Storytelling with an Alternative Educator and Entrepreneur

Laura Sandefer is an author and the co-founder of Acton Academy, a school whose learner-driven model is spreading across the globe with over 130 locations in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, Malaysia and more, and in 2019 is celebrating 10 years of letting children take learning into their owns hands.

Acton Academy bases their model of learning on the Hero’s Journey: a story pattern common in ancient myths and modern day adventures in which a hero goes on an adventure, wins a victory and comes home transformed. Children at Acton Academy know why they are being challenged to learn — they are on their own Hero’s Journey to find their passion in life.

Sandefer went on her own Hero’s Journey in starting Acton Academy, which she chronicles in her book Courage to Grow: How Acton Academy Turns Learning Upside Down. She became a reluctant entrepreneur, growing Acton Academy so other parents can start their own learner-driven communities.

“When you have the hero’s journey narrative in your mind, what you realize is that every single human you come across has treasure within. Each person’s treasure is different.” - Laura Sandefer on story and empathy

Storytelling with Story Coach Rom Ploof

Author of The Proverb Effect and Read This First: The Executive’s Guide to New Media, Ron Ploof is an educator of story. Ron’s also the brains behind The StoryHow Pitch Deck, a story coach in your pocket.

Usually I’m digging into the personal story of storytellers I admire. On this episode I do that … but I also get into the HOW of storytelling with Ron. So it’s a little inspiration, a little education.

“He looks out and there are weeds. Its a marshy area. And [my grandfather] says to me, ‘That’s where my brother Kelsey drowned.’ He’s vulnerable, I want to know more. That one story changed my life.” - Ron Ploof’s life-changing story

Anese Cavanaugh is an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur, the creator of the IEP Method® (Intentional Energetic Presence®), a leadership and collaboration advisor, and a thinking partner for business leaders in many different industries.

She’s not one to sit still either… she’s also a mom, a dog rescuer, a sister, daughter, friend, and an advocate for children’s food and spirit security. Here’s a quote from her website about section: “I love people. I love the human spirit. I love purpose. And I love what happens when we all Show Up together.”

Anese founded her business and this body of work 20 years ago because she saw the essentialness of Showing Up, being present and intentional, and taking care of ourselves in relationship to healthy leadership and creating positive impact in the world.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting Anese in person, as well as reading her newest book Contagious You. It’s a great read full of amazing information and inspiration to help you lead better. We can all use that. Stories, and our presence, are a gift.

“The greatest gift we can give another human being is our presence. When you see them and connect with empathy you create an intangible connection, which is all about the heart.” = Anese Cavanaugh on the power of connection

Anese Cavanaugh, guest on episode #104 of The Storytellers Network, didn’t consider herself a storyteller. She thought that had to mean following a specific story structure, maybe creating a hero’s journey each time and coming up with stories.

In talking with Dan, listening to episodes and looking over the show prep for their interview, Anese realized that she’s been telling stories her entire professional life. She used stories in her first book, Contagious Culture. And she uses them in her most recent release, Contagious You.

Once she came to terms with how much of a storyteller she was, she decided she wanted to be more intentional.

So now Anese and Dan are starting a 21-day story gathering “writing challenge.”

Alex Lee spent more than 20 years as a storyteller for a public system. As the Executive Director of Communications for Kalamazoo Public Schools, Alex was instrumental in telling the story of the Kalamazoo Promise, among many other great stories. In addition to that career, Alex spent a few years in communications for the United States Navy – specifically on the radio airwaves.

Alex has been telling stories his whole life, and now that he’s out of education he does it for a small village in Southwest Michigan, where everything from a massive development (The Mill at Vicksburg) to small town legislature and more is part of his daily storytelling.

“The story of education is individual students, in their challenges, in their backgrounds… so the story of education should be your success stories.” - Alex Lee on story in education

Don Stanley is an internationally recognized college educator, speaker, and marketing and sales consultant. He demystifies personal branding & digital marketing to help people achieve their dreams.

