The Storytelling Lab

“Everybody in your organization has to be aligned… or it all starts to break down.” — Jensen Savage

If you’ve been muscling your way through growth and wondering why it still feels so hard, this episode is for you.

Jensen Savage, founder of Savage Growth Partners, breaks down the true cause of stagnation in business: misalignment.

In this conversation, we explore why brute force can’t scale and how systematizing your customer journey can unlock powerful, sustainable growth. Jensen and Rain dig into the often-ignored “connective tissue” between marketing, sales, and operations and show how storytelling is more than messaging and communication—it’s infrastructure.

Whether you're a founder, marketer, or small business owner, this episode will help you rethink what’s actually holding you back.

In this episode, you will learn to:
Understand why growth stalls even when you’re doing everything “right”
Uncover the unseen gaps in your customer journey that silently kill momentum
Map your marketing to metrics that matter most for service-based businesses
Build systems that turn handoffs into high-performance links
Use story-driven alignment to unify your brand from sales to operations

🔗 Follow Jensen on:
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savagegrowthpartners
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jensensavage
Website → https://savagegrowthpartners.com

📚 For more storytelling tips and tricks:

Visit rainbennett.com or thestorytellinglabpodcast.com, or

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“Every time you press upload, you’re telling the universe this is your part in the grand scheme.” — Elton Anderson, Jr.

What if your content wasn’t just a creative outlet, but a mirror for your transformation?

In this episode, Rain Bennett sits down with Elton Anderson—a photographer, storyteller, and founder of L10 Media—for a deep, vulnerable conversation on using storytelling to break free of the algorithm, let go of outdated identities, and build a media platform rooted in purpose.

Elton shares his own creative pivot, leaving behind a successful photography career and embracing a new chapter built around authenticity, micro media ownership, and spiritual self-alignment.

Together, they explore how to attract the right audience by showing up fully as yourself, why resistance is a sign you’re on the right path, and how to build a life and career that flow from the inside out. If you're multi-passionate, burned out by content trends, or questioning how to evolve in public, this episode will show you that your shadow isn’t something to fear—it’s where your story begins.

In this episode, you will learn to:
Embrace identity shifts as part of your creative evolution
Find your unique voice through consistent, imperfect action
Use storytelling as a tool to connect with others and yourself
Build a micro media company around your personal purpose
Reframe resistance as a signal that you're on the right path

Follow Elton on:
Instagram
TikTok

or visit his website, HERE!

And for more storytelling tips and tricks,

Visit rainbennett.com or thestorytellinglabpodcast.com
Follow on TikTok @chiefstorytellingofficer
Follow on Twitter @rainbennett
Follow on Instagram @rainbennett
Follow on Facebook @thestorytellinglab
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If your company doesn’t know the story that it’s helping to tell, no marketing campaign is going to save you.” — Rain Bennett

Most businesses mistake their vision for a quarterly goal or a financial target, but that’s not a story anyone wants to join.

In this solo episode, Rain Bennett unpacks the critical difference between vision and mission, showing how your vision acts as the narrative North Star for your entire brand. Rain shares a clear, actionable framework based on Simon Sinek’s “Just Cause” model and explains how the best visions are resilient, inclusive, and service-oriented.

Through two powerful case studies—Patagonia and The People’s Game—Rain illustrates how a well-crafted vision can guide every part of your business, from branding to product development to internal culture.

If you’ve ever struggled to articulate why your company exists beyond just making money, this episode gives you the foundation to start telling a story that actually matters.

In this episode, you will learn to:
Define a brand vision that is resilient, inclusive, and service-oriented
Align your team and decisions around a single, powerful story
Avoid the common mistakes that make most vision statements meaningless
Use real-world case studies to guide your own storytelling strategy
Craft a vision that inspires belief, not just activity

For more storytelling tips and tricks,

Visit rainbennett.com or thestorytellinglabpodcast.com
Follow on TikTok @chiefstorytellingofficer
Follow on Twitter @rainbennett
Follow on Instagram @rainbennett
Follow on Facebook @thestorytellinglab
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I was made from mistakes. I was promoted, protected, loved, and perfected by them.” — David Meltzer

After losing $100 million and hitting rock bottom, David Meltzer rebuilt his life and his business around a mission to empower over 1 billion people to be happy.

In this episode, Rain Bennett sits down with David to explore how storytelling became the vehicle for that transformation.

David opens up about the bankruptcy he once hid from the world, the emotional healing that followed, and the new definition of success that changed everything. They talk about the myth of “give more, get more,” the strategic use of vulnerability, and how to build a brand rooted in service and joy.

If you’ve ever struggled to see the upside in your darkest moments, this conversation will show you how to flip the script and turn your pain into purpose.

In this episode, you will learn to:
Reframe failure as the foundation for your most powerful story
Create a happiness-driven business model that serves and scales
Embrace vulnerability to build real trust and connection
Shift from ego-based identity to a mission-based life
Teach your team to lead with empathy, clarity, and consistency

Follow David on:
LinkedIn
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube

or pre-order his new book, HERE!

And for more storytelling tips and tricks,

Visit rainbennett.com or thestorytellinglabpodcast.com
Follow on TikTok @chiefstorytellingofficer
Follow on Twitter @rainbennett
Follow on Instagram @rainbennett
Follow on Facebook @thestorytellinglab
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It’s not just about keeping the lights on—it’s about building a relationship with the people at the end of the line.” — Krystal Phillips, JO-EMC

Storytelling isn’t just for trendy brands or startups.

In this episode, Rain sits down with Krystal Phillips, Communications and Community Relations Manager at Jones-Onslow EMC, to explore how a rural electric co-op built a storytelling culture that would rival any big tech brand.

Krystal reveals the behind-the-scenes thinking that led a utility company to invest in heartfelt video stories, internal leadership programs, and community-first content. Together, they unpack how to measure storytelling ROI when you can’t rely on sales, how buy-in from leadership transforms culture, and why authenticity matters more than production value.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone working in “unsexy” industries who wants to make storytelling their competitive advantage.

In this episode, you will learn to:
Harness storytelling as a strategic tool, even in “boring” or highly regulated industries
Build team buy-in by grounding your strategy in community and trust
Establish internal programs that create a pipeline of storytellers inside your organization
Humanize your brand with stories that foster empathy and emotional connection
Measure the real ROI of storytelling beyond dollars and metrics

Follow Krystal on:
LinkedIn
Instagram

or visit the JO-EMC website, HERE!

And for more storytelling tips and tricks,

Visit rainbennett.com or thestorytellinglabpodcast.com
Follow on TikTok @chiefstorytellingofficer
Follow on Twitter @rainbennett
Follow on Instagram @rainbennett
Follow on Facebook @thestorytellinglab
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.