Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - #424: Why It Is Time To Tell YOUR Story with Kindra Hall Bestselling Author, Renown Keynote Speaker, & President & Chief Storytelling Officer at Steller Collective

Episode Date: May 7, 2024

The biggest stages in the world are waiting to welcome you. Are you ready to take the stage? Let me teach you how…. Join The Elite Mastermind with me! There are only 20 seats available. Link here: https://heathermonahan.com/the-elite-mastermind/ In This Episode You Will Learn About:  Why storytelling is a crucial tool for upleveling your business  How the BEST leaders use storytelling to build trust The importance of choosing the stories we tell ourselves How to use stories to navigate the CHAOS around you Resources: Website: https://www.kindrahall.com/  Visit www.storyedgebook.com/ to receive an autograph with your book Read The Story Edge LinkedIn, Facebook & Instagram: @KindraHall  Twitter: @kindramhall By popular demand, NetSuite has extended its one-of-a-kind flexible financing program for a few more weeks! Head to NetSuite.com/monahan  Visit heathermonahan.com Reach out to me on Instagram & LinkedIn Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com  Show Notes:  Are you using stories to your advantage? Today I have the illustrious Kindra Hall back on the show to tell us how to give our stories the EDGE! She is a renowned storytelling expert, bestselling author and powerful speaker. She will share with us how stories are the key to effective leadership, unshakable self worth, and thriving personal relationships. Get ready to uncover how storytelling isn't just good communication but a crucial tool in crafting a meaningful life and an effective business. It’s time to tell your story! And I can’t wait to hear it! If You Liked This Episode You Might Also Like These Episodes: #380: Unlocking The Fountain of Youth: The Proven Science Behind Age Reversal Secrets with Carolina Oliveira Co-founder & CEO at OneSkin #401: Listener Favorite- How To Get Motivated When YOU Aren't Feeling It, with Heather! #398: DECODE Your Interview Style: The Ultimate Strategy For Tailoring Your Approach for Success with Anna Papalia CEO of Interviewology, Author, Keynote Speaker, & Career Influencer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash Monahan, all lower case. Go to Shopify.com slash Monahan now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash Monahan. I think that's the big thing that we're missing right now. That's why we have a crisis of leadership. One of the big reasons is a lack of trust and a justified lack of trust. We've been lied to over and over again. Sometimes we know it, sometimes we don't. And I don't think anyone takes a message at face value anymore. Come on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, you're going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow.

I'm ready for my close up. Hi and welcome back. I'm so glad you're back with me this week. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited. We have a return guest, Kendra Hall. She's a bestselling author, business storytelling advisor and internationally sought after keynote speaker, trusted by global brands to deliver presentations,

trainings, and inspired teams and individuals to better communicate the value of their company, their products, their individuality, through strategic storytelling. What began as a fifth grade language arts assignment grew into a passion for not only telling stories, but a mastery for teaching others the methods and science of storytelling

so they can better tell their own. Your first two books were Wall Street Journal Bestsellers. You've got a new book out now, Kendra. I'm just so excited that you're here and to get into your story and how we can help others tell their story. Thanks for being here. So happy to be here.

So happy to be back. Wasn't that long ago we were together, but I am happy to be back. It wasn't that long ago we were together, but I am happy to be back. I'm so happy that you are back. So for anyone that's listening right now, to me storytelling is such a big part of everything. Social media, using a podcast, giving a speech. But for people who are listening right now, they're saying the heck does storytelling have to do with my life? Because you know there are people out there that just don't get it. How do you get them up to speed on what you do? It sounds like a made up job.

I know, like being a storytelling expert and it is I made up my job. But really, the truth is, and you're absolutely right. The power of storytelling permeates all angles of business, especially in this day and age, especially usually we think about it in terms of like a marketing strategy, right? Getting your story out there. I need to tell my story. But if you think about it, stories really are the original human currency. Like stories were the original way that we were able to organize and to share knowledge

and communicate in a way that no other animal or species could, it's what made humans what we are today from the very beginning of time. So, you know, when you think about all the hot new strategies in business, you don't really think of storytelling as a hot new strategy because it's literally the oldest thing we have.