As the co-founder of Wisconsin-based 3RhinoMedia, he has personal spoke to, lead workshops for and coached a wide array of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies, international organizations, NBA, NHL and NFL athletes, start-ups and non-profits. One fun fact is Don has consulted with organizations on all 7 continents and he was a professional dog trainer (he loves dogs).

Don is often asked to share his perspectives on digital media and he has been featured on some of the top business blogs in the world including the Content Marketing Institute and Mark Schaefer’s BusinessesGrow.com. He also has been featured on Marketplace Radio, This American Life, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and he is a regular guest on Wisconsin Public Radio.

In addition to his work at 3RhinoMedia, Don is an award-winning faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he teaches courses on social media and digital marketing.

“Put us up against a grizzly bear, game over… but if you put us together and we know how to interact together, work together… can dominate anything.” - Don Stanley on the power of story of connection

Our guest this episode is a spoken word poet, educating people about the trauma of sexual assault. She’s a survivor. She’s a writer. She’s a performer. She’s an educator.

I love her bio on “Unwritten” - Talia Mingey is a writer through and through. Her first love will always be poetry. She competed on the 2018 National Poetry Slam team in Chicago. She writes for self expression and social justice and performed at the 2018 March To End Rape Culture. She also does freelancing work and has been published on Thought Catalog. Currently, she's ghostwriting a novel and writing for Unwritten. She's constantly overwhelmed by all this but happy to be paid to do what she loves.

“I would want to talk about love, if I had to tell my last story. Love is what got me through most of that [trauma]. I would want to write a love poem to everyone who’s meant something to me.” - Talia Mingey

Writing Our Childhoods with Tish Rabe

Today’s guest has written over 170 children’s books for Sesame Street, Disney, Blue’s Clues, Curious George, Huff and Puff and many others. In 1996, five years after the death of Dr. Seuss, Tish Rabe was hired by Random House to write for The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, a new line of rhyming science books for early readers. A television series based on these books, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That, airs daily on PBS Kids.

She’s also known as The Singing Author and has quite a story about her journey to where she is today.

“The world needs content. There’s all these devices, and something’s gotta be on them. The need for solid content and creative is high.” - Tish Rabe on the need for creators

For years, Brian Burkhart has been on staff at Northwestern University’s highly prestigious Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He’s coached 10 teams for TV’s “Shark Tank,” and most of them got deals.

Brian’s a podcaster, an entrepreneur and so much more. I invited Brian Burkhart to join me for this Educational Storytellers episode because if his education background – at the university as well as his speaking.

Brian is the “chief word guy” at Squareplanet, an agency that helps its clients tell better stories in presentations, events and more. Brian’s the founder and a hell of a storyteller (scroll down for his introduction email!).

“I’ve logged hundreds of thousands of miles on planes. A grand total of zero times I’ve poked my head in the cockpit and told the pilots how to fly. Just because I fly a lot doesn’t mean I know how to fly. But for some reason in the world of corporate storytelling, people think they know better and they don’t.” - Brian Burkhart on letting the professionals do their job

Today’s guest is a former attorney who spent his career representing victims of sexual abuse in civil litigation. David Flowers wrote Taming the Lion Tamers about the South Carolina case of convicted pedophile Eddie Fischer, and the people who protected him for decades. It’s a powerful story, and is the same case on which the Emmy-nominated documentary film What Haunts Us is based.

David fought for victims for decades, using story to their advantage. Now he teaches upcoming attorneys about the power of story.

Storytelling with Creator of A Million Little Things, DJ Nash

Is there any type of storyteller “bigger” than someone who creates and writes a television show in prime time? We’re obsessed with our TVs and the characters who move us. Even in the world of streaming, network TV is still a juggernaut.

