A Good Reputation
When you become a better storyteller, you become memorable. Every week, get one story and one actionable insight on how to use storytelling to build your reputation, connect with your ideal audience, attract opportunities, and get buy-in for your business or big ideas.
What do you actually want to grow?
"You can only optimize so much, but you can care forever. Efficiency has limits, devotion doesn't." Shane Parrish · Author & Founder of The Knowledge Project Welcome to Issue 65 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, Every spring, I trick myself into believing that I can be the type of person who gardens. The sun’s out, the flowers are blooming, and...
The capacity to care
"The fundamental message of marketing must change from 'we want your money' to 'we share your interests'." Christopher Locke · Gonzo Marketing Welcome to Issue 64 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, Of all the people I expected to have a philosophical conversation with this week, my hot tub guy wasn’t one of them. I hate admitting that I have a hot...
What I learned from the CIA's head of storytelling
“The secret of being boring is to say everything.” Voltaire · Writer Welcome to Issue 63 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) And huge apologies: This newsletter is coming out a week late. A weekend ER visit (everything's fine) and a client conference that took my life force delayed the writing process. Hello Reader, It was supposed to be a harmless Tweet thread...
The ugliest thing I've ever seen
"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without." Confucious Welcome to Issue 62 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, “Oh wow. This is… ghastly,” I said, abandoning any attempt to be nice as I plucked what appeared to be a self-portrait of my boyfriend, Tyler, and his mother circa 1992. “Hideous, isn’t it?” Tyler replied. “I hate it more than...
Where do we go next?
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci · Artist Welcome to Issue 62 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, After 30 years in the same house—a record for both my mom and stepdad, who’ve bounced around from country to country and home to home since they were babies—my parents have made up their minds that it’s time to move. While...
You are not your online persona (or are you?)
"I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member." Groucho Marx · Comedian Welcome to Issue 61 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, The first time I truly felt the sting of the old “never meet your heroes” adage was when I attended my first influencer conference. I was fresh out of culinary school, having left journalism and dipping my toes...
The beginning of the beginning
"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning." T.S. Elliot · Poet & Playwrite Welcome to Issue 60 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, I rang in the New Year alongside someone trying to convince me that everything—and I mean everything—is about to drastically change. Her name is Narayana, and she’s the wife...
This is how you slow down time
"A huge part of what gives work and art and life any meaning is that it involves human consciousnesses communicating with each other...anyone who proceeds on this assumption will experience a more meaningful and vibrant life, a life filled with more aliveness." Oliver Burkeman· The Imperfectionist Welcome to Issue 59 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello...
The places where we matter
"There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in." Leonard Cohen · Poet Welcome to Issue 58 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, There’s this cozy little hole-in-the-wall karaoke bar in San Francisco’s Japantown Mall I love going to on wintery weeknights to watch people perform. The stage has a makeshift cityscape background and is...
No time to think
"Life is a mystery. Everyone must stand alone." Madonna · Like a Prayer Welcome to Issue 57 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to tell a better story to build better brands. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.) (Miss past issues? Read those here.) Hello Reader, I didn’t take any of my own advice this week. I chained myself to my computer, leaving the house only to shuttle kids to and from school and buy groceries. I answered every passing “How are you?” question with the response...