And yet since stories are a part of our DNA, our biology, who we are as humans, it's still the most important. You know what's interesting as you're telling that, I just pop into my head, the Bible is basically stories, it's storytelling. Absolutely, the stories that are in there have become the blueprint for morality for millions and millions of people over, you know,

hundreds of thousands of years. People say, well, like, who is the greatest storyteller? And would be, you know, Jesus is definitely at the top of the list. And we use stories to understand who we are. We use stories to understand the situations around us and what has gone before us. So yeah, I mean, what is that? That's the number one bestseller, I think, is the Bible.

So I successfully- And the last written work of art that was ever created. Okay, so everything else is just re-imagined, in my opinion. So let's talk a little bit briefly about your first two books and why they were important to bring forward. Yeah, I so my first two books were, oh, I'm so proud. I love them so much. I feel like

someone someone's saying, talk to me about your kids. I'm like, Oh, let me talk to you about my books. So my first book was stories That Stick, How Stories Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business that was released in September of 2019. And you can tell right there in the title, that book was about the outward stories that we tell and how we can use that for messaging, for marketing, for influence, for customer engagement. And I was so thrilled to be able to bring that book to the marketplace as someone. I mean, as you said in the bio, right?

Like I told my first story when I was 11. So it's been three decades and then some for me that I've been working on the power of story. So, and knowing that storytelling had become a buzzword, certainly at that time, I was feeling really frustrated that though people were talking about the importance of storytelling in business, in

marketing, nobody was really showing anyone how like what is a story? How do we do this? What makes a story great? And so it was thrilling for me to have people buy that book, read that book, share that book. And most importantly,

I'll still have people come up to me with like, the whole book is highlighted and there's post, it's all over. So that was the first book. So I want to jump in and say something because my memory, you just triggered my memory. Was that the book? This is so wild that had the perfume story of you guys in France.. It was it was so wild. But kindred, that's such a testament, actually. And this is not a stage. That's a testament to the power of storytelling that when I hear you talking about that book, that's what I remember.

You remember that story. I mean, the number of bottles of that cologne that I have sold, that was before affiliate marketing, I feel like was really a thing. I really wish I had gotten a cut of that. Like, here's the link by my by the bottle using my code. But exactly, you can see right there that you remember a story that you read in a book five years ago, right? And that's the power of a story right there. That's just how they work with us. And stories stick with people, hence the title of the book. Yeah, that's the one. That was a good story too.

It's a great story. And guys, if you haven't read it yet, you gotta go back and read these first two books. They're incredible. All right, tell us about the second book. The second book came out in January, 2022, which is such an interesting time. That book was called,

"'Choose Your Story, Change Your Life,' how to silence your inner critic and rewrite your life from the inside out. Whereas stories that stick, and of course the book that is just now coming out, the story edge, while those are about business and storytelling, choose your story was really more about

the stories we tell ourselves and about the stories we tell ourselves and how the stories we tell ourselves. So more personal development book than anything. And whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're a mother, whether you're no matter who you are, because we are storytelling creatures, we're not only telling stories outwardly, we're not only listening to stories, but we're telling stories to ourselves. And these stories that we tell ourselves happen automatically. It's just a built-in biological function, right? So we don't even notice that they're there.

As a human, our stories are often negative because they're designed to keep us safe, because we want to just create more humans, right? Our ancient brains want us to live to see another day. And so we tell ourselves these stories that then dictate the actions that we take. And if we keep those stories on autopilot, often they cause us to hold ourselves back to not take the risks, to get caught in self-doubt loops. The good news is, knowing this about ourselves,

you can choose which stories you tell yourself, like stopping at the automation and saying, when I feel this way, or like when the moment comes that I'm supposed to go work out, and usually I tell myself the stories of why I should just stay in bed, or I feel uncomfortable, I don't want anyone to like be looking at me weird at the gym. Instead you could tell yourself a different story that would motivate the action that

would get you out of bed and exercising. That book, I am just now sharing that message on stages more often. And it is such an honor to be able to share that message. It's a sensitive one. But then to hear the stories of the stories that people have changed. It's pretty exciting. Yeah. When I started podcasting, an online store was the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm selling my group coaching on the regular and it is just so easy. All because I use Shopify.

