Storytelling is your authentic superpower

With the enormous amount of data that is being generated every minute of the day across various media platforms, it’s becoming harder than before for brands and creators to reach their targeted audience with the right message. The message, no matter how well crafted it could be can get lost in the sea of data. The audience also is overwhelmed with the amount of information that is being thrown at them and what they are exposed to on a daily basis. Compared to a few companies with financial resources to spend on ads and other forms of paid advertising, a startup or a company with limited resources would be way behind or just playing digital catchup to their much resourced counterparts.

So, as a company, how will you get your messages heard in this sea of information? With the mountain of data increasing day by day, how can content creators reach their audience? Is there a way to stand out amidst the digital noise and really connect with your audience?

We believe the answer is Authentic Storytelling. Storytelling is the use of visual, literary, auditory, or other creative media to educate, inform, entertain, or inspire an audience to take action. As a creator, you are the best person to tell the story of your brand and communicate the narrative as you wish. It’s a personal and authentic journey and you know the experiences (successes/failures and everything in between) better than anyone in the world. As a brand, your authentic reason(s) to start a company, your core values, and identity will certainly be different than anyone else out in the market and that narrative is what your audience can emotionally connect with you on. As Simon Sinek says in his book “Start with Why”, being authentic is not a requirement for success, but it is if you want that success to be a lasting success. Again, it goes back to WHY. Authenticity is when you say and do the things you actually believe. But if you don’t know WHY the organization or the products exist on a level beyond WHAT you do, then it is impossible to know if the things you say or do are consistent with your WHY. Without WHY, any attempt at authenticity will almost always be inauthentic.”

Storytelling is your authentic superpower.

Presentation series | Chamillionaire

Chamillionaire Presents Convoz | Upfront Summit 2018

What does success look like?

Two years ago, I was taking a podcasting workshop. One of the prompts was to pair up with a fellow workshop member and practice our podcasting skills using the tools we have. I scheduled a call with a team member and was ready to practice my newly created intro pitch and ask relevant questions to my mock podcasting guest. My team member wanted to help me by providing feedback on how I conduct the podcasting interview.

Before we started the podcast interview, my team member had a question for me. He asked “what would success look like to me once we are done with the podcasting interview?

By asking this simple and important question, he was able to identify and focus on the type of feedback that would be helpful for my growth and podcasting career. His feedback after the mock podcast interview helped to refine my intro pitch, make the necessary changes, and hone my podcast story. Similarly, when starting a new project, working on a vision, or any activity that you will be spending considerable time and resources, I find it really helpful to ask the same question that my fellow podcasting team member asked me. This has worked for me when starting projects and especially when collaborating as part of a team. By posing this question to everyone at the beginning of the project, all team members are aware and understand what success means to the project at hand. Otherwise, each team member will have subjective interpretations of what the success is or should be.

Asking Better Questions

I Asked A Ton of Questions.

That’s the title of a section on Kobe Bryant’s book “The Mamba Mentality How I play”. In that section, Kobe talks about how he was curious, wanted to improve, learn, and fill his head with the history of the game. He also adds that no matter who he was with and where he was at, he would fire away with question after question. That relentless curiosity about the game, strong work ethic, and becoming skilled at asking questions were some of the countless reasons Kobe finished his basketball career with 5 championships, 33,643 points, and 20 years playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

We come into this world with infinite curiosity about everything in life. Some environments help nurture that curiosity while other environments control or destroy that innate desire to learn and discover. For some people, questioning comes easily while for most of us, we don’t ask enough questions, nor do we pose our inquiries in an optimal way as stated by the Harvard Business Review article The Surprising Power of Questions. The good news is that by asking questions, we naturally improve our emotional intelligence, which in turn makes us better questioners – a virtuous cycle. As mentioned in the HBR article, the first step in becoming a better questioner is simply to ask more questions. Of course, the sheer number of questions is not the only factor that influences the quality of a conversation: The type, tone, sequence, and framing also matter.

