Using Storytelling To Build Your Brand With Parul Banka

Today we are talking all about the power of storytelling. Now I'm joined by Parul Banker and she kicks off this episode by sharing her own very personal story which highlights how powerful and engaging storytelling is. We discuss storytelling in the context of marketing and Parole tells us why storytelling is so powerful and effective and most importantly, why it makes you memorable. Perul shared that storytelling can make your message 22 times more powerful. So this episode is definitely worth a listen. I learned a lot so I know you will. So let's get on with this Show. I'm Rob DeCosta and this is the Agency Accelerator Podcast. As someone who has stood in your shoes, having started, grown and sold my own agency, I know just how it feels during the ups and the downs of agency life. So this podcast aims to ease your journey just a little by sharing mine and my guests experiences and advice as you navigate your way to growing a profitable, sustainable and enjoyable business. So hey everybody and welcome to today's episode of the Agency Accelerator Podcast. Today we are talking all about building your brand, both personally and for your agency through the use of storytelling. And to do this I'm excited to be joined by Parole Banker from Caramel Coaching. Now Parole helps middle managers in consulting firms climb up the corporate ladder by building visibility and personal brand through storytelling. So that's a really good example of a clear kind of market position. Elevator Pitch. Now in today, in preparation for today's podcast, I was reading your story on your website, Parole. So I'd love you to start off by just sharing with the audience with us what led you to do what you do today.

Thank you Rob. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.

You're welcome. Great to have you.

If I make it to the other side of cancer, I would do everything in my power to live the rest of my life, no matter how long it is or short it is, as meaningfully and joyously as possible. Robert that was the promise I made to myself when I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer in the week of my 34th birthday and didn't quite know if I would still be here in about six months. And so I did what I had to do to get through cancer. But honestly, that period of treatment was loaded with uncertainty and fear. I had to go through every step to eventually find out whether it would work or not. And during that period of uncertainty and fear, every day I would get up and make this promise to myself that if I make it to the other side of cancer, I would do everything in my power to live the rest of my life as meaningfully and joyously as possible. And then I made it to the other side of cancer, which is a massive gift. It's a gift I have never taken for granted, Robert, because I know that not everyone who's touched by cancer really makes it out alive. No pun intended. That's just the reality of cancer. So I was really grateful to be here. And when I did make it to the other side of cancer, because that was the big result I had been working towards, it was time for me to keep the promise that I had made to myself, which was living the rest of my life meaningfully and joyfully. So in my post cancer life, the question was, how on earth would I do that? And one of the things that I did in my post cancer life was to decide that I would live the rest of my life as consciously as possible. So in order to find that meaning and joy in my post cancer life, I said, all right, what I. What I'm going to do is I am going to only focus on work that brings me joy and meaning, because work is such an important part of our lives, and it has always been immensely important to me. And I said, how about integrating work and my need to find joy and meaning? And I said, okay, I'm going to walk away from the corporate world as an employee, which I, by the way, I loved working in the corporate world. And I said, I'm going to walk away from the corporate aspect, an employee, and only focus on the work that brings me joy and meaning, which was helping people. And that's how coaching came into being. Because what really filled me up with joy and meaning when I worked in the corporate was coaching people. And so I decided to qualify as a coach and set up my shop and said, okay, I'm going to be a coach now. Now, the next question was, what on earth are you going to focus on? Because there could be a million, a billion, possibly a zillion things I could do as a coach. And that's when I tapped into the lessons that I had gleaned out of my cancer experience. And the biggest lesson that I had learned from cancer was, all we have is today. Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. Now, I always knew that. Who doesn't know it? Everybody knows that, that we only have today. And yet when I went through cancer, it was then that I was able to fully appreciate that this message and that brought in a certain sense of urgency to get on and live my life. But then it wasn't just any life that I wanted to Live the life that I wanted to live was the best possible life that I could live. And so I said, what does it mean for me to live my best possible life in a way that it's going to bring me joy and meaning? Because that was the big vision, that was the big goal. And I said, what brings me, what is the, what makes the my life the best version of life is to be able to do more and be more on a consistent basis. So every day I want to go further than I was the previous day. I want to do better in terms of my finances, I want to do better in terms of my success, in terms of my relationships, in terms of health, be better and go further. And that's how Go Further Faster came into being. Because, because of the first lesson there was an urgency to go faster. And because of the second lesson I wanted to go further. And so I said, well, this is what I'm going to do in my post cancer life. I'm going to help people go further faster. And I made the decision to work with ambitious, high achieving mid level managers and leaders in the corporate and I help them go further, faster in their careers, climb up the corporate ladder. And I do it through the power of stories by helping them build their personal visibility and branding.