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labeled a smart one and I was labeled a smart one, and I was labeled a social one. And I had forgotten about these stories because it was in my subconscious, right? It wasn't something that I thought about in my day to day life. However, when I got fired and I was on the Elvis Duran show, he looked at me and said, Heather, obviously you're writing a book. And I said, well, obviously I wasn't, of course, but he spoke a belief and a conviction into me that in that moment I accepted. But when I got on the plane to fly home, I Googled, how do you write a book?

And that's when it hit me, you can't write a book. Yeah, absolutely. And I started telling myself the story, Kendra, and I didn't realize at the time, but I love that you've written a book about this. I didn't even know I was doing this. I was stopping myself now that I had left this person's, you know, aura, now I was on my own to tell myself

my negative self stories. Heather, you're not smart enough to write a book. Heather, you can't do that. You're supposed to be in sales. You're supposed to go back to your lane. And I had to pump the brakes and actually dismantle that story and say, is this even true? Is there any back to this? Who cares? Maybe she's smart and I smart, too. And then I took it a step further. I'm like, maybe I'm going to have to be smart to write a book. I Google has any jackball ever written a book? And there's millions of them. And so I dismantle that story and start telling a new one. And this is the fundamental, you know, regardless of which book it is.

Stories are just those are our building blocks. We're like we're DNA, we're cells and we're stories. And so no matter how you come at it, no matter what facet or function of business or just your own personal wellbeing, it is all stories. And so your ability to identify that and be like, wait, this is an old story. And it is for that book too,

when people go back and think, oh my gosh, like I can't believe that I tell myself a story from when I was 11. Like I can't believe that I'm allowing these. And so, yeah, and then I would say even take it one step further. Something I've been working on lately is, yeah, maybe I don't have the stories that I can choose that can prove that I can do something. So I set out to experiment and be like, Okay, can I experience a new story here and then use this story when I think that I can't

do something else be like, wait, but I did that. Now I can do this. It's like future casting. I love that. So so good. Alright, so now, I'm so impressed that you've written three books that I've not done that yet. Yet talk to me about this new book and what we're getting into. It's wild how you can hear conversations changing. There's different data, statistics, you know, trends that you can see in the marketplace. And now we really are in a crisis of leadership, I would say. Like it's how do I raise leaders?

How do I lead these people? Who am I as a leader? And then you couple that with all of this. I mean, just the baseline challenge of leading a team is one thing. And then you couple that with all of the chaos and we've just been in crisis mode for so long and changes and like this is going to take over the world and this is going to take over the world.

And how do you find any solid ground to stand on? And for me, it was really important that people understand that your stories, stories are going to be the solid ground. Like when in doubt, story is going to be the way forward. This is and if you as a leader, it's actually a phrase that I use in there is this mantra or really more a description, a title, a story forward leader that at any problem, at any situation you face or approach, you see it as a storied situation and seeing it that way can help you store your way through it.

I don't understand what that means. Let me break it down. The first thing when it comes to leadership, here's what I would recommend is to say to yourself, but first, story before I take action, before I make a decision, before I claim something to be true or instruct someone to go a certain way. I need to take a look at this from a story approach. And there are three fundamental truths that I then outline in the book that kind of go into this, but first story that also supports that like every problem is a story problem.