A valuable resource on How to Ask Questions Better by Tim Ferriss

Asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding.The Surprising Power of Questions

Unleash your superpower in 2021

2020 was an unprecedented year with many challenges, emotions, and narratives. We were all tested emotionally, mentally, and physically like never before. As we move towards 2021, the stories we hear, see, and especially what we tell ourselves serve as a compass and help us navigate forward.

Storytelling is our authentic superpower.

Here are a few ways you can Unleash Your Superpower in 2021:

1. Understand how Storytelling could help you in your personal and professional journey
2. Hone your Storytelling skills
3. Attend a Storytelling workshop
4. Observe the Storytelling structure and your emotions when you watch movies, shows, and documentaries 
5. Take a Storytelling course
6. Listen to podcasts on Storytelling or that tell great Stories
7. Reflect on your own journey and see what Stories have shaped you over the years 
8. Maintain a journal and write regularly on the Stories you observe in your daily life
9. Be part of a supportive community and share Stories
10. Jump into any opportunity where you can share your Story

30 Stories: Jay Williams

@realjaywilliams Story by @thestorieshub

Jay Williams was a high school all-American, national player of the year, national champion at Duke, and the No. 2 overall NBA draft selection in 2002. He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls and was on his way to play for the renowned basketball franchise. However, an afternoon in June, 2003 changed everything for Jay. He crashed his motorcycle on a side street on the north side of Chicago and the NBA journey that was about to begin fell short.

For years, Jay struggled with depression. He took a lot of pain medication for too long and even blew out the candles for his 22nd birthday in bed. He spent years in rehabilitation and at his lowest point, he even considered suicide. During recovery, he did physical therapy every day, often twice, for two years. Once he recovered after many years, he tried to return to the NBA and did a tryout with the New Jersey Nets. Later, he joined the Austin Toros in the Development League hoping for an eventual return to the NBA. When that dream to return to the NBA did not happen, he had to search for the next chapter in his life. 

The next chapter came with ESPN and ESPNU who saw Jay’s potential as an analyst. ESPN lauded Jay’s initiative for an analyst among ESPN’s youngest and his career goals included becoming the “African-American Matt Lauer.” He now says “I hope people remind me of my accident every day of my life because that means I’m a prime example of somebody who had it and lost everything and may not have gotten it back in the same capacity but still reinvented myself.”

Bio: Jay Williams is currently a very successful college basketball and NBA analyst for ESPN, and host of the ESPN+ sports business platform “The Boardroom.” In 2016, he released his memoir, “Life Is Not An Accident: A Memoir of Reinvention.” He is also a minority stakeholder in The Cabin NYC, a restaurant and bar.

This story was first published on https://www.instagram.com/thestorieshub/

30 Stories: Red Mud Coffee

@redmudcoffee Story by @thestorieshub

“Every Revolution Starts in a Coffee Shop”

The journey of Red Mud Coffee began from a short trip that Aashish Adhikari took when he went to visit his grandparents in Kavre. He discovered that his ancestral lands were perfectly suited for planting coffee and as a coffee lover, he was deeply interested in starting a coffee plantation in Nepal. He wanted to grow coffee and export it around the world. However, this vision did not come to fruition. Eventually, he came across an opportunity to buy a struggling coffee store in Thapathali and with his brother and school friend bought it and renamed it Red Mud Coffee. This is how the coffee revolution began for them.

One of the biggest challenges for Red Mud in the initial stages was getting access to capital. After two to three years of having established the coffee shop, they found a Dutch partner who believed in their vision. With the new partnership, vision, and team, Aashish is determined to make Red Mud Coffee the “Starbucks” of Nepal. With 5 Red Mud outlets in Nepal to date ranging from Thapathali to Manang, Aashish is really proud to have created and provided jobs to many young people. He is also very happy to have created a brand that a lot of young individuals can associate with. His vision has really come true – Red Mud is regarded as a socially vibrant space where you can mingle and network.

