The Art of Storytelling - Tom Jackobs

I want people to use that story in their sales uh situation as well. So not only their own personal story, but also stories of those that they've helped along the way. So yeah, I mean that's that's the whole point. Because you know, we we can tell people what they need to do all day long. They're not gonna believe in it until they really internalize it and they can feel it. And the best way to get somebody to feel what you're feeling is to tell an impact story.

Hey Fitness fans, welcome back to the Future Fitness Podcast and interview series. This is your host, Eric Malzone, and we're on episode number 81. I talk to Tom Jacob. So uh Tom's been in the fitness industry for a while. Um, he knows fitness business, he's done consulting, uh marketing, all those things. And uh what he's really singularly focused on now is teaching people how to tell great stories for the purpose of marketing. Now, maybe you're familiar with with great storytelling, maybe you're not. Uh, but here's why you should listen to this episode is because there is a lot of noise out there now. There's a ton of content, there's a ton of social media activity, and uh trying to get heard, trying to get your message across uh is getting tougher and tougher. So, how do you do it? How do you get seen, get heard, and be noticed and make more money? Well, you tell great stories. Authenticity is ultimately what people are really looking for now. That's my belief. Um, it's not a fact, it's just what I've seen. And one of the great ways to get across authenticity is to tell great stories and uh really connect with your audience that way. And Tom has mastered it. Uh, there's a couple stories that he gives within this episode that um you'll really resonate with and you'll understand where it's coming from and where the power of great storytelling can take you. So um yeah, we get into it. It's once again, it's a high value episode, great knowledge in here, and stuff you can start taking away and using now, today, right after this. Um, so enjoy it. This is episode number 81, Tom Jacobs. Off we go. All right, Tom Jacobs, welcome to the show, man. Hey, thanks, Eric. Glad to be here. Yeah, this is uh yet again a very, very high value uh interview, and um I think it's gonna be a really a fun, a fun ride for me personally because uh obviously, you know, I know that you've been in the industry for a while. You also um really um you know kind of solidified a position uh in the world of of marketing uh as an amazing storyteller and teaching people how to do that. And uh, you know, with all of the noise nowadays, right? Um authenticity and having a great story um is something that truly connects with people um you know from both a marketing retention and just interpersonal standpoint. So um tune in, everybody. Let's listen to what Tom has to say. So I'll stop talking now. Tom, if you can just uh give us, you know, kind of your you know what your your history within the industry and then maybe your story would be here.

Awesome, cool. So I was certified as a personal trainer, I think back in 2005. I took a weekend class and boom, I was a trainer, like so many others. But uh I did that because I was overweight, got fit, people started asking me, you know, like what are you doing? What's your secret? You know, what drugs are you taking? All that good stuff. And um I I was like, wow, you know, this seems so much better, more authentic to me than uh pushing some buttons on a computer and tracking rail cars of chemicals all over the country, which is what I was doing in the corporate world. And uh I, you know, got that certification and started training people in the morning and the evening, loved it, opened up my own studio in 2008, and then uh last year I last year I sold it. So, and in that during that time, I've worked as a uh consultant or coach in the fitness industry, traveled around the world doing workshops, um, literally around the world, well, English speaking world anyway. Australia, New Zealand, UK, spent probably a week, a month in the UK building up that business there. It was fabulous. And then uh, you know, teaching people how to sell, how to market, how to how to uh manage employees in their in their fitness business. So last year I sold that fitness business, and then full-time now I'm teaching small business owners how to tell their story in an authentic way that really connects with their audience so that they can build their business. And then using stories in their sales process so that you know it's more than just like telling people what they need to do, but people are really seeing that or hearing that story. And oftentimes the visual people will actually see it in their mind, the way that somebody's telling that story. And it is it is really, really a powerful, powerful thing. And and I love working with my clients and finding those stories. And usually it's you know, it's funny, every time that I have a and I do Zoom calls with with my clients, and in the very beginning, we identify some signature stories with them. And inevitably both of us are in tears by the end of the session because there's they're really amazing stories, and it and it's it's you know, they're like, oh wow, I don't never realized that story in my life and how I can relate that now to my business. And then to see them go up on stage or you know, do a presentation to a small group or something like that, and people like are instantly attracted to them because now that there's a human connection. I remember one lady she was like, I don't want to talk about my dead husband and my dad mom or dad dead mother that who died in within a day of each other. So her mom died on like a Wednesday, and her husband died the next day in a helicopter crash. So terrible tragedy. And she's like, Ah, I'm not sure I want to talk about this. And and I said, Well, I think it'll relate to client retention, because that's what her talk was was on client retention. I said, Well, we we can relate relate that because you know she had a lot of companies that um wanted to reach out to her in that time of need, and they reached out to her with a with a greeting card, a condolence card, and she realized at that point the power of businesses reaching out on a regular basis to their clientele in times of need, and that's when she became a distributor for send out cards, and now she's like one of the top distributors in send out cards, but typically her presentations would be you know, this is how you use it and this is why you should use it, and she'd get one or two clients and all that. When she made the switch to telling her authentic story, she had a line of people waiting to talk to her, most of them in tears. And she got two more speaking gigs out of it, and she signed up like five clients right on the spot. Yeah, something that she never did before. She's like, wow, that was that was really powerful, really vulnerable, but really powerful.

Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. I think um, you know, I'm just gonna put this in in you know a personal perspective because I knew I had like I never thought I had a story. I never did, and I'm sure you get this all the time, but like I'm not interested. Like when I was, you know, a guy, I was born and raised in an upper middle class family in Northern California and I did some sports and and like in my mind that's just my story. Um, you know, I've done business, I've failed a bunch, and now I'm doing this. And um, but you know, I know I I personally teased out some of the stuff. Now when I tell people kind of what I do, they're like, whoa. I was like, really, is that interesting to you? It is. And I think uh I guess you know, the first question I have for you is how do you get people over that mindset that you know I don't have a story? You know, what you what you just mentioned was was a very, you know, I would say on the more for lack of better term, dramatic side of things. I mean, that's a very impactful story, but what about people who don't think they have one? How do you like how do you tease that out? What's that process like?

Yeah, that it's very, very good question. Typically, um I'll I'll just go through you know different scenarios in their life. Like, you know, you know, what was it like growing up? Were you in sports? Did you ever get cut from a sports team? Like all the all the different things that people kind of put away in their head because we're so conditioned to give people our highlight reel.

Right.

So this these are all of our accomplishments. This is what we do. And we see this on Facebook, Instagram, and all that, and it drives me nuts when I see well, of course, I do it myself sometimes, but it's like this is how great my life is. But you know, no nobody's life is like perfect. If I see another internet marketer washing their Ferrari and their Lamborghini and their their driveway in front of their LaBeverlies house, if I see that one more time, I'd be like, Really? Like what what but what what's missing there is what did it take to get that person there? Because not everybody's like you know successful all the way through their journey. Not at all. Nobody and nobody is, right? Yeah. I mean, who was I uh listening? Um Ray Dalio book, Principles. He talked, you know, he like went through bankruptcy or something like that. Or you know, some some of the like the more financial, astute people like um Dave Ramsey went through bankruptcy, and then now he's you know teaching people finances because he went through that experience, and that makes him a lot more qualified. Right. So it's it's very, very interesting. And so when I when I go through this, I was like, okay, great, that's a lovely highlight reel. What are some things that you don't talk to people about that you might be just a little bit ashamed of? Or times in your life where you're like, boy, I could have done that better.

Right.

And usually with those questions, we're able to eke out some really good stories.

Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, like I, you know, I think of something, you know, like a story that, you know, was a very big part of my life, and I don't want to get onto it in this show, but it was like, you know, and I have this great fear. Um, it changed who I was, you know, at a like a chemical level, right? Like just my whole physiology changed the way I approached everything initially, then that was really the impetus for me to say, you know, it's time for me to sell my gym, which is my identity and my my, you know, good good gym, right? It's all business. Um but in my mind, and there's this fear of of judgment, especially from a certain set of people within our community, and I'll just say like the very religious, right? Um, you know, so for for me, I have this great fear. I know it's a really impactful story, and it's actually a story that I think should come out eventually and it will. Um but you know, for that, that fear of judgment, like how do you coach people through that? And is it when people tell a story when they've had that fear of judgment, does the repercussion that they expect ever come back on them?

