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- [00:01]
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You're here for tips on leveling up your career, but here's a bonus tip on leveling up your investments. Check out Public Public is an investing platform where you can invest in stocks, options, bonds, ETFs and crypto all in one place. Public is a modern brokerage and has brought innovation to aspects of investing that were dinosaur y. I'll give you an example. Public is one of the only brokerages to offer self directed investing in bonds, Treasuries, which have historically been sold primarily through a government website. But with Public you can invest in Treasuries with just a few clicks right from your phone. And Public allows you to make fractional investments in bonds. So before fractional bonds on Public you had to buy government bonds starting with a $1,000 investment at a minimum. And if you wanted to invest in any more than that, you could only invest in $100 increments. Now you can buy bonds for as little as $100 and for any dollar amount on Public. That's just one example of how Public is making it easier to invest. But there are a ton more and you can explore them for yourself@public.com helpwanted. To get started with your portfolio today, go to public.com helpwanted this is a paid endorsement for public investing. Full disclosure and conditions can be found in the podcast Description Listeners, we're always.
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Talking about smart ideas here, and using NerdWallet to find the best financial products for you, like credit cards, is more than smart. It's genius because the nerds already did all the research, so it's easy to find the right card for you in minutes. I'll prove it. I want to upgrade my card, so let's use NerdWallet's Card Finder tool together. Okay. First question. What's my credit score? I think it's good. I think it's in the seven hundreds. Next question. What kind of rewards do I want? Probably travel. I'd like to travel some more this year. Next question. Am I planning to make a big purchase soon? I sure am. I'm getting married this year and there are a big number of big purchases. So yeah, check that box. Next question. How much money am I spending monthly? I'm just gonna put in a little something something. And here they are. Several really great recommendations and some travel. Okay, honeymoon. Now it's your turn. Get matched with your card today@nerdwallet.com terms and conditions apply. Credit products subject to lender approval. See nerdwallet.com for details.
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This is help wanted the show that makes your work work for you. I'm Jason Pfeiffer, editor in chief of.
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Entrepreneur magazine, and I'm money expert Nicole Lapin. On Tuesdays, Jason and I answer the helpline and help callers solve their work problems.
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And on Thursdays, I give you one way to improve your work and build a career or company you love.
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And it starts now.
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You have an interesting background or something interesting happened to you, or there's just some experience that you feel like really helps inform why you do what you do or the way in which you do it. And now you're wondering, can you share that? You want to. You've thought about it a bunch. You know you want to share your story, everybody does. And you want to share it with customers or partners or colleagues or maybe future bosses. You want to share it on social media for other people to find it or on a website or wherever. Anyway, the point is here you are not doing it. You're just thinking about it because you're hesitating because you have a lot of questions. And those questions are things like do people want to hear this and will it be a turnoff? And is it tmi? Well, here's my answer. Your story is one of your strongest assets. It can make you relatable and memorable and it can draw people to you. But only if you tell it right. Today on Help Wanted, I will show you a four step framework for turning personal stories into compelling narratives. And to show you how it works, let us start with a founder who experienced deep personal tragedy and she's unsure how to talk about it. So here's how to tell the hardest story. Some context here. I co founded a private network called CPG Fast Track, where we help early stage CPG founders grow their brands. And recently I met a new member named Gillian Froehlich. Brad Burke. She's the founder of Nicer Foods. In our first conversation, Jillian told me why she started the company, and it is heartbreaking and powerful. Four years ago, an intoxicated driver crashed into Jillian's family during a road trip, killing her husband and leaving her in a coma with severe injuries. Her young children were miraculously unharmed. But doctors didn't expect Jillian to make it. She did, though, and as she recovered, she became obsessed with health and healing, especially through food. That journey inspired her to create a nourishing brand that everyone can enjoy, which is Nicer Foods. For years, she said she didn't know how to talk about the accident. How does she share this story in a way that doesn't make nicer foods feel, you know, depressing or just off putting. But now she's remarried and she's building this brand with her husband and she wants people to understand her mission. So she asked me, should I tell my story? And then she told me, I'm afraid it'll make the wrong impression. And I told her this. I said, first, only do this if you really truly want to. You should never feel obligated to share your story, especially something that's personal like that. But if she was ready and she said she was, then yes, I did think she should share it. It's powerful, it's honest, it explains the brand and