Evoke Greatness Podcast

The Power of Your Story with Bill Blankschaen (Part 1)

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 đźŽ§ Episode 186: The Power of Your Story: How to Turn Life Lessons into Lasting Influence (Part 1) In Part 1 of this insightful and inspiring conversation, author, storyteller, and creative strategist Bill Blankschaen joins me to unpack how your personal story can become your greatest advantage—in business, leadership, and life.

Bill shares wisdom from his new book, Your Story Advantage, revealing how the moments that shaped you—both the wins and the wounds—can be the most powerful tools you have to connect, influence, and lead authentically.

If you’ve ever wondered how to share your story with confidence or struggled to see your past as purpose, this episode is for you.

We explore:

  • Why your story is your most powerful brand asset
  • How to uncover the defining moments that built your character
  • The surprising connection between vulnerability and credibility
  • Why authenticity outperforms perfection every single time
  • The framework for turning life experiences into meaningful influence
  • Why the world doesn’t need your highlight reel—it needs your human story

🔑 Key takeaways:

  • Your story isn’t random—it’s your roadmap to impact
  • Connection always precedes influence
  • The best leaders tell stories that reveal who they are, not just what they know
  • People don’t follow perfection—they follow purpose

đź’ˇ Quotes to remember:

  • “Your story is the bridge between your experience and someone else’s transformation.”
  • “The stories we tell shape the stories we live.”
  • “Your scars can become someone else’s survival guide.
  •  âś¨ Learn more about Bill’s book Your Story Advantage:
    Your Story Advantage on Amazon

📲 Connect with Bill: Company Website: https://mystorybuilders.com/
Bill's LI:

A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!

Check out my website: www.evokegreatness.com

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SPEAKER_01:

