Transformative Storytelling: The Key to Business Success with Aleya Harris

Freddy D: 00:01:56

In this episode, we're igniting the mic with a true powerhouse in purpose driven storytelling and transformative leader.

Alayah Harris is the spark for your Spark, a strategic storytelling consultant, best selling author, award winning speaker, and the unstoppable CEO of the Evolution Collective. She's not only captivated audiences in over 125 podcasts, but and 100 stages worldwide.

But she's also a former Google vendor, partner and marketing executive who now helps entrepreneurs and executives excavate their radically authentic stories. Oh, and did I mention she was once Stevie Wonder's private chef? Yeah, she's got stories for days.

Aleyah is a founder and lead trainer of Spark the Stage, the host of award winning Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast, and a best selling author of Spark the Stage Master the art of professional speaking and authentic storytelling. Her work has revolutionized the way leaders communicate, inspiring, lasting impact both within organizations and out in the world.

Get ready to get lit up by her insight, wisdom and unshakable belief and the power of your story. Welcome, Alay, to the Business Superfan Podcast show. We're excited to have you this morning.

Aleya Harris: 00:03:15

But thank you so much for having me. I appreciate that.

Freddy D: 00:03:19

So Aleyah, what is the backstory of how did you get started into doing public speaking and talking about storytelling and all the things that you do?

Aleya Harris: 00:03:28

So I started public speaking when a business mentor of mine pointed out that it was one of the best ways to grow my business. And they were right. I got on my first stage of a little bit of a fluke. I applied to speak at one of my goal conferences after the deadline.

I didn't know what I was doing back then, but it happened that someone canceled and the organizer chose me to replace them. Which had to have been fate because this is a large conference.

There are probably a lot of other people that she could have chosen and I didn't at the time have a speaker reel or really much of anything that would prove that I was worthy of the slot. But she gave it to me anyways. And speaking beget speaking. So then I just kept speaking from there.

And once I got into it, I was able to use public speaking to grow my business to $250,000 in six months. And it's not just because anybody can do that from the stage and get on stage and you'll get a quarter of a million dollars.

It was because I tapped into my authenticity. I was very clear about where I spoke, who I would speak speak to, and why I would speak there.

And I also understood the power of connecting with human beings because People do business with other humans, not with screens and websites.

So public speaking is one of the very few ways where you get to transmit your message to a lot of people at once and still make that human connection.

Freddy D: 00:05:10

Yeah, I've done some public speaking myself a few instances years ago, and I've actually got paid too. It was fun, it was an experience, and it was engaging to communicate with the audience and share your story and see the transformation.

When you're driving points home, you can see people's expressions going, oh, yeah, I should be doing that. And that's what gives you the energy to keep going. I've been looking to get back into doing that because I did have a lot of fun.

And my now wife says I come alive when I'm actually speaking on stuff that I really care about. And you do the same thing.

Aleya Harris: 00:05:50

I definitely do.

And shameless Plug Freddie D, if you need some help getting on that stage, I happen to have a program that called Spark this Cage that can help you do just that. That's to you, Freddy D, and all of your listeners out there in podcast land.

Freddy D: 00:06:05

And it's important because business owners could actually leverage that to help build their brand in creating awareness for the businesses that they're in.

Aleya Harris: 00:06:21

I mean, that's the main reason to speak, so people can become public speakers, make revenues from speaking. And that's wonderful. And I do make quite a bit of revenue from speaking. However, I don't like to make revenue off of something once.

What if you were speaking, making the revenue from speaking and then speaking to the right people to get revenue from them as clients or consulting, coaching, products or services. That's how I encourage people to speak. But it always still boils down to how good of a speaker you are and what you're saying.

Freddy D: 00:06:57

Well, it goes back to the story. What's the story that you're sharing and how does that impact people and how does that transform people?

Really becomes the important part of the conversation. Because otherwise you could be just talking about whatever.

And if it doesn't resonate and doesn't inspire and doesn't invigorate, then you're just talking to yourself.

