📍EEA: Impactful Storytelling with Natasha Walstra

RJ Redden:

-- running if it's live yet or not. Now it says it's live. Hello, everyone. Hold on to your goggles. It is time. the Epic Engagement Adventure. You know what this time is, and I know. And you know me who you don't know is my friend Natasha. Listen, we met months ago on a phone call. And, we had the grandest time talking about business talking about things that we believe in, talking about impactful storytelling, we covered the gamut. And in the middle of that, I knew I must have here on the podcast because she's fascinating. And, and so I would love for you to help me welcome, Natasha. Natasha, Hey. So great to have you on the adventure with me. Tell me everything about yourself. Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?

Natasha Walstra:

Well, that was a very warm welcome. Thank you so much, RJ. I'm so excited to be here. gosh, where do I start? So I am currently dialing and sitting in from Columbia, South Carolina, although I am not from here, visually. I'm actually from California. and I made the move out to Charleston, South Carolina is about 2 hours away from where I am sitting right now. because I had an opportunity to joined a publishing company and start, working with CEOs and entrepreneurs who are looking to build and grow their thought leadership and do so by becoming a published author. And so, not that my background is in publishing. I was actually working in 3 d printing at the time and a former manager and mentor of mine joined Forbes books, as CRO and brought me on because she saw how I was able to leverage personal branding and thought leadership with our CEO and other thought leaders in the 3 d printing space. She thought I'd be able to translate that into the book publishing world. so there is a connection somehow there, but, it was really an incredible experience. I got to work with you know, very interesting people that wanted to tell their stories and, you know, drive impact and, make changes through storytelling. So it was it was wonderful. I did end up leaving that, about a year and a half in just because I realized pretty quickly in that although a book is ultimately one of the top levels of authority, right? You can't actually spell authority without author. but if you're not engaging with an audience and communicating with your people, it doesn't matter how great your book is, no one will ever know about it. Right? And so it kind of was one of those things where, like, how am I gonna help my authors, the leaders I work with, tell their story in in in real time alongside their book with that. And so that's kind of where I'm at today.

RJ Redden:

I do. I do think that, I mean, such the right move because right now, I mean, a book as a standalone device Well, it's there, but incorporating it into the language you speak incorporating it into your community into different ways that you derive more people to It has got to be part of a system. It can't be just alone because, I mean, times have changed. The way people engage with literature has changed and we must change with it.

Natasha Walstra:

Exactly. And that's the thing. You know, 5 years ago, a book was enough to differentiate you and or your business, but now there's so much content out there. there's so many ways to even publish a book now on like just traditional, there's hybrid, self publishing, it is more accessible. It's still challenging, of course. but there's just so much there that if you just did your book. It again, no one will know about it.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. Well, in in 2, you know, we've become a lot I think more cognizant of how people learn things. and it's, you know, like, there are some people that still kind of give their classes in lecture format, and, you know, expect you to read and retain, from a book, but It's so interesting to, you know, kind of take that book and then go, okay. How can I maybe create a learning experience out of what's in here. How can I, you know, maybe create a journey over here from what's in here? Now it's kind of like the, you know, the the middle that that first building block and then building things around that, building a system around that is so I mean, it's it's vital. I would never publish a standalone book nowadays.

Natasha Walstra:

No. And like and that's a really great point too, because imagine there's so much content already there. Why not multipurpose it and use it for other areas. So let's create a digital course out of your book. Yes. That's pretty interesting. Or let's take each chapter and turn that into a podcast episode, right? There's so many ways to make sure that we use that content you have. You've already created it at this point. Or conversely, if you want to write a book, why not do that in real time while you're starting your podcast and creating a digital course? And then publishing it you know, bits and pieces of that on social media, right? And start engaging with your audience and then you're getting feedback in real time as well. Right? So it's just it's just a really cool way of like I need to come up with a better analogy, but it's like killing 5 birds of one stone. Do all these at the same time so that you get all this afterwards too.