And the first one is there is always a story in any situation, in any challenge, in any person, in any opportunity. There is a story there. And especially if you feel like you're misunderstanding something or you're missing something, chances are, you're right, you're missing the rest of the story and a leader's ability to see that, to pause for a moment and be like, wait, something's not right here. There's

a story here and I need to figure out what it is, is essential to leading in times of chaos and confusion. So that's one of the first fundamental truths. Second fundamental truth is for a leader to say to themselves is this situation needs a story. So if there's something you want to make happen, if there's an initiative you need to get through, if there's a challenge you need to overcome, or even, you know, back to the message of stories that stick, a sale you need to make, a story is the thing that is going to move the needle. A story is the thing that will get the job done. And then the third fundamental truth. is the thing that will get the job done. And then the third fundamental truth. So we have, there's always a story. This needs a story.

And you're always in the middle of a story, which means I think the crisis of leadership has to do with the chaos that is all around us. And it just feels like there's never a dull moment. Every day you come home from work and you're like it was something else today or a continuation of the thing that it was yesterday and the importance for a leader, an entrepreneur, anyone to understand that this is always the middle of a story. And middles by default are challenging, they're confusing, they're chaotic. And if you can remember that you're at the middle of a story, not at the end of a story or also not at the beginning, you can maintain the mindset that, okay, let's see how this

story will turn out. And then this will be a story that I can tell back to myself, to my team members that we can learn from and use to move ourselves forward. That was a long answer to a short question. It's good, though. I love it. And it just reminded me of something my pastor said last Sunday in church that the most impactful stories start from a place of struggle and weakness, not from strength. And just like to your point of being in the middle, so often when we're living the story,

when we're in it, we don't realize to your point that we're just in the middle. This is not how it ends. And you posted on Instagram, if you haven't followed Kendra yet, follow her at Kendra Hall on Instagram. You posted a couple of times and I loved it because it always hit me on days that I'm like, thank you for the reminder. Like this is not the end of the story. You are just in the middle of it. We don't know where it's going yet.

So I love that idea because it gives you so much hope. Well, and it's important too. So imagine that you are, whether you're a one woman or one man team, right? The importance of you staying in that place, right? And whether it's a big thing or a small thing. I remember one day I was trying to get back home. My flight got canceled.

I had to move and, you know, like get on different flights and different airlines. And that's a small inconvenience, right? But I remember sitting at the airport. It was a tiny airport too. I think it was in like Tucson or something. And I just said, this is the middle of a story. Let's see how this story turns out. And I ended up because I sat, I believe in that space of this is the middle of a story. You can, it's that main

character energy, right? I'm so suddenly that I'm sitting there to be like, oh, let's see how this script writes itself. And sure enough, don't you know that I sat next to the most fascinating man on the one flight, and I sat next to this woman who I have been wanting to meet for years. And we're sitting across the aisle from each other. So if I hadn't had that flight canceled and gotten moved from a connection in Dallas to Phoenix, I never would have sat across from her.

We never would have connected. You know what I mean? And so it's hard, it is hard to remember that that's how it works, but it is. And from an individual perspective, fine. But from the perspective of a leader, in these times where it feels like such a slog, where your team is

frustrated and, you know, demoralized or whatever, feels like they're facing this big loss. Your job, because to keep them performing at their best, they can't be sitting there like, oh, this is such a fit. Like, you can't feel that way. Your job, then, is to help remind them that that no, this is where we are in the story. We are going to tell this story someday. And the importance, the value of keeping them in that mind space is extremely important. CBdistillery.com is giving you an exclusive offer and it's huge right now.

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Not available in Idaho, Iowa, and South Dakota. I love that idea of what you did in the airport. It reminds me of Joe Dispenza's work where he talks a lot about the power of sitting in total uncertainty and embracing it as total possibility that there's all of these opportunities now all around you and be open to whatever, you know, in a positive way like you did, but that will bring about more opportunity that's gonna be more positive and that, you know, it's gonna take you to a better place.