Aleya Harris: 00:07:19

I'm so glad that you brought that up, because it really is all about the story, but it's even more about how you structure your story.

A lot of people say, I can't be a public speaker because I haven't had something ridiculously horrible happen to me or I'm not a celebrity, or I haven't had some type of crazy like scaling Mount Everest. They Say I'm just a mom or I just went through a divorce or I just built a business. Just like all of those things are easy. Right?

But the difference between someone who is just like, oh, I'm going to talk about divorce and how it helped me build resilience, and the person who does that and gets booked over and over again is using story structures and clarity within the story structure to create that emotional connection. It is incredibly moving and powerful. We hear about some incredibly capital T trauma thing that happened to someone.

I've been moved by my students telling their stories about themselves falling off their bikes and what that did for their identity and sense of self. I've equally cried at people talking about their relationship with their parents.

Not because there's been some capital T trauma there, but because they had a story structure that made it easy for my brain to follow and easy for me to pull down and distill the common human lesson, the common emotions within the story and then apply it to my own life.

Freddy D: 00:08:59

Yeah, it's just like watching a movie because you get emotionally connected to the story and that pulls you in. Sometimes you go, man, that was an incredible story. And it stays with you. You remember it.

And then you end up creating a super fan because you share that story with other people. That's how brilliant brands develop and grow. Because of word of mouth. People are sharing the experience they had.

Aleya Harris: 00:09:23

Absolutely. It's the reason why. Have you seen the Disney movie Up?

Freddy D: 00:09:29

I have not.

Aleya Harris: 00:09:30

Oh, man, you gotta see it. Get the tissues out. It's funny, it's sad, it's emotionally heart wrenching and at the brass tax. I mean, it's a story about her.

A grumpy old man who has lost his wife and his healing journey after that and how he happens to do it with the aid of balloons and a dog. Right. Losing a loved one is very traumatic.

It's the way story is told and the investment you have in the characters and how you're able to see your own story through that story. Story that makes up any great movie. And that's what professional speakers are doing from the stage.

My definition of a professional public speaker is a performance artist who shares helpful information from the stage, whether the stage is virtually or in person.

If you think of yourself as a performance artist rather than this stage on stage, who has all the information and all the knowledge, and you're creating almost a group performance between you and the audience and you're sharing in something deep and profound. That's when you know that you've got them.

That's when you're talking about those moments where your audience is captivated and compelled to continue listening to you. That's when you know that you're doing it right.

Freddy D: 00:10:54

Yep. Totally agree. I remember those feelings. You can see it on their faces that they're emotionally getting connected to that.

That plays into the business world as well. Because you need to develop the story in your company for your team to be on the same page.

The culture you create in a company is all about the energy that you're creating and the story that you're sharing to develop your brand and everything else. And that tonality, that energy comes across.

So if you're not appreciating your team because you're one of these business managers, it says, well, these people should be thankful that I'm giving them a job. And we've all run into those type of individuals.

And then they wonder why their businesses can't scale while their people are leaving their companies and everything else. Maybe you should look in the mirror. But that's another conversation.

The reality is that comes across, prospective customer calls in and someone goes, yeah, hi, how can we help you? You know, you're going to go, I'm not sure about this company.

You're going to get that feeling that energy is going to come across and it's, something's not there versus somebody who goes, hey, Aleyah, thank you for calling us. We're excited. How can we help you? You go, man, there's energy. It's going to attract you to that business.

Aleya Harris: 00:12:19

The energy flow often gets either a bad rep because in business people say, oh, that's so woo woo, or that's, you know, you don't want to just rub crystals on it. You have to work really hard or it gets misunderstood.

When energy is flowing between you and whatever your source of that energy is and out to the audience, it takes them pressure off that you have to be and know everything for yourself and everyone and every word has to be perfect, every slide has to be perfect, and every movement on stage has to be perfect.

