Ep44 Ashley Bright - Strategic Storytelling Without Sacrificing Authenticity

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:03:03
Ashley Bright
And there's a quote that I've used in some of my, my workshops,

00:00:03:03 - 00:00:10:21
Ashley Bright
professionals, it's not that they able to eliminate the butterflies that you get, it's just that they've trained them to fly in formation.

00:00:10:21 - 00:00:19:12
Ashley Bright
think it speaks to this idea of like, you just get more familiar, more comfortable. You flex that muscle and it becomes sort of normal.

00:00:19:12 - 00:00:45:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
Hey, hey. Welcome to a podcast where dreams meet. Determination and success is just around the corner. I'm your host, Suzanne Taylor King. And I'm here to help you unlock the full potential of your business and your life. Welcome to Unlock Your Way with SDK. Let's unlock your path to success together.

00:00:45:19 - 00:01:23:19
Suzanne Taylor-King
Good morning. Good morning everyone. Suzanne Taylor King here with another Friday episode of Unlock Your Way with STK. And we are here today with Ashley Bright, the message fixer. And I just have to tell this quick story about scrolling LinkedIn and finding this guy with the yellow glasses and the awesome LinkedIn profile. When I looked at it and starting a conversation with you was one of the easiest connections I've ever made.

00:01:23:19 - 00:01:26:00
Suzanne Taylor-King
So thanks for being you.

00:01:26:02 - 00:01:30:22
Ashley Bright
Well thank you, thank you. It's it's wonderful when you feel comfortable enough with someone right up front.

00:01:30:22 - 00:01:31:09
Suzanne Taylor-King
That.

00:01:31:11 - 00:01:35:20
Ashley Bright
To be you. And I think we should all strive for that. But it's not always easy.

00:01:35:22 - 00:01:52:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yes. How did you get to this point? Before we get into what you do and how you do it? But how did you get to that point of confidence, finding your way to that?

00:01:52:23 - 00:02:15:08
Ashley Bright
It's an interesting question because I, I have this similar conversation sometimes with, with others in this space. And, I think a lot of it is through trial and error. There's, you know, we don't just show up as ourselves. I know we wish we could, but it's often challenging, especially when when you're in this, this business setting and you're maybe you're on line, you're in person, you're on video.

00:02:15:11 - 00:02:46:03
Ashley Bright
And so I've just found over time I became this brand. I became this myself, if you will. I mean, quite honestly, I still feel like there is more, more of me that could come forward. I do find there are moments when I'm. I'm overthinking things, if you will, but I think, you know, the the sort of the unsexy, uninteresting answer is that it just took time to kind of keep at it and keep at it.

00:02:46:03 - 00:03:06:07
Ashley Bright
I, I look at photos from mice of myself on stage or in events from many years ago, and I didn't have the glasses yet, and I hadn't really figured certain things out. And it's it's still me, but it's it doesn't feel like me the way I feel now. So it's interesting. I said on that point. I said this to someone a couple of weeks ago on a call.

00:03:06:09 - 00:03:24:21
Ashley Bright
I was saying that I think in the past I showed up in a way that appeared to be very similar to what I am now in terms of open and approachable, but I was I in retrospect, I feel like there was a bit of a facade there because I felt like that's the way I was supposed to be.

00:03:24:23 - 00:03:42:25
Ashley Bright
Whereas now I think through the years of being an entrepreneur and kind of growing into this, it's hard to see a distinction. But I know there's a distinction because now I feel like I'm truly showing up and being authentic, to who I am versus feeling like, well, I'm I kind of think I'm supposed to be this way.

00:03:42:25 - 00:03:49:01
Ashley Bright
I'm supposed to be that or this. So, there's an authenticity that, again, takes time to get to.

00:03:49:03 - 00:04:15:23
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. And I love that because as you grow as an entrepreneur, I think you become more comfortable being uncomfortable, if that makes sense. You know, so something challenges you or I, you know, I have many clients who are nervous about video or dropping. Doing a live conversation like this can make some people like, oh, really?

00:04:15:25 - 00:04:18:13
Ashley Bright
Oh, that's retake. Wait, wait, can I do that again?

00:04:18:15 - 00:04:56:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. No you can't. Yeah. We're like we could edit it out in the On the Future podcast episode. But so if they're like yeah, but I feel like organic conversations I've always been good at that in real life, so why not take that online and, you know, show people how easy it is. And, you know, I think connecting with others as yourself, the way you do and then your branding that now goes with your personality, I can see that as an evolutionary process for sure.

00:04:56:03 - 00:05:16:17
Ashley Bright
Yes. I think I mean, as an entrepreneur, it's it's very common to have to do those things that are uncomfortable. And the trick and I won't say that I've mastered it by any means, but is being self-aware to kind of recognize those moments. And, you know, you want to prepare, you want to make sure you're ready as best you can.

00:05:16:17 - 00:05:38:27
Ashley Bright
But there's also that element of unknown that you just kind of have to lean into it. Yeah. And know that you're I think a lot of it comes down to intent. And so like for myself, when I'm getting up on stage or getting on video or for my clients when they're about to get up on stage, it often is this worry about me, you know, like, oh, it's all about me, it's all about me.

00:05:39:04 - 00:06:12:23
Ashley Bright
And I often try and change that. Focused to say, no, you're there to connect and add value. Your intent is to engage and share something worthy or valuable to this group. And so I like to sort of have that mind shift to take it off of me and just say, hey, I'm just here to to help. I'm here to share some insight and hopefully that, that over time starts to minimize that fear or anxiety around, at least in that type of setting, that fear of like, oh my God, they're going to judge me.

00:06:12:23 - 00:06:18:14
Ashley Bright
Oh, am I going to deliver value? Oh, they're not going to understand me either. I'm going to imposter syndrome. Let's talk about that. It's a whole other topic.

00:06:18:14 - 00:06:19:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
But yeah.

00:06:19:23 - 00:06:48:03
Ashley Bright
Yeah. So leaning in and it's interesting because as as confident as I sometimes I believe I come across and I hope I come across, there's always that fear, there's always that that anxiety. And there's a quote that I've used in some of my, my workshops, and it's attributed to a whole bunch of different people. But essentially it says that professionals, it's not that they able to eliminate the butterflies that you get, it's just that they've trained them to fly in formation.

00:06:48:05 - 00:06:48:23
Suzanne Taylor-King
Oh, that's.

00:06:48:23 - 00:07:07:09
Ashley Bright
Good. And I've always loved that because I think it speaks to this idea of like, you just get more familiar, more comfortable. You flex that muscle and it becomes sort of normal. But there's always those little, that nervous energy and that kind of anxiety that you kind of just gotta get information, if you will.

00:07:07:11 - 00:07:39:24
Suzanne Taylor-King
I love that because I'm remembering you instantly gave me a flashback to my very first paid speaking gig, and I arrived there and saw the other speakers in the lineup, and they were all doctors. I was the only one that wasn't a doctor, and I thought it was a supplement conference, and I was speaking about brain and positivity and all of that.

