#14 Tell Your Story with Will Severns

Will Severns is the Co-founder of Streamline Books, a specialized service that helps speakers, influencers and thought-leaders publish their books. But what about you? Have you ever thought about writing a book? Do you have a compelling story to tell? After you listen to this episode, you might just find yourself starting a new “chapter” in your life!

Guest Website: WriteMyBooks.com

A special thanks to Eggtc. Shawnee for sponsoring this episode!

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:07

Hey everybody, welcome to the possibility mindset podcast. I'm Devin Henderson, your host. This is my man, Will. How's it going, guys? And we believe that something greater is always possible for you. So what's up, Will?

Speaker 2 0:22

Devin man, thank you so much for having me. We're here, we're doing it, et cetera. Let's go.

Speaker 1 0:28

So I'm going to give you an immediate professional introduction that I have other people Because I want to get to it. Man so Will is the co-founder at Streamline Books. You can learn more at mybookscom Books, not book, because he's like hey, you got more than one in you.

Speaker 1 0:44

We're just going to keep writing those books. Man Repeat customers. I love that part of it. So, in short, he helps people like me, like speakers and beyond speakers write their own books. So the Streamline Books LinkedIn business page you have a book in you, we'll bring it to life. Is that right Will? Is that how that works? So with that, give us just initially a quick bird's-eye view of what you all do at Streamline Books.

Speaker 2 1:11

Yeah, it's so fun and a blessing of what we get to do, of helping people bring their book to life. You know individuals who are out there going man, I've had it for five, 10 years. People tell me you should write your book. You've got it in you, you just don't know the next step to take.

Speaker 2 1:26

And so essentially we are a turnkey publishing service and so from start to finish people that don't know the next step we say, hey, we would love to come alongside you, whether you are starting from scratch and blank page or if you've got a few pages written. Yeah, we get to do it kind of in one of two options. Our option one is essentially the author leads the way, writing, and we trail you, we coach, we development, a let it from a high level standpoint, and then kind of our option to offering is ghostwriting, and so that is someone going, hey, it's all up here. What I don't have is the time or skill set to sit in front of my computer and hammer out.

Speaker 1 2:03

And he was telling me about the minute ago and I was like that's me. Yeah, no time.

Speaker 2 2:07

Yeah, yeah, you know, and some people are going oh, would that be weird using a ghostwriter, and it's like no, we love the term of a ghostwriter's job is to get the clay to the table. So coming alongside you conducting a series of five, 60 to 90 minute interviews. Those calls are recorded, we produce a transcription and then it's our ghostwriter writing from those transcriptions to stay as close to your voice, your tone, as possible. You're in the document with us, so you can obviously tweak or say things.

Speaker 1 2:34

That's Sonia. No, you've never gotten to me.

Speaker 2 2:36

Sonia audience, that's her. She's amazing, she's awesome.

Speaker 1 2:41

So you get these interviews and yeah, that's the. I love that process and, by the way, I ain't afraid no ghost.

Speaker 2 2:47

Yeah, you shouldn't. You shouldn't be one of the shirts.

Speaker 1 2:50

Right, I ain't afraid no ghost.

Speaker 2 2:52

Yeah, yeah, we throw around the ghost emoji in our chat and we utilize project management software and you have your project manager to keep you on task, to say, hey, if you've had this thing for 10 years that you know you've had a right. It's like don't go 11.

Speaker 1 3:08

We can do it. I like it. Yeah, we can do it for you.

Speaker 2 3:11

We love that a book makes your message portable. You know it has for thousands of years. Yeah, this book as a medium. We love it because it's not going anywhere.

Speaker 1 3:20

No pun intended the medium thing, but the ghost. Okay anyway, like a ghost, like a medium.

Speaker 2 3:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, totally, I'm a dad. Dad jokes yeah, it happens on this podcast, but you're a cool dad. Oh yeah, you've got the flat bill.

Speaker 1 3:35

I do. Look at this. Look at this. So I'm also the king of interruptions Worst podcast host ever. But check this out, I was trying to like get me into the flat bill style, so you guys have to let me know can I rock this or not?

Speaker 2 3:48

Well, I already can't Well hold on. It's stiff. Okay, so a little bit of a bend and go backwards with it.

Speaker 1 3:54

Oh, you want me to go backwards? That's right, you can mention that.

Speaker 2 3:57

Tell me, this guy wasn't born for that. Look right there.

Speaker 1 3:58

This is what it's all about right now. I rock that hat, I agree. I rock that hat more backwards than I do front. Is that right? It's kind of like Well, when I first saw you the other day, you were in a backwards hat. I think you had a cheese hat on, or was it? Yeah?

Speaker 2 4:10

So there's Sandlot goods. Those guys in Kansas City are doing amazing work. We got streamlined hats done through Sandlot. You're rocking the Henley, I definitely go on that, you're just a good looking dad man and so I said, of course she's going to rock this flat bill.

Speaker 1 4:24

Nice man, but okay. So I didn't mean to derail you from the process, but the medium and yeah.

Speaker 2 4:31

A book makes your message portable. We love the line of you know the root word of authority is author. And so individuals that for years you know you're an expert in your field, You've done it, You've logged the miles in any of your you know any particular industry. A lot of our kind of target market is individuals kind of in middle, middle to later age, where they've done it, you know they are skilled, they are experts and they are now looking to get it down on paper and share it with the world. And so we love coming alongside those people because it gives them such a fun new endeavor, kind of in the second half of their life, to speak on these topics. We work with a lot of speakers who are looking to either get into more speaking or increase their speaking fees. What have you, yeah, and so it's, it's so far, or just a legacy piece.

Speaker 1 5:23

You know, and people are going, guys, if this is for my kids, my grandkids, my great grandkids, you just cover one of my questions because because, here's the thing, like you might be thinking like why, why doesn't it bring on, like you know, a book publishing type guy? Because, like, maybe a portion of the audience is like totally like, oh, that's me, I want to write a book. But there might be some like who, who? You know, I've never even considered writing a book. Well, a couple of things. First of all, this is the possibility mindset podcast.

Speaker 2 5:49

Yeah.