And it opens you up to a stream of energy, a stream of flow, a stream of consciousness that allows you to know that whatever happens in that room is exactly what needs to happen. I purposely keep my slides when I give presentations. Slides are not the reason why people are there to see me. They're not there to read slides.

They're there to have an experience. They're there to have someone help facilitate their own transformation.

So I keep my slides simple so that I remain open to the energy of the room if I need to adjust or tell a different story or have a different group experience. Experience. Because I understand that everyone comes to you exactly as they are.

And that might not be how you thought they were going to come, or what you thought that day was going to look like, but if you tapped into that energy of connection, the energy of humanity, the energy of your radically authentic self, then you will always say the right thing every time and help transform at least one person in that audience.

Freddy D: 00:14:10

And you talk about building thriving cultures. So let's talk about that a little bit.

Aleya Harris: 00:14:18

So I am a public speaker. Yes. But at the core of me, what brings everything together for me is I'm a strategic storytelling consulting. I love stories. I love story structures.

It's more about the power that stories have over ourselves, over our connection, over our community, and over our culture. The story that you tell yourself about yourself is then manifested in the life that you lead around you. You tell yourself you're broke.

You tell yourself you're not good enough, you're not smart enough. Well, then you look around, you're not going to have a lot of money, you're probably going to have some health issues.

You probably are not going to be happy in your life because of a story that you're telling yourself. When you're able to change that story and embed it into yourself, then you will start to experience different results.

That's the same when it comes to corporate culture. Corporate cultures develop whether we like it or not.

They develop unintentionally and accidentally until you intentionally decide the type of corporate story you would like to develop.

With that in mind, you have to take the jargon out and realize that corporate culture is just a bunch of individuals, fallible, broken people in a room trying to make money by selling a product or service. And the relationship that they are building between each other creates this culture.

The culture story is created intentionally when you understand that the individual stories inform the greater culture stories.

So the work that I do is about helping people understand what their individual stories are, how that fits within a larger cultural context, within a workplace, and then how to decide what those behaviors that look like based off of that individual and corporate story. And how do you see yourself as a character in that story? What role are you playing? Why is it important that the story includes you?

And if you don't participate, what are the ramifications of that for you and for the company? Cultural storytelling is part of probably my favorite. I like differentiation storytelling because that just leads to straight up money all the time.

For people.

But cultural storytelling is my favorite because it lets people realize that they can belong anywhere as long as they are able to understand how to tell their story and find how it fits within someone else's. It gives people a foundational sense of comfort and security that many are not able to find in other places.

Freddy D: 00:17:03

Absolutely correct. And the thing that's important there is getting everybody in a company culture onto the same story.

Even though they may have their own individual stories collectively, they've got to be going in the same direction, otherwise the businesses can't scale. That's the difference in creating business superfans. It starts in the company culture because people that are happy where they work.

For example, my wife has been working with the company seven years, positioning the company in a certain way. But she loves the company. They take care of their team, they appreciate her, she wins prizes. We went on a five week honeymoon.

The company picked up four weeks of that and paid for her, which is unheard of in American businesses. Yeah, it was really cool. But those are the little things that I always say, the little things are the big things and people overlook that.

One of my quotes in my book, creating business for fans is people will crawl through broken glass for appreciation and recognition. Right. And it's not given when you're talking about creating that story in that individual story. You're absolutely correct.

If you think you're broke, guess what, you're going to be broke because you're going to manifest that. And if you think you're successful and you're a rock star and everything else, guess what? You're going to manifest that.

Because your subconscious doesn't know any different. It delivers what you tell it to deliver, right?

Aleya Harris: 00:18:39

Absolutely. I always say, you know, because people say, oh, that's not true. I think I'm rich and. But I look around and I have no money.

And I tell people that the angels answer the prayers that you pray within the back of your head, not out of your mouth, like say all of these things all big and bold, but in the back of your head. You're not really believing it or you're not really living it.

Like a simple example is, say that there is a piece of clothing you want to buy, a dress or a blazer or something. And you can always tell what prayer you're really praying. When you look at the thing and you say, oh, I love it.