00:07:39:26 - 00:08:05:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
And I thought, oh, I'm changing my talk. Like, right now I'm changing my talk. And, you know, I'm talking to myself in my own head. Like, what did you see? You prepared for this talk? You have no cards, you have slides. And I'm like, no, out the window. Out the window. If all the other speakers are doctors, it's going to be scientific and dry.

00:08:05:19 - 00:08:40:22
Suzanne Taylor-King
And, I'll daresay, you know, most of them were a little boring. Didn't know how to engage an audience. We're used to speaking at medical conferences. Right. But this is my chance in my red leather pants to be different and bold. Make the audience laugh, have them stand up and get engaged. And, I was so inspired. Nervous, very nervous, but truly inspired to throw away the no cards.

00:08:40:24 - 00:08:53:02
Suzanne Taylor-King
And to this day, never use note cards for that very reason, allowing the audience to kind of inspire where the information goes.

00:08:53:05 - 00:09:16:29
Ashley Bright
That's great. I mean, that's bold and I mean, come on like that. There's a line there, you know, this is my chance at red leather pants. Like, that's a quotable that's a quotable moment right there. But that's that's brave. But that's. Yeah, that's where the growth happens. Yes. Have those moments of uncertainty and then shift to a place of ultimately triumph or opportunity.

00:09:17:01 - 00:09:44:07
Ashley Bright
And that's one of the things to and I talk about like public speaking is that inherently your body is is trying to protect you. That's where that anxiety, that fear, all those things that happen when you're up on stage come from. But the other side of it is that if you are to channel those into excitement about this opportunity to add value or engage or get new customers or whatever that is for you, that becomes fuel.

00:09:44:09 - 00:10:02:12
Ashley Bright
And as long as you kind of own that, and again, it's, it's mind shift. We've talked about this a couple times, that mindset change because your body's going to give you that energy. You can have no coffee having not slept for three days. And your body will you'll be wired because your body's like you're all going to die.

00:10:02:12 - 00:10:27:07
Ashley Bright
You need to run. So it gives you all this energy and you're like, all right, I acknowledge now I must channel this into being excited and engaged. Because the other thing is, and you know this, that your audience will mirror your behavior and the way you are showing up. And so if you are there and you are excited and you are, you know, whether you're doing this with your hands or not, they will mirror that back to you.

00:10:27:09 - 00:10:32:04
Ashley Bright
And so that confidence is so powerful.

00:10:32:07 - 00:11:07:14
Suzanne Taylor-King
And I wonder, so now I'm curious about some of the things I've and I'd love your opinion on this. In the past. But as a coach, you know, I've been a coach for like 16 years. So obviously I've had lots of coaching programs. I've had lots of offers out there in the world. My most successful offers have been the ones based on work I've done myself, and through some kind of introspection, I realize it's the way I sell.

00:11:07:14 - 00:11:34:10
Suzanne Taylor-King
It is different. I'm more excited about the transformations that I've achieved, and I want those for other people, and it's like an effortless sale. And I'm wondering if that has to do with the way the message is more personal because, you know, it was me that did it. And I see this for you too.

00:11:34:12 - 00:12:06:26
Ashley Bright
Yeah. Well, there's there's a I saw this the other day, actually. Sara Blakely had it on a coffee mug at one of her Instagram photos. It said, there is, I'm trying to remember it now without pain. There is no story. And it's very, you know, important to think about that as it relates to what you just said, you know, whether you are talking about yourself in a program, whether you were talking about an experience you had and sharing that on stage when it's something you've legitimately experienced and had that transfer machine.

00:12:06:29 - 00:12:33:29
Ashley Bright
And when we say pain, it's, it's it varies for everybody. But the idea is that, you know, maybe you were the red leather pants getting on stage like, that's a moment of fear and anxiety. And you feel it kind of in your gut. And then you, you transformed through that experience to learn something and grow. And so it comes back to you authentically now as you share it, because you're not having to sort of like, well, what are my bullet points and what are the things I need to hit?

00:12:34:02 - 00:12:57:21
Ashley Bright
You're just coming forward. And so I think whether you're talking about a story or you're talking about something that you're teaching a, metaphor or, excuse me, a methodology or framework that's rooted in those experiences, that's where that authenticity comes from. And the challenge is from a public speaking standpoint is, I mean, this is something I hear many times from my clients as well.

00:12:57:21 - 00:13:27:14
Ashley Bright
I don't really have a story that fits that, or I don't really know if my experience is relevant. And oftentimes it's absolutely relevant and and invaluable. But the where I come in is help them identify that in their experience and bring it forward and say, yes, this is applicable to this business setting, this presentation, this meeting, but then put a little bit of structure around it so that it's clear in their own mind.

00:13:27:22 - 00:13:47:17
Ashley Bright
And that's where that that work comes in to develop it. But again, it's rooted in an authentic experience you've had. All we're doing is helping shape it a little bit. And so that when you get out there, you know, kind of like, well, there's these five points that articulate this story or this experience, and I just need to make sure I hit those.

00:13:47:23 - 00:14:07:28
Ashley Bright
And each time I share that, it's going to be a little different because it's coming off as it's authentic. It's honest. Yeah. And so I'm not scripting it. I'm not reading from a script in my head. I am just sharing a story and or an experience. And that's where, you know, I often say that when I work with clients, I'm really just kind of adjusting some dials.

00:14:08:05 - 00:14:27:15
Ashley Bright
You have the knowledge, you have the experience, you have the things that are valuable to share. But I'm just going to help adjust a few things so that it connects in the right way that you want it to. And it it puts people sort of in the right frame of, of mind and the right mood to continue that momentum of the conversation.

00:14:27:17 - 00:14:57:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
I love this so much because it's so in line with an activity that I have so many of my clients do who don't see the value in in stories, and they often ask, where, Suzanne, where do you come up with all these stories? Well, I mean, they're all true, but I've worked on what stories are relevant. You know, in the business world, and they're in a notebook.

00:14:57:23 - 00:15:26:07
Suzanne Taylor-King
And I bullet pointed the stories. Like what? Exactly what you said. I forget who I learned it from. A public speaking coach, like, years ago. Said to come up with 25 or 30 stories from throughout your life and bullet point them just so you don't want a script, because then the story sounds the same and robotic like every single time.

00:15:26:09 - 00:15:40:11
Suzanne Taylor-King
And I have noticed such an increase in engagement with other people because I have that ability. I mean it's a great for builder to it is.

00:15:40:11 - 00:16:08:27
Ashley Bright
And that's the thing is I think when, when I hear someone, you know, a client say, well I'm not sure I have a story or I don't know what the story is. It's oftentimes I mean, you know, are minds and our bodies are these repositories for everything that's happened. It's this archive of everything that's happened. And so sometimes it is really like taking a moment either a to your point, keeping a record of these experiences as they're happening and having that self-awareness which many of us don't.

