What is your Why? Chris Olsen Helps Brands Find Their Brand Purpose
Season 2, Episode 1
Summary:
“Transformation comes from leading with your WHY instead of WHAT.” - Chris Olsen
Chris Olsen is the founder of Chris Olsen Communications and the Founder and CEO of My Founder Story. She helps women business owners develop their stories of why they do what they do which better sets them up for success. Consider it a competitive edge. She recently released her first book “Whyography: Building Brands Fueled By Purpose”. Hear how her experiences led her to create My Founder Story where she empowers women business owners in clarifying their WHY, developing their purpose-driven brand story, and confidently sharing it with the world, providing a foundation for entrepreneurial success. Listen to Chris’s story on the Champions of RISK podcast today!
Links:
Learn more about My Founder Story
“Whyography: Building Brands Fueled By Purpose”
Transcript:
Michael Kithcart:
Hello, I'm Michael Kithcart. Welcome to the Champions of RISK podcast where we examine the many aspects of risk, so we can all face uncertainty with more strength and courage together. My guest today is Chris Olsen. She is the founder of Chris Olsen Communications and the founder and CEO of My Founder Story, which empowers women business owners in clarifying their "why", developing their purpose driven brand story and confidently sharing it with the world providing a foundation for entrepreneurial success. She has just launched her first book called Whyography: Building a Brand Fueled by Purpose. And so we are going to have all kinds of Why questions today, Chris, welcome.
Chris Olsen:
Thank you. I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Michael Kithcart:
Well, this is gonna feel like a familiar conversation. We were just laughing before we started recording, Chris and I have worked together over the years in four different places.
Chris Olsen:
Yeah, four of the same places. We've worked. Yeah. Sometimes overlapping and sometimes not.
Michael Kithcart:
Exactly. So but I'm just I'm so excited for you for the launch of the book. I've known for a while that you you know, your intention has always been to write one. And you did it. And you did it in 2020.
Chris Olsen:
I know during a pandemic, so
Michael Kithcart:
why not?
Chris Olsen:
Yeah, exactly.
Michael Kithcart:
So let's back up just a little bit. And let's talk about the Founder Story, because that feels like the the foundational piece of the work in the book. And so how did you get the idea to create that business?
Chris Olsen:
Well, I was a communications consultant, as you know, and worked with all kinds of different clients. And I was writing a lot of business BIOS and content for websites. And I even did some ghost writing for a couple of business memoirs for clients. And when I realized that I wanted to work specifically, with women, business founders, I decided to launch my founder story as a platform for elevating their stories. So it really was it started out as just a storytelling platform to kind of elevate some of the stories of the clients I was working with. And then it grew from, from its original purpose
Michael Kithcart:
Well, and part of that was the Whyography workshops?
Chris Olsen:
Right, exactly.
Michael Kithcart:
And I've participated.
Chris Olsen:
Yeah.
Michael Kithcart:
Which was super fun. It was, and very revealing, like, you pull things out of people, that stuff I hadn't thought about in a really, really long time. So it really is a gift. What did you learn from creating that? Whyography workshop?
Chris Olsen:
Well, I think one of the things I learned was that a lot of women in particular struggle from communicating their business purpose, and impact and the difference that they're making, I learned what a huge impact they can make when they get confident in telling their story. So that was part of it. But I think I learned a lot as I was creating the workshop. And I worked with a team to kind of create it and started doing research on just the basic business bio. And so one thing that really stood out to me was just how outdated a business bio is, and that our expectation in businesses will have this nice bio on our website, and everyone's trying to get their bio, right. And it's really focused on the wrong thing. It's focused on what you do, instead of why you do it. And that was really how I was approaching my writing when I was working with clients and writing for their websites. But it was kind of a hard sell sometimes, because we're so used to the standard bio and talking about sort of, you know, the stats, right, your, the date, she worked somewhere your titles, you know, awards, you've won, or whatever. And we don't really get into why we chose this path, or the reason we are doing what we do so. So Whyography really kind of came from that. I think what I learned ultimately, is that leading with your why in business, sets you up for success. Because you know, more than ever, people want to know what the businesses they support stand for. And so if you can confidently communicate that, you know, you'll have consumers, who want to support you who are aligned with your values, but then also, you know, funders and all kinds of supporters. So it really is sort of a foundation for success.