Speaker 1 5:50

And this dude just hails from an awesome family and so I know that he can just speak to us today about how he's embraced the possibility mindset in his life, but also just with the whole book writing journey. Maybe there's some people who the books in you will bring it to life. So even if you don't even know there's a book, or recognize the awesomeness or the book that's there, this is available to you now. Anyone can do this.

Speaker 2 6:09

And I love that.

Speaker 1 6:11

And that was my question, like, should everyone write a book? Well, maybe, because if you want to leave a legacy, leave something to your kids. I know my dad wrote just like a little kind of a manuscript, and that's something we treasure. It was just about his hometown growing up. You know it was never sold or professionally published, but it was just like stories.

Speaker 2 6:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2 6:28

And it's just about your hometown stories you know Exactly and that's why you say, should everyone write a book? I'm saying more so, everyone has a story you know, and what you choose to do with that story. Absolutely you can do a podcast if that's you or it's. There are different ways to convey your expertise and your stories that you have inside of you. But again, a book as a medium, as someone to you know, something to hand down, you know, to a family, from a legacy perspective, or again, to share your wisdom, your expertise and your stories with the world. And yeah, man, we love it. We think it's very the technology and in the publishing industry and the way that you don't have to have this huge platform anymore to do it Right In traditional publishing. It's not like we're anti-traditional publishing, it's like, hey, if you can go out and get a $500,000 book deal, sure go do it but unfortunately.

Speaker 2 7:24

You know you have kind of like the big five publishers. They're looking for people who can move X amount of units upon release date, and that's not most of us. But when you go to conference after conference and you see many of the same people being invited up on stage, that's cool. But think of the wisdom that's sitting in the audience and think of the people you know in your life. You're going Well. My mentor is one of the smartest guys that I know and of course he's not getting brought up, as you know, in these people. They're going well. I'm not a Bob Goff or a Tony Robbins or John A Cuff or Brene Brown, and we're saying you don't have to be your Devin Henderson man.

Speaker 1 8:02

Yeah, Well that's. I love that because we we talked about you know I was talking about okay, when you, when you start a podcast and you're following it and growing as quickly as you want and you talked about how there's there's lies that infiltrate. I didn't cover this in our conversation, but in my keynote I addressed that very topic because I've dealt with it so deeply myself. Yeah, I've dealt with it with the Jefferson imposter syndrome, like feeling like I'm I'm not qualified to be up here and to speak these things to these people. I call it the illusion of, uh, insignificance, meaning that since someone else is further along than you, then what you're doing is meaningless, right? So we feel like, oh they're, they're crushing it in that space.

Speaker 2 8:40

I'm not.

Speaker 1 8:41

I just need to give up and quit. And if you give into that illusion or that lie, you might give up, right, but the way that I help people come over, it's like you know that person's better than me. And if you're thinking that, just complete the thought with at being who, they are right, because what if your goal wasn't to always be the best?

Author Success and Building an Author Community

Speaker 1 8:56

but to be your best and then what if your best is the best to the people that you're meant to serve? And that's what you're saying. Like, you know, Tony Robbins can't reach everybody, you know, because he's maybe not going to connect with some people, or he just can't speak on every single stage in the world at one time. So it's like they need the Devin Henderson's, the world who, or the people listening to his podcast, to come out and share their story and whatever their platform is and it might just be a book.

Speaker 2 9:22

Exactly, and you know it plastered on the top of our website the world needs your book. Yeah, people are going really and we'll say, you know, 7 billion people?

Speaker 1 9:30

probably not you know, but there is a world closer to home that does need your story and your expertise, and they do.

Speaker 2 9:36

They care about you more than you know the big name, and so there is a lot of reframing alongside our authors and kind of coaching and helping them think through that, because there's there is self doubt, there is what anyone want to read. It say are you kidding me? You know Drew and I, my brother, who this is a fun note we haven't mentioned- yeah, yeah, I've got a whole thing.

Speaker 1 9:56

Yeah, okay, but you go ahead, maybe we'll get to it. No, no, no, I can always, you know Well.

Speaker 2 9:59

Drew and I, before we get into the connection between us and how we got connected, we love. The line of someone you have yet to meet is counting on you to get better today. And that means that, dude, this conversation has weight and when we talk to prospective authors, we say there is someone out there who is counting on this book in their hands. And we just get to take the steps necessary.

Speaker 1 10:20

I love that man. It's that way of just being a parent. Yes, you know what I mean. It's like that two year old at home right now is someday when she's I hate to even think about this 18, needs me to be growing right now for that moment, Exactly, yeah.

Speaker 2 10:34

I mean, I'm not gonna say anything else of man if I don't have to be the best.

Speaker 1 10:37

what you're kind of getting at is RY which is important, and you hear that in business, you know what's your Y and if you're going streamlined, what's your Y?

Speaker 2 10:46

RY Devin is reframing author success and the more my co-founder, alex Dimchec, who's an awesome speaker and writer in his own right. He and our co-founders We'll get him on here too at some point.

Speaker 1 10:58

Yeah, Alex needs to sit at this table and do it with you.

Speaker 2 11:00

And the more Alex and I got into this publishing space, the more we realized, man, there is a lot of verbiage around bestseller, you know? Yeah. New York Times bestselling author.

Speaker 1 11:12

I honestly don't even really know what that means, not many people do I kind of get it. But it seems like so many people are. I'm like how many bestselling authors can there be, exactly?

Speaker 2 11:22

and man, there's ways and Amazon you can manipulate.

Speaker 1 11:25

You can just lie it, you can just put it on your website, right, you know?

Speaker 2 11:28

and different companies, some similar to ours of hey, we'll help you write a bestseller, We'll teach you how to write a bestseller, and Alex and I just started going. Man, what if there's a deeper reason why someone wants to do this thing in the first place? And we know that it is one of the best things we can do for our authors on the back end of the process is help set realistic expectations for them on the front end.