00:16:08:27 - 00:16:44:27
Ashley Bright
And that's understandable. But then the next thing is, well, okay, can we sit down and either think and talk and work through and you identify these things? I remember a number of years ago, I spoke at a design conference, and, leading up to it, I shared, I don't remember whether it was 10 or 20, but every day leading up to the conference, I shared a story of my experience working in the design industry as a creative director and an art director, and it was an interesting exercise because I put it out there before I'd really remember, you know, cataloged these stories.

00:16:44:29 - 00:17:06:02
Ashley Bright
And so there's a little bit of pressure on me to, to remember them, but I knew they were there. And then I made a conscious effort leading up to those those days of jotting them down and they're all back there. It's just that, you know, obviously they're not top of mind. And similar to what you just described, I would put down some very basic points just to remember.

00:17:06:02 - 00:17:24:22
Ashley Bright
Oh, yes, I remember that moment happened. And then the client said this and it was really funny or whatever it was. And then many times I was just I would kind of take a quick look at it and kind of frame it in my mind just very briefly, and then jump on the camera on my phone while I was walking the dog or something and share that story.

00:17:24:24 - 00:17:46:05
Ashley Bright
And so it was again, it was rooted in an honest experience and authentic moment I had. But there was a candid quality to it because I didn't have it all scripted or rehearsed. And, and that's we all have that ability. We all, you know, I joke that if you've if you've made it past birth, you have stories to tell.

00:17:46:08 - 00:17:46:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah.

00:17:46:17 - 00:18:11:28
Ashley Bright
So there's something in there. And they're all human experiences are connected and relatable. And so it doesn't matter whether it's something that happened in the Little League when you were six, it there's something valuable there that you can relate to. Either your experience now as a business leader or you can create an opportunity for someone on your team or someone in your audience to see themselves in that experience.

00:18:12:00 - 00:18:33:23
Ashley Bright
And it's an opportunity for them to realize that, like, oh, it's okay to struggle and then to have that realization in that, that, overcome that challenge. And that's really what it is we talked about. It's about pain that you then go through, which creates, a transformation in who you are. And that's the story, and that's where you learn.

00:18:33:25 - 00:18:50:19
Ashley Bright
And so if you think about that, that like, that's every day and there's so many of those for people, those moments and they don't have to be these giant sort of more illustrative experiences. It can be, you know, just a little experience. That moment you're like, oh my God, that hit.

00:18:50:21 - 00:19:20:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Well, I remember I love telling funny stories. There's something at least for me, about making other people laugh. That's just one of the joys of life. And I remember being, you know, in high school and wanting to move to New York City to be on Saturday Night Live. And my mom said, you can't do that. Like, there's no way you're going to.

00:19:20:03 - 00:19:49:05
Suzanne Taylor-King
And I thought, now I think back, and I think I totally could have done that if. And there's a couple other really funny stories I have from my dental career, which I won't tell because there they're really funny. And, you know, some of them are off color. So, you know, you can't you have to know when the right story is appropriate and, and with the right person.

00:19:49:07 - 00:20:14:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Right. And how do you how do you determine that if, if you're looking for a story to help with someone's leadership or thought leadership or online presence, or getting them more speaking gigs even, how do you find that story? Is it about connecting with the audience? What does that really look like in your process?

00:20:14:03 - 00:20:31:05
Ashley Bright
Well, so one of the things that I always talk about when it comes to finding those stories, especially in that that scenario I just mentioned where someone says, well, I don't really know what stories I've got. I'm not sure what relates. Oftentimes what I'll do is I'll say, well, let's go back to the first. And so that's a good place to start.

00:20:31:05 - 00:20:58:09
Ashley Bright
And we talk about like people, places, nouns, experiences. And so if we start thinking about things like, you know, the first day of, of college or the first trip you went on or a first date or your first car when you got your driver's license, like those become rich terrain today to start to mind stories. And this at this point you these may not be applicable yet, but the idea is you're starting to remember those moments.

00:20:58:09 - 00:21:21:29
Ashley Bright
Oh God, I remember that in fact, as I said, you know, getting your first your car and your license, I need to bring, I'm all of a sudden remembering a story of learning to drive a manual car and and blowing five stoplights at an intersection where everyone could see me. My friends were in the back of the car, and it was incredibly embarrassing.

00:21:21:29 - 00:21:40:04
Ashley Bright
But like, that was a long time ago. And I always remember that. Yeah, but so so part of the process is, is first of all, identifying those. And so I often say find those first, you know, whatever those are that becomes rich territory. And then from there, you know, to your point, you're kind of jot them down and it can be just very quick.

00:21:40:06 - 00:22:00:24
Ashley Bright
And then what you're doing is you'll you'll start to and I find this with, with my clients who that natural kind of curiosity that I have and asking questions you can tell certain stories kind of rise to the top in terms of that impact they had on the client or the person you're speaking with. And so you start to, oh, those three right there, those feel like there.

00:22:00:26 - 00:22:30:23
Ashley Bright
And and from there you can then start to connect. Yeah. So for example, if a client is, you know, in a leadership position and I kind of touched on this before, but oftentimes in those positions you're talking about overcoming a challenge, adopting a new, protocol. And the way we, we run the organization or learning new skills or dealing in the face of what might be considered failure, you know, we launched something didn't work.

00:22:30:25 - 00:22:59:17
Ashley Bright
We're all feeling the, the, the downside of that. And we're kind of down on ourselves as a group or an organization, right? Those those things that you can all connect that to, an experience that you had in those, those stories because they're all, you know, whether you're talking about a business setting in a company, in a professional moment, it's still rooted in like, well, failure, frustration and fear, anxiety, uncertainty.

00:22:59:19 - 00:23:22:16
Ashley Bright
Well, all of those things can be related to learning to play T-ball as a little kid, learning to ride a bike, a first date, or my, you know, learning to drive a, standard vehicle. You know, that that moment of it's a I felt a little bit like I was on stage. I'm in a public setting. There's people around the intersection watching this.

00:23:22:16 - 00:23:35:12
Ashley Bright
There's people behind honking at me. My friends are in the back of the car laughing at that. That's really try to get the clutch gas, clutch gas, clutch gas as the lights keep changing and so that I.

00:23:35:12 - 00:23:38:19
Suzanne Taylor-King
Can feel that story, because that happened to me too.

00:23:38:21 - 00:24:08:13
Ashley Bright
I absolutely. And that's and right there, right there is is the power of an authentic experience story. Is that other people, whether they can directly go, oh my God, I know exactly what you mean in terms of learning to drive a standard car. Or they can relate it to something else where they're just like, because that feeling comes up and it's the kind of that it's it's sort of this energy from within where you're like, oh my God, I remember that that was so embarrassing, or that I remember.

00:24:08:13 - 00:24:14:14
Suzanne Taylor-King
My dad yelling at me to feel the car, feel the car, feel the engine.