And then the next symptoms, that comes after that, I love it.

I put all the money in my bank account, but I'm going to get that dress that's someone who has an abundance mentality, a growth mentality, possibility mentality versus I see that dress. Oh, I can't afford that. I'm broke. It must be nice to wear that dress. Got someone who is going to struggle with financial abundance.

Because the true story you're telling yourself is what happens in the back of your head.

Freddy D: 00:19:50

Yes, absolutely. I'll share a story. When I got divorced, I would go to the Mercedes dealership and I sit in a 500 SL.

The guy or the gal would come along and said, I'm just looking at the car. In my mind, I was manifesting, this is my car. I got to know that car. And guess what? I ended up buying that car.

Not that one, but I did buy a 500 sale. They came by to show me how it operates. I'm good. I know this.

Aleya Harris: 00:20:22

Congratulations. Best thing that.

Freddy D: 00:20:25

Thank you. It does happen. And that's why I wanted to share this story. Because it does happen.

If you actually believe in it and you let the energy, the universe, go to work.

Aleya Harris: 00:20:38

Absolutely. And I know that for some people that feels very woo. And to that I say, give it a try. Is the other way working out for you?

Freddy D: 00:20:48

Exactly.

Aleya Harris: 00:20:50

How's that anxiety working out for you? Are you getting rich through your anxiety and worry? Are you getting rich through telling yourself you're not valuable, that you're not worthy?

Are you getting rich through jealousy comparison? Probably not. So it's not like you have something to lose by trying it differently, by changing your story, change the movie in your head.

If you're honest right now, you don't have anything to lose.

Freddy D: 00:21:23

Correct.

Aleya Harris: 00:21:24

And I offer it that you give yourself a challenge and say, well, what if you went and tried on that dress or that blazer? Like you, or you did what Freddie B. Said, you sat in that car and.

Freddy D: 00:21:36

What opened up the compartments? I got familiar with the gauges. I knew where everything is, what was going on. It was my car. Mentally, it was my car. Just I didn't have it.

But that's my car.

Aleya Harris: 00:21:48

Yep, exactly. And that's how life work. People think that the story is told and then you get to live it.

But no, you have to live and breathe the new story and then watch it manifest. You breathe it in the back of your head, you say those prayers. You watch your thoughts.

Because the story that you're telling to others is not the same story you're telling yourself. It's the same reason why we look at Robin Williams and we're like, he died by suicide.

What we all saw from him was Happy comedian, jokester, successful actor. But the story that he showed was not the story he was telling. So what story are you telling?

And that is your real life, not the life that you want everybody else to see.

Freddy D: 00:22:43

And that applies to business as well, because we're talking about helping businesses.

And storytelling is very important in a business because just like you just said, what you're telling yourself as a business owner transcends to the team, whether you realize it or not. And that in turn affects the growth of the business.

Creating super fans of customers, communication with suppliers, distributors, and complementary businesses. The whole ecosystem is affected because what you're artificially projecting is not really what's happening. And people will catch on.

And then all of a sudden, you're wondering why people are leaving this company. Because the culture's contaminated. And it all starts with what the business owner or the manager has got in their head.

Aleya Harris: 00:23:36

Yep, exactly. Your head. And whatever you have in your head severely and sincerely impacts the amount of money you have in your bank account.

What you think about you and what you think about yourself is what your business will experience, and there's just no other way around it. And that's storytelling in action.

Freddy D: 00:24:07

You look at some of the great brands that are out there. People love working for those companies. People line up to buy those products. You look at Apple. You know, there's a cult following for Apple people.

It's not about the gadget, it's the story that the gadget creates.

Aleya Harris: 00:24:29

Absolutely. It is the story that the gadget creates.

And whether the gadget is an actual gadget or whether it is a gadget that ends up being your service, your consulting, or whatever, the story is the most important.

And most people also get it slightly off that it's just your story, but you're only telling your story so that other people can see see why you are an inextricable part of their story, why they need you to guide them along their path to success.

