Page 136 - The Magic of Tiny Business

Chapter Eight  Share Your Tiny Story

Share to Connect

When I get invited to speak, it’s not the facts or figures
that stick. Whether it’s new entrepreneurs, graduate stu-
dents, or middle-school kids, it’s the stories that resonate.
And while happy endings are always great to talk about,
what everyone really wants to hear about is the adversity,
the failures, the pickles we get ourselves into. How we
navigate the challenges of solving a problem. How we cre-
ate and run a business to solve that problem. How we risk,
fail, and risk again.

“Risk. Fail. Risk again.”

—N ational Theater Institute,
Eugene O’Neill Theater Center

Connection is what happens when you make your
audience laugh (or cry). Connection is what spurs them to
their own aha moments. It is what inspires. We live in a
hero myth culture. We want to align ourselves with others
who have what we aspire to have and embody what we
aspire to be. Even a glimmer can open the door to new
possibilities.

It’s important to be generous and share what you’ve
learned if you’ve learned a thing or two. Even if your busi-
ness failed, talk about it. Talk about why it failed and what
you know now that you didn’t know then. You’re not offer-
ing advice, you’re sharing a story, and stories can have a
direct impact on another human’s psyche.

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