Branding, Story, and Doing Work You Actually Love with Paige Arnof-Fenn
Release Date: 03/31/2026
What If Thinking About Death Is the Key to Living Your Best Life With Karen Salmansohn
The Story Engine Podcast
What if the thing we spend our lives avoiding—death—could actually become one of the most powerful tools for creating a more meaningful life? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with behavioral change expert and bestselling author Karen Salmansohn to explore why so many ambitious, high-achieving people resist self-help, stay trapped in “beast mode,” and keep telling themselves they’ll finally live the life they want someday. Karen shares her philosophy of moving from the “den of pleasure” into the “laboratory of growth,” embracing emotional diversity, and...
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Your Story Is Not Separate From You — How Writing a Book Unlocks a Whole New Level of Leadership with Steven Heumann
The Story Engine Podcast
Most people who want to write a book are thinking about the book. What they don't see coming is what the process does to them. Steven Heumann spent 15 years as a television writer and director before founding Superhuman Creative, a ghostwriting and publishing company that helps leaders tell their stories. In this conversation, we talk about the difference between leading with principles and leading with your story, what it actually means to reach a moment of authenticity (it's not a mindset shift, it's an identity shift), and why the clients who go through his process often describe it as four...
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She Shattered Her Leg, Got Evicted, and Found Freedom
The Story Engine Podcast
Rae Irelan was home alone, leg in a cast, a two-year-old running around, and a mattress on the living room floor because she couldn't climb stairs. Then the landlord called. Sixty days to move out. Most people would have collapsed. Rae and her husband Sammy sold almost everything they owned, hit the road, and used the chaos to finally go all-in on what they had been studying for months: using AI to take back the hours that were quietly draining founders dry. In this episode, Rae shares the real breaking point behind her shift, how she and Sammy built a system to audit where time actually goes...
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Wartime CEO: Disruption, Delayed Gratification, and Doing the Opposite with Chandler Bolt
The Story Engine Podcast
Chandler Bolt dropped out of college with a C in English, ADHD, and about three months of runway in the bank. He borrowed his parents' retirement savings to buy out his business partner at Self Publishing School, then paid every dollar back in 11 months. Over the last 12 years, his company has helped publish more than 7,000 books. In this episode, Chandler gets honest about what it means to lead through a genuinely hard season: flat growth years, SEO traffic down 70%, and an industry being disrupted by AI hype that he thinks is badly outpacing AI capability. He shares the framework he calls...
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The Anti-Financial Advisor And What Wealth Actually Is With Chris Miles
The Story Engine Podcast
Chris Miles calls himself the anti-financial advisor. Not because financial advisors are bad people. Because he was one, and it nearly ruined him twice. In 2007 he had it all figured out. Debt free basement finished, growing equity, a Mercedes in the driveway. He went to the bank to cash out on his home's equity and they kept moving the goalposts. Get your credit score up two points. Now do X, Y, Z. By September they told him the truth. No more cash out refinances for business owners. The equity he built his whole plan around was trapped. Within two years he lost the house, the car, and...
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People only think other people die with Andrew Quebbemann
The Story Engine Podcast
On this episode of The Story Engine Podcast I sit down with Andrew Quebbemann, and we discuss something on the podcast that I haven't stopped thinking about. "People only think other people die." Not morbid. Just true. You know people get sick, but it's someone else. You know people get laid off, but not you. You're a safe driver, you eat healthy, you got your shots. So the plan gets pushed to twelve on the top ten list. Every year. Andrew had a client call him at 58 and say he wanted to retire in two years. Andrew ran the numbers. Second meeting, he had to say it straight:...
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The Success Trap: Why High Achievers Feel Stuck (And How to Lead with More Humanity) With Justin Ricklefs
The Story Engine Podcast
What happens when you've built the career, earned the title, achieved the success—and still feel disconnected from yourself? In this deeply honest conversation, I sit down with Justin Ricklefs, founder of Guild Collective and author of *Give a Damn*, to explore the hidden cost of achievement-driven leadership. Justin shares the personal journey that transformed his life—from sitting alone in a Target parking lot while working what many would consider a dream job, to building a human-centered company rooted in purpose, presence, and genuine connection. Together, we unpack why so many...