Wow. So what a compelling, striking story and also a really good example of storytelling. Right? So great to hear that you've come out the other side and like you say, cancer touches so many people. How do you make sure in your sort of darkest days or your most challenging work days now that you still live by that philosophy that you gained through the journey of cancer.

During bad days or during low days? I think it is so important to go back to the lessons and stay grounded in those lessons because it is very easy to look at whatever is going around us or whatever we see on social media and get distracted. And I think as time passes, it is also very easy to forget the lessons that I learned the hard way. And it is so important to stay connected with those lessons. One thing that really helps me go back, find that connection again, and reconnect with those lessons is asking myself the question, is it really important? So if I would see myself distracted, if I would see myself fretting over something, I would go back and ask myself, is it really important in the larger scheme of things, is it aligned to my vision? And I have noticed that these two questions always bring me back on track.

Yeah, really good, good advice for everybody. If you understand your why, then you can keep reconnecting with that. It's interesting because I know you commented on the recent podcast I did on Living in the Present, which is obviously very pertinent to what we're talking about today and my month in South Africa, which reminded me of that, because I think when you're in a different scenery, it's very much easier, different situation. It's very much easier to be in the present moment. When we're sitting on the sort of daily grind of the, you know, in our desk, in our office, it's easy to wish time away or not be in the presence. So I think a really good message for everybody from this is that you need to know your why and you need to stay connected with it. And that'll be your personal why, but also for your agency, your vision for your agency and that thing that you're trying to achieve. And it's really interesting because in episode I think 110 we talk about some of this because a why is very rarely money. Money might be important for you because you need to have a certain quality of life. You want to have a certain quality of life, but it is very, very rarely the big why that gets you out of bed every day. And you might think it is, but it isn't. So you know the great message there pro of you're taking a very, very unfortunate situation and turning it into something that helps you live your life in a more meaningful way. So thank you for sharing that with us. Let's just move on to some questions around storytelling. So let's just start off. Although Paul's already given us a really great example of storytelling, what is storytelling in a marketing context or in a building a brand context? What is storytelling?

Storytelling, in simple words, is taking a piece of information, sharing it through a story. Because we human beings are wired for stories, there is research that corroborates that when we share a message through a story, it is a lot more powerful and effective. Let me give a quick example. When you asked me to introduce myself, I could have just come in and given what I like to refer to as a CV kind of introduction. So this is who I am. This is what I have done. This is what I do for others. A very CV kind of introduction. It works. It obviously works. It has a place in itself. But I gave my introduction through a story and I dipped into my personal story and brought it back to the work that I do. Because I use storytelling specifically for marketing and actually I use it for everything. So when we use stories, our messaging is a lot more interesting. Now, I can bet that when you listen to this conversation, this podcast, it would have been a lot harder to remember what I do and how I help people. But because you listen to my story, the chances are that you are more likely to remember me as a speaker or if you were to come across me sometime in future, you would be able to refer back and say, ah, I kind of remember that. Yeah, I remember listening to this person before. So our ability to be remembered is shot up exponentially. There's research, Robert, that tells us that when a message is shared through a story, it becomes effective by 22 times. Imagine when as business owners, we go and share our message and if that message becomes affected by 22 times more, how powerful would that be? So it just doesn't become a case of throwing spaghetti on the wall and hoping that it would stick. Because posting content on social media and putting our word out and spreading our message can feel a bit like that because there are so many people doing it and we are one of those people and we yet have to rise above the noise to create a place for ourselves. But if we can go into every message sharing with the knowledge that our message is going to be so powerful and it's going to make us understand unforgettable, we will do it more confidently and we'll do it with ease. And these research that also corroborates that through stories, we are able to influence the minds as well as hearts of people.

