Unlocking the Power of Storytelling in Business Ft Hailey Evans

In this episode of Visionary Voices, Hailey Evans shares her journey from a single mom to a successful storyteller and marketing strategist. She emphasizes the importance of storytelling in business, how empathy plays a crucial role in marketing, and the impact of AI on efficiency and content creation. Hailey also discusses her experiences with nonprofits and the entrepreneurial challenges she faced, providing valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Download Hailey's 5 Part Story Telling Blueprint for FREE here: https://haileyevans.com/free-storytelling-blueprint

Keywords

storytelling, marketing, empathy, nonprofit, AI, entrepreneurship, branding, communication, business strategies, audience engagement

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Let's begin.

So Hayley, thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of Visionary Voices.

Can you give us a top level view of what it is that you do right now and your journey so
far?

Sure.

Right now I am serving businesses and nonprofits to clarify their message and engaging
their audience with story-driven strategies.

How I got here is a unique story in itself.

It all started when I understood and learned the secret and the power of storytelling.

And that happened when I was a single mom and I was applying for scholarships and grants.

And one story changed the trajectory of my life.

and open a lot of doors and so from then on I have just been a lover of story and helping
others to leverage that power as well.

Amazing, yeah, storytelling is one of those things, especially in the marketing world,
it's so important for businesses and brands.

I'd love to zoom in a little bit more about that first story that you just mentioned there
that really got you into the whole process of it.

So can you tell us what that story was and we can discuss that a little bit more.

Yeah, so just to go back, I married my high school sweetheart at 17 and I had planned to
go on to college, but as it was, I decided to build my family and I was always very career

oriented and college bound, for those 14 years, I decided to put that all on hold and
focus all my time and attention on raising my children.

14 years later, I learned that my

Ex-husband now had been having multiple affairs and I decided that that was not acceptable
and So I had to take a step of faith and just say hey I'm not gonna allow that anymore But

at the same time it was scary because I had no work experience I had not completed my
education and I had no plan and so in 2010 I found myself sitting at the Department of

Social Services applying for a face stamps and Medicaid and that was a very humbling
experience

because just shortly before we had been globe training around the world.

We were in full-time missions and so it was just a very stark contrast literally just
weeks apart.

And so I knew that education was going to be my way out.

I worked multiple jobs and put myself started back to school immediately and earned three
degrees in five years all debt-free because I learned to harness the power of storytelling

and

that just opened a whole big world of opportunities and the the storytelling came into
play when I was writing scholarships essays and things like that and so I just was able to

Resonate my my story emotionally connect with those college boards and committees.

So yeah

That's such a fascinating way to use your journey and story, right?

To use that and then be able to put yourself back through school, get three degrees in
just five years, which is just incredible.

So it's really cool how you managed to leverage that.

And then also now leveraging that skill in itself and helping companies bring their story
to light as well.

So when it comes to the work you do today, what does that look like and what industries do
you work in and all those different things?

Yeah, so I work with entrepreneurs, business owners, sales teams, nonprofit organizations,
really across the board.

I just want people to understand how to clarify their message and to...

create story driven strategies because stories are 22 times more likely to be memorized or
memorable than facts and statistics.

And so when people understand that there's a very simple framework that I can teach them
how to tell their story, it takes away that mystery.

And that's why I'm very passionate about marketing is because I can take frameworks and
apply them to different sectors and industries and it all works in every single

Well, why do you think it is that it works in all different industries?

Is it because it's people, right?

guess people are the same across the board.

So stories in itself will just resonate the same across the board.

Is that the reason why it resonates, you know, no matter the industry?

We've been telling stories for...

Thousands of years and you need to look back at the parables in the Bible and how much
they were very relatable Anybody can understand the story and you look at the movies the

big blockbusters, you know, they all have Several elements in them.

I've created a five-part storytelling blueprint which has a relatable character a genuine
emotion moment in time specific details and a clear call to action and so when I can take

each one of those pieces and put it into

a story, it just brings it to life.