I call it the confidence trap. And that is this idea that we tend to deify others, but diminish ourselves. Right. We tend to think, Sonny, man, you got a great story. You're amazing. You've got this track, all that. Me, I don't have as much. You know, it's just it's that we compare ourselves to other people and we think that person has arrived. I just don't have anything to contribute. That's where a lot of this begins, is we talk ourselves out of our story having the significance that it could have in the world.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Evoke Greatness, the podcast for bold leaders and big dreamers who refuse to settle. I'm your host, Sunny. I started in Scrubs over 20 years ago, doing the gritty, unseen work and climbed my way to CEO. Every rung of that ladder taught me something worth passing on. Lessons in leadership, resilience, and what it really takes to rise. You'll hear raw conversations, unfiltered truths, and the kind of wisdom that ignites something deeper in you. Your courage, your conviction, your calling. This show will help you think bigger, lead better, and show up bolder in every part of your life. This is your place to grow. Let's rise together. What if the lessons you've lived, the challenges, the pivots, the moments that shaped you, are actually the key to your greatest influence? In this episode, I'm joined by Bill Blankshane, master storyteller, brand strategist, and founder of Storybuilders, to talk about how your story can become your greatest advantage. Bill shares how leading a successful career to follow his calling led him through uncertainty, risk, and ultimately purpose. His new book, Your Story Advantage, offers a roadmap for uncovering, refining, and sharing your story in a way that connects, inspires, and transforms. Whether you're leading a team, building a brand, or stepping into a new season of purpose, this conversation will help you use the power of your story to make a lasting impact. Let's hop into it. Welcome back to another episode of the Avoke Greatness Podcast. Today's guest is Bill Blinkshane, a master storyteller, brand strategist, and founder of Storybuilders, where he helps leaders, organizations, and entrepreneurs craft and communicate their authentic stories with power and purpose. Bill believes that your story is your greatest competitive advantage. And his work has helped countless professionals turn their personal and organizational narratives into clear and compelling messages that move people into action. He's here today to talk about his newly released book, Your Story Advantage: A Proven Path to Maximize Your Impact, Influence, and Income. It explores how to uncover, clarify, and share the stories that truly set you apart. The ones that build trust, spark influence, and create real transformation. So whether you're leading a team, scaling a business, or trying to stand out in a noisy world, this conversation is going to help you understand how to use the power of story to make your message unforgettable and your leadership undeniable. Bill, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Sunny, thank you so much for having me. I've I've loved hearing a little bit of your story in our previous conversations and just look forward to unpacking the power of story with you and your listeners today.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Well, glad to have you. I know we started to have some conversation early on before we even hit record. So I always like to go back and kind of start at the beginning and get a little bit better of an understanding of the why behind it all. You've spent years helping people clarify and communicate their stories, but I'm curious, where did your own story with storytelling begin?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, uh great question. Um I think it for me it began as a child from a very early age. I've always had a love for stories and storytelling and reading. And I I was I was the nerdy kid who was, you know, twirling the breakfast cereal box five times, reading it as I as I ate every morning. Um but then as I got older, I actually helped start a private school and led that for about a dozen years. And there was a point in my life when I was getting ki hugs from kindergartners every day, which was awesome, and helping teenagers find their direction in life. And all that was good and rewarding. But at the same time, I realized I had felt stuck. I felt like I wasn't really doing what fundamentally I was wired to do, what I was called to do, what I was gifted to do. And I didn't want to reach the end of my life and just regret that I didn't do that. See, because for all my life I had thought of myself as a storyteller, but I wasn't telling stories. Uh, I thought of myself as a writer, but I actually wasn't writing. So a writer that isn't writing isn't actually a writer, right? So eventually I reached the place where I knew I had to do something different. So I let go of that school, that identity that I had and pursued this and stepped into I'm going to pursue this calling. And I got to tell you, Sonny, I was technically unemployed, but had never worked harder in my life. You know, I was I was diving in, like developing books and book proposals and talking to publishers and everybody in the storytelling space and learning all I could and uh just becoming studying the art and science of storytelling. Um, but that's not to say it was easy at all. Uh at the time we had six kids. So we went uh a year, six kids, no income, as I was going through this process. And there were times where I remember one day, particularly I was sitting in the backyard, and this was in northeast Ohio, it was a spring day, beautiful day, and the wind is whipping to the trees and the birds are chirping and the sun's shining. It's just a beautiful day, and I'm writing, got my pen and my paper, and on the outside, everything is just beautiful. And on the inside, I remember thinking, just wrestling with the darkest fears of, you know, what if our family ends up living under a freeway bridge in a cardboard box somewhere? And none of this works, and what am I gonna do? And it almost felt like felt like I was sitting at the bottom of this steep hill and in the middle of a road, and there was this semi-truck loaded with steel, like barreling down toward me with no brakes. And all I could do was sit there and continue to do what I felt called to do, like what I felt was super fulfilling for me and write. Um, the good news is uh, in fact, that very book that I was working on that day got picked up by a publisher and it opened the door for me to write a book. And I realized, you know what, I'm actually really good at this. And other people began to ask for help. Hey, can you help me with my book? Can you help me with this and that? And things began to grow from there. And out of that eventually came this vision of story builders, which is our company where we like to say we tell stories that make the world a better place. And so we've worked with big names like Lewis Howes and Dean Graziosi, John Maxwell, all those kind of people, but also everybody in between as well, just helping them get clear on their message and break through. Because here's the thing that I learned from this in my own story was that breakthrough begins when you start with your story. And when I had the courage to figure out what is my story, what has it been, and what do I want it to be? That was, and when I leaned into that, that's where my breakthrough begins. And I think that's the true truth for so many of us, is that if we want to go to that next level, we've got to get familiar with our own story, lean into it, and then leverage that story advantage to maximize our impact, our influence, and our income.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and it's interesting because that's not always easy, right? I I think there's some courage required because our story, in order to get clear with our own story and then have the courage to actually share that.