RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2026.10.12
Recommended Reading
Why Tourists Fly Across the World for 1949 Sneakers and Nobody Crosses Town for You
There’s a line outside a shoe store in Tokyo.
Tourists now put an Onitsuka Tiger store on the must-see list, next to Senso-ji temple and the Shibuya crossing. They pay about $100 a pair for a sneaker whose design goes back to 1949. One dad from Michigan walked out with four pairs and said, “It’s crazy. These are old shoes!”
Vance Morris points out that the shoe didn’t get better. The setting and the story around it did. Same with Freddie Mercury, who traded his catsuits for white Onitsuka Tiger boxing boots in 1979. His voice didn’t change. His staging did.
Here’s why that matters if you sell your expertise. Your prospects can’t judge how good you are before they hire you. So they judge what they can see. Your lobby. Your intake form. Your calendar link. The first sixty seconds of a phone call.
His bottom line: “You cannot out-credential a commodity market. You can out-design one.”
He ends with a list of action items. Start with the first one this week. Pick one moment where a stranger first touches your business and walk through it as someone with three other firms to choose from.
Read: Nobody Can Judge Your Expertise. Everybody Judges Your Lobby.
Recommended Event
How to Use Your Book to Get Booked and Hired (live Saturday)
This Saturday morning I’m hosting a free, 45-minute live Boardroom Session, and you’re invited.
It’s for you if you’ve written a book, or you’re writing one, and it hasn’t brought you the clients you expected. Not more book sales. Clients.
Your book made you the authority. What it can’t do on its own is turn a reader into a lead, and a lead into a booked call. I’ll show you the system that does that, and how to launch it without tech headaches.
Saturday, October 17, 11:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. CT
Recommended Viewing
Stand Out, Be Different, and Create Raving Fans
The Savannah Bananas started with an abandoned stadium, zero corporate sponsors, and millions of dollars in debt. Today they’re one of the most famous names in sports.
In this conversation with Joe Polish, founder Jesse Cole (the man in the yellow tuxedo) explains how. His big idea: stop trying to create customers and start creating fans. Customers are transactional. Fans stay.
He breaks it into four steps:
1. Eliminate friction.
2. Experiment constantly.
3. Entertain always.
4. Empower your team.
Start with friction. Jesse walked away from hundreds of thousands of dollars in sponsorships to get the ads out of his fans’ way. Then look at his rule for standing out: whatever is normal, do the exact opposite.
It pairs nicely with Vance’s article above. Same lesson, different ballpark.
Watch: How To Stand Out, Be Different, and Create Raving Fans
Podcast (The Story Power Marketing Show)
How to Use Story to Turn a Group of Individuals Into a Real Team (with Carlo D’Amore)
Carlo D’Amore started as an actor in New York. Today he builds true-crime mystery experiences based on real historical cases. Companies like Apple, Meta, Goldman Sachs, Netflix, Spotify, and Google have brought them in for their teams.
Here’s the twist. His audiences don’t just watch the story. They work it.
We talk about why teams form when people solve a story together. They take risks. They each own a piece of the result. Job titles stop mattering while everyone chases the same clue. Carlo describes the laughter and tension in the room, grown adults getting playful again, and the quiet person in the corner who sometimes cracks the case.
If you lead a team, or want your clients to feel like part of one, start here.
DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE
~01:58 — Carlo’s Origin Story
~02:55 — Immersive True-Crime Experiences
~05:19 — Accidental Team Building
~09:04 — Shared Emotions at Work
~12:54 — Breakthroughs From Theater
~16:21 — Storytelling vs. Engagement
~19:19 — Results and Transformations
~21:40 — How to Work With Carlo
~24:15 — Parting Thoughts
~26:28 — Wrap-Up and Call to Action
~28:28 — Outro and Resources
LISTEN ON: Apple | Spotify | Amazon
Recommended Podcast
Finding Joy in the Game of Life with Steven Pressfield
If you’ve ever felt behind, this one’s for you.
Steven Pressfield wrote The War of Art, the book that gave a name to the force that keeps us from doing our work. He calls it Resistance. In this episode of the BookThinkers podcast, he talks about the daily practice it takes to beat it.
His point is simple. Success is a lifetime game, not an overnight one. Find the thing you love and stick with it. Keep showing up for the love of the game. And it’s never too late to chase the dream.
Watch: Finding Joy in the Game of Life with Steven Pressfield
Words to Ponder
“It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
— Steve Jobs
Don't go away yet..
p.s. Coaches, authors, and consultants hire me to power-up their creative content and storytelling to captivate prospects, stand-out and book more business.
Whenever you're ready, here are several ways I can help you become a storytelling stand-out so you'll land more clients without pitching and prodding:
1) Get the Story Power Profit Pack -- 52 Strategies, Tips, and Tactics to Transform Your Content from Ignored to Adored.
2) Watch the free, 7-minute Micro-Training: “The 3 Most Important Storytelling Keys to Captivate Prospects and Inspire Them to Act -- Without Pitching and Prodding.”
3) Become a Story Power VIP: Master how to discover, assemble, and deliver business-building stories. Twice-monthly live masterclasses. Members-only content. One-on-one feedback and consulting sessions. And more… If you'd like to learn more about our VIP program, just reply to this email and put "Story Power VIP" in the subject line. I’ll contact you with more details.
4) Work with me one-on-one: If you’re interested in working directly with me -- to discover, assemble, and deliver powerful, business-building stories -- simply reply to this email and change the subject line to "Private Client." Tell me a little about yourself, your business, and what you'd like to accomplish, and I'll reply to discuss options.
5) Invite me to speak at an event: I can tailor a presentation that meets the specific needs of your organization. Informative. Entertaining. Virtual or live. Potential for continuing education credits when applicable for your group. If interested, reply to this email and change the subject line to “Speaking Engagement.” I’ll circle back to discuss the possibilities.
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