And when people understand it's really not that difficult to create a compelling story
that would resonate with their audience, it's just a really fun light bulb moment for me

to see.

So let's say, for example, a company's like, okay, we need storytelling in our business in
some way, shape or form.

What would you suggest is the first step they need to go on?

And then obviously the second, third or fourth step as well to bring it to light and make
that story.

Yeah, well, I think first it starts with brandy.

You know, who is your audience?

Who are you trying to reach?

What are those archetypes?

And then dial it in to make sure that we're resonating and we're telling stories that
actually they're interested in because it really needs to focus on the audience and not on

the business owner or the organization.

I'm a Story Brand Certified Guide and we always focus on, look, your customer is the hero,
not your brand.

And so we always want to make sure that we're creating value.

and that we're building trust and that everything, all of our messaging is focusing on
their wants and needs.

And so I would look at branding first, then I would look at messaging.

Another framework I've created is the Epic Communications Framework and that is where you
can engage with a hook, persuade with a story, inspire with a call to action and close

with a PS.

And so that is kind of like the big piece of where we look at the messaging in all of your
marketing, whether it's email, social media posts, video, even your spoken word

presentations.

And so that's kind of like the big framework and then we dial it down.

storytelling but it's really about connecting with your audience and giving them what they
need and what they're wanting and that's how we create the marketing strategy for our

brand.

No, I completely agree because I start to implement some type of storytelling in some of
my presentations and sales calls especially.

because just give context to the audience is why why sell right is can be very technical.

Overall, there's lots of moving parts.

And so as soon as I started implementing the storytelling, you know, tactic, let's say,
overall in terms of conversions and results we got was just insane.

And so I completely agree.

This is something that people need to add into into their marketing messaging, I guess,
overall.

And so when it comes down to these different bits of the blueprint that you mentioned
about how we can create stories within the brand, can that story, I guess, differentiate

depending on the ICP or the architect, or archetype that you're going after?

Is that how you position it from a technical point of view?

Yeah, and the other thing is, for an example, non-profit organizations have a complex
opportunity to have to segment their audience.

So they need to have a different message for their donors, for their volunteers, for their
recipients, in the same way that businesses, they have customers.

And it's usually a little bit more...

streamlined but with nonprofits it really does make you think and so I create a brand
script and brand messaging around specific segments that they're going trying to target so

it can be you know it's I love the strategy I think strategy beats hustle any day and so
you know just taking a step back and looking at the big picture but then getting granular

and looking at the word the individual words and I think it is for AI because that's
really helped.

No, definitely.

So first step is segment out your audience, your different types of people that you're
going after.

And then you can get really granular with that messaging.

And then the other thing you mentioned before was making sure the customer or that ICP
type is the hero of the story.

So can you explain a little bit more about what that looks like from a technical point of
view and practical point of view?

Like how do you implement that into the messaging and not talk about the features and what
it is that we do as a company?

Because I think

For lot of businesses, it can be very hard not to veer onto that and just speak features
over people and that type of thing.

and that's a really great question because the more tech savvy a brand or product is, the
more they need storytelling to break it down.

And so in with your other question, how do we put that focus back on the customer is we
want to make sure that we are empathizing with them.

Between empathy and authority is how we not only help them to relate to us,

and help them understand, we get it.

We know it's hard.

There's a lot of leaders that spend, you know, waste money on marketing that doesn't work.

I've been there before.

I've dealt with that.

So you're trying to relate with them or their experience through empathy.

And then you also bring in authority to say, hey, you know, I've got 20 years experience.

I've got certifications.

I've earned awards, various, you know, blah, blah, blah.

And so you don't want to lead without authority.

You want to lead with empathy.

Always lead with empathy and compassion and then back it

up.

But that also takes another line where people will make decisions first on emotion.

They will then back it up with logic.

