Stump & Root

Sarah Faith (00:00)
Hey everyone. Thank you so much for tuning into the Brand Roots podcast. My name is Sarah and this is Tim and this is the segment called Mic'd Up Marketing. Today we are gonna be talking about Story Brand and this is one of our favorite topics to talk about as marketers.

And we have had at length just so many conversations about this framework that was inspired from Donald Miller. He wrote some books on it and we're probably his biggest fans. And he did not create the original, you know, story brand like framework. Yeah, the idea behind it. But he definitely brought it.

Tim (00:36)
idea.

popularized it.

Sarah Faith (00:41)
Yeah, and we are just super excited to talk about it because this is something that we use in not just our business. We like to practice what we teach, but we use it for every single one of our clients at our Creative Design and Branding Studio. And we would say that it is the unsung hero of successful businesses. To give you guys some examples, Dave Ramsey.

in Ramsey Solutions, he has used this exact framework, and we're gonna teach it to you right now. He uses it, and the guy's doing very well for himself. He's paying his rent on his multiple properties. But so countless successful businesses that became brands, they credit this system. And so we're gonna share it with you guys. So Tim, if you could.

Tim (01:13)
He's he's okay.

Barely.

Sarah Faith (01:27)
in one or a few sentences explain what the story brand framework is to the audience.

Tim (01:34)
Sure. Yeah. So.

If you look in the world of marketing, and mean, it exists outside of marketing too, but lots of marketers, in order to save themselves time and energy, they create frameworks. And oftentimes these frameworks come from years of studying, encountering problems, then finding solutions to those problems, and then boxing it up and packaging it up, and then selling it and using it for themselves. So many authors do that. Donald Miller is not the first person to do it. He's not

the only successful person to do it. know, someone like Russell Brunson is another kind of marketing pioneer who does things in that same realm of positioning your customer as a hero. You know, you have other people like Marcus Sheridan who has his own take on marketing and the framework and Simon Sinek. There's so many authors that do this kind of thing. And so really the

point behind this framework is what I said kind of before, which is making the customer, not the company, the hero of your brand and your marketing and your messaging. That is one of the most important things and shifts that you must do in order to do Story Brand correctly. And a quick origin for some of this and a lot of this information, almost all of it is actually within his book Story Brand.

Sarah Faith (02:36)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (02:49)
He really stuck the second edition of it recently this past year, I think in January and he almost basically rewrote it in a lot of ways and and so in the in the book he talks about really where he gets this idea of the story and the story idea. It comes from the hero with a thousand faces right

Sarah Faith (02:54)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tim (03:14)
And in that concept, you have the hero's journey. And so the hero's journey is basically like a 12 step framework for how narratives should flow. So the hero with a thousand faces, this is by Joseph Campbell, published 1949. This is it's essentially it's a comparative analogy.

Sarah Faith (03:30)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (03:36)
where it talks about the archetypal hero and myths and how you can use these myths in order to construct narratives. again, this is something that was really popularized again, or made popular again with George Lucas in his creation of Star Wars. George Lucas is obviously the name, the creator behind Star Wars that came out in 1977.

Sarah Faith (03:44)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (04:00)
And something that George Lucas heavily relied on was this idea of the hero's journey. And which is why in the story brand written by Donald Miller, he uses this analogy as a hero's journey. And so just to really quick, I do want to just show what the Hero with a Thousand Faces actually is.

Sarah Faith (04:13)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (04:22)
at least read his just so you can have a kind of comparison to back of your mind as we're going through story brand so The hero's journey can be broken down into like specific steps. So you have the first one you establish the ordinary world So it's the hero's familiar life before the journey begins. So think

Luke Skywalker, he's on Tatooine, he wants to be in the Imperial Army fighting the war, he's a bored farm boy who's stuck in farm life. Then the call to adventure happens, that's step two, where he's presented with a challenge or opportunity. So in this case, his uncle Owen buys two droids and those, an R2-D2, iconic.

