The Story Engine Podcast

The Story Engine Podcast where we teach you how to make marketing easier, more powerful and fun through storytelling. Each week we learn from top entrepreneurs, influencers and world-changers on how to share your story through content, copywriting, speaking and how to make your story your most powerful marketing tool.

The Story Engine Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Kyle Gray, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Kyle Gray hosts The Story Engine Podcast, a business show with 100 episodes published.

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  Episode #431

  What If Your Greatest Success Is Being Driven by an Unhealed Past With Bryan Post

  Sep 29, 202628 min

  I've spent a lot of time thinking about the patterns that quietly shape how we lead, love, and live—and this conversation with Bryan Post took that exploration somewhere much deeper. Bryan has spent nearly 30 years working with families, adopted and foster children, parents, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and high-performing executives. His central message is powerful: when we experience stress, we don't simply become stressed—we can actually regress emotionally, allowing old fears, traumas, and survival patterns to take control. In this episode, we unpack his "Fear to Love" methodology and explore why the same emotional patterns he sees in children can show up in highly successful adults who have mastered business, achievement, and grit but still struggle with relationships, connection, and a deeper sense of meaning. What really stood out to me was Bryan's emphasis on going beyond simply thinking about our trauma or inner child. Real transformation, he argues, requires us to slow down, enter the emotional experience, breathe through it, and learn to meet our pain without shame or judgment. Bryan shares his own deeply personal story—from being conceived under traumatic circumstances and moving through foster care and adoption, to a pivotal night when he collapsed on the floor after a painful marriage experience, and eventually to a powerful moment in Sacramento where he openly processed his own emotional overwhelm in front of a group. We also talk about why successful people can climb the first mountain of financial and professional achievement only to discover an emotional void when it's time to climb the second mountain of meaning. If you've ever wondered why you can be incredibly capable in one area of your life while feeling completely overwhelmed in another, this conversation offers a fascinating look at what may be happening underneath the surface. Highlights (00:14) – Why Bryan starts with the parents instead of the child: How helping parents develop deeper self-understanding can completely change the way they understand and respond to their children. (02:04) – The "Stress Model" that applies to both children and adults: Why Bryan believes the emotional patterns he sees in children are fundamentally the same patterns playing out inside stressed adults. (03:55) – Why your inner child may be running the show: We explore how childhood experiences continue to influence present-day relationships and reactions, especially during moments of stress. (04:42) – Trauma, energy, and the memories stored beneath the surface: Bryan explains how unresolved experiences can be triggered years later, creating emotional reactions that seem disproportionate to what's actually happening in the moment. (06:00) – The hidden emotional void behind high achievement: Why some successful men can conquer the first mountain of business and financial success but struggle when it comes to relationships, meaning, and emotional connection. (08:29) – What makes Bryan's approach different: Why talking about trauma and the inner child isn't enough—and why real change requires going into the emotional experience itself. (09:30) – The surprising connection between breathing, stress, and emotional regulation: Bryan explains how slowing down and breathing can help interrupt the cycle of cortisol, fear, and emotional reactivity. (10:44) – Why people don't change until they're willing to: Bryan explains the moment when someone finally becomes ready to stop repeating the same patterns and why that willingness can create breakthroughs far faster than years of traditional approaches. (13:23) – Bryan's own story of trauma, adoption, and survival: Bryan opens up about the circumstances surrounding his conception, adoption, family history, and the experiences that ultimately shaped his life's work. (16:37) – The night Bryan collapsed on the floor: He shares an incredibly vulnerable moment from a difficult marriage when he drove home for 90 minutes, walked into an empty house, and finally allowed himself to have a deep, uncontrollable cry. (19:34) – What emotional mastery actually looks like: Bryan explains how developing awareness of your pain can change the way you respond when rage, overwhelm, or old emotional patterns surface. (21:39) – The Sacramento breakthrough: Bryan describes experiencing intense overwhelm and imposter syndrome at one of his own events—and choosing to process his pain openly rather than hide it. (22:50) – Why Bryan lay down in front of his own group: He shares exactly what happened when he told everyone he needed to do his own emotional work first and allowed himself to receive support. (23:28) – Kyle turns Bryan's story into a story of its own: I retell Bryan's journey from the lonely drive home to the Sacramento breakthrough and explore what it means to create a safe space for emotional transformation. (27:44) – The choice we have in every stressful moment: Bryan leaves us with a simple but powerful practice: stop, take three to ten deep breaths, and choose love instead of automatically reacting from old trauma and fear.