00:24:14:19 - 00:24:29:00
Ashley Bright
But and you're and you were probably at that moment, as I'm sure I was in your head thinking very logically, okay, gas a lot, you know, like there wasn't any feeling or intuition, which is still very intellectual. Yes. Yeah.

00:24:29:01 - 00:24:49:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yes. Yeah. And I love that. I love the commonality of that. So stories that could make your audience or your readers feel like, oh, me too. So, I resonate with that. What other kind of stories should we tell?

00:24:49:03 - 00:25:10:29
Ashley Bright
Well, I mean, there's there's, you know, stories are this broad category because I mentioned uncertainty and fear and overcoming anxiety and, those are kind of the, the, the, the moments or the, the feelings that you have, but the story that related to that or created that, that feeling, as you said, those can come from all over the place.

00:25:10:29 - 00:25:49:29
Ashley Bright
So it's a little hard to kind of say what type of a story would be the right fit now. Sorry. Going back to your original question, it just kind of pop back in my head. There is you have to be aware, obviously, of your audience and the setting and the context. And oftentimes when we're talking about leadership, there's value and, real importance to building trust with your audience, being transparent and having a lever, a low level of vulnerability, because that's where you're going to let as you just had that experience where you were feeling, you're remembering that moment that you had learning to drive and I and it was related to what I was

00:25:49:29 - 00:26:14:29
Ashley Bright
sharing. And so it's important to to find that connection. But obviously in a position of leadership and a professional setting, you don't want it to be too much. You don't want it to be sort of an overshare or a Debbie Downer moment. Right. And so again, that's it doesn't mean that that you can't use a whole variety of different stories and experiences you've had.

00:26:15:01 - 00:26:35:15
Ashley Bright
It just might be the level of detail that you go to. And so I'm not going to share the story, but I'll share the moment I was on a call the other day, I'm part of a group called the Iron Tribe, and it's a group of men we meet every Wednesday on a call, and it's very much about sharing kind of those universal experiences, those challenges, uncertainties, things like that.

00:26:35:17 - 00:27:01:19
Ashley Bright
And I was in a breakout room with two people, and I was very candid about something that was going on that day, something I was feeling, something that was really kind of weighing me down. And I shared, you know, very particular, very specific details with that. And then when we got out of the break room, the group, you know, one of the people in that said, well, actually shared something that was really, I think, really valuable to if everyone, you know, actually, if you're willing to share it with the group.

00:27:01:21 - 00:27:19:17
Ashley Bright
And so I reshared it, but I did it in a way that I wasn't giving away too, too much, but I was giving away the essence of the of the learning from that. And so I thought it was a good kind of on the fly example. And it was self-preservation because I was, you know, it was something personal to me.

00:27:19:20 - 00:27:47:04
Ashley Bright
But I think it's a it's a great way to think about how you can share a story in a leadership setting and just be aware that, like, okay, I know I don't want to go too far. And that's why it's important to, do the exercises that I, that I've talked about and that you've talked about, whether it's like recording the stories, jotting down some key moments, and then if you are thinking about, hey, you know, I think this might be applicable to this presentation I'm going to give or this meeting, I'm going to run.

00:27:47:07 - 00:28:13:14
Ashley Bright
It's important to kind of vet that a little bit with yourself. Just kind of make sure because you don't, you know, people that are sort of off the cuff and, and share a story. There's a couple problems. One, if you don't structure it the right way, it just doesn't really connect. So that's problematic. But then if you're if you haven't shared it before, you haven't really done a little work, you've got to be careful, but you might get caught up in it and it can like do the opposite of what you want.

00:28:13:14 - 00:28:17:27
Ashley Bright
Yeah. People go, oh, that was uncomfortable. I'm not sure I want to be at this for right now.

00:28:18:05 - 00:28:47:13
Suzanne Taylor-King
Well, we've got you want to do that? We've all been through, you know, whether it's virtually or in person. Somebody's taking too long to tell a story. Somebody's not getting to the point of the story. Like, how does that relate to what we're talking about? Or over sharing in a business situation? And so all of those things can be solved with a little bit of practice and self-awareness.

00:28:47:13 - 00:29:10:13
Suzanne Taylor-King
That self-awareness piece. And I think that's one of the hardest things to do as an entrepreneur is, you know, be outside of yourself and really look at what you're doing and look at how you're sharing and what you're saying. How do you recommend getting better at that?

00:29:10:15 - 00:29:33:06
Ashley Bright
Well, I think it's it's like so many things that it's I often think about, I mean, there's so many parallels I find with, with working out and health and wellness. And when I say parallels, I mean with being an entrepreneur, being a leader, etc. and a lot of that comes down to, you know, as you're working out, you're you're learning a new exercise, let's say.

00:29:33:06 - 00:29:55:10
Ashley Bright
And so it may be that, like, first of all, you identify like, well, I really want to improve X. And so maybe you go out in YouTube or you go on Instagram or something and you learn, oh, this is a new technique or a new a new, you know, whatever it is. And so it's that process of research and investigation and then you start to integrate that to your workout.

00:29:55:10 - 00:30:12:22
Ashley Bright
And so you may try it. And the first time it's maybe a little awkward and your form isn't quite right and you don't have the right weight. And so it's sort of there's an uncomfortableness to it. But over time you start to kind of get in the flow and it works. You know what weight it is and where does it fit in in the course of your workout that day?

00:30:12:24 - 00:30:33:17
Ashley Bright
And so eventually it just becomes, you know, like it's it's a muscle. You flex, it's it's integrated. And I think that's very true of so many things in, in business and in life. But I think especially when it comes to, public speaking communication, storytelling is it's that process of saying, okay, here's what I'm trying to get to.

00:30:33:17 - 00:30:47:24
Ashley Bright
I've got this moment on stage. I've got I'm going to be on this video, I'm going to be interviewed, and I need to have some things to share. And so going back to that process, like identify it, okay. Those are some interesting stories. Oh, these ones really kind of rise to the top for whatever reason I feel them.

00:30:47:26 - 00:31:02:19
Ashley Bright
And then similar to what I just described with the working out okay. We're going to first of all identify it. We're going to start to integrate it. So we'll do a little sort of practicing and rehearsing and kind of will share that story that it out of that okay, here's some ways we can tweak this and adjust this.

00:31:02:19 - 00:31:21:17
Ashley Bright
And let's we don't need a lot of that set up. I think it's unnecessary. And this is where I'm coming in. I'm I'm being that coach. I'm being that that person that's helping kind of bounce those ideas for my clients. And what we're doing through that process is getting to kind of the the clarity of that story, like, what are the most important points?

00:31:21:20 - 00:31:39:16
Ashley Bright
Because one of the things when we talk about stories is you need to have, you need to have an authentic emotion. You need to have, specific details. You need to have a moment in time. And the reason you have those things is because the authentic emotion is obviously something that you want your audience to feel. Yes.