Michael Kithcart:
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. When you think about, like, I heard the research and some of the things that you had noticed with your clients that influenced the direction What about your own story and your own work experience? How did that influence?
Chris Olsen:
Yeah, well, as you know, because this is one where one of our paths crossed many paths cross was, I had worked in radio for 12 years, and I started right right out of college working in radio, and for me, it was like a dream come true. I always wanted to work in radio, it was, you know, lots of perks and you know, sort of glamorous and it was a lot of fun. And I could be loud and outgoing. And I just felt like this is where my personality is really fit. So that was meant to be. But then after working in radio for 12 years, and being laid off twice, I started to realize, well, before I was laid off, even I started to realize that maybe the industry wasn't a right fit for me. But I was kind of, you know, held on to this idea of working in a job that I thought was kind of a cool job, and that it was really part of my identity. So when I left radio, and started my communications consulting business, I started searching for my own why and launching my business. And I think that path of searching for my why and finding my why is really what led me to want to help others do the same. I think I, I wanted to create a platform to help others do that as well. And then during that time, I also was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. So I went, I had a cancer journey where you sort of I mean, anyone who's experienced, you know, something major, a major medical issue, or whatever, I think you have a realization that you're like, what is what am I supposed to be doing? You know, what is life about you?
Michael Kithcart:
What really matters?
Chris Olsen:
Yeah, some of those big questions, right? And so that kind of really fed into that as well that I want to be doing something, I want to know what my purpose is, what am I here? For? What, what am I going to leave what's going to be left behind when I'm no longer here? So it all it's sort of like my own journey, to finding my purpose led me to, you know, build this company that helps others find their purpose, which really makes my heart sing. So feel like I'm doing the work I meant to do now.
Michael Kithcart:
Yeah, well, it really comes across and the work that you do, Chris, and the stories that you tell, so I'd say you're on the right path on that. And, you know, in coaching, too, people ask a lot of themselves, you know, what is their, their purpose, and one of the things that I noticed were a shift kind of comes in is when they I don't know, maybe set them free and say like, your purpose doesn't is not static, like it changes over time and evolves and shifts, just like you evolve and grow. And I'm curious when you work with business owners, and maybe they've been used to thinking about what they do, right? And like the features section of their business, and they they finally get it like you see that switch go off for them in they get into why mode? Like what happens? What kind of shifts Have you seen in your clients?
Chris Olsen:
Well, I think what happens when they make that shift is to kind of leading with their why instead of their what, they become more confident, because your why is really who you are on the inside, your what is just what you do, it's the vehicle for your why, right? It's the way you deliver your why to the world, your what could change a million times, it could be a million different jobs, it could be volunteer work, it could be, you know, something you're doing on the side, whatever, your what can take a lot of different forms, but your why is really like who you are, you know, and as you know, in going through the whyography program, right, it's kind of a combination of your upbringing, your values, your personality, your strengths. And then there's all of these influential people and events in your in your life, and then they kind of all get thrown into a pot and boiled down, it's sort of like that becomes your why, right. And so once you really get a hold of that, or really get clear on that, it changes the way you talk about yourself and your business, you become more confident because you're not trying to one up somebody and say, Oh, I do that to where I won these awards, or I have this degree or whatever. It's just purely based in who you are. And so the I think the biggest transformation comes and you probably have seen this in coaching, too, is when people really embrace that and start leading with with their why instead of their what, and just in terms of entrepreneurs in general, you know, female entrepreneurs are underserved. And they have a lot of disadvantages and the like it or not, they're, they're at a disadvantage. And so you know, I just feel strongly about if you can give yourself one advantage in business, why not give yourself the advantage of being able to confidently tell your story to the world and bring your why to the world?