Yeah, that's so. That's so good. And it's a good reminder for me, it just makes us more human. And, you know, we need to remember that people buy from people, they don't buy from businesses. So we need to be more human. But it's also interesting that a lot of businesses are scared of putting that human aspect. And what they do is they tell their corporate story, which is exactly that CV type of thing. And they don't want. They're almost. I don't know why. I don't. Maybe you can throw some light on why people are actually scared of doing that and they feel safer just giving the. You know, our agency has been in existence for 10 years and this is what we do rather than telling that. That origin story. And I've used. It's interesting because you've made me think I use storytelling in a really successful way because I tell my origin story about running my own business and all the things I did wrong and then selling it and then retraining to become a coach. So it gives me a really good immediate empathy with my audience because I can Say, look, I stood in your shoes. But then I'm thinking what you just said. And I think too much of my social media at the moment is a bit too. Not corporate, but is a bit too. It misses that story. So why do you think people are scared of doing the storytelling?

You actually alluded to the answer yourself, Robert. People feel safe not sharing their story because when they dip into their story, it is similar to letting their walls down and letting their audience in. They feel vulnerable when they share their story and that vulnerability leads to fear of judgment, fear of rejection. All those fears come up. What if I share a piece of myself, a piece of my story with my audience and what if they don't like me? And that can feel like a personal rejection, not just a business related rejection. And that scares people off. It's really hard for a lot of people.

Yeah. And it's almost like businesses feel there's safety in doing the same thing as everybody else rather than trying to stand out from the crowd, which of course is something you need to do. And your story is definitely one of the ways of doing that. So you kind of answered this already. But if I'm an agency and I'm wanting to build my brand, how do you feel like storytelling can help me? Now, like I say, you've answered that in part already, but have you got anything else to add to that?

Yes, I can add a couple of things. When you share your story and bring it back to the work you do here. In this specific example, who do you help as an agency and how do you help them? You can tell your audience so much about yourself just through a story. If we go back to the story that I shared for myself, imagine how much information I shared with you in under five minutes. And just think how much information you would, how much time you would need to spend with somebody if you were to glean so much information I shared with you, information on what I do, how I do it, who I do it for, why do I do what I do? I give you insight into what drives me and what are some of my key values. We would literally need to have hours and hours of conversation to get so much understanding about somebody. And through a story, you can literally do it in five minutes. It doesn't mean that it takes five minutes to create that story. That work has been done outside the session. But every time you go into that conversation, you would come prepared with a story that will help you communicate your message succinctly and quickly. So that's one thing in relation to being not just being unforgettable, but also the preparation has already been done, and that's where it's going to impact your confidence. If we refer back to my story, I'm sure you would have assigned some adjectives to me. Maybe you listened to my story and said in your head similar to something, similar to what Robert said, that you took an unpleasant situation and you turned it around. And that's driving you today to do all the good work that you do. And that creates a certain kind of adjective for me in your minds. Or you may be somebody who thought, well, she didn't really have to do that. There was already so much going on, she must be literally crazy to change things up in her life. And you know, both the options are okay, because no matter which option you went with, it created a certain personal branding of me in your minds. And so as a business owner, you can consciously decide what is it that you would like people to think. And it is, and it is possible that you probably fell somewhere in between these two extremes. And that's fine, because we only want to speak to our kind of people. And that's really important to understand because we aren't really looking at appealing to everybody. People who will connect with us through our story will be attracted to us, and there will be some people who will be repelled. And that's a great way to really qualify people, because you and I can't cater to everyone anyway. There are just too many people.

Something really, really interesting. And you know what? Like you said, whatever those extremes someone feels about you, it's better that they have a feeling than have no feeling. And if. And if you're not telling, if you're not using storytelling or being very corporate, then someone's gonna have no feeling about you. And that probably means they're gonna walk away. So. So your story from an Unfortunate situation was easy to find. My story from my journey in the agency world was easy to find. How do people find their stories if they're not so easy and obvious like ours have been?

Okay to be able to do that? I want to bust a big myth that a lot of people have, and that is that you need to have a rocket science kind of story to be able to make an impact. The reason why a lot of people feel that they don't have a story worth sharing is because they live that story every day. Something that is done every day feels normal to us. I want to share with you that every story is worth sharing, and there's always something that you can share from Your story that is going to speak to your audience. Here is a really drastic example that I can share with you, because this is a question I get so often. Robert, my story is normal. How do I put it in a form that is going to really speak to my audience? Now imagine how many people there are in this world who believe their story is normal. But when as a business owner or as a leader, you step up and say, I am somebody normal and this is my normal story, you are going to appeal to all those millions and billions of people. So it is not about having a rocket science or a story that is rooted in adversity that needs to make an impact. Now, there are a lot of people who would say to me, well, you have a cancer story. You came out the other side of cancer. And that is why your story is powerful. I want to put my story in perspective with some numbers. In the year 2018, there were 17 million new cases of cancer that were diagnosed and reported all over the world. And we aren't including people who are already living with cancer, living beyond cancer and their families. And yet in a world where 17 million new cases were reported, my story continues to make sense to some people who listen to is a normal story in the world of cancer. And yet it is extraordinary, two people who need to hear that story and to learn from it. So no matter what your story is, no matter what shape or size or what form it is, it is going to make sense to the person who needs to hear it.