Speaker 2 11:49

Because when people get to the end and we hit publish and we celebrate and we do your launch and you're out into the world. People aren't hurt because we told them they were gonna be something that they didn't end up becoming. And when you can start and just say, if my book can impact one person, then it was worth it, and we say, yes, that is the mindset you need to have, because anything beyond that is gravy. Yeah, start with that one person that needs to read your book and your story. Everything beyond that.

Speaker 2 12:19

And we've just found that our authors really appreciate that and now we are forming a author community of past, present, future authors, authors serving authors. Hey, this works for me. What's working for you? Many of our streamlined authors who they meet up, they swap ideas.

Speaker 1 12:35

It's so fun, man, it's so great you know, and what you're saying is profound because the marketplace is saturated with podcasters and authors and speakers, and so, like we mentioned this too, like you know, like there's companies that are like, hey, we'll turn your podcast into viral clips. You know, and it's like if you're trying to think, best seller viral clips, if that's the why and that's the goal, you're probably gonna be pretty disappointed. But if you're thinking, hey, who's the one person listening to this conversation right now that maybe they're gonna go write a book now or maybe something we said that Trilethu with. Oh, I do need to like work on my family life, you know what I mean. If we can just think, start small, like I like to say, start small and big.

Speaker 2 13:14

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 13:15

Like don't try to like think big first and then you know, because you're just you're trying to work backwards, but not in a good way.

Speaker 2 13:20

Yeah, you know what I mean. You're spot on man and we're just. We're living in this day and age and we love the line of with Streamline. We're after less news and more stories Because our culture is quick and tweet after tweet and headline after headline and we're stepping into 2024. It's just like it's so crazy where we're at. And one of my friends, chris Martin, who I went to school with, he has an awesome blog and he speaks on social media and tech and he talks about the difference between producing content and producing art and how many content creators and quick hits, sound bites, yada, yada, all this stuff.

Speaker 2 13:55

But when we focus on art and what our God-given mission is to bring to the world, that's not a quick fix, that is not an overnight thing. And so our team and our process, we know it's not quick, we know it's not overnight, because your story and words matter, and so we handle it with care, because we are in the business of stewarding other people's stories for the sake of, again, their family, their friends, their careers, their legacies, and we don't take that lightly Awesome man Dude.

Speaker 1 14:29

So good to have you here.

Speaker 2 14:30

This is great man. Yeah, this is a blast.

Speaker 1 14:32

So you know it's the possibility mindset podcast is. I always like to remind people and so I do wanna. You know I love how we're talking about books, authors and more, but also at some point here I wanna jump in with, like the backstory you have, you embrace the possibility mindset in your life, because I know you have. You know some people who have poured into you. So, before we move on, just wanna say thanks to our sponsor, our pseudo sponsor, I'm not sure how that works, but et cetera. Yes, here in Shawnee, and we got Sonia that you just met serving us. She's the best.

Speaker 2 15:00

I've just lucked out she's been.

Speaker 1 15:02

I was like are you here like every day?

Speaker 2 15:04

She's like no, you just get me every time, so I just get lucky. She only works on Fridays, that's right, right.

Family Connections and Accomplishments

Speaker 1 15:09

And then Shannon, the manager, and then we got Michael, we got Chris, we got Tony, we got Lorenzo, we Phyllis. We just got an awesome team here. So thank you so much, et cetera. Go to the website. It's in the. We put the link below in the podcast description. How was the Ranchero skillet, by the way?

Speaker 2 15:26

Dude, it's as good as this podcast. Any good thing I say comes from the combination of potatoes and chorizo is just Sonia did it. Awesome man. She did it, man, good, okay, good. So if I were to, say how's this podcast?

Speaker 1 15:38

She'll be like as good as the Ranchero skillet.

Speaker 2 15:40

Yeah. Like okay now we got the gauge. Yeah, food is fuel. Man, I love that Food is fuel.

Speaker 1 15:48

Cool man, the way that Will and I met. So you know we'll talk about that. We have some connections, but I we connected on LinkedIn through some mutual friends and then we were at this family fall fest a couple of weekends ago and I saw you and you know, when you have, when you see someone's like LinkedIn or Instagram profile picture and then you see them in person, you're like is that them? And you had the back, you were rocking the backwards hat and you were with your family.

Speaker 1 16:11

You were playing percussion instruments because there was, like this, table set up with tambourines and stuff. And I was like, is that him? And I was? I kept wanting to see something you know, and you started walking away in front of there you go, hey, severns, and I imagine later that probably sounded like somebody wanted to fight you.

Speaker 2 16:26

Yeah, you know, hey Severns, and you're like oh no, here we go again. It's happened before. Yeah, who am I beating up this time?

Speaker 1 16:33

And you turn around. I'm like, hey man, and so it was really fun, I got to meet his wife and his kids and so that was cool. It was just a cool run man. But you know, I was looking on your LinkedIn profile. I love this part. You said I met my best when I surround myself with wise people, and you were blessed to be just naturally surrounded by wise people. His dad.

Speaker 2 16:52

Bill Severns, who I met before you, or Drew?

Speaker 1 16:55

I heard him speak somewhere and he was, like you know, did his baseball then Keepers of the Sandlot is his whole book about helping parents learn to enjoy little league growing up, not yelling at the kids, not setting the bar too high, not yelling at the umps and like just chill out, let the kids play baseball. It was the whole message I got from that. I'll never forget him standing up there in front of the room with his bat and he was telling some story and holding that bat and I was like that dude is holding that bat like a pro.

Speaker 1 17:25

I just remember being impressed with just his presence in that room and that message and I got one of his books and that stuck with me, man, so that's awesome.

Speaker 2 17:36

Your dad, he played for the was it the Brewer's. He played in the Brewer's system. So Ned Yost and their good friends. So those years with the Royals were a blast man.

Speaker 1 17:45

Yeah.

Speaker 2 17:46

With Ned and his wife, more family, friends and, yeah, my dad's one of the smartest, wisest dudes I know because he gets it on a relational level at the core, soaking up the time that your kids have to play the game and all those things through Keepers of the Sandlot. But as a dad, absolutely it's actually a factor. It's a little bit into the book piece this many years later.

Speaker 1 18:05

I was wondering. I was like, well, you have book writing and family history, and I didn't think much about it honestly as Alex and I were starting Streamline.

