What Chronic Pain Taught One Doctor About Healing: A Conversation with Dr. Mark Malone
Most doctors learn about pain from textbooks. Dr. Mark Malone learned from the floor of his home, stuck there after a devastating back injury. He couldn’t walk. Couldn’t work. Could barely reach the refrigerator. And this was after years of already running a pain clinic. That kind of firsthand experience? It changes you. When I sat down with Dr. Malone on the Rock Solid podcast, we weren’t just talking about business. We were talking about what happens when purpose meets…
Most companies treat storytelling like seasoning.
Sprinkle a little on the website.Add a pinch to the pitch deck.Maybe toss it in the onboarding slideshow. But here’s the truth:Story isn’t seasoning. It is the system. If your story only lives in your marketing, you’re missing 90% of its power. Because story is how humans understand the world.It is how we decide what matters.Who we trust.What we believe.And why we act. That is why your story has to show up everywhere: Great companies do not just tell stories.They…
Building Community, Feeding Purpose: A Conversation with Diana Lindsey
When people ask me what makes Round Rock different, I don’t hesitate. It’s not just the growth. It’s not just the innovation. It’s the people. It’s always been the people. That’s why I launched Rock Solid: The Round Rock Business Leaders Podcast – to capture the heart of what drives this city forward. And in this episode, I got the absolute joy of sitting down with my good friend and fellow Round Rock Chamber ambassador, Diana Lindsey. If you’ve ever…
You Don’t Have to Be Right. You Just Have to Know How Fast You’re Wrong.
If there’s one thing I hope you take away from my conversation with Juan Damia on the Born2Unicorn podcast, it’s this: You don’t need to be right all the time. You just need to know how fast you’re wrong. That’s it. That’s the shift. That’s what changes everything. Most entrepreneurs are stuck chasing perfection. They want the pitch to be flawless, the product to be complete, the plan to be airtight. I get it. But here’s the truth: progress beats…
Your Brand Might Be a One-Hit Wonder.
Here’s why that’s killing your growth…You know that song you can’t shake?The one that hijacks your brain on repeat — “Don’t Stop Believin’”… “Happy”… Baby Shark (sorry)?That’s called an earworm. And it turns out, businesses get them too.They fall in love with their own tune.Their origin story. Their shiny product. Their 5-step proprietary process.And then? They crank it up. Over and over. Louder. Tighter. Glossier.But here’s the truth: nobody’s dancing.Because customers don’t care about your song — they’re already humming…
Pong wasn’t just a game. It was the spark.
I was around six the first time I played it. Two paddles. One dot. No story, except the one you created as you played. By twelve, I had my first Atari computer. At thirteen, I launched a BBS from my bedroom and dropped $400 on a 10MB hard drive (and I got a deal). It felt like I was holding the future in my hands. Looking back, Nolan Bushnell didn’t just build Pong. He planted the seed that would grow…
When Ghosts, Ads, and Storytelling Collide: A Rock Solid Conversation with Monica Ballard
What happens when you blend 20 years of creative firepower, a haunted hotel, and a glass of red wine? You get Monica Ballard. She’s written jingles. Directed shows. Led ghost tours. Voiced ads you’ve definitely heard. And if you’ve called “A Place at Home – North Austin (512) 521-3010,” you’ve already met her without knowing it. So when my friend Marion, a jingle writer himself, nudged me to invite Monica onto the Rock Solid podcast, it wasn’t even a question.…
Most brands don’t die with a bang. They die quietly. In inboxes.
In 2014, Derek Sivers did something wild. He rewrote a confirmation email. That’s it. Not a campaign. Not a product launch. Just an email. Here’s what it said: “Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized gloves and placed onto a satin pillow…” It went viral. People laughed. They shared it. They remembered CD Baby. But why? Because it felt like something. Because it sounded like someone. Because it had what most brands are missing:…
Turn Storytelling Into Strategy. Turn Strategy Into Sales.
Most businesses think they have a marketing problem. What they really have is a disconnect problem.
Customers don’t follow funnels. They follow stories. Their own, not yours. Every click, hesitation, and neglected followup is part of a journey you either understand and optimize or ignore and lose.
That’s where Buyer Legends comes in.
This isn’t just another marketing framework. It is a business process that uses storytelling as strategy. We don’t guess what customers should do. We map what they actually do. We turn their journey into a clear, compelling, and actionable narrative that aligns brand intent with customer reality.
- Stories that reveal the invisible. What’s working, what’s broken, and why buyers bail.
- A journey map that everyone understands. From the boardroom to the stockroom.
- Marketing, sales, and customer experience finally in sync. What you promise is what customers experience.
This is how you fix the friction, remove the gaps, and turn intention into action. Because when your story and the customer’s story align, the sale is already made.