Yeah, no. You know, it's interesting. I um I I've been doing tours of B and I groups, and what was really interesting, especially now nowadays, too, I mean, um people are a lot more open, and I'm loving that. So I'm in this BNI, I'm just a visitor to the Business Networking International, for those that don't know what BI stands for. But um, so as a visitor, and and so one of the gentlemen got up and to do his 10-minute presentation, he's an attorney, family law attorney and criminal, family law and criminal attorney. And he gets up and he starts talking about, you know, they always coach you, tell a little bit about yourself and your family, and all that. And he goes up there, he goes, Well, this is my uh my fiance, and that's another man. And I think like five years ago, we would never see that, you know, as a gay couple in a business setting saying, you know, this is my my fiance, this is who I'm engaged to, and this is who I'm gonna be marrying. And I and everybody in the audience was like, Yeah, all right, you know, great, just like they would a a stray couple. And I was like, man, that is amazing. Yeah. Like, boy, times have changed.

Yeah.

Yeah. And even on the religious front, I was I'm working with a uh police officer right now on her story, and she asked me a really good question yesterday. She was like, Can I say God? Like, can I bring because she's very religious, and she's like, Can I bring you know my belief of God and how God treats me and how I listen to His His Word? Can I bring that up in a in a business setting? I was like, is it authentic to you? Yeah, yeah. I was like, absolutely, bring it up. That's you. Because the moment that you start skirting around an issue and you water it down, people are going to not like you or trust you. They're they're gonna be like, uh something's something's a little off there. I'm not they're they're not telling me everything. And people can really pick up on that.

Yeah, yeah.

And and I was like, don't don't skirt around it. You know, and you know, if if you like to drop F bombs, drop them away. You know, it's like yeah, it's it's it's your authentic self. And you know, if and a lot of times we can use language as a way of just kind of shocking people into listening as well, because now they're like, oh wait, I'm I haven't heard fuck race recently.

And that's like, wow, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. A well, a well-positioned F-bomb, uh authentically used is very powerful.

Yeah, that's of course people overdo it too at times.

Yeah. Um so do you have your own or I'm sure you maybe you have many, but do you have your kind of signature story?

Yeah, that's great. So I have a couple I have a couple signature stories. And one that I just wrote a blog article about, and uh uh yeah, the other day I did a blog article in a in a little video as well. Um, but it was when I was uh in 2008, I decided to do a bodybuilding competition. And it was like, well, if people could see me now, they're like, really? Like you're not very big to do a bodybuilding competition. But it was something as a personal trainer, I was like, well, this would be really kind of a cool thing to do and to learn the whole science of nutrition and exercise at a really high elite level. And so I hired a uh personal trainer, a nutritionist, and apparently you need to hire a posing coach as well. So somebody to teach you how to flex, which was really interesting. So worked with these three ladies for seven months. So I started in January, and the show was in July, and getting ready for the show, and like I did not cheat once on my I'm a spot on. I didn't even have to do any cardio until the last two weeks because my body fat would just kept going down and down, down. So it's the night before the event. So Friday night they do the little weigh-in, and then Saturday morning they do a pre-judge, and then in the evening they do the full, like they've pretty much picked out who's gonna win, but they have you do your full routine and all that on stage for an audience. So Friday night, my uh I live in Houston, my parents live in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have a brother that lives in Cleveland, and another brother that lives in Orange County. And they all came in, flew in to Houston to see me do the do the competition. So we're we're I'm doing my final like prep on on Friday night. I actually get a steak and a potato, and it was so delicious. But I only had water, and I couldn't even have water at that point because I was depleting water. So then the next morning, get up early, I go to the auditorium where we're going to be doing the pre-judge, and they put up the the schedule for the day, and I was novice lightweight, and they said, Well, novice lightweight, you're gonna be around 11 o'clock. And this was like seven o'clock in the morning. I was like, Cool. Because my coach had told me, try to find a tanning booth or tanning bed where you can go and and go five, 10 minutes in the tanning booth that will take out the last bit of water under your skin. I was like, oh, great. So I found a tanning salon nearby, it was about a mile away. Went over there, got in my got the tan on, and then came back. And I'm standing in the back of the auditorium and I'm looking at who's being pre-judged at this point. And I was like, boy, those those guys look really familiar. And just that heart sink into your stomach feeling that we get when we realize we made a mistake. I was like, they're really familiar. So I run back backstage, and the handler that's back there, you know, ushering people in and out, he's like, Oh, you're you're number 52, because I had my little badge on. He's like, You're supposed to be on stage being pre-judged, you're disqualified.

Oh no.