Bio: Started in 2012 by Aashish Adhikari, Red Mud Coffee now has 5 outlets and a coffee kiosk inside the United States Embassy in Maharajgunj. Aashish also runs Mero2Paisa, a platform and podcast that is focused on producing content that is relevant to issues faced by the youth of Nepal. Follow the revolution @redmudcoffee

Image credit: Red Mud Coffee Facebook page

This story was first published on https://www.instagram.com/thestorieshub/

30 Stories: Miki Agrawal

@mikiagrawal Story by @thestorieshub

“Iteration is perfection.”

That’s my favorite saying and I’ve always been fascinated with the process of discovery, invention, and rapid improvements. Growing up, I was told I could be whoever I wanted to be and had big dreams. However, along the way, society had set all these expectations of me on what I should do and look like. I did what society expected me to do. Then, I realized I could disrupt it all and become who I really wanted to be and work on projects I loved and those that gave me purpose and meaning.

At 25, I decided to become an entrepreneur and then went on to build successful companies that have tackled taboos head on, are truly changing culture, and improving the lives of millions of people around the world.

I wrote “Disrupt-Her” to share my experience of breaking down social taboos and building big companies that matter, while sharing other game changing disruptors from around the world.

Bio: Miki Agrawal is the Co-founder and Inventor of @hellotushy@shethinx, and @eatdrinkwild.  Her books include Disrupt-Her and Do Cool Shit. Follow her @mikiagrawal to learn how to be a Disrupt-Her.

Image credit: mikiagrawal.com

This story was first published on https://www.instagram.com/thestorieshub/

30 Stories: Miss Moti

“Moti” in the Nepalese language can mean a plump woman or it can also mean a pearl if you say it with a softer “T”. 

Miss Moti was born out of my own struggle with weight. A friend of mine had given me the nickname Moti. Thus, when searching for a name for my comic character, I realized that Moti would be the perfect fit. This character would represent a woman who was plump and also display a sense of purity and innocence. 

The emphasis of ‘beauty’ in our society leads many people to have a negative body image about themselves, especially when it comes to weight. In a world that places so much importance on appearance, Miss Moti is a superhero out to conquer her world. She does not let anything, including her weight hold her back in life. For me, Miss Moti advocates that we should not let our insecurities and body image stop us from chasing our dreams and goals in life. 

Bio: Kripa Joshi is an Illustrator and Comic Artist from Nepal. She pursued her MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she started making comics and developed the character of Miss Moti. Follow her @missmoti_vation

Image credit: missmoti.com

This story was first published on https://www.instagram.com/thestorieshub/

Perspectives on life

I’m always curious to hear about different perspectives on life. Perspectives are windows to how people see the world. Two people can be looking at the same thing and have two different perspectives.

Here’s a perspective that I really enjoyed listening to: Harvard Business School AASU Conference: Kasseem Dean Keynote

Some thoughts shared by Kasseem that I really liked were:

No matter what you do in life, you should always be a student. You can be a boss and a student at the same time. You can be a leader and a student at the same time because I feel that when you stop being a student you cut off all of your areas for learning.

We need to invest in ourselves more. We can tell the world about what everybody else is doing but when was the last time we looked in the mirror and made a better us.

My saying is sky is not the limit, it’s just your view.

My leadership style was transition…… transition is the most critical thing in your business because it can be the result of you making a lot of money or losing a lot of money.

The best advice always been do whatever you feel. Do whatever your heart tells you to do. Follow your passion. Follow your goals. Follow your dreams.

Book summary of The Sixth Man: A Memoir

I had put the book The Sixth Man: A Memoir by Andre Iguodala of the NBA champions Golden State Warriors on my book bucket list last year. I’m thrilled to have just finished reading it.

The Sixth Man is a beautifully written memoir. The book chronicles Andre’s upbringing in Springfield, Illinois, his high school and college basketball careers and eventually his journey in the NBA. Having always been interested in the stories of ball players and the NBA for a long time, the memoir gave me a glimpse into the life of one of the game’s smartest players. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in Andre, NBA, professional black athletes, Golden State Warriors, or just love to read a great story. Enjoy.