R2D2 is tasked with delivering a message to Ben Kenobi or Obi-Wan Kenobi actually and and then Luke in pursuing R2D2 finds Ben Kenobi and he essentially he needs to go on this quest to save the princess Princess Leia and when he returns the Empire were in search of the droids they kill his aunt and uncle and that is

essentially, you know, because Luke didn't want to go, he didn't want to do so. He refused the call, which is step three, refused the call. So he hesitates before embarking on the journey. But when his aunt and uncle are dead, he's like, I have to do this. So meeting the mentor, the mentor, obviously, he's Obi-Wan, but also a little bit of Han Solo, kind of. And then you have crossing the threshold, the hero leaves ordinary world, he leaves Tatooine with Han Solo and

the answer to adventure and so that adventure is saving Princess Leia who's captive on the Death Star and so tests allies and enemies is is lesson number six the hero faces challenges and builds relationships seven approach to the inmost cave the hero reaches the critical point on the journey in actually episode five Luke does this with Yoda on in the cave with Dagobah on Dagobah

Sarah Faith (06:10)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (06:12)
where he goes into this literal cave and experiences this, you know, like the vision of him inside of Vader's mask and all this stuff. so you reach a critical point of the journey, the ordeal, the hero faces a major crisis or conflict. Nine reward, the hero overcomes ordeal and gains something valuable. 10 road back, the hero begins a journey back to the ordinary world. 11 resurrection, the hero faces.

A final test or challenge before returning in 12 returned with the elixir. The hero returns home changed with a transformation and transformative gift. There's a lots of variations on this specifically. some different, these are different words like apotheosis or anything like that. There's tons of different iterations of this, but more or less this is the long framework that lots of people use for narratives, usually film or even TV. So all that said,

I give the floor to you,

Sarah Faith (07:03)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, as a side note, I was waiting. I was counting down the seconds before you mentioned Star Wars. Tim's the biggest, the biggest Star Wars fan ever. He has a poster behind him. Anyone on YouTube listening or watching, you'll see his Star Wars memorabilia.

Tim (07:10)
man. Look.

Yeah, you know how you can tell you're a Star Wars fan? Oh yeah.

Yeah, and also I have a lightsaber back there too. So hold on. right. I have to get it out.

Sarah Faith (07:28)
He does have lips, yeah.

You

Yep.

Tim (07:38)
Sorry, was slaying young lings earlier.

Sarah Faith (07:41)
There you go, Tim's a Jedi by night, marketer by day. Yeah, so that's that's the long, like the longer framework. And so Joseph Campbell, had, again, like kind of like brought the idea and like a more, gave more original thought to it. And then Donald Miller, who is alive today was like,

Tim (07:45)
or a Sith.

Yeah. Mark on a day basis by night.

Sarah Faith (08:07)
I see these themes in movies and books and, you know, successful businesses. And he actually created a more condensed version, which is a seven part framework, which I think we want to honor like Joseph Campbell's version of it because it's a little more detailed. But to apply it to your business, you really can just do it in seven steps. And that's that's

you know, great, because then it's just a lot more simple. So it starts with number one, a character and that character has a problem and that's step two. And then step three is that that same character who has a problem, they meet a guide and then that guide gives that character a plan. And then that same guide calls that character to take action.

And here's, think, the two parts that are the most important is that they call them to action, but they highlight to them how they can avoid failure and then how the plan can end in success if they listen to that guide. And so Tim used Star Wars as an example. Let's put it in practical terms today.

But you could actually apply the Star Wars framework to this, to Donald Miller's version. So for example, we'll use Dave Ramsey because he, think just masterfully does this better than anybody. And there's a reason why the guy is worth hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. So he will have a character call in and let's just say her name is Jane.