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Why Your Diagnosis Isn't the Whole Story with Dr. Scott Richmond
The Story Engine Podcast
Scott Richmond was lying on a hotel bathroom floor in Atlanta, the day after his birthday, on the phone with his mom. He'd already spent thirteen days in two hospitals that month. He'd lost 42 pounds. His mom was telling him they couldn't afford this anymore. He needed to come home. He didn't go home. He stayed anchored to one thing: his five year old daughter back in Iowa. That's what kept him fighting through a year that included being told, by the best pulmonary hospital in the country, that they simply didn't have an answer for him. Here's what Scott told me on this episode of Story...
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From Cancer Survivor to Medical Detective: The Hidden Causes of Chronic Illness Most Doctors Miss With Dr. Jill Carnahan
The Story Engine Podcast
What if the symptoms you're fighting aren't the real problem? In this powerful episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with functional medicine pioneer and bestselling author Dr. Jill Carnahan to explore her extraordinary journey from a 25-year-old battling aggressive breast cancer and Crohn's disease to becoming one of the leading voices in root-cause medicine. Dr. Jill shares how a seemingly healthy childhood on a family farm exposed her to hidden environmental toxins, setting the stage for a health crisis that would ultimately transform her life's mission. Through her own healing...
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The Pattern You Don't Know You're In With Nancy Bisbikos
The Story Engine Podcast
On this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I am talking to Nancy Bisbikos. Nancy runs a company called the Biko Method, and for fifteen years she's been helping people, from Olympic athletes to PGA golfers to executives, clear what she calls "emotional footprints." These are the patterns that get built when we're small and unprotected, then get passed down without anyone naming them. In aviation school, Nancy Bisbikos would walk into a classroom with tiny rectangular windows and feel like she couldn't breathe. Her nails turned blue every time. She had no idea why until her parents told her...
info_outlineWhat if the rules you’ve been following in business aren’t helping you grow—but quietly holding you back? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, Kyle Gray sits down with Paige Arnof-Fenn, founder of the global branding and marketing firm Mavens & Moguls, to explore how breaking the “right” rules can unlock clearer messaging, stronger brands, and work that actually feels meaningful again.
Paige shares her unconventional journey from Wall Street financial analyst to Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola brand marketer to startup leader—and ultimately entrepreneur—revealing how each chapter shaped her philosophy around branding, market research, and ethical growth. Together, Kyle and Paige dive into why so many companies struggle to stand out, the dangers of relying on “feel-good feedback” instead of real market insight, and how storytelling, scrappy marketing, and values-based decision-making can transform both businesses and lives. This conversation is a must-listen for founders, marketers, and leaders who want to grow faster without losing their soul.
On This Episode
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00:53 From Wall Street to entrepreneurship: Paige’s unconventional career journey
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02:37 Why Paige never fit neatly into corporate rules—and why entrepreneurship changed everything
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05:44 Who Mavens & Moguls serves best: startups, mid-market firms, and Fortune 500 gaps
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07:52 The real challenges of pre-revenue and venture-backed startups
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08:59 Why market research matters more than opinions (and how to do it quickly and cheaply)
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12:05 What makes Paige’s approach different: treating client budgets like it’s her own money
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15:27 Powerful success stories: Sundance Film Festival, Hurricane Katrina, and storytelling under pressure
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22:12 A defining early-client moment: choosing values over revenue
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27:32 Playing the long game: building a business you actually want to wake up to
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30:09 Kyle reflects Paige’s story and the deeper mission behind her work
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33:43 Paige’s closing advice: why authentic stories beat buzzwords, AI noise, and “sea-of-sameness” marketing