Getting back to the human experience

There’s a stat that I recently came across: Over 60 billion online messages are sent on digital platforms every day, With the volume and frequency we are communicating these days, whether this leading us to become closer or farther is a separate conversation.

The precious moments in today’s context are being present in the conversation (not being on the phone/laptop when someone is talking/around you), being empathetic (not just sharing emojis and icons on a smart device), being alive and actually living (not measuring our worth through likes/comments/other notifications). Times have changed- yet the most valuable and precious moments are shared and lived when we are just being humans.

Klay Thompson talks financial wisdom

Morning routines for success

If you flip the pages of Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss, you will find many stories of successful people describing their habits, routines and what they do on a daily basis. The book is labeled as Tools of Titans The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons and World-class performers.

One main takeaway for me from reading many of the habits of the uber successful people was that there’s no one particular routine that works for everyone. You create the routine and habits that works best for you. It’s not just the morning routine that guarantees your success, there’s plenty of other things that are equally or even more important. I took the book as an excellent reference to know what successful people do, what made them successful in the first place, and how they stay successful.

Money resources

Some good resources related to money:

4 Spending Habits We All Need to Break

7 Money Habits Every Millennial Should Develop

The Psychology of Money – How Saving and Spending Habits are Programmed in Your Brain

7 best income generating assets to invest in today

Ultimate guide to personal finance

When you’re famous…

You’re magnetic. The press wants to talk to you, the celebrities want to be around you, and fans seem to be everywhere. You’re pulling everyone and everything towards you.

I would love to know who was there for you from the start before you achieved the fame. Who was the one or the few people who believed in you when you had that “crazy” idea? Who was holding you down when things were not going right or not going anywhere? Who gave you some real advice but still stuck with you through thick and thin?

When I see the newly crowned “celebrity”, I’d love to know the people around them who got them there. It’s easy to celebrate that one individual who is getting that spotlight but somewhere out there is a bad ass team that is making things happen behind the scenes.

Go get it. Period.

Seize the day

Maybe good things come to those wait, but the best things come to those who seize the moment and make it their own.

Taken from No Limits But the Sky

The discomfort zone

Overtime, we build a comfort zone to a lot of things-from the books we read, to the people we hang out with to the sports teams we support etc. That’s the easy way to do things. We don’t have to battle within ourselves and choices are pretty simple. Yet, I believe the “real” growth, learning, challenge, excitement, and most things in general is best to be in the discomfort zone (most of the time). The discomfort zone is where you challenge yourself to be the best and to be the best, you have to push your own boundaries. Instead of “I can’t do this” to “I’m looking forward to doing this.” You become a lifelong learner and constantly seek knowledge/wisdom. The world becomes that more beautiful around you.

Is there such thing as too much press in business?

Yes, there is!

I used to believe that getting a lot of press coverage for any business would be good. It would be great to create more buzz, more people would would know about it, more people would be ready to purchase the product, and ultimately there would be more sales. What could be wrong with that right? Well now, I have started to think that it depends where you are in the business stage (startup, survival, sustainable, growth and scale).

For a startup, getting buzz creates hype and excitement towards the company. That buzz can create demand for the product or service, get market feedback, attract talent to the company among others. Yet I have started to see the pressures and repercussion of too much press early in the business stage. First time founders are really excited and passionate about their idea and want to get it out there. It’s hard to resist getting that coverage when it is coming your way. However, when the idea is out in the media, more resource equipped people and companies can easily change their strategies and almost destroy that upcoming new business. Also, if the founder(s) don’t move fast in the market, the weight of the early press coverage/even awards can hold them back. The team dynamics and egos of various people can also be affected if not taken care properly.

It sounds almost counter-intuitive to not get too much press coverage and recognition early. This is definitely not the case for all businesses. However, I’m starting to feel and believe that for startups in Nepal that want to make an impact domestically and internationally, it’s best to extremely focus on your product/service (and resist press/other coverage until you are ready). The time will come when you need to market it, generate press, and grow your company.