I and and anybody that's done a bodybuilding competition, you know, in those last days when you're carb depleted, you have no body fat, and with no body fat, you have no hormones that are running around that are regulating your mood.

Yeah, yeah.

I just lost it. I was like, no, no, no, no. You just let me just at least let me do tonight. You know, like, no, I didn't win, but at least my parents are here.

Yeah.

And he's like, no, man, you're you should have been here. I was like, well, you didn't say until 11. And well, we switched it. You should have stayed in the building. We were calling your number. You weren't here. I was like, so I go out, and my parents had just arrived to kind of watch their the pre-show. And I was a mess. I was just bawling. I go up to my my dad and and I put my arms around him. I'm like, Dad, I I've I failed you. And um, he said, Tom, you didn't you didn't you didn't fail me. You just pick up the pieces and and move on. And and that and that's exactly what I did. And I I actually on the way home, we stopped off at Starbucks and I got a caramel macchiato. And that that made me feel so much better. A little bit of sugar. And then I I did the show for my parents and my brothers in my living room, in my well, you know, posing trunks.

Yeah, yeah.

As embarrassing as that was. And then I called my my trainer. I was like, okay, I'm done walling in my little pity party that I had. When's the next show? And it was in October. So from July to October, started the training all over again. And when I went there, I made sure that I stayed in the auditorium at all times. And in fact, it was the same handler, and he he remembered me, and he specifically said, This time, stay here. And so um I did, and I ended up winning first place. And Lee Lee Labrata handed me the trophy, the first place trophy. And that was just an amazing moment for me to realize that you know, life is gonna kick you down, and things that you can control, that you can't control, things are gonna happen. What you do have control over is deciding whether to just give up or to keep going towards your dream.

Yeah.

So that's my uh signature story. Thank you.

Yeah, it was great. It was great. Uh cool. So you know, having heard that now, um that's that's uh I felt your pain there, man. Like that panic. Like that, that sucks. You know, when you look at like a story like that. So is there components or elements that you have in there? Is there like a formula? And I don't want you to give away you know your secret sauce in any way, because I know you can soul people by doing this, but um, you know, like let's let's extrapolate that story. How can people come up with a similar one to that? Or what what you know what are the what are the points of that? You know, yeah, the signature points there.

Yeah, actually that particular story doesn't follow my complete formula um for for usually when I when I work with people. Typically what I will do is start them on an impact moment. So that's the moment of conflict. So and this is really isn't secret sauce at all. It's the the hero's journey. And that's you know, public information now. I mean, there's so many different sources on how to create the hero's journey. I mean, even if you just watch Star Wars, that's a classic, classic hero's journey. But usually, you know, they want to uh most heroes' journeys you start with the backstory, and that's what I did in that story. It started kind of with the backstory, why I wanted to do it. Typically, though, I want people to hit with an impact moment, which for me that impact moment was realizing that I should have been on stage. So I would then say something like, Have you ever had a moment that's been snatched out of your hands when you know that you could have won something? Or um that the that moment when I was sitting in the back of the stage and realized that I had failed at achieving my dream. To come up with a really nice impact sentence. I have one client that um tried to commit suicide, and so the impact sentence for him was I was sitting at my desk and I realized that that was a day that I was gonna kill myself. And then You know, that gets everybody's attention straight away. And then we go back and what led up to that point, that that dramatic impact point. And then you know, fill in with the with the the backstory, what got you to that point where you felt like you needed to kill yourself, or for me, what got me to the point where I was, you know, failing at becoming a bodybuilder or going through that whole process. And then we'll go into okay, you had this impact. What happened? So who are the people that guided you along the way? Who are the villains? And and the villains could be circumstance as well, it doesn't necessarily have to be a person, although oftentimes it is. And the heroes are oftentimes uh a person as well. And what's really important, especially if you're telling a story to sell, is that your audience has to be able to see themselves as the hero in the story and you as the guide. So it it you do some, you say some things to bring people in, like, have you ever uh been in a situation? And when you when you bring the audience in by using situational or language that says, have you? Now they're like, Oh, well, yeah, I have. Now you can position yourself as the guide for them, because now you've gone through that situation, you've learned from it. And then um go then then we go into the teaching moment. So what did I learn about myself? And then what do I want others to learn about that process? So for me, I learned that you know you can get knocked down and you can make a choice whether to just give up or keep going towards your dream. And then that's the learning that I want my audience to have. So those are the basic elements that I take people through, and it's a you know, a pretty easy process. Yeah, yeah, most of the time.

