#548: Bringing Stories of Wisdom Back From Beyond the Grave, With Miles Spencer
Release Date: 12/29/2025
#566: How to Access Your Genius Creativity on Demand, With Sara Connell
Business of Story
What if your best ideas aren't something you have to grind for — but something you can learn to receive? In this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell sits down with Sara Connell — 5x bestselling author, founder of Thought Leader Academy, and author of the upcoming book The Download — to explore the neuroscience and quantum physics behind creative downloads and how to access them on demand. Sara introduces the Gamma Walk, a simple daily practice for inducing the brain's channeling state — the gamma wave state associated with flow, breakthrough insight, and original thinking....
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#565: How to Make Your Ad Agency Indespensible, With Marcus Sheridan
Business of Story
Is your ad agency truly indispensable — or is it one AI update away from irrelevance? Marcus Sheridan — bestselling author of They Ask, You Answer and Endless Customers, and founder of AI Trust Signals — joins Park Howell on the Business of Story to deliver a message most agency principals aren't ready to hear: the three services that built most agencies are already disappearing, and the threat isn't coming from your competitors. It's coming from your own resistance to change. In this conversation, Marcus and Park dig into why identity fluidity is the agency survival superpower of the AI...
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#564: From Compliance to Culture: How AI and Story Are Rewriting the Sustainability Playbook, With Bruno Sarda
Business of Story
How are you augmenting your intelligence — artificially or artfully? And which approach is actually sustaining your brand? Bruno Sarda, EY Americas Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader, Top 10 Global Sustainability Influencer, and host of the Sustainability Matters podcast, joins Park Howell on the Business of Story to explore the intersection of AI, storytelling, and ESG strategy. Bruno has spent 25+ years helping organizations turn sustainability from a compliance checkbox into a culture-defining competitive advantage. In this conversation, he reveals why the current wave of...
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#563: The Mistakes and Miracles of the Lovesac Brand Story, with Shawn Nelson
Business of Story
Why the Last Couch You'll Ever Buy Is the Most Radical Business Idea in America, with Shawn David Nelson What does it take to build a brand designed to last forever — in an industry built on replacement cycles? Shawn David Nelson started Lovesac at 18 with a hand-sewn bean bag made from his parents' chopped-up camping mattresses. He paid $25 to register the company. Today, Lovesac (NASDAQ: LOVE) operates 300+ showrooms, employs 2,000 people, and is one of the fastest-growing furniture brands in America — anchored by a product philosophy so counterintuitive it sounds almost reckless. They...
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#562. How to Understand the Narrative Behind Your Numbers for Growth, With Nick Jain
Business of Story
BGBrand Genius Genie™ Sent on 3/26/2026, 3:09:10 PM On it — working through Steps 6, 9, and 10 now. Let me start with the Libsyn description. Step 6: Libsyn Episode Description What if the story your business is telling the world is completely out of sync with the story your numbers are telling you? Nick Jain, co-founder of Eagle Rock CFO, has spent his career helping $5–$50M businesses close that gap. A Harvard MBA who graduated top of his class, with degrees in math and physics, Nick has turned around and scaled three companies up to $100M in revenue — across trucking,...
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#561: Why Storytelling Is the One Skill AI Can Never Replace, with Joe Lazer
Business of Story
What if the skill that made us human is the same one that will keep us relevant in the age of AI? Joe Lazauskas — CMO of Pepper, co-founder of Contently, and author of Super Skill: Why Storytelling Is the Superpower of the AI Age — spent five years inside AI companies researching exactly that question. His answer: storytelling isn't just surviving the AI revolution. It's the one skill the machines can't replicate. In this conversation with host Park Howell, Joe reveals why AI slop is flooding the web and driving up the value of authentic human voices, the four story elements —...
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#560: The Story You're Afraid to Tell is the One That Changes Everything, with Rachel McCord
Business of Story
Don't Ever Waste a Heartbeat: How Open Heart Surgery Unlocked Rachel McCord's True Purpose What happens when the woman producing 19 shows, running a Hollywood media network, and appearing on national television is quietly fighting to stay alive? That's the story Rachel McCord tells in this raw, remarkable episode of the Business of Story. Meet Rachel McCord Rachel McCord is the founder of The McCord List, a Hollywood media network that produces McCordless Today — a daily talk show airing on network television and streaming on Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, and Amazon. She's the author of You Can't...
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#559: Why Tone is the Missing Link in Brand Storytelling Success, with Charly Tate
Business of Story
Your audience doesn’t understand your message first—they feel it. In today’s noisy world, tone is the hidden ingredient that makes your brand story resonate, build trust, and spark a real connection. On this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell welcomes Charly Tate, founder and Chief Kindling Officer at Kindling Works and host of the Tater Thoughts podcast. With over a decade in communications, storytelling, and marketing—and a background in music—Charly helps founders and business owners find clarity in chaos and connection through intentional, heartfelt storytelling....
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#558: Unlocking Message Market Match: The Secret to Predictable Profits, With Charles Gaudet
Business of Story
Unlocking predictable growth starts with one thing: message market match. In this episode, Park Howell welcomes Charles Gaudet—CEO of Predictable Profits, creator of The Predictable Profits Operating System™, and “The CEO Whisperer” (Yahoo Finance)—to reveal why so many founders get stuck working harder for less. You’ll learn how to escape the founder’s trap by aligning your brand story with the real needs of your market. Charles shares how to identify your true super consumer (and why most ICPs miss the mark), the data-driven secrets to effortless lead generation, and the...