00:31:39:17 - 00:32:05:12
Ashley Bright
The way you you could feel that moment of learning to drive that I just described, you could feel that. And so that's where that authentic emotion comes in. And then having those specific details, are important because it starts to create a mental picture for who's listening. And so when you start to bring those pieces together in a story, the point is that you don't have a big long set up and people didn't get it or they can't relate.

00:32:05:15 - 00:32:34:17
Ashley Bright
And you missed the punchline and you didn't have an emotion. But through this process, the idea is like we hit on those really succinctly so that, you know, and this is where I've, I was actually in a, in a workshop with a friend of mine last week, and we were talking about comedians, when they go up on stage or when they're writing their, their, their routine he was referencing, sometimes you'll literally whether literally or figuratively, you kind of put sort of five words on your hand.

00:32:34:20 - 00:32:57:23
Ashley Bright
And those are kind of your triggers to remember that that story or that punchline or that arc of the the show. Yeah. Similarly, what we're going to do is we'll identify the story, we'll figure out which ones resonate. We do some of that, that writing and rehearsing. Okay, here's the authentic emotion we need to hit on that. And then there was that detail about the the fluorescent light, you know, kind of flickering.

00:32:57:23 - 00:33:18:01
Ashley Bright
That's something we can all relate to. And so there's a strategic quality to then crafting that story. And then once we've done that, then it becomes sort of the opposite. Now we're kind of simplifying it. So it might come down to one word, you know, like learning to drive or statement learning to drive, or in my case, Volkswagen Bug, because that was the car I had.

00:33:18:04 - 00:33:19:00
Ashley Bright
And so that might be.

00:33:19:05 - 00:33:20:12
Suzanne Taylor-King
What.

00:33:20:15 - 00:33:22:08
Ashley Bright
I did. Yes.

00:33:22:11 - 00:33:34:29
Suzanne Taylor-King
Me too. There you go. My dad had a Kelly Green Volkswagen bug. It was a 67 Volkswagen bug. It was his little dream car. And that's what he told me.

00:33:35:06 - 00:33:52:22
Ashley Bright
I'm going to I'm going to blow your mind here, because I'm pretty sure I'm trying to remember the Volkswagen I had. Volkswagen bug. I'm pretty sure it was a 67. It was a 67. But it wasn't. It wasn't. It was, like flat, white. I think it had been primed and different.

00:33:52:27 - 00:33:53:27
Suzanne Taylor-King
Okay.

00:33:53:29 - 00:33:56:13
Ashley Bright
So but there you go. 67.

00:33:56:16 - 00:34:15:24
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yes. And this, this car, my dad had it forever because, you know, I'm learning to drive in 82. And it was his baby kept it in the garage and it got stolen right before I got my driver's license. And I was devastated.

00:34:15:26 - 00:34:17:19
Ashley Bright
Wow. That sucks.

00:34:17:21 - 00:34:27:20
Suzanne Taylor-King
It did it. It probably a dune buggy somewhere. That's incredible that we learned to drive a stick shift in the same type of car.

00:34:27:23 - 00:34:32:19
Ashley Bright
Exactly. It's funny to now sort of bring it. I know we've gone completely off track on where he's going.

00:34:32:24 - 00:34:36:08
Suzanne Taylor-King
All right. I think that was enough to try to.

00:34:36:09 - 00:34:57:21
Ashley Bright
Bring it sort of back around. My son, who's my oldest, is 17, and he for the last year, he's just been absolutely like consumed with cars. And what about this car and what about that car? And it's funny because last night he was like, what about this? This is really cool. And I think it was maybe a 68 Volkswagen bug, but it was all nice and cleaned up and stuff like that.

00:34:57:23 - 00:35:18:00
Ashley Bright
And I said, I said I love it, but it's a tin can. You can I get that car? It's a, it's wheel. Because of course now versus, you know, in the 80s when we were learning to drive. Yeah, vehicles are much bigger now. And so the idea of getting it a second bug, especially for my son at, well, I might be able to let him get away with it.

00:35:18:00 - 00:35:30:20
Ashley Bright
But my wife, no way. That thing needs airbags. It needs anti-lock brakes. It needs all of those things. Yeah. I could at least say, hey, we didn't know any better. These things didn't exist. You just drove whatever you had.

00:35:30:23 - 00:35:32:27
Suzanne Taylor-King
Was there even seatbelts. I'm not sure.

00:35:33:03 - 00:35:41:22
Ashley Bright
I'm pretty sure there were seatbelts, but that's about the extent there was. There was? Yeah. I didn't even think it had, like, headrests for the back of your head when you were driving.

00:35:41:22 - 00:36:11:04
Suzanne Taylor-King
So. No, no. And you know what I love about this, commonality of stories is this is a perfect example of how stories can connect people. Like, I already knew I like you and I already knew we had rapport. But now to find a thread that's similar between that and you can do that with an audience that's absolutely incredible testament to what you do.

00:36:11:07 - 00:36:38:07
Ashley Bright
Thank you. And that's I mean, right there, as you highlighted, that is the power of yeah, having those moments. And that's why, you know, I've in the past I've taught if I've done a few talks on, mastering the art of conversation. And so for example, in networking events and business settings where you're you're not up on stage, you're not the focus of attention and doing exactly what we just did, where if you go in and the first thing is like, well, what do you do?

00:36:38:09 - 00:36:53:09
Ashley Bright
You know, what's your business? What's your industry like? It's a everyone's talking about that. But if you go in and say something like, you know, wow, nice to meet you. Like what you've been working on this week or what's what's got you excited about, you know, what's going on in the world or even like, you know, hey, I just got here.

00:36:53:09 - 00:37:17:14
Ashley Bright
Like, was there a good talk? Like what talk? Did you like, what's. Because what you're doing is you're now making it not, you know, you're not coming in for the, the the pitch slap, you know, like trying to sell something. You're not coming in with the scripted, kind of like, you know, upsell or the boring. Oh, I'm, you know, I do this, but you're actually creating a moment where you guys can engage on something outside of that.

00:37:17:17 - 00:37:37:12
Ashley Bright
Yeah, and learn something about them when they, you know, the example of, like, well, I just I got here late. Like what? What talks have you seen what resonated. Oh. And you've immediately learned something about that individual. And you maybe as we just had here, there's an opportunity to connect. You know, they mentioned something. You're like oh my God I just I just did that last week.

00:37:37:12 - 00:37:53:08
Ashley Bright
Like I've never done it before, but and now you're having a whole conversation and you're not talking about, you know, what do you guys do and what's your interest in internet. So yeah, there you go. That's there on the fly. The power of I love the telling and authenticity connecting.

00:37:53:10 - 00:38:15:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
I love it. And my final question, which is related to storytelling, having different versions of a story, whether it's, you know, short, medium, long, more detailed, more emotional, what does that look like from your opinion?

00:38:15:17 - 00:38:39:24
Ashley Bright
So it's I, I've described this process in a very few different ways. But, you know, you've identified the story. You've you've started to kind of write it out and craft it and figure out what what works and what doesn't doesn't. And then you go into a process of what I have it just bullet pointing it. And so from that you then go into the next stage, which is starting to think about, okay, if I have 30s, what's that story?

