176 | Transcending Your Brand (Season 5 Opener)
January 22, 2024
Minute of Transparency: The End of An Era
Today's Topic: Transcending Your Brand
It's been done before
What it looks like for me
Worth the risk
// CHAPTER 1: IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE
Times they be a changing...
Transcend Human is at a crossroads.
We talked about this right before Christmas - the possibility that things might be changing a bit.
But before I launch into that - let's just acknowledge that it's been done before...
Here are a few examples where I've seen people change directions:
Story Grid with Shawn Coyne and Tim Grahl:
Amazing podcast - that was going long before I found it
It totally changed my view of writing, the mechanics involved and how to edit your writing
Explain the concept...
As time went on - it took some interesting twists and turns
Then abruptly ended in May of 2023
Now Story Grid itself is still a thing - a growing company that stewards the original concept - and has moved into publishing manuscripts that follow the Story Grid methodology
However - It wouldn't surprise me to either see it start up again - or for something new to take it's place
Jeff Goins:
Found him a long time ago
Blogger, author, podcaster, content creator and chief architect of the Tribe Conference that ran for - I think 4-5 years
I totally connected to his content when I found him
The Portfolio Life Podscast - explain
Then at some point that ended
His next project was called Hey Creator!
Also a podcast - but focused a lot more on the nuance of the creative process
That ran for one season - then ended
And I haven't seen anything further from Jeff
And finally - from the church world - my wife's favorite human being of all time - Carlos Whittaker.
I only assume this because every time I look over at her phone I see his face. Either an Instagram post, a TikTok, or she's listening to an episode of his podcast:
"Los Whit" as he refers to himself - was a worship leader at Andy Stanley's church - North Point - in Atlanta, GA
At some point he left - and became an author, podcaster and content creator
He had a long running podcast called Human Hope
That is until this year...
Los has reinvented his podcast - and now it's just "The Carlos Whittaker Podcast"
And I'm assuming he will deliver fresh new content under this name for 2024 and beyond
Which reminds me of a funny story...
Back when I was working at Granger Community Church in Indiana
I had a blog - because who didn't have a blog back in the mid to late 2000s?...
It was called "Web Driven Church"
I had basically done all the branding myself - built my own website and was cranking out post after post on this site. Some personal stuff - but mainly a professional blog about the church in the ever changing digital world
At some point - my boss - the Communications Director - pulled me aside and explained that I was doing everything wrong
"Web Driven Church" wasn't a good brand - I was pigeonholing myself - and hiding behind a name
What I should be doing is blogging as myself - my own name - I should be the brand
DarylMcMullen.com basically - maybe with a tagline like: Web Director. Blogger. Innovator.
Or something pithy like that
This way people would start to associate my content with me - and not a brand
In this scenario - I would be the brand
Well, I never took her advice - possibly because at some point I just stopped blogging altogether
But now - here I am still not taking her advice...
Because I've created a new brand: Transcend Human
But what I've come to understand about myself is that I'm ok with that
I'm not trying to elevate myself - or my name - I'm not trying to become a known entity
I actually love what I do - and I love that it's behind the scenes much of the time
On the podcast - people hear my voice and they come to know me over the years
That's good enough for me
But it sounds like Los Whit was a fly on my bosses wall all those years ago
Because he did take her advice
He moved from Human Hope - to becoming the brand himself
Which is probably smart in the long run - especially because his name was already pretty recognizable in the church world
The point behind each of these examples is that people (and at times companies or organizations) reinvent themselves.
Maybe it's a full rebrand - with new logo and new colors.
Maybe it's a whole new name - as in Los Whit's case.
Or maybe it's just heading in a new direction the way Jeff Goins did with his two podcasts.
Whatever the case - the idea is that change is ok. Reinvention is valid. Doing something new is not a problem.
The whole point behind Jeff Goins first podcast, The Portfolio Life, was that you don't have to work the corporate job for 40 years, get the gold watch and retire.
You can diversify - do multiple things - and create a Portfolio of skills and creative pursuits. And at any point you can spend more time on one than the other. And then switch it up and do another thing more often.
That really resonated with me. And it's where I find myself when it comes to Transcend Human.