And Jane is in $30,000 worth of student loan debt, and maybe she has an extra like $25,000 in a car loan debt. So she has debt and she has a problem. She's swamped. She is drowning in this debt and can barely afford payments and struggles with budgeting. She then meets the guide in this case, Dave Ramsey or Dave Ramsey Solutions or like one of his cast of characters, like his daughter or like

John Deloney, Ken Coleman, George Kamau. And then they say to this girl, okay, we're gonna give you a plan. We're gonna take you through Financial Peace University. We are going to help give you the Every Dollar app. We're gonna help you get out of debt. And it's gonna be a journey, but you can do it with the right plan. And so we call you to take this action.

And here's what's going to happen then if you don't do this, you're going to then be in your sixties, your seventies. And instead of enjoying retirement years, you're going to be, you're going to be struggling financially and not be able to pay off your debt. Do it now while you can, while you're young. and then you will have this freedom. Now they're highlighting the success of what her life could be like if she pays off the debt.

And so they said you could have the spreet of, then now you can start saving money. You could buy a house. could pay for your children's college. You could start giving to charities. You could start traveling the world and investing and become a multimillionaire. You don't have to stay stuck. And so they highlight both. They highlight the negative and then the positive.

The reason I say that Dave Ramsey does this the best is because if you go to his YouTube channel and people call in all the time to do their debt-free screams, every single one of them, they always do this. They're like, thank you so much, Dave. I paid off 100 grand worth of debt or $75,000 worth of debt. We had to file bankruptcy, but you helped us.

It's all because of you, thank you. Every single time he corrects them and he says, I'm not the hero of this, you are. He always points it back to them. He just says, I'm the guide, you're the hero. And that's the plot twist is that successful companies make the customer the hero. They do not make themselves as the company, the hero.

Tim (12:06)
Yeah, that's I think

that's the biggest temptation most companies run into. Like, because if like, as an example, I've seen so many of the so many companies like this, like even local brands, it's always like usually local brands, but also big companies do this problem have this problem as well. Like the plumber, the plumbing company is like hero plumbing, whatever. And the logo is the plumber as a superhero. But they're positioning, you know, maybe it's like, maybe it works, whatever. But I think

Sarah Faith (12:10)
Mm-hmm.

No.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Tim (12:33)
They'd have so much stronger of a connection if they made mom or dad the hero of the day. Where, you know, like, let's say they're primarily talking to moms. It's like, all right, well, you can be the hero of your household. So you don't even have to get your husband involved. like if they position them as the mother of like, look, you could take care of this and you can be the hero, you know, ⁓ you know, with good plumbing, you know.

Sarah Faith (12:54)
You

Tim (12:57)
And the husband

Sarah Faith (12:57)
Yeah.

Tim (12:58)
is like, look, you you are busy at work. You are

Let's say you're busy at work fathers and your plumbing is going bad. It's like you let's let's put you as the hero of your house. Call us. We will do the work for you so that you can, you know, stand still and all that stuff, you know, just thinking on the spot. like, but it's just the tale is all just time and the biggest mistake because we as company owners, business owners, like, we're doing the work. We're doing the good thing. We're doing the big, strong, like, uh, saving the day stuff, but it just

You will not resonate with people at least I think they're deaf. may work a little bit, but you're not going to reach the capacity. I think that is possible. If you really switch over to viewing your customer as the hero, because people go to you for them to solve their own problems using your solution, you know, because you're providing a solution. You're not solving their problem in the way that we think, you know, when we give power back to people.

Sarah Faith (13:34)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right, yeah.

Tim (13:58)
we empower people, you know, I think that that's where change happens. That's where people can resonate with you. That's where people can resonate with you as the solution to their problems. And and yeah.

Sarah Faith (14:09)
Yeah. Yeah, it is the reason why story

brand works time and time again, if it's done correctly, is because it helps the brand shift their focus by putting their customer at the center of the story. Because when your customer or potential customers coming to your website, they are not there. The first thing they're thinking is what's in it for me.