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That takes a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Oh, it does because you know, what will people think? Will they reject it? Will they laugh at me? Will they make fun of me? Right. Um, oh, there's a lot of confidence issues that go into that. I was talking with uh Dr. Cinder Kampoff, who's one of our story partners. We work with her, develop her books, but she's talking about this idea that that we we struggle with that confidence in our own story. And often it's we have to change the story we're telling ourselves about our story. Right? We're telling ourselves, hey, our story doesn't matter. That's my story. And what we realize is that when we tell our story, when we share our story, and when we do it strategically and intentionally, the people that we're trying to reach most begin to resonate with that. Uh, and and and but at the same time, you know, I call it the normalcy trap, that we fall into this trap of thinking no one wants to hear my story, my experiences, my lessons, because they feel normal to me. They're nothing special. Uh, I've lived with them, I developed them, I experienced them. Why would anybody else want to know that? Um, except there are all sorts of people out in the world who want to hear what you have to say, uh, but it because you are are further down, even a couple steps further down that journey than they are, and they want to learn that from you. And so when we don't do that, we're just not stewarding our story well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Uh in your new book, Your Story Advantage, it comes at a time when storytelling feels both overused and misunderstood. I think we're we're hearing a lot about storytelling. I'd love to hear what inspired you to write it. What gap were you hoping to fill for leaders and organizations trying to stand out in today's busy world?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think, first of all, I don't think we're ever gonna not hear about storytelling as long as we're human beings, right? Our whole history, uh, for many, you know, thousands of years at least, our histories were stories passed on from generation to generation, right? This is how we learned anything. So I don't think that's going away anytime soon. But the the big gap that I see with people is we often get so organizations, for example, leaders and they get so busy doing what they're supposed to do that they don't have time to pause and say, is the story I'm telling, the message I'm sharing with the world, is it intentionally fashioned in a way, designed to connect with the people I really want to connect with? Or is it just kind of working? And so we'll live with it and push forward. So, you know, my my influence as an organization may be here, but it could be here if our story was better, but it's here and it's kind of plateauing. And so we're having that breakthrough effect. But with individuals, there are so many individuals walking around today who have meaningful messages, is how I talk about it. And they they have a desire to share it with the world and they feel this burning, just like I did, like with my calling, like this burning to get this message out and help more people and do it. But they just feel stuck in this place of not really being able to get clear on that. And so what I want to do is give them, hey, this is the the what I've learned from over a decade of doing this with people at every level. This is the actual why you should do it, the practical how-tos of do it. You can take this book and actually begin to apply it and actually do things and change that trajectory because it's all about making the world a better place. And I think I think when we share our stories well, we position ourselves to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's interesting. Uh it kind of that kind of took me back to first one first having an interest in speaking publicly. And it used to terrify me. And I think it was because I felt like I had to go up and be off the cuff. And not having a lot of experience from that, it terrified me. And I remember just speaking in front of like my own company. And I would my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. My words would feel like they were just not where they needed to be. And then I would come off of stage and people would say, Oh, you did a great job. And I'm like, Are you kidding me? It was terrible because I was working kind of from the inside out. And so what I did, because I needed to get really clear on what I wanted to speak about. And so I remember writing all over the mirrors in my house. I am a clear and compelling speaker. And I would say it every time I saw it in the mirror. And it was this process and evolution over a number of years. But I think so much of it is actually getting in touch with your own story so that you can feel like you can show up in a way where you can share in that compelling manner.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. I agree. And there's a couple tools that I unpack in the book or I talk about one is a framework. I call it the connection continuum. And what I mean by that is our ability to connect with other people through story kind of goes on a continuum, if you will, where most people think they have to have a story or a message that nobody's ever thought of before. It's fresh, it's new, it's amazing. Something crazy happened to them that has never happened to anybody, and they've got to talk. But the reality is if something is too different, uh, people disconnect from that. They don't know if if it's totally uh um, you know, unfamiliar to them, then you have that disconnect. On the other hand, if it's if it's totally familiar, and they've heard the same story told many times the same way, uh, they're gonna feel like that's duplication, right? And that that doesn't interest me. But it's somewhere in the middle, is where you get that just right spot where people are drawn in and captivated by that. So I think people need to understand they need, they need uh like a structure. And that this is what this is what I think the power of what I give in the book is giving them, I call it the storytelling structure, giving them a proven structure they can use to actually tell their stories well, whether it's their brand story or writing a book, and I unpack how do you do all that and the intellectual property development and monetizing it. This is how you can use that structure to actually accomplish that so that it feels both familiar and fresh to the audience that you're trying to reach. Because you have to get clear on that audience because your audience is not everyone. And so narrowing that down is a critical step.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I think many people think when they're sharing a story, they're really just, or when they feel like they're sharing a story, they're really just sharing information because they don't have like that framework that you're talking about. I'm curious, maybe you'll go a little bit deeper into that to that framework, but what separates a good story from that forgettable one that you hear and it's like, I don't even remember the details of what this person just said.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm happy to go into the framework and walk through that. Uh, at the high level, though, I would say what separates it is this is this reality that we have to remember that your story is about you, but it's not for you. And I think that begins to change everything. If I'm just thinking, I'm gonna tell a story, I'm gonna tell the story that I want to tell. All right, well, then as long as you're the audience, that makes sense. That makes sense. You'll enjoy your own story. But if you want it to be something that somebody pays attention to, then you have to go through a process of thinking, what is it that they need? What is it that they want? What are the challenges that they're facing? How can I connect with that through the story? How can I then tell the story in a way with them in mind? I'm telling it for them. It's really an act of service. How we tell our story is an act of service to remove friction, to give clarity, to do all those things. And and the truth is, Sonny, many of us, this is gonna sound a little crass, but I think many of us don't care enough about other people to do the work to get clear on our story for their benefit, right? The truth is many of us, all of us, have a selfish streak in us, myself included, right? And it's like, eh, do I want to do that work? Well, I mean, do I care about connecting with people that I need to do the work so that I can connect with them, so that I can serve them in whatever way that is? But I think ultimately it begins with flipping the script and thinking it's not about me. My story is about me, but it's not for me, I should say. So how do I, how do I approach it from that angle?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I absolutely. And I think that also tends to calm the nerves a little bit as you as you think about, oh, I'm gonna share, maybe be vulnerable in this story and share this, is how can I show up in service of the person that I'm the person or people that I'm sharing this story with?