00:38:39:26 - 00:39:08:22
Ashley Bright
If I have three minutes, what's that story? And it's about that level of detail and maybe how you set it up. And it's just as I described with the working out, it's sort of identifying it, integrating it, and then kind of fine tuning it, if you will. And that's really important for, you know, the I just sort of talked about pitch slapping and things like that, but having that sort of quote unquote elevator pitch can, you know, so when someone says, hey, we've got, hey, Bob, can you come in?

00:39:08:22 - 00:39:28:14
Ashley Bright
We got like, you know, I've got such and such here. I just thought he should meet you, you know? Boom. Can you share the most valuable part in 30s, or. Hey, why don't you join us? We got about ten minutes left in our meeting. I'd love for you to share what you're going, what you're working on in this, this new quarter or this new project.

00:39:28:16 - 00:39:50:17
Ashley Bright
So. Okay, great. I can set it up. I can spend a little more time. I can, you know, spend 5 minutes or 8 minutes. And so it's really important to to have that level of understanding and clarity. And this is where oftentimes I work with a lot of technology companies and a lot of leaders in the technology space, which it's it can be very convoluted talking about technology.

00:39:50:17 - 00:40:12:27
Ashley Bright
It can be overwhelming and that kind of thing. And I'll often have clients that they're like, I don't really know what to say. And so they will double down. And what they know this is survival, this is natural. And so if you haven't, for example, identified, hey, I've got three great stories that I can tell. One of them is about a personal experience I had.

00:40:13:00 - 00:40:29:10
Ashley Bright
One of the one of them is about customer experience with my product, and another one is about, you know, someone on my team, let's say if I haven't as a as someone who's up there speaking or leading a meeting or say, for example, going out to meet with investors, which is a lot of the clients I work with.

00:40:29:12 - 00:40:50:10
Ashley Bright
If I haven't done the work ahead of time to know those stories exist, first of all, and then I've crafted them a little bit. Then when I get up there, I'm a deer in the headlights. I'm uncertain. And so what do I do? I start talking about my technology because I know it. I know it backwards and forwards, and I know that's what I'm going to do.

00:40:50:17 - 00:41:13:16
Ashley Bright
The problem is that if I'm talking to someone who who isn't steeped in that industry, who isn't steeped in that technology, I'm immediately creating a distance between them. I'm not connecting. They don't understand. They may feel like, oh, gee, I feel stupid. I don't understand what he's talking about, but he keeps talking about it like I should. And so it can be very it can do the exact opposite of what you want.

00:41:13:19 - 00:41:27:23
Ashley Bright
And oftentimes that's borne out of fear and anxiety that the person speaking has got it. Yeah. It's sort of this weird, this weird sort of escalation where you're saying, I don't feel like it's resonating with them. Maybe I need to give them more detail.

00:41:27:27 - 00:41:30:19
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah. I mean, listening is more jargon.

00:41:30:22 - 00:41:51:08
Ashley Bright
Yeah. Well, the person listening is going. I don't really understand. I feel kind of stupid. I don't get it. Like, I need to back away from this conversation in periods. And so my point is that if you have done the work to say, well, I know that these three stories resonate, then I and I know how to share them in a 32nd or two minute, whatever.

00:41:51:11 - 00:42:15:24
Ashley Bright
That's where that confidence comes in, because now we can get up there and I know, hey, if someone asks a question, I can share the story of a customer and how they benefited. If someone has a question about my my, commitment to this company or this this purpose or what I'm talking about, I can share that story that I had from Little League where I learned this valuable lesson, and that's what set me on the course to start this company.

00:42:15:26 - 00:42:37:05
Ashley Bright
You know, those are the things that are going to start to build your confidence and allow you to come across confidently and authoritatively, but also connect and build trust with your listener. And I often say that listener because it could be they could be on video, they could be on a podcast, they could be out in a vast audience, a sea of people.

00:42:37:07 - 00:42:57:18
Ashley Bright
But that's the key is, is being able to to articulate it in a way that you know it. They can feel it. It helps move your your conversation further down the road in terms of your goal. Yeah. For that that conversation. And sorry, I've lost the train of thought on where the original question was, but that's

00:42:57:21 - 00:42:57:28
Suzanne Taylor-King
So.

00:42:57:29 - 00:43:21:11
Ashley Bright
That's the the goal there in terms of, of how you integrate the stories and the value of that preparation that, that work. I refer to them on a, on a past call with someone. I said strategic storytelling. And one of the listeners, comment they said strategic storytelling sounds like it's maybe a little contrived. And I said, well, it's not.

00:43:21:17 - 00:43:52:29
Ashley Bright
The story is still rooted in an authentic experience. So it's not a it's not a false story or a made up story. Right? But there is a strategic element to it. And I would argue that, you know, we think of strategy in business. So it's obviously real applicable there. But I would argue that any good storyteller, you know, your uncle sitting around a campfire telling you a story, they have in their own way made it a strategic story because they've probably told it a number of times.

00:43:53:01 - 00:44:17:09
Ashley Bright
And each time they they know to your point, like that's the line that makes everyone laugh. That's the line that makes everyone go, oh my God, I had that experience too. And so you, you naturally will go, well that worked last time. I'm going to keep that in. And that's when I where I talk about strategic storytelling, it's still authentic, it's still honest, but it's done in a way that, you know, we talked about comedians earlier.

00:44:17:09 - 00:44:37:05
Ashley Bright
I mean, yeah, Indians rehearse, they refine, they test, they tweak, they adjust so they know exactly where that line is going to hit and how that laugh, that laugh moment relates to the next moment. And they build that momentum. And the really great ones will then tie it back, you know, 20 minutes later to something that happened in the beginning.

00:44:37:07 - 00:44:41:16
Ashley Bright
And that gets the biggest laugh of all, because they've tied the whole thing together.

00:44:41:18 - 00:45:12:05
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah, I, I love when that happens so much. I told a story. Oh. So a month or so ago at a networking event, I was the speaker and I only had eight minutes. So I basically take my hour long talk and condense it into, you know, five minutes. Right. And then I finish with a story that encompasses the three things I was talking about.

00:45:12:07 - 00:45:47:26
Suzanne Taylor-King
And it's really funny. And I start to notice it's probably the fourth or fifth time I've told that story publicly. And I started to notice the line that gets the laugh like it's not the the whole story is funny, but there's a line where I say something in the story and that's when everybody smiles and laugh. So what if I started with that line and then told the story and it worked just beautifully, beautifully.

00:45:47:26 - 00:45:56:24
Suzanne Taylor-King
It was. And it was all from just practice and trying it. And oh, that's, that's the thing that's funny.

00:45:57:00 - 00:45:57:27
Ashley Bright
So you know.