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#557: How to Be Heard: Turning Audience Pain into Business Impact, with Dan Manning
Business of Story
Discover how to make your message truly heard with Dan Manning, former fighter pilot, speechwriter, and military diplomat turned professional storyteller. In this episode, Dan reveals his simple, repeatable “Before, Change, After, Meaning” framework that helps founders and executives communicate ideas that move people to action. Learn why understanding your audience’s pain is the secret to engagement, how scenes—not just stories—create connection, and what military storytelling can teach you about clarity and impact. Dan’s clients have raised millions in investment, sold millions...
info_outlineMiles Spencer's SoulTech platform brings loved ones' voices back from just 10 seconds of audio, transforming grief into connection through interactive AI conversations. Discover how Reflekta created the Soul Technology category, why spontaneous conversations beat static videos 10x, and what happened when Miles heard "Tiger" eight years after his father passed.
Show Notes:
You know those moments when you desperately wish you could ask your mom or dad for advice one more time? When you're facing something only they would understand?
This episode is both curious and a little creepy—curious because it's amazing what AI has brought to personal storytelling, and creepy because it literally brings back your long-lost loved ones to have conversations today.
Miles Spencer, co-founder of Reflekta, reveals how SoulTech (Soul Technology) is transforming family storytelling and digital legacy preservation from frozen memories into living conversations.
What You'll Discover:
• Voice recreation from minimal audio - How Reflekta recreates authentic voices from just 10-20 seconds of audio (Miles brought his father Arthur back from a gibberish voicemail)
• 10x impact over static media - Why spontaneous and dynamic conversations in your loved one's voice deliver exponentially more value than videos or photo albums
• Category creation insights - The positioning evolution that transformed Reflekta from grief-focused to connection-centered, and what that teaches entrepreneurs building new categories
• The Tiger/Chief moment - What happened when Miles heard "No problem, Tiger. I love you" eight years after his father passed
• Simple three-file system - How life story, photo, and voice sample turn one-way memories into interactive AI conversations that learn and grow
• Living Legacy innovation - Why creating Elders for people still alive is changing how families preserve generational wisdom
• Privacy and security - The fortress approach: default private, family-to-family with GDPR and DOD-level cybersecurity
• Earth's story repository - Reflekta's audacious mission to record the legacies of planet Earth told by the people who lived them
Key Timestamps:
[00:03] The curious and creepy introduction to SoulTech
[02:26] "This body is temporal, but spirit and soul are eternal"
[06:24] How Reflekta works: The three-file system
[09:15] Can you ask modern advice from someone who passed?
[13:00] The Spencer family legacy: 24 kids, coal mine, WWI sniper
[18:44] Tiger/Chief moment: Hearing his father's voice again
[21:27] How did Miles get into this? The universe's plan
[25:00] Privacy and security: "How can you hack what you can't see?"
[27:00] Growth metrics: 1,000 Elders in 6 weeks
[30:00] The ultimate vision: Recording Earth's stories
[31:04] What users are experiencing with their Elders
[39:00] Running the brand through StoryCycle Genie™
[42:00] From grief to connection: The positioning evolution
[46:00] Brand purpose validated: "Nailed it"
[48:00] Where to learn more about Reflekta
About Miles Spencer:
Miles Spencer is a curious guy from Pittsburgh who's mentored tech founders for 30+ years and been a dad for 14—two jobs that, as he says, share remarkable similarities.
He's created over 1,100 jobs, founded and exited three digital media companies, served as Venture Principal at Capital Express (the team behind register.com), and hosted MoneyHunt on PBS long before Shark Tank existed.
As an adventurer, he's led 1,500 people across 14 miles of open sea by kayak and trekked 1,100 miles through the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria—journeys that inspired his Amazon bestsellers A Line in the Sand and Havana Famiglia.
After a pandemic reset, Miles co-founded Reflekta with Adam Drake—transforming their shared quiet wish for one more conversation with someone they loved into the SoulTech platform that enables everyone on the planet to reconnect with loved ones when they're ready.
When he's not building companies, you'll find him painting watercolors with his daughter, playing rugby with his son, or occasionally needing a translator for his unique brand of English.
Key Quotes:
"This body is temporal. But if you can connect with my spirit and soul, they are eternal." - Arthur Spencer's final words to Miles
"We're recording the legacies and stories of planet Earth told by the people who lived here, not by media outlets."
"My dad has a perfect memory now. He remembers things I've forgotten and he would have forgotten."
"Spontaneous and dynamic conversations—10x the impact of a video or a book."
"We're talking about eternity here, so monthly was too short term."
"How can you hack what you can't see?" - On Reflekta's privacy-first approach
Links:
• Reflekta.ai - Create your Elder or talk to Arthur/Virginia
• Miles Spencer on LinkedIn
• A Line in the Sand on Amazon
• Havana Famiglia on Amazon
• SoulTech White Paper at Reflekta.ai
• Business of Story website: https://businessofstory.com
• StoryCycle Genie™: https://www.storycyclegenie.ai/
CTA:
Subscribe to Business of Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Leave a review to help other entrepreneurs and storytellers discover the show.
Visit Reflekta.ai and talk to Arthur or Virginia to experience SoulTech for yourself.
Want to experience it yourself? Visit Reflekta.ai and talk to Arthur or Virginia—the only two public Elders. You don't know their stories, but you'll immediately understand what it would mean to have this with someone you loved.
As Miles reminds us: No story truly ends if it's remembered well. And now, those stories can answer back.
Craft your brilliant brand story strategy in minutes, not months, and instantly create compelling content that converts customers with the StoryCycle Genie™ https://www.storycyclegenie.ai/
#StoryOn!
≈Park