Speaker 2 18:13

But eventually it hit me of like man. I did get kind of this front row seat. My dad published Keepers of the Sandlot when I think I was a freshman or sophomore in high school and since then, man, just the life that that book and that message has given alongside his full-time job. He's got his passion on the side with the book and what he gets to do Kind of like I mentioned that middle to older, it's like my dad's done it. He has the years of expertise and this is his passion Right, and now I get to help other people do essentially what my dad kind of said. Yeah, that's awesome man, so kind of a cool link.

Speaker 1 18:44

I bet he wishes he would have had you at that time. It might have made his life a bit of a dis-process. He's mentioned it, but I needed you years ago because, he had a great editor alongside him.

Speaker 2 18:55

The reason we love this terminology of we're a turnkey publishing service is because we're kind of more of a holistic writing, editing, interior cover design, and I think that one-stop shop would have been nice for someone like my dad, but now he gets to do it for others.

Speaker 1 19:10

He went through the grind, he did the real thing. Yeah, he's like from that good stock. Yeah, he piece-mealed it.

Speaker 2 19:15

And so, yeah, my dad's great, yeah, three older siblings who all live and work in the area, man, which is fun, because, you're right, like I do feel blessed the youngest. I'm sure it'll be the same with your youngest man, who gets to have other people go before you. They made all the mistakes and so I just got to learn from them, you know, yeah.

Speaker 1 19:32

And so then the other one I've met is Drew, your older brother Drew, is the owner of Chick-fil-A in Lenexa, kansas, here, and my oldest daughter, claire, has worked there for over two years now and loves it.

Speaker 2 19:44

And.

Speaker 1 19:44

Drew is a stud just like his brother here and is operating an awesome store. But you know, the reason I'm so fixated on that is because Claire has just had such an amazing experience and I think it really just speaks to you. The family, your dad, drew, I mean all of it, that's just these wise people around you. You guys are just doing awesome things. It's impacted Claire and she's learned so many awesome leadership skills and has been shepherded in giving grace in so many ways.

Speaker 2 20:11

It just ways you wouldn't get other places, you know. So it's been a blessing. Yeah, well, it's cool man and this is also some. It gets Billy back into the mix. But I think my dad tells the story of one guy who kind of recognized him and even his name from his playing days. I think this was at the gym years ago for my dad. And this guy goes hey, aren't you Bill Severns? And my dad goes well, I used to be.

Speaker 1 20:36

And and it's funny.

Speaker 2 20:40

And you know, I think he goes on to tell this guy but when my kids are born, it's. You know, now I'm Matthew's dad and I'm Sarah's dad.

Speaker 1 20:46

Yeah, yeah, oh, for sure, and it's. I was thinking this yesterday.

Speaker 2 20:50

It's a cool line, man, because what's funny is first time I think I heard your name through shout out. I think one of Shawnee's best kept secrets Justin Pickens, it was an awesome, awesome guy.

Speaker 1 20:59

Yeah, it was gonna be good. Yeah, Justin, I haven't gotten to meet him in a while.

Speaker 2 21:02

Yeah, you know and Justin's going, will, there's Devon, he's in town, he's a speaker, magish, all these things. I'm like, well, we gotta meet this guy. But then when I, we made the connection eventually with Clare, that was it. For me it was, oh, it's Clare's dad. Because, dude, for me, having not met you or Lynn or the other kids, it's like before knowing I knew Clare. And if I knew Clare I'm going, oh my gosh, well, that family must be, you know, on it. And legit, because, dude, I haven't ever seen that girl have like a bad day at the corner during.

Speaker 2 21:31

I call Chick-fil-A the next to the corner, cause it's such a fun vibe and an energy that they've created and cultivated over there. And you think, of course you know Chick-fil-A, sure, I mean, I've been in some Chick-fil-As. That's like, oh, you know, maybe not as great a vibe, maybe I'm biased, but it's so fun. The team that Drew has set up over there and Clare's leading the charge man. So kudos to you and Lynn, because if a girl like Clare is setting the charge for her sisters, Drew, drew, thank you.

Speaker 1 21:59

Thank you. Drew texted me yesterday. I just gotta share this. I don't think he'd mind. He just said your daughter just did her thing with Oscar Shepard, head of selection for all of Chick-fil-A. Can't wait till that girl is my boss someday.

Speaker 2 22:12

Well, it's so true.

Speaker 1 22:13

Yeah, and then I was like thanks, dude, that's awesome he goes. My goal is to keep putting her on until she puts in her two weeks for a support center role.

Speaker 2 22:20

So I'm like, oh, that's awesome man.

Speaker 1 22:22

It's just like it's cool that he, like, gives me that feedback, as things are happening, you know.

Speaker 1 22:27

Yeah, he's very good he knows we love our kids, he gets it and he understands it goes beyond just the workers. We're impacting families, communities and the world. I mean, you know, it's true, it's so awesome man. So, yeah, very cool man. So the thing you know on your side also, you know, along with being surrounded by wise people is that you said I am at my best when I have other speak life into me and when I step out and speak life into others, so as I fill our coffee cups, are you?

Speaker 2 22:56

Yeah, well, let's do this, man, Please, man, more Colombian or as, yeah, whatever it is, Potomol or foldiers, or you know.

Speaker 1 23:03

But can you think of a time or a specific person, or just someone who has, like, spoken into your life in a way doesn't have to be recent, any time this may be helped. You embrace a possibility. Mindset meaning always pursuing next level, greatness in yourself, championing others to do that kind of thing. Any story or yeah, totally. I didn't prepare you. I'm totally putting you on the spot with this question no, it's great.

Speaker 2 23:26

Well, I think the most appropriate answer is the person who spoke those words over me, which is a mentor of mine. His name is JR Briggs and he has been a leadership coach of mine and many others in the ministry. But leadership space, I mean JR works alongside multiple Chick-fil-A operators and JR and I went to the same college, so Taylor University in about an hour north of Indianapolis up on Indian. It's small. That's where all three of my siblings and I went. I don't know if you know.