The first thing they're thinking is what's in it for me? Why should I be here? I could be on anybody's website right now. I could be watching anybody's video, but they're wanting to know what's in it for me. Why should I consume this or buy from you guys? And you could have a competitor who technically has a better product or a better service, but if they make themselves the hero of the story, you can beat them.

as a competitor and when you shift your focus to making your customer as the hero because people want to feel proud of themselves. They want to feel like they're doing something that's like good. And it's also it's how our brain processes stories and like why simplicity wins. And Donald Miller, he he made a joke and I think it was story brand 2.0.

where he would go with his wife to the movies and she would get frustrated with him because like during the movie he'd be like, see, that's the hero and that's the guide and oh, that's how he calls him to action and that's how, you know, and he's like laying it out for her and she's like, Donald, like, can we just watch the movie? Be quiet. And I'm sure she picks up on it on her own, but like.

Tim (15:39)
Shut up.

Sarah Faith (15:45)
go watch a movie and let me know if you can pick up on that. There's a reason why directors like Steven Spielberg or like Quentin Tarantino or even just authors like Margaret Atwood or whoever, or business owners like Dave Ramsey, they're all using this because they understand that this is what works.

and simplicity wins and it sells. And if you don't use it, there's a danger in unclear messaging in business. And so as a creative design and branding studio, I think out of all the work that we do, this is probably the most rewarding because we're able to see our customers, they...

they just light up, like they love this. And they're so excited about implementing it into their business. And if they're a good business, which we've worked with just such fantastic people, they actually feel this sense of freedom because they're like, wait a minute, like the pressure is kind of off of me. I just have to be the guide. Like one of our clients, they are a swing set company, Amish made and really great people to work with. And they,

They you know, we did story brand with them. It's not that the swing set company is the hero It's they are framing it that the parents buying the swing set are the heroes they are providing something for their kids and that's going to change their lives and enrich their childhood and then you have the swing set company as the guide and They are just building it up

They're the ones delivering it and installing it, but it's the parents that are the hero because they get to customize it. They're the ones who know their children better. They're the ones who get to really bring this to life in their imagination. that's just one example of our, literally every single one of our clients uses this and it works every single time.

Tim (17:36)
Yeah, well, let me let

me walk through a couple different ones like in depth and just kind of read the story brand for each of those that we crafted. So Health Haven, one of our first clients that we worked with as Stump and Root, you know, is something we took very seriously and and in crafting it, it was just like it was like no one had ever articulated quite

Sarah Faith (17:41)
Yeah.

Tim (18:03)
what their business was about. know, and so like Sarah was saying, like, when you can speak so directly to someone's like, that's exactly what we do. a lot of people, can't, they can't talk about themselves. It's harder to talk about themselves. It's harder to write about yourself. A lot of people struggle with that because, know, it's hard to see the forest through the trees. And so for people like, you know, me and Sarah and Stump & Root

Sarah Faith (18:16)
Yeah.

Tim (18:27)
We have that 50,000 foot view and we're able to really discern the topography and really lead you out of that forest. And so that's something that brand story does. And so for, let's just start here. Number one, character. Imagine you're a dedicated healthcare professional, a physician, a dentist or a practitioner. Your passion lies in providing exceptional patient care and improving lives. right. That's the character. That's who.

Sarah Faith (18:37)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (18:54)
the company is targeting as the hero. They're the hero. Number two is the problem. But amidst the pursuit of healthcare excellence, you face daunting challenges. Timely billing and accurate accounting are constant struggles. Communication issues hinder smooth operations. Streamlining processes feels like an impossible task. Managing multiple vendors leads to confusion and inefficiency.

So right there, we're speaking to the direct problems of the main character, the heroes, their main problems, the things that they're struggling with day in and day out. And then comes the guide. Enter Health Haven Advisors, your trusted professional guide in navigating these complexities.