Yeah. Well, it's uh I it it sounds simple, but it may not be easy, right? Right. Um, I think there's a lot of courage you gotta work up to to talk about some things. And um so so Tom, you know, when people have created their uh their story, right? Or one of their stories, you know. I'm sure you know, if you've been on this planet, you know, longer than 20 years, you probably have multiple stories, right? Hopefully. Um, how do you implement that into a marketing strategy? You know, something um, you know, that that story to money. How do you get to there?

Yeah, yeah, great, great, great question. So you just don't want to tell stories all day long?

No, actually monetize that. Did you ever see that episode? I think it's uh South Park where it's like, anyway, I'm gonna go way off the the but the episode goes like this is like they're called underwear gnomes where they go out and they steal people's underwear and then they make money. And the whole equation is like steal people's underwear, step two, question mark, step three, money, right? Money. So what's what's the question mark? You know, okay. Right.

Yeah, exactly. So typically I want I want my clients to be in front of other people. So uh doing seminars, doing um big speeches, even, so that they're teaching people whatever it is that they want them to learn. So for me, when I was in the fitness industry, it was getting people to um buy fitness and and buy by a program specifically for me. So uh I would tell my story of this epic fail and then tie that into you know, things are always going to get in your way. And there's a step-by-step process to get fit and healthy, and then I'd go through the teaching moment of that. And then at the end of it, you just have some very easy scripting of you know, if you're interested in learning more about this, come see me after the presentation and give me your details, and I'll I'll be happy to give you a five email sequence on you know getting healthy and fit in the comfort of your own home. Or if you'd like to start working with me one-on-one, then you know we can talk about that too. So that's like a super, super soft sell. The other is, you know, I have a very special offer for everybody. Run to the back of the room and you know, you know, take take advantage of that offer. So it's story, teaching moment, sales script. And based on what audience that you're going towards, uh, we map out what is the goal of the talk. You know, do you just want to add emails to your list? Do you want to sell something right there, or do you want to have people take the next step, which might be a consultation or something like that?

Yeah, yeah, interesting. And you know, if what if if people aren't like speaking at a you know, a particular event or not in front of people, is there a way to utilize the story, you know, either through social or like any other way that you can you can implement it? Because I imagine once you have it down, it's something that you're just gonna like you're gonna repeat this story multiple ways, right? Is there other ways to utilize it besides just sitting in front of people?

Yeah, definitely uh social media. You can break that the stories up um into segments as well. Um, you could like working with one client right now uh to take one of his stories and then we're breaking that up into a six email sequence. So it becomes like a little mini-series or a soap opera. You know, it's like tune in tomorrow for the next part of the story. And so that gets people really engaged, but also teaches them what he does as an architect. So it's it's really, really um, I mean, you can use it for any any sense. I I want people to use that story in their sales uh situation as well. So not only their own personal story, but also stories of those that they've helped along the way.

Yeah.

So yeah, I mean that's that's the whole point. Because you know, we we can tell people what they need to do all day long. They're not gonna believe it until they really internalize it and feel it. And the best way to get somebody to feel what you're feeling is to tell an impact story.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Feeling emotional connection is so hard to get to, especially um, you know, I when I look at the the state of the fitness industry, which is probably most people listening, um, and my mom, my mom. Um, you know, I think uh, you know, we tend to get so much into like everyone wants an automation, everyone wants a uh, you know, a sales sequence, everyone wants just money to appear in their bank account, you know, especially the online fit pros, right? They all want an automation and that's that's it. But at the end of the day, you gotta be able to connect into into the people and get the feeling and the emotion um of that. So, you know, if if you're like um Joe Fit Pro, Tommy, and you know, you're uh maybe you're a you're a personal training studio owner or you're a personal trainer who works with that, and you know, how you know how how are you incorporating that within the cycle of you know getting found and seen, you know, or the no like trust factor, right? Like how is that incorporating into um that particular sequence? So how how can these people start today? You know, once they obviously start working on your story, um, but how do they get in into like their their sales sequence? Is that something you just sit down with somebody for the first time, are you just telling your story? Um, like how how do how do you recommend doing that?