SPEAKER_01:

Totally, totally. And it goes back even to the techniques, right? Uh if when you're when you're telling a story, I'll just use your example as a speaker, right? You don't walk on the stage and say, this is what happened and just walk through this is what happened, the end. Right. A good storyteller figures out what's going to be that that powerful punch, what's going to help turn that light on for the for the listener, what's going to help the the epiphany happen for them. And then how can I frame that particular story to create that moment? Right. So it's very intentional and and crafted uh from that perspective. But the same thing applies to to any story. And I'm happy to kind of walk through that storytelling structure if you think that'd be helpful to just unpack how how that kind of flow goes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I would love that. I think people would really benefit from that. That is something that I hear a lot of people say is how do I put it together, though? And and oftentimes it's in regards to speaking or just starting to get their speaking career. But I think those things really go hand in hand.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And and again, uh, the reason I wrote the book, Your Story Advantage, is to reveal all that, walk people through it. So get the book, that'll help you. But let's just go through it right now. First of all, there's there's five core steps to the storytelling structure. Um, I'm gonna I'm gonna give you the five and then I'll unpack each one. Uh they are number one is attention, two is tension, three is connection, four is solution, and then five is action. And any good story is gonna have these, even if it's not obvious. So, first is attention. And the question I ask around attention when you're presenting your story or your message, whatever the case may be, is is what does your audience want? The people that you're talking to, what do they really want? And I think you have to start there. You have to again flip that script, put yourself in their shoes or their seat and think, what are they wanting out of this interaction? And even the bigger picture, why do they want it? Right, being willing to go deeper into their motivation. And once you do that, that helps set you up for the second one, which is tension. Tension is uh what's holding them back from getting what they want. What are the challenges that they're facing and the different levels of the challenges I explain in the book to think through? But what do they want and what are the challenges they face? Notice that the first two steps of this process are all about them. It's not about you, it's not about me, it's about them. I've flipped the script, I'm talking about them. And it's only when you get clear on the challenges that you can then understand, all right, now let me begin to introduce some of my story into this. And that comes through the connection step. Now is a time where I can say, all right, I'm gonna tell my story, but I'm only gonna tell it in a way that lets people know I understand what they're going through. I understand the challenges they're facing, and I have found a path forward. I have found a way forward through this. And once you do that, now they're the question really in the connection is why should I listen to you? Right. Why should they listen to you? Which is is well, because you've kind of been there, done that, and you've got the t-shirt and you have a solution to it. So, right. So again, it's still them, them, them. And only when we get to the fourth step, which is solution. Solution is really the heart of your message, what you are really wanting to say. But now you've given the thought to how what do they want? What are the challenges they face? Why would they listen to me? Now it's what do they need to hear to solve these problems that they have or this problem that I that I'm addressing? What is that? At the most basic level, this could be a memo to your team. This could be uh a leadership meeting and a conversation, all the way up to an entire book or a course or whatever the case may be. It can be expanded and contracted in that way. And that's what that's where you're able to create a lot of your intellectual property in this solution step when you really put some definition around this and framework some really cool things. Uh, and then that leads to the fifth one, fifth step, which is action. What do you actually want them to do? Because I'm sure you know, as a speaker, sometimes you have to guide people into, all right, I made that point. What should I do with it? What what's the action? What's the next best step I should take in this setting in order to begin to act out on this, in order to apply it? Right. So to be just being intentional, that at a high level is the essence of the storytelling structure. And we do have um in the book, and frankly, your audience can just go to your storyadvantage.com forward slash free resources and get there's like a one-page download. They can get the structure that they can actually use to craft any message that they want and a bunch of other free tools they can use to apply it to different situations.