And so that's why storytelling is so important is because you just have to follow that
path.

So when I'm doing website design, I make sure that when people come to the website, they
can clearly identify what it is I do, how I can make their life better, and how do they

get it.

Because you have three to five seconds to really nail

that.

So you want it obviously to be all about them.

When they come searching, a lot of times they're looking to solve three problems, not just
one.

There's an internal problem that they are facing.

There's an external problem and then there is a philosophical problem.

So again, when you create a brand script that is based on empathy and their specific
problems and authority and all of these things, give them a three-step plan.

That is where you can really connect with your customer or your donor or whatnot to make
sure that the focus is on them and that they feel valued and they feel heard.

I love what you said about the empathy first mindset to it.

Because as we said before, it's so easy just to speak over who it is that we are and we've
done this, we've done that.

But ultimately, clients or customers don't care about that yet.

You need to connect to them first and then they're going to care about that side of it.

So I love that.

And it's very simple, I guess, framework to remember and start implementing into people's
businesses.

So no, thank you for that.

And then in terms of nonprofits, I know you work a lot within the nonprofit realm of
things.

I guess what traits have you seen within the marketing side of those businesses where
you've gone in, you've managed to change it you've got some incredible results.

So it'd be interesting to know what you've done in that realm.

So I have created a digital course called Nonprofit Marketing Made Easy.

And what I have seen with nonprofits is they are wearing so many hats, they're juggling so
many tasks that sometimes marketing gets put on the back burner.

And so what I try to do is come in and recognize,

where are the gaps, where are we missing the mark when we're trying to connect with our
audience?

Are we nurturing our audience with valuable content and really engaging stories, or are we
always asking for a donation or asking them to be a part of our event or asking them to

volunteer?

So again, it goes back to empathy and compassion and being a very value-driven brand.

What value are you providing to your donors or to your organization?

It's about the Go Giver book, I don't know if you've heard of that, but it's about giving
value before asking for anything.

And so in regards to non-profits, what I have always done in a for-profit setting, which
actually works for a non-profit, is to provide a lead generator.

When people come to your website, if they're not ready to book a call or to contact you or
to come for a visit, you need to have some kind of value piece that they could just

download immediately.

So what that could look like for a nonprofit is, hey, here's five ways to give back in
your community.

It's not necessarily anything specific to that nonprofit.

It's about, hey, we want to help if you're looking to be a part of our network or our
community.

we want to make sure that you're a good fit for us and vice versa.

But one statistic or one example I can give you is...

Piedmont Women's Center started sending video emails, not just text emails.

Their email open rate went up 121 % in one year because they were starting to engage and
build trust and those listeners were excited to open their emails.

And then all of those videos are now living on their YouTube channel and people can go
back and watch them anytime.

So I think it's really just

just being creative with the content.

Yeah, I completely agree.

And I think that video in an email idea is great because I get so many emails like
everyone else does and so many of them I don't read.

But there have been a few newsletters which I've been getting recently where they did have
a video element to it and it was actually really good value.

And so now, as you said, right, anytime I see my inbox, I'll always open it and have a
look at it because I've got somebody before and people will repeat the behaviors that got

them positive results before, right?

And so if you've been rewarded for opening a...

an email once from this one sender because there's value in it, you're going to keep doing
over and over and you want to create that pattern of behavior within within our leads.

And I love I love what you said about creating some type of generator right on the
website, because I'm a big advocate of this where a lot of people are always targeting

people at the very end of the buying journey, right, where they're just ready to convert,
ready to buy, but only a very small percent of the market is actually there.

And so we need to have some systems in place to capture

the data and the emails of the people who aren't quite ready to buy right now so we can
give them the value.

So when they are ready, they're going to come to us now remember us.

And so again, I think that's a very good tip for anyone to really implement into the
business.

And if you don't have that, then do it as soon as you can because you might just be
missing out on so much potential within the business there.

