reminds me of more of the successful comedians before they go out there in front of a stadium full of a gazillion people in the comedy clubs they'll be testing different lines.

Did I get a laugh? Did I get silence even worse? Did I get some kind of reaction and I'm going to throw out what doesn't work. And I'm going to build on what is working and deep palpation. I've never really described it in this way. I'm going to put it out there though. Oftentimes when people hear my story, they say, Jeffrey, it was the same company or e learning company, Embernet from seven figures to nine figures, same company, you weren't buying other companies.

It was less than two years later. How'd you go from seven to nine? And you know what, Andrea, a different way of approaching that I would say. It was the story. And I know people are going to say, come on, Jeffrey, you're telling me that the story went from seven figures to nine figures. Yes, it was the narrative that we crafTED.

And from the system that we now call deep wealth [00:41:00] mastery, that was behind that. We simply showed up Andrea when the seven figure offer came around. Yes, it was a wolf in sheep's clothing. I give you that. I also need to take responsibility. I was not prepared. I did not have the narratives. I showed up like most other business owners and probably gave the same typical answers.

Everyone here is what makes your company different or special. Well, we're great on customer service and everyone loves us and boring. I tell you though, when it came time for the next go around, when we were out in market, and this time we had DeepWealth Mastery behind us, we had the narratives down. 

We were telling stories, people were listening, they were laughing. And It was interesting. We walked in as strangers, all of us, whoever was listening, and we actually came out as friends. We were talking, and we were joking afterwards, and there was a camaraderie, a bond that formed from a story.

It's amazing. So Deep Oak Nation, what Andrea is sharing. Please take that to heart. We're going to come back to that, but for the moment, Andrea, I want to go into our wrap up [00:42:00] mode here. It's a tradition here on the DeepWealth Podcast. It's really my privilege and honor. I ask the same question to every single guest.

It's a really fun question. Let me set this up for you. When you think of the movie back to the future, you have that magical DeLorean car that will take you to any point in time. So here's the fun part. Andrea, it's tomorrow morning. You look outside your window. Not only is the DeLorean car curbside, the door is open, it's waiting for you to hop on in, which you do, and you're now going to go back to any point in your life.

Andrea, as a young child, a teenager, whatever point in time it would be. What would you tell your younger self in terms of life lessons or life wisdom, or hey Andrea, do this, but don't do that. What would that sound like?

Andrea Sampson: So if I could go back in time, I would probably go back to my, 30 year old self, 30, 31. That was the year that my daughter was born. And I go back to that. Not because of that's when she was born, but that was, I think, the moment for me that I really stepped into my own [00:43:00] expertise and really owned what I knew.

But what I wasn't doing, stepping into it, I wasn't owning it. And I think the message that I would give to myself in those days is what you know is more than you think. And be aware. of your knowledge, but also be open to what others have to say. So don't take everything like a criticism. Take it like new information and be open to learning through different perspectives.

Cause I think for me, the challenge I had at that point in my life was I was so focused on learning and was living in a world of. You know, well, either that's a fact or that's not a fact that I had to learn the facts are never facts. They're always interpretive. And so when we recognize that there are different ways of seeing things it allows us to grow more quickly.

And [00:44:00] so I think I could probably have kept myself from some heartache had I have known that.

Jeffrey Feldberg: It's really interesting, Andrea, as you're sharing that, because on the one hand, you're giving yourself a pat on the back. Hey, you actually know more than you think you know, so don't get that imposter syndrome or don't feel like you're out of place. Then on the other hand, you're really encouraging. Okay.

That said, you don't know everything. And if someone has a criticism, be open to it. Maybe they're not right. And that's okay. But what if there's some element of truth? Listen to that, learn from it, grow from it. And that's a one, two combo. That's very powerful. I absolutely love that in terms of some life advice.

So Andrea, before we wrap things up, somebody has a question. They want to work with you. They want to learn about your coaching or your workshops or how they can take their company to the next level. Where would be the best place online to find you

Andrea Sampson: Yeah, so absolutely follow me on. I mean, we have a YouTube channel talk dot boutique. So it's talk boutique with a dot between talk and boutique. And I do all kinds of videos on, on the work that we [00:45:00] do and give lots away. They can follow me on LinkedIn. I'm very, very active there. And of course check out our website, talk boutique dot com and sign up for a newsletter or reach out to me directly at Andrea at talk boutique.

I'm always. Yeah. Open to having new conversations. Absolutely love it.

Jeffrey Feldberg: love that people nation you have Andrea's email address take her up on that reach out to her. And by the way, all of this is in the show notes. It doesn't get any easier. It's a point and click. Just go to the show notes. It's all there for you. Well, Andrea, it's official. Congratulations. This is a wrap. And as we love to stay here at deep wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe.

Thank you so much.

Andrea Sampson: Well, thank you so much, Jeffrey. I so appreciate this call this opportunity has been a lot of fun talking to your audience.

Jeffrey Feldberg: So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. What did you think? 

So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. 

Did you find this episode helpful? 

Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game [00:46:00] changer for your journey? 

And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? 

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So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

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God bless.