Yeah, so once once the story is down, to really create that connection with people, I always and if and if all they do is like online, so they're not really getting in front of people. I I would have them do a live stream, do it like a Facebook live, or if they have the budget, kind of create a create a movie, you know, just you know, a two, three-minute video of their life. And I remember I saw in um David Bett. Um he has a entrepreneurial uh blog, but he did a whole video of the what it takes to be an entrepreneur, you know. It shows him immediately, you know, with his Ferrari, of course, of course handing it, handing it off to to a ballet, but then it takes people back to when he when he was driving a Toyota Corolla and knocking on doors to try to get business, right? And kind of the journey, what it takes. Nobody sees the miles that you run. And so he he created this two-minute video that was really, really impactful.

Yeah.

That that really took people through his story and his journey to be an entrepreneur and to be as successful as he is. Yeah. Um, so you know, you could do the video, you could do a live stream, you could create uh an email sequence that takes people through your story as well. And that's really the know you part. And with the know you, they're gonna like you as well.

Yeah.

There was a study done in Princeton at Princeton University that um they they hooked up an FMRI, and I the thing that goes on in your brain and and measures brain waves.

Yeah.

And they they hooked it up to the storyteller and two listeners. And when the storyteller was telling the story, what they noticed is the the brain was lighting up in the same places for both the storyteller as well as both listeners. So like there was an actual neuroconnection happening between the listener and the storyteller. So that's that's something that you don't get if you're just telling somebody, well, you know, you're you're overweight, you need to work out three days a week. Do you want to sign up for my program?

Right. Right.

Um, okay, you know, versus, you know, I had a client very much like yourself, and she was a school teacher, she was very busy, uh, she was about 50 pounds over the weight. I mean, she really struggled with you know affording, you know, personal training, but knew that, you know, with her doctor's advice, like she needed to get you know healthy again because she was on blood pressure medication, diabetes medication, and you know, wasn't feeling really great. So she started working with us three days a week, and we put her on you know a good nutrition program that still fit her lifestyle. And you know, within the first month, she lost 20 pounds. All of a sudden, now somebody's in that whole story with you, they're like, and then they're seeing themselves in there, oh, well, if she can do it, I can do it too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's and here's a thought that comes up to me too, just listening to you talk, right? Because I've I've gone through um, you know, some some speech courses of of you know, actually I did a full two-day intensive of how to develop your story, how to deliver it, um and all that. And what I found was um when you tell your story, you have a very calm demeanor, right? Which I presume is authentic because that's just the way you talk, right? But I notice a lot of times and um, you know, I I go up and down, I can be very calm, but if I'm fired up about something, like you know, right? I'm really I'm just bounding with energy. Um but when I tell a story, I tend to be more calm because that's the state of mind I'm in. But I've also seen a lot of people get up and tell their story and completely change the person who they are, right? All of a sudden they're up there and they're being someone else. And sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. But you know, what what do you when you're coaching people through that process the actual delivery, right? Is it authenticity? Do you tell people to to be upper, you know, be more energetic, or how do you how do you deliver that coaching?

Yeah, the energy level I really I really don't get into. What I do get into is vocal patterns. Okay. And what we'll do is I actually have people write out the story like it's an essay, but in a in a conversational way. And then we go through and we add in where the pauses need to be. And then we also do stage blocking. I I have a I have a degree in theater, so that's that was my background. Yeah, yeah. And you know, I'm taking acting classes right now as well, just to hone my craft that way. And so we do like actual stage blocking along with focal inflection to make sure that their message is impactful. The energy will come as it is. Because I and I probably the reason that I've never gone into the energy piece is because I want them to be as authentic as possible.

Yeah, I agree. What is stage blocking for those of us who don't know?

Oh, I'm sorry. So that's just movement on stage. So we'll I'll actually create three areas on stage for them to deliver their message. Because what what I've noticed for a lot of speakers, people like to pace back and forth, and there's no purpose to what they're doing.

Yeah.