it will set her apart in a crowded market. So here is how to do it. This is about sharing something personal purposefully. Here's what people get wrong about storytelling. They think that it's just about facts. As if storytelling is simply a recounting of events. It is not powerful. Storytelling is about contextualizing those events, which helps your audience understand and react to the narrative. They don't just want to know what happened, they want to know why it matters. For example, imagine meeting someone at a party and then they tell you a tragic personal story. How do you feel? Probably a little uncomfortable. You know, you're not sure what to say and you don't know what they want. Do they want comfort, sympathy? Something else? Why are they telling you this and is it rude to change the subject? But now imagine that you're at that party and someone tells you that same tragic story and then explains how it led them to a discovery, insight or opportunity. Now you know how to respond and you understand them better. In other words, stories should drive toward a purpose and that purpose is yours to to define. So here is the four part formula for telling personal stories. Obviously, there are many ways to tell your story and in this case I'm really focusing on an outcome oriented story. This is how to use your story for a specific purpose. Whether that's on social media, on your website, on a stage, in a pitch, in any other setting where you want someone to act like say hiring you or buying your product or just feeling better about you. To do this, you're going to tell your story in this four part format. Ready? Part one. Something happened to me. Part two. It created a relatable problem that I needed to overcome. Part three, it led me to create or deeply study a solution. And now part four. Now that I've learned this, I can help others, including you. Let me now say that one more time, but just faster. Part One, something happened to me. Part two, created a relatable problem. Part three, led me to create a solution. Part four, now that I've learned it, I help others, including you. Got it. By telling your story that way, you actually get to play two roles at the exact same time. First, you become your audience. You are just like them, having faced a setback and a relatable problem. But you are now also the authority because you did the work and, and now you know how to solve their problem. This is about building trust. You're telling them, look, I'm just like you and I was pushed to action. And the solution that I have is honest and authentic. In this way, you are not just telling your story, you're telling your collective story because they, your audience, are now a part of it. And once you understand this framework, you are going to just see it everywhere. For example, my friend Jim Kwik is a bestselling author and world renowned brain coach. And if you go to the about page on his website, it says this like the first thing you see is from Boy with a broken brain to world's number one brain coach. And when Jim explains the origin of his work, he basically tells it in exactly the format I just laid out. So here it is. Part one, Jim experienced a brain injury as a child. Part two, the injury limited his ability to read and write and a teacher called him the boy with the broken brain. Part three, he dedicated himself to understanding memory and learning, which helped him recover. And now part four, he teaches others how to improve their own memory and learning. It is a powerful story and it helped Jim build a powerful brand. Now let me be really clear. Although Gillian experienced a car crash and Jim experienced a brain injury, you do not know need severe trauma to tell a compelling four part story. Sarah Blakely does a version of it. For example, she was selling fax machines, which is not severe trauma. You know, she was selling fax machines, wanted to wear certain outfits, didn't look good in them, and then created a product to solve her own problem, which grew into Spanx. It's the same basic story, right? I had a problem like you, I did something about it. Now I help you solve that same problem. So here is what Gillian did after I shared this framework with her. She spent a week thinking about it and then she acted. She updated the About Us page on her brand's website where she now tells her personal story. She writes about the car accident, the quest to reclaim her health, and working to care for her children's health as well. One week after posting her story on her website. She told me she already saw an impact. She wrote to me and said I've had two different potential partners reach out completely unprompted, saying they love my story, find it inspiring, and want to find ways to work together. That response is very surreal, humbling and motivating. I am thrilled for that Gillian. But I am not surprised. Jillian has a powerful story. She experienced darkness, found light, and now wants to help others. Who doesn't love and appreciate that? Who wouldn't trust her more now that they know you have this too? Your story will be different from Jillian's, but it can be powerful all the same. You experienced something, you acted. Now you have solutions for people like you. They are waiting to hear your story. So tell it. Help Wanted is a production of Money News Network. Help Wanted is hosted by me, Jason.
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Pfeiffer and me, Nicole Lapman. Our executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. Do you want some help? Email our helpline@helpwantedoneynews network.com for the chance to have some of your questions answered on the show. And follow us on Instagram at Money News and Tik Tok MoneyNews Network for exclusive content and to see our beautiful faces. Maybe a little dance?
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Oh, I didn't sign up for that.
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All right, well, talk to you soon.