When you were speaking, you were also making me think of the importance of being a leader to our family and to our children. I feel like this is the most important leadership role is as a parent and the importance of when your kids are in a middle of a story to help them see it as a middle of a story. So can I share a quick story here? I have a son, he's currently in seventh grade I have a daughter who's in sixth grade several years ago and we had talked about this Heather You know that my daughter dances at a very prestigious ballet school did not get that talent from her mama We are not sure where that came from. I'm more like Roger Rabbit, right? So she

My daughter is in this prestigious ballet school where basically at the end of each level, they either invite you back to go up a level, they invite you to stay at the same level or they excuse you. And of course everybody hopes that they get moved up. Well, my daughter, they wanted to keep her at the same level and she was devastated. She just, she didn't want to have to repeat the level. She already learned all those things. And I mean, she's seven at the time, eight, maybe years old. And my husband took her and it was a decision that she had to make. Like,

was she going to go continue or did she want to part ways and do something else. And he took her out to dessert because she has a huge sweet tooth. And he told her his story of having to make an athletic decision like that, that he chose to leave and how he now looks back and wonders what would have happened if he had stayed and told her, you know, this is the middle of your story and you have authority to choose whether you make the decision to leave or to stay, but know that right here in this middle, this decision matters. And she said, I'll stay, I want to stay. And drawing her attention to like, this doesn't have to be the end of this story. It could just be the middle. And now she's thriving. It was actually the

best decision for them to hold her back because she needed the extra year of gaining strength. But I don't think she would have approached that situation. She would have been like, I don't want to do it. And would have just left instead of saying, hey, this is where you're at. You're in this middle of a story. The more we can do that. And it really does. We say, you know, like hardships are what make you and, you know, nothing's a failure. If you learn from it, fine, those all look good on coffee mugs. But like, what does that actually look like? Yeah, it's the most important leadership role we

have. It reminds me, I did not do this strategically, wish I had, I'm going to now after we have this conversation. But I remember when my son was younger, he was in elementary school, came home heartbroken first time, you know, that a girl broke his heart. Actually, the only time that's happened thus far, or to that story. But anyhow, so he came home, he's crying, devastated, you know, end of the world. And I went into his room and sat on the bed with him. And I said, what is going on? He starts telling me and for whatever reason, I went right into the

story of when this guy broke my heart, my ex-boyfriend that I lived with, I thought I was getting married to, I start telling him the whole story, I was in my 20s, and I tell him, you know, he ends up cheating on me and we break up and I get on a plane and I have to move. And it actually led to like the biggest business opportunities of my life.

And, you know, catapulted me in business and took me to a totally different place, which ultimately led me to meet his father, to have my son. And I said, and then cut to two years ago, I ran into this guy that she did on years before at a wedding and he was wearing blue sunglasses and like had fallen apart, like a not good guy. Like, yeah, not a good look at night.

No, but it was so clear to me now. I said, Dylan, this guy was the one standing there looking at me saying, look what I mess up. And I was one saying, what guy was the one standing there looking at me saying, look what I mess up. And I was one saying, what a blessing that this all happened. And he said, he looked at me and he said, do you think one day she'll look at me like that? And I said, absolutely.

And 100% The story hit him and like gave him that hope that, wait a minute, it just doesn't end with me being alone crying. Actually, this is potentially a positive, but the story is really what gave him that hope to get up. Well, and here's actually one of the strategies that I discuss in the story edge. So it's funny to think that like a discussion with your teenage son could be related to a business strategy, but it really is.

And as a matter of fact, just last night, my son who's in seventh grade, so we're in it, you know what I mean? Like we've got a rough couple of years and then I'm hoping it gets a little bit better, right? But this is a, it's a time and I was putting him to bed and he said, he was like, mama, can you tell me a story about when you were in middle school and it just sucked? We also talk in the book about the importance of transparency. So full transparency, probably what I should say here as the storyteller is that I told them this big long story. But no, my first response was, dude, I'm exhausted. I'm putting you to bed and then I'm going to go sit and catch up on a show on Bravo. And then I'm going to bed. Like I cannot tell you a story right now because he's like,

oh, come on, please. He needed it, right? He needed the story of when it sucked for me. Now, here's how this is applicable as leaders in business. And there was actually a study done, a really fascinating article published in a reputable medical journal where they were saying the training that up and coming physicians are missing are the stories from the teaching physicians. They need to know the two biggest crises these young doctors are going to face in their career. Because what we're doing is we're teaching them all of the things that you're supposed to do and the body parts and the procedures and everything. But the hardest part about the job are these two things that they're supposed to do and the body parts and the procedures and everything. But the hardest part about the job are these two things that they're going to encounter.