RJ Redden:

It's that magic of interrelating, you know, these topics and using social media to maybe test out certain ideas using a blog to maybe develop some thoughts that are a little deeper than your at social media posts. There's so many things that you can do. And and it's like, I have the opposite problem. I want to take care. I want to take advantage of all these things. I would like to write a book that is also a graphic novel and games are available. And, at the bottom of every page, there's a different QR code. I mean, that's the one I wanna write. And, unfortunately, that'll probably take me, how long do I have left on the Earth? Probably that. so I actually have to cut down and, like, streamlines and stuff so I do something but your your philosophy around that, it just grabbed me because if you think about it, how many different ways are there to tell a story?

Natasha Walstra:

Exactly. And and, you know, one of the things I guess that irks me with how things are done in the traditional realm of book publishing, especially business leaders who use ghost writers. In my mind, I was like, gosh, like, they're spending 4 hours a month 3 hours a month with their ghostwriter. I'm like, that is quality content and precious time that we're not leveraging in other ways, right? Because especially since a conversation too and you're speaking to a thought partner, ultimately. Like, a lot more is is dissected from those conversations, I'd say. And so, like, capture it, video, put, record it, obviously, and then use that, get those pieces from it, like, we'll probably do with this pod past now, right? And and find those nuggets of gold that we can then push out and then explain more and and dissect further. I mean, it's so much fun to see how many different ways we can use it. And also, you know, our our attention span these days, our mind, especially, right? You know, I don't necessarily always listen to a full 30 minute podcast episode, but I do listen to a 62nd reel on Instagram or on on LinkedIn, right? And that's gonna get much more views, but then drive people back to a podcast that wanna listen to the full thing. So it's just really cool to look at all the different ways you can take that limited time we have and amplify your voice that way.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. And amplify in a way that pea there's that's where the eyeballs are at. you you kind of spoke of reels and stuff like that. I'm not a real. I'm not a real person. No. I am a real person, but I don't use real. and, but but I I did find this piece of software. well, actually, so I've had this piece of software for years. It's called missing letter. but what it does is it takes your blog post and it sucks different polk loads out. and puts them, you know, kind of in different, different arrangements or whatever and turns it into a social media social media posts, like a group of them. You can do like a 2 weeks 2 week blast, that will take everything from your last podcast or your last blog post or whatever and, you know, make it into several posts and succession that lead back to the blog post or the podcast or whatever. And to me, that's that's how we need to to focus is, yeah, let's absolutely write those blogs and let's turn them into a book. But let's also put the stuff out there in different ways and different shapes and formats so that people can really get engaged. with what we're saying and what we're doing long before we have a book on sale.

Natasha Walstra:

Exactly. Yeah. And with that too, we all consume and understand things differently too. So some quotes might resonate more than other quotes. Kind of reminds me of when I did an escape room Have you done an escape room before?

RJ Redden:

Oh, you know I have.

Natasha Walstra:

I can't believe that. That is so much fun. So I went with four friends. And I you know, some of the puzzles I was able to solve pretty quickly, some they were, and they were trying to explain to me. And I was like, I have no idea what you're talking about. Like, you could try to explain to me for hours and it just didn't click for me, right? But it was all four of us with different ways of understanding and unlocking the puzzles that we were able to actually finally get out. And so having, you know, diverse mindsets and all that, like, just makes me realize always, like, we consume things differently. We understand things differently. We learn things differently, and so having different ways of actually putting that together for your audience is just key.

RJ Redden:

Yes. I mean, it's it's absolutely key. We get. So, you know, like, you know, so many people will say, you know, well, I'll take you through the process and stuff like that. And some of them are really, really good at it, and some of them just kind of -- follow truth because that's what's done. but to have somebody say, hey. Have you considered this? Have you considered this? To me, that's the key to making a book a real success because it's a collection of ideas that audience we're talking to It's much more than one way to talk to everybody anymore. Now it's personalization, customization, And you that's what you work in every single day.