00:45:58:00 - 00:45:58:11
Suzanne Taylor-King
What we.

00:45:58:11 - 00:46:22:00
Ashley Bright
Talk about? We're talking about business and you know, business businesses there's optimization right. And there's optimization in all facets of what you're doing. And there's optimization or strategic storytelling in the way you share something. Yeah. Because if you if you know it's a great story and you share it and it kind of doesn't really resonate and it doesn't get the effect you wanted, then, okay.

00:46:22:00 - 00:46:43:05
Ashley Bright
Just like everything else in business, there's an opportunity to okay, let's refine into your example. It's like, okay, let's move this line here and I'll try that. Oh that hit okay. So I know that there's something there. It's interesting you said that you kind of took a longer format and condensed it. I was on a call the other day with a potential client, and she was sharing that.

00:46:43:08 - 00:47:06:17
Ashley Bright
There's a talk she gave and it's a particular format which I've, I've presented with called the ignite format. And essentially it's a five minute, I think it's 20 slides and each slide is 15 seconds or something like that. But the idea is that you don't control the slides advancing, they advance automatically and you're now taking and you're having to then okay, roll with it.

00:47:06:17 - 00:47:28:28
Ashley Bright
And so the the ability to really have a well crafted and well timed delivery is important. And what was interesting so so going through this process is a challenge. I did exactly the same thing for a talk I gave an April where I had I took a 45 minute talk and condensed it down to this five minutes with this format.

00:47:29:00 - 00:47:50:29
Ashley Bright
And it very much was like a comedy routine to an extent, because each line really has to matter, because I don't have any wasted, I can't yeah, sort of add an extra minute or so. Yes. And what was interesting, this is going back. So she went through this process for herself and said it's the best version of the talk I've delivered.

00:47:51:02 - 00:48:10:16
Ashley Bright
And I think it's because it forced her and it forced me, in my experience, to strip away anything that wasn't really critical. And so you got right down to like, well, this is the line that that gets the the laugh. This is the line that gets the cry. This is the line that gets them clapping or whatever it is.

00:48:10:21 - 00:48:36:17
Ashley Bright
Yeah. And it's a great metaphor, a great way to think about, as we talked about many times, storytelling or communication in general. And, you know, I could tell you the whole story of the learning to drive manual. I could tell that ten different ways, and each way I tell it's going to resonate in a different way. And so I'm naturally going to want to kind of like figure out the the right one, the most succinct, the one that hits the right way.

00:48:36:19 - 00:49:08:13
Ashley Bright
And that's the one I will continue to share. Yeah. And so that's really that power of of learning to tell stories. Strategic and learning to optimize those in a way that that really helps just, you know, build that trust, get those moments of engagement, have that feeling at the right moment. And, you know, the other thing I say is that oftentimes the presentation, the story, whatever you're sharing is a stepping stone to something more that you want to do.

00:49:08:16 - 00:49:31:25
Ashley Bright
So in many cases of my clients, they're looking to get investment so they can create the product, build the company, and ultimately have it go out in the market and have an impact. And so to me, it's like, this is a stepping stone. I want to get up on stage and share this, and I want to be able to get the result of a new customer, an investment, partnership, whatever.

00:49:31:28 - 00:49:57:08
Ashley Bright
And so that's very much why, you know, it is strategic. Yeah. You know, it's all a piece of the strategic offering in order to get to my goal. And for me, one of the things I love about working with many of the clients that I do is they're doing really interesting things that are bringing a lot of real value and positive impact to the community and to the world, whether it's through a product or through a service.

00:49:57:10 - 00:50:22:09
Ashley Bright
And that's what I love, is can I help you adjust a few dials and how you communicate so that you can get the result you need from that conversation? Most love that and then have that impact. And this is a way sort of to bring it full circle. This is a way that I have over the last ten years in my business, tried to sort of, I don't want to say redeem myself.

00:50:22:09 - 00:50:27:09
Ashley Bright
That's the wrong way to think about it. But know that I'm, I'm adding value.

00:50:27:12 - 00:50:28:29
Suzanne Taylor-King
That people like back.

00:50:29:01 - 00:50:46:00
Ashley Bright
Yeah. Exactly. You know I'm not just you know and I see it when I joke about redeeming myself. I was a creative director for many years and nothing against creative directors. But I often in retrospect felt like I helped Microsoft sell stuff. I helped Amazon sell stuff like it. No one was living and dying by what I did.

00:50:46:00 - 00:51:14:27
Ashley Bright
It wasn't critical. And so what I've tried to do is really align myself with, you know, interesting clients that are in an interesting space that are doing challenging things and dealing with with things that will really be transformative and beneficial. And so ultimately they're having impact. And and that's what I do, and that's what I love. And as you know, I have a podcast called The Impact Tribe Live where I'm showcasing people that are having an impact.

00:51:14:29 - 00:51:22:28
Ashley Bright
And, that's what I want. It's about getting that result, bringing that value. And it's why I host workshops. It's why I do a lot of what I do.

00:51:23:00 - 00:51:51:23
Suzanne Taylor-King
Yeah, I well, it's it's totally apparent that you love what you do. And through this conversation, I now have such a clear picture, even more than before, of what you do and how you do it and why you do it, which that's what you want when you're having a conversation or you're on a podcast or you're delivering a talk, that's what you want.

00:51:51:25 - 00:52:01:02
Suzanne Taylor-King
And thank you for that. Thank you for being so good at that piece of it. Now, last I was last thing, I thank.

00:52:01:02 - 00:52:03:22
Ashley Bright
You for the opportunity. First of all.

00:52:03:24 - 00:52:12:27
Suzanne Taylor-King
You're so welcome. You're so preciate it. You're so welcome. I'd love to know your favorite content story.

00:52:13:00 - 00:52:40:14
Ashley Bright
Oh, wow. Well, I, I so I had a client a number of years ago. Very typical for me. He, And he was, Or is an individual, very, very smart, very technically savvy. And he, had this was his third company that he was building. He'd he'd been quite successful by all measures. And he was working in a space that was, technology, but it related to the health care field.

00:52:40:17 - 00:53:04:13
Ashley Bright
And what was really interesting is he was having a lot of the classic challenges where he knew his technology, he knew his business, he knew his industry, but he was struggling to get engagement from the investors that he needed. And he'd been at it for five, six months doing kind of the rounds, trying to trying to get investment.

00:53:04:15 - 00:53:27:10
Ashley Bright
And we met fortunately and started chatting. And he already had a presentation. He had all these things put together. And what we did was we worked together to do a lot of what I just described, helping him clarify, some, some really key stories, helping him also simplify a lot of the, the messages and things he was communicating, because in this case, he was present.

00:53:27:10 - 00:54:05:21
Ashley Bright
He was pitching to angel investors versus institutional investors. Okay. And so for them, it's it's much more of a of a human experience to understand the technology. Exactly. And we were able to sort of fine tune some things, adjust some things. We did a lot of what I've just talked about over the last hour and I was so proud of the fact, because he's a great guy and he was he was working on this because it was a technology and a platform that was going to directly benefit his own parents, and 20 million plus people that were much that were exactly in the same situation.

