394 The Driver of Innovation is Curiosity
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
Release Date: 08/19/2025
412 Ego and Soul
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
412 Ego and Soul When was the last time you were proud of yourself? When was the last time you took a moment to truly look at yourself and say “I am proud of the person I am and I want other people to see how amazing I can be.”? When was the last time YOU fed your soul? It’s easy to forget when we’re cheering others on that we also need to cheer ourselves on, because if we don’t then who will? In this episode Sarah Elkins and Sharon Rolph discuss their own personal growth and the pride they feel in the people they have become and are still growing into. Highlights ...
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411 Encouraging Change and Growth
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
411 Encouraging Change and Growth In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Rachael Bohns discuss the significance and necessity of change as well as the importance of acknowledging and catering to the strengths of yourself and those around you. Highlights Doing what’s best for you even if no one knows, and especially for your own sake. Collaboration and commitment instead of obligation. Driving desire. Quotes “Most of the time change is thrusted upon us.” “Change is individual to people.” “Reward is individual.” Dear Listeners it is...
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410 Holding Space For Grief
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
410 Holding Space For Grief What can one say when faced with tragedy? Do you reach for a simple “I’m sorry” to let another know you sympathize with their pain? Do you offer an anecdote to show you empathize with what they are going through? Regardless, it is important that whatever you do you also hold space for your grief as well as those who need to know they are not alone in their grief. Highlights The importance of holding space for grief in the face of tragedy. Using healthy coping mechanisms to combat pain. You can sit in your grief and...
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409 Expanding Your Comfort Zone
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
409 Expanding Your Comfort Zone In today’s episode Sarah Elkins ruminates on how she has expanded her comfort zone by stepping into what she calls the “stretch zone”, where you aren’t entirely comfortable yet but willing to try just so that you can see what you’re made of. If we never stretch our wings, we’ll be trapped in the nest forever, so have faith in yourself, step into your stretch zone, and see how far it can take you. Highlights Telling stories to connect with another, not to change their mind. Taking time to calibrate yourself and find inner...
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408 Changing For Good
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Judit Piros discuss the importance of change in one's self, how healing often needs to be sought out and made active strides to achieve. From the highs and lows of being a parent, to the life of an artist, as well as the deep intrinsic self learning that comes from our unique walks of life that we must share with those around us. In doing so, we find we aren’t that different after all. Highlights Shifting perspective to see scenarios differently, especially if it is a scenario you didn’t expect to not work out. Taking time for...
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407 Being Intentional With Our Energy
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
407 Being Intentional With Our Energy In today’s episode, Sarah Elkins and Christopher Parsons discuss the importance of a moment of silence to take inventory with yourself, and not to be distracted by screens or unwanted voices, as well as the importance of genuine human connection. Highlights Being silent to find your best self. You never know who will hear your stories. Making real human connection as opposed to consuming or scrolling. Stepping away from our phones to focus on one thing at a time, specifically the things that really matter. Quotes...
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406 Screen Time for Young Children: A Parent's Search for Answers and Options
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
Screen Time for Young Children: A Parent's Search for Answers and Options In this day and age of smartphones, electronic billboards, TVs, and the seemingly impossible-to-avoid screen, it’s easy to lose connection to what matters most, our community as human beings. We crave connection, and by mindlessly scrolling or putting on a video to appease ourselves or a child, we inherently rob ourselves and our charges of a chance to truly connect, oftentimes causing irrevocable damage to the brain. We know screens are here to stay, so the question becomes how we can shift how we use them to...
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405 A Love Letter To My Future Self
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
405 A Love Letter To My Future Self Throughout life there will come times where we must take up our skills and talents as a knight would a sword and shield, wielding our innate and powerful gifts to further our lives for the better. By facing these moments, refusing to make excuses, and instead put in the hard work, we are bound to succeed. In this episode, Sarah Elkins contemplates the events that lead up to her presence on the TEDX stage, how the encouragement of her closest confidants, the peacefulness of nature on her hikes, and her own self reflection has brought her to this pivotal...
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404 The Unpredictable Nature of Our Stories
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
404 The Unpredictable Nature of Our Stories Like the humble ant, we go about our lives caring for those in our home, seeking new horizons, and using our natural talents to build monuments to our success. However, just like the ant, we are subject to things out of our control; be it a rainstorm that floods known pathways or a cruel child with a magnifying glass. These things can break us, they often do, but just like the ant we must settle again, rebuild, and make our home safe again. In this episode Sarah Elkins and Anne Plaisance discuss the many trials and tribulations they had faced...
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403 Choosing Love First
Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will
403 Choosing Love First It’s easy to forget that we have free will, that we can choose what we love, what we like, how we choose for others to perceive us. It takes a great deal of self reflection and growth to find the parts of ourselves that are willing to speak up and fight for what we believe in, even if we must speak up and fight against ourselves. In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Edward Simberg discuss everything from how they met, to their deep love of storytelling, to the core beliefs they both hold dear. Highlights How do you live the stories you...
info_outline394 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
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Avoiding the after conference hangover by having a support team to further your ideas and goals.
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Taking something you deem important and holding onto it while using it as the foundation for something meaningful to be built.
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You can’t please everyone, so cast a smaller net, tend to your audience.
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How are you furthering yourself either with academic education or social education?
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Walk away with at least one idea, even if you need to come up with it yourself or seek it out. Be intentional about what you choose to remember.
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Let people get comfortable and feel safe before taking a risk.
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What do you carry that reminds you of those who have shaped you?
Quotes
“I have to narrow it down to what’s one really good thing I can remember about this? Otherwise, for me, it can become overwhelming.”
“If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing,”
“Shoot with a rifle, not with a shotgun.”
“Glaciers move faster than changes in education.”
“The driver of innovation is curiosity.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
Sarah: going to have Jeff ask you a few questions but first I’m going to ask you a couple questions. When you think about the stories that you tell, do they demonstrate your curiosity? Do they demonstrate your motivation or your ambition to learn and to grow as a human being? What is one story that you can point to that you can craft and develop, that is three minutes or shorter, that you know people will understand what matters to you and how you lead. I’d love to hear from you. Jeff, what are your conclusions for our listeners?
Jeff: So what I’m curious about is what came up for people as you and I were talking, because my hope, because this is like when we’re talking about the reflection part of the podcast, I want people to be wanting to walk away with something.
So what’s the take away? What’s something that impacted you as Sarah and I were talking about how we go about doing our work, how we’re thinking about our work, and how it impacts on the work you’re doing.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
Mentioned in this podcast
Lisa Weiss, The Object Diaries
About Jeff
Jeff Ikler is Director of Quetico Career and Leadership Coaching, a firm dedicated to helping individuals overcome career issues and develop sustained changes in their leadership practices and organizations. He received his certificate in coaching from the Coach Training Institute. He is a certified innovation facilitator using the SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking) process. Jeff holds a Master’s in the Teaching of History along with a Bachelor’s in History from the University of Illinois. He taught high school history in Maywood and Batavia, Illinois, for seven years. He is a former Executive Vice President at Pearson Learning where he directed the development of text- and technology-based products for all disciplines. Jeff is a co-author of Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. He is the host the “Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity” podcast. Supporting the agency of others is the river that has run through his entire career.
Be sure to check out Jeff’s Substack, LinkedIn as well as Quetico Coaching and Consulting!
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!