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah. And think about it too. If you get somebody engaging with it that, like, has something really insightful that you can then actually bring into your story and then have them be part of your book, have them as a testimonial or a quote. Right? And then when your book is launched, they're gonna wanna share it to with

RJ Redden:

their audience because they're part of it. Yeah. It's it's, you know, I mean, it just the writing a book, especially, you know, from from 5 years ago back, such a climbing the mountain pot process, you know, you need a Sherpa you you must have some oxygen available. I don't know some cliff bars. I don't know what you need to climb a mountain. I've not done this, but such a insurmountable and, like, kind of really tough process And not that the process isn't still, you know, challenging, but when you're thinking about putting things together in different raise, and getting ideas out there before, you know, we hit publish. I mean, it's just There's so much more adventure and fun to be had in that sort of a process rather than, alright. Let's do this the traditional way. You know what I mean? I mean, that's tradition anyway. I mean, you know Yeah.

Natasha Walstra:

Right. Tell me about it. I mean, to be fair, that's partly maybe why I left the publishing space. I'm I'm still helping authors write their book. let's say, and and I wanted to tell their story, but I just felt constrained in the publishing realm whether it be, you know, the traditional, which I I was in the hybrid space, but it still felt very this, that, and that, like, you have to go this route. There's just so many ways to do it, and I think, you know, making it more of a engaging experience. That's not just with the ghost writer, but sharing it in real time, doing these types of interviews, getting it out there. I mean, there's there's just better ways of doing it, I think, that are more impactful that also then just help with your end goal because typically a book is just one piece to a bigger mission message movement. Right? And so focus on all that holistically, not just the book itself, right? And so I think that's part of why I was like, I need to figure out a better way to serve my leaders because, I want to help them actually hit their goals in it. And that book is is just one piece to it.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. It's it's a one piece of a larger a larger puzzle that you can get people engaging in from the very beginning and why wouldn't you want to? why wouldn't you want to? I helped the lady, but I think it was about 5 years ago. Actually, she was writing a book about, you know, some experiences that she had had. And I had recently seen John was it John Grisham? I can't remember. He's famous famous writer, dude. Anyway, he took the first chapter in of his book. And, you know, people usually circulate that in a PDF. Well, this this person had taken the first chapter, and he made it into a a chatbot. and, like, yeah, and in this first chapter, the, the, there was a guy in a food truck, you know, making a recipe and, and some different things. And on this chatbot journey, you could go see the re you could go see the recipe, being made, or you could go this way and, you know, learn about this. And and it it helped people kind of take different paths and it showed people in in a different way. And, to me, that was fascinating. So I created one for her, obviously. Right? and it's just it's it's so it can be a really wonderful adventure. It doesn't it doesn't have to be a boring slog. actful adventure, like you said before. I mean, a book to me is a collection of ideas.

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah.

RJ Redden:

because my brain works the way it does, I can think of 13 ways to show you the same idea. which may have to be streamlined down, with with help, obviously. but Yeah. I'm so fascinated by what you do. tell me, you know, tell me what you're, you know, what's a a great success story that you've had with a customer in the past year or 2 where you've really gotten them to kind of think beyond the boundaries. Can you come up with something?

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah. For sure. I have a these guys are really so fun to work with actually, but I connected with them last year, and it's it's 3 well, originally that was one of the CEO of this company. They, built and exited, e commerce site in 4 years at

RJ Redden:

$200,000,000.

Natasha Walstra:

and they wanted to start a new company like that. and initially it was like, you know, the way that they were able to do it during COVID, especially was because they have a different view on leadership and, growth in general. and so they're going to actually start a whole other company, but they had this idea to write this book and then we kind of worked with them and dissected a little bit more of like, what are your goals? What are you trying to do around this? And, and ultimately, we not only are they not doing a book just yet? That's that's in in the works, but they've decided to pivot completely and actually create a whole, firm, a growth firm around their philosophy, but their philosophy is so unique too, and we haven't launched it just yet. can't say it, but we actually help with the naming of the company based on this thing that we saw in the background. They're like, we're like, what is that? And then told the story behind it and then our team came together like, that should be your thinking. It's, you know, around that specific thing and since then, we launched we're working on their podcast, they're already have more customers than I think they could have imagined, and now the book is in the works as well too. but it's just you know, 3 random dudes that came together and had this idea, and they wanted the book was that draw. And a book typically is a door opener, I'd say. who does, you know, I think so many people, it's almost like Disneyland for adults. Like, so many people, it's on their bucket list. Let's write a book, but that's not that first step typically. And so helping them understand, well, first, you know, what are your goals for the next 2 years, 2 5 years? Unless work towards that, and then the book will come with that in time, of course, right? But I think there's just, you know, I don't wanna say baby said we took some big steps, actually. but it was it was just really fun to that. And and we have this ongoing engagement with them where I have morning huddles with them and we do their podcast recordings, we are building out their website, like there's all these things that come with it, but it's just it's fun to see that that light bulb connect, It actually reminds me when I was used to work in 3 d printing, I was in a place where, we were actually able to print for production. It wasn't just for prototyping. And so sorry, I'm totally nerding out on this, but, when I would speak with engineers, and they would I'd send them, you know, sample parts and they'd look at this and, like, eyes were ghostly and, like, wait, this is for production. I'm like, I know. So having those, like, light bulb moments where you're like, okay, this is actually, like, the right set. It's like, that's what I get to do pretty much every day, and it's really fun.

RJ Redden:

That is awesome. that is that is fantastic. I mean, to be able to use your creative muscles, like that. That's the dream. You know, that's for that's absolutely his dream. we'll still How do you engage your audience? How do you, you know, once you've connected, how do you keep them involved in in what you're doing and what your other clients are doing and your philosophy, tell me tell me something about how you keep people engaged.

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah. For sure. So, that might have I might have to take you back a little bit to one of my first sales roles was I was a sales development representative, an SDR, I did the 100 dials a day, smiling dial. It was, like, soul crushing and -- Oh, soul crushing.

RJ Redden:

Yes.

Natasha Walstra:

So not that I would recommend that findings, but what I learned from that is, I am like pretty much the follow-up queen. I, if someone express any interest, I will always follow-up until you tell me not to. So that's just like on the like technical side of things. but I started to, share my, gosh, this is me a little bit with imposter syndrome, but I've started to share my thought leadership and philosophy on things on LinkedIn. and it's funny because it took me months months months to finally just hit that publish button and post things but since I've done that, you know, I try I used to post I was pretty much between 7 days a week, which just became a little bit too much for me, but I'm probably 3 days a week. I share content on LinkedIn with my audience, and I comment on their stuff and vice versa and there's that reciprocity, but I always I'm thinking who am I talking to? and a lot of my clients don't publish yet on LinkedIn. They want to be doing that. And so I know that the people I'm speaking to are never going to engage with my, posts, but they'd call me and say that was for me, wasn't it? Yep. Like, it was. I wasn't calling you on it, but, like, you gotta do it because I was there too. And so, a lot of it's really just trying to, get out of your comfort zone and and be posting on LinkedIn. So I actually have a mindset around it. It's called, Cineda. which means no shame in Spanish. And the way that came about actually was because I used to I'm I I lived in Argentina for 6 years, was supposed to go for just a few months, but, after I really wanted to learn the language. And so after a few months of not making any progress, because I was too scared to speak and make mistakes and sound stupid. I got really fed up with myself and I was like, you know what, screw it. Sinba Deguinza. No shame. No fear. I'm gonna put myself out there. just start making mistakes and start speaking. And then suddenly within a few weeks, I was basically fluent in Spanish. And so I kind of translated that to my fears of LinkedIn and sharing my followership, onto the world. and once I started to do that, I've been connecting very actively with more people than I could have imagined, and it's opened so many more doors than I could have believed either you being one of them. Right? So I would say that that's been my biggest way of engaging with my, community is is by speaking to them.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. Well, and and saying what you, you know, really are thinking those that thought leadership that's been you know, under development for a long time, brave bold move. my friend, I think I mean, I applaud you for it. It is it's not as easy, to do as some some folks might think. I don't know if you've ever seen this video. it's on YouTube and I it's a TED Talk. I forget the lady who gave it, but she said that, in our culture, Women are taught to be perfect and men are taught to be brave or girls and boys she actually use. Girls are taught to be perfect boys are taught be brave. And so when it comes to making those brave stubs sometimes, it's just, you know, gosh, I would have said anything to myself to make me stop pushing that publish button because what if people disagree with you is somebody come bully you online? Are people gonna come fun, make fun of the way I look? The answer is yes. the answer is yes. And I don't care.