A Million Little Things, on ABC, tackles everything from suicide to infidelity to a man overcoming breast cancer (but who is far from a saint). On this episode of The Storytellers Network, the creator and showrunner DJ Nash (also a writer and executive producer of the series) takes time to explore storytelling at a whole new level.

“Every single one of them is broken because all of us are broken in different ways. Don’t let that be your limitation. Let it be your inspiration.” - DJ Nash on his characters

Storytelling with Faith and Fiction Author Michelle Keener

Today’s guest is author Michelle Keener. Writers definitely entertain us, and Michelle does so with purpose-driven stories like Mission Hollywood and her memoir Shared Courage.

Michelle describes herself as a wife, mom, homeschooler and an author of inspirational fiction and nonfiction… whose books are fueled by Jesus and caffeine.

She’s been involved in ministry for over a decade, including serving in prison ministry, evangelism, women's ministry and youth groups. She currently leads workshops for Christian writers and enjoys encouraging writers and artists to use their gifts to impact the world and glorify God. She has several new books either recently published or getting ready for publication. When she isn't writing, Michelle is reading, baking or eating chocolate… or hanging out on Twitter.

Michelle and her husband Paul have two amazing children and one spoiled dog.

“In my head I know the scene. I know what’s happening. I know what people are wearing. I have to go back and think, ‘Dan might not know these things.’ For me, it’s important to be deliberate about world building.” - Michelle Keener on storytelling

Voiceover Director Ryan Johnston Shares His Story

Today’s guest works in Hollywood behind the scenes. He’s worked in sound for television series’ like Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, and Sailor Moon. Sound recordist, recording engineer, dialogue recording mixer … there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes on some of our favorite stories.

So today we get to hear some of those behind the scenes stories from Ryan Johnston. Ryan has worked in entertainment for more than a decade, and today he’s sharing his journey, his moments… his story.

“Sometimes I’m working with voice actors I’ve been listening to since I was a kid. Right away it transports me back to Saturday morning cartoons… now I’m in a position to help mold those stories, and pass them along to the next generation. You can’t put a price on that.” - Ryan Johnston on voiceover storytelling

In his debut book, former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A, Steve Robinson shares with readers the secret to the growth and success of one of the nation’s fastest growing fast food restaurants. In Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand, Robinson takes people behind the scenes to show them how Chick-fil-A scaled up from 184 stores and $100 million in annual sales to more than 2,100 stores and $6.8 billion in annual sales during the 34 years Robinson served as CMO. Read that again marketer. 34 years as CMO.

With an emphasis on building relationships rather than focusing on transactions, Robinson shares some of the philosophies Chick-fil-A employs that may seem counterintuitive to business…and why it has worked so well.

In our conversation, Steve and I also talk about how advertising that entertains is more powerful than just average interruptive advertising.

Author, Podcaster, Audio Drama Creator Paul Sating

Paul Sating is an author and creator of five audio drama podcasts, including Subject: Found, Diary of a Madman, Who Killed Julie?, YOU, and Atheist Apocalypse. He is also the host of Horrible Writing, a podcast where he shares his journey toward being published, along with candid interviews with other writers.

His first three books were published in 2018. Chasing the Demon (a thriller), 12 Deaths of Christmas (a horror anthology), & Novel Idea to Podcast (nonfiction) helped him realize his childhood dream of becoming a published author.

In addition to those ventures, he is the co-creator of an upcoming horror audio drama titled Family Portrait and, when he's not writing books or podcasts, he's punching out short stories for his Patrons and perpetually working on his novels.

“Apple could get out of digital media completely. Then what do you do? You need a newsletter. You don’t control Twitter, Facebook, Spotify… nobody.” - Paul Sating on owning your content

JC Little is a mom, an animator, a humorist, an award-winning story artist, a compelling public speaker and a social media minx! Always playful and often poignant, JC Little blogs her eclectic slice-of-life stories with unique drawings and animation at TheAnimatedWoman.com. She's a happily married mother of three and a director whose 30+ year career in animation has spanned commercials, feature films, TV series, new media, mobile apps and picture-books.