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  Episode #429

  What If the Things Making You Sick Are the Things You Don't Know to Look For With Dr. Torrie Thompson

  Sep 22, 202626 min

  In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast , I sit down with Dr. Torrie Thompson to unpack one of the most frustrating experiences in health: doing everything "right" and still feeling terrible. We talk about the hidden toxins in our homes, products, and environments that can quietly accumulate over time—and why so many symptoms that we've been taught to accept as "normal" may actually be signs that something deeper is going on. From scented trash bags and household chemicals to mold, heavy metals, environmental toxins, and gut issues, Torrie explains why her approach starts with extensive data and testing rather than guessing. She shares how she uses comprehensive labs to identify what is actually happening inside someone's body, then combines that information with personalized, data-backed protocols and a team-based approach to help people clear what's holding them back. But the most powerful part of our conversation is Torrie's own story. She became sick at just 12 years old and spent 15 years going from doctor to doctor while being told that her labs were "perfect," despite debilitating headaches, weakness, insomnia, depression, weight gain, brain fog, and severe bone pain. It wasn't until she began digging through years of old lab work herself that she discovered clues pointing toward Lyme disease, co-infections, mold, and environmental toxins—things that had been missed for years. We also take a deeper look at the transformation that happened when she finally began getting answers: having the energy to work out again, play tennis, get through the day without needing a nap, and ultimately feel like she had her body and her life back. Along the way, I help Torrie tell this story in a way that reveals not only the data behind her work, but the deeply personal reason she became so passionate about helping others find answers. Highlights (00:18) – Torrie explains why she focuses on hidden toxins and helping people identify what in their homes, products, and environments could be affecting their health. (02:21) – Why doing everything "right" can still leave you feeling horrible—and how common health problems can become normalized even when they aren't actually normal. (03:29) – The surprising example of scented trash bags and how seemingly harmless everyday products can contribute to our overall toxic burden. (05:32) – The mindset that keeps people stuck: believing they're simply "broken" or have to live with their symptoms instead of looking for what's actually causing them. (06:07) – Torrie breaks down her data-driven approach, including testing for mold mycotoxins, heavy metals, environmental toxins, parasites, and gut imbalances. (07:32) – Why years of experience and thousands of client cases matter when developing protocols—and how Torrie uses real-world data to determine what works. (08:24) – The power of having a team of practitioners analyze difficult cases together instead of relying on a single perspective. (09:11) – What can happen when the body begins clearing its toxic burden: more energy, less brain fog, improved hormones, reduced inflammation, better mood, and improved lab markers. (10:28) – Torrie takes us back to age 12, when unexplained symptoms began and she started a 15-year journey through doctors and specialists searching for answers. (12:04) – The emotional breaking point that changed everything—and the moment Torrie decided she had to find the answer herself. (13:05) – How an accidentally ordered lab test became the first major clue toward Lyme disease and finally gave Torrie something to investigate. (14:40) – The second major discovery: testing revealed extremely high levels of black mold and environmental toxins that traditional testing had failed to uncover. (16:43) – The moment Torrie realized she was finally getting her life back—when she could work out, lift weights, eat more normally, and recognize the healthy person she saw in the mirror. (17:37) – Why gradual changes can be so difficult to recognize—and how much of our lives we may be missing while we assume feeling bad is simply normal. (19:00) – I help Torrie tell the full version of her story, including the 15-year struggle, the emotional breaking point, the search for answers, and the discoveries that changed her life. (23:52) – We talk about why your personal story can be just as powerful as your expertise—and why Torrie's experience is more than just "I was sick, now I'm better." (25:38) – Torrie reflects on what it feels like to hear her own story told back to her and why the human story can connect with people in ways data alone cannot. (26:59) – Torrie shares where to follow her and learn more about her work.

