Latest / WTF to Unstuck™ with Clint Williams / From Drifting to Purpose with Kev Anderson
Transcript
- Clint Williams: Welcome friends. I am thrilled because today I have the pleasure of chatting with my friend Kev Anderson. Earlier this year, he added a PS to a LinkedIn post. I'll be back doing some of my storytelling stuff again, and it changed the trajectory of his business. He has a passion for storytelling and working with charities, and I'm happy to have him on the show today. Hi, Kev. Welcome. Kev: Hello once again, Clint. How are you? Clint Williams: I am doing well. Okay, so the first time that we met, you pulled out something that kind of surprised me. Do you have that with you today? Kev: Ho ho did I ever Clint Williams: my gosh. Yes! I loved it. I had my Thunder hat on, I think, and you had pulled out your Kev: Yeah. Clint Williams: OU hat and I was like, what the heck is happening? It was our first conversation. I told everybody about that by the way. I was like, I met this guy in Scotland who had an OU hat. It was awesome. Kev: you know, it's one of those kind of small world things. But yeah, my my sister and her husband work at Oklahoma University and have called Oklahoma City, well, Edmond specifically, Clint Williams: Right. Kev: their home for the last it's difficult to remember how long. Ten, twelve years. So yeah. Clint Williams: Yeah Kev: It's it's a big part of, you know, my my new sporting focus. So my basketball Clint Williams: Love it. Kev: my basketball team is the Thunder and You know, my baseball team is the Red Sox because that's where my sister lived when she moved to America. She Clint Williams: I see. Yeah. Kev: she worked at Dartmouth College, so she was she was in New Hampshire. So yeah, Clint Williams: Love it. Kev: that's where I embraced my kind of sporting kind of selected Clint Williams: Ha ha. Kev: all my sporting teams based on where my sister was living. So Clint Williams: Hey, that works. I love it. It was a pleasant surprise. Well, I have a question. So you and I chatted earlier this week, and we were chatting about what these questions look like and the format of the podcast. And you had mentioned that you intend to build the entirety of your business around supporting charities and nonprofits. I would love to know how you arrived at that over the last six months because I know that previously we had talked and there was a little bit of a different focus. And then after that, I want to hear a little bit about what that looks like for the future of your storytelling consulting business. Because, you know, as an entrepreneur, we've talked about this before. There are these extreme highs and there are the extreme lows. And sometimes they can arrive, you know, days apart or hours apart. But yeah, with this new focus of building your business around charities and nonprofits, I kind of want to dive into that a little bit. Kev: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think the the first thing to say is it is absolutely the ambition, you know. That is that is the the the goal, the aspiration. It's it's where my passion comes from, but Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: I don't know if I can do it, you know. It's Clint Williams: Sure. Kev: it's it's early days. you know, you mentioned that LinkedIn post, you know, that Clint Williams: Yeah. Kev: that literally changed the trajectory of the business and you know also being really honest and vulnerable you know my own well being as well was kind of boosted from from that kind of change as well but it it was one of these things that I I launched the business, kind of registered it here in the UK and it Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: was intended to be a commercial case study business. So Clint Williams: Okay. Kev: I've I've spent a big chunk of my career working in marketing. And, you know, most recently it's been in tech marketing. And Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: I finished a role in the middle of last year as head of marketing for a tech company. And I Clint Williams: Gotcha. Kev: took a little career break, a little time Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: out to reflect and decide, you know, what was next. Clint Williams: Right. Kev: And I made a mistake. I I chose to go into the the commercial world again Clint Williams: Yeah. Kev: because I felt that was the right thing to do for Clint Williams: Right. Kev: my family, to leverage my skills and experience and all of that. Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: The truth is though, Clint, I I really wasn't feeling it. Clint Williams: Mm. Kev: I I really wasn't feeling it. I didn't feel that it was genuinely what I wanted to do. So Clint Williams: Uh-huh. Kev: I would describe it as drifting. So for the last Clint Williams: Mm. Kev: few months of the of 2025, I felt like I was drifting. I, you know, was very fortunate to to land a copywriting contract in early January. So I I was I was earning some money, I was doing work, and I'm Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: so grateful for for that particular person for the opportunity. Clint Williams: Sure. Kev: But it really wasn't the work that lights me up or floats my boat. Clint Williams: Mm. Kev: And I think that's an important part of my story. you Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: know, we've both got beards with a little bit of grey in them, but my I Clint Williams: We do. Kev: I I definitely have a you know have have more grey in mine, you know. I'm Clint Williams: Yeah. Kev: I'm I'm I'm fifty one and I think You know, let's call it what it was. It was a bit of an existential crisis, you know. Who is Kev? Clint Williams: Absolutely. Kev: What is Kev and and also why is Kev? all all Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: the important