Freddy D: 00:25:04

Exactly. That's a very important point that people need to realize. Business owners need to realize is that everybody on their team has a story.

And you need to acknowledge everybody's story and let them be heard, because that story creates the culture of that company. If everybody understands everybody else's story, they collectively team together. I remember when I got in the tech world 45 years ago.

There's a friend of mine that we'd been friends for 45 years. We both started the same day, and we're like, who do you know? I don't know anybody here. Well, why don't we hang out together.

He actually ended up living with me, renting a room out of my place. We created stories of things that we did, and we still talk about those stories when we reach out to one another.

Remember when we did all that stuff and what was happening? We had a team that would go camping together, go to baseball games together, because everybody was part of the story.

Aleya Harris: 00:26:12

Everyone was part of the story. And that's how you build business. That's money. Money happens in relationship.

I always talk about marketing as the art and science of building lucrative relationships. Money happens when you are in relationship, which is basically building a shared story.

Culture happens on large scale and small scale, even between groups of two or three individuals. When you build that story, that's when you're in flow, in connection, in the money. Until then, you're going to struggle.

And isolation is bad for your cash flow.

Freddy D: 00:26:58

It's bad for cash flow, your health, all of it, really.

At the end of the day, because I was involved with the company and providing some consulting services, one of the things that they would do is they would onboard somebody. They wouldn't share the story of what the company was all about, the mission. Instead, this is, you know, this is your job, this is your training.

And it was verbal training. There were no SOPs in place or here's the manual and everything else.

And then the following week, you'd be making a mistake because you're new on a job and you're trying to figure it out. And you got verbally trained. So we only remember 20% of that story.

And these owners would chastise this individual in front of everybody, not privately. So what story did that transcend to the entire team? And then they were wondering why everybody was quitting after 90 days.

Because you can only handle so much of the negativity. People were starting to come up, says, I can't stay here anymore because I'm feeling not worthy myself.

Aleya Harris: 00:28:04

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And it's amazing what a sense of lack of worthiness does to a culture.

It creates infighting, creates a lack of collaboration, it creates attrition. Right. People think of the core causes of problems as infighting.

But then you need to go down a little bit further, further into that and realize that, no, it's people's individual limiting beliefs become corporate limiting beliefs that decide what that culture is going to end up as.

Freddy D: 00:28:46

Exactly. And they had hit a ceiling of about a million bucks and just couldn't punch through it. They didn't have the skill set to punch through it.

I took over running that company and made a lot of changes. And we grew by a million dollars in a year. And this was small chunks of change, not thousand, $5,000 deals.

We're talking 100, $200, you know, deals because they were providing interpreting services. So, you know, one of the things I did was I started transforming the culture. And we were working with independent contractors that were.

The interpreters started to edify. The interpreters started recognizing and appreciating them because they were the face of the business. The mindset was that they should be happy.

We're giving them some business, which was where their mindset was at.

Aleya Harris: 00:29:30

Yeah, no, it's all about the mindset. It's all about what you have decided your role will be in that company.

Whether it's intentional or unintentional, you will decide that you are going to contribute to a positive culture which will involve you also contributing to a positive sense of self and leadership and adding value to other people's lives as well as the lives of your clients. Or not. And it's up to you to let everybody know, through your actions, how you plan to participate.

Freddy D: 00:30:14

Whichever direction you go, you're correct in the outcome.

Aleya Harris: 00:30:20

Absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:30:21

You think you're not going to make it. Guess what? You're absolutely correct. You're not going to make it. You think you're going to be successful and punch through. Guess what?

You'll be successful and punch through.

Aleya Harris: 00:30:34

Absolutely. When you are successful and you punch through, then there's also the need to make sure that you change your story.

You realize that you have been successful.

Because often what draws people back is that they're so focused on the punching through and the effort and the challenge that that takes, that they don't stop to realize once they've actually made it and they've done the thing and they stay in that survival mode and they stay in the struggle mode. And unfortunately, all that does is keep you stuck in a story that you've outgrown.