Sarah Faith (19:28)
you

Tim (19:32)
We specialize in done with you approach empowering healthcare professionals with comprehensive solutions. The plan, our integrated services encompass medical billing, tax management, accounting and more all under one roof. We simplify your practice management, ensuring financial clarity and operational efficiency. Then the call to action is say yes to Health Haven advisors today.

and experience the convenience of a streamlined solution. Let us handle the intricacies and do the heavy lifting of your healthcare business while you focus on what matters most, your patients. And then avoid failure. Avoid the pitfalls of fragmented administration and communication breakdowns that can derail your practice. Why juggle countless administrators and vendors when Health Haven Advisors allows you to enjoy a seamless operation that enhances rather than hinders your patient care efforts.

Sarah Faith (20:20)
you

Tim (20:20)
And the success is achieving a well-oiled practice where every detail is managed by Health Hayment advisors. Together, we'll elevate your business, allowing you to thrive and make a profound impact in your patients' lives. So that is the story brand narrative of Health Hayment advisors.

Sarah Faith (20:33)
There you go.

And that was what we

did with them, really just breaking it down. And that was, it was really cool to see how excited they were to even just use that because to your point, you would be so surprised at how many companies, even though they're the CEO or even though they have been in their own business for years and years, they struggle to put into words.

just kind of what we did right there. And it's not because they're not smart. It's not because there's something wrong with them. It's just when you're in the trenches of your own business, you sometimes need someone as a guide. In this case, we were the guide in that situation to help them. And now it's almost like it gives you like a compass in your messaging because

This is called story brand, right? And the key word there is story. And branding relies on effective stories that engage customers. If you don't have a good story, people, you ain't got nothing. People like I can't tell you how many marketing summits I've been to, how many masterminds I've been to over the years. And sometimes the information just doesn't stick. But I remember the stories people.

Tim (21:32)
You ain't got nothing.

Yeah.

Sarah Faith (21:47)
Our species has been telling stories since the dawn of time. It's how we remember things. And what I love about that is it's a marketing philosophy that leverages the power of storytelling to connect with your ideal client, because you could you could riff off all day about all the features of your company and all the all the things that you think make your products great. And maybe those things are all true. But if you don't tell a good story and you don't frame

your customer as that hero and invite them in to guide them, to help them so they can get the thing that they really want. You've lost them. And I'm curious, Tim, what would you say to like a business owner who is listening to this and they're like, great, I'll just read StoryBrand and all my issues in my business will be solved. What would you say is that like, should they read the book or do you think that they should have

Tim (22:41)
yeah,

I would definitely recommend pretty much every business owner read the book. Here's where it's a problem. There's no problem in reading the book, of course, but I think a lot of people think that if they read the book, then they can do it well. And it's not one or the other. It's almost like if I have a car and then I read the manual and I'm like, I can fix, I can take out the engine I own to do. It's like, well, that's kind of critical.

Sarah Faith (22:45)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tim (23:05)
Maybe you should do that with someone who has been doing this for years. Someone who's well equipped to use a winch and get that engine out of there or diagnosed even if you need to remove the engine. like, StoreBanner is great. think it gets everyone at least on the same level of like, look, we all understand the importance of story and brands. We understand the importance of establishing the customer as a hero. It gets us all in the same playing field.

And that's what's so great about it. But the implementation is where it gets difficult because, and we've worked with these companies, we work with companies who have done story brands. They've read the book, they love Donald Miller, they see the importance behind it. They're all in. They want to commit to doing this work. And that's why they come to us to implement it. But where they have failed is it just becomes almost set decoration.

Sarah Faith (23:34)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tim (23:55)
where they will get excited. They'll all read it together with a few executives and maybe a marketing manager or something like that or a sales manager, whatever it is. And then they might even make a poster. They'll slap it on the wall and say, Hey, look, we did it. We did story brand. Um, but that's, that's not what it is. Story brand is not something just to, you know, check off a list and say, look, we're, doing business because you know, it's

It's kind of like, let me try to think of an example.

