How to Stand Out When Everyone Sounds the Same With Marc Rust
Release Date: 06/23/2026
What If the Last 3% Is Hiding Outside Your Analytical Mind With Barry Goldstein
The Story Engine Podcast
In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with Barry Goldstein, a longtime music producer and creative collaborator who has spent more than 40 years exploring how music can magnify mission, unlock creativity, and help us move through the blocks that keep us from our next level. We dive into the idea of the “last 3%”—that frustrating gap between knowing you have something great and actually being able to fully express its potential. Barry explains why solving that final piece doesn’t necessarily require more effort, more analysis, or more information. Sometimes, it...
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What If the Biggest Problems in Your Business Are Actually a Sign You’re Out of Alignment With Esther Wildenberg
The Story Engine Podcast
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about alignment—not just as a personal-growth concept, but as something that directly affects how we lead, build businesses, make decisions, and live our lives. In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with Esther Wildenberg, an executive coach, entrepreneur, consultant, and AI business owner who has spent more than 20 years helping leaders recognize when they’ve drifted out of alignment and find their way back. Esther describes alignment as the place where our purpose, passion, heart, identity, and actions are working together—and...
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From “Behind Zero” to Playing a Bigger Game: How to Stop Letting Your Past Define Your Future with Markus Kaulius
The Story Engine Podcast
What if the very experiences you’ve been trying to leave behind are actually the things that qualify you to play a bigger game? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with Markus Kaulius, a multi-exit entrepreneur, investor, author, and longtime student of personal development, to unpack the beliefs, habits, health, and faith that have shaped the man he is today. Markus grew up poor, in a broken family, and describes himself as starting “behind zero”—but instead of seeing that history as baggage, he learned to recognize it as the source of his work ethic,...
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I Did Everything Right—So Why Was I So Unhappy with Melissa Marina
The Story Engine Podcast
What happens when you’ve built the successful career, hit the milestones, created the life everyone tells you that you should want—and yet, deep down, you know something is wrong? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with Melissa Marina, a subconscious healer and intuitive channel for top entrepreneurs and founders, to explore what happens when high achievers finally stop compromising their deepest desires. Melissa shares the story of graduating with honors, winning entrepreneurship awards, landing a great corporate job, and seemingly doing everything...
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When Your Business Is Thriving but Your Life Is Falling Apart With John Glon
The Story Engine Podcast
I sat down with entrepreneur and business coach John Glon for a conversation about something I’ve experienced personally—and something I see happen to so many founders: the moment when hard work, grit, and determination that once built the business start becoming the very things that hold it back. John shared his journey from running a successful electrical manufacturing business to realizing that his deeper calling was helping leaders and their teams communicate, execute, and lead better. We explored what happens when founders become the person everyone depends on, why “I’ll just...
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From Nurse to Entrepreneur: How To Build A Business To Put People Before the System With Ashley Yardley
The Story Engine Podcast
What happens when you’re a nurse who deeply cares about helping people, but you realize the healthcare system doesn’t always give you the freedom—or the options—to provide the kind of care you believe people deserve? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with Ashley Yardley, founder of Advanced Mobile IV, to unpack the personal experiences that pushed her to build a completely different model of healthcare. We talk about how her background in home health and hospice led her to see the power of bringing care directly into people’s homes and communities, and how...
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Your Brain Health Problems May Be Starting Decades Earlier Than You Think With Eric Collett
The Story Engine Podcast
In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with brain health and dementia expert Eric Collett to explore a question I think a lot of us would rather avoid: What if the problems we experience in our brain, energy, focus, and mental health today are warning signs of something deeper? Eric explains why conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s can begin developing decades before obvious symptoms appear, and why things like brain fog, low energy, declining productivity, gut health issues, and memory changes deserve more attention than we often give them. We also unpack...
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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...
info_outlineIn this episode of the Story Engine Podcast, I sit down with Mark Rust, founder of Consequently Creative, to unpack what it really takes to stand out in a world flooded with noise, sameness, and safe marketing. Mark shares how his background as a musician shaped his approach to branding—and why the magic isn’t in logos or color palettes, but in the bold, often uncomfortable choices that make people pay attention. From redefining branding as the central operating system of your business to crafting messages that connect beyond words, this conversation challenges everything you thought you knew about visibility.
We also dive into the role of audacity in business growth—what it looks like to break the rules, create unforgettable moments, and engineer opportunities instead of waiting for luck. Mark shares powerful stories (including one unforgettable outreach strategy involving a coffin and a competitor’s microphone) that demonstrate how small, creative shifts can open massive doors. If you’ve ever felt stuck blending in, overcomplicating your message, or struggling to articulate what makes you different, this episode will give you a new lens—and the courage—to do something radically different.
Episode Highlights
01:15 – How music shaped Mark’s creative thinking and storytelling approach
03:13 – The hidden downside of chasing perfection and “rockstar” success
04:36 – Why marketing magic comes from combining multiple elements—not just design
06:47 – The real key to standing out: leading with why, not what
08:31 – The biggest mistake businesses make: vague, meaningless messaging
10:23 – Why people connect emotionally—not logically—to brands
12:17 – Branding as the central operating system of your business
13:52 – What makes Consequently Creative different in a crowded industry
15:51 – The power of audacity: doing what others won’t
17:50 – Kyle’s story of bold action and betting on himself
20:05 – Mark’s unforgettable moment asking a university president for help
21:40 – The “coffin campaign”: a bold outreach strategy that landed a dream client
24:51 – Why conventional marketing no longer works in an oversaturated world
26:04 – How to position your message so people actually lean in
28:14 – Small shifts in clarity that create massive business impact
29:14 – A powerful story that captures Mark’s philosophy in action