So when when I want them delivering their impact moment and their teaching moments, they're center stage, they're up close to the audience, and they're it's real direct. And then when they go back in time, they go to one side of the stage. And then when they're talking about future life, they go to another. So now the audience is oh, okay, we're at teaching moment because he's center stage, and it's very subliminal. But oh, we're talking about past experience, he's on this side of the stage, and future experience that side.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I remember that too because that that course I took. Um, and also it helps with okay, it helps you with the memorization of the story. Like when I go here, this is when I'm telling this portion of the story. When I go here, I'm telling this portion of the story on stage, right? So that was a pretty useful, useful bit uh in there. Um yeah, this is this is can you give us like maybe one, you know, somebody you've worked with specifically to the fitness industry, um, you know, one really, you know, and I know you can't deliver their story for them, but something that that has been, you know, huge success uh for someone uh in the fitness profession, just to give people some inspiration to start doing this.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Actually, one of the very first clients I worked with was Fatan Mont. And she um was born in Africa and she did the uh Atlanta Olympics. So she was a a runner and she won a silver medal in the Atlanta Olympics. But when she when she was born in a very, very poor, you know, African town, she was actually sold into what I would consider sex slavery at 11 years old.

Right.

And really that's you know, in in their culture, that was uh I get a dowry for my daughter marrying this 50-year-old man at 11 years old, which is completely foreign to us in the Western world. And she she literally ran away from, and that's how her running um started, and she found um some people that helped her out with it, and she went to school, she started traveling as a runner and at a very elite level and had ups and downs all over the place, and finally came to a point where she um won you know a silver medal in the uh Atlanta Olympics. And so we I worked with her on crafting that story, doing uh stage work as well, so that because that that can be a very heavy, heavy story, and it and it was, but we also put in some humor because I I want to take an audience on a little roller coaster. So we're gonna create some really good tension, and then we're gonna release that tension. And when we release that tension, gives the audience a little bit of time to you know laugh, to breathe, and kind of just let it let everything soak in, and then we're gonna bring that tension back in. And so we just take them on a nice roller coaster of emotion through it. Yeah, her very first talk was to her church, had 400 people in the audience, and she got a standing ovation. Wow. Not only that, but her business doubled in the next year. So while she wasn't really even pitching from the stage uh of her fitness business, people knew who she was and that she owned a fitness business. And now they had this connection to her. And she got more speaking gigs, and she was just getting really um apt at telling her story. And that that first time, again, it was like both of us are in tears several times of like, oh my god, I can't believe this happened to you. This is this is horrible. And she's like, Well, it's it was life, you know, that's kind of what we did. Yeah, and and just crafting it to see her stand on stage, get a standing ovation, and then you know, her business just take off was just a great thrill for me.

Yeah, yeah. Awesome, man. That's really cool. So um I hope this inspires a lot of people to to tell their story because you know, and and really search for it. Um it's really cool. So, Tom, where where tell me, where do people, if people want to work with you and get some coaching on it or at least get more ideas, you know, where where do you send them now?

Yeah, I have a little training program on how to tell your story. And that is uh they can go to my website, tomjacobs.com, and Jacobs is spelled j-a-cobs.com. So Tom J A C K O B S.com slash training. Um, or they just go to the website and just connect with me there or on social media. I'm I'm all over the place.

Yeah, yeah, you are. I don't even know how I found you. I uh I think you're just everywhere.

Yeah, I think everybody's everywhere. You had you made a post about looking for people to uh interview.

And I was like, yeah, sure.

I'd love to. Sounds interesting. Sounds good. It worked. Yeah, it worked really well. Uh social media does work.

Tom, thank you so much, man. Your your stories are awesome. Um and uh yeah, man, thanks for coming on the show. No problem. Thank you, Eric. Yeah, hey Fitness fans, don't leave yet. It's your host, Eric Malzone, and I have a quick favor to ask. Actually, three favors. So, number one, if you're a fan of our show, I ask you to do something that takes under three minutes. Go to iTunes, please, and subscribe to our show. Please, please, please. It means so much to us. It's so important. And then give us a favorable review. We would really, really appreciate it. And uh, I can't tell you how much it means and helps us out. So I know it takes two minutes of your day, and uh it means a lot to us. So please do that. Number two, go to our YouTube channel or Fitness Marketing Alliance, and uh please subscribe to our YouTube channel there. Number three, if you like this episode or any of the episodes that we've released, share it on social. That's huge, that's a big deal for us. And when we put a lot of work into these episodes uh trying to give you great actionable content uh for the fitness industry, so that would mean a lot. And that's it. So we have some big plans coming up for this show. I'll be talking about that in the next couple episodes. But thank you so much for listening. It means so much. And uh, if you have any questions, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear from everybody. Eric, E R I C at Fitness Marketing Alliance.com