There's a lot of leads that slip through the cracks because if you are not able to track
who's visiting your website, it's a shame that a lot of people don't necessarily think

about that.

You need direct calls to action and transitional calls to action.

So that's where that lead generator comes in.

And I have several of those.

I recommend having several of those across your website, not just in one place and not
just one specific one, but different ones.

So yeah.

Switching gears a little bit, I want to talk about AI and how this is impacting you, your
business and everything else.

So what have you seen with AI and how are you implementing it today?

Oh man, it has just been such a game changer for me.

So, you you think about when the last time was that you had an epiphany and mine happened
about four months ago.

I was leading a workshop.

A guy named Emil, I had never met, said, hey, is okay if my app takes, you know, records
the session?

I'm like, sure, you know, whatever.

It's probably just a fancy way of taking notes, you know, whatever.

Well,

I find out that it's not only transcribing everything, it's analyzing, it's organizing,
it's categorizing, and it gave a summary of everything, and it distinguished between all

the voices in the room of 20 people.

Okay, so I'm like, oh my gosh, my mind is blown.

I didn't sleep for three days because I was so excited.

I knew immediately that this was going to be a game changer for me.

And fast forward, I absolutely love it because...

I can create content so much faster.

So when it was taking me hours or days to complete a project, it now takes me minutes or
hours and I can pass along that value to my customers, which it makes me so excited to

say, hey, you know what?

I can actually offer this to you at a very affordable rate because I've learned how to
leverage AI.

And so if other business owners could really tap into that power and how to leverage it,
man, it's just, it's a game changer.

and so I've started offering AI marketing boot camps and it's been very well received
because people want to clarify their marketing but they also want to learn AI at the same

time and how to create content, quality content and quickly, efficiently and so I'm
combining the two and it's just a really great union.

Yeah, I completely agree, right?

It just increases efficiency in all different realms.

And especially for business owners who aren't big in their marketing departments or
anything like that, is for them it also cuts the learning curve massively because any

answer they need, can get straight away.

And as we said, for efficiencies, it's great.

Well, what friction points have you seen just within just typical business owners maybe
trying to implement AI?

Because something that I've noticed for some industries and some types of people,

they're a little bit more reluctant to really dive deep into AI and implement it.

They might use it for a couple light things, but they're not at the point where they're
ready to go all in and really boost the efficiency across all the departments or anything

like that.

So what have you seen when you've been speaking to these people?

Yeah, well I think that

The biggest thing I see is that they're getting general, just generic outputs because they
don't know how to specifically prompt AI.

You have to give AI context.

Then you have to give it prompts to say, ask me five questions one at a time about X, Y,
and Z.

One leader I just met with last week, I saw that light bulb moment come out in his
experience because he didn't know what his next steps were gonna be.

wanted to start a business, he kind of had a general idea, and so I said, hey, let's just
see what AI says.

And so I let AI know the context, you know, this is my buddy and he's trying to figure out
what kind of job or what kind of business he wants to start.

And so I asked AI to say, ask us five separate questions, and one of them was, what are
your interests?

The other one is, who do you like to serve?

And you know,

you know, went on and on like that.

And within five minutes, it had a complete business plan for my friend and I could give
that to him and it just gave him an anchor so that he knew where to start.

And so that's what I love about it.

I mean, it's fantastic for large strategic planning, but it's also for what I use it for
mostly are the intricate communications within that.

Yeah, yeah, I know, definitely.

And it's gonna be so interesting to see how the AI industry just shapes and evolves over
time.

And I've seen in the last couple of China releasing their one and some other countries
releasing their ones as well.

And they're all competing with each other now, which is so interesting, like where the
innovation is gonna go.

I mean, there's one AI which I've been using recently called called Fixer.

So F-Y-X-E-R.

And essentially what that does is based on all the data that they have, they'll categorize
all your emails.