Speaker 2 23:54

I do know of Taylor or have you Not a whole lot of that yeah, some know of Indian Westland as another a little bit bigger of a school just right down the road, and so I went to Taylor. Jr went to Taylor about 12 or 13 years before me, so he was actually there when my older brother was there. Jr Briggs is the person. Yeah, if you're gonna LinkedIn, stock me, devon, I'll give you the lowdown on some of those principles. He goes Will you help move? You move stories forward.

Speaker 2 24:27

And he said that and that was kind of the first in a list of three or four things. He spoke over me as we were doing this leadership coaching and when he goes, you're at your best. I would never speak truth into you and life in you, and when you're speaking truth into others, it was just like oh my gosh, when someone can.

Speaker 2 24:44

I think that's the benefit of leadership coaching or coming alongside a coach. People are going do I need a coach in my life? Well, what you can do alongside a good coach is enhance your own personality. Mindset possibilities, it's like in about three to five years can sometimes be condensed down to six to 12 months. I feel that Does that make sense?

Speaker 1 25:06

I think that coach has done the same thing for me. They see things in you that you didn't see. They see the value there You're too close to it.

Speaker 2 25:13

You need someone who's outside going.

Speaker 1 25:14

Don't you realize how incredible this part of you is?

Speaker 2 25:17

Really.

Speaker 1 25:18

I just felt normal.

Speaker 2 25:19

Absolutely so. Jr is someone who quite literally those lines. Another person may be closer to home Jeanette Thomas is another leadership coach. She lives in Kansas City and Jeanette is just brilliant. Many people know her as JT, so she's in town.

Speaker 1 25:35

When JR shared that with you. About that you move stories forward. Was this pre-streamline books?

Speaker 2 25:40

Was this part of what made the vision of it was a little bit of both, and so this is, and possibilities for me go back to April of 2019. I was working at a marketing firm in Kansas City. I was pulled in my boss's office one day and he told me that I was being let go, and that moment for me, Devon, I felt just an immense peace, and there's a multitude of factors. I was like I don't know if this is the best fit me at this marketing firm.

Speaker 2 26:11

Right right, marketing firms can be tough. There's turnover and so I got it. From a business standpoint it's like, hey, this isn't this guy's fault. It's like running a business is hard, but that's still a shock to the system. And in that moment I had a piece about me that said, well, now's your piece. If you want to say anything, get it off your chest. I was like, guys, I'm good. I was just able to walk out of there with my head held high because I knew it wasn't my identity, this work doesn't define me. And I didn't know what was next. But that was kind of, hey, let's go. I met up with Drew that afternoon. Lauren Quincinilly was out of town, and so Drew and Julie had me over to their house. We had celebration stakes that night and he said, hey, I don't know what's coming next, but, dude, let's see what God has in store. And so that led to what are you going to?

Speaker 1 27:01

say Well, I was just thinking, I have a follow up question for that, so keep going and I'll plug it in Long story short.

Speaker 2 27:07

I mean I sent out an email the next day to about 30 or 40 leaders. If I'd known you then you would have been on that email. Hey, here's my situation. Here's what just happened, if you can keep an ear to the ground. And from that came my first two to three freelance marketing clients. They're going hey, will we need some marketing help? And that kind of got us started. Lorne and I formed our limited partnership that summer Quill Creative.

Speaker 1 27:30

So we did Quill, which is super like the spelling and everything. Yeah, it was fun, man.

Speaker 2 27:36

We brainstormed Drew, julie, lorne and I.

Speaker 1 27:38

And this fell Q-W-I-L-L with Will in there Exactly, so we did Quill Some people.

Speaker 2 27:43

They're going Q-Will. And I'm like no, it's kind of like if you remember, do that thing, or what's the movie, that thing, you do the Wonders, and they spell it O-N-E and people would call them the Onetus.

Speaker 1 27:57

Oh gosh, and they're like no, we're the Wonders, and so.

Speaker 2 28:01

And anyway so.

Speaker 2 28:02

Quill was a blast man and what became? You know, it was two to three clients to start. I got up to about nine or 10 clients I was working with and kind of started to feel pressed or banned with. Around that time is when I started ghostwriting LinkedIn articles, blog posts. And around summer of 2020 is when some people are going hey, will have you ever thought helping others tell a story in book form? Maybe two or three individuals? I said no, but it's super intriguing to me.

Speaker 2 28:32

And so around that time, jr and his organization, kairos Partnerships, was one of my Quill clients. So that's how we were working in close capacity. He's going well, will you move stories forward, either through Quill or now this ghostwriting? And he was like, oh man, that's good. Yeah, because it is something I am passionate about man, people that are wrestling with their story. Is anyone in the world care or want to hear it? It's like, absolutely.

Speaker 2 28:57

I see that in you and just inviting me onto this podcast and other people that you've had, I can see that in you as well. You're passionate about some of the same things and speaking life into other people. So, as that offering, I mean, I'd say, ramped up. That's around the time I partnered with Alex and we said let's try it with an author this whole book story thing. That was author one, colin Holba, nfl long snapper, and July of 2021 is when we published Colin and we have run this play now with about 87 authors. It's awesome and just getting started and we know that's a drop in the bucket compared to how many people out there.

Speaker 1 29:34

Well, by the way, that if I were 88, if I were the 88th one, because we've been talking about there's kind of a magic number for me my first car was an 88 Honda Accord, and then my dad was 88 years old when he passed away, and then 88 miles per hour, and then the flux capacitor which makes time travel possible.

Speaker 2 29:53

So it was like the 88 kind of has this cool nut. So anyway, maybe it's meant to be, I don't know. Tony Gonzalez man. Yeah, Tony Gonzalez, yeah, All three of the ball back in the end zone. You dunk it over the field goal post.

Speaker 1 30:05

So the reason I was kind of laughing, sparking in your story, it wasn't because anything was funny, it was just because, like I mean that whole process right there was just a great reflection of the possibility mindset, because I always in my keynote I have the audience. I say I'm gonna say what else you say is possible. Because that's the question what else is possible?

