In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Terri Potter, writer and founder of TBP Creative Services. Terri shares a childhood story about trying to scare her blind grandfather, illustrating that targeting perceived weaknesses fails when you misunderstand a person's true strengths. She emphasizes the importance of staying current with emerging technology—like Bitcoin and blockchain—without intimidation, positioning herself as a guide to make complex tech accessible. Her core business advice is that "you can never be too kind," and she reflects on a high‑school mentor’s advice to "take everything you do seriously, but never take yourself seriously," noting she now finds taking herself more seriously than her work more effective. Terri defines happiness as a habit of actively seeking the good in people, situations, and oneself. She cites the children’s book The Monster at the End of This as her favorite, drawing lessons about the power of storytelling to evoke emotion and laughter. She also shares a modified version of her grandfather’s motto—"early to bed, early to rise makes me productive, healthy, and hopefully wise"—as her favorite quote. The episode concludes with Terri directing listeners to her website, tbp.com, for more information about her creative services.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have a very special guest. Her name is Terri Potter and she is a writer and founder of TBP Creative Services. So welcome to the show.
Thank you, I'm excited to be here.
Of course, I'm excited to have you on. Uh, and we'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you, Terri, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, before I was born, my dad's dad began to lose his eyesight. So by the time I was a little girl, he had totally lost his eyesight. And my grandfather was an extraordinary person. He was so very brave and determined and fiercely independent. And twice a year, he'd travel from his home in Texas to ours in Minnesota for long visits. And during those visits, my goal was to sneak up and scare him. Yes, I was determined to startle my grandfather. And I never succeeded, but I tried, tiptoeing as quietly as I could. And so one day when I was about 8 or 9, I went as far as dropping to my belly and army crawling up my way up our cold slate hallway floor toward the kitchen where he was seated nodding off. Because you see, my grandfather was a— Stigler for routine, and he'd wake up super early every morning. In fact, one of his many mottos was, "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." But he'd wake up so early that during the day he'd end up dozing a lot. So on this scare attempt, I waited until he nodded off and was flat-out snoring, and then scooted those final feet across the linoleum to his chair in Right when I was going to grab his ankle and yell, "Boo," he shifted his leg away from mine and calmly said, "Please fix me a fresh cup of coffee. Make it extra hot." So there are two messages. One, if your strategy is to prey on what you perceive as a person's weakness, you'll fail every time because you're so focused on what you think makes the person weak, you have no idea what actually makes them strong or how strong they actually are. And then also, if your strategy is to prey on what you perceive as a person's weakness, you're just kind of a jerk.
Agreed. Um, and thank you for sharing that. That story had me on the, on the tip of my toes. And, uh, the next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Uh, stay on top of new technology and don't let it intimidate you. People hear a new tech term like Bitcoin or blockchain or cryptocurrency and think it sounds too complex or far-fetched or both, and then they want to resist it. But the reality is that if the technology is going to become part of our everyday lives, and it is, there are people like me who will make it easy to understand and use.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Overall business advice? You can never be too kind.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, when I was in high school, an upperclassman and friend and mentor told me, "Take everything you do seriously, but never take yourself seriously." And I thought it was brilliant because she is brilliant. But it's taken many years to understand that for me, I'm better served when I take myself more seriously than my work. And so are my clients and so is my family.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I think the key to happiness is to always find the good. Look for the good, find the good in everyone, in every situation, and in yourself. Make it a habit to find the good, and that's where you'll find your happiness.
And what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Well, the best book that I've read is called The Monster at the End of This by Jon Stone. And Jon Stone was an original crew member on Sesame Street, and he helped develop characters like Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird. And so in this story, Grover is this lovable furry little guy, and he's distressed to learn that there's a monster at the end of the book, and he begs readers not to turn the pages, which of course we do. And with each page turn, Grover becomes more frantic, more desperate, and— even exasperated that despite his warnings, we're still turning the pages. And when we arrive at the end, we discover along with Grover that he is the monster, and he's embarrassed to say the least. So this book was given to me on my 4th or 5th birthday, and the first time I read it, I was just as surprised as Grover when I got to the end. And then I thought it was the funniest thing ever, and I reread it dozens and dozens of times because I like being in on the joke, you know, and looking at the amazingly detailed illustrations. And so this book, and I mean this, from this book I learned that there's real power in the ability to tell a good story. You can use your words to make people feel things and think or know something they need to know, or you can just give them a good belly laugh. Yes.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
I'll go with a modified version of my grandfather's: early to bed, early to rise makes me productive, healthy, and hopefully wise. I love it.
Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Sure. tbp.com. And that's T as in Terry, E-A, B as in Brown, E-A, P as in Potter, E-A. So tbp.com.
Perfect. Thanks again for coming on.
Oh, thanks for having me. This is fun.
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