SPEAKER_00:

Excellent. Well, I'll make sure to plug that into show notes as well. Uh I I have found that vulnerability is often what makes that message land as you talk about like there's that connection piece, right? Relayability. But I think oftentimes I always try to bring it back to leadership because leadership doesn't just mean in the office, right? Leadership may mean in our family, it may mean as a parent, but leaders can struggle with that balance between being real and being professional. How do you guide people to share authentically without being the one that overshares?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um, there's another book I'm working on right now in the background of my life, which is which is really applying the practice of great writing to the habits of great living. Right. And and great writing requires careful editing. And I think the same is true here when we think of with a leader and vulnerability and how much to share and overshare. When I when we're working with somebody, we're always like, let's dump it all out. Like get it all out there. Don't hold, don't edit in your own head. Get it out, let's share it, let's talk about it. But then go back with that perspective of who's your ideal audience? Who's your ideal audience at the core and what matters to them? Again, because it's not about you, it's about them. So if that vulnerability that you're sharing would help them and and open them up to connecting with you and hearing your solution, then let's use it. If not, then that's just a therapy session for you. That's not really for them. That's about you, right? So I think that becomes such a key indicator of who's this, who am I trying to reach? Keep that as the focus. Um, I I even go a deep a question uh further, one of our bookstarter questions, which is a uh six questions that we ask and I talk about in the book. The first question I ask with any project, any anybody that I'm working on, doesn't matter their name, their background, their listing. First question I ask is hey, if someone were to read this book and they forget 99% of everything you write, they close it, they walk away, it's all gone, except one thing. They only remembered one thing. One thing stuck with them. What would you want that one thing to be? What's the one non-negotiable thing you want that thing to stick? And what I have found when you ask people that, it often doesn't take much at all. It's it's right under the surface of their heart and mind of hmm, it's this. If if they get nothing else, they got to get this thing. And I say that because once you identify what that is, that also makes it easier to make the decision do I share, do I not share? Well, is it helping to reinforce that one thing? And if not, then it's a great story that you can toss in the closet and pull out some other time.

SPEAKER_00:

Great distinction to make prior to dumping everything out on the table.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, exactly. Exactly. Well, and that's why, that's why I I think anybody should walk through those bookstarter questions before they ever start a book. I can't tell you how many people have come to me and said, hey, I've written a book and we look at it, we're like, all right, we need to take a few steps backwards and rethink a few things in order to get to a better place. So if somebody's at the outset of that process, it's so much easier to just lay that foundation in an intentional way.