My original idea had merit. And there are 175 episodes to prove that.
I was also able to dive into specific topics that were important to me - leading to these podcast series:
Controversy Theory
Conscience Driven Therapy
Transcendent Parenting
Transcendent Deconstruction
Transcending Woke
Transcending Eschatology
Along with some rants, some stories about our Fostering Journey and much more...
At this point I would consider Transcend Human successful. I did what I set out to do.
And I'm not out of ideas - I could just keep going and do more of the same for as many years as I felt like doing it.
But there is this other thing - something else in my Portfolio. Something else that has captured my attention...and I want to do more of that...
// CHAPTER 2: WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE FOR US
Rob Bell is probably the best example of someone living a Portfolio Life.
If you know Rob, or follow his life on his podcast called the RobCast. You completely understand.
Rob led a megachurch in Michigan, where he created content that was lightyears ahead of it's time. I still remember watching his Nooma videos series and being blown away by the creativity.
At some point Rob started writing books. Then he left the church world and became more of a consultant - though he still wrote books, and produced engaging content.
He did a stint on the Oprah Show - where he was brought on as a Spiritual Guru of sorts. And even did a podcast episode on her "Super Soul Conversations" show.
But even though that sounds like a lot - we're just getting started...go to his website and you'll see other things he has been into lately:
A Master Class style gathering he calls "2 Days in Ojai"
A new Sci-fi novel he released called, Where'd You Park Your Spaceship
An art show where he displays his artwork - typically art made out of reclaimed wood scraps
He wrote a couple plays recently. One called, What's a Knucka? and another called, We'll Get Back to You
There are audio books on fear and failure, burnout and resilience, and money
And believe it or not - he even released a music album called, Humans on the Floor
Now - what I'm NOT going to tell you is that everything he touches turns to gold. In fact many of these creative pursuits are less than stellar. The stuff that interests very small groups of people. But not the masses.
But I don't see anything wrong with that.
If it's in him - and he needs to pull it out - more power to him!
What would it look like if each of us had that same level of confidence.
To find those things inside us trying to get out - and set them free.
Regardless what the world thinks.
It's all part of the creative process. And I love watching Rob do all of the things. Because I want to be more like that.
So what if I tried?
What if I did a new thing? Went a slightly different direction with Transcend Human?
In the last episode I called myself a writer. I explained why - and I think I gave some back story on the fact that I've always written stuff - since I was in high school.
From short stories, to poems, to blog posts, to book chapters in my graduate program, to the Controversy Theory manuscript, to these podcast episodes - and even a few chapters of fiction based on a novel series I dreamed about one night back in 2011.
And that's the piece I've been missing. Writing that isn't just functional in nature - like the writing I do for the podcast.
Writing that is creative and new - having to be discovered from deep within you each time you sit down to write.
If someone would pay me to live this life I would take it in a heartbeat.
But that's not how life works. At least for most of us.
Writing doesn't make you money - so most people do it in their spare time - as a passion project.
Steven Pressfield refers to this as having a Shadow Career. Working at a job out of necessity - to make money and survive - even though it's not the thing you really feel called to do.
And most of the writers I follow tell a similar story. Most wrote for two hours every morning. Or while their children were napping. Finding ways to fit it in edgewise to get it done.
It's basically what I do in order to keep writing and recording the Transcend Human Podcast.
But what if I took the leap and actually started working on the novel?
What would that look like?
// CHAPTER 3: IT'S WORTH THE RISK
As with anything in life - there are risks.
The biggest risk I've come up with in this case: Losing followers.
Losing podcast subscribers that came for one thing and are now being forced to listen to something completely different.
Which I totally get.
One the one hand - there is no way around it. I want to switch the podcast from a felt need/self help/spirituality podcast to one that chronicles a fiction writers journey. And that's a huge change.