JC is a two-time BlogHer Voice of the Year honoree, and winner of three Canadian Weblog Awards. She's on the Wacom site as a Wacom Ambassador, and delivers highly illustrated keynotes (she what she did there…) on leadership, visual storytelling and empathy. JC is the creator and director of the Disney-syndicated, Gemini-nominated kids TV series, My Life Me, and has animated over 30 short films, the latest of which is the award-winning Papa Pasquale.

She also drew my bride and me for our wedding back in 2011. Look in the show notes for those very special illustrations.

I’ve known JC for a few years now and have followed her story through a couple chapters. Now I want to share her stories with you.

Photojournalism to Comedy with Rich Prange

Rich Prange is a stand-up comic in Phoenix, Arizona. He’s also an award-winning photojournalist. Which is why I know him. We worked together at a TV news station in Kalamazoo, Michigan years ago. And it’s been fun to watch his story unfold, to where he’s now performing his comedy on stages. Rich sees comedy as a storytelling art form much like music.

“People will say they saw a comedian and it’s the same as they saw in a video. That’s because it’s scripted. It’s like a concert. They aren’t just going off the top of their head. It’s a song they wrote.” - Rich Prange on comedy performances

Telling the Story of the Antwerp Zoo and Convention Center with Anja Stas

Anja Stas creates meaningful marketing with campaigns such as A Room with a Zoo / Zoo of Life/ Kai-Mook. Anja Stas is an award winning marketer with a passion for the possible; bridging ecology and economics. She works for the Flanders Meeting & Convention Center of Antwerp – which is the Antwerp Zoo in Belgium. But it’s so much more than a zoo. It’s a story. And for Anja, being a storyteller is in her makeup.

“We have winter and summer. We have ups and downs. Work, for me, is like that. When you’re an artist, which you are when you’re a storyteller, it’s not about being in balance everyday. It’s from a balanced self within.” - Anja Stas on balancing life and work

Telling Stories Through Music with Willie Wisely

Today’s guest is… a musician whose music is hyper-personal, and by turns quirky and unexpectedly profound. On stage he delivers much more than just song. He plays and moves in a can’t-take-your-eyes-off him style that reminds you why leaving the house for live music is so critical to understanding the pop music art form.

I first heard of Willie Wisely when I discovered James Gunn’s Tromeo and Juliet. Willie was the film score composer. I dove into his music from there, had a few conversations, and even tried to help get him to my hometown with a living room concert. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, but I’ve kept in touch with him and followed his career. His albums Parador and She have been staples for me over the years. I’m stoked to bring you Willie Wisely on today’s episode.

The longtime Los Angelino (and now prodigally-returning son to his native Minneapolis/St. Paul), has surprised the LA songwriter scene with a recent career rebirth. He brings with him a decades-long, criminally overlooked catalog of pop recording and songwriting that might leave any Paul McCartney & Wings fan wondering why the hell Wisely isn’t opening at Dodger Stadium for Macca in July. Wisely’s love of music permeates his everyday life, including how he decided to cover a Jackie Lomax tune from an obscure Beatles era story.

“We were convinced we were the only people in the world who knew him [Jackie Lomax]. His obscurity was so deep, that when we played his tracks live at our shows we just said we wrote them.” - Willie Wisely on performing

Using Story to Entertain Baseball Fans

Jesse Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of the summer league baseball team the Savannah Bananas. The Savannah Bananas currently have sold out every game for 3 straight seasons and have a waiting list in the thousands for tickets.

Jesse is an in-demand speaker and released his first book “Find Your Yellow Tux – How to Be Successful by Standing Out” in 2018. He's been featured on MSNBC and as a keynote speaker all over the country, promoting his motto "If it's normal, do the exact opposite."

“Contagious caring creates a ripple effect. All of us need to care more. You can talk about caring til you’re blue in the face. But how do you show it?” - Jess Cole on sharing your wins