October 08, 2019
Stories Connect Us All: The Birth of the Guild Stories Podcast
I’m sure behind my back, I got severe eye rolls. From Brooke, my wife of nearly 17 years. And our team at Guild Content.
They’ve all been down this road before with me.
A shiny new idea. Something exciting to pursue. A new adventure.
I don’t know the percentage, but let’s say 85% for the sake of conversation. 85% of the time, my ideas fade out as fast as they ignited in the first place. Kinda like those annoying fireworks on the 4th of July that you light with anticipation, and then…dud.
So when I came in guns blazing one morning, talking about starting a Guild podcast several weeks ago, I’m sure this happened…🙄.
But this was one of the 15 percenters. It made it through the initial spark. Into the land of not just possible but probable. The only way a crazy idea of mine gets to the 15% club is with support.
First, from Brooke. She’s the best BS detector I know, the most real, authentic, unmoved by shiny person in the universe.
Her initial reaction was a mixture of, “Why now, can it wait, there are so many other priorities…”
She wasn’t wrong.
But as she sat with it, chewed on it, and came back to it, her reaction changed more to, “I can see how this makes sense, what if I co-hosted it with you…”
Boom.
Step two. The Guild Content team.
Their initial reaction was a mixture of, “Whoa we love it, but how about 2020, who are the guests, how do we execute it perfectly?”
They weren’t wrong.
But as they sat with it, chewed on it, rolled their eyes, and came back to it, their reaction changed more to, “How can we help, we’re in, did you think about this, how about this, and finally this…”
Sure, I pushed too hard and too fast to make it happen. Sure, if given more time and resources and attention, it would have been more seamless.
But WE brought it to life. As a family, as a team.
We didn’t launch Guild Stories to make a bunch of money. It won’t. It actually costs a s**tload to produce.
We didn’t launch Guild Stories to become famous. We won’t. There are over 700,000 active podcasts and growing.
We didn’t launch Guild Stories because we have something amazing to say. We don’t. You’d get sick of hearing me and Brooke ramble.
We launched Guild Stories because we believe companies need to connect to the hearts of their customers.
We launched Guild Stories because we don’t think facts and features change people’s minds. Experience and empathy do.
We launched Guild Stories because we believe the human heart is the thread that connects us all.
It’s through story we are inspired. It’s through story we change. It’s through story we connect, and ultimately, the world gets better.
Today, we know people in inches. We see their edited, filtered lives through tiny screens in our hands when our real worlds are right in front of us.
If we’re lucky, we get to know people by where they live, what they drive, or the title on their business card.
But aren’t we all so much more than those things?
And when we’re constantly distracted, with endless notifications, being pulled in a million directions, we launched Guild Stories to be an easy place to push play…and go deeper.
To the core motivations of interesting people. To discover who people are, really.
To find out who they are, what they are afraid of, what they dream about, what their journey has been like, and ultimately…what they want to be remembered for.
It wasn’t the perfect time for us to do this. Life is full. It’s busy. It’s stressful and chaotic.
But here we are, showing up each Wednesday with a new story. Where we get the pleasure and good fortune to sit with influential people who are living life on purpose and ask them the tough questions.
And in doing so, we get to see the beautiful, raw, unfiltered side of leaders and humanity.
Into the scary places, the vulnerable places. But it’s there where we get to see and be seen. It’s there where we can relate, and say, “Oh yeah…me too.”
Thanks for being part of our 15% idea. We’re thankful it made the cut.
Welcome to Guild Stories, the stories that connect us all.
guildstories.podbean.com