But as I thought through this over the break I've come up with a few bridges that might just help tie the two together:
The story I'm working on is based on the very things we have been discussing on the podcast:
Namely the Controversy - the battle between good and evil
The Human Condition - and how it has been influenced by the Sin Virus
The belief that the world will end - and at some point all things will be made new
Of course being a science fiction series - there also has to be some crazy stuff - stuff that isn't part of our current world view
Combined - it will be an epic journey filled with good and evil, mystery, intrigue, suspense and an ending that is out of this world
Each podcast episode will still be relevant to the world around us:
In other words - I don't think I can do episodes strictly discussing the story itself
I still need to talk about my life, my family, and the things going on in the world
Because these play a big part in the trajectory of my story
And finally, you'll get a front row seat behind the curtain:
We've talked about a lot of things on the podcast
But what if we talked about them in a different way?
What if we move from talking about anxiety - to talking about the anxiety the protagonist in the story is experiencing - and how he or she is working through it?
I'm not 100% sure what this looks like - but it excites me
Incorporating felt need topics into the podcast as elements characters in the story are struggling with
Could be pretty cool...just saying
So there you go. Risk #1 - and some of the reasons why it might not be as risky as I originally thought.
Risk #2: No immediate reward
This was one of the reasons I stopped writing the book in the first place.
I was looking at ROI - Return on Investment
With the podcast there was immediate ROI:
You are able to post something you have on your mind
It's immediately available online
And you can see that many people engaged with the content
It's a cycle of dopamine hits that repeats every 7-14 days
But with a book - you work on it for months - probably years:
The ROI basically isn't there - and for sure isn't guaranteed
And because of this there is no light at the end of the tunnel
Writing is a very solitary endeavor - and the only ROI is the feeling you get while you're writing
For those of us who write - there is a feeling you get when you're in the zone
Like a slow dopamine leak - not a lot - but it still feels good - and you can get addicted to it in the same way someone can be addicted to exercise
And that's the dilemma for me
With the podcast I feel like I'm able to get content out into the world every 7-14 days and then move on to the next thing
But with writing it's a journey I'm on - and it's a journey I may never get to share with the world
So is there a way to mitigate Risk #2?
Not really - writing a full length book or novel is what it is. A lot of hard work that may or may not pay off years from now. And not pay off in a financial sense. Just pay off in that it gets released into the world. That could be the only return on your massive investment.
So for 2024 what I'm trying to accomplish is how to keep both going at the same time...
Keep doing the podcast - so there is the regular interaction with the world around me. But also embark on the journey I've wanted to take for so many years.
The best of both worlds right?
But I know I can't keep doing the podcast about one thing - and be writing a novel about something totally different. That pulls my brain in too many directions.
So that's where the idea came from - to keep doing the podcast to document my progress on the book. And along the way we will still have conversations about the Human Condition, our struggles, our wins and what the future holds.
I believe It's worth the risk.
So there you go - there's the big change. There's the reinvention of Transcend Human.
Starting with the next episode we will dive headlong into it.
Now, I had a couple options when it came to this change:
I could start a whole new podcast - like Jeff Goins - and keep the content completely separate:
Pros: I could technically keep doing both podcasts if I found the time
Cons: It would be completely new, with no followers, and people would have to add another podcast to their library
I could start a series on Transcend Human that focused on writing the novel:
Pros: All content would be in one place - people wouldn't have to go find my other podcast
Cons: The change in content - taking the content in a different direction for the people already invested in the current content
But after weighing everything I chose the second option - to just keep everything on Transcend Human.
So over the next few weeks I'm going to brainstorm the best way to get this change across visually:
There will probably be changes to the look of the website
There will probably be verbiage on the website trying to explain the change
There will probably be a landing page for all this content - even though it will be part of the same podcast
And I'll need to come up wit ha name for the new content - like a new "Podcast Series" or something like that
But when that's all done - we should be ready to rock and roll. And the next full episode will kick off a very long process of writing a novel, and documenting that process.
Let's Land the Plane:
Moment of silence...and a deep breath...
In part to remember where we've been - and all the good stuff we've worked through on the podcast.
But also - to prepare for the next run. I'm a little nervous - I'm a little scared - but I'm also geeked out of my mind.
I can't wait to dive into this next chapter of life.
I want to thank each and every one of you who have followed Transcend Human for any length of time.
And I want to thank those of you willing to make this change with me - and dive into uncharted waters. It's a new adventure that will feel comfortably familiar.
And gain - we get to do it together.
Friends thank you for joining me today and dreaming about 2024.
Have a great week and as we always say - keep Transcending Human!