Michael Kithcart:
Exactly. I know that in going through the workshop piece, what you're saying is, on some level, like we don't even realize that there actually is this theme. There's this underlying string of events that have led us to where we are today, but that there's like, even though the jobs were different, how we showed up or what we were looking to achieve out of those roles. Represented and the businesses that we create, how we show up in our communities, you know how we want to serve all of that. But like until you like, made me go through the exercises, you know, and said, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, you know, yeah, here's some common themes, I wouldn't have pulled that out myself.
Chris Olsen:
Well, and also, you've done a lot of the work that typically goes into finding your why which is you've done personality assessments, you've looked at your values, you've dug into these things individually. But it's the process of doing all of them at once, right, and putting painting a picture, like putting all that together, because I think a lot of people in the professional world have done personality assessments, they've done Strengthsfinder a sense assessments, they've done different values type exercises, but it's really the ability to draw all of that information together. And to do what you're saying, like, it kind of maps out for you like, why this, why I've gone the direction I've gone and why I've taken the path that I've taken. And it's that ability to kind of see what that thread is, through all of that. That's really who you are. That's uniquely you. And the other piece that's so wonderful about is like that's your differentiator, there's only one you, like, if you're going to talk about your business, you should be talking about your differentiator, which is you, there could be a million different widgets on the market, but your widget was made by you. And there's something in your widget that you know, is different than everybody else's, that's what you need to talk about is what you're bringing to your product or your service, that's different because no one else can do that.
Michael Kithcart:
Yeah, that is great. And there's something really freeing about that. I like that a lot. So, you know, like many entrepreneurs, Chris, in 2020, you had to pivot and shift gears. And so I'm always curious, especially now, since it's the end of the year to is like, you know, what are the gifts that 2020 brought you? So what opportunities did the pandemic provide for you?
Chris Olsen:
For me it was really the gift of time, because I lost a couple of clients, which have happened to a lot of people, I mean, especially being a communications consultant, that's kind of a line item that people are like, I don't have the budget for this anymore. We're tightening our belt, we need to kind of cut back on some of these expenses. So I lost a couple of clients. And I thought, well, I could hustle my butt off and try to find new clients during a pandemic to replace these clients or I could think bigger, and I decided that I was going to take the opportunity to I could tighten my own belt, right and cut back on my expenses. And really focus on writing this book, I knew that I wanted to turn Whyography, which was an online program and coaching as you know what you went through. But I really knew I wanted to turn it into a book, it had a workbook that came with it, but I wanted to kind of take it to the next level. So the pandemic gave me sort of that gift of time and the ability to sort of really focus on my own business that often get put on the back burner, when when you're a consultant, you're helping other businesses succeed. That's like your main purpose, or your main goal. And so it's To me, it's like, well, how can I grow my own business? And it gave me that opportunity to do that. So it wasn't easy, but but it was, I mean, I'm, I'm happy that it worked out that the way that it did.
Michael Kithcart:
Well, and you're on the other side of it. So now I can ask like what is it that you wish you would have known about writing a book before? Yeah, but you now know, yeah, now you know it, but you didn't know what, when you started?
Chris Olsen:
Well, first of all, I think any doing anything during during a pandemic, I don't know, it's all new territory for everybody. But as a, as a cancer survivor with some underlying medical issues, I didn't realize how much anxiety I would have around, you know, sort of just living during this time and ever a lot of people have this, but I kind of there were days where it's like, I got obsessed with social media, and you know, whether or not people were wearing masks, and you know, just what's happening in the world. And and that was an anxiety inducing for me. And I couldn't write like, there were lots of times where I was like, I can't write today. And I had a very specific timeline for myself, and it didn't work out exactly. You know, I had hoped to launch in August, right? That didn't happen. So I think what I learned was, whatever time you think it's going to take you to write a book, maybe double it, maybe triple it, I don't know, but it's always gonna take a lot longer than when you what you think it will.