Speaker 1 30:25

So I say what else is possible, what else is possible? Over and over again. Because that's the one thing I want them to remember, because when you got let go from that job immediately, you were already thinking what else is possible.

Speaker 2 30:35

You really got to fast, you bounce back.

Speaker 1 30:37

Listen to the wise people in your life. Got withdrew in Julie. That day, you know, surround yourself with love, with wise people, with stakes you know celebration stakes. And then you moved on and it was just like man. You just kept asking what else is possible, and for you, you like that fly, that's my buddy, fred the fly.

Speaker 2 30:54

I was gonna say I've never seen a podcast that utilizes. Well, it's he, my buddy.

Speaker 1 30:59

He's like hey, buddy, how you doing? He likes to tip me your face every once in a while, so he's gotta get used to it. But yeah, dude, I mean it's just like what else is possible so many people, when they didn't want to ask that question, they spiral out and you're like. This is the end, and I always say failure, if I can use that. I use that term loosely right. Failure, whether it's like, you feel like a failure, or it's perceived failure or it was failure.

Speaker 1 31:21

You know, it's not a dead end. It's a fork in the road and you have a choice. You know you're gonna choose the path of growth or the path of giving up. And you chose the path of growth. And look at you now, man, and I know you would never. You're not prideful about it, but I want to be prideful for you and just in the sense that it's like now you're like living out your true passion right by letting that thing go, even though it wasn't your decision. It was like that freed you up to do what you're doing and because of you, just know there's next level greatness for you and in your impact, like you're helping people move stories forward, you know Like this is your calling right.

Speaker 1 31:55

So that's why I was smiling like my gosh, like this is like you're kind of giving my keynote, like you're giving me stories, I can tell you know.

Speaker 2 32:02

So I'm just gonna talk about your story. I'll come out there.

Speaker 1 32:06

Yeah, so that's man. That's so great, okay. So yeah, I'm checking off questions from my list because I had so many things I want to ask you, but I don't really have time for that.

Speaker 1 32:18

So take me back to so now that was your story about coming through. You know, I had a question, though, about the Quill Creative. It sounded like that just came out of nowhere. That was the other question I had. You're like, so I quit this job, and then Quill Creative. I was like whoa, whoa, whoa, Like where had that been an idea already?

Quill and Membands

Speaker 2 32:38

Or where did that come from? No great question. And cause I almost dropped this line earlier, there was a lot surrounding Quill that was kind of necessity is the mother of invention. And when you get axed and you walk home and your wife and Lauren so supportive from day one, you know, and she when I told her. But then you're looking at your six month old and you're going all right, family's got to eat, you know.

Speaker 2 33:06

And and dude I would have. I would have done anything you know it's I would have. I would have come here, I would have, you know, flipped griddles and you know to provide for your family. But for me it was like man, this is an opportunity, especially, like you said, when you create. It's kind of like the you know harder you work, the luck you get, or whatever you want to call it, when you send out that email, what's the worst that can happen? Well, for me, I got two to three responses out of 30 emails that I sent out and that led to this deal. So Quill was never the full plan, obviously To me. I look at it as God's grace in my life because I don't know if I would have had the courage to do it on my own. I don't know if I would have had the courage to walk out of that office on my own and quit.

Speaker 2 33:53

Oh right Instead it was hey, you get the boot. And I think that's one interesting thing about today's day and age. You see a lot I mean big tech layoffs right, you'll see, you know, salesforce or whoever, lays off three or 4,000 employees, and each time now I can sympathize with these people who all of a sudden and I'm secretly, I'm like this is your chance.

Speaker 2 34:14

Yeah, this is your opportunity, this is where possibility is born and you know, when you are living a life that is essentially in one person's hands, like you are one conversation away. It's like no, seize it. What about this day and age Are we so conditioned of? Like? This is just the way it's meant to be. I'm meant to work for this one person and my destiny and my income and all these things, and now I'm like but it's easier from where I sit. Three or four years. It is hard work, oh, right, right, it is a grind, and that's where you and I can sit now. But there's a great, I think, Soren Kierkegaard quote where he says life must be lived forward, but it is only understood in reverse. And you and I couldn't have had this conversation in 2020, because 2020 I'm going.

Speaker 1 35:03

Quill's been going for a year.

Speaker 2 35:04

And what do I do with my clients? And I've got this roster, but having tough conversations with them, do they keep me on? It's like all of these things, man. But again it's made us closer as a family. Lauren and I are that much more of a team. We've become better friends in doing the journey together. It's been a blessing man. So Quill still exists. It's just a little bit more on the back burner as we've gotten streamlined going. Quill is how we funnel Dude. I don't know if we've ever talked about MIM bands.

Speaker 2 35:33

Yeah well, bro, I'm about to give you your first one.

Speaker 2 35:36

After I graduated from Taylor University I found in MIM bands, which is a mnemonic device aiding others in scripture memory. So in high school we would do a rubber band with a Sharpie. You would do the first letter of each word in a verse on top of the band so for God, so love the world. It'd be like FGSL. And in college I had this idea for the first letter on top of a band and you flip it underneath, you have the full verse written out.

Speaker 1 35:58

Okay, reference, I think I've seen these, like I've seen that before so we did one at Chick-fil-A. Did you okay, so maybe that's where maybe Claire's worn.

Speaker 2 36:08

Yeah, you invented this, yeah.

Speaker 1 36:11

Yeah, which is fun.

Speaker 2 36:12

So now we can do customize membands where we can do your color your logo, your verse or Remind me to ask you about this, absolutely, man. Yeah, it's so fun this silicone wristwear that's been around for years.

Speaker 1 36:25

Yeah, that's yours, man, so that has our streamlined company.

Speaker 2 36:28

Verse cool for for for books and publishing which is Proverbs 31, 8 and 9? Yeah, and that that verse starts out open your mouth for the mute. And we just think there's so many people out there, man, they're on mute doesn't mean they don't have a voice. They just need someone to help them convey their voice in a digestible manner, and so I've got so many ideas already oh yeah, dude, I mean seriously whether it's. Wwjd or Livestronger. I'm second.

Speaker 1 36:52

It's like my stuff is like, yeah, my stuff's like pick up the ball, yeah, you know, ask what else is possible.