And it seemed like such a small thing.

but little things like to, you know, waiting for reply or need to respond to this or just
a general update, let's say.

And again, it's such a small thing, but it's made such a big impact.

It's like having an executive assistant essentially for like $20 a month or something,
which is just insane.

So it's going to be interesting to see how this evolved over time and what new tools come
out into the marketplace.

But when it comes down to, guess, some of the services that you provide, do think any of
them would be fully replaced by AI?

Because I think that's also

a worry for some consulting businesses or service based businesses.

like, well, we might actually get replaced now.

Like, how do we tackle that element of it?

Yeah, that's a really great question.

I for me AI has actually given me work because now I can advertise myself as I provide AI
training along with marketing messaging and that kind of thing So it's actually provided

more work for me to expand my business and scale my business I can that's the simple,
know, the simple answer of AI is it allows you to scale your work whatever you're doing

Yeah, I mean I think it's definitely possible that AI could replace some jobs, but you
know think about this

when the computer came out they said the computer is going to take over and it's going to
replace everybody but well that's not true and so AI is the same thing like garbage in is

garbage out you have to learn how to use it effectively to really get the most out of it
but like you said being able to you know just simplify or categorize or summarize the

emails that has

you know, allowed me to not have to pay an assistant to do those things because AI can do
it very quickly.

And so like copywriting, that's something that I feel like I have a copywriter in my back
pocket at all times because I can quickly go to chat GPT and type in something and brrr,

you know, just a you know, seconds, minute later, I have what I need.

And so in some regards, I think it could alter or change the dynamic between

what we were and what we have right now or what we may need.

But ultimately, I see it as a positive, a very, very positive advancement.

Yeah, I completely agree.

think for some roles and some jobs, it might replace it, but at the same time, it's going
to create new roles as well.

Like we saw with all the tech that came out is some roles.

Yeah, they became obsolete, but then it opened the door to software engineering or, you
know, whatever it's going to be.

I mean, I know one of the biggest jobs in tech right now is AI prompt engineering, right?

It's like a 300,000 a year salary for prompt engineering.

If you can, you know, master that side of it, which is huge.

And so definitely opening up a lot of doors for a lot of people.

But I agree, think business owners especially, especially now, I think now is a very
important time to really start to learn it, at least the basics and figure out how to

implement it because ultimately if your competitors start implementing it and as we said,
right, we don't need to hire like an executive assistant, we have one billion AI, well, we

can then reallocate that money that we would have spent hiring someone into growing the
business even more.

And if you're not doing it and your competitors are, ultimately they're just gonna win in
the end.

Yeah, I think for a lot of business owners, it's just very, very important to start adding
in.

Awesome.

So switching gears a little bit, I just want to talk about your entrepreneurial journey
and really dig in, like what type of challenges have you had along the way and how do you

overcome them?

Because I know the entrepreneurial journey is very much one of mindset, right?

Trying to develop your mindset.

So what have you found in that realm?

Yeah, so it took me a couple of business fails to learn what I needed to know about
marketing and messaging.

So, separate from, I guess, kind of when the pandemic hit, I really wanted to start a home
care business, or an elderly care business.

So, senior home care is actually what I called it.

But I didn't know anything about marketing.

I didn't know about email lists or how that could give you 4,200 % ROI.

So that business fell flat went nowhere fast forward a few more years my husband I were
building a home and we had a terrible experience with a builder and Because he never put a

project manager on the home.

It's a large home It's a lot of detail and so when we finally got finished 17 covered long
months of that I had lost 20 pounds But I had also learned how to communicate with

tradesmen and so therefore we get moved in I'm like, I'm kind of bored.

know, my boys are grown and I

I think that I could probably do a pretty good job as an interior designer by being a
liaison between the builder and the client and so to make sure that no other customer goes

through what I went through.

So I started a business called Evans Custom Interiors and I really didn't have any plans.

I didn't have any experience in interior design.