You know, like the Bible has a verse almost like this. It's like you look at the mirror and forget who we are when you walk away. You know, it's like if you're not living full of conviction in the reality of, of, know, in this case, obviously not as important as being a Christian, but like, if, if you do story brand and then you walk away and then it's as if you never did it, it's pointless. Um, and so you have to implement it well. That means

Sarah Faith (24:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Tim (24:47)
the story brand has to make its way into every marketing and even sales copy that you have. It should be on your website. It should inform how you speak to your customers. It should be in your social media captions. It should be in your sales pitches. It should be in your emails. It's not something that just stays in a folder.

or as a little reminder on your desk or again on a poster on the wall. If it lives there and does nothing else, then it's failed and it's been purposeless. It's like you wasted your time, you know? And you have to be committed to using it and using it well. And you know, that's where people like us come in, where we show you how to implement it and then we actually do the implementing ourselves. You know, another quick thing, I do want to give one more example of a different kind of...

Sarah Faith (25:20)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tim (25:37)
business. It's actually kind of similar. So we do this work. We did it for Clean Slate. And so Clean Slate is he's a solo prodoer, really awesome guy, Dave, he does bookkeeping and accounting services for small businesses, and super, super awesome guy. We like a lot. So he came to us and we kind of had that same feeling like we you know, he had worked at a job and he wanted to

Sarah Faith (25:42)
yeah.

Tim (26:01)
pursue on himself and his own. And that way we've related to each other because we've all, mean, most of us have been in there and in that position. And so we were there kind of helping him launch his brand. Literally, that's what we did. You know, he had the name picked out already, so we didn't participate in that, but we were able to write his brand story and create the visual branding and identity and his website as well. So here is what the story brand is for Dave, for Clean Slate. The Hero.

Sarah Faith (26:13)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (26:27)
Small business owners and industries like landscaping, construction, and e-commerce who struggle with messy financial records and the stress of managing their books. The problem. They face constant challenge of disorganized QuickBooks, lack of financial clarity, and the overwhelming task of keeping accurate records while managing their business. The guide. Dave at Clean Slay has been an accounting specialist since 2019 and understands the intricacies of bookkeeping. His passion for numbers and attention to detail

are matched only by his desire to build personal trust, build personal trust-based relationships with clients. He offers flexibility and services, ensuring each client gets the support they need without the pressure of working with too many clients at once. So the plan, start with a personal consultation to discuss pain points and expectations. Two, clean up messy QuickBooks or zero files, bringing order to chaos. Three,

Provide ongoing monthly bookkeeping and year end adjustments. Four, offer financial planning and advisory to help clients grow with clarity. The call to action, schedule a free initial consultation today to take control of your finances and start building a stronger, more organized future for your business. The success, with Clean Slates help businesses will enjoy organized financial records, confidence in their reports and more time to focus on what they do best.

Dave's personal approach will bring peace of mind knowing their financials are in trusted hands. Avoiding failure. Without the right bookkeeping support, businesses risk missed opportunities, financial errors, and added stress. Don't let your finances be a burden. Get the help you deserve. Sarah did an incredible job writing these up. And I do want to say there's more to it than just the seven filled out brand story.

Sarah Faith (28:00)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tim (28:10)
story brand because what we also do is a full brand story which is essentially a little short story of your business, who you are and in more of a narrative form and I can kind of quickly read what we did for Dave here. After years of working with hundreds of companies as an accounting specialist, I found myself longing for the personal connections that come with working one-on-one with clients. That's why I founded Clean Slate.

Sarah Faith (28:21)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (28:34)
to create the freedom to serve clients with full attention and dedication, offering businesses the consistent oversight they need to monitor their financial health week by week. With regular check-ins and clear understanding of their financials, I help business owners confidently answer the most important questions. Is your company thriving financially? By staying proactive and keeping financials in order, I help my clients make informed decisions and avoid costly mistakes so they can grow with confidence.