And that happens to a lot of companies that have their founders still heavily involved and they're not willing to let go and to help them see the next level and the next stage of growth. Because they're stuck on, oh, well, we gotta be scrappy. We're just this little company. Well, no, you're not little company anymore.

You've grown, you developed, you explored what it means to be successful, and you've made it. Now tell that story and act like it.

There's, of course, always other challenges, but if you stay stuck in a story that no longer resonates with you, your company will get stuck as well.

Freddy D: 00:31:55

You'll manifest the reality of where you're thinking. Because you bring up a great point here, Aleyah, and that is that businesses need to change their story as they evolve and as they grow.

Because like you said, if you maintain that same story, you hit the ceiling. And at that point in time, you're stuck because you can't get yourself out of your own way.

Aleya Harris: 00:32:22

Absolutely. And then you are frustrated because it's not like you sit there and tell yourself, you know what I want to do? Stay stuck in this story today.

No one said that. But you are frustrated because it's often where you are, what you're doing and how stuck you are. You can't see your way forward.

And it often is a lot simpler of a response.

You need to understand where you are, understand your growth, take credit for your growth and move forward, Experience your success and your challenges without staying stuck in the past.

Freddy D: 00:33:00

Because otherwise, I've seen businesses slide backwards.

Aleya Harris: 00:33:05

Oh, yeah, most definitely. How could you not?

Freddy D: 00:33:09

Right? You can't pivot, you can't adjust. Your competition is trumping you on a multitude of different aspects.

And if you're stuck and can't pivot and can't change the movie in your head, eventually people are going to get tired of the scenario and you're going to start losing your team. And now you can't handle the workflow. It's slope that you start sliding completely backwards. I've seen it happen.

Aleya Harris: 00:33:35

Yep, absolutely. Have you ever seen it reverse itself? And if so, I'm very curious to know how.

Freddy D: 00:33:47

The only time I've ever seen it flip back is someone else came in and took over the reins and they.

Aleya Harris: 00:33:54

Had a different mindset. They were telling different story.

Freddy D: 00:33:58

You look at it from a sales manager perspective, and that's where I've seen it, where you've had a sales manager leader that was more of a drill sergeant kind of approach, not really empowering their team, but this is the way we're doing it and that's what you need to do. And your numbers aren't there and blah, blah, blah, and the team just isn't performing. Sales are going this way and you get to replace the manager.

Someone that's empowering, someone that is edifying their team and not telling people what to do. A successful manager, in my mind, and fortunately I got some training on this, your job is to make your people successful.

And if you make your people successful, you don't have to worry about yourself. They'll take care of you, right?

Aleya Harris: 00:34:44

Absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:34:44

So help them create their own stories of success and yours will automatically manifest.

Aleya Harris: 00:34:53

Absolutely. That's very interesting that you brought that up, because often people think, what is the legacy I'm leaving behind? What is this ultimate story?

I believe that the wisest people realize that their ultimate story and the legacy to leave behind is actually the stories of others and how they help them move forward and tell a story over a period of time that was beneficial for themselves and for the world at large.

Freddy D: 00:35:25

When you start helping other people achieve their goals and aspirations, magic happens because they transcend to a whole other level and they pull you up and then you become their champion. They become super fans of you.

I've had some managers that I'm still in awe of their management skills because they would come in when we would be working late on preparing technology over presentation. They would show up late at night and say, hey, appreciate you guys being here.

They would take the time out of their evening to come in, and we were like, wow, this person cares about what we do.

And that person created to the point where we were super fans of that manager and he helped implant a story into our heads that we were worthy, we were appreciated, and he cared about us. We would do anything for that guy.

Aleya Harris: 00:36:30

Yeah. And that is someone who understood his role in your story. He understood that he was the guide. You were the heroes in the story.

You guys were going on your own hero's journey. He also understood the collective power. People going on similar heroes journeys at once looking towards the same guy. That is called leadership.