Yeah, that's such a good.

Once we get an understanding of that, it becomes so much easier for us to have faith in our own story and start using it. So that's the first thing. That's the whole belief and mindset piece. And the second thing is you need to call out one story or a couple of stories and share them with your audience. And that would be tied into what is it that you want to achieve. So if I was speaking to a completely different audience, I may use parts of this story, but the whole story would not be the same. It would be aligned to the audience I am speaking to and what is the key message I want to share with them.

That neatly brings me on to the next question. But I guess, I guess you work with people to elicit those stories out of them and to bring those stories out of them. So that's, I guess sometimes if you're struggling with that, having that third, that second, you know, that other person helping ask the right questions to bring the story out probably really helps. But then the question that sort of leads on from that is, so now I've got my story. How do I practically use it? How do I practically use it in my marketing and in my brand building? Both from a corporate perspective, in an agency, but also from a personal perspective.

I would say you can use your story everywhere. As a business owner, as an agency owner, you would be having conversations with people, conversations with other business owners or networking events, conversations with your prospect clients, conversations with your clients. You may be doing presentations, you may be doing live videos, and every time you come into one of those, you avail of one of those speaking opportunities or even writing opportunities, you can share your story. It doesn't mean that you have to share the whole of your story, but you can share slices of it, depending on what is the purpose and who you are speaking to. You may be speaking at conferences, you may be speaking on podcasts like this, and every time you have a speaking opportunity or an opportunity to share your message, you may, you can share your story as a business owner or as a corporate leader. You may have a team reporting to you, or you may have a sizable business where you have people working for you and you can use your story to inspire those people, to help them be the best they can be and to help yourself get the best out of your people. So you can use it everywhere.

What about in sort of written context like blogs and social media posts and all that kind of stuff? How would you alter the story to make it fit in that delivery mechanism?

Okay, so we have got to understand that a story would always work, but a story would be several times more powerful when it is aligned to the purpose that we want to use it for. So when one of the best places to use your story in written format is the about section on your website or your social media page, and that's where you really look at what is it that you want to speak to your audience about and align your story accordingly. So here is a certain version of story, my story that I shared with you for business owners. Now, let's say if I was speaking to a completely different audience, the message would be different. I remember speaking to a group of practice nurses in the NHS some years ago and the purpose was to help them understand what it is like to be cancer patient. And they wanted that information so that they could support cancer patients who were referred back to them more effectively and do their jobs better in, in terms of supporting people touched by cancer. Now, what I'm sharing here, that I help people go further, faster in their careers, is not what I would share with a group of nurses, because what they need to know, and it's still my story, that's the vehicle. But what they need to know is what. What does a cancer patient or their family needs? And so all my focus was on giving those nurses that piece of information. A different example would be when I was speaking for a cancer charity to help them raise funds. And in that event, which was a gala fundraising event, all my focus was, well, it's my story. But what I needed my audience to do was to listen to my story, put their hands in their pockets, and say, this is a cause worth supporting. That's one. And the second is this is a charity worth supporting. So while my story was the vehicle, the hero of that story was the organization that I was speaking for that day. So you see, it's still. My story is still the same vehicle, but it needs to be customized. If I would go and still say the same thing, it would make an impact, but it would not have. Have as much impact. So whenever you share your story, whether it is in speaking format or in written format, always think about who are you speaking for or who are you writing for and what is it that they need to know? What is the relevance? If we can get who we are speaking for and what is the relevance for them? We will never get in a situation where they need to know X and we need to speak. We are speaking. By.

Such good advice, I mean fundamentally know your audience. And that applies to so much of what we do, including this topic of storytelling. Now, I just want to take a little bit of a sort of a left turn in our conversation and ask you a big question that needs to be answered in just a couple of minutes. But you were telling me in our prep for this podcast that you recently changed the niche and the target audience that you're targeting in your coaching business, which is a brave thing to do. So, really quickly, I'd love to know why you did that and how you chose the niche and how it's going.