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  Episode #428

  Risk, Resilience, and Reinvention: How to Turn Life's "Terrible Gifts" Into Your Next Chapter With Tom LeNoble

  Sep 18, 202630 min

  What happens when the challenges you've spent years trying to overcome become the very experiences that shape who you're capable of becoming? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast , I sit down with Tom LeNoble, a former executive at companies including MCI, Palm, Walmart.com, and Facebook, who has been given six months to live three separate times and has lived with metastatic cancer for the past fourteen years. Rather than allowing those diagnoses to define his life, Tom has built his philosophy around three powerful principles: risk, resilience, and reinvention . We dig into what it actually looks like to stop living in the past, stop waiting for a "do-over," and start using your past as evidence of what you're capable of. Tom shares how his childhood, health crises, and willingness to take enormous risks—including leaving a dream corporate position to join a then-little-known Facebook—shaped the way he now advises executives and professionals. We also explore the hidden problems beneath the problems people bring to coaching, the six forms of energy that can become imbalanced, why curiosity and psychological safety can accelerate change, and how "acting as if" can help you move toward a life that doesn't yet exist. This is a conversation about resilience, but more importantly, it's about what becomes possible when you decide that your past can inform your future without controlling it. Highlights (01:56) – Risk, resilience, and reinvention: Tom explains how two life-threatening illnesses forced him to rethink conventional approaches and develop the three principles that now guide his work with executives. (02:59) – Stop waiting for the "do-over": We explore why living in the past can consume the time, energy, and consciousness you need to actually create your future. (04:10) – The problem beneath the problem: Tom reveals why clients often arrive with one business question but leave with an entirely different answer—and how going one or two layers deeper can uncover what's really blocking them. (04:58) – Turn your past into evidence, not a ball and chain: Tom explains how previous experiences can either keep you stuck or become proof that you're capable of handling what comes next. (07:17) – The six forms of energy: We break down how time, physical vitality, relationships, money, support, and other forms of energy interact—and how depletion in one area can create problems everywhere else. (08:17) – Are you missing the butterfly?: Tom shares a powerful metaphor for how being mentally stuck in the last email, conversation, or upcoming meeting can cause us to miss the renewal and opportunities happening right in front of us. (08:55) – Stop searching for the story that makes you look good: We talk about how entrepreneurs and leaders can filter their own experiences through the wrong lens—and miss the stories and insights that would actually connect with their audience. (10:23) – Curiosity as a coaching superpower: Tom explains how watching behavior, facial expressions, and vocal inflection helps him identify what's really happening beneath someone's words and create a safe space for honest conversations. (11:57) – The investor call that was costing an executive his relationship: Tom shares a specific example of helping an executive recognize that the sacrifices he thought were necessary for business success were actually creating the same relationship problems he had experienced before. (13:57) – What changes when you're told you have six months to live: Tom describes the perspective shift that comes from facing death repeatedly—and why he became more interested in what he could do while living than in dwelling on the possibility of dying. (14:39) – Resilience is a muscle: Tom explains why resilience gets stronger through use and why looking forward, rather than wallowing in what happened, can fundamentally change how we experience adversity. (16:14) – The lifestyle that forced Tom to wake up: Tom gets specific about the years when he worked 12–14 hour days, partied afterward, neglected his health, and lived almost entirely for future outcomes. (18:34) – Growing up in "the shack": Tom takes us back to his childhood without hot water or a refrigerator and explains how realizing at age five that his life was different became an early catalyst for risk, resilience, and reinvention. (21:01) – The phone call that changed everything: Tom tells the story of being recruited by Facebook when it was still a little-known company, interviewing with a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, and taking the enormous risk of leaving his dream job at Palm. (23:50) – Building a career while fighting for your health: Tom reveals what it was really like working at Facebook while dealing with a serious diagnosis—including being more concerned about where the bathroom was than whether he was in the right meeting room. (25:01) – My attempt to reflect Tom's story back to him: I take everything Tom has shared and connect the pieces—from his health struggles and relentless work ethic to his decision to fight forward and reinvent his life. (28:55) – Why your story can reveal possibilities you didn't see before: Tom explains why having someone accurately reflect your story back to you can help you see the person you're capable of becoming. (29:29) – The hidden power of writing your own story: Tom shares why writing his memoir was so cathartic and why every part of our past—even the parts we would rather hide—can be essential to understanding who we are today. (31:03) – Where to connect with Tom: Tom shares how you can learn more about his work, his books, and the Opening Pathways Collective.