That's called vision. That's called success. Someone can get you moving in that same direction and gratefully walking in that way.

Freddy D: 00:37:00

I still remember and I've shared that many times because that person had an impact on us. It changed my outlook on how to handle and work with people. I became a very successful salesperson because I was no longer selling a product.

I was helping a business scale their business and take it to the next level. We would get into conversations about strategy, what's their story, and how can I help them achieve their story.

And my job was to help them manifest their story. I was top sales guy in the company because I made my customers successful.

Aleya Harris: 00:37:43

Yep, exactly. It sounds like you really got it. You really understand exactly what it takes.

Freddy D: 00:37:51

Been around a little bit, so thank you.

As we kind of get closer to the end here, what's a takeaway that we can share with our listeners that they can really do to help change the story in her head?

Aleya Harris: 00:38:07

You have to be okay with Doing the work. You have to be okay with not being correct. You have to be okay with facing up to yourself into the shadowy places where it feels uncomfortable.

You have to be honest with yourself on what your strengths are, where your pain comes from. You don't have to do it alone. You can do it with a therapist, you can do it with a coach. You can do it inside of my Sparky Stage program.

If you're wanting to be a professional speaker, you can also do it with a group of friends on the same journey.

But you will not be able to create a profound story that serve yourself and others without first understanding what story you're telling about yourself and if it is serving you or not.

Freddy D: 00:39:00

Very good. Because I remember a story that I told myself and until I found out what that story was and needed to change it, I was very successful. Lost it all.

Was very successful, Lost it all and I couldn't figure out why. I finally did figure it out and it was a story that I had burned into my brain that I had to eradicate and replace the new story.

Aleya Harris: 00:39:27

And as soon as you do that and keep diligently doing it because this is not a one time thing. This is a constant story creation, storytelling, story retelling, story eliminating constantly.

But once you're able to do that, you will experience long term sustainable success.

Freddy D: 00:39:46

Because you self sabotage. Otherwise.

Aleya Harris: 00:39:49

Absolutely.

Freddy D: 00:39:50

You get there and all of a sudden, wait a minute, I'm not supposed to be here. Yeah, I'm not going to get into the details, but the bottom line was slid back down the hill because of the wrong story.

Aleya Harris: 00:40:02

The wrong story happens every time.

Freddy D: 00:40:04

It's been a pleasure having you on the Business Superfans podcast. Great conversation, great insights for our listeners about creating their story in the way they envision their movie in their head to be.

Aleya Harris: 00:40:19

Absolutely. I'm glad to be here. Thank you for having me.

Freddy D: 00:40:23

It was a great conversation again and definitely would love to have you on the show again because I think we could probably talk hours on this stuff. How can people find you?

Aleya Harris: 00:40:33

You can go to aleyaharris.com a l e y a h a r r I s dot com and from there you can buy my book.

Schedule a call with me to talk about my course Spark the Stage, which helps you become a radically authentic professional speaker who can deliver a compelling talk to a captivated audience. You can also hang out with me on LinkedIn or Instagram. I hang out on LinkedIn the most, but I love to hear from you.

If you hear more of my voice, check out my podcast as well.

Freddy D: 00:41:07

Excellent. Well, definitely make sure that's in the show notes.

Thank you so much for your time today, Aleyah, and we look forward to having you on the show again.

Aleya Harris: 00:41:15

Thank you for having me.

Freddy D: 00:41:16

Foreign superstar Freddy D Here before we wrap, here's your three A playbook Attract, advocate and accelerate your business power move for today. Here's this episode's top insight. You don't need a dramatic life story to be a powerful public speaker.

What moves people is the clarity and structure of your story, not the scale of your struggle. So here's your business growth action step.

Craft a three minute story using a proven structure like Problem turning Point lesson that connects emotionally with your ideal audience and rehearse it until it becomes your signature story.

If today's conversation sparked an idea for you, share it with a fellow business leader who would benefit and grab the full breakdown in the show notes. Let's accelerate together and start creating business superfans who champion your brand.