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Transcript

EP 21: Little Cutie - Life Lately & Course Building Energy · Crafted Connections

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hello! Welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Keelan Calhoun, and this is a podcast all about storytelling and building genuine community.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Here we'll dive into the art of storytelling, unpack strategies for making meaningful connections, and hear from incredible humans who are using their story to create impact.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let's craft some connections.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Great to have you back, friends.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: This week is gonna be a little cutie, which is a short, quick, unedited version of the podcast.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Essentially, I am here just to give you a little bit of update of what I'm working on, what I'm excited about, and uh and then that way we still get to connect each week, right?
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh oh my goodness, what am I excited about?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: What is going on?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I am in the midst of a recruitment video series for uh the city of Bloomington.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I had the opportunity to do that last year.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I direct and produce it alongside uh the wonderful Gerald Harkness, who will be a guest on uh the show in a few weeks.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and essentially uh we get to interview the employees at the city and we get to um tell what it's like for them and then hopefully through their stories uh you know attract uh more more talent to to the city.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I really, really love the energy of the people there and uh it's just been an absolute blast.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then on, you know, on the uh collaborator side, I I've been collaborating with actually a a past guest of of the podcast.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Michael Durr is the photographer on that.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I just really appreciate his willingness to be on the fly, his like his uh creativity in uh coming up with with different fun ways to capture things while we're we're on the move around town.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I've got my my good friend Lindsay Mitchell on his DP.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh when Michael Durr is not available, uh Daniel Woody is another uh really talented photographer.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really fun to to work with those folks uh and just kind of build the team uh that I enjoy working with and um and just see their talent come across.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then me getting to actually just like focus solely on story, right?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: I am the director and editor on the pieces, and so to spend this time with people, get creative with how we're going to um express what their jobs are like and then and putting it together in a fun way so that the client's happy is awesome sauce.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And like this is my life.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: I get to do this, right?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, so that's lots and lots of fun.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I love telling stories, gathering stories, and finding a way to help people connect their story with the people that will get it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what my story strategy sessions are all about.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So over at Calhoun Creative Consulting, my strategic storytelling firm, we do one-on-one and or facilitated workshops in relation to really honing in the strategy around your story.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a bit of messaging meets content creation, meets storytelling, and then how do we put that out in the world?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: How do we show up regularly?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's a bit of mindset work around it, right?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: To actually tell your story.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're launching something new or trying to rework your brand or just feeling a little foggy on how to communicate with your people, this is how to get clear.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: We'll dig into things like your narrative, how to uncover what matters most, maybe map out a few content pillars while we're at it.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also get a recording of our session so you can revisit the conversation anytime you like.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's shape a story that actually feels like you.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So book yours today.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: There is a link in the show notes.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, while you're at it, use the code podcast, all caps, podcast for 25% off your session.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: I would be honored to spend time with you and suss out your story.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive back into the episode, shall we?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Quick boat update.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are, gosh, we have been on the boat all summer and I just finally moved the plants onto the boat.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: They, you know, they're actually doing pretty well.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: The one is like, for some reason, some of the leaves are turning a little yellow and it makes me bummed out, but um, everybody else seems to be fine with the with the transition.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so it feels so much more homey to have these plants.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we actually, weirdly enough, our um marina is closing at the end of the season.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we had to like kind of tour some marinas over the weekend and we found a new one.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's all settled for next summer here in uh the Port Clinton area, and then we also have settled on where we're going to stay this winter.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a rental for uh the winter up here in uh northwest Ohio, which will be lots of fun.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh, you know, the the house we're staying in is gonna be like a two-minute walk from Lake Erie, and so I get to enjoy my coffee this fall, maybe this winter if I'm up for a bundling situation.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be really nice.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm diving back into building out the documentary course.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know how much uh you might know about that, but essentially, you know, I do lots of things with Calhoun Creative Consulting where I do full-fledged video production.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: I will uh meet with uh individuals and organizations for for like consulting sessions, story strategy sessions is what I call them, where we talk about like what's what's a way that we can uh make sure that you are strategically overarching, like you're covering your story with every single way that people are interacting with your brand and making sure that like people actually understand where you're coming from, what your experiences are like and where you're going.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so those are super fun.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, you hear that bird.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the boat is alive, my friends.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um, anyways, back to uh what we got going on there.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but no, but it's time to build out the course because uh I want people to be able to kind of collect, compile, connect on their own uh timeline, if you will, uh where they can uh figure out how to like take inventory of their stuff and and put together um different, different, different ways of um expressing their story, whether it be visually written, what have you, there's just so many ways to to do that.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, you know, if you if you haven't been in my space for long or if you haven't been around for for a while, the um I always say that actually like taking your story and connecting with people, uh, you can do the the collecting of your story and the compiling of your story behind closed doors.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't actually connect it with people, then the impact is is less so, right?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's um it might be nice uh for you to be like, cool, I know my story, I feel more confident, I'm excited to get out there, and you you might be a little bit more action-oriented uh if you feel confident in who you are and what you're doing.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: But real impact happens when you start sharing it with other people.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's where um you know I'm all about, especially with crafted connections, uh connecting with people builds community.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Story is what gets connection kind of really um really solidified.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's the super glue, if you will.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so so I'm leaning into that.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'll be gosh, recording my own cute face uh as I put that course together, and that should be lots of fun.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm trying to be very playful with it.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to make it be a fun thing.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I work for myself.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: You all know this if you've listened to any other episodes, and I think sometimes you can get lost in the sauce when it comes to like I decide what this looks like.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I get to kind of construct my own life.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um even when you don't work for yourself, you get to decide um in in a lot of ways.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so, or at least you get to make little choices that make life better.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm gonna make this course, let's make it fun, shall we?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we shall.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh goodness, yeah.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So next week going back into filming with City of Bloomington, then I'll be diving into edits with that.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've got a few story strategy clients that I'm getting to work with right now, and uh just wrapped up a custom workshop for um an insurance organization.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really, really cool uh claims group.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so yeah, lots of lots of fun.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you enjoying this uh little cutie.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, I try and keep these few and far between, but sometimes you are, you know, sandwiched between two weeks of production and you gotta just connect with your people, tell them what's up, be a little raw, let it fly.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So have a good one, my friends.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, don't be afraid to put yourselves out there.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's great to know you.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Goodbye.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Crafted Connections is lovingly produced by Calhoun Creative Consulting, a strategic storytelling firm dedicated to helping people and brands tell their stories in a way that resonates.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and connect with us on Instagram at Crafted Connections Spot.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Keep creating, keep connecting, until we meet again.