And the article goes into what they are. But they were like, you need to sit down and tell the up and coming physicians your stories of the worst parts of this job so that they know what they are, so that they're prepared for it, so that when they're encountered with it, they're not like, I don't know what to do about this. I didn't know that this was here because they know that someone they trust has also experienced it. They now have the story so they know how maybe they can navigate themselves through it.

And they also know that on the other side of these difficult moments is the rest of the career that can be very fulfilling and this is just a part of it. How this translates into business, no matter what your business is, it is really important as leaders and it sounds like a bad idea, but done with some balance is actually a really important one is if you know,

like let's say you're in a really high intensity, high pressure sales organization, and you have these people that are coming in and they're wide eyed and they're so excited and you never tell them that this is going to be so much travel that they're going to know the TSA agents better than they know their own friends. But you never tell them that because you're afraid it will scare them away. It's important that you and tell your own stories, not just say, this is going to be really hard, but your stories of crazy travel stories or maybe the worst part of your job is that you're constantly having to deal with the legal department and they're so frustrating. And like, tell your story of dealing with that so that, A, they're prepared for it and B your story of dealing with that so that a they're prepared for it and B they have the stories of what to do in those situations.

Stories are such an important way, whether you're dealing with children or whether you're dealing with the children in the office of equipping people with the way to think about the problems that they're either encountering or that they're going to encounter. You brought up transparency and the importance of transparency in storytelling and business. Why is that important? I think now more than ever, our sensors are up, right? Like we know it's no longer like put out this press release and we don't see any of the behind the scenes of any organization. That's just the nature with social media, with the access that we have with anything

that could be recorded at any time. We have access to a lot of people's stories. And so we're much better at sniffing out when something doesn't quite seem like the real thing. That alone is enough to know that unless you're a really great actor, which I'm sure there are some leaders who are, people are on to you, whether it's within your organization, certainly within your organization or out in the general public. And so just by default, transparency is a better option. Now, I'm not saying that you need to tell every dark

and dirty secret that there is. Vulnerability doesn't have to mean like bawling your eyes out like a girl on The Bachelor, right? And in some cases, it could be the extent of the transparency is there is more to the story here, and I'm not at liberty to tell you what it is. What a powerful phrase, right? There is more to the story. I'm pretty sure you can tell that there's more to the story. I'm not at liberty to tell you what it is. But like the amount of trust that someone will have for you even acknowledging that yes, there are things that I can't tell you right now. It's so valuable. And I think that's the big thing that we're missing right now. That's

why we have a crisis of leadership. One of the big reasons is a lack of trust and a justified lack of trust. We've been lied to over and over again. Sometimes we know it, sometimes we don't. And I don't think anyone takes a message at face value anymore. So the more you are willing to share your stories, there's an example in the book about have you tried that Graza olive oil, the one that comes in the squeeze bottle? Oh, it's such a great well now you're going to see it everywhere you go. But it was the startup olive oil company that just like ended up at Christmas time, sending out a bunch of like, they were supposed to be these gift boxes,

but they were terrible. Like they were dented. It was just a disaster. The CEO just wrote this email, didn't even spell check it. And like just said, I'm very sorry. This happened because of this and this happened because of this

and we're a mess and we're gonna be better. We're growing really fast. So what I'm going to do for you is give you a $6.33 credit for your next order." He was just so transparent with what was going on. He owned it. And he got thousands of emails back thanking him for his transparency and dissatisfied customers who got dented bottles of olive oil and promising to stay loyal customers. So the benefits of transparency are so much greater than the drawbacks. And through stories, you can effectively share the parts that you can. Talking about the importance of transparency,