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah. I just

RJ Redden:

I don't care anymore because letting those things stop me from sharing my thought leadership right or wrong. I I do not claim to be right a 100% of the time. now that's that's it gets statistical. I, I will change my beliefs if I have enough evidence to do so. but getting out there and saying, Hey, this is who I am, who thinks this way too, has brought me more like minded people, more, not followers, but people to walk the road with than I ever thought was possible.

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah. It's true. And that and that's the thing. It's it's not about the likes or the impressions or the connection numbers, even it's about building genuine relationships. Right? Like, that's what matters. Not all those analytics. And that's what I tell the people I work with. I'm like, don't get got cut up in that because even like people who try and figure out the algorithm, it's like once you figure it out, it's you're gonna it's gonna change anyways. Like, that's not what matters. think about who you wanna talk to and talk to them. And those that don't care what you have to say, then they're not someone you wanna be talking with. Exactly.

RJ Redden:

and when you have, you know, when you have your vision of who you wanna be talking with and the vision of what, you know, what you need to say to help them go, oh, you know, I relate over here. now now you're talking with the real people you wanted talk through in the first place. It's not about getting a bunch of people sifting through people who just wanna, I don't know, show up and, you know, I don't know, kick a tire, it's really about, you know, talking. And and it's about you know, leading and and traveling with your people. You understand that so much, Natachea. I just I just it's part of the reason I love talking to you.

Natasha Walstra:

Yeah. It's likewise, it's so much fun to geek out about this so much. So I think we were when we spoke last week, I just was like, I left the conversation smiling ear to ear because I was like, yes. Somebody gets me.

RJ Redden:

She had a gumball. --

Natasha Walstra:

weekend on choppy beach, by the way. I did not leave my cave.

RJ Redden:

Oh, yeah. I know. I gave everybody, I gave her a prompt, that I use over and over again for everything and, and it's it's, you know, I always have to be careful full. You know, it's like this prompt is like, okay, it can be totally magic for you, but just can't you need to cancel your plan. That's always how that one goes. so, well, I I'm so glad to have you in my circle and, and just around because yours are the ideas that are going to change the world and they already have. The lesson you leave will be very, very different than the people that have come before you. And, I wanna thank you for coming and hanging out with me on my podcast I know my people are gonna love you. They don't have a choice. well, I mean, they do. But, you know, I know that they will love you because of who you are, and and, yeah, I just wanna thank you for being with us today.

Natasha Walstra:

Well, thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. I mentioned earlier. I was a little bit nervous about being on here, but you made this so being on a podcast in journal. It's a little tough for me sometimes, but, I really appreciate it. You made this a very safe place.

RJ Redden:

Beautiful. beautiful. well, excellent. Well, well audience. my dear ones, my grasshoppers, We'll be back again next week. you know that we will be. and, the next event for me is unmasking AI. We're gonna do that in 1st week of September on Wednesday. I think it's the 6th, but you can look that up. Come see us, come see us, and come visit, my friend, Natasha. Natasha's gonna be dropping a little, a little way to get a hold of her, to me later on. So we'll publish that when this publishes. And you'll be able to to to talk to her like I have and to discover -- what an incredible talent she is. so, well, I think that's probably about all. That's probably about all for us. I bet I bet I best release you to your own recognises. and, and thank you again. it's time to wait by.

Natasha Walstra:

See you.

RJ Redden:

Bye, everybody. Let me find the end broadcast button. There it is.