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  Episode #427

  What If the Last 3% Is Hiding Outside Your Analytical Mind With Barry Goldstein

  Sep 15, 202634 min

  In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast , I sit down with Barry Goldstein, a longtime music producer and creative collaborator who has spent more than 40 years exploring how music can magnify mission, unlock creativity, and help us move through the blocks that keep us from our next level. We dive into the idea of the "last 3%"—that frustrating gap between knowing you have something great and actually being able to fully express its potential. Barry explains why solving that final piece doesn't necessarily require more effort, more analysis, or more information. Sometimes, it requires getting out of the thinking mind and into a deeper state of intuition, coherence, creativity, and flow. Barry also shares the deeply personal story that led him to rethink his entire relationship with music. At the height of his career as a major-label record producer in New York City, the work he had once loved became repetitive, stressful, and creatively draining. His search for a way back to the joy he experienced as a 14-year-old musician eventually led him to experiment with music created at 60 beats per minute—music he describes as "decomposing" rather than composing. What began as an experiment for his own healing unexpectedly became a tool that people used for sleep, anxiety, childbirth, dementia, and other transformational experiences. We also explore the moment Barry realized just how powerful that work had become while watching thousands of people experience breakthroughs during a walking meditation at a Dr. Joe Dispenza event in Cancun. This conversation is ultimately about more than music—it's about remembering why we create, learning to trust what we don't yet know, and discovering what becomes possible when we bring the heart and mind back into alignment. Highlights (00:27) – Barry explains his mission to use music to magnify purpose and why his lifelong fascination has been the creative process of bringing something into existence from nothing. (05:15) – We unpack who Barry works with and why his ideal collaborators are people who have already done significant personal work but sense there is still something missing or another level they can access. (07:55) – I explore the "last 3%" idea: why the final bit of refinement can make the difference between something that works and something that creates a dramatically greater impact. (09:06) – Barry explains why the final 3% may actually require less effort, not more, and how music can help shift us out of an overactive analytical state and into alpha and theta brainwave states associated with flow. (12:03) – We explore why the goal isn't to choose between the heart and the mind, but to integrate them—and how heart-brain coherence can open access to intuition and wisdom beyond analytical knowledge. (17:14) – Barry takes us back to his years as a major-label producer in Midtown Manhattan, when the career he had dreamed about began to feel like a job and producing music became a source of pressure instead of joy. (19:00) – Barry reveals the experiment that changed his relationship with music: setting a metronome to 60 beats per minute and allowing music to emerge without preconceptions, editing, or knowing where it would lead. (21:47) – What Barry thought nobody would listen to started reaching people in unexpected ways—including families using his music for dementia, sleep challenges, dental appointments, and childbirth. (25:06) – Barry describes the powerful moment on a beach in Cancun when he watched thousands of people experience breakthroughs during a Dr. Joe Dispenza walking meditation—and realized his music had become the soundtrack to their transformation. (26:47) – I retell Barry's story through the lens of his transformation from a successful but creatively trapped producer into someone using music as a tool for healing, flow, possibility, and meaningful impact. (32:56) – Barry reacts to hearing his own story told back to him and recognizes how powerful it can be to have another person help distill the deeper meaning hidden inside your own experience. (34:24) – Barry shares where to connect with him and reflects on why great collaboration begins with the curiosity of asking, "I wonder what he would do with this."

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  Episode #427

  When Your Business Stops Feeling Like Yours: How to Find Your Way Back to Alignment With Jennifer Hill