what popped into my mind was AI. And, you know, I could be writing a story on LinkedIn, creating a post, and it says to me, would you like me to update this with AI? How does AI impact storytelling, or how does storytelling thrive in an AI world? One of the appendices in the book is a story written by AI about Rocky the raccoon

who wanted to be a human. And it was so funny because it was like a 350 word story and it was not bad, right? Like we just said, write a story about a raccoon who wants to become human and they named it Rocky, but it wasn't great. But here's the thing, I think AI personally is an incredible opportunity. It's such an incredible tool. I mean, I think AI personally is an incredible opportunity.

It's such an incredible tool. I mean, I use it, right? I put out a video weekly newsletter every week and sometimes I already filmed the video like I don't want to rewrite the video in a blog post so I can use AI to help me out, right? Like it saves so much time. But when people say that AI is going to take over or impact storytelling, we still have to remember that maybe online,

like AI will help, but a lot of your work is still face to face with humans. Right? Like unless you're literally writing the copy for the website or the social media post, right? There is still an aspect of your job that requires you to interact with other humans face to face or, you know, over Zoom, virtual, whatever. And I couldn't AI myself right now, Heather, right? It hasn't gotten to that point yet. And so still, I think AI is not going anywhere. Use it as a tool. There's so many fun ways to use it. And thinking that AI is going to solve all your problems, like

you're not going to a networking event with a bunch of robots. Like that's just not happening. You still have to be able to interact with people. I mean, maybe that's how the people who know that you still have to be able to interact with people are the people who are really going to rule the world, right? Well, I think that's even more than ever storytelling is a differentiator because it is your real life, because it can't be AI because it actually has to happen with real people. That is going to make the stronger, better, more transparent you are at storytelling is going to make you more likeable, more trustworthy, you know, all the things. Tell us, who did you write this book for? I wrote this book, honestly, for a couple of my friends who are leaders right now and

are trying to figure it out because it's different than it was. It's different than it was 10 years ago. It's different than it was four years ago. It's different than it was 20 years ago. And that sometimes, and you just said it there, when everybody else is focusing on this and that and this and that, if you're the one focusing on this one thing that nobody else is

paying attention to, but that we know is our superpower, like this is the thing that humans do. I mean, you said you read that book five years ago and remembered that story. You think about the stories that important people in your life have read to you, the stories that you've taken from the Bible or the stories that your pastor has shared that are related to the teachings of the Bible, like all of this. And my friends were getting frustrated and they were having a hard time. And I mean, for me, stories have always been my thing. And so, you know, whatever they say to the person holding the hammer, everything's a nail. And so for me, it's always going to be a

story. And I hoped that when they read this, that maybe it would give them just a strategy or two, even just a perspective to say, okay, here's how I can use who I already am, the stories I already have, at least make the job a little bit easier to feel a little bit more effective. Well, and like we just discussed, I mean, everyone's a leader at some level in their life, whether you're parenting, whether you're leading one person, whether you're leading a team. So get the book, the story edge, where can people find it and where can they find you? It is wherever books are sold. So amazon barnes and noble Bookshop.org, I think is where you can get it on

individual bookstores. You can also get it on Audible and I will read it to you. And then you can find me online at Kindra Hall. I'm not on TikTok, but you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. My website is kindrahall.com. Oh, and if you order the book, I'll send you an autograph. If you go to, I think it's storyedgebook.com is the website, enter your info, and then I'll mail you an autograph so you can have a signed copy. We will link that in the show notes below. Kendra, thank you for sharing your story

and teaching others how to do the same. Always happy to be with you, Heather. All right, guys, go get the book, The Story Edge. Until next week, share your stories and keep creating your confidence. You know I will be. I'm gonna make it right over again. I decided to change that dynamic.

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