Kev questions. And Clint Williams: Right. Kev: I yeah, I I needed to to to take a beat and reflect. And as soon as I shared that LinkedIn post, and for context, I talked about product marketing, sales enablement. It was a shopping list of everything that I can legitimately do, right? It was Clint Williams: Mm-hmm, huh. Kev: it was the shotgun versus the sniper kind of approach. Clint Williams: Right. Kev: and and within 36 hours I'd had three inquiries. Clint Williams: my gosh. Kev: three inquiries two from people that I'd worked with before Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: in a storytelling capacity and specifically a charity storytelling capacity. So it Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: was individuals who now work at other charities who I'd previously worked with. so they Clint Williams: Wow. Kev: reached out. The first one reached out within three hours of that LinkedIn post. yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I I Clint Williams: That just on just that little PS. Hey, I'm also gonna do some storytelling stuff. Not not your product marketing. Kev: no no no no no no you can you can keep that you can keep that nonsense. I'm But yeah, the the the first was a an an incredible woman called Lorna, and she reached out and and in the message she said, I see you're back doing storytelling again. We should talk. And talk we did. and Clint Williams: Wonderful. Kev: then the other the other person that got in touch was from I can't name them, but they're a large professional service firm globally. And Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: I worked with him in one of my previous roles and he is now the the head of governance and compliance, a global role. So he is someone Clint Williams: Excellent. Kev: I would class more as a friend and he reached Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: out to inquire about working with his team from a more from a skills development perspective. Clint Williams: Hm. Kev: So all three three of those became clients and it really was the the beginning. of the transition of my business moving from the commercial world to the charity world. Clint Williams: That is remarkable. And I it just are you still amazed that it was the one line at the end of a long post that you were trying to get other business that didn't feel real to you, like authentic to you? Kev: Yeah. Yeah. It it was it was a strange one because I had my finger on the post button and Clint Williams: Hmm. Kev: then I I I hesitated and and made a little change and added the storytelling and it and it was you know, using the shotgun analogy, it was just another pellet from the shotgun of you know, if I'm honest, a little bit of desperation because I was Clint Williams: Sure. Kev: worried about being able to grow the business. Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: So yeah, since since then I've you know I've worked with six charities and Clint Williams: My gosh. Kev: also the the the commercial the corporate organization as well. And Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: you know I've had some news today that another project is going to be kicking off in in a couple of weeks' time. And Clint Williams: Congratulations. Kev: again it's another it's another project that is charity related as well. So Clint Williams: Wow. And you have a passion for that. Kev: Yeah, you know, I I was very fortunate that I I ran a previous storytelling business where again it was mostly commercial work that I was Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: doing, but I landed a few very, very interesting and incredibly moving you know, projects with charities, including Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: a charity called Dundee International Women's Centre. And, you know, for me Those are the stories I look back on and and you know, have some sense of pride in. I think Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: again, being a man of a certain vintage, I I I do reflect a lot and if I'm really honest, you know, I look back on my professional career not with immense pride or anything, you know, r even close to I don't know. you know, satisfaction. you know, I feel I've I feel I've done a good job in all my professional career, but I don't feel that really it's the the work that I was meant to do. And you Clint Williams: Hmm. Kev: know, when I look back now, the work I'm proudest of is the work that I did with those charities before, is the work that I'm doing with charities now. Clint Williams: Right. Hmm. Kev: you know, I including you know, a storybook project that I that I did in twenty nineteen. for Clint Williams: Right. Kev: a for a very special girl in in my my village here in in Scotland. So yeah, Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: I the the third sector non profits, not for profit, call it what you will, social enterprises as well. You know, they they have Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: some of the best, most moving stories to tell, but so often they don't get told. And and so for Clint Williams: Mm. Kev: me, so much of the satisfaction And what I do is seeing these stories come to life. seeing these really Clint Williams: Yeah. Kev: powerful, moving stories of change come to life. And and whether that means me helping somebody to do it for themselves as a coach, trainer, mentor, or occasionally I'll you know, grab the pen and actually do the writing of some stories myself. Clint Williams: Right. Kev: but but my real passion, Clint, is to help make charities self sufficient storytellers. Right. The I I don't know I I Clint Williams: Hmm. Yeah, I love that. Kev: I I don't know if you know your age vintage will appreciate this, but the the littlest hobo, did you watch that show when you were a a kid? No. Clint Williams: I did not and we're we're close in age. I turned forty eight this last week, so we're right there together. Kev: So do do yourself a favor and go onto YouTube and and look up the littlest hobo and Clint Williams: Okay. Kev: you'll get the concept. The whole concept is this dog comes along, does great things for people and then goes away again. He kind of buggers off, you know, he he Clint Williams: mm-hmm. Kev: leaving children heartbroken in his wake. Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: and I'm kind of like the littlest hobo for you know for charity storytelling. Clint Williams: Ha ha ha. Kev: I want to come in I want to upskill, give people the confidence, the tools, the frameworks, the models Clint Williams: Sure. Kev: to be able to do it themselves. and Clint Williams: I love that. Kev: then every so often, you know, there will be a charity that they just don't have the time to do it and they will ask me Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: to write the stories for them. And I will do those, but the real passion is to upskill, operationalise storytelling so that these amazing charities can do it all for themselves. Clint Williams: Man, I love that. And and so what does that look like for the future of your consulting business and your storytelling business? What what does that look like? I'm we you've told us what lights you up and you've told us this focus that you're hoping becomes the focus. So for you, this is maybe your favorite part of your career, it sounds like so far. Kev: yeah, d definitely. I I I think, you know, I I've been blessed with a you know a varied career working for, you know, a few big corporates, a few smaller organizations. Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: and this is the third time running my own business. And I feel Clint Williams: Love that. Kev: this time, I feel at the age of fifty-one I've finally found what I want to be when I grow up, you know? Clint Williams: Man, that's phenomenal. Yeah. Kev: You know, like th it's it's it's j and and it's genuine. And Clint Williams: Uh-huh. Kev: and so in terms of the future for the business, it's about looking at storytelling in all its dimensions, across the third sector. So so to give you an example, you Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Sure. Kev: know, I'm I'm working just now on a story play concept. So I I have my storytelling framework Clint Williams: Okay. Kev: that I developed and it's what I use Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: to Teach people, but I also want to look at how I can use my experience and my storytelling skills in in a number of different ways and and look at how I can apply it. So I'm working on a a concept that I will be speaking to a a cancer charity, a children's cancer charity, about potentially them using that as a story play kind of activity for for young Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: kids with cancer. And you know that that would be incredible. And and so for me it's about looking across all aspects and saying, yes, I can I can teach you, I can write stories for you, but I also Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: want to be creative about looking at how I can apply storytelling in multiple different ways. Clint Williams: Right. Kev: so so that that for me is is the future. And you know, as a as I said at the start, you know, I I think I can build the entire business around supporting the third sector, but that's Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: something I don't know yet. You know, it's it's time Clint Williams: Right. Kev: time will tell. Clint Williams: Yes. Kev: it's what I want and everything in my plan for for next year. is is all around storytelling in the third sector. I'm not hedging my bets. I'm not looking at this as another segment that I can serve. I I really want to see Clint Williams: Love that. Kev: how far I can take it. And you know, really I want this to be the last business that I have. I want this to to be, you know, effectively the the legacy that I that I have. And by the end of it I will want to look back and say now I do have a lot more to be proud of from my, you know, my professional Clint Williams: Yeah. Kev: career. That's really what this is about. Clint Williams: Man, I love that. Okay, so if people want to follow along or they want to get in touch with you, what's the best way to do that? Kev: Well come to Scotland. wherever wherever you're watching Clint Williams: Okay. Kev: this from now, just come to Scotland, I'll find you. no, Clint Williams: Lovely. Kev: I I I think more practically, you know, you can get in touch with me on LinkedIn. Clint Williams: Okay. Kev: you'll you'll find me on there. also you can email me at kev at kevanderson.co dot uk. So if you have a question or anything following from seeing this. Just get in touch. but yeah, I'm quite active on LinkedIn and yes, LinkedIn is one of those platforms that as much as it frustrates myself and lots of other people, Clint Williams: Yeah. Kev: you know, LinkedIn has had an amazing, you know, part in my career and my journey so far. So Clint Williams: Mm-hmm. Kev: while I often criticize it and sometimes mock it, there's no denying Clint Williams: Ha ha Kev: There's no denying that it served me very well. So yeah, you can you can get me on there as well. Clint Williams: Absolutely. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much today. I really appreciate your willingness to be on the podcast. And it's always a pleasure to talk with you. And I will talk to you again soon. Kev: Yeah, listen, thank you so much for the time. Thanks for the interest. Thanks for the questions. And I'll Clint Williams: Absolutely, yeah. Kev: leave you with a a very simple go sooners. Clint Williams: love it. See ya, Kev. Kev: Take care, all the best.