Speaker 2 36:56

It's just, oh yeah, and it's amazing, the goal here is to get it off your wrist. Once you hide that word in your heart, you don't need the band anymore.

Speaker 1 37:03

Yeah, someone else does.

Speaker 2 37:04

So membands kind of like wear, learn, share. Yeah, that's so good, yeah, so so membands is through quill, it's kind of sitting but man. I think, as the year levels out here, kind of at least goal for me. You know, hey, will, what do you want to do moving forward? Last year or two, that where it's been getting stuff set up. Man, I'm excited to share more about streamline.

Connecting With Chick-Fil-a and Streamline

Speaker 2 37:26

Yeah, good, more about membands, you know I'm a speaker as well. I just don't do it as much, you know, as someone like you or Alex, and so I'm just continue to explore those opportunities because, nice, because I love it, man, it's fun to to speak life into people from the stage and you get that, yeah well, I saw also, as I was LinkedIn stalking you, that you worked at Chick-fil-A at one point.

Speaker 1 37:48

Or is you like to call it chick? Yeah, the other day he dropped and he said chick, and I was okay. I got a quickly changed by lingo stay with the coolness of the environment. So I called it chicks. So now it's chick to me, but so it chick-fil-a. You learned this, just a personal thing. You learned it's all about the customer. Yeah, right, so is that? How has that kind of bled over into streamline books for you and Alex?

Speaker 2 38:09

Yeah, that's great. And you know, chick, I guess I've never even thought of it that I shorten it. So, dude, you go, chick, you get the flat bill.

Speaker 1 38:18

Yeah you gotta stay cool. Yeah, you drink a hoodie with strings, next man Hoodie columbian, hang out it, etc. You know that is the formula for cool and Anyone that I see now.

Speaker 2 38:32

That's why, like when I look behind that counter and I see a Claire, I see these other people, I'm like let's go. You get to start off your career with this foundation of XYZ. You know from Truett Cathy on down what he did and what he built and the way that chick-fil-a is now centered around instilling joy and respect for the cut. You know Good food, it's good service. You know foods number one, it has to be the best quality product. You know all of that stuff is integral for what we do now. And it's funny, you, you correlate chick-fil-a and streamline because you know, maybe a year, year and a half ago, we've talked about this Streamline. We're kind of operating a little bit and I don't want this to make it to Any sort of corporate off of it. We're kind of operating. You know Popeyes a little bit. You know it's like, okay, it's decent.

Speaker 1 39:23

Maybe six to 12 months ago we're kind of thinking on the fact that my podcast following isn't huge at this point.

Speaker 2 39:29

I don't want to get an email from the CEO. Popeyes but maybe six to 12 months ago. You know, we're kind of KFC. Hey, we're making gains, we've got KFC famous bowls, but moving forward, we've talked about how we would love to be seen as kind of the chick-fil-a of the publishing space. Yeah, to where I, you're, in and out you know, you.

Speaker 2 39:49

You know what to expect. It's amazing quality. You're working with good people, and Integrated into all of that is this idea of and sometimes we talk about with our authors. There's a lot of weight in regard to most of our authors. It's like they don't know what they don't know because they've never done it before. Right, right, and some Some publishing companies, unfortunately, it's like they will take that man and they will misuse it and you know, or even kind of like we said, it's like hey, you'll be a best-seller, like that is.

Speaker 2 40:21

That starts a veering to just a little bit more exploitative. It's like you and we do not want that to be our mission and vision. It's like we want to. It's one of our core values is we speak truth. We speak truth, we build trust is another one of our five core values, and those are integral because they're humans, human souls, human stories and we can't take that lightly. And so, while we are very much, you know, high-ticket offering all these things chick-fil-a, you're in and out From from our offering to chick-fil-a, it's the same thing. It's treating people with quality, precision, speed, smile.

Speaker 1 41:03

Yeah, that's great man. I mean, I was getting the chick-fil-a vibe from you. Well, I mean from the moment I've met you and I mean that, like you've got you, just have it. You know, you have that thing that shows me as the reason your brother opened a store. I mean, you guys have that in your blood just the Ability to immediately connect with someone and feel, and make them feel like they're the only person in the world.

Speaker 2 41:22

You know, like all the attention's here.

Speaker 1 41:24

Yeah, that's why it's like I'm so interested in everything you have to offer.

Speaker 2 41:27

Yeah, you just immediately.

Speaker 1 41:29

That means that's just who you are. Yeah, you know, you really taught this and I said you learn things along the way, but man.

Speaker 2 41:36

No, thank you. Hey, it's amazing. Good parents help and and you and Leonard doing it. Man, it's funny. You know, and I'm the beneficiary. You know Bill and Suzanne Severns and my dad growing up. He would use this line. He'd say buddy, you know, Everyone communicates if you connect and I just always thought that was like the coolest line man and I would use that and I'll never forget.

Speaker 2 41:57

One day in college I think I was in our library and I looked up and I saw this book on the shelf and it said Everyone communicates, few connect, by John Maxwell.

Speaker 1 42:10

And I just remember that moment. All comes back to Maxwell and it's all Maxwell, but that's there's something to be said there.

Speaker 2 42:20

It's like hey, there's nothing new under the sun. You know, millions of books have been written, yes, but your story hasn't you know your specific angle and your specific take. It's like man yet to be written so good.

Speaker 1 42:33

Hey, thanks for meeting today. Man appreciate it, and I know we're gonna talk more, and I mean this I'd love to have you back on sometime. Yeah, I love to have Alex on here. Maybe get you and Justin and Alex all at the same time.

Speaker 2 42:44

Oh, that would be so fun.

Speaker 1 42:45

You share stories and whatnot, but yeah, as we kind of wrap up Um, what's the best way to connect? No, we've got right. My books calm. Is that just the place to go?

Speaker 2 42:54

Yeah, or LinkedIn. You know also, if you're to dig enough, like me. The book, yes, you know everything.

Speaker 1 43:03

I know more about you than you.