SPEAKER_00:

Sounds like you've worked with countless leaders and brands. I'm curious, what are some of the common storytelling traps that you see people fall into when they're trying to make that connection with an audience or with their team?

SPEAKER_01:

The first one, obviously, we talked about, which is it's about me, right? And so my story is about me. And you end up with talking to their team and their team is yawning and rolling their eyes, and here we go again. Another story that he or she thinks is just wonderful that nobody else does, right? So flipping that script, um, that's a huge one. Uh another one is again, not being intentional about it. You know, when they're when they think they're telling a story, or they may, they may think, oh, I should throw a story in here, um, instead of structuring the whole communication around a story, if that makes sense. Right. So, so intentionally designing how am I communicating as as in the story context, right? That whole attention, tension, connection, like being intentional about that and wrapping it in there so that people feel like they they hear a story and not a sermon, if that if that makes a distinction. So I give you an example of this. Uh, as a leader myself in my company, um I've told this story many times. It's become part of our company lore, if you will. Uh, during that season, when I had stepped out from the school and was, you know, going a year with no income and six kids, there was a time I was sitting in the backyard uh wondering how are we going to pay for the mortgage this month? Uh and just praying about it, thinking about it. And and I looked up and I saw this, this big, we had this big John Deere backhoe tractor, it's this huge thing that when we bought the house, it was in our backyard. I don't know why it was there. And so uh I had him not mechanical at all. I couldn't get it running, I didn't know what to do with it. Uh so it just sat there, but I knew it had to be a value to somebody. I just didn't know, I just didn't know what to do with it. So I'm sitting there thinking about it, praying about it, looking at it, and saying, you know what, we could really use$1,000 in two days to do whatever payment we needed at the time. And the the tricky thing about our backyard was it in order for that tractor to leave the property, it would have to go over a little creek that was in our yard, about about 10, 12 feet, it would have to go over. And we had a wooden bridge that was a little bit rickety. And as I thought about that, I thought, well, if that's if that is going to happen, then that bridge is gonna have to be braced. It's gonna have to be reinforced to get over the over that. And I said, ah, I need to brace the bridge. If I expect that to happen, if I'm hoping that'll happen, if I'm praying that it'll happen, then I need to go prepare that bridge to get it over. And so I've told that story many times with our team of, hey, if we think X is gonna happen, we need to prepare with Y. Right. If we think growth is gonna happen, we need to make this move now. If we think, or if we're concerned that's gonna happen, what do we need to do now to get out in front of it? And so I tell that story, and now it's kind of shorthand. The team's like, oh, I think we need to brace the bridge, right? It's it's this that story is connected to it. And by the way, uh two days later, that tractor did go over that bridge that I had braced and it sold for a thousand dollars and it was gone from our property. Uh if I hadn't braced the bridge, I often wonder would that have happened to do that. So, anyways, it's just a that's uh another way that storytelling can just be used so powerfully with leaders to build culture in an organization.

SPEAKER_00:

If this reminded you that your story matters, you are not gonna want to miss part two. Next week, Bill and I go even deeper into the inner side of storytelling, the narratives we tell ourselves, and how they shape everything from our confidence to our calling. We talk about the confidence trap, how comparison keeps us small, and why believing your story matters might be the most powerful shift you'll ever make. We'll also explore how to apply storytelling to leadership, business, and brand, weaving it into how you sell, recruit, and connect in a way that builds trust and lasting influence. If today's episode challenged you, moved you, or lit a fire in your soul, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with somebody who's ready to rise. Can I ask you to take 30 seconds to leave a review? It's the best way to say thank you and help this show reach more bold leaders like you. Because this isn't just a podcast, it's a movement. We're not here to play small. We're here to lead loud, one bold and unapologetic step at a time. Until next time, stay bold, stay grounded, and make moves that make mediocre uncomfortable.

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Sonnie Linebarger

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