Okay, so when I started, when I made the decision to help people in their careers through stories, I had to start somewhere. And few years ago, I decided that I would choose business owners to work with. And, and, and I have helped lots of coaches, lots of business owners over the last few years, but there was a very interesting pattern that I was noticing. And that pattern was that even though all my marketing, 100% of my marketing was focused on speaking to coaches and business owners, yet I kept attracting corporate leaders who wanted to work with me. And they would come into a conversation with me and ask, oh, we know that you work with coaches, but would you work with us? Would you help us share our story? And that was really interesting to notice, and it was also interesting to experience because if you refer back to what I said right in the beginning, I was a happy corporate employee. I didn't walk away from the corporate because I was an happy or I had a story of burnout, none of those things. I really thrived there. And I think it goes back to the saying that, that we have, that we don't, that we attract who we are. So I was that person and I was attracting those. Those people energetically and, and still through my messaging. And it went on for so long that I decided to do something about it. And the second thing was when I would actually work with corporates and do the training for them, run workshops for them, I realized, I noticed how much I love doing that, how much I love that environment. So I said, all right, let's do something about it. And why not actually do this instead? Because it was a lot easier for me to attract those people. And in terms of effort that I was putting, putting in and in terms of ROI and in terms of results that I was getting there. So I just said, okay, let's do this. And I did it.

Fantastic. And how is it going? Is it. I don't know quite know where you are on that journey of transition, but how's it going?

So I made that transition about six months ago, and I would say it is reflecting in the results. It is. It's a good decision that I took because I feel more aligned and my business results corroborate that. So really happy with the change that I've made.

Fantastic. So there's a couple of things that I wanted to pull out from that for our listeners. One is having a clear niche makes everything so much easier. When you have a clear niche, you know exactly who your ideal target customer is. You know exactly the pains and challenges that they have that your products or service can solve. And I'm glad to see that you made that choice to switch rather than trying to hedge your bets and sort of serve both the business coach audience and also the corporate space, which is what a lot of people do. They kind of think, oh, yeah, I want to put my feet in several different camps. And what they end up doing is diluting their messaging and, and finding. Struggling to find those stories that hit home with each of those audiences. And it becomes a bit of a mess. So often I say to people. When you try to be all things to all people, you end up being nothing to anybody. So commit to your nation and you just shown that over time, your niche can change if, if that's what's necessary.

Yeah. Although in my case, I would point out, Robert, that I'm still helping people improve their careers through their stories. And when I talk about the corporate leaders, yes, I help them move up the corporate ladder because that's one of the biggest things people working in the corporate want to be able to move up the corporate ladder with ease and without burning themselves out and, and still having time for things and people they love. And when I was working with business owners, I was still doing storytelling for personal branding and visibility. But the main outcome there was helping people grow their businesses. And so there were lots of battles. It was about going back to those fundamentals, gleaning those similarities. But yes, but yes, we shouldn't really be scared of doing this work. And if there's a change we want to make, it is so important to go back to the basics and go back to the whiteboard and start all over.

Yeah, absolutely. Don't be afraid to do that. So that is such an interesting conversation. And I always know when these podcasts, when I have a guest and the podcast is good because it makes me reflect on my business and how I can do things better. And I, you know, one thing I learn is every time I have a guest, I always learn something, which is what's so great about having guests on the podcast. So let me ask you the final question I ask all of my guests, which is, if you could go back in time and give yourself your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?

One big advice that I would give my younger self is that. You get to choose and you make the choices in a way that you will never, ever live with regret, even if it feels risky. Choose risk over regret. That's what I would tell her.

Choose risk over regret. That is a good, that's a good mantra to have in life. And yeah, great one. And as ever, we, you know, through having 50 plus guests on this podcast, we've never had that. You know, I don't think I've ever had a guest say the same thing, which is why this is so interesting. Such good words of wisdom. So, prul, thank you so much for joining us today. If people wanted to find out more about you or reach you, what is the best way for them to contact you?

People can find me on my website through my website, www.caramelcoaching.com I hang out on LinkedIn. People can find me there. I am also on Facebook. People can find me there. And people can also write to me. My email is parulbankaramelcoaching.com Great.

Okay, so we will include all of those links in the show notes. And I just want to say thank you so much for giving up some of your time today to share your words of wisdom and with our audience.

Thank you so much for having me. Robert. It's been a pleasure.