Michael Kithcart:
I want to just ask one question on that because I let's not lose sight of like, okay, your goal date was August, but we're talking in December of the same year, by the way, and then and the book is launched. So, you know, a matter of months is really the difference. But even on those days where you couldn't write, you know, and you're maybe focused in other areas. What would you say was your cadence? Like, there must have been some kind of consistency for you to actually get to the end line?
Chris Olsen:
Well, I think the best advice I could give anybody writing a book is to outline your book first. And, you know, if you outline your book, and then each, you know, week you focus on hitting one point on your outline, I think, you know, I really outline chapters, like I knew very specifically, because the biography process is part of the book. And then I knew I wanted to tell stories from people who were leading with their why. But I also wanted to weave in my own story of discovering my why. And I outline very specific chapters. And I knew and I tackled it sort of chapter by chapter, I think that's the best advice. So you know, if you have an off week, or if you're anxious about a pandemic, and you can't ride, you're, you're having a block, well, then you just tackle that chapter, or that part of the outline the following week, or whenever you feel better, you know. So I tried to give myself some grace and say, okay, you can rest today, or you can just do mindless work today, or whatever. So I think that's the biggest thing that got me through was having that structure around it so that I could, even if the timing didn't work out, I knew what I needed to do next.
Michael Kithcart:
I love that example. Because we talk about structure a lot in coaching, too, you know, what are the bumpers, the parameters, the guiding posts, whatever you want to call them that help pull you forward? You know, even without all the answers, even when there's maybe not all of the motivation yet behind it, but it does keep you moving forward. Yeah. And and then I'm also curious, because every book also has an acknowledgement, right, you know, people are always like, thank you to this person in this person. And so what kind of support did you get along the way that also helped you write and finish the book?
Chris Olsen:
So I think I've surrounded myself in my business with people that can do things that I can't do. And that is a consistent theme, like, you know, acknowledge the things that you're not great at, and work with other people, you know, who that's their skill set. So, so there are people on my team who do that for me, but then also, I'm part of a writing community at Modern Well, which is the space where I have my office when it's not a pandemic, but being part of a writing community was huge, because we're always sort of cheering each other on and, and kind of giving feedback and things like that. So kind of surrounding myself with that writing community was also really important. And then just I mean, in terms of from a book standpoint, specifically, you know, like a really great editor, I think, someone who can look at it and say, yeah, you said status quo 17 times do you really want to do that? You know, things like that. So I mean, I think really just surrounding yourself with great people is kind of the theme for me.
Michael Kithcart:
Yeah, which is good advice, in any circumstance.
Chris Olsen:
And a coach too, by the way, like, I will acknowledge that, Whyography probably wouldn't even be a thing if I didn't have a business coach, challenging me to say, because she was saying, well, what's different about the way you tell stories? Like, great, you have a storytelling platform, you know, how are you going to scale this business? Which every good business coach asks, right? How are you going to scale this business? What's great about or what's different about the way you're telling stories? So she challenged me to think about the way I was telling stories, and that, you know, Whyography wouldn't even exist if I hadn't been challenged by a coach to think about that. And then she also challenged me on the book. And in fact, part of the process of I think it was about August, or maybe July, I reached out to her and said, will you just be my accountability coach, like every week, I want to check in with you, and I want to report back to you like where I'm at with the book project? And she said, and she does, that's not normally what she does, you know, but she was like, yep, I'll do it. And so every week and we're still meeting every week, just, you know, to talk about like, how now how am I marketing the book now? What comes next? What comes out of it? What are those bigger goals? So I would say a coach is your biggest asset no matter what, in business, I think, you know, coaches
Michael Kithcart:
Everybody needs a coach.
Chris Olsen:
It's true.
Michael Kithcart:
You just need the right coach for what you're going through in that moment.
Chris Olsen:
That's exactly right. And there's lots of different coaches right like I coach people in writing, you coach people in leadership, it's like that it's finding the right coach and also the right coach for your personality too. I mean, you know, I need a coach who really is gonna hold me accountable and not just like listen to me go Oh, I couldn't write because this and that and the other thing you know, it's like, okay, rest and then what? So it's, it's also finding the right coach for your personality.