Speaker 2 43:05

Yeah, the first book that the book that I wrote that kind of, was a segue into this offering. For me it was like, if I'm gonna help other people with this, I wanna know myself is called Gouch, and yeah, I don't know you missed that one.

Speaker 1 43:19

Yeah, yeah, so Gouch is on Amazon.

Speaker 2 43:21

It's about my story of honestly, of deleting social media and man that's a whole lot, yeah, a whole podcast.

Speaker 1 43:30

We'll read the book, but here I am trying to make more social media projects.

Speaker 2 43:32

Yeah, and you know and man, there was never a goal to make this huge marketing push. It was largely a means to an end. You know Well, it's actually what led Alex to reaching out. He goes. Will I read Gouch? He goes. You should help other people do this. I was like, well, that's kinda so, dude, it's crazy kind of this web that's woven Well, I kept LinkedIn. That's the one kind of social platform, that's the one I didn't struggle the most with.

Speaker 2 43:57

And I had told some people in the year I'd been off social media for a year up until that point. I'd told some people it was the closest I had felt to the Goucher I-Outverse. You know which.

Speaker 2 44:07

I go back and it's Matthew 529, you know, and I just think so many people, man, they grow this platform, this following, and they kinda almost view the world through this third eye. You know and sure, maybe delete the app off your phone for Lint, you know, or a few weeks at a time, but you can't imagine actually deleting your profile. For me, when I pulled that plug, my life became my marriage.

Speaker 2 44:32

And so Gouch is. I think I got on that because I kept LinkedIn. Linkedin is probably the most I'm active. I think LinkedIn's great and it's fun. I'm not like a huge apollot, but yeah, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn or totally through Streamline If you or someone you know you're going oh my gosh, my uncle's had it for years. It's like, yeah, we'd love to get connected.

Speaker 1 44:53

Okay, awesome, the Gouch thing now has me, because I'm social media and I'm someone who deletes the apps off my phone and someone else posts for me a lot of the time and so I try not to be on there. But I wanna influence that space because that's where people hang out. But the power of it's kinda like when you finally cut up your credit card. It's like there's not even that safety net, so I have to find another way. I imagine it's the same kind of freedom, right.

Speaker 2 45:16

and I would say it's not that I'm anti-social media. Social media's amazing. It connects people millions. But it's kinda the point of Gouch. It's like only you know what you need to Gouch in your life. Totally. This isn't me saying delete your social media. It's saying if you can't handle it like I couldn't. It's like it's not worth it, Get rid of it.

Speaker 1 45:33

Well, that's the great thing about sharing a story. It's not like, hey, my story has to be your story, but learn from this story, take from it what you can and apply it to your life Exactly, but edit it right as you put it in your life.

Speaker 1 45:45

I love it, man. It's so great, okay, awesome. So connect with Will. And thanks again to Eccetera Shawnee. We also have the link for the restaurant. If you're local, if you're in Kansas City, especially like Shawnee Linux Overland Park, come on by. It's really good. Just one last question Is that cool before we wrap for you?

Speaker 2 46:03

Yeah.

Speaker 1 46:03

Yeah, all right, just one piece of advice for my daughters, and it's you know, just you know yeah, you have kids. You know, what would you want your kids to know while they're young, as they're growing up? Man, Just one thing.

Speaker 2 46:19

Man. One thing that's a great, great question Is I think about.

Speaker 1 46:28

And don't just quote Maxwell. Yeah, or you can Shoot Dude, let's just wrap it up. Let's just wrap up the pod, that's all you have.

Speaker 2 46:36

Yeah, man, for your daughters is I think about? You know our son and our daughter. You know they're coming out of this infancy and toddler, so we haven't gotten to you.

Speaker 1 46:48

We have some of those too. Yes, you got toddlers.

Speaker 2 46:52

I would just say to so cool you were mentioning earlier a breakfast reading, I mean, cultivate a love for the written word and reading and going on adventures, be it through. You know. You mentioned your love for fiction, and in what fiction? I'm a bit, I love fiction, and what fiction can tell you and teach you about real life, yeah, and so I would, I guess, just say keep doing what you're doing. You know, don't lose that love for reading and what your parents have instilled in you, be it adventures on the page or adventures as a family. And I think I actually heard one cool thing on a podcast. I'm blinking on the author's name. He wrote a book called Habits of the Household. I don't know if you've heard of it, I bet you would love it.

Speaker 2 47:49

And James Early, I think, and he just wrote another book on friendship and the importance of siblings as friends. And for your girls I would say, hey, y'all stay tight, you seven. And he said something on this podcast of sometimes in life we find ourselves of there's beauty in making friends, of family and family. Or he says our goal should be to turn our closest friends into family and our family into friends. Wow, that's it.

Speaker 2 48:30

Family's hard man and I can't imagine you know just the different relational dynamics as your girls get older. But stay tight, Because when they're in their teens and their 20s and their 30s, if they can keep that connection, how do you keep the connection going? Trips with each other, you know, and it doesn't have to be to call her out every time it can be, but you know, hey, once a month, you know, bring them in here, you know, and we're gonna, so stay friends.

Speaker 1 48:57

That's great. I love that that's been. I tell people this all the time. That's one of the things I really hope for them is to be friends later in life. So this just reinforces that, and so I know they'll hear this someday at some point in some time. So thank you for that. And I know that they value that too, and there are weird dynamics with the different ages and personalities. But you hope that over time that'll just kind of balance out the way it's supposed to and that they'll.

Readers and Leaders

Speaker 1 49:22

I just want those seven girls to be best friends for life. Man, that's great. And then your other piece of advice read. I love it. It comes back to the brand People. You have it straight from the mouth of Will Severin's write books and read books. Yeah, readers and leaders. There it is. Readers and leaders, awesome, hey, thank you so much Thanks for being here.

Speaker 2 49:38

I love you too. I love you too.

Speaker 1 49:39

Seriously man.

Speaker 2 49:40

Yeah, sounds like gouges and maybe a segway.

Speaker 1 49:42

That's right, okay, awesome, Well, hey thank you all so much for joining. This has been so much fun. And remember to never stop asking the question. What else is possible? Mm-hmm MUSIC.