My background was healthcare and I have an MBA.

so needless to say, it was crazy.

The first nine months we did $200,000 in revenue.

We completed 75 projects, I grew to a team of 10, and our net profit margin was 30%.

All because I realized how to create a marketing funnel and make sure that the messaging
was very clear.

And so about a year after that I was like, I don't know that I really like interior
design, but I sure as heck like this marketing thing.

So I ended up selling that business and now I'm all in on.

and I just I've never looked back.

I love it so much.

I love to see the growth of other businesses and I love training and teaching and and so
that's really where my entrepreneurial journey started and I think with a lot of

entrepreneurs, you know, we fail a couple of times.

We get back up.

We keep going and you know, it's just that grit and determination to keep trying and just
you got to believe in yourself as well.

But you know, you've got to have a plan with your marketing and so that's really what I've
learned from all that.

such a cool journey, right?

Where you've managed to go through something yourself, right?

Your project you were doing, you noticed a problem, you're like, you know, other people
are going to have this problem as well.

Let's create a business around it.

I think that's where some of the coolest businesses can come from sometimes is where
you've had the problem yourself and you use this thing to fix it.

And now you're like, you know, everyone should have this as well.

And that's where you can get the traction and you saw that with the results, right?

Like 200,000 in the first few months is crazy for a new business.

So that's really cool.

So

What advice would you have for maybe people sitting on the fence about becoming an
entrepreneur or people that are maybe at the very start of their journey?

Is there any key tips or advice that you'll give them?

Yeah, well, it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

Entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well, but a lot of times it can be a lonely road.

And there's been times where I'm like, why am I doing this myself?

It's like, you feel like you live on a roller coaster.

know, some days you're like, yes, I can do this.

I'm going to conquer the world.

You know, like literally the next day you're like, I can't get out of bed.

I'm so depressed.

You know, it's like, it's just, you've got leadership, marketing, sales, operations.

You've got all of these intricate parts that you have to pay attention to.

I think one of the best business books I've read is the Business Made Simple book by
Donald Miller.

also how to build a story brand, also by Donna Miller.

But it was when I read those books and applied those frameworks to my businesses that I
really saw the traction and the growth.

And I think what's really important is to discover your one-liner.

What is the problem that you solve?

How do you do that?

And then what's the outcome and the benefit for your customer?

And that's what needs to ground you.

says why is so funny because when I do workshops like hey what's your elevator pitch
they're like

It's funny because nobody can think of it, but it's like if you start with the problem,
the solution, and then the benefit, that's all you need.

And then the next part, I believe, is having a story-driven website.

You need to attract people and keep them on your website for as long as possible.

And so you do that through the empathy and the authority and the value proposition and the
plan and that kind of thing.

Email marketing is a 4200 % ROI.

But most people don't do it because it takes effort, it takes strategy.

But now with AI, we can easily create content, schedule it to be posted, and then forget
about it.

So there's really no excuse.

The other piece is email nurture campaigns.

So when you're doing email marketing, it shouldn't just be always doing the ask.

It should be telling funny stories, sharing your life, but also sharing the things that
your audience

is going to resonate with and those tips in the business and that kind of thing.

So I really try to appeal and provide a general amount of content to my audience so they
don't get bored.

No, awesome.

No, I love all that.

Where can people find you if they want to ask you some questions or even get your help
with all the range of services that you can help with?

Yeah, so my website is strategies.stick.com and I have a resources page.

There's lots of information there on branding, marketing, storytelling for both businesses
and nonprofits.

I also have a five part storytelling blueprint that people can download and I'll send that
link to you so that you can share that in the notes.

So, but yeah, I just, I love to serve and if there's any way...

I give a 30 minute free coaching or consulting session.

I'm happy to look at anybody's website and give them some reviews or some insight.

yeah.

Well, thank you so much for joining me on today's episode.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

Thanks so much, Ankle, I appreciate it.