Michael Kithcart:
Let's talk a little bit about the more about the book and the subject matters because Whyography it does include a lot of stories of women, entrepreneurs and so what are some of the themes that you noticed across these, was it 30 women?
Chris Olsen:
Yep, well 31 total stories. So, or I guess 32 if you include my story in there as well, but the theme really is, there was sort of an aha moment or, you know, as we talked about this thread going through your life and your career and your path, your journey through life and work, you have moments where you're like, Oh, you know, that kind of points you in the right direction. So the, the real common theme amongst all of these women is that they had, you know, these aha moments, and it doesn't have to be like a big powerful aha moment, it could be a lot of little aha moments that lead to a bigger thing they had times when their values were tested, that created an opportunity for them to look at, like how they were doing things and maybe do things differently, or how they could bring their gifts to the world, you know, tick, sort of solve a problem in that and, and address sort of, like one of those sort of values based things. So it really is the theme is really women who figured out their why, and they're now leading with it in their business, and they're confidently, you know, sharing it with the world. I think that's the main the main theme of all the business owners and they, they're meant to be example. So the book is sort of a guidebook to writing your own figuring out your why and writing your own biography. But even if you don't want to do that, these these stories are meant to be examples for what can happen when you lead with your why.
Michael Kithcart:
Yeah, and I think it's really great, it's helpful to see what they sound like and how they read. I mean, it's just to give you ideas to where you can improve, you're telling your own story. So I think they're not only super inspiring, but they're useful in helping entrepreneurs.
Chris Olsen:
Right. Yeah, how you talk about yourself.
Michael Kithcart:
Exactly. In Whyography, you do have a Exactly. special tribute in the memory of Maria Tototzintle, of of Tequila Digital Media. So tell me a little bit about her.
Chris Olsen:
Well, I have to say it was a last minute addition, I was ready to publish the book. And then I had a dream about Maria and I, I woke up but I was like, I have to include her in the book. And I'm going to get choked up. But so Maria, and I met at a women's economic development agency, which Michael you and I also worked together there. So Maria and I met there, we worked on the annual fundraising event, which part of that event included videos of that told the stories of some of the business women business owners that had worked with this organization. And so Maria and I worked together, she was an amazing visual storyteller. So she was a videographer and a really amazing visual storyteller. And we work together, I think we worked for three of the four years that I worked with the organization on those videos. And so we got to go to we essentially went to women, business owners, locations, and felt, you know, shot video on site and, and really told their stories, and she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and her sister reached out to me and, and so we kind of reconnected after a year or so. And Maria actually, sadly passed away of ovarian cancer. And so when I had this dream about her, I woke up and I was sort of like, I have to include her in the book. And so I decided to add a tribute to her. And she inspires me because she told so many stories, not just at women venture, but through her video business. She worked with a lot of agencies that work with small businesses. And so that was her niche was telling the stories of small business owners and family, businesses and things like that. And she I feel like her legacy is really all the amazing stories that she told. And so I wanted to be able to tell her story in the book as well.
Michael Kithcart:
Yeah, thanks for sharing that. It is, you know, people can have profound impact on us. And so I think it's a lovely tribute that you paid to her and you know, you're having the book be in her memory. And I want to emphasize the the part that because we are talking about small business owners in large part we we really are talking about women business owners here. And you mentioned earlier, and I don't want to just breeze by this, I want to come back to it that women business owners, by and large, do have additional challenges in the terms of you know, funding that's available to beat the statistics of even you know, getting to a million dollar business. 2% of women owned businesses are generating over a million dollars each year. And so how do we as business with you know, women, business owners and others in the community, how do we help shift those numbers so that women business owners are making an even bigger and impact in the world?