As a husband, father and business owner with years of experience, I specialize in identifying and resolving hidden issues that may be draining a company's finances. As a Christian, my faith in God and my family keeps me grounded and my commitment to community service through initiatives like Metro Richmond Flying Squad reflects my dedication to making a difference both professionally and personally. I'm here to handle your bookkeeping with precision and care so you can focus on what truly matters while you're knowing your company's financial health is in good hands. So that's the brand story of

of Cleamslate. And of course, there's even more. We have brand voice that we go through in this process. We do taglines, even brand message and all those things. And so it really is holistic. And to summarize my point, if you don't view Storybrand as a holistic approach to marketing, it will be underutilized and almost not even worth your time.

Sarah Faith (29:34)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, and I think if there's someone listening, they're like, could I benefit from that? Like just even just reading the book, but like actually applying it, like go through kind of like a little litmus test. Do you have leads not coming in into your business? Is your revenue not where it should be? Are your emails just not even being opened or engaged with?

Do you have this fancy website that you spent thousands of dollars on and it's not even doing its job of converting people? Do you just keep investing into different agencies or freelancers and you feel like it's just sucking your finances dry? You're probably missing Storybrand.

I mean, there's a lot of things that could be wrong in someone's business, but it helps put your customer, not your brand, at the center. And it's with that clear message that it cuts through the noise and it can literally help grow your business. And it's the power of story. like I was even watching like Pocahontas the other day, like we had just like had it on randomly.

And I was like, Disney uses this exact framework to ad nauseum. That's what and that and they know that it works every single time because they're like, hey, we're just going to follow this framework. And by the way, StoryBrand has been used by the White House, like both countless administrations, Trump and Biden's administration. So like, you know, whatever side you're on, they both have used this young living essential oils, the number one.

their company is valued, I think almost at like a billion dollars, Berkshire Hathaway, the New York Times, the Economist, like, know, and they say that it's, Donald Miller says that it's been used over by a million brands. So it's not like, it's not like we're the first to discover this and try to make it popular. We...

Tim (31:20)
crazy.

Sarah Faith (31:38)
We're just fans and we enjoy it. We're not affiliates. not, we nothing. We're just really big fans of this because we also used it in our own company. When Tim and I first started Stump and Root, what did we do? We did a, we made a plan and we're like, okay, we're gonna get this thing off the ground. We started with Storybrand and I think it's also a good thing that you can revisit even like every year.

of your business and be like, okay, has something maybe shifted? The whole point of it is just that it helps you simplify your message and to help cut through the noise. There are millions of businesses out there. If you want people to have eyes on your business, tell them a great story and make your customer the hero.

Tim (32:26)
Yeah. Your story brand acts as a North star for your marketing efforts. It's something that you can always look to to make sure that you're staying on brand, you know, because like, of course, visual identity, you know, your logos and your colors and all that that's important to stay on brand also. But equally important, I would say, is your copywriting is your messaging.

Sarah Faith (32:30)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tim (32:48)
And that's what Storybrand allows you to do. Because even, believe it or not, Storybrand, does impact what your company should look like. It does determine, or at least in theory, it should determine the color palette you use. Because you're putting your customer first. That's what it allows you to do. It's easy to make our businesses visual identity in our own image, where we want to make it look like and feel like us. And sometimes, sure.

Sarah Faith (32:55)
Yeah.

Tim (33:16)
I think that makes sense. But if you're trying to build a business that's bigger than yourself and you want to be successful and you want customers to convert with less stress, less friction, then the only logical solution is by using a hero, a customer as the hero framework for your marketing. And that goes with sales as well. Establishing your customers as the hero in everything you do because

Sarah Faith (33:37)
Mm-hmm

Tim (33:41)
when you do that, when you tell stories and, and again, your customer is the hero of the stories, it will resonate and you will sell. And, and you know, for you, you know, to do this with you guys, like business owners, you guys are the heroes, you know, if for something like us, it's like, we love helping businesses kind of find their voice, you know, because it's you who has to speak, you know,

Sarah Faith (33:49)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tim (34:06)
We're only able to help you to get to that place, but it's you who has to do this work and because it's your money, it's your business that is able to grow and it's you who's able to make the impact with your customers and your dream clients and that's only possible if you put in the work and understand the importance of this.

