377 The Art of Storytelling: A Controlled Burn in The Forest Of Life
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
Release Date: 04/15/2025
398 Everything We Do Can Create A Story
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
398 Everything We Do Can Create A Story Every living breathing moment, we contribute to our own story. Every job, every interaction with another soul, every moment we reflect, we write a significant line in our story and oftentimes we must take time to truly consider what we truly want to have in our story. Do we want exhaustion or loneliness to rule our narrative? Or do we want to forge our own community based on that which brings us joy and cherish the light within us? These are the questions we must ask ourselves. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Tracy MacDonald discuss the...
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397: Our Talents Are For Us Too
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
When you first take the Strengths Finder quiz, we often feel like those skills and talents are what you can use to guide and influence others, however if we forget to take time for ourselves, to turn our talents inward and focus on ourselves, we are failing ourselves by not acknowledging what we bring to the table. In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Lindsey Van Gorp discuss the importance of introspection, fostering and growing our strengths, as well as how we need to wield our talents and skills in order to be the best version of ourselves, not just for others but for ourselves...
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396: Curiosity and Authenticity
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
396 Curiosity and Authenticity It is in human nature to be curious, to ask questions, and seek out insight in an attempt to make sense of the world we are thrust into. It is when we craft our own personal board of directors do we get the opportunity to finally seek the answers we crave and in doing so find our own purpose. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Cole Mannix discuss how curiosity led them to find their authentic selves as well as the many paths their hunger for answers took them on. Highlights Curiosity and the questions it makes us ask often shape how we...
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395 Carpe Diem
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
395 Carpe Diem It’s easy to think we have all the time in the world to do something we’re putting off. Whether it’s changing jobs, or finishing your novel, or finally folding the laundry, we always think we’ll have more time. However time is a finite resource, and one day it too will run out. So we carry with us reminders of that which matters most to us and in doing so we remind ourselves to seize the day and to not take time for granted. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and George Schunk discuss their own collections of sentimental items, their own art they have...
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394 The Driver of Innovation is Curiosity
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
394 The Driver of Innovation is Curiosity Curiosity is in our nature as human beings, we crave knowledge and the answers to the how’s and why’s. Whether it be from a scientific standpoint, raising a child, or to work more cohesively with our coworkers, we must always stay curious so that we can always be growing. In this episode Sarah Elkins and Jeff Ikler discuss not just their vital work, but how they have maintained healthy relationships, and a positive mental state by always staying curious. Highlights Avoiding the after conference hangover by having a...
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393 Being Direct and Intentional in Conversations
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
393 Being Direct and Intentional in Conversations It can be far too easy to let yourself be passive in conversations, whether it be to let another person make a decision or to avoid conflict. However in doing so we rob ourselves and others of deep meaningful connection, which is why it is so important to be direct and intentional with your words. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins talks about these points while also bringing up times in her life where she was passive and direct in conversation, and why it is so important to her to be direct and intentional. Highlights Be direct...
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392 Intention and Mindfulness In Conversation
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
392 Intention and Mindfulness In Conversation Inevitably we will have to confront the reality of how certain comments, remarks, and individuals make us feel, especially when it is in a negative way. Unspoken expectations lead to resentment, and if we do not have the hard conversations and practice curiosity and active listening we not only do a disservice to them but to ourselves as well. In this episode Sarah Elkins takes us on a hike with her dog Jocko, while teaching us the importance of mindfulness and intention in conversations, and how important it is we talk to and listen to...
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391 Stories and Connection
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
391 Stories and Connection It is vital to our own communities that we remember our stories and share them with one another, not to dwell on regrets and what ifs, but to reach out and connect with one another so that we all can learn and grow together, and hopefully create more grand stories on the paths we walk together. In this revisited episode, Sarah Elkins and Lee Keylock discuss their own stories and how they have healed through sharing stories and listening to the stories that others share with us. Highlights Connecting with people through sharing stories. Healing from trauma...
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390 Good Service Goes Both Ways
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
390 Good Service Goes Both Ways Anyone who has ever worked in customer service has at some point or another dealt with that one customer. You know the type, the huffy, irritable, “My issues are more important than your wellbeing and rules” that insist and demand everything, while demeaning you in the process. Unfortunately, these people will always exist, however what we can change is how we allow these types of interactions to affect us. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins tells the story of one of her own unruly customer moments, as well as how she chose to learn and grow from the...
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389 Identifying and Acting On Problems You Can Solve
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
389 Identifying and Acting On Problems You Can Solve We are surrounded by problems everyday of our lives, some manageable and others seeming too monumental to handle alone. Which is why it is so important to build a community of like minded individuals with the same goal of making a true difference. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Tessa Clarke discuss the relationship people have with stuff, food waste, and how Tessa’s company Olio have been making a real difference in the face of the climate crisis. Highlights Our relationship with objects, like...
info_outline377 The Art of Storytelling: A Controlled Burn in The Forest Of Life
Throughout life we have a tendency to collect things, whether they be stories, memories, or physical objects, and more often than not we cling to these things despite them no longer serving us in any meaningful capacity. Which is why it is important to sit back, look at your hoard and realize you are not a dragon who must keep every single piece of scrap. You can thank the item, story, or memory and leave it behind so that you can open up to new possibilities and new meaningful things to put in your life.
In todays episode Sarah Elkins educates us on the importance of controlled burns in the national parks of the west, as well as the importance of our own “controlled burns” to clear away the clutter and make way for new, healthy growth in our lives.
Highlights
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Protecting our future and our communities, means protecting our environment too.
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Sometimes you need to shed the dead parts of the past in order to grow.
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What strategies can you use to do your own “controlled burn”, to remove the things in your life that no longer serve you in a meaningful way?
Quotes
“Even in my life activities I’m finding I need to shed things like relationships that no longer serve me, relationships that don’t feel reciprocal at all, commitments that feel too obligatory and not meaningful. And work activities that aren't moving the needle for me in income or intrinsic reward.”
“A controlled burn requires research, planning, and a whole lot of patience.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with to much mental and physical clutter it might be time for you to take inventory too. Ask yourself the tough questions on what you truly need and want in your life and your home. And I hope you’ll take the next steps to research and plan and patiently reduce that clutter.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
As I mentioned I am celebrating my five year book-versary, starting today Your Stories Don’t Define You was published May 31, 2020. Starting this podcast was a wakeup call for me, I realized I was coaching my guests in sharing their pivotal moment stories, and they were finding great value in our time together, way beyond any promotional opportunity the podcast was offering. The book is designed to guide readers in collecting and sharing their stories with exercises and worksheets throughout. To celebrate my book-versary, I’m offering to sign and ship copies from Montana to you, and every purchase will include an offer for a 20 minute bullseye story mining session. In 20 minutes we will uncover at least one meaningful story for you to fine tune for you to use in your next interview, team meeting, speaking engagement, networking event, or maybe it’s a date.
I really appreciate your support over the years and this is my way of giving that back.
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!