  Sep 11, 2026—

  What happens when the business you built to create freedom starts taking away your freedom? In this episode of The Story Engine Podcast , I sit down with Esther Wildenberg to unpack one of the biggest challenges I've experienced as an entrepreneur: losing alignment while chasing growth. Esther shares her definition of alignment—not as a way to make life easy, but as a way to get back to a place where your energy, purpose, relationships, leadership, and business are working together. We talk about the warning signs of "founder's fatigue," why entrepreneurs often blame employees, clients, or circumstances for problems that are actually reflections of what's happening internally, and why slowing down can sometimes be the fastest way to solve a problem. Esther also gets incredibly personal about the period during COVID when her company needed to pivot, her wife was on bed rest, their son was born ten weeks early and spent six weeks in the NICU, and Esther found herself questioning her identity and direction. Her story helped me recognize just how powerful it can be to step outside the trenches instead of trying to solve everything from inside the problem. We dive into Esther's unconventional three-day process of taking entrepreneurs completely out of their normal environment—including taking away their phones—to create the space for clarity, perspective, and realignment. We also explore the future of work in an AI-driven world and why Esther believes our ability to deeply connect with other human beings may be the most important skill we can develop. Highlights (02:49) – What alignment actually means and why it can make business growth feel effortless Esther explains alignment as the point where your purpose, passion, identity, heart, and environment are working together—and why that creates the conditions for the right people and opportunities to find you. (03:58) – Why alignment requires something most entrepreneurs hate: slowing down We explore why silence, solitude, reflection, and time away from the daily hustle are essential for recognizing whether your business, relationships, and decisions are actually moving in the right direction. (06:49) – The biggest challenge that comes with building a team Esther explains why employees will never care about your business exactly the way you do, and how entrepreneurs can let go of that expectation while still building teams that genuinely connect with the company's mission. (08:50) – The interview questions Esther uses to uncover whether someone is truly aligned Esther shares her unusual approach to hiring, including why she asks whether a candidate's previous employers would hire them again—and why an honest "no" can sometimes be a better answer than a polished "yes." (09:23) – The warning signs of "founder's fatigue" If you constantly complain about your employees, clients, finances, or marketing, Esther says it may be time to stop looking outward and ask what those problems are reflecting back to you. (12:17) – The hidden cost of the endless hustle and grind We unpack the "I don't have enough time" mindset and how constantly prioritizing money and productivity can quietly damage your health, relationships, and overall quality of life. (12:55) – Why entrepreneurs may need to think in 90-day cycles now Esther explains why the speed of technological and cultural change means entrepreneurs need to develop their ability to pivot rather than relying solely on traditional three- or five-year plans. (14:48) – Esther's radical three-day reset: leave your business and give her your phone Esther reveals the process she uses to help entrepreneurs get out of their own way—including removing them from their normal environment and taking their phones away for three full days. (17:34) – Why changing the people around you can change the problems you're able to solve Esther explains the power of stepping into a room with different people, including other successful entrepreneurs, and getting perspectives from people who understand the challenges you're facing. (19:33) – How one hour of solitude can completely change your productivity Esther shares how starting her day with the beach, her dog, meditation, silence, and solitude changes her energy and creates more productivity and "inbound energy" throughout the rest of her day. (20:36) – Esther's personal experience with founder's fatigue during COVID Esther opens up about navigating a company pivot while her wife was on bed rest, her son was born ten weeks early, and their family spent six weeks in the NICU—all while being isolated from the people and environments that normally grounded her. (22:55) – The moment Esther realized she needed to get her life back After months of feeling lost, Esther began reading, hired a coach, and redirected her company toward community, connection, and helping people thrive rather than simply chasing sales and revenue. (24:31) – The question that changed how Esther saw her own impact A simple question at the end of a podcast made Esther realize she had been underestimating the impact of her work—and helped her understand that touching even one person deeply can be enough. (26:00) – What happens when you stop preparing and start trusting yourself Esther explains why she stopped over-preparing for podcasts and stages and began trusting what naturally comes through her in the moment. (31:52) – The story of founder's fatigue, told through my own experience I share my own journey through COVID, the pressure of leading a team, becoming a father, and realizing that I couldn't change the world around me—but I could change my response to it. (32:15) – Why vulnerability makes stories more powerful Esther explains why she intentionally shares the raw and vulnerable parts of her life and how personal stories can become tools that help other people move through their own challenges faster. (34:12) – The skill Esther believes will matter most in an AI-driven future As AI and technology transform the world of work, Esther argues that our ability to communicate, connect deeply, and build genuine human relationships may become more valuable—not less. (35:21) – Why community may be one of the best investments you can make in your future Esther closes with a powerful reminder: technology may change almost everything around us, but our human experience, relationships, and ability to connect remain uniquely ours.

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