Sarah Faith (34:25)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, you guys are Luke Skywalker and we are Obi-Wan. No, sorry. And we are Obi-Wan Kenobi. You we're there to just guide and ⁓ or Yoda. Yeah, Yoda, Yoda too. Sometimes a story can have multiple guides too. But yeah, it's and usually, by the way, there's it's like one thing that

Tim (34:30)
Darth Vader. no no.

or Yoda.

Sarah Faith (34:48)
that person wants. Like, for example, I don't know if anybody's watched the musical Wicked. I was a fan before the movie. I've been a fan since it, you know, literally that show came out on Broadway and I saw it on Broadway. I digress. you know, imagine if Elphaba, the Wicked, you know, well, she's now becoming a witch, but.

Tim (34:56)
Unlimited

Nerd.

Sarah Faith (35:13)
Imagine if she was like, want to see. She imagined she was like, I want to see. I want to meet the wizard, but I also want to lose weight. and I also want to like go start a flower business like no, like she wants one thing. It's I want to meet the wizard. That's what I want. And she sings a whole anthem about it. And the you have to think about like your your ideal customer, that hero. They typically want

one main thing, there could be layers to it. And like sub reasons. But if you really boil it down to the one thing that they want, you could just put it as a one liner. It's like my customer therefore my hero wants this one thing and you know, and then with the guide, they're not it's not like we're coming out there saying, hey,

we're going to help you build up your business, but we're also gonna do the siding on your house. and we also do painting and we also deliver baked goods and like, no, like we help people build up their businesses. And so the guide is going to have basically one job, even if there's sub jobs to make up that. And then the hero is going to have that one thing that they really, really want.

And so it can sound complicated at first, maybe to some people they're like, oh, that actually sounds really simple. But if you are struggling with any part of clarifying your message, like if, and how to know that is if somebody says to you, what is it that you do? And if for a second, you stumble or hesitate on that answer, or if you hate writing about yourself on your own website,

Or if you just struggle to put into words in a video what you do and what you offer, I guarantee you it's because you don't have this implemented because every single time, every single time people implement this, all of a sudden they no longer are struggling to talk about their own company. And if you don't know how to, yeah, if you don't know how to talk about your own company, who's going to be able to talk about it for you? Yeah.

Tim (37:10)
Surprise!

Yep, very true.

So I would say closing this out, if you have questions about Story Brand, if you've implemented it and you just like, hey, can you talk about this on the podcast? We'd love to do that. Also, if your company needs Story Brand and the rest of what we do, I do want to say this, our approach with branding at Semperu, it's not just Story Brand. We have a multi-tiered approach to it, including getting to the roots of your business as the foundation.

Sarah Faith (37:41)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (37:44)
and then building your story brand or we call it Brand Grove, like our story Grove. It's like, these are things that we know so much about and we care so deeply about and that it, we take so much time and effort to make sure that we're crafting the exact right message that speaks to your target audience so that you can sell so much better to them and thus increase profits and be recognized as the expert in your industry. That's all we do. And so we're here to help you guys.

Sarah Faith (38:00)
Mm-hmm.

Tim (38:11)
You can find us at StumpNRoot.co or you can email us at hello at StumpNRoot.co and we would love to hear from you guys. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Mic'd Up Marketing and the Brand Roots Podcast. I am your host, Tim.

Sarah Faith (38:24)
I'm your other host, Sarah. We're co-hosts. See ya. Good news, she's da-

Tim (38:26)
We're co-hosts and we'll see you the next one.

He's dead.

Sarah Faith (38:36)
That was good.

Tim (38:38)
Bye.

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