00:54:05:24 - 00:54:30:01
Ashley Bright
And so it was it was not only valuable and a great business opportunity for investors, but it was very much rooted in in a personal experience and helping his family and, and that kind of thing. And so through that process of helping him refine these things, within two weeks of us kind of completing the work that we were doing on this, he went out, presented it, and he got a quarter of $1 million investment.

00:54:30:04 - 00:54:51:03
Ashley Bright
And that was after six months of struggling. Within two weeks, he he got that. And so I've, I've always I've had fortunately I've had other clients that have had similar experiences and breakthroughs, which I'm so proud of. But that was one in particular because, there was he was just a very interesting character and what he was doing and his parents and the whole thing.

00:54:51:05 - 00:55:23:09
Ashley Bright
And I just love that it was, you know, within two weeks he got it. And that was the money he needed to hire some key people to start to build out the platform. And as I said earlier, it led to then that product coming into the market and having the impact that he wanted to have. And that to me is the the arc that I love, you know, and not only did he get that funding and create this product, but now he has that skill set to be able to identify those stories and share it in the right way and get that engagement from people.

00:55:23:09 - 00:55:25:25
Ashley Bright
So beautiful. There you go.

00:55:25:28 - 00:55:32:14
Suzanne Taylor-King
Love it. Love it. How can our my listeners get in touch with you?

00:55:32:17 - 00:55:48:04
Ashley Bright
So I am, on all the platforms, search for the hashtag, the message fixer. So I'm on LinkedIn. I'm on, YouTube. I'm all those places YouTube. You can go and learn. There's lots of tutorials and tips and videos there.

00:55:48:04 - 00:55:49:27
Suzanne Taylor-King
They're great, by the way.

00:55:49:29 - 00:55:56:08
Ashley Bright
Thank you, thank you. I also, I'm going to be host I host workshops probably every month on different topics.

00:55:56:14 - 00:55:57:04
Suzanne Taylor-King
Oh does that mean.

00:55:57:04 - 00:55:58:14
Ashley Bright
I've got one time I.

00:55:58:17 - 00:56:02:06
Suzanne Taylor-King
Did want to host a workshop for my community.

00:56:02:08 - 00:56:22:12
Ashley Bright
I would love to do that. I'm. I'm all about more people the better. We all need to learn how to communicate. And so I'm actually hosting a workshop next week on the 24th, which is available if you go to my website, the Message fixer.com, it's right there on the home page. And, I would love it. Anyone who wants to jump in, please do.

00:56:22:14 - 00:56:40:27
Ashley Bright
But I host them every every month and different topics storytelling, overcoming resistance, stage fright, how to craft a story, things like that. And, I just get absolutely jazzed. Yeah. Seeing that, you know. And now I know we're we're getting close to our time here. This is. I guess this is good. We didn't have to cut it early.

00:56:40:29 - 00:56:41:21
Ashley Bright
Yeah, give me that.

00:56:41:26 - 00:56:47:01
Suzanne Taylor-King
Well, it's so nice to have a conversation and not have to cut it off early, so thank you.

00:56:47:08 - 00:57:11:06
Ashley Bright
I'll very quickly. So I, I had an experience I got I was given the opportunity. This is in 2008 to host a workshop at a design school up in Seattle. A friend of mine ran and it was on public speaking and communication. I'd never taught that topic before. In fact, I'd never taught before. And I remember in that moment, first of all, I had to learn.

00:57:11:07 - 00:57:36:06
Ashley Bright
I had to reverse engineer a lot of what I did intuitively in order to be able to share it with me and with the group. And I'll never forget seeing that it was like the light bulb went off and for the participants in the workshop, because suddenly they were seeing clarity of how they could share an idea, how they could overcome an obstacle that was that was in the way of their idea.

00:57:36:08 - 00:57:58:26
Ashley Bright
And these were individuals from all different industries, all different levels within their organizations. And that was a long time ago. And that planted that seed that like, wow, I love this. Seeing that transformation happen, seeing that empowerment happen. And that's fueled me to this day through all the challenges of eager entrepreneur. But that's fueled me to this day.

00:57:58:29 - 00:58:03:25
Ashley Bright
Seeing that moment for people where they kind of transform and get that clarity.

00:58:03:25 - 00:58:30:14
Suzanne Taylor-King
So yeah, I love it. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate the stories and the tips and all the juicy nuggets that you dropped on how we can be better at telling stories and sharing stories that are relevant to our business. It's so, so important entrepreneurs do that and be that and stand in that. So thank you for doing what you do and thanks for being here today.

00:58:30:16 - 00:58:48:20
Ashley Bright
Well thank you, thank you. I really appreciate it. And I love your energy. I mean, when we had our first connection call, it was it was evident. No, there was no uncomfortable pauses. Yeah. And so I appreciate you inviting me back to share this with your audience. And, and I appreciate you and I appreciate them. And so thank you again for the opportunity.

00:58:48:23 - 00:59:19:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
You're so welcome. It's such a powerful reminder that when you're reaching out to people, for connection, for referral partners, for potential clients, whatever reason, you're reaching out to people. Trust your gut, be yourself. And and just do it. And sometimes sometimes you get lucky and meet an Ashley and you learn to drive in the same car just so.

00:59:19:18 - 00:59:24:17
Ashley Bright
Yeah. There you go. I love it. Just 1967 Volkswagen book. Yeah, the win.

00:59:24:19 - 00:59:33:17
Suzanne Taylor-King
For the win. I'm going to go see if I can find a picture of that car right now, and I'll send it to you. Have a great day everyone. And Ashley, thanks again so much for joining me.

00:59:33:19 - 00:59:34:25
Ashley Bright
Definitely. Thank you.

00:59:34:28 - 01:00:02:21
Suzanne Taylor-King
Thank you for tuning in to another empowering episode of Unlock Your Way. I hope you found today's discussion inspiring, and you're ready to take your business and personal growth to that next level. If you're feeling is fired up as I am and eager to unlock that full potential, I'm here to help you on your journey and provide that personalized guidance tailored to your unique goals and challenges.

01:00:02:23 - 01:00:29:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
Simply book a one on one coaching call with me, and we'll dive deep into your business aspirations and see how we could co-create a roadmap for your success. And whether you're striving to scale an enterprise size or just getting started. I'm here to support you every step of the way. To schedule your coaching call, simply visit the website and unlock your way with SI.com.

01:00:29:18 - 01:01:08:15
Suzanne Taylor-King
Click on the Book a Call button and we'll turn your dreams into that reality. Subscribe and review on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube. Plus, you can join over 800 entrepreneurs in the Idea Lab, Facebook group. Let's make success as an entrepreneur happen together. Until next time, I'm AK. Keep dreaming big. Stay focused. And most of all, have fun while you're doing it.