Chris Olsen:
Yeah, I mean, so I, I kind of jokingly say this, but we have to smash the patriarchy. But that's not something that's gonna happen overnight, right? Like, there have been, there are lots of reasons for those disparities. And they're all most of them are related to gender and cultural biases. So there's only so much that we can do. But as an individual, as a female founder yourself, what you can do to help yourself is really to, you know, it boils down to knowing what you stand for, and sharing it with the world. So that's the why part, right? So just doing that can help set you up for success. But you know, what's really amazing about women business owners is they're not so many women, business owners are not going to wait for things to change. They're taking matters into their own hands. And so if they can't get alone, which most female business founders can't get alone, they're bootstrapping, right? They're, they're crowdfunding, they're doing whatever they need, they're putting it on credit cards, which is not recommended, but they're doing whatever they have to do to start their business and get their business and going and to grow their business. And so I think as a community, we need to acknowledge that it's harder for women business owners, and we need to do everything we can to support women, business owners, and there are really simple things you can do like just like their social media posts, like that's, that elevates them on social media that lets their message be seen by more people, it's such a simple thing, it takes you literally nothing to go through all your friends who are female business owners to go through their posts and like them all. I mean, it would make an exponential difference in their business, if someone was just liking their posts. And that's free, that costs nothing, right. But the other thing, of course, is to support them buy their product buy their services, give them referrals, send referrals their way review their business positively on, you know, Google, if they or their website or social media, give them a positive Business Review, just any of those things which don't cost you anything can make a huge difference in their business. But of course, then be a conscious consumer, think about where you're spending your money. And if you care about small business, then don't spend all your money on Amazon, go research small businesses. And if you are going to go to Amazon, they do have a small business portal, which you can, you can search for small businesses there, they don't make it obvious, but do your part to kind of help the economic development of your own community and to support women because it's the only way that it's going to change quickly is if sort of the community changes it.
Michael Kithcart:
Those are great tips. We are ending 2020 on the cusp of 2021. Chris, so what's on the horizon for you in the year?
Chris Olsen:
Well, publishing is on the horizon. So we are just getting ready to launch a biography memoir course. So this isn't just any old memoir. A Memoir is usually you know, some part of your life. It's not like an autobiography where it's your whole life. It's, it's sort of a slice of your life. And so this particular course is related to your business story, right? So it's how do you take your biography or your, you know, your business story and create a memoir about it. So we're launching a course that helps people write their women business owners write their memoir and publish it. So we will actually help them go from, you know, basically idea to publish book. And so that's really exciting. So and then we're also working on some other partners publishing partnerships, which, hopefully we'll announce in in first quarter of next year. But so publishing is I think, the theme for my founder story in 2021. And just more, more, Whyography we've got a Whyography book club that we're offering now and some other things too, so. So lo s of fun stuff happening for
Michael Kithcart:
Yes, we need to keep an eye on you. So Chris, how can we find you and follow you?
Chris Olsen:
So My Founder Story, we're on Instagram and Facebook @MyFounderStory and the MyFounderStory.com is our we site.
Michael Kithcart:
And how do we buy the Whyography boo
Chris Olsen:
So, you can either find it on Amazon but don't shop on Amazon if you don't have to, um, you can actually just go right to our website, and it's on MyFounderStory.com you can pu chase it right on the we site,
Michael Kithcart:
And tell us where the proceeds are going,
Chris Olsen:
Oh, 100% of the proceeds from the book benefit, we have a grant fund for female founders, we have provided over $200,000 in grants and services for female founders since 2018. And so 100% of those proceeds from the book, go to the grant fund.
Michael Kithcart:
That's great. Thank you, Chris. I just I'm so excited for you. It is fun to have been on part of the journey with you and to see you continue it and I'm looking forward to continuing the championing of you
Chris Olsen:
Thanks, Michael. It was a lot of fun.
Michael Kithcart:
Are you feeling stuck? I can help you love from being stuck to becoming unstoppable and five s eps. That's right in five step , and you can do it by downloading a free guide that will he p get you to clarity and movement. It's all at michaelwkithcart.com/unstoppable or click the link in the show n tes.
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